#more recs from october to come next month

[beskarandblasters]

Bluffing Season

Enemies to Lovers!Frankie Morales x F!Reader

Main Masterlist | Frankie Morales Masterlist

Author’s note: Ya know like “cuffing season” lmao!! Thank you to @pascalispretty, @fhatbhabie, and @hyzer34 for beta reading! 🤍

Summary: Frankie Morales is your next door neighbor of the worst kind. To put it simply, you two can’t stand each other. But when his girlfriend breaks up with him right before the holidays he asks you to be his fake date for Christmas, not wanting to go home to his family single yet again. You reluctantly say yes and as you spend time with him you realize he’s not as terrible as you once thought.

Word count: 14.6k (what the fuck lol)

Warnings: reader is able-bodied, reader is a baker, two years post Triple Frontier, slow burn, enemies to lovers, fake dating, jealousy, made up lore for Frankie/his family tree, reader lowkey got mommy issues (just a shitty family in general), drinking, mentions of drugs, food/eating, Frankie describing his trauma, some Spanish used, oral sex (F receiving), vaginal sex, unprotected sex, cream pie, pet names (cariño), sort of ambiguous time skips, Frankie is either a Libra or a Scorpio!!, no use of y/n

Fic notifs: @beskarandblastersfics Fic recs: @kelbellsficrecs

Late October

Beep Beep Beep

Ugh. Another shit start to your day with shit sleep as per usual. Running your own bakery means a lot of early mornings. Normally you don’t mind waking up early since you love what you do. You bought a new house on Magnolia Drive eight months ago which made your commute to the bakery much shorter. However… Your realtor neglected to tell you that it came with the worst neighbor on the face of the Earth. His name is Frankie and you can’t stand him. When you first moved in, he seemed normal, an ex-military, single guy living on his own. The deception didn’t last long, though. Because after about two weeks of living next to him, the shitstorm commenced. And now you wished you picked literally any other house in this city. His friends are at his house all the time, one of them always blocking your driveway with their pickup truck. They stay until at least four in the morning, blasting music when Frankie knows you have to work early the next day. He’s probably the worst neighbor in the entire state of Florida. 

You’re getting in your car to start your morning commute for work when Frankie is grabbing the morning paper from his mailbox. You physically recoil when you see him. There’s a harsh line of demarcation separating your lawn from his because he cuts his grass once in a blue moon. It’s such an eyesore.  

“Have you thought about, I don’t know, cutting your lawn?” you ask before shutting your car door.

He shoots you the middle finger and mouths something you can’t hear. You roll down the window for him to take a few steps closer to your car and repeat, “Stop feeding the fucking stray cats.”

Okay, maybe you aren’t the perfect neighbor either. But doesn’t he deserve it anyway?

“Bite me,” you respond, rolling your eyes and backing out of your driveway.

He rolls his eyes, too, and storms off. You giggle to yourself, feeling proud that you got a rise out of him. If he’s going to piss you off the least you could do is return the favor. 

-

Work is fine, a little busier than normal. But the afternoon exhaustion is hitting. You can’t wait to go home, take a shower, and maybe get some sleep before Frankie’s friends come over. It’s Friday and they’ll be even more unruly than they normally are during the week. Don’t they have lives? Or like… a fucking family to go home to?? Probably not if they’re hanging out with the likes of him. 

But alas, it’s finally time to go home. You close up the bakery and get in your car to drive back, excited to just melt into the couch for a few hours. As you turn onto your street you see that Frankie’s driveway is empty, for now, that is. He’s not outside, either. So that means you get to just slip inside your house without a hostile interaction for once. Score!

You pull into your driveway, get out of your car, and start walking towards your front door when a disgruntled voice stops you dead in your tracks. 

“Hey!”

Not again. 

“What do you want now?” you say, whipping around and using the bitchiest voice you can muster. 

“Cut your fucking tree,” Frankie says, holding up a lemon. 

…Is he fucking for real? 

You have a lemon tree at the edge of your backyard and a few branches hang over the fence and into Frankie’s yard. You never thought to trim it because you assumed you were doing something nice for him, letting him have some of the lemons. But no, apparently he wants to complain about free fruit. 

“You’re complaining about… free fruit?”

He stutters a bit, tripping on his words as if he just realized how stupid he sounds.

“I guess not.”

“That’s what I thought,” you say, turning and heading into your house.

The fucking nerve of that man. 

The rest of the night is pretty uneventful aside from a bitter man complaining about free fruit. You hear Frankie’s friends next door and grumble to yourself. How do they have the energy to party every single day of the week? You turn in early and do your best to ignore how loud they are, getting ready for another busy day at the bakery. Tomorrow’s Saturday, the busiest day of the week, and you need to be well rested. Well rested as you can be with all the noise from next door. 

-

The morning’s been typical so far; wake up feeling exhausted, argue with Frankie in the driveway, drive to work, open the bakery; and the usual stuff. It isn’t until halfway through your business hours that something… interesting happens. A woman enters the shop and browses the cakes in your display case. 

“I’d like to get some writing on a cake.”

“Sure! Which one would you like?”

“That one,” she says, pointing to one on the bottom, a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and strawberries in the middle. 

“Okay,” you say, grabbing it out of the case and taking it to your decorating table, “What would you like it to say?”

“Well, it’s for my boyfriend, Frankie so I’d like it to say “Happy birthday, Franklin” with a fish. I guess his nickname was catfish in the military.”

You know for a fact this is for Frankie because of the nickname. You’ve heard his friends screaming it next door when they’re drunk. But you also know for a fact his name is not Franklin, it’s Francisco. You didn’t have to ask him or anything, Amazon has delivered some of his packages to your house in the past by mistake. So this is fucking hilarious. 

“Any specific color for the writing?” you ask, stifling a chuckle. 

“Black is fine.”

You get to work on the writing and have mixed feelings. It’s kinda shitty that his own girlfriend doesn’t know his full name. And it’s also shitty that he’s going to have a birthday cake at his party with the wrong name on it. You should feel bad but… Nah, this guy sucks. 

You glance over at his girlfriend before moving on to the fish. Although she clearly doesn’t know her boyfriend that well at all, you can’t deny that she’s beautiful. And all of a sudden you’re feeling… jealous? Wait, why are you getting jealous of her? For a guy you can’t even stand?

You gotta finish decorating this cake and get her out of here so you can try to deal with your conflicting feelings. You package the cake back up and walk it to the counter to cash her out. 

“Okay, your total is fifty-three forty-nine. Cash or card?”

“Card,” she says, tapping it on the counter. 

The receipt prints out of the machine for her to sign but before you hand it to her you look at the name printed on the bottom; Heather Ryan. 

“Okay, just need your signature and then you’re all set!” 

She signs her name on the receipt and slides it back to you. 

“It looks great! Thank you so much!” she says before grabbing the cake and leaving. 

Now that she’s gone you can process your weird and sudden emotions. You didn’t know he had a girlfriend and to be honest, it kind of surprises you that he has one in the first place considering his… lifestyle. But why are you jealous? He’s the worst. 

Although… When you first moved in, you did think he was kinda cute before he showed his true colors. He got you with his curly brown hair peeking out underneath his hat but the attraction didn’t last long. Once his antic began, the attraction dissipated. 

…Or so you thought.

Stop it, you tell yourself. He has made your life hell for the better part of a year. 

You bury down your weird and confusing feelings for now, trying to continue the rest of the day as normal. The rest of the day is pretty uneventful and soon enough five o’clock rolls around. Just as you’re locking up the bakery, you get a text from your friend, Ally. 

Hey, bestieee!! Drinks tonight?

You know what, why not?

You respond with: 

Oooh, what time and where?

You get in your car and drive home, excited to have something to look forward to tonight. And at least you’ll be gone for some of Frankie’s antics. As you pull into your driveway you notice his friends aren’t there yet, all the better for you. You  check your phone and Ally says;

7:30. Let’s go to the Harp tonight!! I’ll meet you there. 

She’s referring to a bar downtown but to you, it honestly doesn’t matter where you go. You need to blow off some steam and work through your weird feelings with your friend, get her opinion on this random burst of jealousy you’re feeling. 

You take a shower, change into a skirt and fitted tee, and do your makeup before getting ready to leave. Just to find one of Frankie’s friends blocking your driveway, of course. Why wouldn’t they do this shit on the one night you have plans?

Nah, this isn’t going to fly. You gotta say something. You march right over to his door and judging by the noise coming from inside, his birthday party is tonight. Alright, maybe you won’t be a huge bitch about this right now. Especially when you know how his birthday cake turned out…

You knock and someone other than Frankie answers the door. You recognize him as one of Frankie’s friends but you can put a name to his face. 

“Oh, shit! Neighbor girl is here!” he says, calling out to Frankie over his shoulder. 

Before you can ask him about the truck blocking your driveway he says, “I’m Benny. Come on in!”

Yeah, he’s clearly drunk. Whatever this will be quick. You reluctantly step inside and look around. You’ve never actually been inside Frankie’s house before. It’s honestly nicer than you expected considering his lifestyle and the way he keeps his lawn. You’re standing in his living room with Frankie and three other men. You’re feeling anxious all of a sudden but you don’t show it. Who knows what Frankie said about you to these guys? 

“Look who it is, Fish!” Benny says, putting a hand on your shoulder. 

“Guys, this is my neighbor,” Frankie says. He looks a little… nervous? You’ve never seen him like this before. 

“I’m Santiago,” a man with dark hair says, shaking your hand. 

“Nice to meet you,” you say, forcing a fake smile. 

“And this is Will,” Santiago continues, gesturing to a man with short blond hair. 

“You got anyone else coming, Fish?” Santiago asks, turning towards Frankie, “What about Heather?”

“Uh, she’s not coming.”

“Shit, man. Is everything alright?”

“We’re fine. But actually, can you help me with something in the kitchen?” Frankie asks, making eye contact with you. He looks bothered, like there’s something he wants to say but isn’t letting it come out. 

“Sure,” you reply, following him to the kitchen where he opens the refrigerator. The cake is sitting on the shelf in its box and your stomach drops. Poor guy. 

He grabs the cake from the refrigerator and sets it on the kitchen counter. 

“Can you help fix this? She put the wrong name,” he says, opening the lid to reveal the cake you decorated earlier today.

“I can try. Can you get me a butter knife?”

He opens his silverware drawer and hands you a knife. 

“Well, I think I can smear out the name and make a swirly pattern around the happy birthday?”

“Whatever you have to do,” he says softly. 

You take the knife and swipe away the “Franklin”, making a tie-dye design on the cake but stopping at the fish.

“You want me to leave the fish?”

“Nah, scrap it. Catfish is pretty much the only thing she knew about me anyway,” he says dejectedly.

“Right…” you respond awkwardly, swiping away your hard work from earlier. You can only assume he doesn’t know this birthday cake is from your bakery. But you fix the cake the best you can so it just says “Happy Birthday” with a swirly design. 

“That better?” 

“Yes. Thank you,” he says, letting out a sigh, “I just didn’t want them to see it.”

“I get that-”

“Let’s get this fucking party started!” Benny says, entering the kitchen and slamming a six-pack of beer on the counter. 

“Oh, actually I have to go-” you start. 

“What?? No way, you gotta stay,” Benny says, putting an arm around your shoulders. 

You could stay and just cancel your plans with Ally. But this is Frankie’s birthday party and you weren’t exactly invited. And you’re both aware of how much you painfully dislike each other. You look at Frankie, searching his eyes for an indication of how he’s feeling. 

“You’re more than welcome to join us,” he says softly. 

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna impose.”

“Nooo, stay,” Benny says, looking at you with a wide grin on his face. 

“By all means,” Frankie says. 

“Fuck yeah,” Benny says, “Can I get you a drink? We have all sorts of shit.”

“Hard cider?”

“A woman with taste. I like it,” he says, removing the arm around your shoulders and opening the refrigerator. 

You pull out your phone to text Ally. It has to be something inconspicuous. She knows you hate Frankie with a passion so you can’t exactly say you’re partying with him and his friends right now. Maybe just lie and say you’re sick? 

You do exactly that, saying your stomach is bothering you. Just as you press send, Benny’s hanging you your hard cider. And now it’s just the three of you in Frankie’s kitchen, standing around awkwardly. 

“I have some of the MMA guys coming, too. That alright?” Benny says. 

“Fine with me. The more the merrier,” Frankie smiles. But the smile seems forced. 

Just Frankie says that there’s a knock on the door and it’s the guys Benny was referring to. A handful of men pile into Frankie’s living room with Will and Santiago, and now you’re the only girl here. And also sort of regretting your decision to cancel on Ally. 

“Let me introduce to you some of my friends!” Benny says cheerfully, grabbing your hand and leading you back to the living room. You exchange hello’s with Benny’s friends, a group of four guys whose names you can’t really be bothered to remember. 

Soon enough the folding table is pulled out and all of the guys are playing beer pong. You decide to just stand and watch, sipping your drink and keeping to yourself… except for Benny, who has been by your side all night. At first, it was kind of annoying but now that you’re talking to him he’s actually pretty cute. Or it’s just the alcohol talking. 

“Can I get you another drink?” he asks when yours is empty. 

“Sure,” you smile, handing the empty bottle to him. 

Now that you’re alone for a moment your eyes are scanning the room again, and they lock eyes with Frankie, who’s playing beer pong but not really paying attention. Benny comes back with your drink, handing it to you and leaning against the wall with his arm raised over his head. 

“Frankie never mentioned just how gorgeous you are.”

“Oh! Thank you,” you respond, caught you off guard. You’re feeling awkward, not knowing what to say back so your eyes are searching the room again. And once again, they lock with Frankie’s, whose eyes are… angry? But why is he angry? Is he… jealous? Nah, no way. He has a girlfriend. But she’s also proved herself to be shitty. And besides that, you two hate each other. Unless… you really don’t?

You decide to do a little experiment. Benny is super hot, but maybe you could turn up the flirting a bit and see just how jealous Frankie gets. 

And that’s exactly what you do. You’re laughing at all Benny’s jokes, falling for every cheesy pickup line, doing the thing where you look from his eyes, down to his lips, and back up to his eyes, literally anything to flirt. And even though it’s for an experiment, you’re having fun and you could actually see yourself maybe liking Benny.

You look over at Frankie, and to your surprise (and also delight?), he’s looking directly at you. His eyes are almost pleading with you. But at the end of the day, you don’t owe him anything. And he’s taken. So why stop all the fun?

“I just can’t believe this is the first time we’re meeting,” Benny says, shaking his head.

“I didn’t know Frankie had such nice friends!” you respond. 

Benny leans a little closer to you, his eyes fixed on your lips. Oh shit, is he really gonna kiss you? Right here? Right now? In front of everyone? 

But also… why not? 

You lean forward more too, inching closer and closing the gap between you two. Just as your lips are about to meet, Santiago shouts, “Jesus, Fish! What are you doing?!” 

You pull away from each other and look at what’s going on. It seems that Frankie royally screwed up the round of beer pong because he and Santiago just lost. 

“Alright, alright. Don’t yell at the birthday boy,” Will laughs. 

Santiago sighs and says, “Best two out of three?”

The other men shrug but Frankie excuses himself, saying, “I need another drink.”

You can’t help but feel like that was your fault. Shit, maybe Frankie does have some sort of crush on you? Because why else would he get jealous over his friend flirting with you? Wouldn’t he want that to happen, as a means of burying the hatchet between you two?

“I have to use the bathroom,” you say to Benny. 

“Down the hall on your right,” he says.

You set your drink down on the coffee table and walk through the kitchen, but before you head to the bathroom you take a look at Frankie, who’s sipping a beer and looking at his birthday cake. A look of confusion and uncertainty on his face. You just can’t help but feel bad for him in some sort of weird way. But there’s also a nagging feeling deep down inside you that’s telling you that you shouldn’t feel bad for him. This guy has been nothing but a complete asshole to you. Why do you care so much about his feelings? 

You head down to the bathroom and pull out your phone. There’s a text from Ally and thankfully she wasn’t upset about the plans getting canceled. But you look at the time and decide, you should just go home. Besides, it’s getting a little boring watching the men play beer pong and you’re running out of things to talk about with Benny. 

You head back into the living room and say to Benny, “I think I’m gonna head home.”

“Aw, okay. I’ll catch you later. But maybe you can come to one of my matches sometime?”

“I’d like that,” you smile. 

You poke your head into the kitchen and tell Frankie you’re leaving.

“Happy birthday by the way,” you say. 

He nods and waves his hand a little before you bid your goodbyes to everyone else and walk next door. And the only thought on your mind is… What the hell just happened?

You flop down on your couch and the room feels like it’s spinning, your mind swirling with all sorts of thoughts and emotions. You’re feeling a weird mix of confusion, pity, and also… apathy? You run through the basics: 

1. Frankie’s girlfriend sucks. 

2. It’s shitty that his birthday cake was messed up. 

3. You really don’t mind Benny at all and can see yourself liking him. 

4. At the end of the day, Frankie is still an asshole. 

And that trumps everything else, no matter how bad you feel for him. 

-

Mid-December 

Several weeks have gone by and you haven’t seen much of Frankie, or his friends for that matter. Lately, it feels like you've been living at the bakery twenty-four-seven. Especially since Thanksgiving just ended. But that also means you’re heading into another busy season; Christmas time. 

The holidays are your least favorite time of year. But running your own bakery means that you get to keep busy during the holidays. It’s always the perfect excuse for when your mother calls and asks why you’re not coming home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. You can usually get out of one and not the other. This year you skipped Thanksgiving so you’ll be due home for Christmas… unless you can think of another excuse to stay home again. But then you’ll get another phone call from your father claiming that “you’re breaking your mother’s heart” or whatever. 

From what you can tell, Frankie stayed home for Thanksgiving, too. Though you don’t know if his family is around here or not. His friends didn’t come over for Thanksgiving so you assume they were with their own families respectively. And you’re not really sure what happened with his girlfriend. So the two of you were just… alone that day. For some reason, the thought makes you kind of… sad? But like you told yourself weeks ago, don’t feel bad for Frankie, like at all. 

But now that you’re thinking of Frankie… he’s been his typical self, but maybe scaled back a bit? His lawn hasn’t been cut in God knows how long and his friends still come over to party here and there. But it’s definitely been a lot less than usual. Maybe the holidays are tough for him, too. 

Just as you’re leaving to go open the bakery the week before Christmas, you get a phone call from your mom. You sigh and roll your eyes because you already know what this is about. And you’ve been dreading this phone call since Thanksgiving. 

“Yes, mom?” you say as you answer the phone. 

“Is that any way to answer a phone call from your mother?” she says. God, you can already feel the judgment and disappointment seeping from her voice, even over the phone. 

“Ah, sorry Mom. How are you?”

“I’m just calling to see if we can expect you home for Christmas this year.”

“Uhh-”

“You know, since you broke your mother’s heart and didn’t come home for Thanksgiving.”

“I think.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I’ve just been really busy, uh, with the bakery and all.”

“That’s always the excuse. I’m getting sick of your shit. I need a straight answer as to whether or not you’ll be home for Christmas now.”

As you open your mouth to respond, probably with some poorly thought-out rebuttal since you’re so heated, you spot Frankie walking across his lawn toward you. Perfect escape from this phone call maybe?

“Shit sorry Mom. Gotta go. My neighbor’s coming up to me.”

As you pull the phone away from your ear and hang up, you hear your mom’s angry protests. But you’re too focused on Frankie to care. Because what could he want with you now? You haven’t done anything to piss him off lately. That you can remember anyway… 

“Hey,” he says with a shaky breath.

“Hi,” you say awkwardly.

“I need to ask you for a favor.”

“Okay…”

“Feel free to say no because it’s weird but I don’t know what else to do. And I’m sorry to drop this on you but-”

“Spit it out.”

“Will you come home with me for Christmas as my date? It would be fake, of course.”

Oh. You definitely weren’t expecting that to be the favor he needed. And for some reason him adding in “it would be fake, of course” is so funny. It’s so funny that you actually burst out into a fit of laughter. 

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re not being serious.”

“I am.”

“But… why?”

“My girlfriend broke up with me right before Thanksgiving.”

“Let me get this straight. She put the wrong name on your birthday cake and you let her break up with you first?”

“It’s not funny.”

“I know it’s not.”

“So, you’ll help me?”

“Why can’t you just go home alone?”

“Because I can’t go home for another holiday alone. I already skipped Thanksgiving. My family’s always pestering me about settling down and I can’t take it anymore.”

“What’s in it for me?” you sigh. 

“Uh, you don’t have to go home to your shitty family? I mean I’m just assuming from that phone call you just had.”

“Yeah and instead I get to go home to yours?”

“My family’s not shitty. They’re nothing like me.”

You can’t lie to yourself and say that the offer isn’t tempting. Because as soon as you mention the word “boyfriend” to your mother she’ll be all over it. Like Frankie’s family, your mom’s been pestering you to settle down, too. If you offer her some sort of crumb to give her the indication that you’re finally “settling down” maybe she’ll leave you alone for once. 

“Just think about it,” Frankie says while you’re contemplating his offer to himself. 

He turns to walk back to his house but you stop him before he goes anywhere.

“Wait!”

He turns around to face you again with a hopeful look in his eye. You can’t believe you’re actually agreeing to this.

“Fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” you sigh, “I guess it beats going home to my family.”

“Thank you,” he says, pulling you in for a hug.

“Alright, the fake relationship hasn’t started yet,” you say, wincing at his embrace.

“Shit, you’re right,” he says, pulling away.

“How long are we there?”

“From the twenty-third until New Year’s. That okay with you? I know you have the bakery and all…”

It’s a little earlier than you prefer to close and it’s quite a long time to be gone but you suppose you can make do. Maybe you can catch a short flight home if you need to be back to the bakery by then?

“Yeah, fine with me. Where does your family live?”

“Savannah, Georgia.”

Oof, five hours in Frankie’s truck, just the two of you… But it’s worth it.

“Okay,” you sigh. 

“Great. Thank you so much. We’ll leave around ten, okay?”

“Alright. Sounds like a plan.”

“Oh, one more thing. Can you bake something?”

You let out a sigh. “Yeah, sure. I’ll think of what to make.”

“Thanks again,” he says, putting his hands together like he’s praying before turning and walking back to his house. You’re left in your driveway questioning all your life choices that led up to this moment. But now you get to call your mom and tell her about this mysterious boyfriend you just happened upon. 

You get in the car to leave for work and call your mom again, making sure to act a bit more pleasant this time. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, mom,” you say, putting on your cheeriest voice.

“What happened with your neighbor?”

“Oh, nothing. He just had a package for me. Got delivered to his house by accident.”

“Oh, okay. So are you coming home for Christmas or what?”

“Actually, I’m not. I’m sorry. But I have a good reason?”

“And that is?”

“I’m going to my boyfriend’s family’s Christmas.”

“Boyfriend? You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”

“Uhh, it’s sort of new.”

“What’s his name?”

“Frankie.”

“Well, don’t fuck this one up. I want to meet him after Christmas, okay?”

Classic mom. She always has to make this about how much you suck.

“Of course. I’ll talk to you later, though. I gotta go open up the bakery.”

“Alright. Love you, bye.”

“Love you, too. Bye.”

That’s the best phone call you’ve had with your mom in a while. Maybe pretending to date Frankie will be a good thing?

-

It’s time to go. You're dressed in a comfy outfit for the drive. Everything’s packed and ready to go. You decided to make lemon bars from the lemon tree in your backyard. They’re packed away neatly in your to-go container. You head outside with all of your bags and Frankie meets you in your hard to help you. 

“Jesus, did you pack the kitchen sink, too?”

“Wow, you’re so funny,” you say, rolling your eyes. 

You’re already questioning why you said yes to this. But then your mother’s nagging voice is deep in the back of your mind. 

It’s better than going home, you tell yourself.

You get into the passenger seat and Frankie backs out of the driveway. You look at his lawn out the window as you leave. Still not cut, of course. 

For the first thirty minutes of the drive, it’s painfully silent. Until Frankie says, “You let me know if you need to stop to pee or something.”

“Okay…” you say awkwardly.

Another fifteen minutes goes by and he breaks the silence again. 

“You know, if we want to sell this we have to act like a real couple.”

You were dreading this conversation.

“Yeah…”

“For one, we’ll probably gonna be sharing a bed.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And we have to act like we somewhat like each other when we’re not alone.”

“I know,” you sigh.

“Think you can do that?”

“I said yes to this, didn’t I?”

“Right…”

You can’t sit through another uncomfortable silence again. You’ve still got like four more hours of this drive to go. 

“I guess we have to get to know each other.”

“Right. So what do you do? Oh fuck, I know you have the bakery but I meant tell me about it.”

“Uhh, right. I opened it four years ago. I just make desserts, like pastries and shit.”

“Gotcha.”

“What about you?”

“I used to be in the Army, specifically the Delta Force.”

“Oh, wow. How long were you in the Army?”

“I joined right after I got out of high school.”

“Long time,” you comment, “When did you leave?”

“About three years ago. I was just a pilot for a while.”

“Gotcha. What do you do now?”

“Not much. I’ve been living off my pension for the past two years after some shit happened.”

“We don’t have to talk about-”

“Our friend passed.”

“Oh, Frankie. I’m sorry.”

He says nothing more and you’re so curious for more information but you don’t want to pry either. It falls silent again and then you decide to pry for more information about a less heavy topic. 

“So… if you don’t mind me asking, what happened with your girlfriend?”

“She broke up with me two days before Thanksgiving.”

“That’s rough. What did you tell your family?”

“I pretended I was sick.”

“I’m sorry, Frankie.”

“Don’t be. I probably should’ve ended things a while ago. I don’t think she had any idea about who I really am.”

“Right.”

“She didn’t even know my full name.”

The cake that you made. 

“Yeah…”

“She put the wrong name and didn’t even get a cake I like.”

“About that.”

“Hm?”

“Do you know where she got that cake from?”

“No.”

“She came to my store.”

“…Did you know it was the wrong name?”

“Well yes, but what was I supposed to say? She’s the customer. I can't correct her. I just have to write what she ordered.”

“I know…” he sighs. 

“Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that she was the wrong person for you, okay?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I felt bad making it.”

“You did?”

“I mean, it’s kinda shitty if your girlfriend doesn’t know your name, right?” You chuckle. 

“Right again,” he nods, looking over at you from the driver's seat. 

“So what kind of cake do you like then?” you ask. 

“Chocolate. I’m a simple guy.”

“Noted. So now I know Frankie Morales used to be in the Army, used to be a pilot, and likes chocolate cake. Anything else I need to know?”

“That about sums me up I guess.”

“Oh, come on! There’s more to you than that. What do you like to do for fun? Besides partying.”

“Oh, uh, I like to play poker with my friends. I’m into cars. And we’ll go support Benny at some of his matches. That’s pretty much all I do these days.”

“And also not cutting your lawn.”

“Listen-”

“And complaining about free fruit,” you tease. 

“Alright, alright. I know I haven’t been the best neighbor in the past.”

“Uh-huh,” you say sarcastically. 

“I guess after what happened I went down a spiral. And I was just… selfish for a while. Only caring about what I wanted to do and not thinking how it affects others.”

“That’s fair. You went through something traumatic.”

He opens his mouth to say something else but no words come out. It feels like he’s hiding something or not telling the full truth. And he wants to tell you, but he feels just can’t, that you’re not ready for that just yet. 

It’s silent again and this time you find yourself dozing off with your cheek pressed up against the cool glass window. Somehow you’re able to fall asleep to Frankie’s music that he put on to fill the silence. You recognize it’s a Tom Petty song, but as you’re trying to put your finger on just what song it is, sleep fully overtakes you. 

-

You were only out for about an hour and a half. It’s hard to sleep for long periods in a truck. As you open your eyes and stretch a little, Frankie says, “Wake up, sleepyhead. You’re officially the worst co-pilot in the world.”

“Whatever,” you say sarcastically, also while stifling back a yawn. 

“I’m just teasing. You can go back to sleep if you want.”

“It’s fine. I probably shouldn’t sleep for too long anyway. It’ll mess up my sleep schedule.”

“Oof, my sleep schedule is pretty fucked up.”

You glare at him from the passenger seat. But he doesn’t get why, looking at you and going “What?” with a shrug.

“I noticed,” you say coldly. 

Everyone knows the best time to air your grievances with each other is when you’re trapped in a moving vehicle together!

“Okay… Why do you seem mad?”

“You and your friends are just… loud.”

“Oh.”

“And I have to be up early in the mornings to open the store.”

“Oh,” he says again like the realization is hitting him. 

“It’s alright…” you say awkwardly, even though it’s not. 

“It’s not alright. I wasn’t being considerate.”

“I know, but I didn’t say anything either.”

“You sure said something about my lawn,” he teases. 

“Because it’s a fucking eyesore, Francisco!”

“Be honest. You just wanted to see me mowing the lawn with my shirt off.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t lie! I saw the way you looked at me when you first moved in.”

“Oh, shut up!” you say, playfully slapping him on the arm. 

“You’re not denying it,” he says with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. Maybe I thought you were cute when I first moved in. Didn’t last long, though.”

“I know,” he sighs, “I’m trying to be better. Ironically enough I think Heather dumping me was what I needed.”

“I think so, too.”

Before either of you can say anything else, Frankie’s passing a sign indicating there’s a rest stop ahead. 

“Can we stop? I have to pee,” you say. 

“Sure thing,” he says, pulling off the highway and into the rest stop parking lot. 

“Meet you back here?” you say, opening the door. 

“I’ll go with you. All sorts of seedy characters hang out at rest stops,” he says, getting out of the car and walking around to your side. 

He helps you get out of the truck and walks inside with you, placing a hand on the small on your back as you cross the parking lot. His head’s in a constant swivel, eyes scanning the crowd for any signs of trouble. 

“I think I’ll take it from here,” you say, stopping in front of the women’s restroom. 

“I’ll be waiting here,” he nods. 

You nod back and look at what he’s wearing; a burgundy t-shirt with a black zip-up sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, and of course the Standard Oil cap. Now that you’re starting to see Frankie for who he really is… you don’t mind him at all? Seven months ago you never thought this would’ve happened, that you’d actually be civil with him. Maybe you just had to give him a chance. 

You do your business and walk back out to the lobby to meet Frankie. He’s on high alert, standing stiff as a board and taking in all of his surroundings. Until he sees you and his face lights up. 

“I got us some stuff for the road!” he says cheerfully, holding up a plastic bag. 

You look inside the bag and “some stuff” was an understatement. It looks like Frankie bought out the entire store. There are bottles of water, soda, different kinds of chips, candy, and gum- you name it, he bought it. 

“I wasn’t sure what you liked. So I just got a few different things,” he says, most likely noticing how wide your eyes got. 

“Thanks, Frankie. That was sweet of you.”

“Do you need anything else before we get back on the road?”

“I think I’m all set,” you nod. 

You walk back to the truck with him and he does the same thing he did before, placing a hand on your back as you cross the parking lot. He opens your door for you and you take the bag from him once you’re settled in your seat. He gets back into the driver seat and soon enough, you’re back on the road.

“So I should probably prepare you for meeting my family,” he says, reaching for a Slim Jim in the bag. 

“Oh god, why?” 

“They’re not bad. They’re just… a lot? But they mean well.”

“Okay.”

“So you have my mother, Rosa, and my father Francisco Sr. But he passed away when I was twenty.”

“I’m sorry, Frankie.”

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago. I have three older sisters.”

“You’re the baby of the family?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing. It just tracks.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, thanks. My sisters are Ria, Isabel, and Laura. Ria is married to Emmanuel and they have two kids, Luna and Camila. They’re college-aged. And then Isabel is with her wife, Aurora.”

“Okay,” you respond, mentally trying to keep track of all this. 

“And then Laura is married to Rafael and they have three kids, Sofia, Anthony, and Marcelo. Sofia is twelve. I think Anthony’s nine or ten. And Marcelo is four. He’s my favorite.”

“Frankie! You’re not supposed to have favorites.”

“It’s not like I tell them that. I also have two aunts, Aunt Linda and Aunt Maggie. They’re my mother’s sisters. And then my Uncle Tommy, he’s my dad’s brother. And then there’s Cousin Ben, he’s Tommy’s son, around my age.”

You’re doing mental gymnastics, trying to memorize everyone’s names, ages, and who they’re married to. 

“Got all that?” Frankie says with a smirk, noticing the puzzled expression on your face. 

“I think so?”

“Don’t worry. Everyone will introduce themselves when we get there. They’re not gonna leave you alone so sorry about that in advance.”

“It’s alright. It beats going home to my family.”

“What are they like? I’m assuming they’re… not good if you don’t want to go home for the holidays.”

“Yeah, you’ve got it pretty much. My mom is super overbearing and nitpicking. I can’t do anything, or wear anything, or even say anything without her giving her two cents. My dad just sits there and lets her spew her bullshit without a filter. And then my younger sister, Erica, is just… perfect. She can’t do anything wrong in their eyes.”

“That sounds tough.”

“It is. I stopped going home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I try to just do one each year but I can’t take it anymore.” 

“I understand,” Frankie says softly. 

“My sister’s in medical school to be a cardiologist. So to my parents, running a bakery just doesn’t compare.”

“That’s stupid. Don’t they know how hard it is to run your own business?”

“No, and they probably don’t care to be honest.” 

“I’m really sorry.”

“It’s alright. Thanks for getting me a way out of Christmas this year, though.”

“Of course. You’re doing me a big favor.”

The rest of the drive goes smoothly and eventually, you’re pulling into Frankie’s parents' house in Savannah. The second Frankie’s truck is in the driveway, an older woman, probably his mother, is running out of the front door and into the driveway. He parks the truck and you get out to meet her. She immediately pulls Frankie into a big hug. 

“My baby’s home!!,” she says, embracing him and placing her hands on the back of his head. 

“You and that damn hat,” she says, “You have such beautiful hair, mijo. Why do you hide it?”

“You know I like the hat, Ma.”

She pulls away and her eyes are immediately on you. You’re nervous about her first impression of you, even though you’re not even Frankie’s girlfriend. But she thinks you are and you need to play the part. 

“It’s so nice to meet you!” she says, pulling into a hug, too. She gives the best hugs, rubbing your back and swaying just a little, even though you just met. 

“I want you to be comfortable here, okay? My house is your house,” she says, pulling back and grabbing your hands. 

“Thank you so much for having me in your home, Mrs. Morales,” you smile. 

“Please! Call me Rosa. Let Francisco get the bags and we’ll go inside, yeah?”

“Okay,” you nod, following her inside the house. 

It’s a beautiful home, decorated to the nines with the Christmas spirit. She leads you to her living film where there are pictures of everyone Frankie mentioned on the way here. On the coffee table, there’s one of Frankie’s parents with him and his sisters. You can really see the resemblance there between him and his mom. They have the same warm brown eyes and dimples. 

“You have a beautiful home, Rosa,” you tell her, sitting on the couch next to her. 

“Thank you, honey,” she says, “Tell me about yourself. It’s so hard to get Francisco on the phone these days. I feel like I know nothing about you.”

“I live in Tampa like Frankie. We don’t live too far from each other And I run a bakery.”

“Wow, good for you. It’s hard running your own business. Your parents must be very proud.”

“They are,” you say, lying through your teeth. 

“How has my son been? He’s been a little off since he lost Tom in Colombia two years ago. He’s not doing drugs again, is he?”

“Oh! No, to my knowledge, he isn’t?” you respond, stumbling over your words. That was a lot of information to take in, most of it Frankie hasn’t told you about yet. 

“That’s good,” she sighs, “I worry about him.”

“I get it. But I think he’s on an upward trajectory.”

“Thank you, honey. I know he’s a lot to put up with.”

Frankie meets you in the living room and plops down on an armchair across from the couch, letting out an exasperated sigh. 

“Tired?” you chuckle. 

“Yeah,” he pants, “Someone had to pack everything they own and the kitchen sink, too.”

“Francisco! You grew up with all women. Don’t you know this is how we are?” his mother says. 

“Yeah, Frankie,” you add sarcastically. 

“You two are gonna be the death of me,” he says, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. 

“Where did you put the lemon bars?”

“In the refrigerator.”

“You made lemon bars? Francisco told me you liked to bake.”

“Yeah!” you say, turning towards her again, “I didn’t want to come empty-handed.”

“Why don’t you both help me prepare dinner for tomorrow night? After you rest, of course. You had a long drive.”

“Oh, yeah. I need a nap,” Frankie says, getting up from the chair and heading up the stairs. 

“Get some rest, honey,” she says, gesturing towards the stairs. 

“Okay,” you say, feeling a little awkward that you’re supposed to just go lay in a bed with Frankie. 

Frankie’s waiting for you at the top of the stairs, smiling down at you. For some reason the sight makes your heart skip a beat. You meet him upstairs and he leads you to his childhood bedroom. His walls are blue and his bookshelves are filled with baseball trophies from when he was a kid up until high school. There are a few car posters scattered on his ealls. The bags are at the foot of his bed that’s tucked away in the corner of his room and thankfully, it’s not a twin-sized bed. Across the room is his desk, a few comic books stacked in a messy pile like he never left. 

“This is my room,” he says, gesturing vaguely to the space around him. 

“Cute,” you say, walking around and eyeing some of the stuff he has on his shelves. There’s a picture in a frame of Frankie as a kid with presumably his father right after one of his baseball games. He was a cute kid, wearing a toothy grin with some holes for the baby teeth he lost. 

“That’s my dad,” he says, noticing you looking at the picture. 

“Now that I’m looking at him, I can’t tell who you look like more,” you comment. 

“Definitely my dad,” he says. 

You turn to look at him and realize he’s right. A lot of his facial features match his father’s, but his eyes- those are his mother’s. 

“Are you tired?” he asks. 

“A little,” you yawn. 

“I don’t have to sleep in bed with you,” he says quickly. 

“I thought you said we were going to? You know, to keep up appearances or something,” you say, trying to ignore the butterflies in your stomach. 

“Oh, right. Just making sure.”

He takes off his sweatshirt and his hat, his curls matted down from wearing it on his head all day. He sets them down on the desk and walks over to the bed, pulling back the comforter and slipping in between the sheets. He moves to the side closest to the wall, letting you have the outside and the wall with the outlet to charge your phone like a true gentleman. You crawl in beside him, lying down side by side, mere inches from each other. 

“You don’t sleep naked, do you?”

He doesn’t say anything at first and you take that as a yes. 

“…I won’t while we’re home.”

“Cool,” you say awkwardly, rolling on your side and closing your eyes. 

“Goodnight?” he says. 

“It’s just a nap, but sure. Goodnight, Frankie,” you chuckle. 

…You do your best to fall asleep but to be honest, you’re freezing. You don’t really get why. You’re only a few hours north and Georgia doesn’t typically get too cold. Unless his mom has the air on or a window open; something. That doesn’t make sense, though. Don’t elderly people keep their houses entirely too hot?

“You’re shivering,” Frankie says, snapping you out of your thoughts. 

“What? No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. I can see you shaking.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to be cold.”

“What’s your solution then?”

“I could tell my mom to adjust the-”

“No, do not do that.”

“Or there’s the other option.”

“Uh huh…”

“I could hold you.”

“…You don’t have to.”

“I don’t mind.”

“…Fine.”

You feel him scooch closer to you and all of a sudden his warm chest is pressed up against your back. The comforter lifts for a second before his muscular arm wraps around you, pulling you even closer towards him. You’re immediately feeling warmer. He’s like a human space heater or something. 

“Better?”

“Y-Yeah. Thank you.”

As much as you hate to admit it, you’re much more comfortable now. However, there is one thing that’s keeping you from falling asleep. And that’s Frankie’s bulge presses right up against your ass. 

…You don’t hate it, though. If anything it makes you feel… good? Knowing that you have that effect on him. Maybe he really was jealous weeks ago at his birthday party. All of this begs the question; when did his feelings for you begin?

Lost in thought and enveloped in Frankie’s body heat, you drift off to sleep. 

-

You wake up an hour or so later to the doorbell ringing. Frankie wakes up, too, stretching and removing the arm that was slung over your waist. You already miss its absence. 

Frankie’s mom is talking to someone at the door. And it sounds like she’s talking to… a pizza delivery guy?

Frankie rolls onto his back, stretching again and yawning. You fall onto your back, too, lying side by side. 

“I think she ordered pizza,” Frankie says sleepily. 

“That was nice of her.”

“Just so we don’t have to worry about making dinner tonight while we prepare tomorrow’s.”

“Make sense,” you reply, rolling out of bed and stretching once your feet hit the floor. 

“Did you sleep well?” Frankie asks, sitting at the edge. 

“I did. Thanks for keeping me warm.”

“You’re welcome but it wasn’t all for you, though.”

“Oh?” you ask, wondering if he could be referring to the hard-on he had while holding you…

“Yeah, I can’t sleep next to you if you’re shaking like a leaf.”

You roll your eyes and he chuckles, leading you down the hallway and down the stairs, straight into the kitchen where the pizza awaits. 

“Dinner’s here!” Rosa says cheerfully, gesturing to the pizza boxes on the counter, “There’s a salad and garlic bread, too.”

“Thanks, Ma,” Frankie says, grabbing a plate from the cabinet and handing it to you.

“Thank you,” you say, “Are you sure you don’t want anything towards it?”

“Nonsense! When you’re in my house, I take care of you,” she says, waving you off. 

A saint of a woman she is. Frankie’s lucky to have a mother like her. The three of you sit at the kitchen counter eating while Rosa talks about what Christmas Eve dinner will be. 

“So tonight we’ll prepare the pasteles. And tomorrow we’ll do the rice and beans. Ria is bringing rolls. Laura’s bringing salad. And Isabel’s bringing flan.”

“Ooh, I love flan. I can make gingerbread cookies for Christmas Day, too,” you say, finishing your slice of pizza. 

“Thank you, honey. We’ll have a great time tomorrow. And you’ll get to meet all of Frankie’s sisters.”

“How exciting,” you say looking over at Frankie. 

“Frankie’s the baby of the family,” his mother says. 

“I could tell,” you snicker.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“You just have little brother energy,” you shrug.

“What about you, dear?” his mom asks. 

“It’s just me and my sister. I’m the oldest.”

“Well you have older sister energy, so how about that?”

“So I’m wiser and more responsible?”

“Whatever,” Frankie sighs. 

“It’s true, Francisco. You can ask Ria.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll get right on that,” he says sarcastically, taking all your plates to the sink. 

You clean up from dinner with Frankie before preparing the pasteles. You’re standing at the kitchen island, stuffing the pasteles and listening to Rosa tell stories about Frankie when he was a kid. 

“He was my toughest kid to potty train,” she says, shaking her head. 

“Mom!” Frankie says, shooting daggers at her with his glare. 

“What? You were. And I have the pictures to prove it. For the first two years, you would only use the training potty. I’ll bring out the photo albums tomorrow.”

“No,” Frankie says quickly. 

“Oh yes,” you laugh. 

“Ughhh,” Frankie sighs while you and Rosa share a laugh. 

Soon enough all of the pasteles are prepped for tomorrow and the kitchen is clean again.

“Thank you both for helping me. Now get some sleep! You’ll need all the energy you can get to deal with this family.”

“Goodnight, Ma,” Frankie says, heading towards the stairs. 

“Goodnight. Thank you again for everything,” you say to her. 

“Of course, honey. See you in the morning!” she says. 

As you’re heading up the stairs, she calls out to Frankie, “Francisco! Make sure you show her where the fresh towels are!”

“I will, Ma,” Frankie says, calling down the stairwell. 

“You want to shower?”

Before you can respond he quickly adds, “Not with me of course.”

“I know,” you snort, “But sure. Where’s the bathroom?”

He leads you down the hallway and stops at a door on the right, opening to reveal a linen closet. 

“Towels are here. Bathroom’s over here,” he says, pointing to a door directly across from the linen closet. 

“Thanks,” you tell him, grabbing a towel and heading to the shower. You shut the door behind you and now that you’re alone for once, you let your mind wander…

What happened in Colombia? And what sort of drugs was Frankie on?

You turn on the shower and strip, letting the hot water run down your body as you think about all the possibilities. He did say he lost a friend. Maybe that’s what happened in Colombia. But that doesn’t explain the drugs. 

A knock on the door brings you back to reality. 

“Can I come in?” Frankie asks. 

“Uhh-”

“I just have to brush my teeth. I won’t look.”

“I guess.”

He opens the door and enters the bathroom, keeping his word and looking away from the shower curtain. In fact, he looks at anything else in the bathroom but the shower curtain, picking up a bottle of Tylenol from the medicine cabinet and reading the warnings. You poke your head out of the shower, watching as he brushes his teeth and reads the label on the bottle. And there’s something so… cute about it, so endearing. And now that you think about it, you wouldn’t particularly mind if he saw you in the shower. You can’t believe you’re actually admitting this to yourself. 

But before you know it he spits the sink and rinses his mouth, exiting the bathroom and leaving you with your confusing feelings yet again. You finish your shower and dry off, thinking about his mysterious past again. All of this strange information begs the question… What was he doing in Colombia in the first place? Does he have some dark secrets he’s hiding? And if so, how could he be so cute? 

You look at the toilet and see that Frankie also brought you your pajamas, flannel Christmas pants, a short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of lacy underwear…

That means he went through your bag, which should make you mad but the fact he decided to bring you your pajamas so you didn’t have to walk down the cold hallway sopping wet is adorable. 

You’ll ask him about his past later you decide. For now, he’s your cute pretend boyfriend and you’re going to live in that fantasy for a while. 

Once you’re dry and dressed, you hang your towel up on a hook and walk back to Frankie’s room, where he’s tucked into bed waiting for you. You crawl into bed beside him, lying down on your side and feeling his warm embrace again. His arm returns around your waist and soon enough you’re falling asleep, comforted by his warmth and his scent. 

-

The smell of food cooking downstairs wafts up to Frankie’s room, pleasantly waking you up. Frankie’s lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling with his hands folded neatly on his tummy. 

You roll over and ask, “You okay?”

“Me? Oh yeah, I’m fine. I think I’m just nervous.”

“Nervous for what? Your family sounds awesome.”

“They are. They can just be overwhelming, I guess.”

“I get it. It’ll be fine, though. Like you said, I don’t think they’ll leave me alone.”

“Right,” he says, shaking his head, “It’s stupid. Today’s gonna be fun.”

“Wanna help me with the gingerbread cookies?” you say, getting out of bed and stretching once your feet hit the floor. 

“Sure,” he says, sitting at the edge and yawning, “Do you need to get anything for them?”

“I could just DoorDash some stuff. I don’t want to raid your mom’s kitchen.”

“Ah, she won’t mind. Let’s go downstairs.”

He stands up and stretches, the short-sleeved shirt he’s wearing lifting a little and exposing some of his tummy. His flannel pajama pants are hanging low on his hips and he’s got a little bed-head going on, his curls slightly matted in the back. God, he’s just so… cute. You can’t deny it any longer. As much as you don’t want it to be true, Frankie Morales is a cute man.

You follow him downstairs to the kitchen where his mother is cooking away, stirring different pots and pans on the stove. 

“Good morning you two,” she smiles. 

“Good morning,” you respond, “It smells amazing down here.”

“Thank you, honey.”

“Ma, I think we’re going to make the gingerbread cookies if we won’t be in your way.”

“Go ahead! By all means. Maybe you can decorate them with the kids tonight?”

“Good idea! Do you need me to get anything from the store?”

“Nonsense! I should have everything you need.”

“Told you,” Frankie says, opening a cabinet and looking through the shelves with you. 

To your surprise, she has everything you need for the cookies. And as you sit down at the dining room table Frankie says, “This kitchen is always fully stocked.”

As you roll the dough you think about tonight, meeting the rest of Frankie’s family. You’re excited to meet them but you’re also wondering what you should wear. You packed a few different options for outfits because every family’s vibe is different. Your family tends to lean more formal when it comes to holidays but Frankie’s family could be the complete opposite. 

“Frankie?” you ask, cutting the gingerbread men out with a cookie cutter. 

“Yeah?”

“What does your family wear on Christmas? Like do they dress up?”

“Oh, we abandoned trying to look nice a long time ago. Especially once my sisters started having kids.”

“Oh, okay. So don’t dress up?” 

“Nah.”

That makes you feel at least a little relieved. For some reason, you’re dying for them to like you. And you don’t even get why. You’re not Frankie’s girlfriend. There’s a large chance you’ll never see them again after you leave and go back to Florida. 

Once the cookies are on the trays, you pop them in the oven and set a timer on your phone. Rosa’s just about finished with dinner for tonight and Frankie’s cleaning up the mess from the cookies. You look at the clock on the stove and ask, “What time is everyone coming?”

“Around five or so.”

It’s already two-thirty now. You should probably get ready soon, in case Rosa and Frankie need the shower. 

“I’ll pull the cookies out if you want to go get ready,” Frankie says as if he read your mind. 

“Oh okay, thanks. Fifteen more minutes.”

“Gotcha,” he says, leaning against the counter beside the stove. 

You go upstairs and into Frankie’s room, going over all of your outfit choices in your head. You decide to wear option 3, light wash jeans and an emerald green sweater, nothing too fancy. You grab your clothes and your makeup and head to the bathroom, taking extra time to get ready. The timer on your phone for the cookies goes off and you hope Frankie remembers to take them out. You continue your shower, anxiously thinking about meeting the rest of his family. 

Eventually, as you’re dressed and putting on your makeup, Frankie knocks on the door. 

“Can I come in?”

“Go ahead,” you say, leaning forward toward the mirror and putting on your mascara. 

He opens the door and looks at you, practically bent over the sink. 

“You look…”

“Huh?” you, turning your head towards him. 

“You look nice,” he says, eyes wide. 

“Thanks. I’m almost done and then the bathroom’s all yours.”

“No rush. Take your time.”

You finish your makeup and gather all your stuff, leaving him in the bathroom and heading back to his room. You plop your stuff down on his bed and think of what to do next. Might as well make yourself useful while he’s showering and get the icing bags ready for the gingerbread cookies. You head back down to the kitchen, where Rosa’s sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. 

“You look beautiful, honey,” she says. 

“Thank you,” you say, sitting down across from her. 

“Francisco’s in the shower?”

“Yes, he is. I think I’m going to get the icing bags ready for the cookies if that’s alright.”

“Of course,” she says, springing up from her chair and rifling through the kitchen cabinets. 

She pulls out an electric mixer, confectioners sugar, and food coloring, setting them down on the table. 

“Milk’s in the refrigerator and let me get you some Ziploc bags…” she says, reaching into the cabinet again.

“Thanks,” you say, getting to work on the icing while she sits across the counter and watches. 

“I know I’ve just met you but I want to say thank you, for taking care of my son,” she says. 

“Of course,” you smile, scooping icing into the ziploc bag for makeshift piping bags.

“He hasn’t been the same since Tom died. But now that he’s here, it’s like he’s his old self again.”

Tom. There’s that name again. You have to know what happened if you’re going to keep up this charade. This is the second time she’s mentioned it and you’re playing along like you know what happened. It’s bound to come up again. 

“I’m glad he’s doing much better,” you say, adding food coloring to the bags. 

Eventually, you hear the water turn off which means Frankie must be getting out of the shower. Rosa gets up from her stool and says, “Well now that Francisco’s finally done, I guess I’ll go shower. I’m sure he left me no hot water.”

You two share a laugh and she heads up the stairs. You’re left alone with your thoughts until Frankie comes back downstairs again. So for now, in the fleeting moments of solitude, you think of ways to ask Frankie about his past that don’t sound completely insensitive. You could ask him under the guise of just trying to keep the charade going. This whole thing was his idea. He’d have to understand, right?

“Hey,” he says, snapping you from your thoughts. You didn’t even notice him coming downstairs. 

“Hi.”

“These look good. The kids will have fun decorating them.”

“I hope so,” you say.

You’re both just standing awkwardly in the kitchen, not saying a word. You think to yourself that maybe now would be the best time to ask, in case you need this information for tonight to go smoothly. 

You open your mouth to ask, “What happened in Colombia?” but you’re interrupted by the front door opening. 

“Feliz Navidad!” a woman’s voice shouts. You’re assuming it’s one of Frankie’s sisters or aunts. 

He pokes his head down the hallway and shouts, “Ria!” 

You glance over at the clock and she’s early. Frankie looks over at you and says, “She’s always early.”

“She’s the oldest?”

He nods. It makes sense. 

She comes into the kitchen and pulls Frankie into a big hug. She looks like a younger version of Rosa, a little bit shorter than Frankie. Her husband and kids pile in behind her, her girls hugging Frankie and her husband shaking his hand. 

“So nice of you to show up for Christmas. Not battling some mysterious illness this time, huh?” she teases. 

“I’m not lying! I was really sick.”

You’re standing there awkwardly in the kitchen, not trying to interrupt the family reunion. It isn’t until one of Ria’s daughters looks over at you and asks, “Who’s this?” that your presence is acknowledged. 

Frankie walks over to you and snakes an arm around your waist, proudly saying, “This is my girlfriend!” followed by your name. 

“Nice to meet you!” Ria says, “It’s been such a long time since Francisco’s brought a girl home!”

This is the second family member to refer to him as Francisco and now you’re wondering if you should be doing the same. Before you can continue she motions her daughters over and says, “This is Luna and Camila. Luna’s in her junior year of college and my Camila’s a senior in high school!”

“Exciting times for both of you,” you comment, not really knowing what to say. 

But Ria continues anyway. “And this is my husband, Emmanuel,” she says, gesturing to her husband in the corner. He seems like the quiet type, letting his wife do all the talking in social situations. 

“Where’s Ma?” Ria asks Frankie. 

“In the shower. Are the others on their way?”

“Laura’s almost here. Isabel and Roro will probably be late as per usual. Will you grab the rolls out of the car?”

Emmanuel nods, again not saying much of a word at all before heading out to the car in the driveway. Ria and the girls take off their coats, hanging them on a coat rack by the front door. While Luna and Camila retreat to the living room, Ria takes the rolls from Emmanuel and puts them in the drawer underneath the oven, putting them on a low setting to keep the rolls warm until dinner starts. Soon enough, you’re all sitting in the living room together, awkwardly exchanging glances and waiting for either Rosa to come downstairs or for someone else to arrive. 

And for a while, it feels like the front door doesn’t close, a slew of family members coming in left and right. First, it was Aunt Maggie. Then it was Laura with her husband, Rafael, and their kids, Sofia, Anthony (who insists you call him Tony), and Marcelo, Frankie’s favorite. And Frankie wasn’t lying about Marcelo being his favorite, his eyes practically lit up the moment Laura walked in the door, carrying him on her hip. After Laura’s family, Uncle Tommy and Cousin Ben came. Frankie’s arm around your waist tightened when Ben looked you up and down which made your heart do somersaults. Aunt Linda followed soon after. And finally, last but not least, Isabel and Aurora (who goes by Roro) arrived. 

Somewhere in between all of the commotion Rosa returned downstairs. And you’re left with your head spinning, trying to keep track of everyone’s names and trying to make a good first impression. And you think you succeeded? Laura and her kids are really nice. Marcelo’s been hanging off you and Frankie since he set foot in the door. Isabel is definitely the coolest Morales sister out of the three of them. You don’t really have any complaints about Frankie’s aunts. And Uncle Tommy’s been dozing off on the couch, reminding everyone to wake him up when it’s time for dinner. You don’t mind Ben at all but he definitely has a little crush on you. You don’t spend too much time talking to him, just enough to learn he teaches high school English.

You also noticed that Isabel, Roro, Uncle Tommy, Ben, and his brother-in-law all call him Frankie and not Francisco. But his mom, Ria, Aunt Maggie, and Aunt Linda call him Francisco. And to the nieces and nephews, he’s Uncle Frankie of course. 

Eventually, Rosa announces that it’s time for dinner. Frankie and Ben set up a small folding table for the kids, except for Marcelo who sits on Laura’s lap. You sit in between Frankie and Isabel. Rosa sits at the head of the table and before everyone digs in she says, “Now who would like to say grace?”

“I will,” Tony says, raising his hand from the kids' table.

“Go ahead,” Rosa says.

“Grace. Okay, we’re done. Let’s eat, everybody!”

Everyone shares a laugh and Rosa decides, “You know what? It’s good enough for me!”

The rest of Christmas Eve goes smoothly. After dinner, you help the adults clean up before bringing out the gingerbread cookies to decorate. All of the kids, even Luna and Camila, sit around the table with you, decorating the cookies with your makeshift piping bags. Ria takes a picture of you guys, brows furrowed in concentration as you all try to make the cookies absolutely perfect. 

“Aren’t you gonna do one?” you ask Frankie, who’s standing beside you and watching. 

“Sure,” he says, pulling up a chair. 

He grabs a gingerbread woman and begins to draw a face on her. But before he’s done he gives her a frown and angry eyebrows, holding it up and saying, “Look! It’s you when I don’t mow the lawn!”

“Oh, shut up,” you reply, grabbing your own gingerbread man and giving him not only angry eyebrows but a yellow blob in his hand. 

“Look! It’s you when you complain about free lemons.”

The kids laugh even though they don’t know the full context of the joke. But once the last cookie is decorated, people begin to head out, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and saying goodnight. Once the main level is cleaned up you and Frankie say goodnight to his mom. She tells you that Christmas dinner is at Ria’s and that it starts at two. 

With that, you’re off to bed, returning to your rightful place of being spooned by Frankie. And for once, the two of you are alone again. Your mind goes back to Tom, what happened in Colombia, and Frankie’s drug addiction. You’re just gonna do it, rip the bandaid off

“Frankie?”

“Hm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Well, earlier your mom was talking about your friend Tom and what happened in Colombia… I know it’s not really my business but should I know what happened? You know to keep up the act-”

He sighs and you fear you’ve overstepped.

“I figured it was going to come up sooner or later.”

He pulls away to rest on his back, staring at the ceiling and recounting what happened. You lie on your back, too, looking over at him as he begins his story. 

“A few years ago, I developed a really bad addiction to coke. And it cost me almost everything. I lost my pilot's license. Santiago approached me, Tom, Will, and Benny about going to Colombia to steal money from this drug lord, Lorea.”

“I see,” you comment, letting him continue.

“It seemed appealing at the time. I needed the money, you know?”

“I get it,” you say softly.

“The mission was a fucking shitshow. We took fucking two hundred and fifty million dollars and lost all of it. It was too heavy for the helicopter so we crash-landed in a cocaine farm. They thought we were DEA and Tom killed some of them. So then we had to pay them as some kind of reparation. We went through the Andes on mules and two of the villagers followed us. One of them shot Tom and we had to carry him, the rest of the money through the mountains. When we finally reached the coast, the getaway boat was there waiting for us but the town was filled whatever was left of Lorea’s crew. There was no way we could carry all that cash with Tom’s body and make it to the boat without being killed. So we had to dump most of it down a fucking ravine.”

He’s getting more and more upset as he tells his story. And you feel guilty you even asked in the first place. He didn’t need to tell you all the details. He could’ve said his friend Tom died on a military mission in Colombia and that would’ve been enough to quell your curiosity. 

“Somehow we made it to the boat, but not without a fucking car chase and shootouts. By the end, we were left with a little over one million dollars each, but we decided to give it all to Tom’s family,” he says, finishing with a deep breath. 

You roll onto your side and look over at him. He’s not crying but you can tell he’s visibly upset, his eyes misty. 

“Thanks for sharing that with me. I know it’s hard to recount a traumatic experience like that.”

“It’s okay. Figured you should probably know. My family thinks it was some sort of mission for the Army, not that we went rogue. I don’t want them to know the true nature of what it was… greed.”

“Understandable.”

“So after all that I came home with a dead friend and no money.”

“I guess the overgrown lawn and the constant partying make sense now.”

That actually gets him to laugh. 

“I guess it does,” he chuckles, “But thanks for putting up with me.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“And thanks for coming here and doing this for me. That happened two years ago and my family has been worried sick about me since. Whenever my mom calls me I just… I just lie. I think if she saw how I was doing now it would break her heart. But here with you, she thinks you’re like my saving grace.”

You don’t say anything because you really don’t know what to say. It’s nice his mother feels that way, but it’s all a lie. 

“I know that was a lot…” he says.

“You’re okay. I’m here to listen,” you reassure him. 

“You should probably get some sleep. You’ll need all the energy you can get to deal with my family for another day.”

“Okay,” you sigh, rolling over to your other side. Frankie spoons you again like he always does. This time you don’t feel something hard against your lower back, instead you feel Frankie’s breath by your ear. 

“Thank you,” he whispers, holding you a little tighter as he falls asleep. 

-

You wake up to Frankie still holding you just as tight. You’ve never had a Christmas like this, one so peaceful. 

And then it hits you… it’s Christmas. Which means you need presents, something you completely forgot all about. You were too wrapped up in pretending to be Frankie’s girlfriend. 

“Frankie?”

“Yeah?”

Has he been awake this whole time? And still holding you just as tight… 

Whatever, worry about that later. 

“I forget to get everyone fucking presents.”

“Already took care of it.”

“Really?” 

“Mhm,” he says, propping his elbow on the pillow and looking down at you, “You’ve never met them before. How could you get presents for people you don’t even know?” 

“Right,” you say, lying on your back. 

“Merry Christmas,” he smiles. 

“Merry Christmas,” you respond. 

“Let’s go exchange with my mom.”

You roll out of bed first and let him grab the presents from his suitcase. 

“What did I get her?”

“A sweater. It’s her favorite color.”

“Ooh, good idea.”

He hands you the present and it’s wrapped like a typical guy would wrap it. 

“I’m telling her you wrapped it.”

“Oh, she’ll be able to tell,” he laughs. 

You follow him down the stairs where his mother is sitting on the couch watching a Hallmark movie. She smiles and wishes you a Merry Christmas when she sees you, grabbing presents from under the tree. 

You give her the present “you” got her and she clocks Frankie’s wrapping job right away. 

“I can tell Francisco wrapped this,” she chuckles, unwrapping the gift and opening the box. She tells you she loves it and pulls you in for a big hug. Even though you didn’t actually buy the gift, you can’t help but appreciate the sense of approval. Your mom would’ve criticized whatever you got her, no matter how great the gift was. 

Rosa got Frankie a wallet with his initials engraved in the leather. She got you an apron with your name embroidered on it. Both presents were very thoughtful and as she’s pulling out the photo albums like she promised the other day, Frankie whispers in your ear, “She’s big on getting things personalized.”

The three of you spend the rest of the morning looking at photo albums until it’s time to get ready to go to Ria’s. For once, Frankie can’t wait to jump in the shower, anything to get away from the “embarrassing” pictures his mom is showing you. 

Once the three of you are ready you drive to Ria’s in Frankie’s truck, with the gifts piled in the back seat. He parks on the street and you head inside to the already bustling house. Everyone shouts “Feliz Navidad” as you’re taking off your shoes before joining them at the table. 

The menu for Christmas dinner is empanadillas, tostones, pernil, and arroz con gandules. And for dessert, there’s tembleque, the gingerbread cookies you and the kids decorated, and of course, the lemon bars. 

Christmas Day goes even better than Christmas Eve. All of the presents got for you to give to his family were a hit, but not without a sly comment from Frankie.

“You know… She did have some help,” he says with a smirk and a wink.

That earned him a smack on the arm.

Eventually, the evening is winding down. The kids are sitting under the tree playing with their toys and the adults are scattered around the house. For once, there’s no one paying attention to you two.

“Come with me,” Frankie says, getting off the couch and grabbing his coat.

“Where are we going?” 

“For a walk,” he says. 

You follow him to the front door, slipping on your shoes and coat. The two of you walk side by side on the sidewalk. It’s silent between you two but it’s a comfortable silence. But as you stop underneath a streetlamp, Frankie says, “I have something for you.”

“Frankie! You didn’t have to.”

“No, I really did. And I wanted to. It’s not just a Christmas present but it’s also a thank you for doing this for me… And also an apology for being a shitty neighbor,” he chuckles.

He pulls out a box from his coat pocket and hands it to you. You lift the lid to reveal a gold chain with a pendant, and a lemon stamped into the metal.

“Aw, Frankie… This is so sweet.”

“Look at the back,” he says softly.

You flip over the pendant and engraved on the back is your street name, Magnolia Drive. You look back at Frankie and his face is nervous, as if he’s waiting for your approval. His brow furrowed, his face dimly lit under the streetlamp, and his curls peeking out under his stupid fucking hat. All you can do at that moment is kiss him. He’s shocked for a second but it doesn’t take long for him to melt into your touch and wrap his arms around you. 

He pulls away for a second to ask, “I take it you like it?”

“I love it, Frankie,” you nod, leaning in for a kiss again.

And for a moment you two stay there, holding each other under the streetlamp on Christmas night. 

“I didn’t get you a present,” you admit, resting your head against his chest.

“You already did. You did me a huge favor. It’s a lot to deal with my family.”

“I didn't just deal with them. I liked being with them.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, like you said before, they’re nothing like you.”

“Shut up,” he says, pulling you in for another kiss. 

After a while he says, “We should probably get back.”

You nod and follow him back to Ria’s house where you bid your goodbyes to everyone and head back to Rosa’s for the night. She turns in early and now it’s just you and Frankie alone again. But being alone with him feels different this time. Not only because you just kissed but also because you think… you have feelings for him. Maybe it’s the holiday spirit talking or how vulnerable he was last night, but you have to admit to yourself that Frankie Morales is not only a cute man but a man you misjudged this whole time. 

Once you’re back upstairs to Frankie’s room, you’re sitting side by side on his bed. The silence is back and you’re wondering if you shouldn’t have kissed him earlier. Maybe all you are to him is someone who did him a favor, someone who’s just his neighbor and nothing more. 

“I’m sorry about the kiss. I-”

“You’re sorry?”

“Well yeah, I-”

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long, cariño.”

“How long?”

“Soon after you moved in next door.” 

“Really? I thought you hated me.”

“No, I never did. I just liked pushing your buttons. You’re cute when you’re irritated.”

Your brain is short-circuiting, in disbelief at what he’s saying.

“Even when you were with Heather?”

“Mhm.”

“Is that why you were so jealous of Benny at your birthday party?”

“...Maybe,”

“Mmm, you’re cute when you’re jealous,” you say, leaning in for another kiss.

This time the kiss is needier, and more passionate, like you can’t get enough of each other’s touch, scent, and taste. His hands caress either side of your face as his body leans into you more, coaxing you to lie down on his bed. His mouth leaves yours, trailing along your jawline and down your neck. Your breath hitches as he nips at your skin, immediately licking the bruised skin afterward. He moves down lower, lips moving along your collarbone, until he’s completely kneeling on the floor in front of his bed. His hands hook around the waistband of your pants, sliding them off in one clean motion before going to remove your panties.

“Frankie?” you ask, resting on your elbows and looking down at him.

“Yeah?”

“What about like… your mom?”

“She sleeps like a rock,” he says bluntly, returning to what he was doing before. 

He pulls off your panties and spreads your legs, looking at how wet your cunt is already. 

“Mm, so wet for me, cariño,” he muses, his warm breath tickling your core.

Before you can respond, he licks one long, slow stripe up your cunt, sending a shiver up your spine.

“Fuck, Frankie,” you breathe out, eliciting a chuckle from him.

He goes back in for another, licking up and down your entrance slow, enough to drive you crazy. And then, he moves to your clit, tongue swirling around it as your back arches up off the bed. He hooks his arms around your thighs, keeping you in place as he gets to work, nose grinding against your clit while his tongue licks your cunt. It doesn’t take long for you to cum, his face taught against your cunt as you do so. 

Once you’re done, he rests his head against your inner thigh, admitting the mess he just made. The lower half of his face is soaked, his patchy facial hair glistening. He returns back to your cunt for one more lap of his tongue, just to taste you one more time before rising from the floor and taking off his clothes. You sit up and take off your sweater and your bra, tossing them on the floor and lying back down. You inch up a little higher on the bed to make room for him as he hovers over you. 

“I have a confession to make,” he says, looking down at you with a sly grin.

“Oh??”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you naked.”

“Uhh-”

“Your bathroom window faces mine.”

“...It does?”

“Mhm. Saw you drying off one day.”

“Oh yeah? And then what?”

He bends down and whispers in your ear, “Jerked off in the shower to the thought of you.”

Your whole body shudders.

“Touch me, Frankie, please,” you whine.

“Are you begging, cariño?”

“Fuck. Yes, I am,” you whimper.

“Good girl,” he whispers in your ear, his hand caressing the outline of your breast before moving to your nipple. His other hand gathers some of your releases and strokes his cock, getting extra hard before sliding inside you, all while he plays with your nipple. You gasp at the sensation, feeling his length stretch your walls; feeling like you’re being split apart.

“You can take it,” he softly commands, bringing his face away from your ear and looking into your eyes again. He studies the expression on your face; the open mouth and the tears in the corners of your eyes, and his lips curve into a smirk. He draws his hips back and thrusts into you again, your cunt feeling completely full. Your soft moans are like music to his ears but he needs to hear more, not necessarily more sounds but a confession from you, too.

“Be honest, cariño. You’ve thought about fucking me too, haven’t you?”

It’s actually insane that this is the same sweet man who gave you the most thoughtful Christmas present earlier tonight. The same man who confessed to jerking off in the shower after seeing you naked.

“Y-yes…” you confess.

“What was that? Didn’t hear you,” he says as his hand to your other breast, taking your nipple in between his fingertips. 

“Fuck, Frankie yes, I’ve thought about it.”

“When?” he presses further, keeping the same pace with his thrusts.

“All the time. Even when you piss me off.”

“Knew it,” he teases, slamming his hips back into you. He rests his elbows on the other side of your head, face to face with you as he fucks you relentlessly.

“Frankie, I’m gonna cum,” you whimper.

“Let me feel it, cariño,” he says, studying your face again.

You close your eyes as you cum but that just won’t do for him. He wants you to look directly into the eyes of the man who made a mess of you.

“Look at me,” he softly commands.

You open your eyes, locking with his as you cum around his cock, feeling your walls flutter and pulsate in rhythmic patterns.

“Good girl,” he praises, thrusting into you one final time before coming, too. He paints your insides with his cum before pulling out of you and lying down on the bed. You roll over and situate yourself in the crook of his neck, resting your hand on his chest.

“You’re amazing,” he says, taking the his hat off his head and propping it on the bed post before wrapping his arm around you. There’s his sweet side again.

“I can’t believe you saw me naked,” you tease, still sort of in disbelief.

“Two times now. It’s a Christmas miracle,” he jokes.

You have to agree with him. He feels you twitch against him and he whispers, “Goodnight. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” you whisper back, letting sleep consume you.

New Year’s Eve

You’re spending New Year’s Eve at a bar with some of Frankie’s friends from high school. Ever since the night you got together, you’ve been leaning into the girlfriend role more, feeling like it’s not a charade anymore. Frankie doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, he welcomes it. This is what the two of you wanted all along, even if both of you didn’t know it.

You’re watching the ball drop in New York City on the TV at the bar with Frankie’s arm snaked around your waist. As the clock strikes midnight, you kiss, feeling like you’re starting the year off right for once.

“Look at you,” you whisper against his lips, “Ending the year in a fake relationship and starting the new year in a real one.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” he whispers back. 

Tag list: @wannab-urs @noxturnalpascal @hiddenbabynyc @littlegrungegirlaf @hyzer34 @catchallfangirl @pamasaur @paleidiot @runningmom94 @butiknewyoudlinger @sydneyinacoma @yorksgirl @wilderwizard @hnt-escape @axshadows @fanficlover1414 @lavema @yazsos @tarot-freader @dundienominee @pedropascalfan221 @khindahra @janaispunk @tuquoquebrute @perotovar @clawdee @immarocketman @whoreofabuckethead @grogusmum @idungoofed @fluffygoffpanda @meveispunk @beefrobeefcal @magpiepillsjunior @pr0ximamidnight @elvinaa @survivingandenduring @lincolndjarin @missladym1981 @heavennumber2 @covetyou @anoverwhelmingdin @hellfire-state-of-mind @joels-shitty-puns @stevie75

#frankie morales x reader #frankie morales x you #frankie morales x f!reader #frankie morales fanfiction #frankie morales smut #francisco morales #frankie catfish morales #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier #pedro pascal characters #pedrostories #pedro pascal fanfiction

[kitchenisking]

February Fic Rec

Hey Guys, I'm sorry I'm so late this month that its already the next month😅 I went back to work this month and I have mixed feelings about it so there's that🫤 but at least there's faction - please don't tell my kindle, there's so many books on there that I got to read😓. anyway, happy readying everyone! enjoy the spring and remember to kudos and comment😘

Show Him The Love by scarlettletterr - (Rating: Mature, Words: 2,911, sterek)

Everyone realizes Stiles is awesome, and actually gives him the recognition he deserves! For all his research, for his constant loyalty, for having awful stuff happen to him and always coming back for more, for trying to do the right thing even when people don't listen when they should.

------

My gift for Meggplant, for the Glompfest. Hope you like it!

You feel like Home by Itsreallyjustforresearch83 - (Rating: Mature, Words: 24,300, sterek)

Five times Stiles gets abused by his boyfriend and and the one time everything falls into place, like it was always meant to be. 

Maybe it was. 

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

"Are you really just leaving?" Stiles asked him. 

"Yeah? There's no point in me sticking around, we already did what we always do." His boyfriend said, fastening his belt and walking out of Stiles' room.

It Starts When You're Around by strobelighted - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 26,406, sterek)

"Earth to Derek. You okay, man?"

Derek's eyes are drawn back to the guy in front of him, who's starting to look more worried now.

"I --" he starts, then swallows against the dryness. "Who are you?"

--

or, Derek gets amnesia

eli's parents are so gross (read: in love) by ash_mcj - (Rating: T, Words: 1,195, sterek)

"I would’ve been here earlier, but nobody thought it would be smart to call the one person who’s intimately dealt with the Nogitsune before, so,” Stiles said bitterly as he threw his hands up. "Now I have a list of asses I gotta kick over this very avoidable fiasco. Scott’s first, since he’s the Alpha—I’m pretty sure that’s how that works. His responsibility, or whatever.”

The familiar sound of Derek’s car pulling into the driveway caught Eli's attention, and he grinned. “Is Dad on your list?”

“Hell yeah, Dad is on my list! Right under Scott.”

“Well, he just got home, so—”

Stiles didn’t wait to hear the rest of the sentence before stomping off in the direction of the living room—and Eli quickly scrambled to follow him, ready to eavesdrop on what was likely going to be a rather impressive and amusing lecture.

[or: eli is glad that stiles is home, since derek has nearly died several times in his absence, but he really wishes they were a little less glad to see each other] -- prompt | a reunion kiss

Hide by dr_girlfriend - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 12,419, sterek)

Stiles has been rejected so many times that it doesn't really surprise him when it happens again. Hurts, yeah, because dammit — he'd thought Derek was the one. Heartbreak sucks, and he's not so sure he's going to get over it this time.

Breaking A Rule by SinQueen69 - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 1,426, sterek)

Anon on tumblr wanted: Hiya! Please with sugar on top write a Sterek fic where derek is a business man and Stiles is a horny cockslut that sends Derek nudes while at work and Derek is pent up and punishes him when he gets home. Daddy Kink, Manhandling, Strength Kink, Bruises, Spanking, Rough Sex, Orgasm Denial, mentions of kittenplay?, verbal humiliation, gags! Tanks be safe and healthy

Soft Space by TuppingLiberty - (Rating: Mature, Words: 1,492,k sterek)

This time of year, Derek has to face too many bad anniversaries - the fire, the deaths. Stiles understands when Derek has to take a break from being alpha, when he just needs his daddy. 

Rated M for kink, but no explicit (or even mature) sex.

Kinktober day 4: Daddy (Starting Kinktober now so I can maybe finish in October this year)

How to Win an Argument Without Really Trying by sffan - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 2,288, sterek)

It started with a kiss.

Well, actually, it started with an argument.

no river, no rush by CoraRochester, ravenclawkward - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 5,351, sterek)

“You can’t marry me! I’m the worst choice. For one, there’s no strategic value to marrying a prince from Gajos—and if there were, I’d have been betrothed to you or Cora years ago. We have nothing to offer Beacon. I’m not even good at being a prince!”   …

On the eve of Derek’s coronation, he proposes to Stiles.

Are You Fucking Kidding Me? by Itsreallyjustforresearch83 - (Rating: Mature, Words: 2,893, sterek)

Derek has liked Stiles for a really long time, like embarrassingly long. But he swore to himself that he wouldn't make a move on Stiles until he knew for sure that his feeling were returned because he refuses to force something onto the Spark. 

OR

Derek likes Stiles, Stiles likes Derek, but the Alpha is convinced that Stiles is still in love with Lydia and can't see the obvious dofus Stiles is being around him. Lydia intervenes just because she's sick of watching the two dummys not be together.

#sterek #derek hale #stiles stilinski #fanfiction #stiles x derek #kitcheniskingficrecs #ficrec #fanfic

[allwaswell16]

One Direction fics where a character unexpectedly gets a call from the hospital or must rush to the hospital for another character and end up realizing their feelings as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

—Louis/Harry—

❤️‍🩹 Own the Scars by @crinkle-eyed-boo

(E, 144k, rehab) Louis has never felt like he was good enough: for his stepdad, for his life-long best friend, for the life he's supposed to want.

❤️‍🩹 Consequences by @allwaswell16

(E, 78k, amnesia au) Two years ago Harry let his powerful family come between him and the love of his life, something he deeply regrets. Louis has tried to move on from their devastating break up.

❤️‍🩹 Feels Like Coming Home by @phdmama

(E, 60k, angst) The last thing Harry Styles expects when he's hanging out at the Someday Cafe in Somerville one rainy October day is for his ex, Louis Tomlinson to walk through the door, but that's exactly what happens. 

❤️‍🩹 where the lights are beautiful by twoshipsdrifting / @polkadotlou

(M, 31k, omega Louis) the accidental bonding a/b/o fic

❤️‍🩹 devil's waltz by nebuloussubject

(M, 23k, canon) a sickfic with a slow burn

❤️‍🩹  Hypotheticals (series) by tomlinsunshine

(T, 15k, friends to lovers) This whole "running away" thing really isn't going as planned.

❤️‍🩹 Stay by rabbithole28

(M, 12k, exes to lovers) Louis was taken to hospital after a car accident. They called Harry letting him know that his fiance was unconscious and in a serious condition. The only problem was, Harry hadn't seen Louis since he walked out of their flat three years earlier.

❤️‍🩹 Wanna Do Nothing With You by whoknows

(E, 9k, canon) The accident happens in the stupidest way possible. One minute Louis is demonstrating a skateboard trick he’d just learned for Lottie, the next he’s waking up in a hospital.

❤️‍🩹 tides thrash inside by ifthat / @lovehl

(E, 8k, a/b/o) "How could I call you when I needed you as far as possible to sever our spatial bond?”

❤️‍🩹 Tight Grip on Reality by roseslotuslouis / @fandomaws

(G, 8k, angels) Louis is called as Harry’s emergency contact after he gets into an accident and they are thrust back into each others lives

❤️‍🩹 Together We're the Greatest by @hellolovers13

(E, 4k, exes) It's not the first time Louis has to stitch Harry back together, but Louis will make sure it is the last.

❤️‍🩹 Twenty Stitches In A Hospital Room by betty_and_i

(NR, 3k, paramedic Harry) H is a paramedic and him and L broke up a few months ago over something stupid which caused them to not talk again. Fastforward L is in a situation that causes someone needing to call the paramedics for him and H is the one to be there at the scene

—Rare Pairs—

❤️‍🩹 We Used To Wait by sunsetmog / @magicalrocketships

(E, 56k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) Louis has an accident, but nobody even knows he and Nick are going out.

❤️‍🩹 some velvet morning, years too late by tintedglasses

(T, 35k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) Louis wakes up in the hospital with unfinished business at his bedside. Turns out Nick has some unfinished business, too.

❤️‍🩹 I got myself in a mess (and without you I'm in more) by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

(M, 9k, Zayn/Liam) He’d laughed a bit, at first, when Louis had given it to him, when he’d explained all about the app that it was connected to, the emergency contacts that would be notified and sent his exact location “if you just double tap the back of the charm, see” because Louis was that friend, the mom friend

#ficrec #1dficvillage #trackinghappily #trackinghome #tracksintheam #1dsource #hltracks #ficsfor4am

[misshoneybee]

˖ ࣪ 𖥔 𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓 𖥔 ࣪ ˖

— ℳ𝒾𝓈𝓈ℋ𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓎ℬ𝑒𝑒'𝓈 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓉𝑜𝒷𝑒𝓇 —

Pairing: College!Reader x DBF!Steve Rogers Content Warnings: Age gap (Reader is early twenties, Steve is mid-forties), infidelity, bratty!reader, smut, light dom/sub, use of pet names, daddy kink, oral sex (m-rec), dirty talk, degradation, hold the moan, squirting, creampie Word Count: 4.8k  A/N: Please just pretend it's the fifteenth, lmao. Anyway, I got beef with P*ggy C*rter so this one's personal. 😜 I was so happy that so many of you guys seemed to enjoy 'The Night' so I'm very excited to share the second Kinktober prompt with you! As always, my blog is 18+ so: MINORS, DNI! Anyway, enjoy!! xx. Navigation: Masterpost | Playlist | Divider Credit | Kinktober Masterpost | October Eighth | October Twenty-Second Summary: When your dad’s best friend tags along on a family vacation, there’s just something about him that you can’t stay away from. The only obstacle? You needed to get that ring off his fucking finger.

You hoped to God that you were hiding the little smirk on your lips better than it felt like you were. The way Steve was holding his jaw and the way his hand was clenched on the tablecloth made you stifle a giggle into your hand before silently pressing your finger to your lips, gesturing for him to keep silent as your parents carried on a conversation on the other side of the table.

When they’d told you that your dad’s old roommate from college was coming along for the trip to your family’s house in Boulder, you were annoyed. You already didn’t care to go on some stupid family vacation on one of your few, precious breaks from college, but you certainly didn’t care to have some middle-aged, stick-in-the-mud tag along on it.

Then again, when his sleek, little sports car had appeared at the top of the long, private driveway, and he’d gotten out, you hadn’t expected Dr. Steven G. Rogers to look like that. When you’d greeted him alongside your parents, your eyes had been wide as he took your hand to gently shake. The older man towered over your frame, his jaw covered in a lush beard with the most beautiful shade of aquamarine eyes, and fuck—he was fit.

You’d only been at the ski resort for two days before the heated glances and barely-there touches had become too much for the both of you. Maybe you’d been playing with fire, walking around the big, drafty house in tiny, thin pajamas and without a bra, but everything had caught in a blaze when he’d found you in the middle of the night, climbing on the kitchen counter to reach the expensive vodka that your parents kept on the top shelf. His hands on your hips had steadied you as you jumped, frightened at the silent touch, before lowering you to sit on the cold marble.

Within seconds, in a silent agreement to keep this just between the two of you, Steve’s lips had easily found yours as you slipped your hand beneath the waistband of his stupid, plaid pajama pants that were slung low on his hips. Your hand found his already hard cock and he’d let out a quiet hiss as your hand worked his length until he’d finally had enough, carrying you down the hall to his room and fucking you until the sun had almost risen.

Since that night, much to your parents’ obliviousness, you hadn’t spent a single night alone in your bed. When the two of you weren’t fucking, you were laying bare, tangled in the warm, rumpled sheets, and talking about anything and everything. You discussed your major in molecular biology, his stint as a captain in the military, your last breakup, and the ring you’d spotted on his finger after the first time he’d fucked you.

At first, you felt a pang of guilt but after he opened up to you, you knew all about Peggy and how strained their marriage was. You knew they hadn’t fucked in six months. And you knew that maybe you liked him a little more than you’d initially planned. There were only two more days before you needed to go back to school and you were putting off the conversation of what came next, no matter how much you wanted to know and how it was driving you crazy.

As you took a sip of the sweet red wine, Steve gave a little surprised cough that hid a groan and it almost gave everything away; how your hand was rubbing his swollen length, hidden beneath the tablecloth, how you definitely were far less innocent than your parents believed, how you were fucking their forty-something year old friend.

“They work her too hard.” Your dad mentioned to Steve over his rocks glass, and you had to refrain from rolling your eyes. Your mom hadn’t shut up about how disappointed she was that Peggy hadn’t been able to join you—you couldn’t stop thanking God that she hadn’t.

“You know Peg,” Steve shrugged nonchalantly, taking a sip of his water as he white-knuckled the glass, “She wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“We know,” You mother sighed, her fork picking at the now-wilted greens on her plate as she frowned, “It’d just be nice for your wife to be able to go on vacation with us sometime.”

“You’re a cardiologist for Christ’s sake and you still find time.” Your father agreed, giving a pointed nod towards Steve. You bit your tongue as bile rose in your throat. Did they even know how unhappy Steve was? Why were they talking about her?

Steve’s chuckle was light, even though he registered the way you’d slowly taken your hand back from his lap, “She and I both knew that I came second to SHIELD when we got married.” With another shrug, he added, “I guess you can’t help who you fall in love with.”

It felt like your blood ran cold as jealousy snaked its way around your ribcage, squeezing your chest tightly. Maybe he did still love her. They’d almost been together for as long as you’d been alive. Of course, all he wanted was a fling—you were just a way to get his dick wet since his bitch of a wife was too busy with her job.

You barely registered the way your body had grown numb until your wineglass slipped from your fingers and tipped over on the table, cracking the delicate glass as the burgundy bled into the pristine fibers of the white tablecloth as a sharp gasp was pulled through your lips at the mess. Your eyes found Steve’s and you saw the slightest shift in his brow as he registered the envy in your expression.

“You okay, sweet pea?” Your dad frowned worriedly, standing, and grabbing some towels to mitigate the damage you’d done. Your mother busied herself drying it up and fussing with the linen. Being an only child meant you were constantly babied and sometimes, it worked to your advantage.

“I’m sorry,” You sighed, pressing a hand to your cheek as you forced yourself to sound more run down than annoyed, and even a little embarrassed, “I’m okay—I just feel a little sick to my stomach. Maybe I’m coming down with something.”

Your eyes flashed to Steve and your irritation grew as you saw a little glint of entertainment staring back at you, biting the inside of your cheek, you took a deep breath and chose to ignore him, turning your attention to your mother with a sad expression, “I think I’m going to lay down.”

Brushing some hair from your forehead, she frowned, “Are you sure? We were going to go on the gold slope—“

“I don’t know if I’ll feel up to it.” You gave a shrug, fake disappointment crossing your face as you pointedly ignored Steve, “Will you wake me up before you go? Maybe I’ll be feeling better by then.

Maybe spite wasn’t the best motivator, especially with the way your fucking orgasm was evading you after almost half an hour. After changing into a deep, green silk negligee, you’d sent a few pictures to Bucky, your on-again-off-again fuck buddy. Predictably, he’d responded with enthusiasm, showering you in compliments and praise as you sent videos back and forth. He’d sent a shaky video of himself coming more than ten minutes ago and you’d finally had to relent, faking a quick orgasm in your front facing camera before putting your phone down.

Had Steve ruined your ability to come any other way aside from with him? Your breath came quicker as you rolled your hips with the vibrator that was pressed against your clit, a quiet whine breaking through your lips as you stayed on the edge, balancing but never quite falling over.

Three muffled voices in the hall made you jump as you pressed the button on the bright pink toy, abruptly switching off the patterned vibrations as you yanked a thin blanket over top of you. A sharp knock sounded against the heavy, wooden door and your breath caught in your chest. Pretending to be asleep, you fought to even the slow breaths that were filling your lungs. After a few more knocks, your door finally creaked open and heavy footsteps found their way to your bedside.

The cologne was familiar; it had been rubbed off on to your own skin several times now. It was clean and fresh, reminding you of sun on your skin and sand between your toes rather than the blankets of snow that were falling outside the windows. Steve’s heavy hand landed on your shoulder, giving you a gentle shake as he murmured your name, “Wake up. Your parents are leaving; they wanted me to check one more time and see if you wanted to go with them.”

Remaining silent, you willed your face to stay carefully blank as his hand slowly drifted up and down your arm, causing goosebumps to pepper the surface as you suppressed a shiver despite how annoyed you were with him. It was like his touch set you on fire, gilding you like some precious thing that was just for him. Pressing the back of his hand to your forehead, you counted the seconds that seemed to last hours. The sooner he left you the fuck alone, the sooner you could try and come—without thinking of him. After a long moment and one last brush of his fingers against your cheek, he slipped back out of the room.

“She’s pretty feverish.” Steve’s voice was low as he spoke to your parents in the hall, and you willed them to leave. As they walked away, their voices quieted and you finally exhaled, resting a hand on your stomach as you fought to calm the racing beat of your heart. Any progressed you’d made had been washed away and you murmured a curse, flopping on to your back helplessly.

A few minutes later, you heard the rumble from your parents’ car in the driveway. The sound of the tires quickly faded, and it wasn’t long before the heavy footsteps were back in front of your door. Sinking into the mattress, pulling your blanket tighter around yourself, you’d only just squeezed your eyes shut when the door opened.

The side of your mattress sank, and Steve’s heavy hand landed on your waist; it was like you could feel the little smirk on his lips. Leaning down, he gently brushed some hair from your neck before placing a barely there kiss on your soft skin, murmuring into your ear, “Wake up, princess.”

You remained silent, forcing your body to remain still no matter how badly his touch made you want to beg for more. The hand drifted from your hip to your ass, giving the soft cushion of your skin a firm squeeze as his body pressed against your back, his voice was low, “I know you’re faking it.”

Illusion shattered, you hastily jerked away from him, using what little leverage you had to try and shove him away, “Fuck you, Steve.”

You were fuming and tried to smack him away, but it was futile—he was stronger than you and easily maneuvered you to straddle his lap, a careful eyebrow raised as he took both of your wrists in one of his hands, resting them against your chest, “What was that about?”

“Just leave me alone.” You fruitlessly tried to pull away, but he only pulled you closer with a heavy hand on your back, pressing your body to his. You could feel his heartbeat against your chest, and you felt a shiver run down your spine.

“Was my princess jealous?” He murmured.

“I’m not your princess,” You spat, “And I’m not fucking jealous.”

“And now you’re lying to me?” He tsked. The quiet, little chuckle that he let out made your face grow warm, embarrassment and irritation dancing together and licking up your spine. Steve pressed a soft kiss just beneath your jaw, “Come on, baby. Tell daddy why you’re upset.”

“You said you were separating with her.” You finally bit out, avoiding his eyes as exhaled slowly.

“I am.” He confirmed, a hand drifting to your chin, his thumb rubbing back and forth over your cheek.

“You didn’t tell my parents about it.” Your eyes focused on the ring that rested on the fourth finger of the hand that held yours against his chest.

Understanding crossed his face, a little smile ticking at the corner of his lips, “Is that why you’re upset?” Shaking his head, he released your hands, removed the ring and sat it on your bedside table, before taking your face in his hands instead, brushing a kiss against your forehead as your wide eyes searched his, “Silly girl. I’m moving out next week. I already got an apartment in the city.”

It was almost embarrassing, how light your heart felt at his words, “Really?”

“Yes, baby. And my lawyers are drawing up papers this month. Nothing’s been going on between me and her for a while—we’re just waiting for the right time to tell everyone. I promise.” As he slipped his arms around you, you relaxed into his touch, burying your face in his neck, brushing your lips against it as relief flooded your body. The two of you remained like that for several minutes before you felt him shift to pick up something from your bed, murmuring lowly, “Now, what’s this?”

Sitting up, you followed his sparkling eyes to what was in his hand. The bright pink silicone that rested in his palm stared back at you and you felt warmth crawl up your chest as your face caught fire. Pressing the button, it turned on and you could only let out a squeak, “Steve!”

“Is that my name, baby?” He grinned, raising an eyebrow as he clicked through the vibration patterns that seemed so loud in the otherwise silent house.

“Give it back!” Leaning out of his arms, you snatched it from his hand, fumbling to turn it off before hiding it behind your back. When you turned to face him, his attention was no longer on your face.

His bottom lip was caught in his teeth, his eyes darkening as his voice came out in a low rumble, “Oh, sweet girl. What are you wearing?”

Suddenly, you remembered yourself and the thin silk and lace that covered your body, cupping your breasts and hugging your waist. Before you could formulate any sort of response, his eyes found your phone tangled in the sheets. It was like you could see the gears click into place as he snatched the device before you could grab it, his thumb keying in your birthday and unlocking it quickly.

“Steve—” It felt like you were going to combust as the messages between you and Bucky popped up on your screen; you were silent as he scrolled through them slowly, taking in each picture and video that you’d sent.

Clicking the last one you’d sent just minutes before he’d knocked on your door, you could see the still-shot thumbnail of the video and froze as he pressed play, a smirk on his lips as your breathy moans came from the speaker of your phone. Watching him watch yourself made you feel lightheaded.

The video showed everything. You’d had your phone propped up between your spread legs, your negligee shoved up around your waist, and your puffy pussy bared to the camera as you thrust the toy into it, rocking your hips against it as you cried quietly, “Fuck—yes! God, that’s it! Use my pussy. Fuck me so good, baby…”

It felt like eons as your cries pitched higher before you faked your climax. Running his tongue over his teeth, he locked your phone and tossed it aside. His eyes were dark as they found yours, his fingers digging into your waist, “I know you didn’t send these to daddy, sweetheart, and I know you don’t have to fake it with me, so who did you send them to?”

Shaking your head, your voice wavered as you denied quietly, “I didn’t—”

“Don’t lie to me, princess.” A hand trailed up your thigh, slipping beneath the lace-lined edge of your slip. Steve’s fingers easily found you bare, and a low groan came from his chest as he played with your damp folds, brushing a finger up and down them slowly as he clicked his tongue, asking once again, calmly, “Who did you send them to?”

Your lip quivered, a new rush of wetness coating his fingers as he slipped them further inside your pussy as you whispered, “M—my ex-boyfriend.”

“Daddy wasn’t giving you enough attention, so you had to be a little slut and find it somewhere else, didn’t you?” Shaking his head, he withdrew his fingers and ignored your whine. Cleaning your wetness from his digits with his tongue, he gave a quiet chuckle, “Such a tease. You’re just a little whore, showing this sweet little pussy to any boy who asks, aren’t you?”

Shaking your head, your voice was small as you denied blushingly, “No—”

Removing you from his lap, he placed you to kneel on the bed, coming to stand, “Since you want to be used, I’m gonna use you.” He undid his belt, his eyes holding yours as the leather fell to the ground. Undoing his jeans, he shoved them down enough to reveal his erection, the hard tip leaking as he stroked it slowly, your eyes following his hand as he murmured, “You’re gonna show daddy you’re sorry and suck his cock, okay?” Biting your lip, you nodded slowly, unable to take your eyes from the way his thumb brushed over his slit. A hand came to rest around your neck like a necklace, forcing your gaze back up to his as he chided softly, “Use your words, princess.”

Nodding dumbly, your voice was raspy as you softly agreed, “Yes, daddy.”

At once, you dragged your hot tongue across you palm, wetting your hand before wrapping it firmly around the base of his cock, ruddy and swollen with need. He groaned, his hips giving a sharp jerk as you stroked you hand up and down his length several times. Finally, leaning forward, your tongue flicked out to lick the pearl of salty precum that had begun to leak from his slit.

“Fuck, princess,” Steve groaned, his hand holding the back of your head, guiding your mouth closer to his cock.

At his broken moan, your confidence grew as you dragged your tongue along the thick vein that ran from the base to his sensitive tip. Reaching its crown, you swirled your tongue around it before taking it in the wet heat of your mouth.

Silently, you mused that he certainly had the longest cock of any man you’d ever been with. Of course, you’d been intimidated the first time that you’d seen it, but you’d never been one to turn down a challenge. Seconds felt like hours as you took his length deeper into your mouth, inch by inch until the tip brushed against the back of your throat.

At the unfamiliar sensation, you gagged and pulled back, your lips slick and swollen as saliva dripped down your chin and you gasped for air.

His brows were drawn together in concern as his hooded eyes shot open, spotting the way yours had begun to water, “You’re doing so well, baby.”

His other hand that rested on your face brushed a thumb gently over your cheekbone as his eyes peered into yours and you nodded. Holding his eyes, you watched his body relax as you took him back between your lips, jerking off the length that you couldn’t take. His hand on your head guided you slowly up and down his length, careful not to take him the whole way into your throat as you’d done before.

The nails of your hands that rested on his hips, gently pressed into his skin as you hollowed your cheeks around him, “Fuck, yeah, that’s my good girl.” The new suction forced a grunt from his mouth and tilted his head back, letting out a broken moan, “Sucking my cock like a goddamn dream.”

He stroked your hair as you found a rhythm, swollen lips wrapped around his length as you bobbed your head, watching for each little reaction he was giving. A whimper around his length made him curse as he tugged your hair, pulling you off his cock.

Taking in a sharp breath, you looked up at him from under your lashes. His thumb tugged at your swollen bottom lip, and he groaned, “Come here, princess.”

Like you were a doll, he guided you to lay on your back before tugging his sweater over his head and shedding his jeans. Climbing on the bed between your legs, he pushed the hem of your slip up your thighs slowly, “Fuck, look at this sweet little pussy… Spread your legs a little more for me, princess.” His hands on the inside of your thighs opened you up more to his starving eyes and you shyly turned your face to the side as his eyes devoured you. “You’re such a good girl…”

Letting out a low groan, Steve’s hands climbed higher, his thumb brushing over your swollen clit with unbridled adoration.

“Please…” You breathed out, your fingers tightening in the wrinkled sheets.

“Please what?” Steve teased, covering your body with his. Dragging the tip of his cock up and down your glistening slit slowly, covering himself in your slick, he murmured, “You want daddy to fuck you? Is that it, baby? You want all my cum in this tight little cunt?”

“Yes, please…” Nodding dumbly, your chest rose and fell with each heavy, needy breath as he lined himself up with your entrance, “Fuck me, daddy. Need you to make me your little slut.”

Pressing a kiss to your forehead, he pressed his swollen tip to your hole, and you whimpered at the stretch, your hips shifting in discomfort as he split you slowly. A deep moan was pulled from your throat as his thumb dragged small circles around your swollen bud that begged for his attention, “Oh god, Steve…”

The slight burn from the initial stretch quickly faded into a pleasurable ache between your legs and he gave you only a moment before slowly dragging out. He couldn’t ignore your breathy moans and the way your thick lashes fluttered shut at the sensation before he pushed back in sharply. He gave a few experimental thrusts before quickly finding a rhythm as he glided easily through your wet folds into the tight heat of your cunt.

Your hips rolled up to meet each of his thrusts, the both of you working together symbiotically as he hit a spot that made you clench around him and let out a whiny groan. A devilish grin crossed his bearded face and he murmured, “That feel good, baby?”

Before you could even nod, you giggled as he suddenly rolled you over. Sitting up whilst straddling his broad hips, you tugged the silk over your head and tossed it somewhere on your floor. Sinking back down on his length, you gasped as he bottomed out inside you and he let out a quiet hiss as his hands trailed up your waist, cupping your tits as his thumbs toyed with your sensitive, pebbled nipples.

“Fuck, daddy, ’s too big—” You whined, carefully rocking your hips as the muscles in your stomach clenched.

“I know, princess, but you can take it…” He let out a groan as you languidly grinded against him, your clit brushing against the coarse thatch of trimmed hair just above his cock each time you sank down on to him. “That’s it, princess. Just like that—you’re so good for me. I love this sweet little pussy…”

Together, you easily found a frenzied pace before the harmony of your whimpers and his moans was interrupted by a shrill ringtone. You gasped as he held your body close, leaning over and grabbing his phone, pressing a confusingly chaste kiss to your lips as groaned out, “Shit—stay quiet for me, baby.”

“Steve!” You hissed his name as he accepted the call with a sly grin.

“Hello?” He waited a moment for the voice on the other end of the line to respond, “Oh, yeah. She’s doin’ okay.” He grinned as your eyes went impossibly wider, your hands resting on his shoulders as you kept yourself carefully still.

Fucking. Shit.

It was your parents. Steve’s cock was nestled deep inside your cunt as he casually conversed with your parents, and that was so wrong and so fucking hot.

Quickly muting the microphone, he cocked an eyebrow, looking down to where your bodies were still joined, “Did I say you could stop?”

With a shaky breath, you resumed the languid grind, back and forth, your teeth digging into your lip as your clit pressed firmly against his pelvis.

He winked, unmuting the phone, “I think she’s okay. She’s probably still in bed…just. sleeping. I’ll shoot you a text after I check on her again,” You couldn’t help the way your walls clenched around him as his tip pressed against that special spot deep within you. He let out a low groan before quickly trying to cover, “Fuck, ba—stubbed my toe. Sorry.”

With a hand on your lower back, he guided you back and forth slowly, only half-listening to the voice on the other end of the line, “Yeah, I’ll let you know. See you in a few hours.”

As he tossed his phone to the hardwood floor with a clatter, his hands around your waist quickly took over. All but lifting and sinking you back down on the length of his rigid cock repeatedly, Steve’s hips continued to snap up into yours and you could only babble out, “Daddy—please, let me come. Want to come on your cock so bad—fuck!”

“Christ, baby—I can feel you squeezin’ around me. Almost told your parents how good you are at riding my cock, how good you feel wrapped around me.” He hammered into you with a deep groan, adding, “You want them to know you like fucking older guys? How daddy likes to play with this pussy while they sleep right down the hall?”

“Please—” You begged helplessly, your nails digging into his shoulders, feeling your orgasm approaching like an unstoppable wave.

“Yeah, they don’t know their innocent little girl is a fucking whore.” Steve grunted, taking in the sight of your tits bouncing and the way you’d tossed your head back, with a little smirk, “They don’t know how wet you get when I eat this precious little cunt, dripping all over my tongue and tasting like honey. They don’t know how you beg daddy to come in your sweet pussy.”

At that, the wave finally overtook you as he hammered against your g-spot, making you squirm as a little trickle of your wetness leaked out around where his cock was pressed into you before the dam broke and you gushed over his length. You let out a squeal of his name, scratching down his back, leaving red streaks on his pale skin.

Steve’s thrusts finally grew uneven, slowing as he grunted out, “That’s it, baby. I’m gonna fill this cunt up with all my cum—fuck!”

Your words were unintelligible as your eyes rolled back and he fucked you through both of your orgasms. Coming undone on top of him, you were unable to hold yourself up as he pressed deep into you, hard against your cervix as he spilled into you with a long, low moan, coating your walls with him. He sat up, staying inside of you, and opened his arms, allowing you to collapse against his hard, sweat-glistening body.

“Oh, fuck…” Your hips twitched with the aftershocks as he stayed inside, feeling your walls continuing to clench around him as you came down from the high. Looking down at where your bodies were joined, you felt your face grow warm at the wetness that was spattered over his Adonis belt and the cum that had leaked out from around the base of his cock, covering your petals and making you messy.

“That’s so much cum, daddy…” You whispered, resting your forehead against his and giggling softly.

He gave a low chuckle, his thumb caressing your cheek, “Can’t help it with you, baby.”  Capturing your lips in a lazy kiss, you hummed as his tongue intertwined with yours slowly before parting, murmuring as his hand stroked up and down your bare back, “You did so good for me.”

“Thank you.” You whispered, burying your face in his neck. You could feel his chest shake as he laid back, pulling you along with him.

“You gettin’ all shy on me now, princess?” He chuckled and tugged you closer as you snuggled into him, murmuring against your temple, “Did I tell you my new place is about ten minutes from campus?”

#honeybeeskinktober2022 #steve rogers x reader smut #mine #steve rogers smut #maddie writes spice #maddie writes #kinktober 2022 #kinktober #reader smut #fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #mcu fanfic #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #reader insert #steve rogers x oc #captain america fanfiction #steve rogers x female reader smut #steve rogers x original character smut #steve rogers x original female character smut #steve rogers x oc smut #steve rogers x ofc smut #steve rogers

[chronically-ghosted]

So, it's October -- crazy, right? About three months ago, I got waaay too emotionally invested in Din Djarin and baby Grogu and the Razor Crest and, well, here we are. This blog served as a way to unleash the infectious brainrot of Pedro back into the ecosystem, hopefully finding another victim. What I got back, is community. I've been in fandom for over ten years and I can honestly say I've never seen a fandom that is so kind, so supportive, so eager to share and talk and engage with others.

So, in the three months since this blog was created, you lovely people continue to show up and everyday I am gobsmacked at the growth and support. I genuinely don't know how I would have survived these last few months had I not met some of you, so as the (shoddily made) gif says: thank you.

I've just now wrapped up my 100 Followers Event Challenge (y'all sent me so many fantastic prompts I had SO much fun!). If you're interested, they're on my masterlist or you can find them all here on this post. I'm taking an itty bitty break from writing for just a bit (might be getting a new job too) but when i come back, i can't wait to share what comes next for all our pedro blorbos!)

Now that I'm a bit more settled and have had the chance to meet some of these fantastic creators, I'd love to share them out with you:

My Favorite Places to Make PPCU Friends (Discord Servers):

Pedro Pascal Cinematic Universe (I got invited by @jupiter-soups)

Space Sisters - give @psychedelic-ink a shout if you'd like to join!

My Favorite Compilations for Fics:

Favourite Fanfic Stories (managed by @morallyinept)

Sanctuary Database (managed by @pascalsanctuary)

Spreadsheet Digest (managed by @wannab-urs)

(these folks are also some of the nicest people you'll ever meet so please do yourself a favor and go follow them)

My Favorite Creators:

@perotovar is a next level gifmaker

@trulybetty has some of the best designs i've ever seen

@daddy-dins-girl has some of the best pedro character alignment charts -- it makes me laugh every time!

@iamdesibell has my entire heart and soul with all her fanart

@saradika keeps us fed with gorgeous moodboards and dividers

Fandom lives and dies by its community so please reblog, tag, or comment if you like a piece of fanart, fanfic, or anything else someone has created that vibes with you! If you'd like to rec something or someone, please let me know -- as you can see, i love holding up other writers and creators and i always wanna hear about your fave!

My ask box is always open for requests, questions, comments, or if you wanna just bitch about how your stupid old car failed you again, I wanna hear about that too 🤍thank you all for accepting me and my silly little stories!

#taylor talks #fic recs #100 followers event #THANK YOU ALL I LOVE YOU!

[deanwinchesterswitch]

October 2023 Fic Rec List

It was an overwhelming month, but I did manage to sneak in a few moments here and there for some wonderful reading.

Enjoy

Many of these blogs and fics are NSFW-18+. Please honor any requests from a blog regarding no minors. I am not responsible for the content you choose to consume; heed the warnings for each fic.

~Big Sky~

Welcome to the Neighborhood ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: The new interim Sheriff moves into the airstream across the way.  It started out just being neighborly.  But with an attractive neighbor like Beau Arlen…

~MCU~

Wildflowers At Sunset ~ @princessmisery666. Author's Summary: Bucky uses an inopportune time to let you know how he feels about you.

~Supernatural~

Five-Finger Discount ~ @talltalesandbedtimestories. Author's Summary: It’s supposed to be a simple case. A little undercover. A little burglary. A little spell. Dash of salt and burn. No muss, no fuss. So, why the hell are you getting these uncontrollable thoughts about Dean’s… hands?

The Haircut ~ @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior. Author's Summary: Y/N is trying to Dean a favor. How can he repay her?

Halloweenaversary ~ @thinkinghardhardlythinking. Author's Summary: Dean and Y/N spend their Halloweens together every year, but year, something is different

Heart of Stone ~ @jensengirl83. Author's Summary: None (Dean x Reader)

How Much Can I Take-Take it All ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: Part 2 to How Much Can I Take.  So much for a One Shot.

Louder ~ @impala-dreamer. Author's Summary: Dean’s got you right where he wants you…

No Title ~ @girl-next-door-writes. Author's Summary: (None; Dean Winchester)

No Title ~ @supernaturalfreewill. Author's Summary: (None; Drabble; Dean Winchester)

Underneath It All ~ @impala-dreamer. Author's Summary: Jensen’s grown out his beard, hair, muscles for The Boys, and Y/N has some issues with all the extra hair. Luckily, together, they find a new kink that neither knew he had…

What Happens In Vegas Stays Doesn’t Always Stay in Vegas ~ @rizlowwritessortof. Author's Summary: Sam and Dean head to Vegas, this time for Halloween. Dean’s pumped about the huge Halloween costume party being held at their hotel, and he can’t wait to dress up as his favorite superhero.

The Winchesters Care About Your Titties!!! ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: Now that she’s gone to the exam.  They are pretending NOT to be waiting for her when she comes home.  

~On Patreon~

Rebekah Jordan (Impala-Dreamer)

Captive Audience ~ Author's Summary: Y/N gets invited to a party but fails to realize that she's the favor... (Soldier Boy/Ben x F!Reader)

Eternal Charm ~ Author's Summary: Waking up next to your lover has never looked so hot. (Chris Evans x F!Reader)

Pondering Fate While Ignoring The Obvious ~ Author's Summary: Priestly has got it so bad for Tish that he can barely see past the end of her... well, her back end, anyway. He's love sick and forever rejected, constantly stuck inside his own head. When a new girl in town starts messing with him, he quickly loses his cool...

Tourniquet-Chapter One and Two ~ Author's Series Summary: Y/N has been by Dean's side through his worst days, always there if he needs her, forever just a call away. Love is impossible to fight and more impossible to live with. Just a side character in his epic life, Y/N would give anything just to give Dean a moment's peace.

Try It On ~ Author's Summary: Y/N and Dean like to spend their days off fooling around in the Bunker, and one particularly foolish day, they stumble into a room, and some items, she's never seen before...

thinkinghardhardlythinking

Someone To Watch Over Me-Parts 28-29 ~ Author’s Summary: (AU) Y/N is married to a very rich, decidedly unscrupulous and powerful man.  A man whose inability to trust means he hires someone to watch over his wife while he isn’t around. He hires Dean Winchester, a handsome stranger to Y/N, who is soon to become a very big part of her life.

#monthly fic recs #fabulous writers #dw's witch reads #october 2023 #110623

[cactusspatz]

February recs

Fandoms are all over the place this month since I finished my Yuletide trawl, so lots of small fandoms + Star Trek + Star Wars, sorted into thematic clusters for your reading pleasure.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE ADVENTURES

Another Life by @LullabyKnell (Star Trek AOS, gen)

In one moment, James T. Kirk is the acting captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, on his way home to Earth after stopping the Narada. In the next moment, without explanation, James T. Kirk is an Academy cadet on academic probation again, barely a day before Nero will destroy Vulcan.

He dares himself to do better. And with a planet on the line and no proof but his own memories, he knows that "better" means he'll need some help.

Classic time-travel fix-it elevated by a mid-story TOS-flavored twist! A wonderful adventure.

Commander Fox's Ultimate Bucket List by blackkat/ @blackkatmagic​ (Star Wars, Fox/Mace)

Fox has a second chance, a to-do list, a stolen lightsaber, and a complete willingness to give everyone around him grey hairs. Plus a Jedi Master to seduce. It's going to be a ride.

*cackles* Fox deserved this SO MUCH! Hilarious and satisfying.

Magic Casements by @edwardianspinsteraunt​ (A Little Princess, gen)

Becky is the one who rescues Mr Carrisford's monkey, and so the one whom the Magic happens to instead.

Captures the sweet magic and friendship of the original while making some sharp points about its class issues.

INVESTIGATIONS

The Striped Leg by wildwestwind (A Study in Emerald, gen)

The Adventure of The Speckled Band, set in the world of A Study In Emerald.

This author really knows their Lovecraft, which brings a rich and creepy new dimension to this very classic case. Mmm, pastiche perfection.

A Country Mile by @bropunzeling​ (Think of England, Fen/Pat)

“You want us to go to a house party? Really?”

“I hate to ask it of you,” Daniel said, voice muffled in that queer way one got with the telephone. "But I need someone I can trust to look after things there until then. Would you?”

Fen and Pat attend a house party and encounter: poison (pen letters); poison (literal); perilous dinner conversation; potential friendship; and physics.

Danger, espionage, female friendship, a lady scientist, general competence in the face of misogyny, Fen's self-esteem issues vs Pat's unswerving support, and a damn good read: what more could you want?

What It All Comes Down To by phnelt/ @phneltwrites​ (Think of England, canon pairings)

“Those blighters—” strong language from Fen there. Pat has been working on her in regards to fruity language but Fen hasn’t much taken to it. “ —won’t let women shoot at these newfangled Olympics games, despite England boasting some of the best women shooters in the world. Present company very much included.” Fen gets so heated when she advocates. It brings up a healthy colour to her cheeks. Pat smiles at her, helplessly. “So we simply must show them how good women can be by having Pat train you up from nothing so you can trounce them in the name of her club and in front of the eyes of God and the Olympic Committee.” If this wasn’t obviously one of Fen’s schemes it would be clear after her speech.

Charming friendship-centric story, with some light intrigue on the civilian side of things for once.

UNEXPECTED MEETINGS

Poiesis (Making) by ama (Queen's Thief, gen + Costis/Kamet)

Kamet is bewildered by a summons he receives to meet with the King of Sounis. After all, what could they possibly have to discuss?

Post-canon interlude where Kamet and Sophos bond over poetry, with great character writing.

Scene on a Balcony by Mary_West (Lord Peter, gen + Sylvia/Eiluned)

8th October 1935 and it's the wedding of the year - Lord Peter Wimsey and Miss Harriet Vane have finally tied the knot. But the wedding breakfast (served at the Dowager Duchess' London house) is getting a little heated. So the balcony is an excellent place to which to escape.

If anyone ever needed a sensible lesbian auntie, it's Jerry - but also this is sweet and funny and well-observed, from the wedding details to the practicalities of being queer at the time.

The Nuclear Option by Tangerine/ @atangeriner​ (From Eroica with Love, Klaus/Dorian)

When Klaus needs help with a family affair, Dorian is more than happy to offer his services.

Superb, satisfying, full of banter and yearning, and I love the slow reveal of wtf is going on with Klaus.

Time Enough by fresne/ @fresne999​ (Ethan of Athos, Ethan/Terrence)

Terrence Cee had spent most of his life feeling like a jumpship caught in the gravity well of a blackhole. Engines on full bore. Only able to keep out of the crushing center, but never able to escape. Now in his new life on Athos, he found himself unsure of how to find a new pace.

Ethan wondered if there was a way to get his love life gestating again. Not frozen like zygotes stored in a bio-freezer against some eventual future.

Sweet get-together for the boys that addresses Terrence's trauma and socially deficient upbringing, plus meet-the-family shenanigans and rich worldbuilding for Athos in all its problematic glory. I am retroactively very pleased with myself for nominating this fandom for Yuletide (even if it took me a few months to get around to this one)!

and remains quiet by marycrawford/ @mcvices​ (Nirvana in Fire, gen)

She picks up her cup and sips delicately of the chrysanthemum tea she brought. It is cooling and calming. She doesn’t need calming, but Mei Changsu might. She is about to administer a medicine that the patient will find disagreeable.

The patient looks fevered, at the moment. “What is wrong with Jingyan?”

The AU divergence point is a little oblique - if I'm reading correctly, the Emperor dies early during the war and Consort Jing takes advantage of her Dowager status to go north to see MCS - but honestly who cares about the premise, because holy SHIT this author writes Consort Jing to perfection, in all her ruthlessly compassionate (or compassionately ruthless?) complexity.

PORN WITH FEELINGS

No Pity, But a Little Love by beautifulduckweed (Will Darling Adventures, Will/Kim)

The author's summary is a mess so I'm leaving it out, but this is a great post-series look at their relationship that captures their banter and mutual delight, plus Will getting exposed to more queer spaces, all structured around Will attempting anal sex again under less fraught circumstances.

Privacy by Resonant (Due South, Fraser/RayK)

“Guess it’s a while since you had a door with a lock on it?”

“I’ve never had a door with a lock on it."

I don't know how long it's been since Resonant wrote new DS fic, but she always nails (heh) their weird and weird-about-each-other charm and this is no exception!

through the desert, repenting by beautifulduckweed (Think of England, Archie/Daniel)

Daniel da Silva comes face-to-face with the deadly consequences of making a mistake and turns to a bad childhood habit to cope—but it's not enough, and Archie Curtis doesn't know how to help.

AKA the one where Archie counters Daniel's self-harm with sex, or as the author's tags put it "In the absence of therapy banging it out will have to do".

#star trek #star wars #a little princess #a study in emerald #sherlock holmes #think of england #fen/pat #archie/daniel #kj charles #queen's thief #lord peter #from eroica with love #klaus/dorian #ethan of athos #terrence/ethan #vorkosigan #nirvana in fire #will darling adventures #will/kim #due south #fraser/rayk #monthly recs #fic rec #yuletide

[nakanotamu]

I'm watching Fight in the Top 2022 rn and it's your fault

What non-Meltear Stardom should I check out next?

First of all, anon, I am so, so happy, thank you for checking them out and thank you for telling me.

Second of all, anon, you have come to maybe the worst person you could ask with your question. I'm not, like... a wrestling "greatest hits" person. When people say they want to watch wrestling with me and ask what I want to watch I'm always like well I'm like a month behind so, the next show I haven't seen? I agree with Hiromu Takahashi when he said it's not necessary to go back and catch up on old wrestling, because wrestling is something that's happening right now. I seriously almost never rewatch old matches.

BUT because you came to me I can still try and rec some matches anyway. I'm really bad with dates so unfortunately you'll have to do a little bit of work to find them.

Tam vs Arisa Hoshiki for the white belt is maybe my favourite match ever, if I had to pick one? Tam felt like she had to challenge Arisa for the white belt because she had been chasing it so ardently, but it was also at the exact point she was realizing how she felt about her and didn't actually want to fight Arisa at all. It still makes me cry just to think about it. It made Mayu cry.

Both Tam vs Unagi Sayaka singles matches are incredible and heartbreaking. The first one is Tam confirming to Unagi that yeah, the way she cares about her is special, but she can't put her feelings above her role as champion right now. (I'm like for real to this day so insane about the fact they actually told a story of Unagi saying I know you love me, I know we could be something special, why won't you admit it.) The second one is just, about their entire relationship, as Unagi was on her way out of the company, begging Tam to take her seriously as a competitor and Tam telling her she already did. They also referenced spots from Tam vs Unagi 1 in the recent Tam vs Mina double title match, with Tam cementing that she did not feel the same way towards Mina as she did towards Unagi, something that was always sort of... the gorilla in the room when they were factionmates.

Hazuki vs Momo Watanabe from... March? Last year I remember really enjoying, Momo is trying to bring out the anger that used to define Hazuki while Hazuki tries to prove she just doesn't need to be that person any more.

Momo Kohgo vs Saki Kashima from the 5 Star GP last year isn't super long or serious, but I love both of them and the story around it was so fun. Saki told Momo she could either win their match, or she would give her a signed copy of her photobook. Momo said she'd take the photobook, no question, and then beat her anyway.

Momo Kohgo vs Maika from last October (NOT their 5 Star match, though that one I also enjoy a lot), specifically the rematch with Maika determined to absolutely crush Momo for beating her in the 5 Star, is short and light and feels like seeing two people going through a BDSM tutorial in the most incredible way.

Pretty much, like, any Syuri or Utami singles match? Like their ones together or just with anyone. I love them both so much and they miss so so rarely.

Also I still haven't watched the recent QQ vs Oedo Tai cagematch but I know the story was great and incredibly emotional, though maybe it won't hit the same if you didn't follow along with the drama between Utami and Kamitani.

Which brings me back to my evergreen biggest recommendation, just anything recent that seems interesting to you. I am always up for talking about stories and stuff to the best of my ability to get people caught up too.

#Stardom #long post #sorry I am incapable of a short answer to a wrestling question

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - October 1

 Ok, so I’m SORRY!!! This week is probably the least I’ve read since I started this rec blog. I had a lot of work and prepping for being out of office on vacation. Next week should be fairly ridiculous since…vacation reading. So that’ll be nice for all of us. 

~*~ 

In Too Deep by fohatic

Steve knew that he was asking for trouble when he agreed to let the gallery auction off a date with him for charity, but he needed to get in the director's good books if he wanted to make it as an artist in this cutthroat town. He never imagined that his participation would ignite an outrageous bidding war, or that the infamous, billionaire ex that he hadn't seen since their sudden breakup two years prior would show up and stake his claim.

a slightly twisted, darker spin on meidui's "frequencies of sea and space"

Just a Jump to the Left by captainmistyknight (vicspeaks)

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t the man out of time. Are you prepared to be eliminated from the current timeline?” Ugh, Kang. It was too early for this."

Kang gives Steve the chance to hop back into the past right where he left off, no strings attached. Tony doesn't like that at all. Steve figures out when he's meant to be, in the end.

Mr. July by jibrailis

Tony is the only one who can defend Steve's virtue. Tony hates his life.

Reasons To Love You by ItsMayBiTheWay

There is  98% chance he is not reading this wrong, but for the sake of his sanity, Tony feels compelled to ask. He wants to lighten the mood a little, let out a chuckle with his question but it all comes out so earnest, too honest. “So you’re telling me you’ve been listing all of my worst traits to tell me you’re worried about me?”

“Well…” Steve lets out a little laugh. “You do have far worse traits than the ones I’ve listed.”

“If I’m that terrible, why do you care?” He doesn't mean for his words to sting, but they leave on their own accord, carrying little needles.

the truth is by JenTheSweetie

“This is one of the top eight worst things that has ever happened to me,” Steve said.

“That’s… specific,” Tony said.

Who's Scruffy Looking? by JenTheSweetie

“I don’t know,” Steve said, after Tony finished a six-minute ode to The Dude’s beard. “I mean, I’m not really a fan of beards.”

Tony gave Steve a look of such horror that Steve almost wondered if he’d misspoken and casually mentioned that he’d been tossing puppies off the top floor of Stark Tower.

“You’re not,” he said, “a fan of beards? I mean – but you like my beard.”

Steve tilted his head. “Uh. No, not really a fan of yours, either.”

just another morning in the stark mansion by calciseptine

At 7:34 a.m. on a random Tuesday in October, one enraged Pepper Potts interrupts Steve Rogers' and Tony Stark's simple eggs-and-toast breakfast.

Fog in a Snowstorm by ladyshadowdrake 

Tony had been dating Steve Rogers regularly for three months. The only problem was that he wasn’t entirely sure if Steve knew it.

angels who sin by meidui

Summer air is thick and sweet, like Tony's voice pouring honey into Steve's throat, telling Steve more than he needs to know. He's here with his parents for the summer, he just finished his first year at college, he doesn't believe in God but his parents make him come to church.

"They said you can help me find faith," Tony says, as mischievous as he is innocent, and Steve is as good as gone.

I Bet You Think About Me by iam93percentstardust 

But now that we're done and it's over

I bet you couldn't believe

When you realized I'm harder to forget than I was to leave

And I bet you think about me

~

The breakup wasn’t amicable.

Steve had always liked most of Tony’s friends. He’d gotten along well with Rhodey and Bruce and Pepper and Natasha. He’d even gotten along reasonably well with Happy, who didn’t like anyone other than May. It had been the other side of Tony’s friend group that Steve hadn’t liked and who had, ultimately, been the wedge that broke them apart.

Visionary by Captain_Panda

As a Captain for Starfleet, Tony takes a rare opportunity to pursue enemies into Deep Space.

Unfortunately, his decision might just cost him his crew--and his one-of-a-kind First Officer.

[PODFIC] Guilty Lovers by where_thewind_blows

Tony plays matchmaker for Clint and Bucky during a mission to retrieve weapons from Hydra. Things would've gone a lot easier had the townspeople nearby not have already met (and hated) the Winter Soldier as Hydra's Asset.

#stevetony weekly #stevetony #stony fic #stevetony fic #fic rec #captain america #iron man #tony stark #steve rogers #stony

[stillheresanctuary]

So. It's Been A While.

That last update was a bit prophetic, wasn't it.

Uhm, I guess I should give a sort of summary of the last... Two? Three years? For people that are still lingering.

I'll put the bulk of it under a read more, but TL;DR- Parks Department job has panned out really well, had to move out a second time due to Stuff, Dad had a second stroke and passed away from complications, my mom's dog passed away from a malignant tumor, and I'm currently doing a lot of juggling to help Mom and myself try to survive.

Could be better. Could be a lot worse.

For folks that want some more details, well-

I'll get the rough stuff out of the way first.

My dad died. It'll be two years this October. He had a second stroke, and went from slow but steady improvement to a rapid decline that ended with Mom and I mutually agreeing that his quality of life had degraded so badly it was basically torture forcing him to stay alive. He wasn't quite a vegetable at the end, but it was close. He couldn't talk. He couldn't articulate his needs. He couldn't take care of himself in any fashion.

I sat and waited in his hospice room, and saw when the final breath left his body. There is no possible means to describe the Certainty, and the Relief. Knowing he was gone, and that he was no longer suffering.

Neither Mom or I have really had the space to fully process it. His ashes have yet to be scattered, and we haven't be able to coordinate a wake for the extended family. I don't know if we'll ever have one at this rate, but we want to give him a send off for everyone to properly say their good byes.

Less than two months after Dad passed, Mom called me crying. Tali, our family dog for the last 16 years, hadn't been feeling very well for a while, and gave Mom a couple bad scares before she finally had to be rushed to an emergency vet. They found out that Tali had been developing a tumor, and while it wasn't metastasized or actively malignant, it had begun to interrupt body functions and after a sudden seizure, had caused internal bleeding so bad they weren't sure she would survive being sedated let alone surgical intervention.

We decided it would do her a disservice to force her through such an invasive procedure, with no guarantee of recovery, let alone good health.

Mom and I both held her as the doctors gave her a fatal dosage of anesthetic, and she passed away peacefully. Her ashes are also still with us, waiting for us to decide how to honor her life.

On to less miserable topics-

Moving house! Happened cause the roommates we moved in with ended up paranoid assholes who tried to get us evicted and/or arrested on falsified charges of theft! We had to call up the sheriff, police and the landlord, as well as a tenant-landlord lawyer, to get the roommates of our backs. We moved out as soon as we were able to keep their assholery from reoccurring and possibly resulting in legal actions.

My partner and I ended up staying with a mutual friend for a couple months while we hunted for a new place, and now we've been staying in a pretty nice duplex that we're currently hoping won't price us out come the next lease reup (there's consulting of tenant-landlord lawyers in the plan for negotiating with the landlord). Other than fretting over funds, we're pretty alright.

Job! Parks and Rec invited me back to a longer season, and I just recently got invited back again, and I may actually apply for a year round full time position. The people are great, I enjoy the work I do, the benefits are excellent, and I even have a supervisor who Gives A Shit for once.

Pretty sure the job kept me from a depression spiral when Dad and Tali passed away back to back.

Rapid fire what else- Got a new to me car, reconnected with a bunch of friends from old fandoms, made new friends in an entirely new fandom, started looking into possibly going back to school, helped my mom with buying a house and a car, got sick with Covid twice, got two cavities drilled and filled, played way too much Cult Of The Lamb...

I think that's it? At least, that's all I can remember anymore.

It's been A Lot.

What does this say for this project?

Well, I still want to put work into it. I want to reinvest myself and my interests into this world that I've created. Considering current Tumblr drama, I may end up seeing how much I can transition over to something less fragile, like Neocities. I haven't made a webpage in so long it's ridiculous, but it could be worth it to mirror all my Tumblr projects onto something that I can actually archive.

It's a bit up in the air, and I apologize in advance if I vanish again, since I'm going to be going back to work at the end of March and I'm not sure how much energy I'll have to juggle. Whatever happens-

Thank you all for participating in this experience with me. You all have made this silly little side project a true joy, and I'm thankful for everyone who has made it possible.

#stuff cell says #mun stuff

[captainsophiestarkreading]

September and October Fic Recs!

The end of my September/whole of October ended up being very very very busy so I decided to compress these two months into one! I didn’t get to read quite as much as I wanted to, but when I did have a moment for it, these fics served as much needed breaks from a pretty heavy workload. Check them out and enjoy!

None of these fics are mine! They’re recommendations of other people’s work I’ve read throughout the month(s). Recs are below the cut

Marvel

Sam Wilson

I’ve got time, I’ve got love by @rodrikstark

A really sweet fic with a very stressed out and anxious reader and our very own Captain America. Sam is so loving and caring in this fic and it was SUCH a good read.

Natasha Romanoff

Meet the Avengers by @ghostofskywalker

A sweet and fluffy Nat fic where she shows SERIOUS heart eyes for the reader! We loving seeing secret dating come to light, it’s always an adorable time

Daniel Sousa

Fighting for Us by @ghostofskywalker

A TRULY adorable fic with Daniel and reader, I absolutely LIVE for fics with confessions of feelings and (as usual with Tori) this one is SO well written!! Daniel is one of my faves too, which makes this an extra fun read.

Jack Thompson

By your side by @writeroutoftime

An ADORABLY fluffy fic of Jack and the reader finally finding a way to get married (with a little help from Peggy) despite the SSR throwing everything possible in their way. SO cute

Peggy Carter

The Agent Next Door by @ghostofskywalker

Straight up one of my favorite fics I’ve ever read. Fantastic energy and interactions between Peggy, Jack, and Daniel, and such an adorable flustered Peggy around her crush. Fantastic fic and a serious must-read

Harry Osborn

So Much It Hurts by @shaded-echoes

Technically more of a tasm!Peter Parker angst than a Harry Osborn x reader, although that is the relationship in the fic. Angst, but SO good and SO well written, omg. I’m not usually an angst person but I absolutely loved this fic. Really good story and a really talented writer

Star Wars

Obi-Wan Kenobi

So Close Yet So Far by @ghostofskywalker

The origin of my new favorite trope that I didn’t know existed before now. It’s childhood best friends but in the Jedi Order, which is a uniquely special thing to me. Literally so soft and omg, I love it so much

Anakin Skywalker

Heights by @degreeinsimping

Literally a freaking ADORABLE fic with Anakin taking care of a reader who’s got a crush on him when they’re scared of heights. So fluffy and cute and Anakin is written super well! Love him and this fic

Top Gun

No Specific Pairing

Squadron Disney Trip Headcanons by @mouseymagines

Funny, adorable, and super fitting headcanons of a full-squad Disney trip. Absolutely love to see fluffy headcanons like this. I just wanna see the squad hang out and have fun, yk? Also LOVE imagining going to Disney with them

DC

Johnathan Crane

Untitled by @madame-fear

A freaking ADORABLE fic involving a rescue of reader from a spider, one of my favorite tropes since it is very relatable to my own life lol. Such a cute and also really well written fic!

Harry Potter

Sirius Black

Hey Stranger by @robynlilyblack

I was literally squealing at how adorable this fic is!! Very cute relationship and interactions with Sirius and the reader and some FANTASTIC Marauders + Lily and Harry vibes. Screw canon I want this lol!

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Uncle!Cassian x Toddler!Nyx

Walking Through Velaris on a Chilly Night by @fawnandshadows

A very sweet and fluffy little oneshot of Cassian being a good uncle to his adventurous baby nephew. Literally so cute and SUCH good fall vibes

Stranger Things

Steve Harrington

Keep My Hand in Yours by @harringtown

Some really sweet fluff for our boy Steve! Cuddling, Steve feeling loved and safe, mutual pining and a confession of love - what more could you ask for!

#fic recs #fic rec masterlist #marvel fic recs #marvel fic rec #star wars fic rec #star wars fic recs #dc fic rec #dc fic recs #harry potter fic rec #harry potter fic recs #Sam Wilson fic rec #Daniel Sousa fic rec #Natasha Romanoff fic rec #obi wan Kenobi fic rec #Johnathan crane fic rec #sirius black fic rec #acotar fic rec #Cassian

[turbles]

(I posted this on twitter back in early March but since that platform is going down the tubes rn I'm reposting here as well for archival purposes)

Some background here. 6 years ago I took up reading fanfic as a hobby. Very quickly I realized I'd need a way to mark which fics I'd already read or tried to read and dropped, so I wouldn't keep running across the same ones over and over and forgetting I'd already read them. So I started bookmarking EVERYTHING regardless of my actual opinion on it (I'll come back to this)

Anyway eventually I realized that, via the filtering options AO3 provides for your bookmarks, I had a pretty good way to collect pointless data about my reading habits and make some really pointless graphs. So when I reached exactly 2000 bookmarks I decided to do that. as a reward to myself.

data for the original 2000 was collected from whenever I started doing this, through March 6th 2023

Caveat: obviously the possibility of human error in this data is significant. I was never consistent on whether I should bookmark all individual fics in a series or just the series itself if I read the whole thing, for instance, and I've surely forgotten to bookmark plenty of things I did read over the years. this is just for fun though so I'm not sweating it.

thank god for how detailed ao3's tag system is tbh

Anyway here's a pie of all fandoms (with over 50 bookmarks):

For some temporal context of the above, I fucking counted every bookmark from the top 9 categories there and arrayed them by month-bookmarked so I could make this chart of growth rates:

Genshin impact will of course continue to grow because the game continually releases new stuff and characters. Numbers spiked in October coinciding with sumeru's release. we'll see if another spike happens once fontaine releases in a few weeks from now. interestingly to me, I started been playing genshin like 6 months before I started participating in the fandom because it took me that long to get accustomed to the uh.. genshin-ness of the characters and the story, enough to start making inroads towards actually caring about the characters.

looks like FE3H grew the fastest, but it will eventually plateau like yoi, dragon age, and ffxv before it. Still kinda going strong though,since there's just lots of people writing for this fandom, and helped by the fact that it has a really large cast.

This next chart will take a little background info. So to indicate to myself something about the quality of the fic, when bookmarking I would choose to "Rec" it or not. As I said previously, I am literally bookmarking everything I read whether I loved it or hated it or it caused me pain or whatever. My criteria for whether I Rec a fic or not has never been set in stone, but THE IDEA is that recced fics were ones I overall quite liked, felt were well written and would be willing to go back & reread or had something else that made them stand out from the crowd. A recced fic isn't necessarily one I would literally recommend to people to read, and non-recced could mean anything from it was good but had one part that bothered me, to I had just read a bunch of that author's other works and this one was weaker than their others, to it was horrendous and ruined my whole day, to it was just kinda boring.

HOWEVER I did add my own more curated tag, Greatest Hits, for the ones that I really loved, that stuck with me after reading it, that I regularly desire to go back and revisit. While I rarely ever adjust my recs, I have often added (even sometimes removed) the Greatest Hits tag from fics years after first reading them.

Anyway that means this chart could be said to express in a really general way my opinion on the general quality of the writing in a given fandom:

I found it interesting that AA has such a high proportion of recs. I think its overall lower number of total bookmarks works in its favor here, as I tend to dip toes into a new fandom by first looking at top-kudosed fics and then when I find authors I like, trawling their bookmarks for more and branching out that way. So I tend to find pretty good fics earlier in the process. the longer I'm looking through a more stagnated fandom, the less good fics I find, is I guess the logic here. So in the case of AA, I suppose I didn't get much deeper than skimming the cream of the crop before I moved on?

Comparing genshin and fe3h vs. dragon age and ffxv, which all have more similar total bookmarks, was interesting too, to explain why genshin/fe3h's ratio of recs is higher. Both genshin and fe3h have really large casts, and therefore lots of different characters and pairings to read about, so it's almost like each pairing is kind of its own pool of fics that I'm skimming the best ones out of. with DA and FFXV there's really only a couple ships I'm interested in, and their ratios are similar accordingly

because we all know. that the main draw for fanfic tends to be shipping. so here's the top 10 most bookmarked ships pie:

and because genshin and fe3h are sizable enough to warrant a further breakdown of ships for that fandom alone, here's some pies for that:

it makes me laugh that dimiclaude is statistically significant when really I was just trying it out and ultimately decided I really don't even care for that ship

And a growth rate chart for genshin impact ships specifically:

so funny story, as I was playing through the liyue story chapter I was NOT a fan of childe at all, in fact I passed up two of his reruns before reading on the wiki (almost immediately after his 2nd rerun ended) a key piece of his backstory that all of a sudden caused his whole characterization to fall perfectly into place in my mind and he shot up the list to being my top fav character in the game literally over the course of like ten minutes. and yeah that was november 2021 and as you can see that's when I started really reading genshin fics LOL

forecasts have haikaveh and cynonari continuing to trend up for a little while, though the next region and thus a whole new cast releases soon and could stymie those trends. zhongchi is a staple genshin ship and imo a bit more flexible content- and dynamic-wise than many of the other pairings here, so I predict it maintains a regular gentle incline even in the face of shinier newer pairings.

The less stacked roster fandoms don't have as interesting breakdowns, but here they are just for curiosity:

and yeah that's all I made at the time! I only thought of it after but I'll be recording data on Ratings from now on as well. I'd also considered looking at things like average word count on recs or greatest hits fics, but absent of even more highly specific filtering tools that would probably fall under diminishing returns. maybe someday.

This was dumb but very engrossing and fun to make and I learned how to use google sheets out of it so we'll see if that ever comes in useful in my life

#fanfic #ao3 #op

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

Fanwork creators self rec! When you get this, reply with your five favorite fics/art/podfics/etc. that you've made, then pass on to others. Let’s spread the self-love 🌼

No particular order to these because this is about self love not freaking myself out.

Under the cut because I am still very self conscious about how long my posts can be.

This one was a tribute to my favorite episode of Lights Out: Execution. It was a long car ride home with my grandparents and since it was October, Radio Classics was all spooky for the month.

The episode starts strong: a high ranking nazi officer is reading a letter on the situation in occupied France. In a small town, an unknown woman attacked a guard than ran off. In retribution, the commander of the local military has rounded up every woman fitting her description and is hanging them all until her kills the right one. The first woman comes out. She smiles. The floor falls out beneath her. The first woman comes out. She’s laughing now. Over and over the woman hangs. Her bodies pile below the stage. A storm picks up, driving all but her and commander away. Over and over he hangs her himself. She monologues to him, each time she says a county that will have it’s revenge against the axis powers the floor snaps out from under her.

And then she grows giant and reveals herself to be the Statue of Liberty!

It totally ruins the whole thing, but if you jump out right before then it’s such an effective little piece of horror, I would kill to see a short film adaptation.

I wanted to capture that in the piece, using a rougher pen (which ended up working perfectly for the lightning) and focusing entirely on the lighting. I’m still proud of the little touches too- from how strands of hair stick to her face to the title of the card not matching the number.

Next up: Jack of Hearts! This one’s very different but also relies on a very similar focus on ideas that are presented early on in a story then scraped.

When Jack made his grand reappearance in She-Hulk I was instantly smitten with this sad little guy and went back to read all his previous appearances. I was more than surprised to find that though in his modern stories his suit is a high tech alien device that keeps his powers in check and he’s an alien who’s half n’ half genes where just activated by the fluid he dumped on himself, that’s kinda the opposite of his original vibes.

I wanted to draw something to honor the original Jack, a man with a strange chemical burn wearing an antique suit of armor because it was the first thing he put on after the accident and now relies on as a mental crutch to keep his devastating powers in.

And I’m very proud of how it turned out! (especially because I was very ill when I drew it…)

I really liked how his energy signature turned out. I originally did this piece for Valentines Day, so I wanted the solar flares of his power to look sort of like roses.

I’m also very proud of his armor, which is based on this 1250 statue of Saint Maurice since it was the best match for his original look.

Next piece is actually two pieces I posted separately because I’ve just never worked myself up to finishing the full piece: Lurue!

She’s the patron of one of my stand-by dnd characters, so I’ve always been playing around with what she would look like. But at some point I had the thought “what if Lurue was based on Eohippus” and it was off to the races.

I genuinely have no clue how I motivated myself through hand drawing all the little crescent shapes of her design but it payed off. Plus it was super fun to balance the Indian/Ottoman influence of my typical Elven designs with her particular knight-in-shining-armor aesthetic.

Another two-for because these two are very similar. When I was younger my warm up for drawing was to do a simple portrait of a character then surround them with symbolically relevant plants and flowers. So of course when an X-Man gives me too many emotions I let them out with bouquets.

Not only am I technically proud of these two, I’ve always wanted to break into their symbolism because seemingly no one’s ever caught on.

Firstly, Chamber: Celandine (Joys to come), Fungus (Resilience, loneliness, solitude, disgust), Daffodils (Uncertainty, chivalry, respect or unrequited love, return my affection; new beginnings), Fireworks Protea (Courage, transformation, daring, resourcefulness, diversity), Thistle (Nobility, endurance, warning), Plum Blossoms (Beauty and longevity), and Amaranth (Immortality).

Then, Wither: Betony (Roman for protection from ghosts and spirits), Crocus (rebirth and a neverending cycle of life), Thistle (Again), Purple Hyacinth (Sorrow; Please forgive me), Purple Heather (Solitude, beauty, admiration), White Lily (Purity, commitment, rebirth; a rejuvenation of the soul), Foxglove (Insecurity), and Anemone (Forsaken, sickness, anticipation, undying love, eternal peace).

(I’m so proud of this one that it’s the cover to my Wither playlist, which is still under construction but I’m already so proud of, my playlists are one of my favorite non-art or writing pieces of art)

And finally because I feel weird not mentioning any of my writing, my two fav fics I’ve ever written are:

Shrine Bright Circus Man - Me worrying about Jester calling Molly a god given her history of believing so hard in that sort of thing that she actually made one. It’s short, it’s simple, it’s sweet.

In Pursuit of Ghosts - Probably my favorite thing from my ol’ Overwatch days. It’s a combination of my favorite crack theory about the two red heads being related and Moira’s best skin: Banshee.

#My art #my writing #asks and answers

[izzy-b-hands]

"Alright," Stede sits by Ed on the bed and grins. "Sworn to secrecy meeting is a go!"

Ed smiles and kicks a boot playfully against the floor. "Did you guess what it's about?"

"Not at all," Stede replies and fights off the urge to tell him how he shook Lucius to try and help him figure it out (he didn't.) "So either there's something cool and important to talk about or you maybe wanted..."

He pats the bed. "I'm good with either or both, of course. Both would be lovely, but-"

Ed pushes him over onto the pillows and lays on top of him, giggling and kissing him silly. "Mhm, I think we could test the bed again."

"Make sure it won't fall out of the ship no matter how hard we-"

"I mean, we're the captains; we need to keep things safe," Ed continues, grabbing at his chest and and grinding his hips down. "And this bed, mate? Needs constant testing, because it could go at any moment."

Stede can't help but think that at the present, the bed isn't the only thing on a hair trigger. "You'd better tell me the secret for the meeting then, before we get into quality testing."

Ed sits up to straddle him, hands pressed down lightly on his tits as if to ground himself. "Right! I thought maybe this year, since we do something for everyone else's birthdays usually, we could do something for Izzy's."

Had Ed asked for this when they'd first come aboard, Stede wouldn't have considered it. But things have changed, and he and Izzy both have opened up at least a little to everyone else and even more to each other.

"What day is it this week?" Stede asks, hands moving to Ed's hips. "We can think up ideas for it now, late meeting with the crew tonight to plan it all out, and-"

"Oh fuck."

"What?"

Ed blushes bright red, only for the color to drain from his face immediately after. "Man, I know he and I have both been...yeah. But I know he knows when mine is."

"Oh Ed," Stede sighs gently. "Is it even coming up any time soon?"

"If I can't remember it, how would I be able to answer that?"

"Huh," Stede pauses. "Good point. Well, maybe even if we just get it within the month, if you rec-"

"Stede."

"Ah. Well. I might have an idea or two, after we finish up here..."

--

"So we're planning gifts, a small surprise party, and whatever other random fun things we can think up for this," Lucius says. "But we don't actually know when any of this needs to be ready."

"Exactly!" Stede smiles. "You're all ready to help us then?"

"Oh, no, I didn't-" Lucius splutters. "Fuck. How old is he going to be?"

Ed stares wide-eyed, straight ahead. "Oh my fucking-"

"It's okay," Stede wraps an arm around his waist. "I could never remember how old the kids were, or Mary! I know they have their birthdays in the fall though."

"Autumn," Lucius stage whispers. " Louis is in late September, and Mary and Alma are in October, remember?"

Stede nods.

"On the same day? You had me write up that memory of yours of Mary, in bed, screaming that if she had to share a birthday with the little gremlin ripping her in hal-"

"Yeah," Stede interjects with an awkward chuckle. He'd not been at his best that day, if he ever had been with Mary. "To be fair to her, I think I would say the same. It wasn't Alma's fault of course-"

"Oh my god no shit," Jim scoffs. "She was a baby!"

"We're off topic," Olu adds. "Let's pretend his birthday is... let's say in a few weeks. Time to prepare, buy things wherever we stop next, and if we're too early or too late he'll be equally pissed off either way."

"They share a birthday?" Ed gently slaps his arm. "Why didn't you tell me? That's awesome."

"I really think Mary would have preferred it to have even a day between," Stede says. "But Alma does love it. They always want to bake their cakes together, and-"

"Cake is a good start," Olu interrupts again. "What sort of cake does he like, or maybe more accurately, can he eat?"

"He's never been picky," Ed replies.

"Bullshit," Pete scoffs. "He totally told you at some point that he has a favourite flavour of cake. Nobody hides that information."

"It's true," Roach nods. "I've tortured a lot of people, when needed or requested, and they give up three things super easy: favourite cake flavour, parent they think loved them least, and favourite colour."

Stede can't help but stare. "That. Is a fun torture fact! Thank you; I didn't know that!"

"So we torture him and find out what cake he wants," Frenchie muses. "Sounds good. John, you and me could drag him in here I bet-"

"Why are we having this meeting here?" Roach asks. "People come in and out of the galley day and night. What if he wants a snack?"

"Because I told him to rejam the Jam Room," Stede replies.

"I said make up an excuse for all of us being away from him," Ed says. "That is one, I suppose. What does that mean though, to rejam the..."

"I don't know; I panicked and pretended to get mad that he was questioning an order when he asked me that," Stede winces.

Ed's eyes light up. "We have hours then! He's stubborn; he'll be determined to figure it out at least partially on his own first, and even then-"

"I'm gonna go make coffee," Roach sighs. "Extra strong. Feel like this is going to be awhile. Anyone else want a cup, mug, bowl, tureen..."

--

"Like, if you were forced to eat a cake though."

Izzy frowns. "Who would torture me that way, when flaying me or ripping out my nails would be far more efficient?"

"That's what I'm saying," Jim smiles awkwardly. "But about the cake-"

"If you're planning on poisoning me, just put it in the food when Roach makes lunch," he sighs. "Honestly, the urge to overcomplicate murder isn't like you. Not at all. Odd."

Jim shoves past him and runs away down the deck.

"... I'll prepare for my poisoning then."

--

"I didn't fucking choke!" Jim shouts. "You get out there and find it out then!"

"It's okay," Stede says gently. "You did your best."

"He's scared of me; I know he is! How did that work against me just now?" Jim continues.

"You did well," Olu wraps them up in a hug. "Captain, maybe they're right. You and Ed are at the forefront of this, just go ask him! We've got like a billion other things to try and have Ed remember or guess or ask him yet in addition to this, so if we do all of it this way?"

Olu shakes his head. "Then we may as well save it all for his birthday in two years for long it'll take."

He's right. So is Jim.

"Okay," Stede sighs. "You two shouldn't have had to be involved in that bit. I'll send Buttons to him instead."

--

"The sea," Buttons states as he walks up beside Izzy.

"...yeah?"

"If the sea were a cake-"

"For fuck's sake," Izzy growls.

"I know," Buttons shrugs. "I told them it wouldn't work. Besides, who even remembers when their birthday actually is? I don't, so I just choose my favourite day each year to be my birthday."

Izzy turns. "Huh. How do you know which day will be your favourite?"

"It's September fifth this year."

"That doesn't ans-" Izzy cuts himself off before he says anything else useless. "Wait. Birthday? Are they trying to plan something for my-"

"Ah, you know too much now," Buttons pats his shoulder. "I'll have to go before I have to kill you."

"Why? Buttons? Buttons?!"

--

"Okay," Stede sighs deeply. "Well. We've got more than we had before."

Lucius takes the journal back from him and peers over the page for Izzy's Birthday Planning. "What information did we gain, exactly?"

"That he knows we know about his birthday, and that he at least probably enjoys cake."

"Mhm," Lucius nods. "And you guys think we should move everything up to tonight because..."

"He knows!"

"Next time, maybe we can just ask when his birthday is and start there," Lucius continues. "Not that this was a bad idea, Ed. Not at all! Your first mate is a weird enigma, that's all."

"I'm not good with remembering shit like that," Ed rubs at the back of his neck. "We kept a calendar for the first few years, with everyone's birthdays on it, but after we lost the first fifteen crew members, it seemed silly to keep it going, but-"

"Clearly he appreciates it regardless, or he would have said something," Stede moves back over to Ed, leaned against the galley wall, and pulls him close. "If anything, he could help us by being more forthcoming."

"Yeah," Ed sighs. "Not usually how that goes though."

"No. No I suppose not."

--

"Frmhph?"

"Yeah, sorry, need your boyfriend for a moment," Izzy tries not to step on Pete as he jabs Lucius' arm. "Hey! I'll make it worth your while."

"Normally when I'm this tired I'd say no, but honestly," Lucius yawns. "I'm not sleeping well anyway, so, if you two want to disrobe first-"

"No, babe," Pete whispers. "I mean. I guess I shouldn't speak for Izzy, but-"

"I need someone to help me find and read through Bonnet's journal."

At that, Lucius nearly knocks him over with how quickly he moves.

"You could have just said you wanted to snoop," he adds as he leads Izzy into the galley and behind the counter. "Kept in here for now because-"

"Usually he keeps it with him, so no one, me, would think to look here and read up on the birthday plans."

Lucius nods and sets the journal on the countertop. "Look, Izzy..."

"All I need you to do is tell me what they want to know and to write it down for me," Izzy continues. "Then we can both fuck off back to bed."

"You're fully dressed; you absolutely took the night watch shift from whoever was supposed t-" Lucius pauses. "Oh. That was my turn. Whoops!"

"Consider us even with this," Izzy taps the journal cover. "Let's get it done."

"Okay," Lucius opens up to a very empty page. "Oh. Ah."

"What?"

"... favourite cake flavour?"

"Oh god."

--

"The detail," Ed muses as he reads over the pages. "Lucius, how did you get him to tell you all this? I think there's some of this he hasn't told me since...well, reading about it reminds me of being kids together, so..."

Stede watches a hint of panic cross Lucius' face.

"They fucked," Pete blurts out. "Um. In here. We all did; all three of us, but we cleaned up right away."

"Why wouldn't you?" Roach asks. "Pete. Peter."

Pete keeps his eyes locked towards them though. "And then he was so grateful, that he agreed to tell us everything we needed!"

"But he doesn't know it's for his birthday?" Ed asks. "How?"

Pete frowns. "We're just that good."

"At sex or interrogation?"

"Yeah."

Ed hands Stede the journal. "Oh, look here! It's on August-oh that little shit."

"What?" Lucius asks.

"August is my mum's birthday," Ed scoffs. "One of the few I can remember. And...wait. No."

"What?" Stede runs his eyes back over the page. "I'm not...Ed, give us something here."

"Lucius telling us about Alma and Mary should have been a hint," Ed chuckles. "I can't believe I forgot! He and my mum have the same birthday."

"So had we just talked about your mum-" Olu starts.

"He probably would have remembered right away," Jim sighs.

There's a gentle, awkward, silence that fills the room.

"Did we overcomplicate it all?" Stede asks, breaking the silence as loudly as he dares.

"We may have done," Ed nods. "Plus, I think Fang knows some of this stuff too, actually. We could have waited until him and Ivan were back from vacation, in a week, I guess."

Stede can feel everyone's eyes on them. Not mad exactly, not judging, he isn't entirely sure of the word for it, but it is Something.

"Ah."

"Mhm, yeah."

--

Izzy stares at the paper on the floor by his boots. Something is written on it, which is lovely, but he can't read well enough to figure out what the fuck it says.

Handwriting is Bonnet's though, so there's a small clue.

He dresses and readies himself for the day, pondering if it isn't somehow more birthday nonsense. Sweet nonsense, but nonsense all the same. As if they'd actually follow through on any of it anyway, and to do so nearly four months in advance would be odd.

A knife nearly takes off his left ear as he steps out in the barely there sunrise.

"Fuck," Jim scowls and rushes towards him. "I wasn't actually trying to do that."

"I know. If you'd wanted to kill me with that, you would have."

Jim nods. "Okay, so this was a whole-the captains did a... it's like a game?"

"Birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Do they know it's all of May...fuck."

"I think it's the fourteenth," Jim sighs. "Did you read the note Captain Stede left in there by chance?"

"I can't read that well."

Jim looks exhausted. "I'm just gonna tell you what to do for each step."

--

"Okay," Izzy sighs to himself and crouches in front of the goat. "Betsy. You apparently got yourself involved in this?"

She chews some hay, which may as well be a yes. That, and the gift box balanced on her back.

"You thought you had it bad enough trying to make sure Edward has enough milk for his tea," Izzy scoffs and snags the box. "Bet you never thought your life would end up here, hm?"

She gently headbutts his shoulder.

"Yeah, I didn't see this for myself either. But..."

He peeks out of the room. Clear.

"I'm not totally hating this," Izzy whispers. "I haven't gotten to fuck around like this since Ed and I were kids. Used to do just enough to not get punished too badly, but the rest of the time I think you would have been more useful than us to have aboard."

She headbutts his shoulder again, enough to hurt.

"Sorry, sorry. You're more useful than us now, so of course you would have been back then too."

He's putting off opening the box. He knows he is, so he shoves it in his trouser pocket before standing and leaving.

He's got at least six more stops before the galley, and it's nearly lunch already.

--

"Hi."

Buttons nods, and gestures to the scene he's centered in on the long dinner table. "A bit of theatre, if you will."

"Is this still about my birthday?"

Buttons, completely nude except for the frosting covering his cock, nods. "We all got to add our personal flavour to this bit though."

"I'd guessed that. Not to be too forward but yours... vanilla?"

"Poppy seed, actually," Buttons runs a finger along the frosting. "Care for a taste?"

Izzy hesitates. "I can't tell if you're hitting on me or if this is scripted."

"Script called for a bit of conversation between us, topic was my choice. As was the costume."

Buttons gestures to the box, back out of his pocket and in his right hand. "Betsy did her job well! She's a good ship's goat."

"She is," Izzy says. "I didn't know...can I open this?"

"They didn't say you had to wait."

For whatever reason, it feels safest enough to do in front of Buttons and his frosted cock, of all things.

The hinge opens easily, and he peers at the-

"Fucking christ," he gasps. "Bonnet picked this out."

"How could you tell?"

It's a gorgeous necklace, with what seems like a decently reinforced chain (something he's shocked Stede thought of) and a teardrop emerald in it. Not all that big to most of the people Stede probably knew before them, but for sailing, it's almost ostentatious.

He loves it.

"Um. The theatre thing?" Izzy asks as he puts the necklace on, and fights the urge to immediately hide it under his shirt. No one is going to rip it off his neck, not like before, not like-

"That's just what he wanted to call frosting his dick and displaying it," Roach steps into the room. "Sorry, took a moment to finish up the frosting on this!"

He has to smile. He can't even try to hide it. They'd actually done some of it, and cared enough to get it right.

"Before you ask, yes, I made separate bowls of frosting for each...item," Roach says. "Technically, everyone was going to be in here with us right away, but the ship is a tiny bit on fire-"

Izzy stands. "Why didn't you lead with that?!"

"Because it was way more on fire earlier while you were below deck, and now it's better!" Roach protests. "Sit, we don't have to wait for them for the food. The rest of the gifts we do though."

"This isn't it? I've been at this since dawn though!"

"Look," Roach sighs and plates up slices of cake for the three of them. "It was going to be just a party and one gift, but we felt sort of bad about how weird it all went and Ed not remembering-"

"Ed never remembers birthdays," Izzy shrugs. "That's why we had a calendar, for a bit."

"Yeah, he mentioned the calendar. Point is, we wanted to really do it up since...all of that and-"

Roach splutters. "Um. Vanilla, really?"

"Doesn't smell much of vanilla," Izzy frowns and sniffs the frosting on his slice. "Smells like smoke."

Roach freezes, and looks to Buttons. "They had it under control more or less, right?"

In a flash, they're out of the room leaving him alone with the increasing heat, smell of smoke, and the cake.

Izzy studies the slice of cake, then digs in. If he's going to burn alive, he'll do it with his birthday cake, on his fake birthday, in one of the nicest necklaces he's ever been given.

Beats how terrible his twentieth through thirtieth birthdays were by a long shot, that's for sure.

#text post #long post #this was the fic i mentioned earlier and idk it's less fic bc it could?? keep going but i just chose an end point as if i was like #having to cut an episode for time if that makes sense? #anyway i can add additional tags if ppl want to filter this but for those who don't uhhhh #izzys bday except it isn't except it is but not really and there's cake and i switched between perspectives to play a bit #like we start with stede but as it goes on it turns to izzy and his perspective bc it is is his bday and as it goes on too #it becomes less abt the gesture exactly and more abt them learning abt izzy even if things are far from perfect? #look i set the ship on fire at the end in a panic to end this and left iz eating his bday cake alone I TRIED #this idea wouldn't let me go but was this stubborn abt being written in any way it's so rude

[starlightyellow]

Starlight's Weekly Finds 3/20-3/27

Hi! My name is Starlight and I want to push myself more to post more of what I like on my account, so what better way to do that then to throw all my niche interests in a post to encourage others to talk about them too! This newsletter will consists of a read, a music wrap, and a movie of the week. As this goes, I'll add more or less depending. thanks for tuning in this week and I hope you come back for the next.

Read of The Month

This week I'd finally gotten around to getting a digital library card from @queerliblib ! The Queer Liberation Library is a free digital library the is entirely comprised of books created by LGBT+ BIPOC authors. They have such a ride variety of audiobooks and scanned copies that I feel there's something for everyone. To apply for a library card is free, however please be mindful it may be a bit of a wait for your library card depending on when you apply. I was lucky and received mine within like a few days of applying. All info to learn more and to apply will be on the @queerliblib socials.

I'm currently reading Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve. It follows a trans guy named Dean who is recently cast as a major male lead in a school play. The story follows how Dean navigates his transition while also juggling graduating school and making it to an acting school in New York. I'm about halfway through and I highly recommend.

Music Wrap of the Week.

Okay so this section alone will probably turn into it's own individual post at some point considering I finally am getting into KPOP. I'm focusing on girl groups right now and I've listened to ALOT this week. Here's only a few of my favorites from the week.

QWER: Secret Diary

Okay, I give. This first song is technically a band as opposed to a girl group. However, their music is so good I have to let it slide. Debuting on October 18 2023, QWER is a South Korean girl band consisting of 4 members(shown below). QWER is such an interesting Kpop group to me with the members pulling inspo and influence from American bands like Slipknot and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They bring something a little different that I really love.

Pictured left to right: Magenta(24), Hina(23), Chodan(25), and Siyeon(23).

XG: Winter Without You

The next on the list came as a pleasent surprise, because I didn't know I had heard a song from them before. You may know this 7 member group from their song Shooting Star, which is a great song, but just a little played out after the sped up version went viral on TikTok. Winter Without You leans more into the RNB aspect of the group's concept, and it makes me feel like Christmas should be here again. If you like modern holiday songs or were a big fan of Ariana Grande's album Christmas and Chill, this song was made for you.

Pictured left to right from top row to bottom: MAYA(18), Hinata(21), Juria(19), Harvey(21), Cocona(18), Jurin(21), and Chisa(22).

Loossemble- Real World

LOOSSEMBLE is a group that caught my eye from their single Sensitive, but Real World I feel is an underrated song on their debut album. Debuting September 15, 2023 LOOSEMBLE consists of 5 members(PICTURED BELOW). This is a new subdivision of the girl group LOONA, with some members also being from LOONA 1/3 respectively. Just like with my other recs this week, the whole debut album is a bop tbh. Honorable mention for Strawberry Soda track as well. I haven't really gotten in my LOONA bag just yet, but if it's anything like LOOSSEMBLE, I'm fully sat.

PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT: Go Won(23) ,Hyeju(22),Hyunjin(23) ,VIVI(27), and Yeojin(21).

Movie of the Week : TMNT (2007 Film)

To say I'm a TMNT fanatic would be an understatment. No matter what gen TMNT is in, I can always find something to cherish about every form of content that been pumped out ofer the years. More praise should be given to this film as a whole. Yes at points the animation of the turltes can be a little.... jarring to say the least.

However, the storyline is so good I can overlook the jumpscare that is having to look at them during certain scenes. This is one of this first instances on screen prior to the Michael Bay films that I felt really allowed Leo to be more than just a leader to his brothers.

Leonardo in most depictions up until recent years was always shown as the levelheaded leader who rarely has a genuine spat with his team and if he does, it usually has to do with the stress from being a leader and not neccesarily with having to be a brother.

This film follows the turtles after Leo returns from what was supposed to be a few months' mission that turned into a year and him trying to recollect his team. You have Mickey and Donnie who are elated the Leo is home, while Raph carries on as though nothing has changed, almost mad that Leo had the gull to come back.

This boils over into a moving fight scene between Raph and Leo, but the difference from this onscreen arguments between the two than the ones at the time were that they allowed Leo to argue, even physically fight Raph but not as his leader. It was a his genuine brother. They allow Leo to get fed up and tired of Raph's attitude enough to give into the preconceived notion that Raph thinks Leo has about him. If you haven't seen it, I would make it a point to. Especially for this scene alone. Def a 5/5 in my book.

And that's a wrap! Thank you so much for reading my first put together blog post!

#Youtube #loossemble #qwer #xg kpop #qll #queer lit #queer liberation #digital library #tmnt #kpop #realistic fiction #newsletter #trans literature #trans books

[avelynreads]

🍂September 2023 Reading Wrap Up🍂

I can’t believe we are moving into October! I’ve been incredibly busy with school work these past few months but I think I can feel myself getting into a routine which means I’m going to try to read a lot more for myself :) I only read a measly four books this September, but October looks promising (A Curse for True Love AND Chalice of the Gods?!?!?!?).

🍂Veiled by Benedict Jacka🍂

Rating: 3/5

This was an absolute curve ball. The sixth in the series (and for some reason the one that I started with) I didn’t expect to like this book at all. The characters were lively and interesting and there was a huge emphasis on political intrigue and corrupt government systems that really engaged me. One minor thing that got me was the fact that our main character is like half an interesting guy with magic powers and half exposition machine. You could start this series from any point and get exactly what’s going on because he explains every single thing that happens. It wasn’t a huge problem for me since I started on book 6 but I can’t imagine how it would feel to be a longtime reader having to listen to explanations about the worldbuilding over and over. I plan to read the rest of the series at some point (although it is 12 books so maybe not right away).

🍂The Silvered Serpents by Chokshi Roshani🍂

Rating 3/5

On the opposite note this book was exactly what I expected. I don’t know, the Gilded Wolves series so far is sort of underwhelming for me but at the last second, Roshani makes me want to keep reading. I felt like I was able to better connect with and care about the characters because we now have the backstory of The Gilded Wolves to build upon so I enjoyed that. Some characters jumped out more and I can say with certainty now that my favorite character is Zofia (ily). I definitely think the plot comes second to the characters and their relationships, but once again I found it a little difficult to fully invest myself in either. I definitely enjoyed it more than the first book even though it didn’t fully hit the mark for me.

🍂The Odyssey of Homer (translated by Emily Wilson)🍂

Rating 4/5

Reading this made me wish I had taken Greek so I can gain the scope of understanding that it takes to fully appreciate this translation. Before I read this translation I was of the opinion that The Odyssey is The Odyssey is The Odyssey no matter who the translator is. The way that Emily Wilson went about translating her version of the Odyssey really left great impression on me simply because she made it feel so fresh (I want to say modern but I don’t think that’s the word for it). It was fun to read and even more fun to read aloud in the iambic pentameter. Eagerly anticipating reading her translation of the Iliad.

🍂Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson🍂

Rating: 3.5/5

OKOKOK I know that Mistborn is THE fantasy book for some people. It was not for me. I thought that Sanderson’s magic system was interesting but that there was a lot of room left for character development and individual relationships which sometimes felt rushed and half-baked. Allomancy in this book was the most important character and you could tell. Maybe I’m a sucker for a character driven plot but if Sanderson spent as much time fleshing out his characters as he did fleshing out the world building and magic system, I would have been more interested.  

Yep that’s it. I didn’t get many chances to read last month and when you read and write all day sometimes the last thing you want to do is read another book (my worst fear being an English major honestly). This month felt like both the longest and shortest month of my life. I’m going to try to make a solid plan for what to read next but 90% of the time that does not go to plan and I end up rereading Six of Crows. I hope that October treats all of you well, read all your favorite horror novels (and drop some recs if you see this) and remember to support your local library.

#fantasy books #literature #books #reading wrap up #september #booklr #reading #currently reading #books & libraries #bookworm