#of course the one time he gets to have a peaceful rest Danny had to be summoned | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mutable-manifestation · 4 months

Text

Actual Scientists Jack & Maddie AU Part 4

Part 1 & 2

Part 3

Explaining The Papers (™) to Frostbite takes a While (also ™).

Though with no more imminent threat of “Vlad maybe finding out he’s the ghost king and becoming Insufferable (also also ™) about it” Danny was feeling a lot less stressed - Sam and Tucker, too, if the fact that they were actually drinking their tea now instead of just barely sipping at it was any indication - or they could’ve only just cooled enough to actually drink, the FF did tend to overestimate the level of heat they could tolerate just a tad.

Not to say that he wasn’t still stressed, given the whole “the Justice League is trying to summon ME” thing. But like. They were reaching out hoping for peace, not hoping to skin/dissect/exterminate him.

Plus they don’t know how to summon him; he figures he has time. Hopefully enough to get Frostbite’s advice.

And mostly to cool his own nerves, because now that he knows they did try to help and are helping the Justice League is Cool again! And they want to meet him!

Well, they want to meet the ghost king, but they already watched him! They thought he was a capable hero!

Danny isn’t really used to getting positive feedback, so being called “good hands” by Superman - Superman! The hero! The Alien hero! (well, one of them. Martian Manhunter is also amazing but he hasn’t complimented Danny in person yet so he doesn’t have any expectations for Danny to live up to. Maybe. Hypothetically).

The JL is so cool and they think he’s cool! Or at least capable! Except now he has to impress them not just as a hero but as a king?

Yeah.

Suffice to say, Danny is now a little nervous.

(And also maybe redirecting his nerves intentionally to be about the JL so he doesn’t have to breathe into a bag about being probably the only thing between the Zone and eventual total dimensional collapse because Frostbite was very ‘this is normal and okay’ about it but it’s eventual total dimensional collapse [ALL OF THEM] and it is Danny’s problem. But no, he’s just nervous about meeting the JL. Totally.)

Reciting pretty much his whole life story - well, the basics of his parents’ work and then pretty much everything from the portal onward - gives him time to untense, and honestly, getting it all out to a mostly uninvolved third party - one he likes and trusts - really is a weight off his shoulders.

He’ll never tell Jazz; the amount of I-told-you-so-energy she’d leech into the air would be unbearable.

Sam and Tucker tag in here and there too, and mostly take over when they get to the part where the GIW bought Fenton Works for a short while to try and destroy the zone. Danny winces at the memory of his behavior back then.

The explanation runs for longer than it could have, given the aside they make when they get to his parents’ theories.

Frostbite is quick to confirm the combat-as-a-positive-social-behavior thing, and it turns out Sam is right about how to tell the difference.

Of course, Danny thinks they were all trying to kill him the rest of the way, but then that’s not a concern most ghosts have, so Frostbite offers his own perspective.

Skulker wants to hang his pelt on a wall: clearly unfriendly.

Technus is just having fun - enjoying playing with new technology in the living realm and throwing Danny around/being thrown around. He’s a friend. The whole world domination idea isn’t malicious as far as he’s concerned, because damage to the living realm doesn’t mean much to ghosts. What do they care about the living? What is the value of a single world as collateral when weighed against the games of ghosts?

If Danny wants him to stop that, Frostbite tells him, he can just propose a new game.

Ember genuinely just wanted a powerboost from the Earth that first time, but her returns since are a gesture of friendship.

Spectra definitely hates him though. Which is good. He wouldn’t know how to feel if Frostbite had said that that whole mess was an attempt at friendship.

As for the thing with his parents, Frostbite compares it to winning a tournament only to find out the other participants lost intentionally. You haven’t really won a competition if the competitors were not competing.

Like going in for a handshake only to get a “too slow” - even more insulting if it’s the first “too slow” you’ve ever gotten - Tucker suggests.

Or like asking a parent to a hug and only getting a wave. Not even a high-five.

They each go through another three cups of tea before the story winds down, Frostbite doing adding little more than the occasional nod or noise of acknowledgement - barring the social combat explanation, of course.

It’s nice, Danny thinks, to have an adult that actually listens. Even if said adult is a dead yeti.

“You have given me much to think on Great One, Friends Sam and Tucker,” he says after the three of them finally run out of words, giving each of them a nod. “And soon, we shall have much more to discuss. First, however, it seems that I have a meeting to call. And you have living needs that require attending to yet. Eat, rest, and, if you would, return here… let’s say the day after tomorrow? Then we can begin to discuss the…issues. At hand.”

Back in the Specter Speeder, Tucker wonders aloud if “call a meeting” is code for yelling at the Observants.

Then he looks at his PDA and realizes how late it’s gotten - namely, past all of their curfews - and they promptly turn the conversation to getting their story straight (and three backups because they’re all feeling paranoid with how high-stakes everything suddenly became. Not that the occasional ghost looking to wreck earth wasn't already high-stakes, but the whole political aspect made it feel... different).

***

Danny is thankful it’s summer vacation at the moment, because the next morning is a Monday.

He doesn’t know how he’d manage school with his mind miles away wondering about things like “how to king” and “how to maintain the fabric of reality” and other totally normal, non-stressful topics.

Just normal high schooler things.

His parents are gone before he’s even up, leaving a note for him and Jazz on the kitchen table.

They eat a quiet breakfast together.

The whole house is quiet. It’s unnatural, he thinks, and the small frown on Jazz’ face tells him she feels the same.

They normally enjoy the brief lulls of quiet that their parents leave behind, but this is perhaps the first time they’ve ever missed breakfast - well, the first time they haven’t been in the house during breakfast at least. A welding torch, clanging metal, clinking glass, minor explosions, and excited shouting is the usual background noise of their morning meal - whether from the basement door or at the table itself.

This time, the silence is disquieting.

Even more so since it means that Danny could, at any time, be teleported somewhere. He really should have asked Frostbite about how that works before they left - they’d already missed curfew anyway.

After they’ve both finished eating, he takes the opportunity to fill Jazz in on the whole… everything.

She is, to put it lightly, Not Impressed.

“-s bad enough they let you fight Pariah Dark in the first place! You should never have been in that position! I know that you’re a capable fighter Danny, but you’re fourteen-”

“I’m almost fifteen,” he grumbles.

“You’re not yet fifteen,” she says, glaring into the distance, expression practically snarling. Danny thinks she might be imagining strangling an Observant, based on the… choice words she’d had for them earlier. “And they want you to be a king!”

Tucker chooses that moment to arrive, walking right into the path of where Jazz is glaring and freezing until Sam shoves him out of her way to close the door and drag him into the kitchen.

“Who spat in your cereal?” she asks, moving to sit and kicking the fourth chair out for Tucker.

“Whoever or whatever is responsible for deciding that a fourteen year old child should be king when there are no doubt numerous thousand-plus year old candidates who don’t have human lives they still need to attend to!” She bellows, throwing her hands up in frustration.

The trio exchange a glance while she takes a few calming breaths.

Danny kind of wants to point out that he isn’t a child, he’s a teenager. And she’s barely older than him.

But he does have some sense of self-preservation, even if there’s only so much self left to preserve. Heh.

Then she gasps.

“Danny! You’re still half alive!”

“Er, yes?”

“Maybe that’s why the Watching Wraiths didn’t say anything! Maybe you can’t be the Ghost King if you’re still partly alive!”

“But Frostbite said-” Tucker starts, only to be cut off by Jazz.

“Frostbite could be wrong.” She sniffs. “And even if he isn’t you there are millenia before it becomes a problem. The Zone can wait for you to graduate high school before it goes demanding things of you. Or longer.”

The words are decisive.

Still….

“The Justice League-”

“Can cope. They’ll be a little paranoid about retaliation, but a little paranoia won’t kill them. And maybe letting them stew a bit will teach them to be more active about taking down genocidal organizations before they hurt so many people.”

“That’s a great idea,” Sam says, tone saying the opposite, “except the part where they’re actively working on figuring out how to summon the ghost king - who is Danny - and are probably also going to try and make contact with Phantom at some point - who is also Danny.”

Jazz frowns.

“Well. You don’t have to be a king to talk to the Justice League. Just tell them you’re still too young - which is true - or that the coronation is going to take a long time to plan - which, according to Frostbite, would be a reasonable claim. And also true since you will not be taking the throne until you are at least 18 if the Fenton Peeler and I have anything to say about it.”

“Uh. I don’t know if the Peeler is the best idea. With your…aim.” Tucker cringes, shrinking back in his seat when her unhappy frown snaps to him.

Then she looks thoughtful.

“You know what. I’ll just use a specter deflector. You mentioned before how humans are ghosts in the ghosts zone; see if they still feel like making a child a king when they’ve got an unstrikable target punching their lights out about it.”

“Please don’t antagonize a bunch of ghosts who could try and attack you while you're sleeping,” Danny pleads.

“It’s bad enough that all this has impacted your sleep and grades and attendance records so much; I’m not going to let a bunch of ghost nobles - or whatever they’re called - mess things up for you even more. If they don’t like my proposals they can un-friendly fight me about it, and if you’re worried about retribution I can turn on the house defenses in my room when I sleep. But I am not letting this go.”

She stands.

“Since he didn’t give you a time, we’ll leave to visit Frostbite after breakfast tomorrow-”

“We?” the trio ask hesitantly.

“Of course. But for now, there’s something else we need to do, little brother.”

That said, she turns and heads for the basement.

Danny and Tucker blink at the abrupt departure, while Sam just frowns thoughtfully.

The three exchange one more meaningful glance, before sharing a shrug and moving to follow her.

They arrive in the basement to Fenton Fighting Ring rising out of the floor.

“Uh, Jazz?” Danny tries.

“We’re going to fight!”

In stark contrast to both her words and her furious demeanor upstairs, her tone and expression are bright and eager.

“Um. That’s. Nice, but you know that’s a ghost thing, right?” he offers hesitantly.

“I mean, I still fight with Dora,” Sam adds, the traitor.

“Thank you Sam,” Jazz starts. “But even without that example; you are part ghost, brother mine. That means fighting loved ones is a you thing. I love you, so of course I’m going to fight you.”

“Mom and Dad theorized - and Frostbite confirmed - that the fighting is a social behavior. Many social behaviors are also needs. Members of social species that are not allowed to socialize become stressed and their health worsens. Humans who don’t communicate with other humans for too long experience negative side effects, too little physical contact can lead to depressed mood and so forth,” she monologues as she moves into the ring.

“As you’re still half human, neglecting the social needs of your ghost half could negatively impact your wellbeing. Also. I’m your sister and I love you. If I could never hug you I’d be bummed. This is like the ghost equivalent of that. So. Square up, little brother.”

Danny is kind of touched, actually.

Still.

“...Don’t you at least want an anti-creep stick?” he asks, gesturing at her general lack of ghost gear as he slips intangibly through the ropes around the ring.

“Nope!” She says cheerfully. “For this match we’ll be doing no powers and no weapons - just basic human strength and skill. We can try other kinds of fights later.”

Danny pales.

“No way! You’re a 4th degree black belt!”

“9th!” she corrects, still cheerfully - and she clearly means well, but for Danny that smile is beginning to look like an omen of ill fortune.

“That’s even worse!” he cries. “I’m only a blue belt! Barely!”

“I ~told~ you you should’ve stuck with mom’s training,” she sing-songs teasingly.

He cringes, but takes a stance.

“Now let's see how much you remember.”

That’s the only warning he gets before she’s in his face.

His strength, speed, stamina, endurance, and durability are all completely back to baseline in human form unless he actively uses his flight to compensate, but one thing he notes as the fight draws on is that his reaction speed is still the same.

Even so, it’s painfully obvious just how beyond him she is in terms of skill.

Without any powers to fall back on, Jazz runs circles around him like it’s nothing.

His reaction speed means that he sees everything she’s doing and that he has time to bring his arms up, but he keeps lagging trying to recall forms and getting shoved around for it, the defenses he manages too poor to be of any use.

Other times he lags because he’s suppressing instinctual power usage.

And multiple times he accidentally, instinctively abandons proper stance all together, habitually falling into the stance of his usual “feral racoon” style of fighting - as Jazz had one called it - which isn’t much of a stance at all in a fight with no powers. Especially given how it's not made for someone fighting on the ground. She takes brutal advantage of every opening.

He’s on the back foot from the first second of the fight, and it’s obvious that it only lasted for longer than one because Jazz allowed it to, testing him.

It’s frustrating that he’s doing so poorly - he knows he’s doing poorly - but despite that, he really is having fun.

It reminds him of the training spars at the Far Frozen - restrained skill set, fight with defined boundaries and win conditions-

Aaaaand evidently he let his mind wander too much.

And Jazz noticed.

And flipped him.

He’s thoroughly pinned in short order and he cannot for the life of him remember how to escape the hold short of cheating with intangibility.

“Uncle,” he calls.

Jazz pulls him to his feet and ruffles his hair.

He squawks indignantly, but she just chuckles.

"Good fight little brother," she calls as she slips between the ropes out of the ring.

"Our hero," Sam drawls as he follows.

Danny just pouts.

"That was just sad, man," Tucker ribs. "And I thought your early ghost fights were bad."

"I'd like to you do better against the 9th degree blackbelt," he grumbles.

"Don't fret, little brother. You'll improve with time," Jazz says as she rejoins them. "Though we'll have to do refreshers of all the previous levels first, given the amount of skill degradation I just saw. But with regular practice you'll back to your previous level and more in no time!"

"Uh. Refreshers?"

"Of course!"

"That seems a bit overkill just for sparring. Couldn't you just...wear a specter deflector or something? Then I can just not use karate."

Jazz, for the first time in a long time, levels him with a very serious look.

"You said that the reason Frostbite can't be the king instead is because he can't beat you in an all out fight. You told me the alternative."

She grabs him by the shoulders and stares into his eyes.

"Danny, Vlad already made a way to shut you away from your ghost powers. Frostbite may be unwilling to end you, and I don't think Vlad would. But you and I both know there are ghosts out there who would destroy you in a heartbeat for that power. And if Vlad has that kind of device, someone else could get one too. Ecto-weapons can give you a leg up if you get sealed away from your ghost powers, but you'll also need the skill to use them successfuly."

She lets go and steps back, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"Even with the ghost powers it's probably a good idea; the crown and ring might power you up but so did the exoskeleton. Clearly they aren’t the only power-ups out there so you can’t rely on strength alone. Skill could be the determining factor one day. And you already said you had fun," she smiles. "Come on little brother, give in to the karate side."

He grimaces.

"Didn't you say you were gonna make the royalty thing a non-issue for like three more years at least," he whines, slumping dramatically.

She raises a brow.

"A blackbelt isn't made in a day."

"Ugh, fine."

He's actually looking forward to it, but Jazz doesn't need to know that. He's duty-bound as a brother to be as annoyingly contrary about sibling bonding as possible, after all.

When Sam asks if they'll teach her and Tucker as well, Jazz is all too happy to include them - best not to have only one sparring partner, avoid forming bad habits and all that.

Both girls dutifully ignore Tucker's protests while they hash out a schedule. Danny pats his shoulder consolingly.

#dpxdc

291 notes · View notes

monzamash · 1 year

Text

unless you like that — daniel ricciardo

summary – it’s events season and the alcohol is flowing. rating – a whole lotta smut 18+ (sex scene, course language, drinking) pairing – daniel ricciardo x you (female reader) word count – 3.8k of absolute filth a/n – bit of plot but mostly just sex because drunk, flirty danny ric makes me feral. that's it. enjoy the ride. masterlist

All you wanted to do was drag Daniel back to your hotel room, get reacquainted after a couple of torturous weeks of being apart, maybe run a hot bath and enjoy the rest of your night in peace.

In your dreams.

You never really had Daniel for long during the season and because of that, you wanted to make the most of your time actually being in the same country, let alone the same city. But your handsome, social butterfly of a boyfriend had other ideas – ones that didn’t factor in your desire to have him all to yourself.

So good to see ya too, mate.

We’ve gotta catch up next time you’re in LA, man.

Maaaate, long time no see!

How’s ya mum going? Tell her I said hi.

The mum's bloody loved themselves a bit of Daniel Ricciardo.

The long, doting line of people wanting to wish Daniel good luck for next year and praising his strength through adversity while getting a sneaky selfie was never ending. To put it plainly, it was obnoxious but you were used to it now. He was effervescent, charismatic – a big ‘ol magnet to anyone and everyone. You loved him endlessly, admired his ability to smile through the pain even more but all you wanted to do was say goodnight to everyone and leave.

Barely two words were shared before you were whisked off in a car and through the doors of this swanky restaurant – the private function room and bottomless champagne making it less excruciating.

“All I can think about is getting this over and done with so I can come back here and rip this unbelievably beautiful dress off you.”

Those ‘barely two words’ were enough ammunition to last you a couple of hours, holding onto the hope of that promise coming true. But right now you had to try and enjoy the night and put any filthy thoughts you may or may not be having aside for the sake of your own sanity. Smile and wave.

You didn’t know exactly what the party was for but you knew that the McLaren team were the ones throwing it from the obnoxious amount of orange balloons hanging from the ceiling – and that Daniel was obliged to attend. But you would never have guessed that he was there as a contractual obligation the way he floated through the room, saying hello to every last individual, bright smile adorning his face. He made each and every person feel like a million bucks. That’s why they loved him, because he made them feel at ease – like he was one of them.

Daniel didn’t think there was a whole lot for him to be celebrating but he always underestimated how loved he was by McLaren – racing problems aside, he was adored by the staff who were devastated to see him leaving.

And somehow in a room of nearly a hundred people, he knew nearly everyone by name, zeroing in long enough to have them eating out of the palm of his hand.

Your words, not his.

“Could you say hello to my grandson – he loves you.” An older lady asked, phone locked and loaded for the video. God help him if he said no.

“Absolutely.”

Of course he said yes. That was the kind of person Daniel was. Not a people pleaser or a push over – just a genuinely nice guy with more patience than anyone you’d ever known.

After making your way around most of the room, you finally had a second to drink in your man. The freshly steamed, light blue linen shirt was lazily buttoned over his shoulders, leaving a the tiniest bit of chest hair showing for good measure and to tease you, no doubt. He’d gone for his classic black skinny jeans sitting atop a pair of shiny black dress shoes look that you loved and those wild curls that you’d spent hours twirling between your fingers flowed onto his forehead – he looked so fucking good.

His charm and kindness always had you singing his praises and you made sure he knew how wonderful he was, how attractive he was. Your soft whispers of admiration had his heart pumping as he took a sip of his Chateau Margaux red, lips quirked in a smile. “So sexy.”

“Which part of all that was sexy? The bit where I filmed a video for that women’s grandkid? You are an absolute deviant if that’s makin’ ya feel a certain way, my girl.”

Daniel loved to tease, especially when it garnered that kind of reaction. Rolling eyes, flushed cheeks and a gentle shove in the arm. He fucking lived for it.

“No, dickhead.” You scolded under your breath, “Just… you being you. I don’t know what it is.”

You couldn’t put your finger on it but you knew how it made you feel. Seduced.

“Maybe you can figure it out in our hotel room.”

Daniel shrugged with a smirk lining his lips, nonchalantly throwing out the idea as if he hadn’t been plotting a way to leave the party early. Wishing for nothing more than to have you praising his other set of skills, if you catch my drift. Rolling your eyes with flushed cheeks but in a very different context. He was twitching at the thought as his fingertips lightly scratched at the silky material covering your ribs, dragging your body closer to his.

“Don’t tempt me, Ricciardo. All I’ve wanted since the second we got here was to leave so don’t talk a big game if you can’t deliver.” You were whispering in his ear, hoping to spur on those scheming eyes staring back at you.

“When have I not delivered? Just call me FedEx,” He joked, swaggering away from the bar and waving to Lando who had just rocked up with his crew in tow.

“Do we even know what this party’s for?” Lando asked over the loud music blasting through the speakers, taking the smallest step back after he gave us both a hug hello.

Lando looked dapper compared to his usual hoodie and track pants ensemble that he'd wear around the track. He was slightly confused by the overt extravagance he’d walked into but he was always smiling your way, making you feel welcome. You were going to miss his cheekiness and the way he brought out a different side to Daniel. Mischief always seemed to follow those two.

“Probably just a way for McLaren to swing their dick around before the end of the season,” Daniel shrugged, completely oblivious to how crude his comment was. Thankfully Lando was more than used to it now after working so closely with him so you didn’t have to apologise on Daniel’s behalf.

“The wine’s ace though.” He quickly added.

“You would say that,” Lando replied, snickering quietly as he looked over at the bar, “Might actually grab a drink and come back. Want anything?"

Lando looked between you and Daniel as you both shook your heads until he turned away and disappeared into the crowd, “Kid’s not gonna know what hit him next year – being the golden boy isn’t what it’s cracked up to be…”

You nodded and watched Daniel’s eyes following Lando, pensively taking a sip of his wine before sighing and glancing back to you, “What?”

“Nothing,” You tutted, “It’s funny how much you care about him now after how rocky the relationship was in the beginning. I love that he’s softened you a little bit, made you less of a prick.” You winked.

The insincere insult tacked onto the end made Daniel’s thick eyebrows rise with faux hurt, an exaggerated gasp masterfully added for emphasis, “Me? A prick? I wouldn’t reckon a prick snags a girl like you.”

You watched as Daniel sculled the rest of his wine, a devilish smirk hiding behind the large glass, “No chance. Unless you like that.”

“I don’t hate it.”

Daniel's laugh was dark as he took a step forward, lessening the gap between the two of you before reaching up and brushing your hair over your shoulder, “Now you’re tempting me and that’s not fair.” He whispered into your ear, carefully placing his empty glass on the table beside you.

“Nothings really fair though, is it? You having to be here instead of buried deep inside me, fucking me until I –”

“The bar line’s a fucking ‘mare,” Lando loudly interrupted and caused you to jump back from Daniel’s side. You steadied yourself on his hip for balance as you watched Lando plot his next move.

“Oh, there’s Charlotte – she’ll have an in!”

You and Daniel politely nodded again while he shot off in the other direction, and the two of you shifted away from the middle of the room, out of view of prying eyes and into a private nook. Daniel was quick to pin you up against the wall, large hand pressing into your hip as you looked up at him with innocent eyes. He could see right through you.

“Don’t give me that look,” He growled, eyes narrowed. “Look at what you do to me.”

His whispered words and flickering eyes encouraged your hands that were playing with his slightly parted shirt to travel further south, fingertips tracing over his dark denim jeans that were a lot tighter than when he first got here. Almost too tight.

“You are fuckin’ cruel, sweetheart.”

The painfully hard outline pressing against your palm intoxicated your already foggy mind, mouth watering. You could feel your thighs magnetically pulling together as his thumb flicked the dimple in your chin, forcing you to look into his dark, misty eyes that were watching your every move.

"Want me to do something about it?" It was a bold question to ask, a dangerous one, even when you noticed his eyes change colour. They were blacker than the night sky now.

Daniel was exasperated, anguished by the question as he smiled and dipped his forehead onto yours. The answer was obviously “abso-fucking-lutely, get down on your knees and show me you love me” but he knew better. And so did you. Still, the warm puff of air from his laugh still sent surging chills down your arched spine, needy for his touch.

“I hate sayin’ no to you,” He rasped and closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, “Especially when I know how fucking good you feel but no. You can't.”

You dryly chuckled and brushed your hands over his puffed out chest, “Must be absolute torture, my boy. Thankfully I can hide how I’m feeling – you? Not so much.” You replied with gritted teeth and a shrug, smirk dancing on your lips.

“Yeah, you’re fuckin’ in for it later, mate.” He playfully retorted before pulling himself from your grasp and leaving you with what he thought was a threat, but what you took as a promise you hoped to God he would keep. You were soaked. to. the. core.

The expensive champagne continued to flow freely for hours and several glasses of wine later had you and Daniel fumbling around at your hotel room door, unsure whether you’d arrived at the right number and having absolutely no idea where the key card you barely remembered giving him had gone. It also didn’t help that Daniel’s lips hadn’t left the crook of your neck while you dug through your clutch, his fingers inching closer to danger with every passing second.

“Lemme see your pockets,” You huffed and shoved your hand into his jeans pocket, causing a loud shriek to slip from his lips.

“You’re just tryin’ to touch my dick!” He shouted, louder than he expected and definitely louder than you accepted as appropriate, even in your drunken stupor, "You can if ya want."

“Shuuuush!” You hissed, trying not to laugh as Daniel gazed up at the ceiling and reached into his back pocket, searching until his eyes lit up with excitement. “Ah-huh!”

“Thank god – now hurry up and fuck me please!” You whisper-yelled, praying for the sweet sound of a door unlocking.

“Alright, ya horn-bag. Give me a sec- ond… Shit!” Daniel paused and looked back at you with wide eyes, “Wrong room.”

You could faintly hear the sound of footsteps behind the large door in front your shocked face. Before you could even muster a response to his mortifying revelation, Daniel had you in his grasp, dragging you down the hallway, panting and hoping he had a plan. He always did.

“Room 1001 – not 1011,” He coughed through his laughter, hovering the keycard over the lock and finally revealing the room we’d left nearly 5 hours ago, “Home sweet home.”

“Shut up,” You mumbled, throwing your arms over his shoulders and jumping into his embrace. Daniel groaned at your sudden burst of energy and hoisted you up on his waist, mouths instantly attached and desperately trying to defy physics.

Your vision was blurry when you pulled away for air, lips still touching, noses knocking and your hands still roaming the expanse of Daniel’s broad shoulders. You could feel him moving you further into the room that was spinning, the ceiling fan still whirring above your head. That was the first thing you saw when you landed on the messy hotel bed and left for dead by Daniel who was chuckling at the foot, watching you lay back in defeat.

“I’m stupidly drunk.” You huffed.

Daniel nodded as you looked up at him through hooded eyes, “So, so drunk.”

“Not that drunk.”

Your pointed finger and wiggling eyebrows told him exactly what you were referring to, lip bite and dark eyes forever selling you out.

“Take off your pants.” You ordered.

Daniel’s grin dropped into a smirk as you propped yourself up on your elbows, encouraging your boyfriend to give you a little show. Tipsy or not, Daniel knew what you wanted and he’d move heaven and earth to give you whatever you asked for. A heat rushed across his chest as he gazed down at you, undressing for him. The silky satin dress slipped off a lot easier than it went on, a detail not going unnoticed by Daniel who was slowly unbuttoning his shirt, moaning at the sight of your white lacy thong that you knew he loved.

“Killing me.”

“You love it, baby.”

“I live for it.”

The banter was hot, if not hotter than the actual sex. Foreplay was your forte but you weren’t in a ‘building a narrative’ kind of mood. It was primitive now – the primal need for a release outweighing the desire to fuck around with each other. That was the kind of fun best saved for the morning. You were already looking forward to that.

“Look how wet I am for you, Danny.”

Daniel growled as he kicked his jeans off, boxer briefs attached as they flung across the room, discarded with his wrinkled linen shirt. He stood for a moment – naked, painfully hard and begging to be touched before crawling up onto the California king. You could feel him throbbing as he brushed up on your inner thigh, legs open and wrapped around his waist in a matter of seconds. Lips attached again, frenziedly needing for more.

“Give it to me.” You pathetically pled.

“I wanna taste first.”

You resented his love for you in that moment. Resented that he wanted to indulge in what you had to offer, when all you wanted was the main course. The sharp huff that slipped from your lips made Daniel chuckle into your inner thigh, sloppy kisses followed by tiny nibbles, undeniably revving you up but also making the pout on your face that much more noticeable.

“You’re sexy even when you’re mad,” He almost slurred, closing the gap between you and his indescribably proficient tongue. Hot breath fanning over what you could only imagine was your glistening pussy. Ready for him to enjoy. Fuck.

“You are a fucking drug. A sweet, delicious drug that'll be the death of me.”

Daniel hummed before flattening his tongue against you, loving eyes locked on yours before your head tilted back, throat barely squeaking out a moan. He lapped and lapped and lapped away at you, paying close attention to the way you curled up when the tip of his nose slipped over your clit, your moan changing in pitch. He was always in heaven devouring you like this, until he was somewhat satisfied. He wasn’t selfish and he knew what you wanted, even if he could’ve stayed like that until the sun came up. Feasting.

“Daniel, please.”

“Full naming me when I just wanna make you feel good is mean, baby.”

Daniel was playing. And you were teasing. He loved hearing you moan his whole name – his mind reeling back to the time you screamed out his full name as you came, subsequently rushing him to his own finish line. Exploding.

“I wanna cum around your cock. That’s all I want,” You sighed and finally opened your eyes, clutching and admiring at the sprinkling of chest hair. Daniel was drunk, but not drunk enough to not realise how lucky he was to have you spread out beneath him, pleading for him to fuck you into another dimension.

“Your wish is my… demand? Command? Your wish is my something,” Daniel couldn’t quite find the saying in the midst of his excitement, and you couldn't hold back the fit of laughter as you threw your head into the pillows.

“Smooth, Ricciardo,” You giggled as you felt his slick tip teasing your hole, fists clenched beside your head and a smirk the size of the equator on his face.

“Well how does it go then, smarty pants?” Daniel nodded his head and gently sank into you, revelling in the feeling of you engulfing every inch he had to give while he watched your eyes roll into the back of your head, waiting for your answer.

“I –” You stammered, adjusting and sucking in a sharp breath, “I have no… No idea, and I don’t… fucking care.”

Daniel chuckled as his wispy curls fell into his eyes, watching you lick your lips and gather yourself. You were blurry in his vision, the alcohol now really pumping through his veins as he gripped your hips in his large hands, palms perspiring and brows following suit. Your fingertips trailed from his chest down to his pelvis, skin hot to the touch and tattoos glistening from sheen of sweat covering his perfect body.

“Fuck me just like that… Oh my god.” You snapped open your lust filled eyes – blazing flames erupting in Daniel’s as they caught yours.

“Feels fuckin’ good, ey.”

It was a rhetorical question but you nodded anyway.

Daniel was huffing and puffing as your lips tried to find his, hands cradling his slacked jaw. Drunken sloppy sex was one of your favourite genres and it’d been a hot minute since you’d found yourselves with the taste of red wine still lingering on your tongues, fucking like animals. He was thrusting hard until he noticed your hand crawl down to where your bodies met, the delicate touch slowing his movements and capturing his undivided attention.

“Oi,” Daniel breathed and sat back on his knees, still warming in your tight pussy. Your eyebrows quirked with intrigue and a small smirk tugged at the corners of your lips as he grabbed your hand and guided it up to his mouth, eyes never leaving yours. Fanning the flames deep inside.

His tongue swiped across your soft fingertips, making sure each one was dripping wet with spit before sliding them back down between your trembling thighs, “Bet that feels better, huh?”

“Mm-hmm. Much better,” You managed to moan out as he wrapped his arm around your lower back and angled your hips up to his cock, watching himself slowly slide in and out while you circled your clit, edging yourself closer with every touch.

Daniel picking up the pace meant he wasn’t far from his high, the tell tale signs were consistent and always a dead giveaway. The flush of red creeping up his neck and veins bulging under his taut skin was the first sign. Filthy words whispered into your ear was the second and grunts vibrating in his chest as his focus was pulled to you and only you were one of the final ones before he couldn’t hold on any longer.

But he never left you high and dry. Not in a million fucking years.

"Right fucking there, Danny!" You shouted, oblivious to your screams almost certainly alerting the neighbouring room. Even if you were conscious of the volume of your voice, you couldn’t have cared less. Your man was putting on a show and you’d be damned if you didn’t make sure he knew how good he was giving it to you.

"I'm right there..."

"Cum all over my cock, beautiful."

You squealed into the pillow you’d been gripping, scrunching your nose at how fucking good he felt filling you to the brim. Daniel eased your thrashing body through the shockwaves, making sure you felt every last writhe of pleasure – every nerve set alight by the fire burning in your stomach as that perfectly tied knot quickly unravelled. He was holding on for dear life, cursing how tight you felt coming around his aching cock.

"I need to see your face, baby. Look at me."

Daniel’s raspy voice snapped you back to reality as your hips rocked violently against his. That and your blown-out pupils boring into his was enough to send him tumbling over the edge, unloading everything he had and more.

Daniel clutched your shuddering thighs with his searing fingertips as he bucked one, two, three times and placed one of his shaky palms against the hotel wall, trying to catch his breath as he filled you up. Your eyes were lazily shut, slowly regaining some semblance of consciousness and clawing at the skin on Daniel’s abdomen – attempting to soothe him through his high. Selfishly, you were too caught up in your own that you’d forgotten he was even still there. You'd make up for that later.

For now, you were in bliss. Laboured breathing filled the comfortable silence as you searched for one another, floating back down to the real world.

"Come back to me," Daniel teased quietly as a sly grin swept across your face, eyes closed and skin still tingling from his hot touch. He fell beside you and rolled off the bed in search of something, anything to clean up the mess you’d made together.

"I think I've died and gone to heaven," You whispered back, earning a hoarse chuckle in return. Daniel looked like a mirage on a hot summers day when you opened your eyes and watched him exit the en suite, tissue box in hand.

"What a review."

Proudly boasting after sex was a regular occurrence with Daniel and you loved it; encouraged it even. He chucked the tissue away and practically tripped back into bed, still tipsy and feeling the full effects now that he wasn't under your intoxicating spell. At least for now, anyway.

He flicked off the lamp and sent the room into complete darkness before you felt his warm arm snaking around your naked waist, pulling you into his pounding chest. You were exhausted and almost numb from the long night but satisfied above all else. Thirst well and truly quenched.

You could always rely on Danny for that.

click for more of my writing if you're interested.

#daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo imagine #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo smut #formula 1 one shot #formula 1 #monzamashmasterlist #forgive me lord for i have sinned #its actually pretty vanilla compared to some of my other ideas #so stay tuned i guess!#dr3

1K notes · View notes

mundoperla · 1 year

Note

Hello iz me, I thought of another request sorry sdvhf- Some killers reactions to finding a gn survivor in the middle of a trial asleep? Just passed the fuck out in the back seat of a truck in the cornfield map- Or asleep in a locker or the corner of a room, waiting for a teammate to come back, something like that

(No established relationships, for both of the requests I sent!… yet) 👀

If you could include Frank again because..👉🏻👈🏻, but aside from that, any other killers you want to write hcs for! :D Thank you again!

i see frank? i fold like a samsung galaxy z flip 4

𝘿𝘽𝘿 𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡

u see the title babes G/N reader x Killers🤭

— killer(s) included;; frank morrison & danny johnson bc i had no clue who else to add🧍‍♂️

‼️tw(s);; none!

° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 °

𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖐 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖔𝖓—𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖔𝖓

✿.｡༅ He was confused to say the least. Had survivors tried hiding inside and under the cars before? absolutely, but he had never encountered one sleeping in one.

✿.｡༅ What is he even supposed to do in this situation??? He could drag you out by your ankles and toss you onto a hook, easy kill, but you looked so peaceful.

✿.｡༅ Frank doesn’t blame you for deciding to pass out during the trial, he gets exhausted during them and after too.

✿.｡༅ He’s a killer not a monster 🙄

✿.｡༅ Ultimately you’re left alone, he’d feel guilty waking you up, he doubts the anxious pre-trial periods don’t help much with relaxation either. Coldwind farm wasn’t any better — but at least there were some spots that you could lay your head for a minute.

✿.｡༅Frank will make sure not to make any noise around the car you’re in as to not disturb you, he’ll kill one of your friends far away or steer chases away from the vehicle.

✿.｡༅ Internally he worries if the car is too hot in there for you, it was a very warm and sunny setting you guys were in so of course he was anxious that you’d overheat in there.

✿.｡༅ Despite his worries, you were still peacefully sleeping.

✿.｡༅ If you’re lucky he might sit near the truck you’re resting in while the match continues, he’ll wait for you to get up so he can take you to an exit.

✿.｡༅ You can give him hell about him actually being ‘soft’ & he’ll threaten to yank you out of the vehicle next time he finds you and then toss you on the rustiest hook he can find, but he never does.

• • •

𝕯𝖆𝖓𝖓𝖞 𝕵𝖔𝖍𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖓—𝕲𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖋𝖆𝖈𝖊

✿.｡༅ Oh hey

✿.｡༅ Danny finds you sleeping in one of the old houses in Haddonfield, he was looking for someone else but you were a much more pleasant surprise!

✿.｡༅ Unfortunately unlike Frank, he’s yanking you up and throwing you on a hook😪

✿.｡༅ He’ll catch you again in another house sleeping after he gets rid of the rest of your team, he’s confused now.

✿.｡༅ You’re quite literally in a life or death situation yet you’re choosing to sleep?? Surely you’d want to leave just like everyone else, so why were you just clocking out???

✿.｡༅ Of course he’s thinking of killing you right here, but this time he decides to let you have some peace before he kills you.

✿.｡༅ What does he do instead? Lay down on the floor next to you! He could’ve just went to the next room over and lay on the mattress but he wanted to still be as close to you as possible.

✿.｡༅ You’re unable to see because of the mask, but he’s looking at you from the side. He sees how you manage to keep yourself together before the games even begin and now he sees you relaxing once you’ve been thrown into one.

✿.｡༅ Thats pretty damn cool to him, he’s slaughtered your friends countless times but you were still somehow calm.

✿.｡༅ Maybe he’ll let you sleep some more, hatch is right downstairs so he’ll let you leave this time.

• • •

WEEWOOOWEEEWOOOOWEEEEWOOO

#dbd imagines #frank morrison x reader #legion x reader #dbd x reader #ghostface x reader #danny johnson x reader #jed olsen x reader #dbd fanfic

2K notes · View notes

lovesickry · 7 months

Text

- let the light in.

┈⋆⭒ lando norris x rival femdriver!reader [2.4k] ┈⋆⭒ part 3 !

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⎯ find all parts here! .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⎯ contains: 18+, smut, swearing, angst, handjob LOL .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⎯ a/n: sorry for my little hiatus I was really trying to think about what im trying to do with this story. .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⎯ comment if you wanted be added to taglist

by all accounts Spain had been...interesting. considering the close proximity in which you came into with a certain man by which you (or at least thought) certainly disliked.

A sense of unease followed you in the coming week, a kind of distrust. With yourself? It was an odd feeling, unlikely to be exactly pinpointed so it was more or less thrust far back into your mind, his lingering, burning touch hopefully soon forgotten.

You were eager to more or less throw yourself into training, it was Monaco after all, the race every driver wanted to win. You were not an exception.

You saw Danny for dinner on Tuesday and it was actually very refreshing, you had taken some convincing (done by yours truly) to actually attend, by in doing so you did actually have a good time. He was Danny Ric of course you were gonna have a good time. Anyway, you were walking around Monaco much too late, talking about the season and actively trying to avoid any talk about his current teammate. He mentioned he was worried about you.

“Why?”

“Oh just you know, sometimes I see a bit of myself in you and I know how I can get.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, he cared so much. Danny had never been your teammate but youd drifted together through one force or the other and he'd been nothing but nice to you. You understood where he was coming from, you guess you were similar, the same kind of persistent optimism, sarcasm, devotion, not knowing when to stop pushing, problems of burning out etc;

“I’m fine”

He waits for you to continue, you do.

“I mean, I think, it's just all a lot. I've wanted to be in Formula One for as long as I can remember and now that I’m here, it's still like everyday I'm fighting to be here. And it's not all just about being a girl either, like most of it is but still. It's like there's something inside me that's almost contradicting my existence, like I'm not meant to be here. It's pushing me forward and also pulling me back. I don't know how to explain it.”

You take a deep breath and try to keep your voice steady as you continue.

“There's just so much that I want to achieve and I don't even think I believe I can do it.”

Your voice wobbles only slightly as you pause walking and look at him, suddenly breathless.

He looks at you with so much understanding you could break down into tears. He extends an arm and pulls you into a side hug as he continues down the street slowly walking.

“I think when you first do this that's how everyone feels, like they’re lying to themselves or that they don’t deserve it, but believe me when I tell you Dylan you are so deserving, more than so many drivers and you will get there. The isolation will dissipate and your body will realign and you’ll know what to do and how to do it and you’ll truly believe in yourself and your life won't be pushing and pulling at you anymore, i know its hard and i hate to say it, but time is truly your best friend in shit like this.”

You don't know how danny seemed to always know what to say but the words he spoke resonated with you and made something click, the rest of the walk home was lighter as you reached your hotel just after midnight, saying goodbye to Danny and watching him walk off into the lit streets of Monaco, quiet, peaceful and picturesque. You were amongst the other drivers who didn't (yet) live in Monaco, but you loved every moment you visited. Yes it was a posh persons wet dream, but it was undeniably beautiful in every part and you loved the safeness as a woman too. Though you'd have to admittedly work on your french.

When Thursday rolled around and you had to go to the track, ending your period of peace, it was gratefully uneventful, not once did you see who you had prayed you wouldn’t and that was enough to leave the paddock with a smile. Friday was less than satisfying however, achieving not even in the top 10 in either practices. Saturday and Sunday, were thankfully a different story, you had qualified well, pulling your car into P4. You were happy, the car was happy and you were focused, the chat with Danny had made you in some way looser?

You had mixed emotions about the part of the day in which you would attend the drivers parade. On one hand you could argue that it was a bit of a break from the seriousness, a time where drivers genuinely just chat shit while people look on and occasionally get asked questions, but on the other you could also argue that its kinda pointless and stupid. Regardless all the drivers piled into the moving vehicle and settled into a chatter of conversation in their respective “groups”. Just by your luck, as you eased into a conversation with Danny and George, Lando decided to join in. You didn’t ignore the look up and down he gave you before swiftly intervening in the conversation. For some reason the minute Lando joined in you were mute, not cintrivuting to the conversation in the slightest bit, other than nudging Danny every now and again to point something/someone out. You spoke few words with Lando present and even fewer when prompted by him to speak. At a point George simply dragged you away and talked to you one of one to save the awkward silence that seemed to surround the you and Lando. You had never found George unattractive, but at the same time you werent attracted to him either, which you thought in the moment he wasnt understand, as everything he said he would lean closer, almost intimate. Not too obvious, not romantic, but obvious enough, atleast to you and the eyes that you felt bore into the back of your head from a certain McLaren driver. Waling through the paddock following the drivers parade was always an ordeal, fans were out and you signed caps and shirts and skin and took photos, before finally making it anywhere near your garage. That was a part of the fun honestly, you always thought: The fans. You hear familiar voices and try not to eavesdrop, though subconsciously straining to hear, it's muffled and you only make out. “Shes not” “Dude” “fuck” “embarassing” “gross” “come on?” “you jealous?” your spying however is put to an end when none other than George Russel and Lando Norris round the corner to where you stood or recently stood, because as soon as you heard shuffling you resumed movement so they didn’t know that you were really just standing there listening to whatever the fuck they were saying.

“Speak of the devil” Lando says with a smirk.

You don't fully register the meaning behind that line however, still relishing in the fact they didn't know of your habit to eavesdrop.

“You're such a twat” George says, and more or less storms off.

You watch as he goes, still silent and then turn towards Lando.

“You’re actually such a dickhead ”

Lando scoffs before continuing.

“I was the one defending your dignity, George was drooling at you, its embarrassing”

You raise your eyebrows at him

“George?”

“Oh come on you're not that naive, he's so into you it's disgusting.”

“piss off”

“No seriously Mr Russell was in a seductive mood” it's said with an air of humour and you nearly laugh.

“George was trying to seduce me?” you let a deep breath out of your noise, nearly letting loose a laugh.

“And how exactly would he go about that huh?” you continue sarcastically.

‘Hmmm” his eyebrows straighten and his whole face looks as though it changes composition.

You move to go, sick of whatever the fuck Lando wants to play with you, you round the corner, reaching a small end of a hallway with no current people near and suddenly hes there too. Lips grazing the top of your ear. His body was against yours and radiating with heat, breath fanning your temple.

“Like this?” his voice is too fucking low, too fucking delicious and your mind is begging for you to succumb, but you cant, you wont.

“Youre a fucking asshole” its said through your teeth and you dont make any action to move your body away from his.

He hummed in response, simply moving his breaths down your neck.

“You mean it?” a smirk paints his face

“I hate you” the words come out more breathless than you'd hoped.

He laughs into the skin of your neck, you're still not moving, unable to move. In fear giving into him.

You close your eyes in hopes to centre yourself but it's impossible to ignore the heat that seems to surround you, your blood flows like molten lava through your veins and every breath is staggered and fractured. Opening your eyes was a mistake, Lando is looking at you with someone that could be moulded into admiration and his pupils are blown. You can't stop the way your back arches to meet him and suddenly your hands are in his curls and his mouth is on yours. It is so sweet, so filthy, so hateful. The way your mouths are moving against each other, his hands grasping at your back while you pull at his hair, you notice as you pull away the way he bites his lip, as if to not make any noise.

Well that's rich, he doesn't get to pretend he hasn't been the one chasing after you, acting all shitty just cause you’ve been the only girl not to fall to your feet at the sight of him.

He deserved a taste of his own medicine, you moved your lips off his and his eyes widened slightly thinking you're stopping whatever this was. Not yet. You move your lips down to his necks and begin to kiss him until you reach where he tenses at, figuring that's your best shot. You find the spot just above his clavicle and he inhales sharply before biting his lip. You were getting somewhere, focusing on this singular spot had Lando more desperate than before, biting so hard on his lip you thought it might bleed and gripping your waist so tightly you thought it might bruise if he adjusted his grip anymore.

The next idea that hit you was albeit self-indulgent but you thought would get your point across, or atleast suffice some of Lando’s infatuation with you just enough to clear your mind of him.

While one of your hands holds firmly his curls while you kiss his neck fervently, your other hand drops down further, trailing over the muscle that lay taut and hot underneath his fireproofs. His throat bobbed and he threw his head back only slightly, making an incoherent noise that made you smile against his neck, his control lost and gained so fast. Soon after your other hand left the back of his head, he dropped it onto your shoulder, still fiercely remainly quiet as you moved the other hand down his back, both hands reached under the material at the same time and his body was hotter than you had ever thought possible, retaining so much heat you are surprised there wasn't some kind of steam coming off of his skin. You pull his race suit down lower so it meets his middle thighs, his forehead still resting on your shoulder, keeled over. Pulling the material of his fireproofs up so you could actually see the muscle that was residing under there was fucking awe-inspiring, the small gap that you allowed yourself to see, breathing hard and fast, watching the muscle, the skin go out and in which each breath, you were nearly hypnotised.

“Im not gonna fucking beg tait”

His voice is rough but fractured and static, not portraying the toughness you think he’d like it too. It's your turn to hum in response as you move your hands achingly lower to where he is painfully and unbearingly hard for anything you do. The minute your hand makes contact with the sensitive skin he gasps, you relish in the noise and you slowly move your hand around him, gathering the pre cum that coats the tip and focusing on it, slow moments make him shake and he's suddenly making small, consistent noises that only egg you on more. You hated to admit that the power in the movement was absolutely superb, enough to ignore the ache between your own legs. You twist your hand slightly causing a strangled groan to come from Lando followed by a “fuck you” though its not too aggressive. You speed it up and soon he's breathing too fast, his eyes are fluttering and he’s so close. You position your hand and fingers at just the right part of him and he's coming hard and fast and hot and heavy in your palm. Followed by a deep, long breath and then a swift laugh. Lando Norris just came in your hand in his fucking racesuit. If that wasn’t karma that while he sung the national anthem he’d have cum in his fucking pants you didnt know what was.

“That's for the crash and all the shit in the press.” you know how it must sound, that you'd just jerked him off and now you're labelling it as payback, but to the relationship that you both held it was pretty much just that. You slip out from under him, smoothing your hair and wiping your hands on his race suit. His face has fallen and hasn't moved, though he moves his arm to steady himself.

You don't look back as you finally walk out of the corner of that measly little hallway, grateful that nobody happened upon you two.

“Fuck you” its quiet but loud enough to hear and its almost….whiny?

The ache between your legs has dissipated by the time you climb into the car, eager to get anything else into your head than the one that had been resting on your shoulder that day.

tag list:

@ssararuffoni, @eviethetheatrefreak, @fairiesdowntheroad, @landosgirlxoxo, @hiraethrhapsody, @hockeyboysarehot @mcmuppet @honethatty12 @darleneslane @formula1mount @borntogayz @kodzuvk @potatos-on-clouds @jullamy @taytaythirteen,@mrsmaybank13, @spiderrmoon, @giuliaabergaminii.@thenoblenomad, @luanemone, @spaceodd-ty, @aphroditeisamilf, @chonkybonky

#source: cafekitsune #f1 #f1 fic #lando norris #f1 x reader #f1 x you #lando norris fanfic #lando x reader #lando norris smut #lando norris x reader #lando norris imagine #lando norris fic #lando norris series #lando norris enemies to lovers #lando norris rivals #lando norris x you #lando norris angst #lando norris fluff #lando norris x y/n

353 notes · View notes

rinbowaman · 6 months

Text

ↀOUBLE IIROUBLE - FINALE!

FINALE!!!!!

Warnings: Kidnapping, betrayal, hints of kidnapping, hints of murder, cover up, coercion, pregnancy. For once, there isn't any smut in this one, this is solely to focus the storyline and the conclusion of it, but i promise you're going to like the ending.

Also, I did start on proofreading but only did half of it. I didn't want to delay this any further, so here it is, and please ignore the mistakes.

……………….

By the time you awoke, night had taken over and draped the entire sky pitch black. Heeseung was still embracing you, and your bodies remained laying on the floor; the exact spot you struggled against his strength and finding a way to prevent Heejeong from…

“My mother! Heeseung!”

“Shh…come here baby.”

You push him away viciously, demanding to know what they had done to her. “I want to see my mother now! What have you done?!”

Heeseung’s lids fall half closed, when suddenly the door creeked open, and Heejeong walks in. Scurringly, you rush over and collapsed just as you reached one arm’s distance from his frame. He catches you as he softly lands on his knees, noticing the fresh drops of tears forming in your eye.

“Please….Heejeong…please…my mother….my mother..I…I–” you were barely able to formulate any words, fearing the worst of her and Danny’s safety. “Please! Please tell me you didn’t…I can talk to my mother…she will listen and understand..just please please–”

Heejeong cuts you off by placing a finger against your lips, gently stroking them as he caresses your cheek. “Shh…baby…your mother is safe and nothing happened to her. So just relax, okay?”

Relief struck you; at that very moment you cried, regardless of the news that your mother was unharmed. You had feared the worst, yet hearing Heejeong admitting that he didn’t follow through with his original intent in killing off Danny and your mother had caused the tears to fall. Heeseung walks up from behind, taking you in an embrace as he leans you back against his chest, cradling you while Heejeong remains sitting in front, stroking your thigh, and holding your hand.

“So what happened then?” Heeseung questions, a bit confused as to why Heejeong deviated from the plan.

Heejeong looked at Heeseung momentarily in silence, before he shifted his gaze to look at you. “Before I get to that, let's put her to bed.”

Heeseung nods and gently lifts you from the floor, while Heejeong discards his gloves and hat. Of course, the boys concocting a plan to do harm to your mother was unforgivable, but at this moment you were too relieved to care. You were just grateful and happy that she was safe.

Tucking you in, both Heeseng and Heejeong kiss you tenderly. “Don’t be mad with us princess, we were only going to do it because we love you. But you don’t need to worry, your mother left and is going to find a nice home to retire to. Mmkay?”

Confused by their words, you settled for the serenity and peace of knowing your mother wasn’t a target, at least not anymore. However, it was still unlike them to deviate from something they had their mind set to, especially since it would have meant further isolating you. By now, you had already known the extent of what their love and obsession was willing to go, all for the sake of keeping you for themselves. The only other time you were able to talk them out of it, was with Kurt, yet you weren’t able to interfere with this time around. So what was it then that caused Heejeong’s mind to change when it came to your mother?

“Will I get to see her?” You asked earnestly, desperate for them to tell you ‘yes’. “Please! Please let me speak to her, I have to hear her voice and see her face. Please!” You nearly jumped out of bed, when Heeseung presses your shoulders back down. “Shh…you can talk to your mother when I’m done talking to Heejeong. Just lay here and stay…” leaning in, he rests his forehead against you, the tip of his nose kisses yours as he lines up his profile and whispers, “you stay.”

Heejeong gently peels Heeseung back, taking his turn to give you a kiss goodnight. “You can call your mom to say goodbye when she lands. After that, you belong to us and only us. Deal?”

It was hardly a deal. Saying goodbye to your mother? Did that mean that the prompted phone call would be the last time you would ever get to speak or see her? As selfish and ridiculous it was, you knew it wasn’t going to get any better than that. The boys loved you intensely, and they were willing to torture and committ to atrocious murders just to show it. You knew that this was the only way you were going to protect your mother, and ensure her safety. Nodding, you were internally disgruntled, but abided…what else was new? They called the shots, and if you disobeyed, you got punished. At the end of it all, you were going to remain theirs and only theirs. You knew and understood this, for a while now in fact, which explained why your punishments had been lacking for months now, all because you were “behaving”. So…what else is there for you to do, than to continue to “behave”?

“Good girl.” Heejeong whispers, before turning off your lamp and walking out with Heeseung. They disclosed all the details of the night in private downstairs, and you had wanted to eavesdrop but knew that there was no way for you to do so without being caught. Guess you’ll have to just wait until they’re willing to tell you what occurred while you slept.

A few days had passed, and the boys carried on like normal, only telling you that you would be able to say goodbye to your mother in a few days. Just a few days more…

………………………………………………

“Hello?”

The air was stained with stale silence, you looked around outside your window before shutting it with uneasy haste. You could have sworn you heard a clatter, yet the entire scene outside remained clear. A howling sense of fear swells up within you as a lumped gulp travels down your throat. The thought of being alone in a large home made the evening frightening, despite the security system being activated. The boys claimed they had to tend to a personal matter, but made it strictly clear for you to remain inside and to call should anything happen; with your phone in hand, you eyeball the screen as you scanned the room, contemplating calling for help. The brisk wind blows harshly against the window pane, stirring you into an emotional frenzy. Not willing to take it anymore, you swipe your thumb to unlock your phone, when out of nowhere a cloud of darkness blankets your vision. Shock and fear stills you, yet the bigger surprise was your lack of strength as the shattered sound of glass meeting the tile floor communicated to you that someone was watching you, tainting your drink, and waiting for the opportune time to make a move. Someone…was inside the house the entire time.

…………………………….

The moon hung low in the night sky, casting a pale, ghostly light over the old family estate. Shadows played tricks on the overgrown garden, turning the once-familiar trees into ominous silhouettes. A soft, haunting breeze whispered through the branches, a harrowing scene that could send shivers to one’s spine.

In the dim glow of the moon, the dilapidated mansion loomed, its windows cracked and broken, like the secrets hidden within its walls. The atmosphere was thick with a sense of foreboding, as if the very air itself held the knowledge of the dark secret that had festered for years.

In this eerie setting, the son, burdened with the weight of his discovery, ventured into the heart of the garden. The rustling leaves and creaking branches seemed to echo his trepidation. There, Heejeong’s long awaited patience was rewarded when the moment presented itself; finally, he stands before his father, smirking as he gives no immediate hint of the knowledge he discovered behind the mask of his only living guardian. Everything became clear, the reason behind his mothers sudden “departure”, and the real reason why his choice in romantic partnerships included women of much younger age and glamorous appeal. Now…he truly knew the enigmatic secrets that trailed behind his father’s every step.

As the cold night pressed in around them, the confrontation began, and the truth slowly unraveled, like the tendrils of a sinister vine creeping out of the darkness. Heejeong’s voice was interrupted by short bursts of chuckles as he confronted his father about the haunting secret, threatening the latter with a malicious grin.

“To what do I owe for this unexpected visit. It's not like you to come visit without me beckoning you and your brother over. By the way, where is your other half?”

Heejeong delays in answering his father. Instead, his smirk did all the talking as he stood tall and silent.

“Defying me in my own home, another form of disrespect.” Danny huffs out. Removing his double breasted jacket, the sleek fabric of his suit appears pristine, without a wrinkle in sight. He rolls the cuffs of his sleeve, followed by removing his tie and tossing it aside. Shouting for your mother, Danny grows confused by the staleness of air and silence, a recipe for treachery and abandonment. “Where is my wife?” sternly questioning his son, Danny grits his teeth as the lack of response settles in.

“She’s not here, I assume that by now, she’s long gone with all of your life’s earnings.” With a victorious tone, Heejeong’s words bind his father’s emotions in shock and anger. “I suppose this means she’s left.” Danny huffs out, chuckling in minor defeat. “No matter. I already got what I wanted from her, her existence is useless to me, had I known she was going to disappear on me I would have killed her before I left town.”

Heejeong joins in on the series of laconic chuckling, smirking as he watches his father falter, piece by piece. “You put on a brave face, but I can see right through you…dad.”

“You can’t see shit! You and your half-wit brother of yours have been undeserving of my hard earnings, the only reason why I spared it in the first place was so that–”

“To distract us from discovering what really happened to our mother?” Heejeong sharply cuts Danny off, setting the tone straight. “I know what you did…we both do.” Danny stands firmly, issuing a look of confusion for a moment, until the footsteps coming from the hall grow closer.

“Oh…what do we have here? The both of you decided to come by and visit your father then?” Danny curtly as Heeseung stands parallel to Heejeong, a look of fierce rage graces his face.

“Not going to say anything?” Danny further antagonized, enforcing the animosity between him and his two sons.

“Were you expecting me to? I am just the half-witted brother, after all.” Narrowing his eyes, Heeseung shoots a fiery glare over to his father, the man who he had despised for quite some time, but all for different reasons. After discovering the truth behind his mothers disappearance, he, much like his brother, only became affected by it in a minimal sense. You were all that he could ever want, yet the thought of the first woman in his life being tortured and ripped to pieces did not sit well with him. The one he loved and was nurtured by, whose face was the first he gazed upon, along with his brother, taken in a gruesome manner. Fortunately, you were there for the two boys, being there to relieve them of their pain.

“So you both are upset with me for taking away your mother, and now you’re going to be ruined when I take away the only other woman you both ever cared about. She will be mine, and you both will be sent away to manage my legacy under watchful eyes.” Dialing in, Danny calls in a row of his personal, top men. The lowest types, scum of the earth that were willing to conduct murder for next to nothing as payment. Lining up, the men drag you in, restraining you with their bare hands as they handle you with roughness, a hiss from Heeseung shoots over to Danny and his men, while Heejeong glares furiously over at his father.

“You didn’t think that I was going to turn a blind eye and not take advantage of the fact that you left her alone, did you? You both should have known better than to think that I would have just allowed you to enter my home without concocting a plan of my own.” Scoffing defiantly, Danny turns halfway and makes eye contact with you, his eyes, which were once soft and kind were now deranged and filled with selfishness.

“Oh so you knew we were coming then?” Heeseung scoffs out as he shifts his malicious glare over to the guard that bound your wrists behind your back, pinching your joints into a direction of discomfort and pressure, causing you to whimper. “If you don’t ease up and be more gentle with her, I’ll cut your fingers off with a rusty blade.” He grits out as he widens his eyes with a threatening tone. The guard abides by his demand reluctantly as Danny laughs aloud.

“Don’t be afraid of my son. He’s never gotten his own hands dirty, unlike myself now–” turning, Danny walks over with his arms open wide, as if he was coming over to embrace you. “These hands of mine have gutted many bodies. I’ve made many innocent people bleed out of the pleasure of hearing the screams of pretty little things while they begged for mercy as I cut them open.”

Quivering, your legs nearly gave out. Had it not been for the guard holding you by the arm lock, you would have fallen out of the misery and shock of what the man before you had just admitted. The man, whom your mother had married.

“But you don’t need to worry, I’m not planning on doing any of those things to you, y/n. You are far more precious than any of those girls.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion for a moment, “...those girls?” you peaked out with a perturbed tone. It suddenly struck you when the memory of watching the news, listening as they unleashed evidence of newly discovered bodies, one right after another of the missing girls…the girls that you had started to suspect Heejeong and Heeseung were responsible for.

“...All those girls that went missing…y-you?” Your lips stuttered yet the tone of your voice cuts out as you trembled in shock and disgust, all the while watching Danny nod proudly as he continued to stand with his arms remained ajar.

“Why? Why would you do that?! How could you!? Were you planning to do that with my mother?!” You panicked with fear, rage, and hostility as you pelted him with questions, struggling against the guard as you felt yourself pulsing with animosity, strong enough to break free and kill the man yourself. What was the point of marrying your mother and inviting you both to be a part of his family?

“Originally, I had wanted to do it to your younger cousins, but when I saw you beautiful face on your mother’s phone screen I just knew I had to have you.” Danny admitted, his words pierced your ears, causing you to hurl with disgust as the saliva in your mouth turned sour.

“And that’s why you married her mother and tried to pry your way into marrying her daughter?” Heeseung huffs out, already having been filled in by Heejeong. He stood unamused and tired, already wanting to twist his own father’s neck ten times over, for many reasons.

“So you know then?” Danny turns to face his two sons, before chuckling deviously.

“Oh we know… just like we know the truth of what happened to our mother.” Heejeong spits out, joining his brother in shooting a stabbing glare with murderous intent as Danny’s laugh grows dim.

His countenance falls into one of shock, yet what surprised you more was the faint bit of regret or sympathy that adorned his face and voice. “Ah…yes…your mother…” he sighs out.

“You butchered our mother just like you did with those girls?” Heeseung calmly shoots out an antagonizing tone. “I give two fucks about the rest of them, and I’m not even mad that you included our mother into that statistic…not anymore…” Taking a pause, Heeseung closes his eyes as he dips his chin down, re-opening them with a jet black stare that was enough to set the entire world ablaze. “But….the fact that you had wanted to take y/n and cause her misery…oh Danny….I’m gonna have to blast a shotgun up your ass for that.” Heeseung lifts his chin, displaying an eerie smile as he chuckles out his words.

“As much as I’ve enjoyed all the years I had with you son, it pains me to tell you that I am done with the animosity. You know, it’s actually quite fortunate for me that I have two sons…” Pivoting at the heel, Danny closes in on the boys as he completes his wording. “Because I definitely do not need two, I have been thinking a long time now about lowering it down to one.”

Your eyes widen as your breathing pauses. Did he just threaten the twins? You started back up in scuffling out of the guard’s grip, fearing the worst should anything happen to your brothers; not only did you grow fond and return their love, but the thought of what was going to follow on with you scared you the most. What could Danny possibly have in mind if he were to successfully diminish the boys, leaving you entirely alone? The thought of the boys being narrowed down to one, leaving your chances of escaping and making it through the night frightened you more than anything else, and you shivered as your heart escalated in beat. Was he really going to kill one of his sons? What if he decides to kill both?

“You mean to tell me that you, despite having an army of men standing behind you, still feel the need to eliminate Heeseung or myself in order to feel more confident in following through with your plans? We’re that much of a threat, huh?”

“The only threat here is the one directed towards you. I am your biggest downfall, son. If you hadn’t figured that out by now, then I guess YOU can be the one to pick which one out of you two should die.”

“Or…I can choose between us, and you.”

Danny bursts out in a violent laughter, disturbing you as Heejeong’s words confuse you. Looking past his father, Heejeong directs his sight to you.

“Scared?...Princess?” His words were soft and gentle, like always when he would comfort and soothe your body.

Since the beginning of time, the twins never failed to surprise you with a plan; why would this time be any different? Well, to answer that question…

“Oh baby…don’t I always tell you…hm?”

It absolutely wouldn’t be different…and it never will.

…………..

Baby sis…big brothers always have something up their sleeves.

………….

“Come on baby, what is it that we always tell you?”

His voice quieted down towards the end, his stance somewhat relaxed as he shifted his weight to a leg, while his arms remained crossed. His head tilts toward the side, and his dashing smirk starts small, but continues to grow until it fully forms and decorates his handsome face, matching that of his brother, who winks as he grins unbearingly.

“Say it baby.” Heeseung joins in, leaning his shoulder against Heejeong’s.

“....B-big brothers…always have something up their sleeves…” you stuttered, a pair of chuckles escaped from the boys lips; Heejeong snaps his fingers to gain Danny’s immediate attention.

“That’s right baby, very good.” His voice echoes against the walls before his gaze turns sharp and is pointed towards Danny. “And for you…let me show you a magic trick.”

Another harsh snap of his two fingers, the offensive, crisp sound repeats itself in your ear, and just then, for a subtle moment, you feel the guard's hands slightly loosen his grip.

“Oh daddy.” Heejeong’s tone goes from soft to insulting as he antagonizes his words over to Danny. “Remember when I told you that your soon-to-be ex-wife took all of your life’s earnings?”

Danny’s eyes shoot over to his open safe.

“No, not that one, I was talking about these.” Holding up a velvet bag, Heejeong hands them over to Heeseung, who dips his hand inside and takes out a few diamonds, perched between his finger tips.

“Over 150 million dollars worth of diamonds. Ex-wife took everything else, but left this bag as a kind gesture.”

Danny scoffs, displaying an obvious notion of defense towards Heeseung’s presumptuous attitude. “She could have taken that, the house, and everything else. I still own my corporation; I have more coming in by the minute than you would in twenty years you rotten brat. What the Hell do you take me for? Desperate? Someone who is going to look to charity just because that woman cleared out my house?!” A victorious laugh fills everyone’s ears as Danny claps his hands in an assailing manner, yet the movements become slurred once he realizes that both his son's facial expressions remain unchanged.

“We never said the gesture was for you.” Heejeong calmly states. Looking over his shoulder, he issues a slight nod over to Heeseung, who tosses the bag to the center of the room. “Let’s see…” Heeseung perks his tone. “150 million divided by the ten of you, split evenly. That was the agreement, right?” His arm swings as he releases the bag, sailing it over towards Danny’s shoes. “So go ahead and feast.”

At that moment, the pressure from your hands became non-existent, and the freedom of your arms falling back to your sides almost seemed surreal as you watched each guard walk over towards Danny, circling him as the twins make their way over to trap you in their arms.

“Betrayal is a very ugly thing, baby. You don’t need to watch it go down, let’s go.” pulling you away, both Heejeong and Heeseung walked you away from the scene. You never knew what happened, but could only guess that the ‘deal’ that was made between the traitorous son’s and the backstabbing guards was a gruesome one, especially seeing the outcome of their last visit with Yeon Jin and Sa-Ra.

Just like with Danny, it was a scene you were left out of, but your own creativity was triggered when the boys came home that night, covered in blood and dirt, with the purses and identification belonging to the girls in hand. You remained seated as they walked through the door, rubbing your swollen tummy. Choosing to stay silent, you didn’t even bother to question what you had already suspected was foul play, plus it was already apparent that they wouldn’t tell you, keeping in mind that you were carrying their baby, and that your health and stress level needed to be stable.

Normally, you would have internally destructed with all that has happened. You wouldn’t ever consider to resorting to murder or torture, even if it was all in the name of love or for you, it was a despicable notion that you rather not have in your life. Yet, the moment that Danny and the girls had arranged and attempted to take away your baby, that was enough for you to have a change of heart. Sure, you winced upon seeing their psychotic smiles as they both stood in the foyer, blood covering their hands as it dripped down Yeon Jin’s purse, or Sa-Ra’s wallet, while the dirt shadowed their gloves and skin.

“Now…no one is going to trouble you…darling.”

Heeseung’s words crept out eerily while Heejeong tilted his head, slowly matching the dark aura that vibrated with his brother’s tone.

The papers that disclosed the disappearance of Danny, with no known suspects to close the case, or at least, that’s what the police stated as they concluded countless media interviews, yet you had your suspicions that they were paid off by your brothers, as was everyone else. In your eyes, Danny was not only dead, but he was long forgotten by everyone.

Weeks after, still unknowing of whatever happened to Danny, it felt as if you were left out in the dark; the boys kept everything from you, all for your safety, or so they proclaimed. Taking over Danny’s corporation, the boys managed and practically ran the world, and did so fashionably as they kept you under a watchful eye and warmed in their continuous embrace, flaunting you at events and parties, never minding what others said or thought behind your backs. Why would they? Becoming the most powerful men in the world, who would dare to defy them, or you? Should anyone try, they’d pay a hefty price.

After some time went on, when Danny’s disappearance no longer stirred a commotion in the city, the boys became more brazen in showing you off, taking you everywhere and displaying their loving affection. It didn’t matter who was around to witness it, you became the sole focus of the two, barely holding up as they shared you. Some days, it suffocated you with how attached they were, especially now that there was no one to oppose their relationship. You felt stretched out as your whole being thinned out while they constantly feasted on you. To be truthful, there were some days you thought you lost your mind, feeling absolutely clueless as to what the meaning of life was, other than being there for the twins. And if it wasn’t the twins, it was your precious little baby growing healthy and strong inside your belly.

Closer to your due date, the boys nurtured you beyond all measure. Perhaps you felt suffocated due to the flush of hormones up and down, or perhaps it was the exhaustion that had you wishing that you were sucked in a black hole, but you ended up swallowing your thoughts when the boys had their moments of pure heartedness.

Whether it was Heejeong sitting you on his lap, stroking your belly as he nurtured your breasts with his tongue, and soothing your painfully swollen areola with kisses as he sucks them in, or when Heeseung would lay his head on your lap and kissed your thighs, it made you feel wholesome and blissfully in love.

…In love…

…………………

“Almost there Ms. Y/n, just a little bit more….”

Your eyes were blinded by the overhead lamp, with the nurses supporting your grip, guiding you to breathe in and out as you followed the doctor’s tempo. He tells you to push, to breathe, and to push again. You struggled, feeling as if you couldn’t go on any longer, when finally…

“Oh congratulations! …………”

…………………

The voices inside the room blurred out, the only sound you could hear was that of a baby’s cry. What a delightful sound that was.

You yearned for that moment to hold your creation, allowing for you to bond for the first time. The subtle weight that suddenly became present on your chest felt overwhelming, you fluttered your lids open as you adjusted in the bed, cradling the soft skin against your chest firmly.

“Oh gentlemen, welcome in. Y/N did so well, and congratulations to you both, you are now fathers of a pair of beautiful twins. I’m still amazed by all this, what a rare phenomenon.”

You look down and admired the hair of both your sons, resembling peach fuzz, the soft strands matched that of both their father’s, one black, and the other silver. Your eyes burn with joy and endearment as the tears break free, and the memory of your last checkup before replays in your head as you watched both of your babies cry out for your touch.

………………..

“Twins?...”

“Yes, that is correct Ms. Y/n. The test results also show two sets of DNA.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you are carrying children fathered by separate men. It’s called heteropaternal superfecundation, it’s a very rare occurrence, and there have only been a handful of cases such as this to date. It’s quite extraordinary, though I have to ask you…who are the two fathers?”

………………

“Look at them! They look just like you both.”

The boys surround the bed and wall to your side. Sitting beside each arm, they slightly tug on you as they lean their heads on your shoulders, admiring your creation…their creation. “Second generation of Lee twins…well done, our little darling.”

Perm Taglist:

@enheene , aiden2001 , heeseung-min , lathan1510 , rayofsunshineeee , @hoyeonheeseung , @rayofsunshineeee , @yohanabanana , @sunoosrightbuttcheek , @jaeneohee , @icydawon , @silcry , @iamliacamila , @nikstrange , @enheene

132 notes · View notes

laxxarian · 3 months

Text

Bruce Wayne and his kids went to visit the Fentons as they had weapons that could counter ghosts. As ridiculous as believing that ghosts exist, Bruce had to prepare just in case and besides, this 'ectoplasm' could be useful if he researched more about it.

But when they truly saw and encountered a ghost in Amity Park, Richard joked about it by saying something along the lines of "let's help them fulfill their business!" as a way to kill time cuz the Fentons seem too stubborn to give them any info nor let them get anywhere near their weapons.

And thus, the kids started with those green little blobs while Bruce would talk with the Fentons but for some reason, the parents would sometimes dodge the topic of how to trap ghosts. Cuz like, the Fentons had already accepted and changed their views on ghosts and they wouldn't want their weapons to get in the wrong hands. Especially when their own son is a ghost himself.

Something that goes like....

One day, Danny just suddenly got surrounded by Bruce's kids while he and his friends were out patrolling. And of course, Danny is in his human form since there wasn't any ghosts around yet and the three hopefully stays that way since it would be hard explaining things to the kids or even getting away from the kids.

They tried and failed, it's like the three were somehow chipped a tracker in each one of them each time they make a run and split so now the trio had to stop their patrolling and focus on the kids who wouldn't stop bugging them.

"So you guys are here to find out about the ghost's unfinished business???" Tucker asked.

"Yes and no, well, at first it was just for the ectoplasm thing but then...." Richard drawled.

"...Then you encountered a ghost." Sam finished, "So you all are just curious?" Sam asked and the kids nodded, "Well, that's going to be hard... Oh! Wait!" Sam tapped Danny's shoulder, gaining his attention, "There were those blob ghosts weren't there? You know, the weak ones?" Sam said.

Danny hummed and thought about it when he had an idea what Sam was getting at, "Ah! You mean them? Well, they do have simple unfinished business." Danny replied, turning to Wayne's kids, "You guys wanna help, right? We can go over there and help out those little guys." Danny said.

At first the kids were confused on how Danny would find the said ghosts but as it turns out, it was easier than expected. Most of those blobs of ghosts would hang around the cemetery.

And one thing they learned, the ghosts were quite friendly, albeit shy but friendly. And one by one, the ghosts get to rest in peace from the help of Wayne's kids.

"Well... This is one way to kill off your workload." Sam started.

Tucker hummed in delight, "Mhm-hm! We can finally hang out without any distractions!" Tucker said.

"You bet!" Danny chuckled, "Just hope that no big ghosts would come tho... Those kids might really wanna go straight up and ask because of how friendly these guys are." Danny said, his worries slowly creeping in his heart as he said it, "....let's... Let's keep an eye out for their safety..."

The other two nodded in agreement when Damian suddenly went up to the trio with a blob floating on his hand, seemingly fading. Damian stretched his hand out to Danny, "There's something wrong with this guy." Damian said.

When Sam took a look, her face contorted with immense worry while Tucker frowned. Damian noticed the change, "What's wrong? What is happening to it?" Damian asked, his voice was gaining volume that it alarmed the others.

"That's..." Danny spoke, his hand reaching out to the weak ghost, "Well... They're fine..." Danny croaked, the ghost left Damian's hand to Danny's.

Damian narrowed his eyes at the weak ghost, "It doesn't seem fine to me." he said but Danny ruffled the kid's hair to redirect his stare to somewhere else.

"Don't worry about it." Danny smiled, "For now, I'll have this little guy with me." Danny said, discreetly giving the ghost a bit of his ectoplasm, though, he knew that it won't last long.

Damian grumbled but let it go and searched for other ghosts and so did the others. Though, Jason stopped in his tracks and went up to Danny, "Hey..." he started, "What exactly... Is wrong with it?" Jason asked, his voice low as for Damian not to hear.

Danny faced Jason with a weak smile.

"This ghost... Had an unfinished business but it had a deadline." Danny started, "Couldn't complete it in the end. And now they're starting to fade." Danny said.

"But couldn't it just live forever since it's business was never finished???" Richard suddenly popped in on the conversation, "Why would they fade???" he asked.

Danny sighed, "They fade because there's nothing here for them anymore. Besides, their unfinished business is like their heart, their life, so when it's gone then, they'll just have to fade away forever... Who knows where they go though..." Danny replied.

Jason and Richard glanced at each other before one of them asked, "What was it's business anyway?"

"...who knows..." Was all Danny could answer.

Before long, everyone had to go back home. Home of Danny though, he's still stuck with the Wayne's and when he arrived, it turns out Maddie and Jack decided to let the Wayne family stay for the night. The parents somehow built extra rooms for the guests.

And when Danny looked at his parents with his eyes filled with shockness, the parents shrugged. Their smiles were more of, 'We panicked' kind of telling and, 'Welp, we tried....'

Well, what can they say, keep your friends close and your (possible) enemies closer.

But anyway, whatever, I'm still new to Gotham fandom so I'm not sure with the names and personalities lelellelel

#danny phantom #jazz fenton #jack fenton #maddie fenton #batman #batkids #damian wayne #richard grayson

93 notes · View notes

builtbybrokenbells · 6 months

Text

Gold Dust Woman | xii

With exhaustion catching up and her willpower running low, y/n finally seems to make some progress in her quest to find peace.

Read part eleven here

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x f!reader, Sam Kiszka x f!reader, Danny Wagner x OC

Word Count: 12.5k

Warnings: angst, long emotional talks, swearing, crying, sickness (throwing up), feelings of guilt/regret, love triangle, mentions of pregnancy/pregnancy scares, mentions of unprotected sex, swearing, sorry if i miss any!

hi everyone, getting close to the end now. buckle in for the rest of the ride 🫶🏻 thanks for the love and for sticking with me this long. as always, enjoy, be kind, and don’t mind any grammar mistakes! (Lightly edited so please forgive me)

“We are late.” Aaron said, ushering you through the doors of the airport. “Like, late late. We’ll be lucky if we’re there in time for soundcheck.” He was stressing, you could hear the panic in his voice even if he was trying his best to keep calm. You checked your watch, not finding the energy within yourself to match his concern. “Drop off your bags and get to the gate; we don’t have any time to spare.”

“Yes, sir.” You chuckled in attempt to ease the tension. He shot you a pointed glare, one that was not menacing but rather cemented his seriousness. “Got it,” you nodded, biting back a smile. As much as Aaron wanted to be a hard-ass, you always had a difficult time viewing him as a manager rather than a friend. Of course, he was fantastic at his job, but being around him so much had shifted the dynamic between you. In the beginning, it felt like walking on eggshells, like if you messed up, you would be sent home with nothing but the clothes on your back. Now, after drinking with him so often and getting to know him so well, you considered him just as close as your own band members or the brothers in the band you were touring with. Once you adapted to the tour life, you realized that everyone along with you was just the same as family, mostly because they were the only thing you had while on the road all of the time.

You all dropped your bags off at the appropriate place, grouping together as you moved through security. Your original flight was postponed due to poor weather, and until Aaron had a time and a plan that was set in stone, he was nearly inconsolable. You all had went to breakfast, hoping to pass the time until your rescheduled flight was boarding, but the whole time he seemed so sick with worry that he couldn’t eat. In truth, you were not that far behind schedule and you would definitely make it to the venue with plenty of time to spare. Of course, you could not explain that to him without calling him on his dramatic tendencies. In his eyes, if you weren’t six hours early, you were worse than late.

Even if it was annoying by times, it was a good trait for a manager to have. He always took any possible delays into consideration, and he was the reason that you all knew where you were going and when you had to be there. Without him, the tour would not have made it past the first city, but you were worried he might put himself into cardiac arrest from the sheer amount of stress he was holding on to. As you sat down to wait for the plane to board, you finished the last of your energy drink and tossed the can into a nearby trash can. You checked your watch again, already counting down the minutes until you were on the plane. As much as your enjoyed touring and playing music, flying was still something you couldn’t seem to get used to.

“You okay? You seem a little pale.” Danny asked from the seat beside you. You turned to look at him, confused at the question.

“Yeah, I think so.” You laughed. “Tired, I guess. Not thrilled about flying, but I’m okay.” He gave a slow nod, continuing his stare in hopes that you would keep talking. You raised an eyebrow, unsure of where his concern was coming from.

“The other night still bothering you?” He lowered his voice, making sure that you were the only one who could hear him. The words hit you like a ton of bricks, startling you from the sound alone. You had yet to speak of the incident that went down at the venue, and you weren’t keen on starting. Your eyes flickered to Jake who was standing next to his twin and lost in chatter. In the blinding airport light, the bruise on his cheek was as clear as day. You were sickened at the sight, noticing that it had finally began to yellow and fade. The cut on his lip was barely noticeable, now, but it was prominent enough for you to shudder at the sight. Perhaps it was not the sight that bothered you so much, but the memory of how he attained the injury.

You then looked to Sam, who was laughing alongside your own bassist. His nose was fine, but his undereye was still purple and angry looking. The smile on his face contradicted his injury, but you could tell that his eyes were not shining as bright as they used to. They both lost a piece of themselves to the flying fists that night at the venue, even if they were electing to stay silent about it. You knew this because it was the same piece of you that had disappeared, the one in which cockiness and self-assurance made home. All of you had lost your confidence and were succumbing to the fear of loss. You had not spoken a word to them, and they hadn’t tried, either. You were officially stuck in stalemate, fearful of digging an even deeper hole than the one you were already stuck in.

“I’m fine,” you assured him, leaning back in your seat. You weren’t, and in reality, you weren’t even anywhere close to okay. The lie was bold, and you both knew the truth, but you were not willing to admit to it. Your stomach was sick just thinking of the memory, and it was only growing worse as you continued to talk. “I knew the consequences, right? Now it’s time to live with them.” You shrugged.

“Doesn’t mean you have to suffer.” He placed a hand on your knee, giving it a small squeeze of reassurance. “You didn’t eat much this morning.”

“What are you, my mother?” You laughed.

“Someone’s gotta take care of you.” He chuckled.

“Many try, most fail.” You joked. “Just wasn’t hungry, I guess. The eggs looked disgusting.”

“I thought they were pretty good.” He shrugged.

“Maybe I’m just picky.” You smiled, sticking your hands in the pocket of your sweater. You looked to the ground, scared to meet his eye. Every time you looked at him, you seemed to profess every pressing thought that you had been trying to keep hidden. Something about Danny was so comforting, and his company compelled you to confide in him. It wasn’t the most terrible thing, but while in an airport two feet away from the main subjects of the story, it did not seem like the best place to air out your thoughts. In addition, you had no idea where to begin. You felt responsible for the fight that had occurred between the two, and no amount of reassurances would change your mind.

Of course, you knew that the brothers had an extensive history of fighting, and that they were victims to their own routine, but it did not mean that you viewed yourself as innocent. You were angry at them for many things, but you would be the lesser person if you tried to paint yourself as an angel. Your own reckless actions and decisions had just as much impact on the situation as their cockiness. Even if the devil is persuading you to sin, it does not make it okay to follow in his footsteps, and the footsteps you were following brought you down a much more sinister path than the devil ever intended. You would be lying if you said that you were avoiding them solely because you hadn’t made a decision yet, because there was a larger part of you that felt you couldn’t face them after driving them to such violence.

Danny stood, understanding that you weren’t willing to talk yet. He would allow you to mope for another day or two, then he would pry it from you. It was just the way your friendship worked, and as much as you may have protested against it through the years, it was comforting to know someone cared so much about you. Immediately, he found himself gravitating towards Dylan, who was only just making her way towards the group. You closed your eyes, resting your head on the back of the uncomfortable plastic chair. You were tapping your foot against the ground in hopes to pass the time faster, but delay was all you knew when it came to flying. It seemed like every flight had you sitting around for some reason or another, and despite knowing that, Aaron still needed you at the airport hours before the departure time. He was like a stressed out father preparing for vacation, and although it was comical, it was also a pain in the ass.

You could feel someone’s gaze settled on you as you sat with your eyes closed, but you weren’t sure who the perpetrator was this time. It was a fifty-fifty guess, and you had never been very good at gambling. You hoped that maybe if you pretended not to notice, they would catch the hint and move on. It had become routine for you three to share longing gazes, to find courage to open your mouth, but never enough to speak the words. It was normal for you to spend nights wishing the other would approach, invested in nothing but the thought of being lovers once more.

You felt stuck, just the same as you did all the way back in the beginning, even before Jake sealed your fate that night. It was the same aching loneliness and empty longing that you felt while pining after Sam, alone in your room or even when surrounded by a crowd. The air was constantly full of tension, one that could not be broken by another nor could it be contained. It was full of hope, although feeble, and grandly misplaced. Worst of all, it was full of desperation. It was so thick that it seemed as though you doused yourself in a cologne of it every morning, shameless in your need for them. But, somehow, when it came to embarrassment that you thought you should feel for your barefaced desire, somehow you felt none. It was comforting to know that this time, it was not a one-way street, and the two boys were just as stuck as you were. You knew you should not be rejoicing at the thought of their sorrow, and in a way, you weren’t. It was not happiness that they were hurting, just solace in the fact that you were not suffering alone, albeit silently. The thought of waking up seemed less gruesome, mostly because you knew you were not the only person struggling with getting out of bed.

Drowning seems less terrifying when there’s someone there to hold your hand, but reality hadn’t seemed to set in that you were all slowly sinking to your deaths, using each other to climb above surface while ultimately pushing the others down.

It was not until a body presented itself beside you that you were broken from your own mind, but when you opened your eyes to investigate, somehow your harrowing thoughts seemed more pleasant than the awkward interaction you were facing. Sam was beside you, taking post in the chair that Danny once claimed as his own, nervously looking between you and his hands in his lap. “Hi, Sammy.” You breathed, straightening yourself up. The sound of his name on your tongue was equivalent to striking gold after digging in dirt for months. Although, the three of you never had very good perception of poison versus prosperity, and prosperity was often greatly lacking. Your gaze fell to the dark bruise still lingering under his eye, and you had the sudden temptation to reach out and touch him, to take every inch of hurt away and bear it as if it were your own.

No, you did not want to carry it like it was yours; you wanted to make it your own, just so he wouldn’t have to suffer any longer.

“I’m sorry, y/n.” He started, still afraid to meet your eye. “I should have said it long before now, but I’m sorry for everything.”

“Sam, I-“

“No,” he shook his head “just let me, please?” You watched, nervous over his frantic need to voice his apologies.

“Okay,” you agreed, trying to relax back into the seat. Comfortability did not come easy when his aura was so powerful.

“I can’t sit here and wait, anymore. I can’t sit here and watch you walk away without even trying. I don’t know if you’re going to walk away, but I have to imagine that you are, because then I know what to say to try and make you stay.” His voice was incredibly soft, like he was giving you the key to his heart and begging you not to drop it. The conversation was personal, private, and as much as he wanted to scream his love for you, he needed to treat it as such. The performance that him and his brother had put on in front of everyone was weighing heavy on him, like the greatest sin he’d ever committed. He wished that instead of feeding into his anger towards Jake, he would have stopped and considered your feelings, first. He did not regret what transpired between Jake and himself, but he did regret being the reason for the look of terror on your face. “I’m okay with space, and I’m okay with waiting forever if I have to, because for you, it’s worth it. Everything is worth it when it comes to you. I just can’t sit and wonder if you really know how much you mean to me, because I care so much that it would be a shame for you to ever second-guess it.”

“I love you.” He whispered, finally finding the courage to look up at your face. “I made a lot of mistakes, y/n. I will spend the rest of my life making up for them, even if you don’t pick me, but it does not, not even for one second, take away from how much I love you. I am so sorry for what we put you through, from the very beginning, right up until the minute that this is over. And I am so incredibly sorry for what you saw at the venue that night.” You watched his eyes, lost in the genuine adoration he was showcasing for you. “You didn’t deserve any of it. You don’t deserve anything less than wonderful, and I’ve been giving you everything except that. You can doubt whatever you want to, be mad at me for the rest of your life, or whatever you want to do, but I just need you to know that I love you, and that I am sorry.”

“I love you, Sam.” You whispered, grimacing as the words came out. As true as they were, it was hard to speak them aloud. You loved him with every ounce of your soul, and loving someone so deeply was painful just as much as it was joyous. That was a harsh reality you had come to know in your efforts to love the brothers. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t want this for us.”

“I know, y/n.” He said, channelling enough courage to reach out and take your hand. The contact nearly exploded your heart; his skin on yours electrified you like a thousand strikes of lightning. It was almost too much to handle, sometimes, because your body was still on fire even long after he parted ways. “You tried to warn me.” A small smirk upturned on his lips.

“I did, but you never listen.” You found a smile blossoming on your lips, too. It was the first genuine one that had surfaced in a long time. “Boys are so stupid.”

“I’m stupid,” he corrected “but I’m glad I am, because you’ve always been worth the fight.” Your eyes softened at his words. You weren’t sure if he was sweet talking you in hopes of swaying your decision, or if he was being genuine. When you looked at his face, soaking in all of the details, it was difficult to believe he was being anything but truthful. “No matter which way this goes, I’m grateful for the time I spent with you.”

“Me too, Sam.” You mumbled, feeling the overwhelming urge to kiss him. Every time he was in your company, you couldn’t seem to shake the feeling of wanting more. Being beside him almost wasn’t enough; you needed to feel him on you, for him to hold you and for you to hold him. You needed Sam in every way that you could possibly have him, and even though you had spent so much time avoiding him, that desire never seemed to flee you.

“Okay, guys. Let’s go.” Aaron said, his eyes fixated on the now open gate to board the flight. You broke away from Sam’s gaze, looking around to notice that everyone was now standing and making their way towards the plane. Your eyes landed on Jake, who was all but rushing to leave. His stare was fixated on you with pain engraved in his features. He was afraid that if he walked away, he would ultimately let you fall into Sam’s arms without a fight. He caught your eyes, silently pleading with you to wait for him, but it was almost unbearable to look at him for too long. When Aaron guided Jake along with him, you looked away in hopes of sparing yourself from any more heartbreak. If you had to keep watching the sad expression on his face, you were afraid you would not be able to find enough courage to get on the plane, too.

“Whatever you decide, y/n.” Sam said, pulling your attention back to him. “I’ll support it. I want you to be happy, but I can’t let you go without letting you know how much you mean to me.”

“I know, Sam.” You breathed. “I hope you know that you mean the same to me.” A smile crossed his lips at the sound of your confession. He didn’t need an answer, just reassurance that you were still thinking of him. It was blasphemous that he ever thought you would forget him, because he seemed to take up every single empty space in your brain. Forgetting about the brothers was out of the question, even if you so badly wished you could. “I don’t know what I’m doing, or even where I’m going most of the time, but I know how much I love you.”

“I’d like to kiss you, if that’s okay.” He said, completely lost in you. You were both so close to the end, and you knew that if you could just open your heart a little bit more, you could be happy with Sam. He could give you what you needed, and you knew he had the ability love you forever, but it was like you were stuck in a glass house. Through the crystal clear walls, you could see the life you were desperate to live with him, but you could not step through the barrier to get to the other side. It was torture, watching your life play out perfectly yet being unable to take it for your own. “I promise I’ll give you as much time as you need, but I just can’t leave without it.”

You leaned forward, uncaring of his reasoning behind his need to kiss you. You wanted it, and you were willing to give it to him without any persuasion or hesitation. You snaked your arm around his neck, uncomfortably bent over the arm of the chair, and pressed your lips to his. The awkward position and public display did not bother you, because the minute you were kissing him, the world felt okay again. All of the things that had been haunting you seemed to disappear in an instant, soothed by the feeling of being with him again. His hand cupped your cheek, drawing you closer while you both wished you could stay there forever.

When you parted, you were nearly crushed under the weight of your grief. Knowing that you had to walk away and leave him behind was devastating, and knowing that the situation would only worsen from there was even more terrifying. Before facing the hard decisions, he pulled you in for another. Tears were threatening to spill down your cheeks before he even broke the kiss. “We should go before Aaron realizes we’re not on the plane.” You whispered, strained by your unwillingness to end the moment.

“Right,” he muttered, lips still ghosting over your own. “Don’t think I can risk getting in trouble again.” He spoke the truth, but it did not seem like he cared. He was more than happy to get in trouble if it meant he could spend another moment alone with you.

“Mhm,” you hummed “wouldn’t want them to replace you with another bassist.”

“You really think they could replace me?” He teased. You could practically feel him smiling with how close his face was to yours.

“No,” and it was the truth. Sam was irreplaceable, and you knew that long before he ever made a home in your heart. He was one of a kind, beautiful and talented and funny all the same. He made mistakes, and in no way was he perfect, but his imperfections made him all the more remarkable. You were head over heels for Sam Kiszka, and you had to wonder why the world could not have been more kind. In another universe, you would be free to love him with no guilt, and free to live happily with him with no fear or regret. You wished you could be in that beautiful world, but for now, you had to learn how to navigate the cruel one you were stuck in. “You are worth your weight in gold, Sammy.”

“And you are, too, Gold Dust Woman.” He said. “I mean, it’s in the name, is it not?” You chuckled, letting your thumb drift over his cheek. As sweet as his statement was, the name was not right coming from him. Instead of dwelling on the thought, you kissed him once more. It was short, but it was sweet, and it was exactly what you needed to find the energy to get on the flight.

“Let’s go,” you whispered, standing up despite every molecule of your body begging you to stay seated beside him. He gave a slight nod, standing to join you.

“However long it takes, whoever you choose… I’ll still love you the same, and I’ll be happy as long as you are.” He assured you. “And if you don’t pick me, I’ll respect your decision, but I’ll always be hoping you’ll change your mind.” His honesty was gut wrenching, but you could not chastise him for speaking his truth. As much as it hurt to hear, he knew that this was one of his last opportunities to win your heart for good.

“Even if… even if things don’t work out, you’ll always have a piece of my heart, Sammy.” You mumbled as you walked towards the gate. Without waiting for a response, you boarded the plane. You could not bear to look back and see his face again, even if you wanted it more than anything else in the world. He was close behind you, but respected that the conversation had come to an end. He had gotten what he needed to keep going, and now fate was truly in your hands.

You walked down the aisle, locating your seat easily; there was an empty spot next to Dylan calling your name, and her eyes were watching with curiosity. Aaron turned look at you as you passed by, upset at your late arrival. You brushed his gaze off and continued on to your seat. You settled in with no hesitation, thankful to be in the company of someone who could speak some sense into you. You were too worked up to even care that you had an aisle seat, and too guilty about your interaction to look anyone in the eye. To top off the emotional distress, Jake was in the seat directly across the aisle from you, and he had no shame in his unwavering stare.

“What was that?” Dylan asked with blatant disregard for privacy. Her voice was clear, loud enough to be heard from neighbouring seats, and she had not one care about it. You snapped your head up to look at her, eyes warning her to lower her voice.

“I don’t know!” You whispered, distress radiating from you. “I just… he came over, and he started saying sweet things, and he was looking at me all sad, and I cracked, I guess!”

“Okay,” she said, placing a hand atop of yours. “Calm down, it’s okay. You are okay.”

“I’m not okay, Dylan.” You shook your head. “I liked it so much that I didn’t want to leave. I miss him so much that it hurts to even think about it.”

“Okay,” she nodded, repeating her earlier statement. “That’s okay. You love him; that’s not a crime.”

“It is when I feel the same way about his brother, who happens to be staring at me as we speak.” She let out a chuckle, moving slightly to see for herself.

“He’s not staring anymore.” She tried to ease your worry, but you were still vibrating with anxiety. No words she could speak would ease your panic. “Did it feel any different than before?”

“I mean… yeah, I guess. Every time I look at Sam, I just feel like I could fall in love with him forever and never worry about anything else. I’ve been in love with Sam for years, and it always seems so easy with him. Even then, when I knew I shouldn’t… loving him was so easy.” She raised an eyebrow, begging you to listen to yourself for a moment.

“Isn’t that enough of an answer for you?”

“No,” you shook your head “well, I mean, I guess… I just, I feel the same way when I look at Jake. It’s been harder to open up to him, to let him in and let him stay, but god when I do, it’s the most fantastic thing I’ve ever felt.” She gave a sad smile, listening intently as you spoke. “It’s never easy with Jake, but it’s so rewarding that the struggle doesn’t even seem to matter.”

“Yeah, you guys get along like a house on fire.” She chuckled. You nodded as you gave a tight lipped smile. The more you spoke, the more sick you felt. As comforting as it was to spend a moment alone with Sam, the guilt that was plaguing you was insufferable. “What’s wrong? You look pale.”

“Just feel sick,” you said, taking a deep breath. “Stress, probably.” You said, feeling your face start to burn. You closed your eyes, hoping that the churning in your stomach would settle. After a moment, your head began to spin, and you were more than certain the feeling was not going to pass pleasantly.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Dylan asked, sitting up in her seat as she prepared to help if needed. You managed a shake of your head before springing to your feet. You bit down on the inside of your lip to distract yourself as you moved towards the bathroom. You made it just in time, thankful that it was vacant so you could suffer without interruption.

You leaned over the toilet and lost what little breakfast you had choked down earlier that morning. You sat on the floor for a moment, taking breaths to calm yourself as you wiped a layer of sweat from your forehead. Once you were certain the nausea had settled, you stood and washed your hands and then splashed your face. When you returned to your seat, the sickness was so much better that you could have forgotten you threw up in the first place. You sat back down, heaving a sigh as Dylan watched you with worry. “Do you have gum? Or gravol?” You asked.

“Both, I think.” She said, looking through her backpack by her feet. After a moment, she gave you the requested items along with a bottle of water she had in her lap. “You okay?”

“This should help.” You murmured, taking the anti-nauseant with some water. You popped a piece of gum in your mouth and handed everything back to her. “Think I’m alright, just better to be safe.”

“Have you been drinking?” She asked. You knew she had reason to be concerned, but the accusation struck a nerve in you.

“No,” you replied, tone short and clear. It was the truth, and since the incident between Jake and Sam, you had steered clear of any alcohol. You thought it best to make your decision sober, and you knew you would never come to a decision to begin with if you continued drinking like you had been.

“Okay,” she trusted you, opting to believe the answer.

“Maybe just ate something bad,” you shrugged, leaning back in your seat. “Doesn’t matter, I feel alright now. I’m gonna try and get some rest before we land.” You explained, closing your eyes before she could say another word.

“Okay, I’ll be here if you need anything.” She said, relaxing into her own seat. You popped your headphones in your ears and listened to the sound of music instead of your racing thoughts. After a few songs, the drowsiness from the medication began to take over, and you were knocked out before the plane even left the ground.

When you woke, it was to Dylan shaking your arm. Groggily, you cracked your eyes open and looked over to inquire about the disturbance. When you caught sight of the window, you noticed that you were on the ground. “Did I sleep through the whole flight?”

“Yeah, I should knock you out every time we fly. Was awfully peaceful.” She teased. You sat up, rubbing your eyes to aid in your wakefulness.

“Oh, shut up.” You grumbled, taking in a long breath. The bodies in the seats around you had begun to stand, ready for the departure from the plane. Dylan and Riley waited for you to come around before standing themselves. You rose to your feet, grabbing your carry on before filing out behind the rest of the passengers. The airport was busy, loud and filled with frantic people who had also been delayed due to the weather. Aaron intercepted the group of you, taking the front and stopping you all for a moment to hand out instructions.

You were barely listening, more or less just content going along with the flow. In truth, your mind was far too occupied with your interaction with Sam to worry about anything else. You were thinking of the heavenly things that came along with his company, the solace in his touch and the happiness that filled your heart from the sight of his face alone. Sam was always so charming, and he’d stolen your heart the minute you laid eyes on him. He never needed to try; you had fallen in love with him easier than you fell asleep at night. Through jokes and shared smiles, and the occasional touch that lingered for a moment too long, Sam had his claws so deep in you that it was no longer painful. You thought you might even miss the pain if it were to disappear.

The choice was obvious, and you knew that after your history with Sam stemming back to the very beginning, your heart had always wanted him. He hurt you, and that was obvious, but you hurt him, too. You would not truly love him if you could not forgive him for his mistakes, especially if you expected him to forgive you for your own. Loving Sam was the most simple of things, and you did it without even realizing it. You did it before he ever expected or asked for it, and that was always a heavy thought in your mind. He had the ability to make you love him by simply existing.

At the same time, every thought that pointed you in his direction fled with pain in its wake. Pain for the version of you who hurt so much over him while you believed he lacked interest, pain for the version of you who had fallen so deeply in love with Jake, and pain for Jake himself. Just when you believed you could love Sam entirely and fall into his arms, you could not ignore the same pressing feeling that arose each time. If you were meant for Sam, why had it been written in the stars to fall for Jake before you could be with him? And if you chose Sam, was it because of your fear of struggle, or because he was the right person for you? All of the questions seemed to forever float in your brain, and an answer had not yet surfaced in the mess of inquiries.

You had grown so much that you could not choke down the idea of loving solely because of logic. Before facing the daunting challenge of truly falling in love, logic and emotion existed together as one, and you could not make a decision of emotion without any logical reasoning. You loved rules and thrived from routine. You calculated your entire life down to the very last gram of your existence, and so far, it had worked perfectly for you. Numbers made sense, facts and statistics and books spoke volumes in comparison to the feeble needs of your heart, but you could no longer rely on logic. Yes, when compared on paper, each decision had pros and cons, and one certainly outweighed the other, but love can not be explained with a formula, nor could you measure emotion with a scale.

You needed to pick which boy made your heart feel at home, the one who made the world appear brighter, and the one who made you feel most like yourself. You were choosing the person who suited your needs, one who could reignite your fire when it burned out. You needed someone who would talk you down when you were too high, and pick you up when you stumbled to the ground. Logic could not explain who would emotionally fulfill you; only emotion could do that, and despite your hatred for relying on your heart, it was the only thing that could lead the way.

Unfortunately for you, you had never led a decision with your heart, nor did you have any idea how to let it take charge. You struggle resulted from your dependence on fact, and your tendency to shun your emotions. You needed to learn how to put your rules aside and accept them for how your heart saw them. Logic had no place in this battle of love, and you refused to cower to your own destructive tendencies. If you continued to think of it the way you had previously, you would think so much that you would eventually convince yourself to run. Running was no longer an option, and neither was leaving them behind. You had grown too much to succumb to your usual fears, and to prove to yourself that you had grown as much as you believed you had, you needed to face the problem head on.

That left you one option, and it was the very thing you had been avoiding for weeks; you needed to speak with Jake, and it was a conversation that was long overdue. To know, you had to open your heart once more in the same way you had opened it to Sam earlier that day. No walls, no defence, nothing. You knew you had to, but knowing you should and actually doing it are two very different things. This time, you had to push yourself forward. There was no more room for fear, because all of the waiting was doing nothing other than furthering your suffering. Even so, you decided you did not have to jump on the idea as soon as it arose, and you would allow yourself some time to sit with it before approaching him.

The ride to the venue was mostly silent as you were all attempting to conserve what little energy you had left. Flying the same day as you performed always sucked, but you had to deal with it every so often. Aaron tried his best to make the travelling as comfortable for you all as he possibly could, but every now and again things were out of his control. Thankfully, there was always people assigned to checking in to the hotels and bringing your bags to your rooms, so there was one less exhausting task to worry about. You tried not to think of the incident on the airplane, mostly because occasionally, your stomach would continue churn with unease. You wanted to chalk the sickness up to eating something bad, but nobody else seemed sick. You knew, to the core, the illness was likely stemming from the stress you had been constantly feeling for the past few weeks.

When you arrived, you all bustled inside as if you were minutes away from showtime. In reality, you were there hours earlier than expected, and Aaron had been stressing for no real reason. “Give us an hour to get your instruments set up.” Aaron said, already walking past you to rush to the stage.

“Take your time,” you assured him, laughing at his frantic attitude. You looked around, eyeing the names on the doors of the dressing rooms to locate your own. Yours was stuck in the middle of everyone else’s, but it did not bother you too much. When you opened the door and saw the luxury of the inside, the placement was the least of your worries. There were couches, a mini fridge that you knew was stocked with plenty of beverages, and a private bathroom connected to the main room. When you walked in further, you noticed that there was even a shower inside. You sat your bag on the couch and collapsed beside it, exhausted despite your slumber on the flight.

You closed your eyes, relaxing into the cushions in hopes of catching a few more minutes of sleep before the busy night ahead. Just as you thought you might be comfortable enough to drift off, a knock sounded on your door. You cracked one eye open, expecting Dylan or Danny (or both, which seemed to be happening much more often than not) to be standing before you. Instead, your heart sped at the stony expression that Jake was holding on his face. You straightened in your seat, opening both eyes to let him know you were alert. He didn’t speak, clearly waiting for an invitation, but you were far too anxious to grant him permission to enter.

Silence had become such a common occurrence between you two that words almost seemed foreign. It was easier to hold back than it was to give in, and that’s what made loving Jake so difficult. You did not know what to say to him, or if he even wanted to hear it. The only thing you did know was that there was no words that could ease the pain the pair of you were holding in your hearts. You did notice he looked tired, similar to yourself. He was closer to you than he had been in days, and despite your refrain, you could practically feel his hands on you already. The only thing holding you back from loving him was your own fears, and as the seconds dwindled down, they were growing more distant.

His posture was rigid, like he had lost all of the comfortability he used to feel with you. It hurt you to see him present himself as a stranger, especially after opening your hearts to each other in such a profound way, but you understood why he was doing it, mostly because you felt the same. The air was different since your separation, and not in any pleasant manner. The world was colder, dimmer, and less exciting. Jake had barely done as much as look in your direction since the altercation between him and his brother, likely due to his regret for taking things too far. You knew you had to push your boundaries, to take the step and speak to him, but doing was much different than knowing, and you were terrified of confrontation.

“Can I come in?” He finally asked, tone quiet as if he were scared of bothering you.

“Of course you can, Jake.” Speaking somehow seemed less terrifying once he initiated it, but it was still far from easy. “Close the door.” You added, nodding to the only thing separating you from seclusion with him. He did as you asked, stepping inside and gently closing the door behind him. Once he did, he stood near the exit as if he forgot your permissive statement entirely. “You can come sit, if you want.”

“Okay,” he said, approaching you on the couch. You had never seen him so timid; sure, Jake had been very emotional around you. You had seen anger, sweetness, hurt, and even a flash of sadness every now and again, but never once had you seen him so reserved and shy. He took a seat beside you, leaving a generous amount of space between your bodies. “I just wanted to apologize,”

“For what?”

“For being an asshole.” He jumped straight to the point, finding no need to dance around the subject. “I never should have said that stuff in front of everyone. You didn’t deserve that.”

“It happened,” you shrugged. “I’m not innocent, either.” You both fell into a silence, neither knowing how to continue from there. You had no idea why it was so difficult to open yourself to him, and no idea why after so long, it was still the hardest thing to do with him. You both sat, avoiding looking to each other while you hoped the other would speak first. You were stuck in a terrible limbo, and you didn’t know if you would ever be able to break it.

“It’s been a while since we talked. I guess I just wanted to know how you were doing.” His tone was flat, no emotion bleeding through. You could tell the formality was not what he wanted from the conversation, but he was unsure of how to approach you.

“Tell me the truth,” you said, glancing over at him from the corner of your eye.

“What?” He questioned, his demeanour shifting. “That is the truth.”

“Christ Jake, give it up.” You turned to face him. “Put your ego down for a second; it’s okay to be honest, it’s okay to be sad, and it’s okay to feel things.” You caught his eye, holding his stare. “It’s okay to be weak around me, because god knows I am when I’m around you.” His eyes flickered nervously between your face and the floor, feeling cornered into a confession. Jake did not enjoy when the power was not in his hands, but he had been learning to get used to it, because it never was when he was around you.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I saw you and Sam at the airport.”

“I know.”

“It sucked, y/n.” He finally said, feeling the weight of his words begin to fill the air in the room. “It fucking sucks, because you said that you needed space. It’s fine if you do, I don’t mind, but I think it’s unfair for you to ignore me and talk to him. It seems like the only space you need is from me, so if you’ve made up your mind, I need to know.”

“You think I’d do that to you?” You asked, hurt evident in your rebuttal. When he caught sight of the pain in your eye, he had to look away just to keep his composure.

“No,” he shook his head, voice quiet once more. “I don’t.”

“Then why would you say it?” You questioned, but before he had time to answer, the walls of defence you held came down with a booming sound. You had promised not to walk into this confrontation with defence, and you had done exactly what you swore not to do. “Why are we fighting, Jake?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“It seems like it’s all we know how to do.” You mumbled. “We’ve always got our guard up, even when we’re happy. I don’t know how to let you in, and you don’t know, either.”

“We know how to do more than fight,” he corrected, looking back to meet your face. “We just won’t let ourselves do it.”

“I’m so scared of breaking my own heart that it paralyses me, and I’m so scared of breaking yours that it kills me.” You admitted.

“I am, too.” He muttered. “I don’t want to hurt you, Gold Dust Woman. All I ever wanted to do was love you, but I’m not very good at it.” The sadness in his face was gutting, and you believed that you would never be able to love him enough to take that away.

“You need to give yourself credit where credit is due, Jacob.” You whispered, holding his gaze. “You told me that intimacy isn’t easy, and you were right. Just because it’s been hard doesn’t mean it hasn’t been worth it.” A glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes, making him believe that there truly was a part of you that still felt the same for him as he did for you. In that moment, you felt like your whole world came crashing down around you. The sickness returned, and your heart was erratic in your chest. You had been so caught up in your own inability to face your emotions that you had failed to understand how badly Jake was struggling with the same things. He was not one to give his heart away freely, nor one to give someone else any power over him. He was elusive, quiet and meticulous about almost everything in his life. Jake may have thrown you off course by making you fall in love with him, but you had uprooted his entire life. He was facing parts of himself that he never had before, and he was terrified of the possibility of losing you after so much time spent growing comfortable with you.

“It’s not, and I think when I said that, I was trying to convince myself of that, too.” He let out a low chuckle, thinking back to the simple memory. “I wanted to do it all right for you, y/n, but I feel like I’ve been doing everything wrong.”

“You don’t have to be apologetic for the way things happened. You did what you thought was best at the time, and so did everyone we. We all contributed to this, and we’ll all see the same consequences no matter how it turns out.” You reached over, slipping your hand in his. He was shocked at the sudden touch, but welcomed it immediately. “I still feel the same way about you, Jake. Just because things aren’t the same as they were last month, doesn’t mean that I’m any different than who I was a month ago. As much as I wish I was sometimes, I’m not.”

“I guess was the jealous one, this time.” A small smile was pulling at his lips.

“That’s what happens when you love someone.” You felt a smile growing to match his own.

“I do love you, Gold Dust Woman.” Neither of you could hide the elation in your features, finally content to be alone with each other again.

“And I love you, Jake.” The confession which once seemed to cause so much fear within you slipped out easier than ever before. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, yet, but you’ll be the first to know when the time comes.” He nodded, understanding better now that he was hearing the words. No matter what the situation or who the person in question was, common sense is not enough when you’ve spent weeks stuck in your own head. Rationality was a stranger to all of you, and insanity was growing closer every day.

“I respect it,” he said “thank you for being honest.”

“Lying to you has never been an option for me.” You let out a small laugh.

“‘Cause you suck at it.” He joined in, genuine happiness radiating from him. You nodded, another laugh finding you as you gave him a silent agreement. “It’s okay if you need more time, but can I have ten minutes? Just to help me get through it.”

“Nine and a half, but you have to buy me a drink the next time we go to the bar.” You joked. The smile never left his face as he replied without hesitation.

“I’ll buy you drinks for the rest of your life if it makes you happy.” Although the moment was humorous, the truth behind his words was evident.

“Ten minutes,” you agreed, nodding your head. You knew that it was not the best idea, but you needed it just as badly as he did. He checked his watch, noting the time before he made any moves.

“Come here,” he said, a new surge of energy washing over him. Before you could comprehend his words, he had reached over and snaked his arm around you. With little struggle, he pulled you into his lap. You settled in with ease, as if you were always meant to be there. “Ten minutes.” He said, pondering the statement as if it was opening his mind to endless possibilities. “We can do a lot in ten minutes.”

“Watch it,” you warned, immediately recognizing the mischief in his eye.

“I know, I’m kidding.” He assured you, resting his hands on your hips. The touch was fantastic, leaving your skin tingling from the feeling alone. “I’m perfectly fine staying like this.” You didn’t need to say it, but he knew you felt just the same. Now that you were so close to him, you could see the extend of the damage left on his face by his brothers hands. Cautiously, you reached up, running your thumb over the bruise still lingering on his jaw. His eyes fluttered closed, knowing why you felt the need to touch him, yet too enthralled in the feeling to care about it.

“It’s my fault,” you whispered, tracing gently over the damaged skin. His eyes opened, looking up at you with a heavy lidded gaze.

“No,” he shook his head gently. “Don’t say that.”

“It is, though. I should never have let things go this far. If I could just make up my mind, maybe we wouldn’t be here.”

“Exactly; we might not be here, and I can’t think of a worse idea.” He turned his head to the side, pressing a soft kiss to your finger. “I’d take a million punches if it meant I could have one second with you, like this.”

“You shouldn’t be so willing to take a hit for anyone, Jake. Especially not me.” You flattened your hand against his face, cupping his cheek in your palm. You let your thumb drift over the soft skin, savouring the feeling of him while you still could.

“Especially not you?” He questioned, unbelieving of your words. “Gold Dust Woman, you are worth so much more than you think. This world is only right when you’re in it, and I swear that sometimes when I look at the sky at night, those stars shine just for you.” He said, lifting his hand to brush the hair from your face. “I don’t regret anything, and I would do it all over again just to get the chance to be with you, even if you don’t pick me. Being hurt by you is a privilege, and it’s much better than not knowing you at all.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Jake.” You whispered. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I know,” he said, leaning forward and resting his forehead on your own. “You don’t have to worry about hurting anyone, y/n. We knew the risks, and we know that you’re worth it, no matter how it ends. I know that I can’t make you choose me, and if you don’t want to, that’s okay. But, I’m in this until the end, and I really hope you do.”

“I wish I could give you an answer, Jake.” You felt horrible for not knowing, and even worse that you were allowing him such intimacy while both of you were aware that you might not end up together.

“I can wait,” he promised. “I’d wait forever for you, if I had to.” He leaned forward, letting his lips ghost over your own. “I love you, Gold Dust Woman.” You did not have the willpower to shy away from the advance. You wanted him so badly that all other rationale no longer existed.

“I love you, Jake.” You closed the gap between you, pulling him into a kiss that showcased all of the emotion you had been holding back. It was passionate and desperate, yet sweet all at once. It was not picturesque or anything like the movies, but it was perfect for you and Jake. Your relationship had been far from ideal, but you could not argue the fact of enjoyment, because every minute you were lucky enough to spend with him was worth the pain.

Before you two were ready to part, another knock sounded on the door of your dressing room. At first, you ignored the sound. You were too caught up in Jake to care about anyone else. When the knock sounded a second time, louder and more imminent, you broke the kiss with a scowl on your face. He chuckled at your expression, head still spinning from the feeling of your lips on his. It didn’t matter to him that he had to go, because he was leaving with a far better attitude than when he arrived. Much like his brother, he just needed to know you still cared, and hearing you say ‘I love you’ was more than enough to brighten his spirits.

“I think my ten minutes are up, anyway.” He said, eyes glancing at the clock hanging on the wall.

“I don’t care about the ten stupid minutes,” you breathed, desperate for him to stay. “I was never going to kick you out in the first place.” He knew it, and so did you, but he opted not to point out the obvious.

“It wouldn’t be fair for me to stay, now would it?” He chuckled. “As much as I’d like to, it’s probably time for soundcheck. I wouldn’t want to stress Aaron out any more. I’m scared he might have a heart attack.” A third knock struck a nerve in you, now genuinely angry at whoever was standing on the other side of the door. “It’s okay, Gold Dust Woman. I’ll be here whenever you need me.” You nodded, knowing that his departure was for the best, even if the thought of being without him again was sickening. He helped you to your feet, waiting for you to lead the way to the door, but you refused to budge. After a second, you pulled him into a hug, laying your head on his chest as you held him tightly to you. He rested one hand on the back of your head and let the other fall on your lower back. Hugging was not something the two of you did very often, but in light of what could happen, you wanted to cherish any intimacy with him as humanly possible. He leaned down and placed a kiss to the top of your head before you stepped away.

“You’re going to do fantastic tonight, sweetheart.” He said, strained from his unwillingness to let go. “I’ll be on the sidelines cheering the loudest, like always.”

“Thanks for stopping by, Jake. I can’t wait to see you play.”

“I’ll be playing for you,” he reminded, giving you a smile. You didn’t say it, but you hoped that he knew you always played for him, too. Without any other words, you both walked towards the door. The knocking had ceased, and you assumed that the person had likely taken the hint. When you turned the knob to allow Jake to leave, you nearly jumped out of your skin in shock at the sight of a body standing in the way. You felt your cheeks redden, embarrassed over being caught with both brothers after swearing to keep your distance. Jake cleared his throat, muttering a small excuse as to why he needed to leave before slipping into the hallway and out of sight.

“You’re a busy lady, today.” Dylan smirked, forgoing any greeting and walking into your room without invitation.

“Did you come over just to patronize me?” You asked, swinging the door shut behind her. Even if you did not verbally grant her permission to come inside, she knew she was always welcome.

“No, I actually came over for a reason, this time, not just to bother you.”

“That’s a surprise.” You muttered, turning to face her. She was holding a bag in her hand that looked to be from a nearby convenience store. Once she knew she had your attention, she pulled a box from the bag and tossed it on the table beside the couch. You looked down at the item, wondering what she thought was so imminent. When your eyes settled on the pink packaging, your head tilted to the side in confusion. “For me, or you?”

“You.” She said, sitting on the couch and crossing her legs.

“Why?” You asked, not trying to be rude but completely missing her point. She rolled her eyes but didn’t chastise you for your ignorance.

“You threw up today.” She replied as if it was obvious. “I’ve only ever seen you do that when you’re drunk, and I’ve known you since you moved to Nashville. You don’t seem very sick,” A prickle of fear ran through you, but you didn’t want to let anxiety get the best of you. You listened while she spoke while trying to calm yourself at the same time. “And I want to believe you when you say that you’re not drinking, so this is my second best guess.”

“It’s probably just stress, Dylan.” You brushed her off despite knowing that she had a very good point. “Or bad food; we’ve been eating takeout for weeks.” You were doing anything to find an excuse, because the alternatives seemed much better than the idea she was presenting.

“Nobody else is sick, babe.” She reminded, nodding towards the pregnancy test. “Is there a chance you could be?” You looked from her to the box, unable to give her a verbal answer. Your silence spoke louder than any words, and you both knew that it was in your best interest to comply with her request. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Okay.” You breathed, taking a step forward to grab the test.

“I can come in with you, if you want.” She offered.

“Okay.” You reiterated your previous statement, now too choked with fear to speak anything other than single word answers. Silently, she followed you into the bathroom, taking a seat on the counter to give you a shred of privacy while you did your business. When you finished, you capped the test and set it face down on the counter by the sink. You washed your hands and backed up against the wall, slowly sliding down into a sitting position. You pulled your knees to your chest and rested your chin on your legs, staring down at the floor while your stomach churned with unease.

“Talk to me.” Dylan offered, noticing your state of panic, even if you were being silent about it. She knew you so well that she could tell your mood even from another room.

“I’m just nervous, I guess. You’re right, and what you said makes sense, but I can not be pregnant right now.” You chuckled, but the scene was far from funny. “I take birth control; I thought I’d be fine. Guess I should have been more careful.”

“Do you…” she trailed off, unsure if she wanted to ask you the pressing question. “If it’s positive, do you know who’s it is?” You kept your eyes on the floor, counting back the days in your head. The more you thought, the more panicked you felt. You had been so caught up in your feelings about the brothers that you had failed to notice that your own body was screaming for attention. You were late for your period, and approximately two weeks prior would have been the same time as your first professions of love to the boys. With no comfort at all, you had to recall the nights you spent with them, reckless and careless in your endeavours. Although, the entire time you had spent with them had been careless and reckless; this instance just happened to be more catastrophic.

“No,” you shook your head. “Could be either of them.” You said, running a hand through your hair.

“If it’s positive,” she reinforced her words, making sure you knew that this was all hypothetical and it could be a false alarm. “Who would you rather do this with?”

“That’s a loaded question.” You scoffed, unable to even begin decoding the answer.

“It doesn’t have to be, y/n.” She said, shaking her head at your constant need to second guess yourself. “You have to stop looking at everything the same way. When you think of this: the rest of your life, all of the challenges and the obstacles, but all of the memories and the happiness, too; who can you picture beside you, helping you through it all? Don’t dwell on it, just the first one that pops in your head. The longer you sit with it, the harder it gets. You can weigh the pros and cons for the rest of your life and neither will come out on top. I’m not asking you to choose between them, I just need you to tell me who comes to mind before anything or anyone else.” She explained, just as frustrated as you were. She hated seeing you suffering, but she knew that without a push, you would never draw a conclusion on your own.

“So, I’m going to ask you again. When you picture the rest of your life, who is the first person that you think of?” You looked up, tears brimming your eyes as you watched her. The word stayed stuck in your throat as you tried to force it back down, but this time you could not seem to fight it. The answer was there; it was the same one you knew existed all along, and it was begging to be told. You may have been too cowardly to submit to it, but it had been staring you in the face since the very beginning.

“Sam.” You uttered, knowing deep in your heart that you meant it. She had tricked you into choosing, making you believe that her inquiry was not one of finality, but it was. Relief flooded both of your faces as soon as the name left your lips, and you felt a ton of weight lift from your shoulders. “It’s always been Sam, Dylan. Even before Jake came into the picture. I’ve been in love with him since the day I met him, and I think I’ll be in love with him for the rest of my life.”

“There you go,” she whispered, a smile creeping onto her lips.

“I love Jake, and I know that losing him is going to be devastating, but it’s always been so easy with Sam. Jake and I care a lot about each other, but we have no idea how to deal with that. We’re hot headed, and we fight, and we’ve been trying to figure out how to love someone all while being in love at the same time. It’s complicated, and it’s painful more that it’s pleasurable. I know that a life with him could be great, fantastic even, but it could also be catastrophic.”

“I know you care about him, y/n. You don’t have to try and convince me.”

“I know… maybe I’m trying to convince myself.” You sighed. “I’ve spent this entire time worried that if I picked Sam, I would be doing it because it’s the easy way out. I don’t think it is, Dylan. You can’t just love someone for so long and then let them go. There’s so much history, and so much simplicity. It’s easy existing with Sam, it’s comfortable, and it’s enjoyable. I don’t think picking him is the easy way out; it feels right. After all this time, and all of this hurt… I just feel like he’s the one who I could spend my life with. It would be a great life, never too complicated, and happy.” You said the word again, almost like you couldn’t believe you might actually have a shot at happiness. The pain had been so extensive for so long that happiness had forever seemed just slightly out of reach, and you were ready to take it for you own. The power was back in your hands, coursing through you and giving you strength that you no longer believed you had. “I loved him before I even knew I was capable of love, and that has to speak for itself. I love Jake, I really do, but I can’t help but think if I choose him, I’m setting myself up for heartbreak again.”

“I’m proud of you.” She said, not uttering a disagreement or approval. She needed you to be sure of yourself, for you to pick the right person for you, and it felt like you had. Finally, after months of back and forth, the exhaustion was beginning to wear off. “Let’s see what that says.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, slowly climbing to your feet. You took a deep breath in, the first in a while where you felt like nothing was weighing you down. You reached out to the counter and flipped the flimsy plastic stick around. You let your eyes settle on the window that would ultimately seal your fate, hand shaking as you raised it closer to your face. You studied it for what felt like an eternity, then eventually flashed it in her direction. She did the same, looking between you and the test, waiting for you to speak it aloud. You turned it towards your face once more, just to be certain that you read it right. You let out a long exhale, closing your eyes as you spoke it aloud. “It’s negative.”

“It is.” She agreed.

“So all of the panic was for nothing?” You chuckled, tossing the test back on the counter. It clattered against the surface, sending a pathetic thud through the air.

“Not for nothing, y/n. I’d say it was well worth our time.” You looked at yourself in the mirror, carefully inspecting your reflection. The woman who was staring back at you was changed, far from the one who used to look at you. This one was tired, but she was strong, and she was not different in the bad ways that you predicted she would be. She was capable and brave, facing up to challenges she never thought she could handle. She was tending to old wounds, ones that had not healed even years after the damage was done. She knew how to love, and she knew how to care, and she knew how to open herself up to a world that she previously would have shunned. “Now you know.”

“Now I know.” You looked over at her, smiling despite the lingering ache in your heart. You knew that Sam was what your heart wanted, and you had no intentions of doubling back on your word, but it did not mean that you were excited to break the news to Jake. Living without him was a thought that sickened you, but leading him on even further was even worse. You had done enough damage, and now it was time to pick up the pieces of what you had shattered during your journey of learning to love. “Tomorrow, though, because we have a show to put on.”

“The show must go on.” She raised her hands in surrender as a laugh fell from her lips. “The world is in your hands, Gold Dust Woman. You do whatever you think is best.”

She was correct in saying that you held the world in your hands, but you wished that you could put it down. Your arms were tired and your mind, too. You had been holding the weight for what seemed like forever, and you were scared that you could not put it down gently. When it fell, you took the risk of losing the small sense of relief you had finally granted yourself. Finally finding the answer was cathartic, yet you were still so afraid of relying on your own judgment. In the past, it had never led you to pleasant conclusions, and everything you had ever let go was left behind with claw marks in it. You were afraid that the damage created was already much to extensive to repair, but the show must go on, and if you were truly the Gold Dust Woman everyone said you were, you could always find the courage to take the stage and make it your own.

Please tell me, is it over now?

TAGLIST: @itsdannysworld @gretavansara @jaketlove @laneygvf @freefallthoughts @psychedelicsprinkles @idontwannabeherenow @joshysgirl @sanguinebats @objectsinspvce @klarxtr @sinarainbows @jakesmustache @gvfpal @hellowgoodbye @profitofthedune

83 notes · View notes

radiance1 · 2 months

Text

Inspired by @puppetmaster13u and various dragon aus they have.

BUT! This is also a bit of a fantasy/DnD au I guess...? IDK BUT HERE WE GO-

Okay now so, I'm imagining that that Danny, Tucker, and Sam create a pocket dimension for their game via the use of reality warping (via scepter) and something given to them by Pariah Dark before he went off on that whole honey moon thing with Clockwork.

For the record, Danny isn't the ghost king here, Pariah Dark is he's just the prince.

Sam created a garden from the barren earth, that eventually grew into a great forest and spread out to the rest of the world, which technically made her the creator of life but anyways. So, she's holed up in said garden turned forest.

Tucker bestowed upon his subjects (after they were made of course) knowledge and technology and is regarded as the greatest teacher in that world's history.

Danny? Oh yea he became that one that giant dragon that everyone knows is there, is afraid of, and just sleeps all day in this one specific place. You'd have to cut him some slack though, because no one told him creating a world and its laws would be so hard even with help.

That and him, as the one with basically the most knowledge and resident fanboy of space, created the stars surrounding the place as well!

Of course, they couldn't stay there all of the time. What with work (Tucker), high-society (Sam), and studying (Why the heck did Danny decide to go to collage again?). That entire place was just made to play around in before they had to go their separate ways and be, you know, actual adults, so it was easy enough to let go of it really.

Except for Danny. Not of any great reason, really, he just needed someplace where he could quietly study in peace, nap, think or just get away from the Ghost Zone before he had to go through all that princely nonsense again. Plus, none of their creations in that pocket dimension really wanted to mess with the giant fuck off dragon who was said to created the place anyways.

For the record, Danny is more of an eastern dragon in design with a long body rather than western. So that probably just added more into his intimidation with his sheer length.

So, you know, of course he would have been none too pleased when someone actually did disturb his solitude (as stated by the dimension's residents) as soon as the world was thrown off-balance by an outside force.

Meanwhile, Klarion the Witch boy is having the time of his life coming across a whole world that somehow hasn't been affected by Order or Chaos. So he's capitalizing on that.

Then he came across a place that was said to be sacred, not that he cared, and then came across a boy who didn't look a day over his teens (which frankly doesn't say much in regards to immortals) with a frankly long tail that looked longer than he was tall and very majestic looking horns.

Danny was annoyed yet curious, Klarion was surprised yet delighted.

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #dcxdp #dc x dp crossover #Honestly I have no idea what I did with this #But #Dragon au les go or something #Will Danny and Klarion become friends? I don't know #Danny is technically an adult by human standards but he no longer ages #Physically at least #Probably because he became royalty too fast or Dragon immortality I guess-#Anyways have fun with this or something idk

1K notes · View notes

stardustcatcher · 1 year

Text

TLC

Pairing: Danny Wagner x Reader

Word Count: 2.2K

Warnings: danny being the absolute sweetest most best boyfriend in the world, nudity of the nonsexual variety, reader has a really bad day so not quite angst but stress (?), self indulgent mediocre writing, i mean it danny's a sweetheart in this one proceed with caution (let me know if I missed anything please)

AN: i've got a lot on my plate recently and i've been stressing, the only way i haven't gone insane so far is daydreaming and imagining some caring and comforting boyfriend danny, so that's what this is. i hope you all enjoy and as always, all feedback is welcomed, appreciated, and encouraged :) i love you all <3

taglist

It was a bad day. An absolutely horrible, awful, terrible, disastrously bad day. You’d known it would be from the moment you’d woken up in an empty bed, Danny already out the door and in the studio with the band, his side of the bed had long grown cold. The only evidence he’d ever been there was a note laying on your endtable. It read: “Had to leave early, you looked so peaceful and I didn’t want to wake you. Go be great and have a good day. Love Danny xoxo”.

You wished you could’ve listened to the note’s instructions, but as soon as you opened your eyes after being ripped from sleep by your alarm’s unbearable racket you’d felt the gray gloomy cloud over your head. That really set the tone for the day.

It would’ve been nice if things had gone up from there, but of course they didn’t. You’d forgotten your coffee before you left the house and there was a wreck on the road as you made your way to work, causing all sorts of traffic making you nearly an hour late. Needless to say, that didn’t make your boss very happy. Then there was the pile of work waiting on your desk, all needing your attention and to be dealt with before you went home. When lunch came around, you had barely made a dent in what needed to get done, so you ate at your desk and texted Danny, hoping he was doing better than you.

There was a hesitant feeling to share your grievances with your loving boyfriend, you didn’t want to feel like a burden or put a damper on his day just because yours wasn’t going well. So you kept silent, after all, there was still time for the day to turn around. Maybe you could blow through the rest of your work and still be home at a reasonable hour.

“Stupid of me to think that,” You scolded yourself as six o’clock rolled around and you had just started to gather your things to leave. There were still dozens of emails to be answered but they’d have to wait until tomorrow, you couldn’t stand spending another minute at work when you could be comfortably cuddled with Danny. Just knowing he was waiting for you made you feel a tiny bit better.

As if he could hear you thinking about him, your phone rang and his contact photo lit up the screen. It was one of the two of you taken by Jake at a bar, Danny’s lips smushed against your cheek while you beamed happily at the camera, no posed smile just pure uninhibited joy. “Hey, beautiful, you on your way home?” Danny’s voice asked when you answered the call. You could hear music in the background and practically picture the smile on his face.

“Yeah, babe, on my way out of the office now,” You sighed, hiking your bag higher up on your shoulder as you walked out of the building towards your car.

“Just now? You’re usually home by now?” he questioned, voice filling with concern. You could imagine the crease forming between his furrowed brows, one you’d usually run your thumb over to soften out. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just a rough day,” You ran your hand down your face, feeling the weight of the day rest heavy on your shoulders. “I’ll be home in twenty,” you put the key in the ignition and started your car.

“Alright, honey. I’ll be here when you get home. Drive safe, I love you,” Danny says.

“Will do, I love you too,” You huff as you hang up the phone, wishing that teleportation was possible and you could be in Danny’s embrace with the blink of an eye. You drive home in silence, feeling as though music would be overwhelming to your already fragile state.

Luckily the ride home is much quicker than the drive to work was, and before you know it, you’re pulling into the driveway of the home you share with your boyfriend. You see his car parked next to yours, the porch light on but no lights in the house on. You’re slightly confused, but your brain hurts too much to think anything of it.

As you turn off the car and get out, Danny opens the front door. He looks radiant as ever, long and dark curly tresses pulled up in a haphazard bun, his Church of Rock and Roll shirt stretched across his toned chest, and a pair of black sweatpants hung low across his hips. If you had the energy, you’d absolutely jump him.

He holds his arms out in invitation as you walk towards the front door. When you meet him, he takes your bag from your hand before tugging you inside and wrapping you in his warm and strong arms. You practically melt into him, knees going a little bit weak as you take in his scent. He smells woodsy from the cologne he uses and a little bit fruity from the shampoo he likes. He smells like Danny and home.

His large hand runs over your head as he sways you both back and forth, letting you take all the love and comfort you need from him. “Hi, my gorgeous girl,” he grins when you finally pull back. You give him a halfhearted smile in return as he cups your face in his hands. A soft and gentle kiss is pressed against your lips and you chase them when he pulls away. “I’m sorry you had a bad day,” he pouts, seeming genuinely upset. But that’s Danny, too good for the world.

“It’s not your fault,” you hum when his thumb caresses your cheek, relishing in the touch you’d been longing for all day.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be sorry,” he presses his lips to your forehead, letting them linger before he shoots you another dazzling smile. “C’mon, I’ ve got a surprise for you,” he hangs your bag and keys up by the door before taking your hand and leading you to your shared bedroom. He stopped once he reached the closed door to the master bathroom and he dropped your hand and spun around to face you, pretty eyes sparkling in the dim lights. “Okay, now you have to close your eyes.”

“Danny…” you trailed off, head tilted to the side with furrowed brows.

“Just trust me, okay? You trust me, don’t you?”

“With my life,” you relent and shut your eyes, covering them with your hands for good measure. You could hear him giggle and the sound of the bathroom door opening before he moved behind you and grabbed your upper arms. Danny guided you into the bathroom and pressed himself against you, chin resting on your shoulder as he released your arms.

“Open your eyes,” he said softly, no louder than a whisper. You uncovered your eyes and almost immediately bursted into tears. The bathroom seemed completely different than you had ever seen it.

Tealights and scented candles lit up the space, casting the room in a soft orange glow. The tub was steaming, filled with fragrant oils. The sound of soft music played from the speaker set on the sink, next to it sat a tray with bottles of your favorite shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that was only broken out when you really wanted to treat yourself. “Danny, you did this all for me?” you whispered, turning around in his hold. Your eyes were teary, full of love and appreciation for your lover. You could feel the stress of the horrible day nearly melt off at just the sight of what he did just for you.

“Of course I did, beautiful. You had a bad day, I’d say that warrants some pampering. Not that I need a reason to give my favorite girl some TLC,” Danny smiled, swiping his thumb under your eye to catch the wayward tear that had fallen. “You like it?”

“I love it,” you gave a teary chuckle, grabbing his face and planting a firm kiss on his lips, hoping to convey all the love and gratefulness you felt for him through it. “But I love you more.”

“I love you too, honey,” he laughed. “Now get undressed, I’m gonna get you some water because I guarantee you didn’t drink enough today. Then I’ll come back and wash your hair for you, how does that sound?”

“Like a dream,” you smiled. He pecked your forehead before leaving the bathroom, closing the door to give you the privacy to strip.

As you shed your clothes you could feel the weight of the day get lighter and lighter, each article of clothing gone making it easier to breathe. Once your clothes were discarded in the hamper in the corner, you slowly sank into the hot water, sighing in content as your muscles decompressed. Leaning back into the steaming bath, you let your eyes close and gave your body a chance to finally rest. You were so at ease that you barely heard the bathroom door opening again.

“Don’t you look relaxed,” Danny hummed, walking to you with a bottle of water in hand. “Feeling a little better.”

“So much better,” you smiled at him, head lolling to the side as you looked at him. You couldn’t help but admire him, feeling overwhelmighly thankful that you were able to bag such an angel of a man. He was sweet, kind, selfless, and not to mention the most handsome god-like man you’d ever laid eyes upon. You were so lucky to have him. Tears welled up in your eyes again at the sheer amount of affection and love you held for the beautiful soul in front of you. “You’re too good to me, Danny.”

“No such thing, baby. Drink,” Danny shook his head, kneeling beside the tub and handing you the now opened water bottle. “You deserve everything good in the world. Now, gimme that and tilt your head back,” he took the water bottle from you before grabbing the small cup that sat in the shower caddy in the corner for occasions just like this one.

You tipped your head back as Danny filled the cup up with bathwater before he tilted it over your hair, unoccupied hand resting on your forehead to shield your face from the water. He took such care lathering the shampoo into your hair, massaging his fingers into your scalp and carefully rinsing the soap from your hair. He did the same with the conditioner, knowing exactly how to care for it properly with knowledge from his own vigorous hair routine. Once your hair was rinsed for the final time, he pressed a kiss to your wet cheek and stood.

“You soak in here, do whatever you have to do. I’m gonna run your towel in the dryer for a little while so it's nice and warm when you come out and I’ll order us some dinner. Chinese sound good?” He asked, running a hand over your wet hair.

“Sounds amazing,” you can’t help but smile brightly at him, the stress of the day fully dissipated.

“There’s that gorgeous smile. Take your time, honey,” he said before leaving, shutting the door behind him again, leaving you smiley and absolutely in love.

You washed your body with the washcloth and your expensive body ways and soaked in the tub for twenty more minutes until the water went cold and your fingers pruned. Just as you pulled the stopper, Danny walked in again with the towel that had been warmed up in the dryer. “How’d you know I was done?” you asked, stepping out of the tub as Danny opened the towel. You stepped into him and he wrapped you up tightly in the warmed fabric.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ve got a sixth sense about you or something,” he pressed a kiss to the tip of your nose. “I set some clothes out on the bed for you. Finish up here, put those on, snuggle up, and I’ll bring the food in.”

Once your nightime routine was finished, you shuffled into the bedroom and pulled on the pajamas Danny had set out for you. Your comfiest pair of pajama pants, and a sweatshirt Danny had that even swallowed him whole—it was a favorite of yours. You tucked yourself under the comforter and turned on the TV, putting on Netflix and your favorite movie. Moments later Danny came in, huge bag of Chinese take-out in hand. “How’d you know I had a movie in mind?” he asked, setting the bag of food on his bedside table.

“Dunno, maybe I’ve got a sixth sense about you or something,” you parroted his earlier words as he passed your food to you.

“Cheeky,” he giggled, hopping into bed right next to you, grabbing his own food and tugging you close.

As you both ate, movie playing in the background, you stole glances at your amazingly fantastic boyfriend, just wondering how you got so lucky to have him. “I really appreciate what you did for me,” you mumbled, head falling on his shoulder. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one, honey,” Danny looked down at you with a look of love in his eye. An absolutely horrible, awful, terrible, disastrously bad day had turned into a good night.

taglist: @mintysammykiszka @peachpitpearls @alexxavicry @spark-my-nature @angelbabyyy99

#danny wagner x reader #danny wagner imagine #danny wagner fluff #greta van fleet x reader #greta van fleet fan fiction #gvf fic #gvf x reader #gvf fanfiction #greta van fluff #greta van fic #babby writes #greta van fleet #danny wagner #josh kiszka #jake kiszka #sam kiszka

326 notes · View notes

creoastra · 3 months

Text

I wrote a fic for the @valentines-core-exchange event!

@nightwanderers12081 is who I made it for! They've got excellent taste in fics omg.

This fic is not beta read so I apologize for any bad pacing or grammar lolol

Past Curfew - A Phandoms Valentines Day event Danny/Valerie shipfic

That ghost- “Ah, sorry Dad, I zoned out.” That's what she gets for trying to trust a ghost. “I am studying at…”

“Danny Fenton’s house.”

“D-Danny’s house! Danny Fenton… We have a Biology project together.. I got caught up working on it so that's what I have been.. Doing….” She spun around to try and catch Phantom and question how he knew who Danny was, but she wasn’t able to catch anything because just like earlier, he was gone. She scowled into the night air, fist clenching and unclenching rapidly.

Floating invisible a few feet away from Valerie, Danny smiled to himself for being able to help her with her problem before the reality of the situation sank in. He nearly hit himself for how stupid he was for suggesting himself. She didn’t know that Danny is Phantom, and that could seriously blow his cover.

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

‘Why do I even bother? There’s hardly ever any ghosts out at this time.’

Phantom groaned inwardly as he flew across Amity Park. The air was chilled with early autumn winds, but of course he still found himself out and about at night despite the cold. The stars blinked in understandment and pity. Orion bowed his head in apology as Danny raced past his school. Well, he didn’t actually bow to him, considering he was a cluster of stars after all, but Danny felt the sentiment within himself anyways.

Honestly, he had no idea why he still did this, patrolling the city. There were hardly any ghosts out at night since all of them fed on people’s attention and love and emotions. But he has happened upon a few in the past so he can’t let himself stop now. It’s also become part of his routine. He plugs in his earbuds to his shitty ipod, hums along to this playlist Sam made him, and scopes the city.

Amity Park was peaceful at night. Like he said, there were no ghosts and it was all just empty streets or the occasional cat roaming the streets. Lamp Posts were the only light to be seen, and it was rather serene. The air smelled less like car emissions and more like fall. Danny appreciated it, even though the act of being out this late directly cut into his sleep time.

Floating down onto the edge of the town’s radio tower, Danny leaned back and closed his eyes for a minute. He would often sit up here and watch the stars on more boring nights, but he was particularly tired tonight. A part of him wanted to retire early and head back home, but the core within him buzzed angrily at even the smallest thought of that. He couldn’t rest after making sure that Amity would be okay while he slept. He couldn’t let her down like that, even though his eyes begged to stay closed.

He could lay up here for a second longer though. Or at least that was what he thought until a sharp clang echoed from behind him.

Instantly he jumped up, clumsily ripping out his earbuds and shoving them into his jumpsuit’s sole pocket. Danny whipped around, shooting up into the sky to try and catch whatever made the racket, yet nothing was there.

What the hell?

With slight hesitance, he lowered himself down to the top of the radio tower again. Taking a few seconds to glance around, his hand automatically reached for his thermos. The radio tower was all steel bars from the top to the bottom, so he could see all the way through it. And now that he was closer, he could see a figure hiding down at the layer right beneath the one he stood at.

Without thinking, Danny became intangible, dropping through the bars and down to the layer below him. Instantly he was on top of the ghost that was stalking him. Pride erupted in his core as he launched both him and the ghost off of the tower. The scenery around him was practically glowing to illuminate their match of strengths. The ghost yelped and started grabbing at Danny as they fell quickly towards the ground.

A second before they crash landed, his opponent wrestled with him, easily flipping him to become underneath them with a growl. A second too late, Danny turned intangible, his back aching from the impact. He shakily pulled them both deep into the ground before soaring back up into the sky. The ghost grabbed onto Danny’s hair and ripped at it, while screaming at him.

“Phantom you horrid beast, let go of me this instant!!”

Gasping a pained breath of air, Danny took the opportunity while the ghost was focused on yanking out his hair- which really hurt by the way- to throw them against the ground. Unfortunately Danny got dragged with them, a factor he upsettingly didn’t consider, and they both went tumbling through a patch of dirt and grass.

Danny rolled through the dirt, clovers flying everywhere and his entire outfit becoming grass stained. His body skipped a few times along the ground like a rock thrown against a river before he finally came to a pained stop. His bones ached and his head got rattled around from the fall. Every fiber of him screamed at him to just lie there for a second before he hurt himself more, but there his core was, still loud as ever.

Now is your chance. Destroy that ghost for even raising a hand against you.

Power surged through him, and suddenly Danny was standing, stalking over to where his opponent- his prey- laid recovering. His nails turned claws bore outwards. They ached to carve into this feeble ghost who dared to challenge him with so little power. Just look at them laying there, glow already so weak, nearly nonexistent…

Nearly…?

“Valerie?”

At the mention of her name, Valerie, the Red Huntress, shot up and launched herself at Danny. Her mask was damaged in their fight, so her hair billowed out of the broken glass, eyes sharp and promising to stab literal daggers into her own opponent, Phantom.

Without warning, her fist collided directly with Danny’s nose, forcing him backwards with a loud yelp. Her leg then kicked outwards, intentionally tripping him back even further. Falling right onto his ass, Danny’s head hit the ground soon after with another loud collision. Pain instantly shot down his spine.

“Huntress wait-”

“How dare you attack me, Ghost! I knew you were nothing but evil, all of you.” Danny held his head in his hands, cradling it as Valerie threatened him. Most of him felt guilty for attacking a human, but the rational part of him said that it was just Valerie and she could take it, and barely counted as human at this point. Most humans aren’t half nano-bot robots or even full vigilante ghost hunters.

Danny finally opened his eyes to look up at her, just to see a Ghost blaster pointed directly at his face. With no more than a scowl, he rolled to the left, dodging her attack. Not even sparing a glance to the grass remnants that burned slightly from where she shot.

“I thought you were a ghost!” Danny shouted as he flew upwards, dodging another shot from Valerie. “You were literally stalking me earlier!”

A blast ricocheted off the radio tower in the background and barely missed Danny’s leg as it came shooting back.

“That's because you are up to no good, ghost!” Another shot was fired that promptly missed. Valerie scowled at the disadvantage she had from being on the ground. She quickly released her hoverboard and hopped onto it, now racing after Phantom. “I was trying to see what you were doing!”

“I was-” He quickly ducked under an ecto shot. “Just doing my patrols!” Danny’s legs merged together, becoming one ghost tail. He zipped past Valerie, circling around the tower climbing up in height at the same time. “I do this literally every day!”

“Therein lies the problem, Phantom.” She hissed his name with pure venom. Head shooting from side to side trying to find where he went, she stood still on the Hoverboard, flying in one spot. Blood thrummed in her ears, adrenaline and hatred pushing her to keep fighting. One hand on the trigger, she began to point it at every little movement she saw.

“You are not fit to be doing patrols. A ghost fighting other ghosts? No one knows your motives, and while you may have the rest of the town tricked, I will not believe that you are a fit ‘protector.’” She quickly whipped around, shooting right behind her, just for it to go through nothing. With a frown she lowered her blaster slightly. “It's all some act you are putting on for whatever it is that you are trying to do.”

Despite her attempt at trying to antagonize him, there came no response, just silence. A bird in a tree nearby, chirped to his children. A few grasshoppers could be heard singing together. Even her hoverboard was emitting a low hum. But no Phantom.

Now frustrated with the games he is obviously playing on her, Valerie shot angrily into the sky. Just aimlessly shooting. It helped release a bit of the anger that she held for the ghost. She was too busy destroying random clouds to notice that her hoverboard buckled slightly under the weight of another person.

A chill swept over her neck suddenly, making her hair stand on end.

The air turned stiff and sour as she finally felt the dry breath of a ghost behind her.

“V a l e r i e . . . “

Her heart raced as she found herself unable to move.

“Y o u r . . . ”

My…?

“Phone is ringing. You might want to answer that."

She was suddenly snapped out of her stupor. Spinning around, she pointed her blaster at Phantom who smiled innocently and simply pointed to her back pocket. Valerie glared at him, and with her free hand, she felt behind her just to find that her phone was indeed ringing. Now directing her glare at her phone, she nearly hit ignore until she caught the name of the caller ID.

Shit! It's her dad.

Fumbling with her phone, she clumsily dropped her blaster, which Phantom picked up to her dismay, and rushed to answer the call.

“Hey dad. Sorry I didn’t see your call sooner, I was..” Phantom caught a kick in the shin, which he inhaled sharply at. “..busy.”

See, Danny was above interrupting one of his classmates while they were on the phone with their parents. Unlucky for him, this specific classmate wanted his pelt on her wall. Still, manners come first, so he chose to float aimlessly and be vaguely distracting while she was on call.

He watched as she spoke in hushed voices to her phone. She kept shooting annoyed glares at him before worriedly turning back to her father.

“No, I know I am out past curfew- I am sorry, I-I just got caught up…”

Her voice trailed off, and Danny could tell she was being scolded by her father. She looked more defensive than he had ever seen her. It was kind of sad to watch actually. His heart panged for the girl.

“Oh- doing what? Uh- I was just…” Her words fumbled around in her mouth, unable to come up with an excuse off the top of her head. Valerie couldn’t help but look over at Phantom for any sort of help, but he was not there.

That ghost- “Ah, sorry Dad, I zoned out.” That's what she gets for trying to trust a ghost. “I am studying at…”

“Danny Fenton’s house.”

He rubbed his eyes in frustration before glancing back over at Valerie. While she seemed more confused than anything else, a bit of tension seemed to leave her shoulders. She was talking more fluidly to her dad, explaining the made up Biology project to him now that she had an idea to build off of.

Part of him wanted to stay to make sure she got everything covered with her dad. While he had no obligation to make sure she was okay, especially since her life was in danger, he still wanted to, as her friend.

Even though they weren’t friends. Not when he was like this.

“Yeah, uh.. You can pick me up at his house…”

Wait what??

Danny shot a panicked look at Valerie who was quickly powering back on her hoverboard, nodding along to the phone. “Yeah, you can come get me now, we just finished up.”

Goddamn it Valerie! He did not expect her to offer to be picked up. Doesn’t she walk home and stuff? He knows it’s late but it’s not like it’s midnight.. Yet…

He was hoping to get at least a final word in to her before he ran off, but she is already soaring up into the sky. No matter what, he can’t let her beat him home. And what is he supposed to tell Jazz?

How does he always get himself into these stupid situations?

With that final thought, he launched off ahead of her, racing back to his house.

—

How does she always get herself into these stupid situations?

That's the exact thought Valerie had as she found herself soaring through the sky above clouds heading directly to FentonWorks.

She has too many questions and she is beyond confused, but she doesn't really have the chance to answer any of them right now. She needed to get to Danny’s house before her dad got there.

While flying, she took a quick second to ponder why the hell Phantom suggested she show up to Danny’s house. Did he know Danny? Was he waiting there to surprise attack her? Or is this just an elaborate set up to get her laughed at by a cute boy from her class.

All were perfectly plausible to her and it infuriated her that she could pinpoint which reason it was. God forbid that he was trying to help her. That wasn’t how Phantom worked.

What a fool she was to trust him.

She quickly arrived at the large half-laboratory-half-house. Dropping onto the sidewalk and ducking into the alleyway closest to the building, she deactivated her Red Huntress outfit and shrunk away her hoverboard.

Working up the nerves, Valerie walked up to FentonWorks. She stared up at it before going to knock on the door before she hesitated, hand paused right before knocking.

A large part of her still screamed to run, but she knew she couldn’t afford to do that right now. She would just explain to Danny that she needed to use him as a cover, and he would understand. He skips class half of the time and she is sure he wouldn’t want his parents to know that.

A shiver washed over her and she quickly whipped around, expecting to find Phantom but there was nothing there but the night air.

God, she must be going crazy. First trusting a Ghost, now feeling things that aren't there. With a loud huff, Valerie finally knocked on the door.

The door instantaneously swung open to reveal Danny who seemed beyond out of breath.

“Ah, Danny!”

“Val-” He wheezed out, clutching his stomach. He held a hand up to ask for a second as he panted against the door frame. Valerie just watched with awkward helplessness as he caught his breath.

It took an embarrassingly long second for him to look back up to her, his face flushed. “Sorry- just uh.. Went on a run, then…. Ran down the stairs.. To…” He stared at her for a second with a vaguely confused look. “Answer the door… What are you doing here?”

“Im…. working on a group project with you apparently.” She put it bluntly, hoping he would catch on fast enough.

“But we don't have a project together?”

Of course this couldn’t have been that simple. “No, just- ugh.” Valerie nearly slapped herself in the forehead. Why was this so stupidly difficult? “Can I just come inside to explain it? My dad will be here soon.”

Danny slipped backwards into the house, holding the door open for her. Inside the house she was greeted with a living room littered with family pictures and random ghost hunting equipment tossed to the side. One photo caught her eye of who she assumed to be Danny from when he was in middle school.

He had longer hair then but seemed to be shrunk into himself. He donned a dark blue NASA hoodie and a crooked smile. The hoodie seemed too big, and the smile seemed too forced. Something about the photo shot a slight pang in Valerie’s chest. He just seemed unlike himself there.

“Ah, don't look at that one. I keep telling Mom to take it down but she insists on keeping it.”

Glancing up at Danny, she had to remark that he seemed to grow into himself over the years. She didn’t know him when he was younger, but he seemed happier now. Mostly. Right now he seemed embarrassed and a bit annoyed, but overall he didn’t seem to curl into himself as much.

It made Valerie happy that he was able to find himself.

“You had longer hair back then.” She offered with a teasing smile. He simply frowned back at her, though it didn’t seem to meet his eyes which shined brightly. “What? I like it!”

“Well you would agree with my parents then.” His hand moved to scratch the back of his neck somewhat awkwardly. There was a second of silence before he dropped his hand and turned to Valerie fully. “Soo, what is up?”

Right, back to why she was here. “You skip school a lot so I assumed you would understand that I needed a cover for my dad.” She explained, watching as he frowned again at her comment. “Don’t even pretend it’s not true. You run out of class every other period.”

“Yeah well…” He didn’t have an argument to that, but she didn’t have to point it out like that. “I have things I need to do…..”

“Oh yes, I am sure you do.” Valerie rolled her eyes. “Unlike whatever you ‘have to do’, I really was busy today. So please cover for me when my dad gets here. We were just working on a biology project together. I will do the talking so you don't have to worry about anything.”

She pushed past him and set her bag down on the couch, pulling out her phone checking to see if her dad texted her.

The room seemed to flicker slightly before another shudder washed over her. Her heart rate spiked as she quickly spun around to punch the ghost sneaking up behind her, just for her to make direct contact with Danny’s nose.

The force of the punch made Danny trip over his own feet, falling straight onto the floor with a loud yelp. Valerie gasped and quickly ran over to him.

“Danny! Oh my god I am so sorry-”

“Man, what is your problem?? I let you into my house, I cover for you, and then out of nowhere you punch me!!” He exclaimed while holding his nose in his hand. A bit of blood dripped past his fingers onto the floor.

“I really didn't mean to, I just thought you were a ghost.” She attempted to explain, but it just seemed to make him more upset.

“Oh and that justifies punching me??” He began to pull himself up off the floor, before Valerie leaned down to try and help him up but he just pushed her off of him. “Don't. We don’t need you thinking I'm a ghost again and jumping me.”

He shoved past her, heading into the kitchen. Valerie quickly followed after him, abandoning her bag on the couch. “Look, I said it was an accident. I have been on edge recently. I didn’t mean to attack you.

“On edge of what Val? What has got you so freaked out that you had to take it out on me?” The sink began running as Danny wet a napkin for his nose. The air was thick with tension on both ends. While she was trying to apologize, he just kept antagonizing her.

She really thought she liked him and now he just keeps getting on her nerves. She really didn’t mean to hurt him, but she would have sworn she felt the chill of a ghost behind her. That was something she had gotten really good at detecting recently. It is nearly never wrong so god forgive her for trusting it.

Before she could answer, Danny turned around to face her, shooting her another glare. He seemed beyond disheveled now that she was getting an even closer look at him. It all seems well hidden but he has a poorly hidden bruise on his cheek that must have been cleaned off with the napkin. It made even more guilt eat at her for hurting him when he already seemed off.

Right now he seemed to resemble the Danny she saw in the photo earlier. How did she mess it up with him that fast?

Hesitation raced through her before she pushed through it, walking up to Danny. He winced away from her, but she just took the napkin gently from his hands. As softly as she could, she leaned his head backwards a bit and held the napkin up to his nose. It was a bit of an awkward position, but she knew this helped keep the blood from spilling the best.

“I really am sorry Danny.. I took up….. Another job..” She stared down at the bloody napkin with a frown. “It has been stressful but I really wanted to help my dad however I could. He doesn't want me to so I have been having to hide it, but… it really isn't fun. It's stressful and has been wearing on me a lot and has left me paranoid I suppose.”

Danny watched her with a slight hesitation as she spoke. She was just glad he wasn’t pushing her away. “It is no excuse, but I just thought you would want to know.”

While it wasn’t the whole truth, it was the closest she has ever gotten to telling anyone. It lifted a bit of the anxiety that laid on her heart.

A moment passed between them before Danny spoke up. “I understand. I really do Val. I am sorry for lashing out at you as well.” He gently motioned her to step back as he took the napkin back. He pinched his nose for a minute before standing up straight again. His eyes softened from the glare he previously held. “It's not easy holding onto a secret that big and not being able to tell anyone, even your closest friends. I get it.”

Tossing the napkin out before grabbing another one, Danny sighed to himself quietly. Valerie just stood there as he took a second to think. “I know I am not the most ideal person to talk to, I bet. There's probably loads of people you would wanna talk to about your stuff before me, but I understand you, I really do, and I am here to listen if you ever want to talk.”

There weren’t many people Valerie would trust talking to about any of her struggles, but especially not Ghost hunting. Danny wasn’t on that list either, at least not until tonight. She has her doubts about how well he actually understands, but there was something so genuine in his eyes that she couldn’t help but trust him.

“...Okay.. Thank you Danny, I appreciate it.”

He shot her a slightly bloody thumbs up and a goofy lopsided grin. “Anytime Val.”

They held eye contact which made Valerie feel soft inside in a way she hasn’t felt in a long time. In perfect timing though, there was a knock on the door.

“Ah, I bet that was my dad, I should get going.” She explained, nodding towards the entranceway.

“Oh definitely.” Danny said, following her out back into the living room while she grabbed her bag. He beat her to the door and opened it for her. “It was nice having you over, to work on the project.” He quickly added as she left.

She just rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Of course. Thanks for having me.” Valerie waved goodbye to Danny as she walked down the steps to the street with her dad. She loaded her stuff into the front seat with her as her dad started the car.

Finally she could relax.

“What happened to his nose? It seemed busted up. Did you do that Valerie? I thought you stopped the whole ‘fighting your classmates’ thing.”

Nevermind apparently.

#Valentine's Core Exchange 2024 #danny phantom #danny fenton #valerie gray #fanfic #dp fanfic #dp fic #danny/valerie #not beta read #im not a writer so im sorry if this sucks lol #creoastra

30 notes · View notes

tourettesdog · 2 years

Text

Ectober Day 4: Box and Staff

Title: Sleepy Time

Word Count: 5243

AO3 Link

Summary:

Danny is a very sleepy ghost boy and at this point anything qualifies as a bed.

---

What Danny wouldn’t give for just one peaceful night. One night where he could lie down, fall fast asleep, and stay asleep for a humane amount of hours. No matter how often he patrolled, it seemed there was always a ghost waiting to attack at the unholy hour of 2AM.

The entire weekend had followed this pattern, with ghost attacks interspersed throughout the day. Skulker woke Danny up with a loud, resounding shout Friday night that had his parents up in arms. Between running Skulker a safe distance away– determined not to have another fight destroy part of the lab– and his parents chasing after, firing indiscriminately, Danny had no chance to rest that night.

He still had traces of a bruise on his chin from that particular debacle.

Saturday had been little better when Technus decided that their neighbor’s old sedan fit perfectly with his latest collection of tech. There were still trees blocking part of the road outside their house from the bulky machine careening down the street.

Sunday followed this same pattern, with Johnny 13 making a mad dash away from Amity Park on his motorcycle, forcing Danny to chase after him. They’d almost wound up in West Virginia by the time Danny caught him, and the lonely flight back took what little energy he had left at that point.

Danny thought he might finally get some rest when he returned to Illinois and sank into his bed– until an ectopus drifted past his bedroom window.

The ectopus hardly put up a fight, but Danny struggled to fall asleep afterwards, waking up at random intervals, tossing and turning. By the time the sun rose, Danny stared out his window with squinted eyes, groaning.

Of course he had to have school today. He already had a headache.

Danny dragged his feet through the halls of Casper High, head hung low, messy black bangs draped over his eyes as he made his way to his locker. Tucker already stood there waiting for him and gave a sympathetic ‘oof’ when Danny smacked his head against the door to his locker.

“Another bad night, then?” Tucker asked, patting Danny on the shoulder.

Danny lifted his head just high enough to smack it back against the locker with a clang.

“Ow…” he mumbled, wincing as his headache pounded.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Tucker observed.

Danny turned his head to look up at Tucker. His friend was several inches taller now, though that didn’t say much when Danny barely brushed five feet.

“I think I slept maybe two hours all weekend,” Danny groaned.

Tucker grimaced. “You gonna be okay, dude? You sure you can make it today?”

Danny stood up straight long enough to root through his locker and pull out the books he needed for the day. He shoved them into his backpack and fought with the zipper to close it.

“At this rate, I’ll be lucky if I make it through our first class,” Danny grumbled, teeth gritted as he tugged harder on the zipper.

Yanking too hard, Danny accidentally ripped the zipper clean off of his bag.

Staring at the piece of shattered metal in his hand, Danny slumped back against his locker, shut his eyes, and rhythmically smacked the back of his head against it.

“Yikes, what’s eating him?” Danny heard Sam ask.

“No sleep again, and he just decimated the zipper on his bag,” Tucker said.

Sam audibly sighed. Danny felt a hand grab his arm and pull him away from his locker.

“You get enough blows to the head without giving yourself more of them,” Sam said. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

Sam helped Danny get his bag rearranged, but there wasn’t much they could do for the zipper. They managed to strap it closed with an old cable, but it looked an absolute mess. At least the thermos wouldn’t fall out of the bag, which was frankly all that mattered to Danny. He had a spare bag at home he could swap it out with later.

Danny tried his best to stay awake during his first class, but it seemed as if the universe was conspiring against him. Danny sat by the window and the warm sunlight filtering through the blinds dragged his eyelids low. It was all he could do to resist the urge to curl up on his desk like a cat and soak in the warmth.

It didn’t help that Mr. Lancer’s history lesson droned into a monotonous lecture. Mr. Lancer usually tried to show some level of enthusiasm for what he was teaching, but it seemed even he had no interest in the particular branch of US history they were learning. That or, judging by the way he pinched at his tear ducts, he might simply have had a migraine.

Between lack of sleep, his sun-warmed desk, and the droning lecture, Danny was asleep within five minutes.

Mercifully, Tucker noticed in time to shake him awake. Danny gave him an awkward thumbs up over his shoulder.

This proceeded to happen no less than three times, until Tucker just took to rhythmically kicking the back of Danny’s seat to keep him awake. That worked for a while, but Danny eventually still managed to slip back into a light doze.

When the bell rang, Danny startled awake, lurching as his head fell out of his hand and he tipped dangerously to the side. He jumped to his feet, as though ready to fight something, and only calmed when Tucker patted his shoulder.

“Come on, Spooky, there’s nothing to punch,” he said.

Blushing slightly, Danny gathered his mess of a bag and slung it over his shoulder. He followed Tucker to the front of the class, pausing when Mr. Lancer cleared his throat.

“Mr. Fenton, I expect you to be more alert in time for my English quiz,” he said while rubbing at his left temple.

Danny nodded his head. “Sorry, I will be,” he mumbled.

Mr. Lancer gave a firm nod and went back to reading from the book on his desk. Danny quickly sped to catch up with Tucker at the door. They met with Sam in the hall and headed for gym class.

Danny grabbed his gym clothes and took them to the toilet stalls to change as usual. It was a hot day, easily over eighty degrees, but Danny kept his red sweatshirt on over his gym clothes. He’d rather flare his core to keep cool than go without it.

Unfortunately, flaring his core required using more energy. It was fine at first when their class walked down the field to play soccer, but Danny quickly lost steam from there. He trudged along beside Tucker, who stuck resolutely close to the slight chill Danny put off. It was a struggle to keep up the pretense of trying– though Dash helped, in an ironic way. He kept kicking the ball towards (at) Danny, and running past him close enough to knock shoulders. With him constantly engaging Danny, it at least gave the appearance of him participating. Danny could have done without the bruises to his shoulder, but at least Ms. Tetslaff wasn’t yelling at him.

Still, by the time they headed back towards the gym, Danny wasn’t able to keep the chill of his core flared enough to stave off the heat. He leaned miserably against Sam, letting her half-drag him up the hill. She reviewed book notes for their English quiz as they walked, though Danny hardly absorbed the words.

Between Tucker keeping him awake in class, and Sam almost carrying him, Danny owed his friends big time. He wasn’t sure where he’d be without them.

Probably in a ditch somewhere.

(Asleep, that is. The dying thing had already sailed.)

Danny welcomed their lunch period with open arms, prepared to put his head down and have a well-deserved nap.

Unfortunately, a ghost had other ideas.

The timing was impressive, in all honesty. No sooner had Danny pillowed his head on his arms, sighing contently, when that sigh turned into a puff of blue mist.

The expletive he shouted drew a few stares.

It didn't take long for Danny to find the culprit. A loud crashing sound echoed from the hallway outside the cafeteria. After darting in the restroom to transform, Danny followed the noise.

He found Boxy wreaking havoc on the science department, upending what appeared to be boxes of new lab equipment. Danny watched as one of the boxes tipped upside down. It sent a large package of beakers crashing to the ground, smashing Danny's own record within seconds.

Were he better rested and thinking straight, Danny might have been able to save the rest of the supplies from destruction. Seeing as he was barely awake and squinting through bleary eyes, however, it didn't occur to Danny to catch any of the boxes when he souped the Box Ghost from the air.

The rest of the lab equipment crashed down in Boxy's absence, the sound a monstrous crescendo of shattering glass and crunching metal.

Danny noticed a teacher in the corner of the room. She stared, open-mouthed with horror at the destruction.

As Danny awkwardly backstepped out of the room, a sheepish grin on his face, she burst into tears.

When Danny returned to the cafeteria with nine minutes to spare, he gave Sam and Tucker a dispassionate, "Don't ask," before planting his forehead on the table and passing out.

The day continued to nosedive, as it often did, with Mr. Lancer's English class.

Danny liked Mr. Lancer well enough as a teacher, but he unfortunately still believed in Danny enough to keep him on his toes. Many of the teachers no longer reprimanded him for falling asleep or missing assignments, but Mr. Lancer was determined to make Danny apply himself. It would have been touching that he cared, were it not so frustrating.

As it was, Danny stared at his English quiz, seeing double. The words blurred and morphed together, smudged through his bleary vision. It was all Danny could do to keep his drooping eyelids from shutting tight.

Tucker didn't sit behind him in this class, so there was no rhythmic chair kicking to keep Danny awake. Sam did sit beside him– and she definitely threw a pencil at him the first time his eyes snapped shut– but there wasn't much she could do discreetly during a test.

Inevitably, Danny's eyes shut tight as he leaned into his hand, propped up on his elbow.

Danny was flying, drifting on a warm breeze. A clear sky glittered overhead, the stars turning, spinning, blinking in wavering patterns.

Flipping on his back, crossing his arms behind his head, Danny watched as the stars coalesced in a brilliant tapestry. A landscape opened up across the heavens, towering mountains and low valleys of radiant stardust.

“Mr. Fenton.”

The landscape rippled, as though caught in a rough breeze. The wind blew harshly against Danny’s face, suddenly cold.

“Mr. Fenton.”

A strong gust of wind scattered the stardust to nothing. It left the sky inky black and empty, yawning overhead– crashing down as the wind roared loudly in Danny’s ears, icy and sharp.

Soon, all that remained was that wind. Danny tensed, searching for something– anything in the darkness that sprung up around him.

Something tapped his shoulder.

Danny shot up suddenly, his desk scraping loudly across the floor as he stood. He braced himself for a fight, but… froze when he saw Mr. Lancer staring down at him with an eyebrow raised.

Snickers broke out around him and Danny glanced to his right in time to see Sam facepalm.

“Is there any particular reason you can’t stay awake today, Mr. Fenton?” Mr. Lancer asked, drawing Danny’s attention back to him.

Danny was now as sure as he could be that Mr. Lancer had a migraine. The bags under his eyes weren’t as dark as Danny’s, but they were deeper than usual. He kept rubbing at his temple still, almost absently.

“Sorry, Mr. Lancer,” Danny said as he awkwardly sat back down. “Just… a headache.”

Truthfully, he did still have a headache. Probably not one as bad as Mr. Lancer’s, but Danny didn’t think that sleep deprivation was an answer his teacher would take lightly.

Glancing across the classroom, Danny could see Tucker giving him a commiserating smile, and Dash miming someone startling badly. Several classmates weren’t even watching, though. This situation happened frequently enough that it had lost some of its novelty.

Mr. Lancer sighed. “Do you need to go to the nurse’s office, Mr. Fenton?” he asked.

Danny cringed, sinking down a little in his seat. He hadn’t been to the nurse’s office for over a year now, since the Accident, and he wasn’t about to start now over a small headache.

“N–no I think I’m good,” he said quickly.

Mr. Lancer sighed again, shaking his head. “I’d like you to stay after class, Mr. Fenton. Please try to stay awake enough to finish your quiz until then.”

He turned and went back to his desk, saying, “Ten more minutes; use your time wisely,” to the class before he sat down.

Danny rubbed at his face in frustration, groaning as he distinctly heard Dash snicker.

By the time class ended, Danny had managed to stay awake, but he had not managed to finish the quiz. It didn’t help that he had hardly read the book assignment– The Catcher in the Rye– and his memory of Sam’s notes was vague at best. He was confident in maybe three of his answers, and certain that his incomplete essay at the end would be poorly received.

Sam and Tucker gave Danny encouraging thumbs up as they left the room. He knew they’d both wait for him in the hall.

After tying the cable back around his backpack, Danny dragged his feet to the front of the classroom. He stood in front of Mr. Lancer’s desk, waiting for the man to address him. He was grading a stack of papers, marking them with a red pen as he went.

“How is your head feeling?” Mr. Lancer asked without looking up.

The question threw Danny off kilter. He paused, wracking his mind for suitable words. “Uh, it’s getting better. I took some ibuprofen earlier,” he said.

Danny had not taken ibuprofen earlier. He had to take three or four times the recommended dose for it to even touch his pain these days, and a small headache wasn’t worth the trouble.

Mr. Lancer gave him a nod. He made one last mark on the paper in front of him, circling a line of text near the bottom of the page, before he finally looked up.

“Is there anything else going on, Mr. Fenton?” he asked.

His green eyes bored into Danny’s, and he had the distinct feeling of being scanned. It was moments like this that reminded Danny why Jazz liked Mr. Lancer as a teacher so much. Both of them were perceptive when it came to people.

“No?” Danny started, cringing a little at the uncertain tone in his own voice. “I mean, I didn’t really sleep well last night, but… yeah.”

He trailed off, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

Mr. Lancer looked him up and down, his eyes settling on the slight bruising he still had on his cheek.

"If there's anything troubling you at home, I am always here to listen, Daniel," he said.

Danny shuffled uncomfortably, digging his shoe into the linoleum floor.

“Now,” Mr. Lancer began, reaching for a folder on the far side of his desk, “I won’t give you detention this time, but if I catch you sleeping in my classroom tomorrow I won’t be so lenient. Forgo any… extracurriculars tonight and get some sleep, Mr. Fenton. Have a good evening.”

Blinking dazedly, Danny could only nod and stutter out a confused, “Y-you too– the good evening thing, that is.”

Gripping the straps of his book bag tightly, Danny hurried out the door before Mr. Lancer could change his mind.

Sam and Tucker were the only people left in the hallway. It was the end of the school day and most people had already left or carried on to after school activities. Tucker swung an arm over Danny’s shoulders as they fell into step together.

“So, when’s your detention?” Tucker asked him.

Danny snorted. For once, he was happy to have an answer for that question. “Didn’t get detention,” he said, shooting his friend a fanged grin.

Tucker gasped and ground to a stop, jostling Danny beneath his arm. “Wait, really? What did he say?”

“He just… asked what was wrong. Told me I could talk to him if something was bothering me,” he said with a shrug. “It was kind of weird– but in a nice way.”

The trio resumed walking, turning around the corner. They passed by the science department where several staff members were still cleaning up the broken glass. Sam slowed, craning her neck to get a better look, but Danny grabbed her arm and sped up, not wanting to linger by the mess.

He had forgotten how hot it was outside. The moment they stepped out into the heat, Danny groaned. What little energy had been startled into him by his nervous interaction with Mr. Lancer had faded, sapped away by fatigue. He leaned into Tucker as they went down the school steps and towards the sidewalk.

“You really should go get some sleep, dude,” Tucker said, eyeing Danny. “You look dead on your feet.”

Sam punched him in the shoulder while Danny laughed.

“He’s right, though,” Sam said. “You always look exhausted, but this is a bit much, even for you.”

Danny groaned exasperatedly. “Tell that to the ghosts that keep floating by my bedroom window,” he said.

“What was it last night?” Tucker asked.

“After Johnny? A fucking ectopus,” Danny said, throwing his arms up in exasperation, nearly shrugging off Tucker’s arm. “I almost would have preferred Skulker again. At least then I’d have something to take my frustration out on,” he added in a low grumble.

“With how tired you are, I don’t think fighting Skulker is the best idea right now,” Sam said. “Come on, let’s get you to bed. We heading to FentonWorks?”

“Please no,” Danny said a little too quickly. “My parents are still fixing the lab wall. I don’t think I could sleep through that racket if I tried.”

Tucker snorted. “Still? Hasn’t it been like a week?”

“Five days. Five miserable, loud days. Were you not reading my texts? Did I not complain enough?”

Tucker rolled his eyes. “In my defense, you didn’t update us on the lab wall fiasco over the weekend, so I assumed it was over.”

“I’m sorry if I was a little too busy complaining about the trio of dumbasses that is Skulker, Technus, and Johnny. I’ll try to squeeze in loud Fenton bullshit hours next time.”

“See that you do,” Tucker said, nodding sagely.

Danny snorted, waving his arm to slap at him.

“So, where we going then?” Sam pressed. “I don’t know about you two, but I want to get out of this heat.”

They hadn’t made it very far from the school. With Danny leaning into Tucker, and no clear destination decided, they’d stopped at the corner.

Tucker made a thoughtful humming sound. “How about my place? My mom’s working and my dad shouldn’t bug us. Danny can take a nap while we play games or something.”

“Yeah, sure. Better than standing out here all day,” Sam said with a shrug.

“You’re going to play games without me?” Danny whined, doing his best attempt at puppy dog eyes (the effect probably ruined, at least somewhat, by how squinted they were).

“Yep,” Sam said, popping the ‘p’. She gave him a once-over with her arms crossed, her smile twisting into a concerned frown.

“Go transform and I’ll carry you,” she offered.

Danny perked up immediately, throwing Tucker’s arm off his shoulder. He glanced around quickly to make sure there was no one watching before darting into the tall bushes nearby. He heard Sam mutter, “That woke him up a little,” as he transformed.

As soon as the cold rings washed over him, Danny felt for his invisibility, letting it wash over in the same way. Floating back over to Sam and Tucker, he gave a quiet, “Here,” to let Sam know where he was before settling across the tops of her shoulders and spider backpack like a very large snake.

He let his spectral tail hang down one side of her neck and his arm down the other. He nestled his head on her shoulder and sighed happily. Thankfully, Danny was light enough in this form for Sam to carry him without issue.

“Just stay awake long enough for us to get to Tuck’s house. If you turn visible on me in the middle of the street, I will personally soup you,” she whispered.

“Noted.”

Danny put every last ounce of his energy into keeping his eyelids open on the walk to Tucker’s house. The gentle sway of Sam walking, paired with the heat, made for a sleepy combination. By the time they stepped over the threshold of Tucker’s house, blissfully welcomed by air conditioning, Danny had finally lost the battle against his eyelids.

He heard Tucker gasp loudly, hissing out a frightened, “Danny!” before he felt– and heard– Sam thunder up the steps to Tucker’s bedroom. Danny opened his eyes in time to watch Tucker slam the door behind him, turning the lock.

“That was a close one,” Tucker said, pressing his ear expectantly to the door, his red beanie askew. “I think my dad’s outside– otherwise he might’ve seen the ghost who was supposed to stay invisible.”

“‘M sorry,” Danny mumbled, shutting his eyes again.

Sam sighed. Danny felt her pivot and heard her boots take a couple of steps on the wooden floor.

“You’re hopeless when you’re tired,” she said. “How have you kept your secret this long?”

“Talent,” Danny mumbled into her shoulder.

Sam snorted. Her shoulders rose and Danny felt her hands grab him under the armpits. He kept his eyes closed, expecting her to flop him onto Tucker’s bed, but was surprised when he felt himself land inside something.

Tucker began to cackle, his laughter quickly devolving into wheezes. Danny opened his eyes and came face to face with–

Cardboard. He was inside a box.

Groaning, Danny rolled onto his back, brushing his white bangs out of his eyes. His tail fell the rest of the way into the box with him, curled over his stomach.

“Sam. Why am I in a box?” he asked,

It was a pretty big box, though Danny wasn’t sure why Tucker had it. Judging by the give in the bottom, it was sitting on his bed. Danny couldn’t stretch out his arms inside the thing, but he could curl up with some room to spare.

“I dunno. It just seemed funny,” Sam said, laughing.

“What’s this thing even from?” Danny asked. “It’s a pretty nice box.”

Tucker’s face swam into view as he leaned over the box, still chuckling. He lifted his glasses, wiping away a tear.

“It’s from my new desk,” he said between chuckles. “I figured I’d keep it to store shit in. Think we could replace the thermos with one of these bad boys?”

“I want you to think for two seconds about Boxy before you seriously consider that statement,” Sam said.

Danny huffed a laugh. Rolling onto his side, he let his tail curl around him and pillowed his head on his arms. He felt the bed sink down a bit on one side and heard someone fumbling with what sounded like game controllers.

“Are you seriously comfortable in there?” Sam asked, her voice hovering just over his ear.

Danny hummed in response, nestling into his arms. It probably would be more comfortable on the bed, but he was already so tired, and the walls of the box made him feel strangely safe…

Sam laughed again, more quietly this time. He heard the telltale sounds of Tucker starting up Smash Bros., followed by him quickly lowering the volume.

A hand fell into Danny's hair, gently scratching his scalp. In his sleepy, half-awake state, Danny was faintly aware of the contented rumble in his chest.

"Just like a cat," Danny heard Tucker snicker.

The noise of a cell phone camera going off followed.

It was the last thing Danny heard, other than the distant sounds of their game, before he fell into a fitful sleep.

~*~

Danny's mind was sluggish as he woke. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the familiar stars on his ceiling, but was surprised to see a dark room with a spinning ceiling fan instead.

Turning on his side, Danny noticed short walls surrounding him. He panicked for a moment, thinking he was trapped, before remembering he'd fallen asleep in…

A box.

A box, of all things.

Danny was still in his ghost form, and in the dark he could see that part of the box was dented. Danny could only assume he’d crushed it in his sleep. Coiling up on his tail, slipping out of a blanket Sam or Tucker must’ve thrown over him, Danny rose up like a cobra and glanced around Tucker’s bedroom. He couldn't tell what time it was, though it must’ve been well past sunset, judging by the darkness.

Sam was nowhere to be seen, but Tucker was curled up in bed, fast asleep. At least, he was asleep– until Danny leaned too heavily on the box and it tore down the side, causing him to tumble forward and land on his friend’s legs.

Startling awake, Tucker quickly sat up, pulling his legs to his chest.

“Wha– Danny? You good?” he groggily asked, stifling a yawn.

Danny yawned as well, still feeling rather tired despite what must have been several hours of rest.

“I feel a bit better,” he said. “How long was I out? What time is it? Where’s Sam?”

Tucker rolled on his side and groped a hand across his nightstand, grabbing his glasses and phone. Both of them squinted as the phone powered on, singing their retinas with its sudden light.

“It’s almost eleven, so uhhh… seven hours or so? Sam left hours ago.”

“Ancients…” Danny muttered, rubbing his tired eyes.

A sobering thought suddenly came to mind.

“Wait, shit, I should get home, I–”

“Already taken care of,” Tucker said, yawning again. “As far as your parents are concerned, you’re sleeping over tonight. My parents don’t know, though, so try to keep it down.”

He gave a cheeky grin and Danny felt his anxiety melt away with it.

“So, are you going to keep sleeping in my box– which you totally destroyed, by the way– or do you want to actually use the bed?”

Danny glanced down at the cardboard under him. The box had certainly seen better days. It had been surprisingly comfortable while it lasted, at least.

“Bed sounds good,” Danny said wearily. “I can’t believe you let me sleep in a box.”

Tucker just laughed at that.

Danny crawled across the bed to the side closest to the wall. Tucker lifted his blanket and Danny phased his way under it. He settled down, burying his face in one of Tucker’s many pillows.

“Am I too cold like this?” he asked, his voice muffled by the pillow. “I can transform if you want.”

Danny was getting considerably better at controlling his powers. Aside from being able to maintain his form while unconscious now, he also had significantly more control over his temperature. He couldn’t necessarily make himself warm as Phantom, but he could decrease the chill he put off.

Sleeping as a ghost appealed to Danny– seeing as it meant he wouldn’t have to take off his binder– but he would transform for Tucker’s comfort if not his own.

Tucker hummed thoughtfully. “Naw, you’re good. Just let me turn off the ceiling fan.”

He reached for something else on his nightstand, producing a tiny remote. It shut off the fan and Danny watched as the blades slowly ground to a halt.

Tucker settled back into bed, taking off his glasses, carding a hand through his curly bangs. He let loose another yawn and rolled over to look at Danny.

“You’re not hungry or anything are you? You did sleep most of the day,” he said.

Danny shook his head. He never had much of an appetite since the Accident. Sam suspected it had something to do with all of the ambient ectoplasm in Amity.

“Just tired still,” he said. “Thanks for letting me sleep for so long, by the way.”

Tucker hummed, shutting his eyes. “You needed it,” he mumbled.

Danny certainly agreed. Those seven hours of sleep had helped, but he still felt pretty exhausted. Not every week of fighting ghosts was like this, but the ones that were dragged him down. He was only thankful for no major injuries this time around.

Snuggling deeper under the blanket, Danny wiggled his way closer to Tucker, burying his head under his friend’s chin. Tucker shifted, lifting his arm over Danny in a practiced manner, draping it over his shoulders.

Listening to the rhythmic sound of Tucker’s breathing and the steady beat of his heart, Danny quickly found himself falling into a restful sleep.

“G’nigh,” Tucker mumbled, hardly coherent.

Danny’s core rumbled contently in response.

~*~

Danny awoke the next day feeling, at last, actually awake. After changing into some clothes Tucker kept at his house for him, Danny slipped out of Tucker’s bedroom window and waited outside to give him a lift to school.

He didn’t manage to replace his book bag, but dealing with the broken zipper felt considerably more manageable when well-rested.

They met up with Sam in the hall as usual, and there was something in her grin that had him feeling nervous.

“What did you do?” Danny warily asked her.

Sam’s grin widened. She leaned against her locker, flicking through something on her phone.

“Oh, you know… just thinking about photography,” she said.

Danny paused, trying to parse out whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. Then, with dawning horror, he remembered hearing the sound of a phone camera the night before.

“You didn’t,” he said, standing up straight, eyes narrowed at Sam.

“Oh, I did.”

She tapped something on her phone and turned the screen towards him. On it was a picture of Phantom, curled up inside of a box with his tail tucked around his messy white hair.

Danny quickly made to grab for the phone, but Sam held it up high, far out of his short reach.

“Tucker has copies too, so don’t you dare,” she said with a laugh.

Danny grabbed at her shoulders, shaking her lightly. “Sam, please tell me you didn’t post that anywhere,” he said, practically begging.

Sam waved her hand dismissively. “Why post it when we can keep it all to ourselves?” she said.

“And when we can threaten to post it the next time you spill one of those ectoplasm shakes on–”

“That was one time!” Danny interrupted Tucker with a whine.

“I can see the meme caption now,” Tucker continued dramatically, ignoring Danny’s interjection, “‘The New Box Ghost’!”

Sam snorted with laughter while Danny continued to groan, making one last, futile grab for her phone.

#ectoberhaunt22 #EH order #EH chaos #day 04 #box #staff #danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #danny phantom fanfic #fanfic #dogfics #dogposts #THIS TOO WOUND UP LONGER THAN INTENDED WHICH IS WHY IT'S LATE LOL #everlasting trio #if you squint

219 notes · View notes