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burntheedges · 6 months

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Canned Heat (Austin, October 2001)

Joel Miller x f!reader, 2.4k

Prompt: You and Sarah/Ellie convince Joel to dress up for Halloween. He isn’t thrilled.

PPCU event masterlist

a/n: This is a canon outtake/snippet from my fic, Over Again! Takes place in October, 2001, in Austin, so in the flashback timeline. In the fic you’re neighbors, you’ve been ~officially~ dating Joel for about 6-7 months at this point, and you’ve known each other for more than a year. Technically the end of this is a bit of a spoiler for how the main fic ends, but I’ve marked it. Costume inspo pics at the bottom! (Sarah is 12 here, Joel is 34, reader is 27) | ao3 tags/warnings: fluff, early 2000s film references, Joel in tight pants, kissing, some light fondling

Canned Heat (Austin, October 2001)

“Sarah! I found it!”

When she appeared at the top of the stairs, you held up the long leopard-print tail triumphantly and grinned. As soon as she saw it she cheered, throwing her hands in the air as she jogged down the stairs and jumped off the last step.

“Where was it?” She grinned at you as she took it and turned to try to attach it to her costume. You reached out to take it back from her and deftly clipped it onto the back of her belt.

“Right here on the table. I don’t know how we missed it.” You gestured at the table which, admittedly, was an absolute mess. It was covered in Sarah’s homework, some of her soccer stuff, your own grading, and the daily contents of Joel’s pockets. Which were generally unpredictable.

“No way! I swear we both looked there!”

“I know,” you shrugged, reaching out to straighten her headband (and its leopard-print ears), which had gone a little wonky with her leap from the stairs. “But now you look perfect!”

Sarah grinned and spun in place, pretending to play her guitar. She definitely looked the part of Josie with her flared pleather pants, purple tank, leopard ears and tail, and platform sandals. (Technically in the movie they didn’t have tails, but Sarah and her friends had thought they’d be fun.) Her inflatable white guitar just made the look.

“When are Audrey and Steff getting here?” you asked as you reached out to fix her headband again. Should maybe grab some bobby pins from upstairs.

“Should be any minute! Is dad dressed yet?”

You just rolled your eyes and smiled at her in response, and she laughed. “Of course not! Even after we went out of our way to find him the easiest costume possible.”

Right then you heard a cough from behind you, and you both spun around to find Joel standing at the bottom of the stairs. He looked extremely uncomfortable – arms crossed, shoulders high, head low. You smiled. And then you whistled.

“Looking good, Miller.”

He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Darlin’, do I ha—?”

“Yes, dad! You have to! Let us see it.” Sarah moved towards Joel and reached out to tug his arms apart so she could study his outfit.

He sighed as he let his arms – which were fully on display in his tight black v-neck tank top – fall to his sides. They immediately drew your eye with the movement. You bit your lip as you looked back up to meet his gaze.

Joel perked up a bit as soon as he saw the look on your face, tilting his head and smiling at you knowingly. “These pants really necessary?” He asked, but he was joking now. “Surprised I even got these on.”

His tight black jeans did look… constricting. In the best possible way. You grinned.

“You look perfect, baby. Do a little spin for us.”

Joel rolled his eyes (it was so clear where Sarah got that from), holding his arms out and slowly spinning in place. You took the opening when it was offered and let yourself stare at just how good his legs and ass looked in those tight, painted-on black pants. As he turned back to face you he took in your own outfit and raised an eyebrow at you, smirking.

“And why aren’t you dressed yet, darlin’? I see tights, but I didn’t think a sweatshirt was part of your costume.”

“We had to find my tail! But he’s right, you should go get dressed.” Sarah moved back over to you and started pulling you towards the stairs.

“Ok I’m going!” You laughed, starting up the stairs to finish your own costume. As you did you heard Joel tell Sarah he had no idea how she wore pants this tight without passing out from lack of oxygen. She laughed at him, and so did you as you entered Joel’s bedroom.

Your red leotard, complete with short skirt that you had painstakingly sewn on, was waiting for you on the bed. You stripped off your sweatshirt, tossing it into the laundry basket on the floor, before pulling the leotard on. The skirt flowed around your hips in a way that made you grin. You followed it with your red ballet flats that you had sewn red ribbons onto, tying them in cross-crosses up your legs. The last piece of your costume was your red hair piece which you quickly attached with a couple of bobby pins. You grabbed a couple extra to give to Sarah for her headband. With a touch up to your red lipstick, you were ready.

You poked your head out of the bedroom to see if you could see Joel and Sarah, but it seemed Sarah’s friends had arrived while you changed, and you could hear them all talking in the living room, just out of sight.

Smoothing your hands down your sides, you took a deep breath before straightening your shoulders and walking downstairs. You’d been excited about this costume for months, but now that the day had arrived, it felt a bit scary to actually go out in it. You suddenly felt like a lot of you was on display, even with the slightly higher cut of the neckline of the leotard you’d found (and had sewn extra sequins onto). But you knew Joel would love it, as much as he complained about his own. And you would get to ogle him in those pants all night. You smiled again.

At the bottom of the stairs, you turned to see Joel had his back to you. Sarah and her friends, however, spotted you immediately and all three of them immediately started shouting.

“Oh my god, that’s perfect!”

“No way, you look amazing.”

“That is sick!”

Amid all the noise, Joel turned. As soon as he locked eyes on you, he froze in place. You felt more than you saw the three girls rush towards you as you watched Joel slowly look you over, eyes trailing heat down your body and back up, taking it all in. The grin that took over his mouth was slow, and smooth, and wicked. His gaze met yours again and you swore you stopped breathing.

Your eyes were pulled from his as Sarah tugged on your arm to make you spin in place. She shook you a bit.

“I can’t believe you made this! It’s just like in the movie.”

The girls were off again, exclaiming about your sewing skills, and you finally made yourself take in their matching outfits with ears and tails and everything in place. Audrey had a white inflatable bass guitar to go with Sarah's, and Steff had drumsticks sticking out of the back pocket of her shiny pink pleather pants. The three of them really did look like Josie and the Pussycats.

“Me? What about you three? You look just like the band! Your outfits are perfect.” They all smiled and spun in place before striking a pose like they were playing their instruments (a move you'd seen them practicing last week).

You felt Joel come up behind you and his hands settled on your bare shoulders.

“Alright, ladies, let’s get you to that party.”

The three of them immediately turned to grab their stuff and head out the door to the truck. Sarah and her temporary bandmates were going to a party at their school, a sort of halloween dance and festival all in one. You and Joel were going to your own party and picking them up later before dropping them off at Audrey’s for a sleepover.

You moved to follow, but Joel’s hands held you in place. He leaned forward so that his front was pressed along your back. Voice low and sure, he murmured in your ear, “damn, baby, if you’d’a just told me you’d be wearin’ this, I wouldn’t’a complained so much.” He slowly smoothed his mouth down your neck to kiss your shoulder, before running his hands down your arms to hold your hands in his. You smiled, and laughed a little bit.

“Joel, you knew we were dressing up as Jody and Charlie. You’ve even seen the movie.” You squeezed his hands and tried to turn towards him, but he kept you right there, mouth moving on your neck.

“Hmm, knowing is different from seeing, pretty girl. And this sure is pretty.” He released your right hand and moved his own to your thigh, lightly trailing his fingertips up your tights and under your skirt. As he reached the edge of your leotard, you shivered, letting your head fall back to rest on his shoulder. He hummed into your neck and pressed kisses along the strap of your costume. His fingers wandered a little further towards your center and your knees started to shake.

You gathered yourself and succeeded in turning around this time.

“You look pretty good yourself, cowboy.” You looked down at the tight black jeans you’d made him wear, tighter than anything else he owned. He saw you looking and pulled you close, allowing you to slide your hands into his back pockets and squeeze as you pulled your body in line with his. He grinned down at you.

“Well then, we just fit right together, don’t we?” The glint in his eye told you you were going to have an amazing night, at the party and… later. You pulled away to tug him towards the door.

“Come on, fancy pants, we need to get those girls to their dance.”

As the words left your mouth you heard someone lay on the horn in the truck, and it made you jump. You both laughed.

“Let’s get out there before they decide to drive themselves.”

Just as you reached the door, though, Joel spun you around one more time, pulling you close.

“Alright, darlin’, let’s go. But I’ll be peelin’ these tights off you later.” He kissed you, softly, careful not to smudge your lipstick. “With my teeth, if you’re good tonight.” He smirked.

Later, he’d promised. After you dropped the girls off, after you tore up the dance floor at your own party, after Tommy cheered you on cheekily (and claimed a dance or two for himself). After Joel pulled you closer and closer for every dance, hands taking advantage of your short flouncy skirt, fingers driving you wild, touching and holding you close in the anonymous press of bodies on the dance floor. After his eyes never left you, not once, and you got to spend a whole evening looking at him in that outfit. After your lipstick wore off (some of it on Joel’s lips).

After the girls were safely dropped off for their sleepover, after he took you back home and walked right behind you to the front door, arms wrapped securely around your middle, mouth on your neck. After he pulled you inside and crowded you up against the wall by the door and kissed your breath away.

After all of that, well. He did follow through on that promise. You had the runs in your tights to prove it.

...

Bonus: Jackson, October 2025

(spoilers for the main fic below)

“Hey did you see what the movie is tonight?” Ellie calls out to you and Joel as she comes barreling through the front door. You smile at the sound of her boots being flung at the wall. “It’s about dancing, I guess? Ballerinas or some shit. Want to go?”

“What’s it called?” You reply as Joel sighs, long-suffering. You know he’s about to get up and go neatly arrange her boots next to both of yours by the door. He can’t help himself.

“Uhh wait, I already forgot. Something about a stage?” She finally comes through the door to the kitchen and shrugs.

“Wait, Center Stage?” You spring up in excitement and she looks taken aback at your reaction.

“Yeah, I think so. Do you know it?”

“Joel!” You reach out and start tugging on his arm. “We have to watch it, come on!”

He resists your tugging. “Baby, you don’t think the fifty times you made me watch that movie Before ain’t enough for one lifetime?” But he winks at you and you can see him hiding a smile.

Ellie narrows her eyes, looking between the two of you. “What is this movie, anyway?”

You grin at her. “It’s about ballet dancers at a school in New York, and it’s amazing! But more importantly, Joel and I dressed up as the main characters for Halloween in what, ‘01?” You look at him questioningly. He sighs again. Deeply.

“What!” Ellie shouts, absolutely lit up with glee. “What the fuck! I have to see this! You have to show me which outfits you wore, come on.” She joins you in tugging on Joel, who groans.

“Come on, Joel, I know you actually like this movie.” The two of you succeed in wrestling him to his feet, and once he’s up Ellie runs to find her boots and put them back on again.

“I’ll meet you there! I have to go find Cat and Dina first.” And just like that, she’s back out the door again, barely five minutes after she arrived. You can’t help but laugh.

“Come on, old man, we’ve got a movie night to get to.” When you turn back around you find him studying you intently. The look in his eyes makes your breath catch.

“Alright, darlin’. But I can’t promise I’ll pay much attention.” He steps closer and winds his arm around your waist, leaning in to put his mouth right by your ear. “Not now that I’m remembering you in that costume, baby. How am I supposed to focus on the movie, huh? All I’ll see is you in that pretty little red skirt.” He kisses your neck and you laugh.

“Me? What about you in those jeans?” He smiles into your neck and you pull away, grabbing his hands and leading him towards the front door.

“Too bad we ain’t got any tights for you to wear around here.” He’s grinning at you now, cocky and adorable.

“Well, cowboy, if you’re good, I’ll still let you take my clothes off with your teeth later.” He laughs, and bends down to put on his boots.

“I’ll hold you to that, darlin’.”

“Oh I’m counting on it, Joel.”

—

a/n: The “Josie and the Pussycats” movie came out in April 2001, and “Center Stage” came out in May 2000. This fic takes place in October 2001. Speaking as someone who was a teenager at that time, I desperately wanted to dress up as Josie, Melody, and Valerie, as well as Jody. And I really wanted to imagine Joel in black jeans that are tight and flexible enough for ballet. I toyed with putting him in Cooper’s pleather pants, but Cooper’s not the endgame love interest, so I went with Charlie’s jeans. And just take a moment to imagine Joel having to deal with you in tights and a short skirt all night. (And Sarah gives me lead singer vibes, so I think she’d be Josie.)

Left: Josie and the Pussycats (Melody, Josie, and Valerie, left to right). Right: the final ballet in Center Stage. You're dressed as Jody (center), Joel is dressed as Charlie (right).

#joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #ppcu server event #pedro pascal discord server event #joel miller x f!reader #halloween server event #over again fic #x reader

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vidavalor · 7 months

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I'm headcanoning that all of the other options that Crowley might have said besides "Lady Bracknell" (which is my favorite anyway) that we saw in the S2 outtakes are also valid and that Crowley has used a few when ordering for Aziraphale at other times...

...and mah point is that since one of them references The Dowager, Crowley watches Downton Abbey.

Crowley. Watches. Downton. Abbey...

He and Aziraphale binged it together, didn't they? Aziraphale didn't want to watch a television program but Crowley wheedled him down with the Crowley version of Aziraphale's puppy-eyed pout (wiggling around a lot and giving him big, glasses-free eyes.) Aziraphale was engrossed inside of an episode. They were on the couch in the bookshop for days getting takeout and insisting they weren't crying. They binged Downton Abbey and somehow managed to still not get together because of course they did.

#ineffable husbands #good omens

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acerathia · 4 months

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The Apple of my Eye - Behind the Scenes

Summary:

While spending the summer at your grandparent’s place, an accident leads to a fateful encounter with Izuku. Yet you reject this first meeting, seeking to craft a proper first impression. Yes, but what happened behind the scenes of the making of this piece?

Pairing:

Midoriya Izuku / Reader (in the OG)

Wordcount: 2.9k

Read it on AO3 / The Apple of my Eye (OG)

Note:

I just thought it might be fun to write some outtakes and compile the scenes, which didn't make the final cut to the fic, enjoy <3 (also, would be so cool if u checked the OG fic lol)

Outtakes

“Ow, are these apples real?” his voice sounds and you look down at him, a pained expression on his face.

“Oh, no, did I actually hit you?” you clamper down, a giggle evident in your voice.

He supports you as you take a small leap onto the ground. “I thought it was supposed to? I just thought the apples weren’t real…” he answers, his hand rubbing against the tender spot.

You laugh as you carefully pat his hand on that spot. “Izuku, of course it’s going to be a real apple, this is a real tree. Why else would we be doing this outside?”

He simply shrugs with a small pout.

“C’mon, we gotta start over,” you pat his cheek softly, an encouraging smile on your lips, before you look into his eyes and press your lips together to avoid bursting into laughter again.

He puts his tongue out to you, before he begins walking away.

***

“Great take! The choking looked really good, we can move onto the next scene,” you hear the director as you croak one last cough.

“Thanks, but I actually choked,” you mumble, making eye contact with Izuku before bursting into laughter together.

While you both are recovering, still giggling here and there, an assistant hands you some water and asks you if you’re good.

“Yeah, I’m good. At least the realism of this scene cannot be refuted,” you grin as you sip from your water. “Izuku actually noticed and immediately switched up on me.”

“Hey, I was worried for you, but sure, make fun of the poor hero,” he grumbles, but there is a wobble in his voice that betrays his amusement.

Your grin only widens. “I mean, your acting is weak as it is, the realistic situation seemed to help, didn't it?”

He gapes at you, bumping his shoulder into yours. “Now you’re kicking a man already onto the ground.”

You take another sip of water and shove him with a giggle.

***

“Cut!”

You take a deep breath. “Fucking hell, Izuku, you’re going to kill me,” you whine and throw your head back.

“So, you think I should change my hairstyle?

“Shut up!”

***

“Look! It’s beautiful up there, I took pictures!” you wave your phone the moment you step out of the wheel.

“Aren’t you supposed to come out all sad?”

“Oh, fu–”

Deleted Scenes

“Hello! Should we go in?”, he asked and held the door open.

You nodded and went inside, asking him what kind of smoothie he’d like. With his preferred beverage, you went to the cashier to order your drinks, while he found you a place to sit outside. You thought you were going to sit inside, but maybe he noticed you enjoying the weather. You had to giggle at his thoughtfulness.

After the drinks were ready, you grabbed them and went looking for him. He was already sitting under a parasol, waving at you to get your attention. You immediately joined him, putting the drinks on the table before sitting down.

“Here we go. I’m glad you could make it.”, you said with a slight smile, trying not to get distracted by his brilliant and dazzling eyes and smile. It was difficult, especially considering that you didn’t meet since that event, but rather texted. You felt quite shy, almost like he was another person.

“Yeah, me too. To be honest I was quite nervous.”, he answered with a shy giggle, rubbing his neck and you had to control yourself not to squeal.

After some exchanged words you both started talking like you had been acquainted for some time. Even if you technically knew each other, it was different to talk in person. You noticed so many quirks about him, which made you like him more, not that you were ever going to tell him anyway. But you enjoyed his explanations, his analysis of whatever topic he started talking about. You just liked to listen to him being excited about his favorite things and you decided to do some research about the topics, making mental notes. And you couldn’t help but like the way he moved his scarred, calloused hands, almost like they were helping him with his explanations. Sometimes you would also tlak about your interests, and he always listened, never interrupted, even if he had something to say. Exchanging these topics you began to discuss different things at such a depth, you never had the same possibility with anyone else. He seemed to hold so much knowledge and you admired that a lot. He even knew about your major in university, almost as good as you did.

While enjoying this talk, you couldn’t help but feel guilty about the first time you saw him. The accident about the apple. You had the urge to tell him about your involvement, before you both got too deep into this. And with that before you got too deep into this between you. You could escape a crush, but even a tiny step more towards love? You would be heartbroken for the rest of your life.

So you took a deep breath. “Midoriya-kun, I need to tell you something… I’ve met you before that event at the stall… Even if it wasn’t really… meeting, more like… Uh… The day before, didn’t an apple fall onto your head?”, you stuttered, not having planned this at all. You then continued speaking when he slowly nodded, a furrow appearing between his eyebrows. His bottom lip slightly jutting out and you erred for a moment, getting distracted.

You shook your head to get yourself out of your daze. “Yes! Uhm, that was me… Sorry! I didn’t see you and… and just let the apple fall… I didn’t mean to hurt you.”, you apologized, bowing your head. “And… and I didn’t tell you earlier, because I- uh, I wanted you to like me, is that weird?”

A breath escaped you and you stared at the table in front of you. At least he could get mad and it was over, before you completely lost yourself. But he didn’t raise his voice or leave, no, rather he started giggling.

“Hm, I knew it was you. I looked up, you weren’t hidden that well. And, well, I approached you the day after with purpose too, so I guess we’re even?”, he smiled and cocked his head.

Your head snapped up and you looked at him, mouth opening and closing, before deciding on a ‘what?’.

“You were interesting, and I wanted to get to know you”, he shrugged and leaned back, his giggles directed at your shocked face.

You leaned forward and slapped his arm slightly. “That’s so mean! Do you know how much I thought about that?”, you pouted while softly slapping him over and over again.

He just gave you a broad grin and took your hand into his. “Yeah? You already paid for that smoothie. How about I compensate you? Join me for the summer festival.”

His suggestion felt like a punch to the face, to the gut, a punch in general. He was a boxer and you were nothing but that training equipment he regularly beat. And for some reason you didn’t mind, as long as he gave you that brilliant, beautiful smile, you would agree with anything he said. So you nodded, feeling his thumb rubbing against your skin.

And suddenly the warmth was gone and he was clapping his hands together. “Awesome!”

After that he acted like he didn’t just manipulate you into agreeing (who were you kidding, you would have agreed even if he hated you guts). You both deviated into other topics, finishing your drinks. And even if your glasses were finished, you both remained at your seats, increasing the word count with every minute.

You both only noticed the time passing when the shopkeeper had to remind you of their closing time in fifteen minutes. You both immediately apologized, leaving the table and bringing the glasses back to the front desk.

Looking at the time you decided to go home, not wanting to say goodbye but having to. It seemed like he didn’t want the day to be over just yet, as he suggested walking you home. It was getting dark and there were no lamps on the streets, couldn’t have you walking on your own. And you agreed, excited to talk to him some more.

And maybe you took the long way back and maybe he knew, and maybe you both walked as slow as possible, but none of you spoke about it and none of you cared. So you let the evening welcome the night and before you knew it, you were looking at the clear sky with him at your side. He seemed to know a lot about constellations too, so he started showing them to you, sometimes stepping closer to make it more accurate. And you liked his warmth by your side and the brushes of your hands, and your heart was beating inside you, you were afraid he could hear it, if he stepped any closer.

You almost cursed the moment the cottage came into your sight, but you reminded yourself to maybe ask him on any star seeing soon. After your date at the summer festival maybe. You thought he would like that. Maybe. And maybe you were thinking too much and getting too much into it.

You bid him goodbye, wanting to hug him, but realizing that you both weren’t at that stage yet. So you just waved and waited until the night swallowed him to go inside.

***

And despite your attempts of avoiding villains and fights, it seemed like such situations were a normal occurrence, and unavoidable. You cursed your company and their choices. But with every fight you learned more about this hero-culture, and it resembled the celebrity culture in the early 21st century in the US. With polls, merch and websites. You even stumbled across fanfiction, and you had to admit, these were quite enjoyable.

You also discovered who that Deku was. The current number one hero. Which was weird, because every time you encountered him when in crossfire, he seemed to fumble a lot. Were all heroes like this? You had wondered. But no, the other heroes seemed more confident, one even yelled at you. Despite your lack in the language, you could recognize the signs of curses, and you were about to deck him, but you weren’t there on vacation. If you were, he would at least have a bruise somewhere before they could put you in a police car. But alas, you needed to keep the company image intact.

So you minded your own business. Or at least you tried to. This place seemed to hate you, because how else were you supposed to explain your current situation?

You just were craving some kind of chocolate, and decided to leave the house to go to the next convenience store. And you found the exact stuff you needed to settle in front of your laptop with a good movie, and maybe you bought more than just chocolate, but nobody had to know. And you were so excited for your relaxed night, you didn’t notice the people sneaking up behind you, or they used some kind of quirk, you weren’t quite sure. The thing was, you fainted, for some reason, effectively losing your food to the harsh ground. And you only realized your loss after you woke up in a dark space, tied to a chair. You immediately cursed through the tissue inside of your mouth. You spent money on your food, and now the rats were having a feast. Were there any rats in this place? You weren’t sure, but someone else was enjoying your food, and you disliked the thought.

You started thrashing, trying to get whoever did this to you to notice you. And a person with some weird mask approached you, and assuming you did get kidnapped, he probably was a villain. He started talking to you, monologuing like an old school villain. How many movies do these people watch? This was getting ridiculous. After he finished, he pulled the knot out of your mouth, expecting some kind of coherent answer, something like ‘you won’t get away with this’ or ‘a hero will help me’. But you didn’t know what exactly he said in the first place, so you opened your mouth. And started to talk incoherently, just blurting all of your thoughts out, in every possible language you knew. And he didn’t seem to know any of them.

“No! Why… My food… I’m so hungry! Did I leave the stove on? Do I have a stove? I don’t remember… Uhhh, the company is at fault, shoulda gotten myself any kind of insurance, this sucks…”, you just said, and you didn’t stop talking, until he put the tissue back into your mouth, trying to choke your voice out, but you continued talking, or just making random noises, just to mess with him.

You started to think he was regretting this, and you hoped he would just let you go, when he left the room again. You got silent the moment the door closed behind him. There was no reason for you to look around and look for any possible exits, your joints were practically glued to the chair and you doubted you could free yourself without breaking some bones. And that would make you incapable of running. So the ideal case would be a hero arriving, the less ideal case would be you tricking him, in any possible way. And honestly, you wanted to avoid that, because if captured, it could mean a worse experience in this place.

And annoying him might just work well enough. But apparently not good enough, as he came back and began to build something in front of you, some kind of tripod and a camera- oh. He was holding you hostage, but you didn’t even know for what or why. There was no reason for anyone to hold you hostage, unless they were from another pharma company, but they shouldn’t even be aware of the current negotiations. You really hoped it wasn’t due to your carelessness, because the company will blame you and not help you in any case. Which sucked. But you had no other choice but to pull through. Somebody would do anything, at least your country, because you were a citizen.

Still didn’t make the situation better, especially when he turned the camera on and grabbed your head to pull it up, for some reason. You already were looking straight up, but you supposed he wanted some kind of power feeling or whatever.

He was monologuing again, this time into the camera. You just rolled your eyes and leaned back into your chair, staring at the ceiling and zoning out. How many times had you been kidnapped already? Too many times for sure, but usually it was connected to your work and usually the kidnapper was the concurrence, not some kind of villain.

He didn’t like the outcome or your reaction, why else would he punch your face? You bit on your tongue and you wanted to spit onto his shoes, but he still had you gagged. So you just gave him a disappointed stare, and he just went and turned the camera off. Maybe he was beginning to realize that you didn’t understand him, because he didn’t even address you anymore. He just left.

You were alone in a dimmed room. There was nothing for you to do but to make up some scenarios in your head, these fanfictions you read really influenced you. You would love to sleep, but you would rather not get a kink in your neck. That would be really uncomfortable when you would start working later on. Even if it would probably take awhile for someone to actually get you.

Or so you thought. Because it probably only took a couple of hours for someone to sneak through the door. You had to blink a couple of times, because the number one hero was in front of you, and it was ridiculous, it was nothing but a kidnapping, they didn’t have to get someone like him involved. Unless the company demanded that, maybe they did. Well, no matter how it happened, he was releasing you from the ropes. You rubbed your joints to get some circulation back and immediately walked to the door, telling the hero you were ready to go. He probably hadn’t expected anyone to adjust like that, but time wasn’t on your side and you would rather be gone before the villain notices.

Outtakes of deleted scenes

“Yes! Uhm, that was me… Sorry! I didn’t see you and… and just let the apple fall… I didn’t mean to hurt you.” “That’s a lie, you saw me! And you didn’t tell me it was a real apple!” he raises his voice with accusation.

“I cannot believe you would blame me for your own incompetence! Who would go to an apple tree and NOT expect real apples?” you counter immediately.

For a moment you both just glare at each other before bursting into laughter.

“Why did you go off script?” you ask with a sigh, yet the corners of your lips still wobble dangerously.

“I need to tell the truth, everyone needs to know what kind of person you are!”

***

“No! Why… My food… I’m so hungry! Did I leave the stove on? Do I have a stove? I don’t remember–,” you burst out laughing before you could finish your little monologue. “Sorry! Sorry! Why am I talking about stoves in the first place?”

The person in front of you doubles over and you can hear laughter from their direction too.

“I am hungry though, can someone feed me? I’m kind of in a situation right now, you know?”

You grin as more laughter sounds, looking around with expectation in your eyes.

#izuku midoriya x reader #midoriya x you #midoriya izuku x reader #midoriya izuku x you #bnha reader insert #meet fruit collab #midoriya x reader #izuku x reader #izuku x you #izuku midoriya x you #deku x reader #deku x you #mha reader insert #outtakes and deleted scenes

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9leaguesofmirrors · 8 months

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My Favourite Reece Shearsmith Characters

So it's Reece Shearsmith's birthday today, so I decided to celebrate this by sharing some of my favourite characters played by this fantastically talented actor

These are in no particular order

Gregory Brewster - Him Indoors

Him Indoors is a short film about a serial killer with agoraphobia. Not only is the premise very interesting, Reece delivers a chilling yet very entertaining performance as the main character. It's on YouTube if you want to watch it, which I highly reccomend you do!

Tommy - Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room

This HAD to be on the list! Reece's performance as Tommy is heartbreaking, we watch a man seems to put-together and serious slowly fall apart and lose control of his calm façade - impeccable work

Sean Stone - Chasing Shadows

Admittedly, I don't know where the watch the full show, but I have seen clips and I knew I had to put it on this list because of Reece's portrayal of an autistic person. You can tell he put a lot of thought and research into it in order to give a realistic performance, which is a testament to his dedication and how much he truly cares about the roles he plays and who he's representing

Tyler - Riddle Of The Sphinx SPOILERS BELOW

If there's one thing Reece is good at, it's how to play a chilling villain. Everything about Tyler is unnerving and he manages to be terrifying without being loud or angry all the time. It's measured and the emotion builds and builds - fantastic work!

Joseph Lisgoe - The League Of Gentlemen

I've mentioned before that the debt collectors were underused, and I simply had to talk about how extraordinary Reece's performance as Lisgoe was. He completely dives into the roles he plays and this one was no exception, not even a light smashing on his closest friend stops him from carrying on a scene (just check out the outtakes!), he simply embodies the part and delivers a performance that terrifies the cast, crew and the audience

Laurence - Merrily Merrily SPOILERS BELOW

Merrily Merrily is an Inside No. 9 episode that I can never rewatched because of how empty it made me feel - and I mean that in the best way possible! Laurence is wracked with pain over the loss of his late partner, and Reece delivers such a subtle yet haunting performance that I don't think I'll ever stop thinking about it

Ross Gaines - The League of Gentlemen

Ross is such a fun character because of how manipulative, calculating and cold he is. Not only does it set him apart from the other inhabitants of Royston Vasey, it makes his scenes with Pauline all the more tense and entertaining - and Reece really does deliver in the role. I'm glad they decided to go with this casting choice

Aiden - Thinking Out Loud

Like with Laurence, Reece delivers a hauntingly stellar performance. What makes this one really special is that it's a monologue. There's nobody for him to bounce off of or react to, he has to reach those emotions himself. And, as always, he nails it

Ollie Plimsolls - The League Of Gentlemen

I've said before that I think Ollie is one of the most cleverly written League characters and I stand by that. As a representation of the Saviour Complex and self-righteousness of people in theatre, Ollie is a character that should be easy to hate... but because of Reece's expert comedic timing and delivery, he ends up being so funny that you can't help but laugh every time he's onscreen

SPECIAL MENTION: Gilbert - Betty Blue Eyes

Reece Shearsmith said in an interview that he wasn't a great singer. Reece Shearsmith is a liar. Don't believe me? Listen to The Kind Of Man I Am from Betty Blue Eyes and thank me later

Also, if you can find it, there's a short bootleg of him in The Producers which is good too!

Of course, this are just a few of his performances and he's never delivered a bad one - whether he's playing a comedic character like Archie in The Bill or a more serious one like in Borley Rectory. And we haven't even touched on his writing skills, I can't wait to see what he does next!

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missbelivet · 10 months

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The Glove Lunch.

Do you remember this scene? Of course you do. With more than one memorable dialogue and exceptional line deliveries like “What a strange girl you are. Flung out of space”, who can forget? 😉

Filmed the 1st of April 2014 (this is no April Fools), Maury’s Tiny Cove Steak House served as the set location for Carol & Therese’s first date (Scotty’s on Madison).

The scene infamously featured our two favorite ladies order “Creamed Spinach Over Poached Eggs & a dry martini with an olive”. Sure, Maury’s been serving their patrons dry martini, but the former was not on their regular menu, so they had to whip it up specially for the scene.

But did you know that during filming, the air-conditioning and cooler at Maury’s had to be unplugged the entire day? It was because the equipment that Todd and Ed used to film this scene were so sensitive to noise, and everything that’s not scene-related had to be quiet. Maury’s owner, Mr. Matt Huesman was so kind to share that Cate, Rooney and the rest of team ‘Carol’ were so nice and there were a lot of funny outtakes, and during one take — Cate Blanchett fans would love this — at one point the camera was rolling and somebody flushed the toilet upstairs, but it ended up sounding like the flush came right from the downstairs room that they were filming in. So the team had to yell “cut” and Cate, who had just taken a bite of the creamed spinach had to spit it right out on her plate then said “I’d really rather have a cheeseburger”. 😆 🍔

Well, that’s that for that creamed spinach! Cate’s a cheeseburger girl. How about you? Have you tried creamed spinach over poached eggs?

Follow my instagram for an extensive look on the film ‘Carol’.

#the price of salt #cate blanchett #carol movie #rooney mara #carolwatch #carol #sarah paulson #cateblanchett #rooneymara #carolthemovie #carolfilm #behindthescenes #bts #behindcarol #toddhaynes #funfact #creamedspinachoverpoachedeggs #cheeseburger

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satureja13 · 10 days

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The Friendship between: Vlad and Kiyoshi

After Kiyoshi came out of the blue and invited Jack for prom, Vlad wanted to learn more about the intentions of this restraint and earnest guy who asked his best friend out. But he didn't get far because shortly after the nightmare with Genji biting Ji Ho happened and Vlad died (and had been dead for a while).

And of course Vlad was jealous because Ji Ho worshiped Kiyoshi. And - of course - Kiyoshi sensed Vlad's distrust (because he's a demon after all).

When Vlad came back from hell and Jack and Kiyoshi already started their secret relationship, Jack could't tell him anything and Vlad respected it (even though I guess each of them knew about them somehow). He just wanted Jack to be happy after everything he went through and he had to trust them (the story of Kiyoshi and Jack is -> here).

Another obstacle thrown in their way was the shower incident. After Vlad returned from hell, he found himself blind under the shower (where Ji Ho and Luci (who possessed Vlad's body while his soul was in hell) had their fun ö.Ö'). To shield Ji Ho from Vlad's wrath, Kiyoshi stepped in and claimed it had been him who was under the shower with Vlad/Luci 'to care for his body'...).

Their friendship started shortly after, December 2022, when Ms Coombes put them in a group together for their school project. Vlad still had been blind then and Kiyoshi cared for him. Which was awkward because of the shower incident. Plus Vlad and his foolish pride are not used to someone caring for them and he gave Kiyoshi a hard time with his stubbornness wanting to do everything by himself despite his blindness...

They should soon become very close when they missed the last cable car up to the Tavern at Mount Komorebi. Kiyoshi held blind Vlad's hand and guided him when they walked all the way up the mountain (which Vlad and his foolish pride tried to deny after the others cought them...)

Well he had to get used to it. Or not ^^'

When Vlad's bloodlust for Ji Ho's blood was giving them a hard time, Kiyoshi froze Vlad into an iceblock to keep Ji Ho save.

Twice ^^'

A few days later, on Winter Solstice, before Vlad and Ji Ho finally tightened their Bond at the Temple, Kiyoshi prepared them. And Vlad had been so jealous (again)!

And when Jack and Ji Ho had almost burned alive at Yamachan's Party, Kiyoshi and Vlad worked together to rescue them.

Kiyoshi and Vlad shared an apartment at Belgraves Institute, their boarding school. They both love to wear black clothes and refused to don the bright yellow school sports jerseys. So they'd been punished to run (a lot of) laps. Which they somehow enjoyed. And it deepened their friendship.

And when Jack fell into his coma, Vlad let Kiyoshi join him when he watched over Jack. So I guess he (and the others) really knew they'd been together.

From the Outtakes:

Vlad has a deep understanding for Kiyoshi's duties for the Resistance. Even when Kiyoshi had to betray him to the Council to keep his position as a mole.

Vlad and Kiyoshi Halloween 2023. Team 'Problematic Eyes'. The Bond had punished Vlad whith 'normal' eyes and everyone thought Kiyoshi's demonic glowing eyes were a disguise because they only learned a few months later that Kiyoshi actually is a demon.

The profile cards they created together on Halloween:

When Kiyoshi returned from the tree but still acted like a tree, it had been Vlad who cared for Kiyoshi (until Saiwa took over because they thought Kiyoshi and Saiwa are fated mates...)

Kiyoshi and Vlad in our Goth Special

At the moment Vlad lives together with Jeb and Kiyoshi and consoles (and cares) for them after Jack and Saiwa left to live at the Beach House for a while. He chose Kiyoshi over his best friend Jack because he knows Ji Ho has Jack covered and the others (except Jeb, Kiyoshi's best friend) avoid Kiyoshi for how he treated Jack. But Vlad knows Kiyoshi didn't have a choice with all the duties he had for the Temple and the Resistance/the Council.

If you wonder who'd be the top: Romance Factor: 4/5

From the Outtakes: A series of pics after they teleported too close :3

Vlad and Kiyoshi had been in Team Animal Care at the Farm. Here they are milking the goats :3

Vlad and Kiyoshi's horses - Diablo and Kiri - are in love with each other.

Their Friendships (in chronological order):

In chronological order: 🫛 Saiwa and Jack 🫛 Vlad and Jack 🫛 Saiwa and Vlad 🫛 Kiyoshi and Jeb 🫛 Saiwa and Ji Ho 🫛 Ji Ho and Jack 🫛 Ji Ho and Jeb 🫛 Ji Ho and Kiyoshi 🫛 Vlad and Kiyoshi 🫛 Vlad and Jeb 🫛 Saiwa and Kiyoshi 🫛 Jack and Jeb

Their Relationships (not updated yet)

Ji Ho and Vlad (and Luci)

Saiwa and Jeb

Jack and Kiyoshi

Noxee and Greg

Leander and Wesley (and Vlad)

Francine Spencer (Jeb's Grandmother) and Jules Rico

From the Beginning ~ Underwater Love ~ Latest 🕹️ 'Therapy Game' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 📜 7-12 📜 13-16 📜 17-22 📜 23-28

#The Boys Friendships #underwater love #sims 4 story #sims 4 #simblr #ts4 #sims 4 vanilla #oc #ocs #my ocs #original character

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morallyinept · 4 months

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Shoot: Wired Magazine, Feb 2023 Issue - Published online on Jan 9th 2023

Photographer: Peter Yang

Interviewer: Hemal Jhaveri

Grooming: Mira Chai Hyde

Full interview, behind the scenes, outtakes & shoot photographs below. 👇🏻

Jett's Pedro's Shoots Masterlist

• Cover shot and original images used in the magazine.

• Outtakes and behind the scenes images.

• Full interview

Unmasking Pedro Pascal, the Complicated New Face of Sci-Fi

The Last of Us star talks video games, violence, and playing tough guys (Hi, Mando!) when you’re actually a people pleaser.

PEDRO PASCAL IS a little too nice, actually. Too many hugs. So many polite refusals of snacks. On the set of a photo shoot for this interview, there’s an evident tension inside him. He retreats into the aloofness of celebrity, but he is also eager to connect. He seems to enjoy having his picture taken, but he gets shy when the photographer moves in for a close-up.

It’s in his nature to be open, but he holds a lot of himself back. He’s not too far off, in fact, from the anonymous bounty hunter he plays in The Mandalorian. He wants to take off the mask and let people see his face, but he doesn’t want to deal with the fallout.

Too bad. Not only is Pascal returning for season three of The Mandalorian, he’s also starring in HBO’s The Last of Us, probably the biggest video-game-to-TV adaptation of all time. In that now oh-so-recognizable face of his, one senses, well, shock. It’s unthinkable - magazine covers, TV stardom, all of it - for a kid who wrapped himself up in ’80s movies and late-night HBO after his family fled Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, seeking political asylum in Denmark before eventually ending up in the United States.

Pascal always dreamed of being a performer, yes. And he spent years kicking around with small television roles and New York theater gigs before getting his eyes gouged out in Game of Thrones. But he never imagined becoming Hollywood’s go-to reluctant father figure. You know, famous.

Maybe that’s why Pascal now seems chiefly concerned with making those around him feel comfortable. When the shoot runs long, cutting into one-on-one time, he assures me he’ll stick around to talk. And he does, for much longer than his schedule is supposed to allow. I get the feeling he’s just excited to finally be sitting at the cool kids’ table - Ethan Hawke! Nick freaking Cage! - and doesn’t want to do anything to mess it up.

Like most celebrities, there’s a part of him that is a little insecure and hungry for validation; even an offhand compliment about one of his performances seems to set him at ease. He’s most engaged when we talk about his family and politics. It comes through in his voice, his body language, a cleverly deployed arched eyebrow. He cares so much. He’s also uncomfortable caring so much.

This is, I suspect, the source of his powers - that empathy at his core, visibly competing with the tough-guy exterior. Unlike most hero types these days, whose bodies glisten with smoothed-over perfection, Pascal has aged into his face. Whatever he lacks in shine, he makes up for in grit: His broad features and salt-and-pepper facial hair lend him a grizzled, protective air. In The Last of Us, he plays Joel Miller, a father in a postapocalyptic zombified wasteland dealing with loss both personal and global. The performance flicks between menace and heartbreak, infused with deep feeling - a natural ability to find the humanity at the heart of a conflicted hero. That’s Pascal. Our conflicted hero. Empathy hugs and all.

You seem to be picking parts - The Mandalorian, Joel in The Last of Us - that play very intentionally into a tough, conflicted outsider status. But maybe that’s too neat and tidy?

I find it funny when anyone applies choice to my experience. Of course you can say no to things, but you can’t say no to Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, or HBO. It never felt like stopping and considering what the characters were. It was simply the circumstance of a door opening and stepping through it.

So there was nothing specifically tempting about The Last of Us?

To be totally honest, it was wanting to work with Craig Mazin, who did Chernobyl. Also, HBO is content that I literally grew up on. I experienced their original programming. Their original programming was very, very mature.

You mean, like, the after-11 pm original programming.

Absolutely. And I saw all of it, which is pretty nuts.

Your parents didn't care?

Obviously there’s a variety of immigrant experiences in the US, but it tends to be really strict in one way and really open in another way. If my parents liked what they were watching, they rarely sent me out of the room. But I had to get good grades or I wasn’t allowed to watch shit.

Same here - get good grades, do whatever you want.

They didn’t take TV seriously as something that would influence our choices. But basically, I developed a real big dream about being a part of something that would be important to a network like HBO.

So how’d you prep for The Last of Us? Did you play the video game?

I hadn’t heard of the game. Their instruction was: Don’t play the game. I ignored them. I tried to play the game, and I was very, very bad at it. (But my nephew was fantastic.) It was important to me to play notes that were directly related to what was originally in the game - physically, visually, vocally.

Did you bring anything personal to the role?

That’s the fun part—how much you get to externalize internal darkness in a safe way and bring in things that are from your nightmares.

Such as?

Joel’s capacity for violence, and being good at it. I didn’t get into any physical fights growing up, and definitely not as an adult. Violence scares me tremendously. Is it the fear of violence in general? Is it the fear of your own violence?

Or maybe the fear that you’ll like it?

Totally. I love thrill-seeking stuff. But I don’t make a practice of testing my limits. I’m actually a little bit opposed to it. I don’t like pain.

Meaning physical pain?

Pain of every kind. I don’t like psychological, emotional, or physical pain. Some people will be like, Oh, I know that it’s very likely I'll break something, I’ve got to try that. Fuck. That. I don’t think of myself as- I’m not a tough guy.

Really?

I don’t live that way. I’m a lubricant. I want people to feel comfortable. I don’t know how to function at the expense of anyone’s comfort level. I’m a people pleaser.

I see some of that on social media, where you seem to do everything you can to make, say, the sci-fi fandom more welcoming and inclusive. You’re very supportive of your sister, for example, who came out as trans in 2021. How are you navigating your role in political spaces?

Total improvisation and ultimately just erring on the side of, like … [very long pause, two deep sighs] My entire heart is set on, you know, the marginalized underdog. It’s not a choice. Like, how dare anyone not support the people that are deserving of support, and are deserving of protection and need more of it than you do. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, but some actors would say, My star is rising, I don’t want to get involved with this.

Maybe if you pause to think about it, it could keep you from doing the right thing. And this feels like the barest minimum. Like, the barest minimum.

You mean an Instagram post isn’t enough?

No, it’s not. My personal hope is to seize the opportunity to be of service in ways that are true. I’m keeping my eyes open. The truth is that I don’t think I do nearly enough. I’m, like, a LIB-ER-AL, but there are contradictions there as well, because we live capitalistically. I guess we carry, you know, the weight of that shame?

The weight of capitalist shame? The fact that you make money is a bad thing?

Kind of?

You’ve had late-career success. You were consistently working—

I was consistently working, and it was a total struggle in such a typical way, but there was always somebody that would be able to bail me out—to help me pay my rent or help me get groceries.

But now you must be rolling around in all your money like Demi Moore.

[Laughs] Demi Moore in Indecent Proposal?

Yes.

I don’t have the bod for that. She’s basically the only one who could pull it off. Yeah, I get my cash. I spread it all over my bed and I roll around in it.

I knew it. But seriously, how do you think about your recent stardom?

I didn’t get Game of Thrones till I was in my late thirties. And therefore, the amount of times I was helped, and the amount of people that I could rely on through some really tough times—I’m never going to let some of them ever buy dinner again. I want to take care of people as much as they took care of me.

Who helped you?

There’s the family that my older sister sort of acquired. And then also by becoming part of a theater community that really looks after itself.

You have some famous friends too.

Does that mean we have to talk about Oscar [Isaac]?

The internet loves this friendship.

I met him through a play we did together in 2005. An off-Broadway show where we were getting $500 a week, before taxes.

Do you have a favorite memory of the two of you?

There’s so many. He’s so naughty. His level of naughtiness onstage during that play, for example. He played a ghost, which meant that the living characters in the story could not see him. I had to do my scenes, and he would physically be there, but because my character couldn’t see him, he could fuck with me, all in front of live audiences, as much as he wanted, trying to get me to crack up or forget my lines. The memory is simultaneously dark and wonderful.

Would you say you tend to be a hopeful, forward-looking guy?

We have to hope. But I’m too privileged. You know what I mean? Like, I’m too lucky. It’s an interesting thing. The reason my older sister and I grew up in the States is because my parents fled a military dictatorship. So, you know, only 10 years after my parents were in hiding, I was crying because The Breakfast Club was checked out at the video store.

But I’m guessing there were also challenges?

Looking back, so much of it only seems to present itself as an opportunity. When my parents ended up on a list of pardoned exiles and were able to go back to Chile, it came with enormous families on both sides, which was missing from the experience of growing up in the States. I guess it’s only in middle age where it feels like it can be emotionally challenging to accept that there isn’t anywhere to plant my flag as an individual.

Everywhere is home and nowhere is home. But that also still feels like a good thing to me. It’s often framed as a disadvantage in our culture, but it’s an advantage in character, and in perspective, and in outlook.

Do you think that if you had popped into national consciousness when you were younger, you would not have wanted, say, a traditional Marvel role—the cape and the CGI and all that?

But I do want that. I want to be in movies.

But the world’s in a fairly tense political moment right now. Does that change what it means to be a hero?

There’s so many ways to misunderstand people and to forget that, at the end of the day, your neighbor is very likely to give you the shirt off their own back. The interchanges that you have with strangers are, more often than not, human. But then you can go and look shit up and be terrified by how divided we all apparently are. To comfort myself, I just remember that everybody I come in contact with is sort of, in their own way, heroically kind.

In some ways, you’re the face of that new kind of hero.

Oh my gosh. It’s funny when the phrasing “the face of” comes up, because Mando is faceless. I haven’t thought about it in that way. I’m always struggling to imagine myself as being a part of something that I have been witness to growing up and watching. There’s a disconnect for me - I don’t know how to place myself in that world. Like, I just go a little blank.

Then talk about your character in The Last of Us. Joel can be a little scary.

I think what’s scary about Joel is that none of us really know what we’d be capable of if faced with the idea of losing love. Whether it’s conscious or unconscious, being alive or even being a human being is directly connected to the love you feel. Existing is connected to the love you feel toward a particular relationship - your child, your partner - and to lose that? Some people are not capable of applying rational thought to that kind of loss, or the threat of that loss, or the threat of that loss again, right?

That’s what makes you human.

That’s what makes you human and inhuman. It’s such a beautiful question that the video game poses. I avoid all of it by not having kids. And staying out of relationships.

Do you want kids?

I don’t know.

You’re close with your nephews.

Well, yes. Only because they were so good at playing The Last of Us. No, I’m just kidding.

It’s funny then, or at least a bit ironic, that you keep getting cast as these reluctant father figures.

I love being… I like being able to imagine it.

Jett's Pedro's Shoots Masterlist

#pedro pascal #jose pedro balmaceda pascal #pedro pascal shoots #pedro pascal interview #pedro pascal magazine #pedro pascal photo shoot #pedro pascal shoot #pedro pascal photo

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smkkbert · 9 months

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Time for a story - Deathstroke

“I know that you think this is crazy, but-“

“Crazy?” Felicity crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. “No, not at all. I think getting in bed with the Huntress was crazy. I think believing some rumors she has heard without backchecking is crazy. Whatever this is – I think we need to find a new word for.”

Oliver paused for a moment, biting his tongue and puckering his lips. If Felicity had hoped that he would stop long enough for them to have a real conversation about his plan, she was disappointed though. Within seconds, he shook his head and continued packing his backpack with weapons and other equipment that he had laid out on the metal table in front of him to have some kind of survival kit.

Since Helena Bertinelli, aka the Huntress, had shown up here last week, their lives had been turned upside down. According to Oliver, Helena had warned him that the person who had taken her and buried her alive wasn’t done yet. He would return and take his revenge on Oliver for whatever he felt Oliver had done to him.

Felicity couldn’t say that the news hadn’t hit her hard. Hearing that the person who had put you though something like that wanted to come back for more had to unsettle you, so of course she had been nervous. She had had one or two sleepless nights about it, but she had soon come to the realization that nothing had really changed. They had always known that this person or any of the criminals they had chased could come back, and they had accepted it to some level. Why else would they still continue their vigilante work and risk to make new enemies every single day?

Besides, those news coming from the Huntress of all people didn’t make it too convincing, Felicity thought. She had been in a high-security prison for the last years. How much information exactly could you get there?

Unfortunately, Oliver didn’t seem to share the same thought of thinking. Since Helena had left their property, he had been doing the best he could have to find out more. He had talked to inmates that Helena had been close to. He had interrogated some of the gangster bosses on the street. He had looked at old traces to find out who was behind this. Nothing had led him anywhere but into the same dead-end streets that they had hit one year ago.

Since desperate times called for desperate measures, Oliver’s newest idea was to verify Helena’s words by talking to nobody else that Slade Wilson. Like she had said before, there were crazy things and then there was that.

When Oliver closed the zipper of the backpack and sat down on the edge of the metal table, he sighed. Nothing but silence followed after that. He kept his eyes lowered, looking at his feet. His shoulders slumped, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Felicity knew how much Oliver hated to feel like he wasn’t in control. After the Gambit had gone down and even quite some time after he had returned to Starling City, he had felt out of control so very often. Most of the time when that had happened, he had some someone that he loved. Of course he didn’t want to go through that again.

It took a minute or two until Oliver looked at her again, dark shadows under his eyes. He hadn’t caught much sleep lately, and the days had been terribly exhausting too.

With a long outtake of breath, Felicity crossed the distance and sat down on the edge of the metal table next to him. She put her hands in her lap and just looked at her feet like Oliver had done before.

It had been a while since they had been in a situation like this. A lot of major crimes had ceased to happen in Starling City. Apparently, word had gotten around that you didn’t mess with the Green Arrow and his team easily. That someone was willing to confront the Green Arrow and attack him personally was something that hadn’t happened in a while.

And of course it created chaos.

“I know you’re scared.”

Felicity’s voice was low when she spoke. She turned her head to look at Oliver, who was looking back at her immediately. He reached out his hand, and she linked her fingers with his. Oliver lifted their joint fingers to his lips and kissed the back of his hand. Instead of dropping them back between his thighs, he held them against his heart. Felicity could feel how that slowed down his heartbeat a bit.

“Aren’t you?” he asked. “That guy has taken you, buried you alive, almost killed you…”

His voice broke when he said those last words, and Felicity squeezed his fingers. She knew that that time had been just as hard on him as it had been on her. It had been different, but Oliver had taken his trauma away from that too. She knew it because she had been through something very similar when Malcom Merlyn had taken Oliver and feigned his death.

“We tried to find out who did this to me, but we couldn’t find anything,” Felicity said with low voice, “so we knew that he would still be out there.”

“But now he’s coming back.” Oliver looked at her with a frown. “It’s not the same.”

“We don’t know if Helena says the truth.”

“Why should she lie?”

“Why should she tell the truth?” Felicity cocked her head. “She loves to wreak havoc. Back before we were together and she turned to you for help, you wanted me to leave. You didn’t want her near me because you knew she was up to no good.”

Felicity remembered how she had come down to the foundry and offered help, but Oliver had sent her away. Although she could have helped, he hadn’t wanted her around the Huntress.

Oliver scrunched up his nose, a sure sign that he knew she was right and still thought differently. Felicity cocked her head at him, signaling that she wanted to hear what he thought. She wanted to understand what made him think that meeting Slade Wilson of all people was what he needed just because some villainous ex-girlfriend had told him about some rumors.

“Helena was sincere,” he said, shaking his head, “I know it’s complicated, but it’s the truth. I could see it. She was sincere. Even if all this turns out to be wrong, I need to at least make sure that I took it seriously. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t.”

Nodding her head, Felicity sighed.

“I understand that. but what I don’t understand is why you feel that you need to see Slade of all people. He is a prisoner, one that is being held captive in solitude. The only person he ever has contact to is one of the guards of A.R.G.U.S. How should he of all people know about this?”

“How did he know about us having a daughter? How did he know where Malcolm kept me captive?” Oliver asked back. “I don’ know how, but Slade just knows things. If he knows something, we will know that it’s true.”

“And you think that he will just give away what he knows?”

“No.” Oliver cleared his throat. “But I know him well enough to known when he’s lying.”

Felicity knew that Oliver was right. He knew Slade better than he knew anyone else. He would be able to detect whether or not he was lying.

“Okay, last try to keep you back from it,” Felicity said with a sigh of defeat, already knowing that she wouldn’t be able to convince Oliver to not go to Lian Yu, “but if you really think that I am in that much danger, shouldn’t you stay here with me to protect me?”

Oliver puckered his lips and nodded his head slightly. Although he did his best to hide it, a grin threatened to spread on his lips.

“Well played, Mrs. Queen, well played,” he said, “but I have already taken care of that.”

Of course he had. Felicity wasn’t surprised.

“So who was ordered to babysit me?”

As if on cue, the elevator released its low pling! to announce that it had reached the bunker. The doors opened. John and Lyla stepped out hand in hand.

“I thought it was time for you and Lyla to just hang out for a night again, maybe open a bottle of wine and-“

“-ignore the dozens of A.R.G.U.S. Agents hanging out around the house?”

Oliver nodded his head slowly. “Something like that.”

When John and Lyla stepped closer, they let go of each other’s hands. While John just shot Oliver a meaningful glance, Lyla wrapped Felicity into her arms tightly.

“For the record, I have been planning on spending a night with you, eating pizza, drinking wine and just talking, in ages. I’m sorry it had to take our husbands going to Lian Yu to actually do it.”

Felicity smiled at Lyla briefly before she turned to John. She didn’t have to ask the question on her mind. He knew it already.

“Can’t let him go alone, can I?”

With a weak smile, Felicity stepped to John and hugged him tightly. The bond they – she, Oliver and John – had formed during those first few years that they had done all of this alone was something that couldn’t be destroyed easily. It had only grown stronger when they had taken more people in and built their own families and started to take even more responsibility for the city by going into politics and doing charity work whenever they could.

“I’m gonna take good care of him,” he whispered into her ear, low enough so only she could hear it, “so Slade won’t get into his head.”

Felicity nodded and tightened her arms around John for a moment. She was so grateful that he went to Lian Yu with Oliver. The thought that Oliver would go alone to the place that had cost him so much of his peace and the man that had killed his mother right in front of him had been unbearable. It was good to know that he wouldn’t be alone. John war the right person to be around for something like that.

When John eventually let go of Felicity, he turned to Oliver.

“We have to go.”

Oliver nodded. He grabbed his backpack and stepped in front of Felicity.

“It will just be a couple of days,” he whispered to her, “so I’ll be back within the blink of an eye. I love you.”

He put a hand to her cheek, leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. His lips lingered there for a moment before he pulled back and locked his eyes with hers. Although he already knew that he would go, he still wanted her approval and her support. Felicity had her doubts about his plan, but since he was going anyway, there was no use in denying him what he wanted and needed. With a weak smile, she gave him her consent.

Oliver shot Lyla a brief glance, and she wrapped an arm around Felicity’s shoulders and nodded her head. Obviously, it was her way of reaffirming Oliver that she was going to take good care of Felicity. Felicity felt a need to roll her eyes at that, but managed to keep it under control.

When Oliver and John walked to the elevators, Felicity rested her head on Lyla’s shoulder. She really needed a friend tonight, she guessed.

The elevator doors opened, and John and Oliver got in. Oliver looked nervous, taking in a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling. Going back to Lian Yu, no matter how long it had been since he had made those traumatizing experience there, wasn’t easy for him. It just opened up old wounds.

John, on the other hand, smiled comfortingly. He winked at Felicity before the elevator doors closed. He would take care of Oliver as well as Lyla would take care of Felicity.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Felicity released a long sigh. She felt tears burning in her eyes although she didn’t know where they came from. Was she sad? Angry? Scared? Frustrated? All at once?

“I guess I should tell you that our girls’ nigh include five of your and both of my children,” Lyla said, “although I am still working on convincing Laurel and Tommy to take all seven of them. You know, it’s close by, so my agents could easily have an eye on them, and we could have some well-deserved wine-time.”

Felicity chuckled. “I know it’s only three p.m., but do you think that’s late enough for wine-time?”

“You have six kids.” Lyla shrugged her shoulders. “If that isn’t an excuse to make every time wine-time, what is?”

→ → → → →

“I know we had this conversation already,” John said slowly, putting a foot on the hatch that led down to the Lian Yu prison, “but what exactly do you promise yourself from this?”

Oliver put down the backpack, rubbed his hands over his tired face and took a moment to think about his answer. The truth was that, the more he had to justify his decision, the harder it was for him to do so. He couldn’t say that though because he couldn’t justify that decision to himself anymore, he wouldn’t be able to go through with it, and he couldn’t have left his home to do this and then not do it.

“Slade knows things. I don’t know how, but he does. When he knows about it, we know how serious it is.”

John shrugged his shoulders. “And when he doesn’t? Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

Oliver didn’t answer to that. He knew that John was right, and he had thought about that too. If Slade knew something, he’d know that his family was in danger. If Slade didn’t know something, his family could still be in danger. He just wouldn’t know for sure.

“So you know that you will go out of this conversation as the loser either way.” John crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Are you sure it’s worth it?”

No, Oliver wasn’t sure it was worth it. He wasn’t sure at all.

“It’s too late to think about it now,” he said, pushing John’s foot aside lightly and started spinning the wheel to open the hatch, “we’re here already.”

As soon as the hatch opened, he lifted it up and took the first rung of the ladder down into the prison. The sooner he got in, the better. He didn’t want to be given a chance to change his mind, and he wanted to get back to Felicity and the kids as soon as possible.

“It’s not that I didn’t try,” he heard John murmur before his head disappeared under the ground.

He could feel Slade’s gaze on him immediately. It made his hair stand on ends and goosebumps spread all over his skin. Maybe he had underestimated the effect seeing him again would have on him.

Once his feet touched the concrete of the prison ground, Oliver sucked in a deep breath. Instead of turning to Slade directly, he turned to the A.R.G.U.S.-agent that was standing at the wall, holding his weapon in front of him like some kind of shield.

“Agent Michaels told you that I need five minutes with him?”

The agent nodded and shot a brief, suspicious glance at Slade before he looked back at Oliver again. It didn’t happen too often that someone came to Lian Yu and wanted to talk to Slade, Oliver guessed.

“Stay out of reach from the bars. The exchange of items of any kind is not permitted.”

“Understood.”

The agent looked Oliver and Slade up and down one last time before he started climbing up the ladder and left them alone. Once the hatch was closed up there, Oliver took position at the wall where the agent had stood before, leaned against the cool stones and finally lifted his gaze.

Slade Wilson had grown old. His hair was almost completely grey now. It was shorter than it used to be. His beard was longer though. He looked like a perfect exemplar of a long-time prisoner. His eye carried the same sparkle of anger or craziness or maybe even evilness though.

“What do I owe this honor to?”

“No words of welcome?”

“Time’s precious in here.” Slade looked around his cell. “Don’t want to miss a moment here, so I’d rather get this over with.”

“I heard rumors.”

“Rumors?” Slade didn’t bat his eye. He just started at Oliver blankly. “Have you brought tea and little tiaras too? Being a father of girls must have gotten into your head. What’s your latest named again? Mia? Like mommy, your mommy of course.”

He was trying to get into his head. He knew that Oliver wouldn’t stay long, so he was doing his best to start immediately. He wanted to set him off.

Oliver decided not to focus on that. Instead, he wanted to focus on the fact that he had been right. Slade still knew things and he had kept an eye on Oliver even from here. If there was something, he would know.

“Speaking of mommy, how’s our sweet blonde with the glasses? Fe-li-ci-ty.”

He emphasized her name the same way Oliver did so often, syllable by syllable.

“Someone tried to killed her last year.”

“Buried alive. I’ve heard.” The corners of Slade’s lips twitched into a smile for a second. “A great bedtime story. I’ve been sleeping like a baby thinking about how close to being destroyed you came.”

He certainly did.

“The person who’s behind this will come back to end what he started.”

Slade stepped to the small cot at the back of cell and sat down there. He enjoyed this. He enjoyed this way too much.

“But you don’t know for sure. That’s why you’re here. You want me to tell you whether it’s true or really just some rumor.”

Oliver clenched his jaws. Sometimes he forgot that Slade could read him as well as Oliver could read Slade. When he already knew why Oliver had come here, it would be harder for him to tell whether Slade was saying the truth or playing with him.

“I could tell you,” Slade said, “but your wife has already claimed the favor that I owed you for letting me see my son instead of killing him.”

“I know.”

Back when Malcolm had faked Oliver’s death, Felicity had gone to Slade and asked where Malcolm could have possibly held him captive. He had told her because Oliver had spared the life of Slade’s son although he had abducted Felicity while she had been pregnant. That favor would have come handy now.

“I’m not going to tell you,” Slade said, his voice uninterested.

Oliver nodded his head slowly. He hadn’t expected anything else. The problem was that he wasn’t sure if Slade knew or didn’t know. He had really thought that he would know, but the fact that Slade had known why he had come here and the long time that had passed since they had seen each other the last time, made it difficult. He really wasn’t sure.

For a split second, he considered offering something to him. There had to be something that Slade would want. Maybe seeing his son again.

Then again, Oliver was sure that the more desperate he’d appear, the less Slade would be willing to help him. He would enjoy seeing him suffer, and it would be worth more to him than any brief moment of reward. Besides, letting Slade see his son would only cause new problems. Slade might love his son and want what was best for him, but Oliver wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t use him for his own plans if necessary.

“Goodbye, Slade.”

Slade seemed surprised that the conversation was over for Oliver already. Apparently, he had calculated on that. Just like Oliver before, he seemed to consider saying something to make Oliver stay a little longer, but he didn’t.

“Give your wife my regards. She can visit me anytime.”

Ignoring that comment, Oliver climbed the ladder back up. He punched his fist against the hatch that was opened for him immediately. As soon as he had climbed up the rest of the way and was back on the overground, he grabbed his backpack and turned to John.

“Let’s go.”

He didn’t wait for John to reply. He just made his way to where their boat was waiting for them. He didn’t want to stay here for even a second longer than necessary.

It took John barely a minute to catch up to Oliver. He walked next to him in silence for a short while, but he soon cleared his voice.

“So I guess the conversation didn’t go the way that you thought it would?”

“Worse,” Oliver replied, “it went exactly like I feared it would.”

John nodded his head slowly. “So we don’t have any new information?”

“Wouldn’t say that.” As soon as Oliver arrived at the boat, he threw the backpack into it and started pushing the boat further into the water. “We know that we need to tell Lyla to hire a different agent to watch Slade because that one is definitely doing all kind of networking for Slade. And now I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I just want to go home.”

→ → → → →

Felicity woke up to the familiar feeling of a strong arm wrapping around her. His chest pressed against her back, his legs tangled with hers. Still half-asleep, she could feel Oliver pressing his nose against her neck and breathing her in.

With tired sigh, Felicity grabbed his hand from her stomach and pulled it to the top of her chest to press it against her naked skin there. She hadn’t slept much that last night when he had been away. She just couldn’t get used to sleeping without him there, especially knowing where he had gone.

“You’re back.” Felicity scooted back in bed a little, so her body was even closer to Oliver’s. If she could, she would just crawl right into him. “That’s good.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” Oliver’s voice was hoarse. “Sorry.”

“I’m glad I know you’re back here with me.”

Felicity was so tired that she could easily just close her eyes again and fall back asleep. She could just feel in the tension of Oliver’s arm and chest that there were things that he needed to talk about. He probably wouldn’t want to, but he needed to nonetheless.

Gathering the little energy that she still had left, Felicity opened her eyes and stared into the darkness. She considered turning around and facing Oliver, but she kind of liked the way he breathed into her neck. It made her hair move and sent chills all through her body. Rubbing her hand up and down his forearm, she let him know that she was truly awake now and not in some sort of half-sleep.

“How did it go?”

“As bad as possible, I fear.”

Felicity frowned for a moment, considering what exactly that could mean. Knowing Oliver, she guessed that she knew the answer though.

“You can’t tell whether Slade is saying the truth or not?”

Oliver released a breath of relief at the fact that she knew already and he didn’t have to explain it. The tone of her voice had been rather neutral instead of reproaching as he might have thought it would be. She wasn’t holding it against him that he had gone there although it hadn’t helped him, and she had seen that coming.

“No, I can’t.”

Felicity lifted his hand to her lips for a moment and placed a kiss to the palm of his hand.

“How are you feeling now?” Felicity asked. “You wanted clarity. You didn’t get it.”

Not answering yet, Oliver moved his foot up and down Felicity’s calf slowly. His nose pushed against her back once more, breathing in the scent of her body again. Felicity knew that apperceiving her helped him keeping a clear head and staying grounded.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m not a step further than when Helena has left.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Felicity reached out her hand and turned on the small light on the nightstand before she turned around in bed. Oliver slid up the mattress and rested his head on the pillow next to hers, so they were face to face. Barely a couple of inches separated their lips from each other. Felicity could feel his breath on her skin.

“I know why you feel like that.” Felicity put her hands to Oliver’s cheeks and stroked her fingertips through his stubble. “But that’s not true. You have that information, and you have done whatever you can to verify it. You haven’t found anything.”

“I didn’t find anything to falsify it either.”

Felicity pulled his face closer and touched his lips with her. It was a long but chaste kiss and still made her skin tingle. When their lips parted, Felicity didn’t pull very far away. She just angled her head back enough, so she could look at Oliver and see his entire face.

“We are warned,” she said firmly. “In case anything happens, we are warned. We know where to start. We know – at least in parts – how that person thinks and operates. That’s allowing us to be at least a tiny step ahead.”

“I am not sure that it will be enough.”

“It has to be,” Felicity insisted, “because just think about how long it took Slade to come back here for revenge after he found out how Shado died. Think about how much time Malcolm took to plot his revenge on you. Whoever did that, if he comes back at all, might take years to do so. We can’t spend years watching our backs every step on the way. We are careful as it is, but we can’t live in constant fear.”

She could see in Oliver’s eyes that he knew she was right. He had spent years of his life, expecting nothing but the worst and keeping everyone at arm’s length because he feared what would happen to them. He had lived with that extra cautiousness for so long, and it hadn’t made him happy. It had ben the very thing that had kept him from being happy for so long.

Oliver rested his forehead against hers once more and closed his eyes. She could feel him frown against her forehead, while he was trying to find out what was the right thing to do and say right now.

When he opened his eyes, he pulled back an inch and sucked in a deep breath through his nose. He didn’t look relaxed, but Felicity hadn’t expected him to anyway. Whatever the result of his thought process was, he wasn’t really satisfied with it.

“Just one more week,” he asked with hoarse voice, “give me one more week to find out something more. I’m not going to leave Starling City for it. I will not break more laws than we do on a daily basis, but… I can’t let it go yet. I need… I need a little more time.”

“Okay. I guess that’s fair. You get more time.” Felicity nodded her head and pecked his lips briefly. “And now you need sleep. We both do.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

They got into their usual sleeping positions with Felicity lying on her back and Oliver on top of her, his ear pressed to her chest. Like usually, he fell asleep to the rhythmic beating of her heart. It might be the calmest night he had had in a while.

* * *

@fannaz @promiseyoullbepatientwithme @bytemegeekette @felicity-said-just-in-case @phanseptiic @orangeisorange @mspotatohead14 @whentheheavenfades @emmaamelia95 @smoakingskye @seaolicity @ourwritinginvein @1022bridgetp @felicityqueenforever @leagueofolicity17 @yryssss @myhauntedblacksoul @sherlock44 @sinceriouslybea @olivyflavescentdeer @olicitys-castle @ofnothingcharming @vaelisamaza @smoakedandcharmed @alexisa1206 @florence-bubbles @addictiontelly @queens-of-arrows-blog @memcjo @hysterical-for-joshifer-blog @oswinelevenforever @olicitylovemaking @bandanab310 @mymusiclove101 @lynslogic @scarletqueen23 @olicityshipper19-blog @alex-wesley @unabashedlynerdypatrol @louehmysoul-blog @ligiapimenta @chattyyana @charlie-leau @coal000 @samcrowleys @ishippolivia @julianegomesqueen @malafle @miriam1779 @charlinert @melaux @ontheolicityship @myshipperlife @wrightainsley @lexi9515 @ladygreenwood @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl @morinamel @mje-thomas @kebarry @canadianheartgirl @nannett2307 @almondblossomme @kathrynelizabeth89 @imdfabulous @mrt2501 @arsipaci14 @salasvia @brandis91 @cainc3 @morganmiguess @pr0fessi0nal-fangurl @iamisalima @nessafrancis-blog @jonhdiggle @niki-is-amazing @universed-posts @hopeful-warrior @senoritaswiftie @bellemmie @green-arrows-of-karamel @iheartarrow @olicityovereverything @oliverfel4 @olicity-in-the-heart @fullychippedcreation @geemarie @everything-but-normal-cat @myarroworld @tjmartinez @pleasantfanandstudent @j69confessional2 @scentedcolorpirate @icanica74 @tjmartinez98 @certainmentality50 @tatianadamaceno @ryelew @wildwillowzepplin @missafairy @letsplaymurde-r @lipizette @positivepiper @nuttymilkshakehologram @laksagirl-blog @turnupthemusicandscream @pumpernickle93 @onceuponanolicity @1106angel @jaspertown @fadinglands @morganashimi83 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie @mariejr88-blog @thetaufactor @onceuponanolicity @speakandseethetruth @bri206 @aglasgo @geemarie22-blog @pineprincess @nerdgirljen @eternal-olicity14 @allyouhadtodowas-stay-stay-stay @lovelycssefan @tsseract @flowerandsunshine @dcnmarvelgamergeek @blondeeoneexox @monetsmark @bb-olicity @mashamarty @rulerofsilence @erika-amber @nothingmorethanmyotps @kayleenyc @tonto16 @olicityfluv @olicitea1990 @haahaaa2408 @pattid1 @faegal04 @24karatgem @wrldtravler @readerkas @olicity-beliver @greencoffeecups @snorlaxishere @sonothappening118 @rhizoneill @emeraldbutterfly16

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gretavangroupie · 8 months

Text

Vigilance: The Outtakes - Rekindled

Word count: 12.8k

Pairings: Sam x OC

Warnings: Alcohol, Smoking, Cursing, Mentions of Sickness, Death, Heartbreak, Abandonment, Dramatic Themes, Angst, Fluff, Smut Including: Kissing, Making Out, Touching, Fingering, Digital Penetration, Praise, Unprotected Sex.

A/N: Hey! Welcome to Vigilance: The Outtakes! Not everything can make the cut, right? These outtakes will be snippets of things that we cut from the original story during the editing process, but are still important to the overall storyline and may even provide a bit of background information on previously mentioned plots, characters and themes. These outtakes will not be posted on a schedule, but will be released as we see fit. Keep your eyes peeled you won't want to miss these!

SAM POV

AUGUST 2017

“We did it boys…” Danny said, flopping down into the chair in the makeshift greenroom.

“Finally a fucking week off…what’s it been? Two months?” Jake says, popping the lid off of his beer.

“Yeah, two months.” you reply, sitting down on the worn leather couch. You were still sweating from your set, your heart still racing and the adrenaline still coursing through your system. The last show of your two month long run across the East. Tonight you’d leave Atlanta and head home for a much needed break.

Luckily tonight the set was just a handful of songs, and you knew them like the back of your hand, in fact, you could probably play them in your sleep.

“Then what?” Danny asks.

“Then we start back again, hit the West. Be gone until we come home for Christmas I guess.” Josh replies.

Shit. A week off? That’s it?

Seconds later a man walks through the door and nods, “Good show boys, gotta clear this room for the next act. Make sure one of you sees the bartender for your payout.” he says, and just as quickly he is gone.

“Damn, really getting the royal treatment.” Josh says.

“I’ll start loading up, Danny, you want to help me?” Jake asks.

“Yeah, Sam, you got clean up?” he asks.

“Sure.” you agree.

As they all file out of the small room you begin collecting up trash, empty cans and bottles into a grocery bag you found on the table. You had spent all of about two hours in here. How you had amassed such a large amount of garbage was a mystery.

Once you had all of the trash collected you set it on a table and began moving the chairs and furniture around, repositioning everything how you found it when you got there. You made your way over to your bass, locking it securely into its case, and setting it by the door for Jake and Danny. Your phone buzzed in your pocket, and you looked up from your duties as you pulled it from your pocket.

Y/N

10:38pm: Yeah! Classes are going so good! I made some new friends! Miss you! Where are you guys even at?

Of course. You’d asked her that four days ago. Four.

You shook your head and shoved it back into your pocket snatching the bag of trash off the table to take to the dumpster.

It was hot outside, and the air was so humid you felt like you were practically swimming. If you weren’t already sweating, you were now. The streets were busy with people walking from bar to bar down the bustling strip.

You walked around to the back of the bar, spotting the dumpster in the alleyway, near where Jake and Danny were loading the van.

As you stepped up to it you noticed, there were actually two dumpsters, one trash, and one recycling. You smiled to yourself and began sorting the trash from the bag in your hand, tossing the cans into the blue dumpster.

As you were about to walk off, a side door opened, and a girl in a pair of black denim overalls stepped out, hauling a black trash can behind her. Her face was covered by a mess of brown curls tied up into a messy bun. You watched her struggle to pull the obviously heavy can towards the dumpster, as she fought with the yellow rubber gloves on her hands.

“Here, let me help you.” you offered, watching her head snap in your direction.

She looked up at you, her eyes as big as the moon overhead. “Oh. Oh, sorry. No. It’s okay. I’ve got it. Just full of liquid I think.” she said, dragging it towards you.

“It’s really no big deal…” you offered again, stepping towards her.

“Just help me drag it over?” she asks.

You nod, and grab the handle, pulling it to the dumpster with ease.

“Thanks. How embarrassing.” she said, a blush creeping over her face. A small dimple formed in her cheeks as she tried to stifle the smile on her lips.

“Don’t be embarrassed, I’m sure that thing is full of half drank beers and glass bottles.” you said, trying to cheer her up.

“You were playing, a little while ago…” she said, starting to throw bottles into the dumpster.

“Yeah, I was. Did you catch our set?” you asked nervously.

“Yeah, I mean sort of, I was collecting trash but I heard you guys, caught the end for sure.” she answered, a small flutter gliding through your chest.

“What did you think? Did you… enjoy it?” you asked, completely unsure if you wanted to hear her answer.

Even in the dark light of the alleyway you could see how pretty she was. A tingle in your chest caught you by surprise. You hadn’t felt it in years.

“Yeah! You guys were alright.” she admits.

“Oh. Yeah, well, this is our last stop for a bit. We are a little burnt out, kinda ready for a break.” you say, trying to seem like it didn’t hurt you just a little.

A smirk crossed her lips, “I’m Elle. Well, Eleanor, but my friends call me Elle.”

“Are we friends?” you ask playfully.

“I think we could be.” she smiles, hauling the heavy bag out of the can. “This is typically the part where you tell me your name.”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry, I’m Sam.” you laugh.

“Well Sam, what’s your band called?” she asks.

Oh god, don’t ask…

You swallow nervously, “Greta Van Fleet?” you answer.

“Is that a question?” she asks.

“No. You’re right. Greta Van Fleet is the name of our band.” You answer confidently.

“Okay Sam of Greta Van Fleet, where do you guys live?” she asks.

“Michigan. Frankenmuth, Michigan.” You say, pointing to your palm. “What about you? You live here?”

“No. I actually live almost two hours from here. I’m just here for the night.” she says.

“Working in a bar?” you ask.

“Well, kind of. The bar owner gives out tickets for shows here if you volunteer to clean up after a show night. Blitzen Trapper will be here next month and I really want to go, so I figured tonight would be just as good as any.” she says.

Wow, a girl with taste.

You smile at her, watching her throw the black trash bag into the dumpster, shaking off her yellow gloves. She removes them and holds them in her fist as she turns back to you.

“I’m really glad I picked tonight.” she smiles.

“I’m glad you did too.” you agreed.

“So, Sam from Greta Van Fle–”

“Sammy! Let’s go!” Jake calls out in the distance.

Shit.

“You have to go…” she says nodding her head, grabbing the handle to the trash can.

“Yeah, we have…a long drive ahead of us.” You admit.

“A long drive, huh?” she smiles.

“Yeah, maybe I could text you?” you ask, feeling your heart pound out of your chest.

“Are you asking for my number, Sammy?” she says, mocking Jake’s words.

“Yeah, I think I need it.” you reply, probably putting your feelings out there a bit too much.

She smiles and reaches out her hand, as you pull your phone from your pocket. You hand it to her, and watch her type away, her eyes sparkling in the light of your phone.

“There. I sent myself a message so I’d have yours too.” she says, handing your phone back to you.

You glance down and a smile sneaks out seeing her name across your screen. Eleanor, with a small white heart.

“Perfect. I need to go before they leave me here. And yes, they definitely would leave me if you’re wondering.” you laugh.

“Okay, well you better go…I hope I hear from you, Sam of Greta Van Fleet.” she smiles.

“You will, Eleanor of… two hours away from here.” you laugh.

You put your phone in your pocket and start to walk away, heart racing as your mind tumbles though a thousand different scenarios.

“Sam, wait!” she calls.

You turn on your heels, looking over your shoulder at your brothers, starting the van.

“You… you sounded really good. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you all night.” she admits, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Really?” you ask, the thought falling from your lips before you could catch it.

She nods, “This is going to sound crazy, I know we just met by a dumpster and I probably reek, but I just…I feel like I want to kiss you.” she says.

“Me?” you ask, completely shocked.

“Yeah…” she smiles, her dimple showing again.

“For the record, Elle, even covered in trash juice, you’re the prettiest girl I’ve seen in a long time. And I want to kiss you too.” you reply.

You grabbed her hand and pulled her towards you, letting your hand glide up to her chin, as the two of you drifted towards each other, before pressing your lips together. Your hand cupped her face as you felt her soft lips against yours, sending a shock through your body. Her hand rested on your stomach as you kissed her back, slow and soft, if only just this once.

You pulled away from her, eyes completely blown out with lust, as you removed your hand from her smiling face.

“I’ll see you Sam…” she said, shoving her gloves into her back pocket, lugging the trash can through the door behind her.

You stood there as the door shut, mind spinning from the kiss you could still feel on your lips. Who was this woman? What had she done to you?

“Two seconds asshole!” Jake yelled from the driver's seat.

You ran over to the van, sliding in next to Daniel in the back, still thinking of her. You pulled your phone from your pocket and immediately went to her message.

You

11:13pm: Sam

Should you message her again, or should you wait to hear from her? You wiped your sweaty hands on your jeans, bouncing your leg up and down as you tried to weigh your options.

“What’s got you all worked up?” Danny asks, scrolling through his phone.

You let out a sigh, “Nothing I just…I just met the coolest girl.”

“A girl?” he asks, looking over to you.

“Yeah, throwing trash in the dumpster.” you smile.

“Romantic…” he smirks.

“It kind of was…” you admit.

“Whatever, might as well forget her. You’ll never see her again.” he laughs.

No. You knew you would. But you couldn’t say that. That sounds crazy. Right?

After a few more minutes of nervously switching between apps on your phone you opened your thread with her, and began to type.

You

11:34pm: Too soon?

Eleanor🤍

11:39pm: What took you so long?

—

From that point on the two of you were practically inseparable, well, not physically. You would spend most of your time talking to her. Texting, calling, anything you could. The more you got to know her the more you realized how similar the two of you were. She told you about her hometown, a place similar to your home. She told you about her family, just her and her dad. She told you about her hopes and dreams and you told her yours. She encouraged you and believed in you, eventually admitting she watched your entire set that night, barely able to drag her eyes away from you.

Elle was the beacon of light you didn’t know you were looking for. Finding you at a time in life where you felt stagnant. As the tour continued through the fall the two of you grew closer, eventually deciding to see each other again as soon as possible. That time would come around Christmas, when you’d convinced her to come to Frankenmuth. She met your family and your friends, all who welcomed her with open arms. How could they not?

To say the two of you were nervous would be an understatement, but the moment you saw each other it was like everything clicked into place. All the hours spent talking to each other, learning everything there was to know about each other, all had a meaning. A purpose.

When summer rolled around she decided to stay for the season, taking a job at a local boutique and crashing with you. You spent your days busy working, and your nights wrapped up in each other. Your life felt like it was finally falling into place. You couldn’t imagine a day without her in it, and frankly you didn’t want to.

A year later, when the time came to move to Nashville, she decided to move with you, packing up her life in Georgia and moving to what she referred to as ‘the big city’. She had her conditions though, opting for her own apartment a few blocks from your house. Though the two of you spent practically every night together, she felt happy having her own space, and who were you to take that away from her?

You remember that summer, the first time you told her you loved her, sitting in your backyard, watching the fireflies buzz around in the bushes. She watched them in awe, talking about her childhood and chasing them near the lake. You still aren't sure if it was the heat or the alcohol, but the words tumbled from your lips and you made no effort to stop them. You did love her. You think you may have even loved her that first night you kissed her. Through the years it became more and more clear to you that you couldn’t live without her, and maybe you weren’t supposed to. It hadn’t been an easy road but it was one she wanted to travel with you.

—

SEPTEMBER 2020

“Alright guys, let’s take a break. I gotta piss and I need a drink.” Danny said, standing up from his kit.

You slung the strap over your head, setting your bass into the stand before bounding up the stairs after Daniel. It had been a long week practicing nonstop. Tucking yourselves away in the foothills of the mountains, where the fog rolled in around 7pm. You spent days strategizing, writing, even arguing, but making magic nonetheless.

After a morning spent in the sun shooting visuals for the single release, you promised to lock yourselves inside the basement for the rest of the night, hammering out a few final details for one of the tracks.

There were pro’s and con’s to not being able to tour. But as of recently, you’d only been seeing the con’s. At least that’s how it felt. You weren’t able to travel at all, and mentally you felt it was taking a bit of a toll on you. You liked to fill your days traveling city to city, and country to country. Truth be told it's all you’d ever really known. So when you were parked in Nashville indefinitely, it brought all of your lives to a screeching halt.

You sipped a seltzer on the stiff leather couch, placed peculiarly in the living room of the cabin, watching as Josh and Jake argued over the difference between a Hazy IPA and a Juicy IPA, stating ‘not all hazy’s are juicy, and not all juicy’s are hazy’. Regardless they both did the job of numbing your mind to the persistent bickering of your twin brothers.

You felt your phone buzz in your pocket, causing your eyebrows to raise, seeing as how you hadn’t had proper cell phone reception in nearly two full days. You pulled it from your pocket, and swallowed nervously as you read the name on the screen.

Eleanor🤍

10:25pm: Hey, just wanted to let you know that Dad passed away the day before yesterday. He went peacefully. I held his hand all the way through...hospice was here to make it a little less painful. His funeral is this Friday.

Eleanor🤍

10:27pm: Sam, I’m not coming back to Nashville. I need some time. I’ve gotta get my feet back on the ground and figure things out. I hope you understand. Thank you for everything you did for me, and for my dad. I know he appreciated you all the way up until the end. Please, don’t respond to this, just know that you were one of the greatest parts of my life.

You stared at the phone in your hand while the guys continued to talk in the kitchen. You settled forward with your elbows on your knees as the news hit you.

You sat there, completely dumbfounded and unable to form a thought. He died two days ago? Why hadn’t she said anything?

She was completely alone, she was there with him when it happened. She has nobody to lean on. No one to cry to. What does she mean she’s not coming back to you? Is she leaving you? Is it over?

You knew you hadn’t seen Elle in a few weeks; she decided with her dad being so sick, it was best to stay away from each other for a while so as not to bring any unforeseen illness around him. She left you with a kiss and a see you soon, and you believed her. You understood. You agreed. You agreed with the unspoken condition that she would be back. But now?

You dropped your phone to the floor beside you, letting your head fall into your hands.

“Sam?” Danny said, walking over to your side. Jake and Josh followed closely behind, as they all stood around you.

“What Sammy boy, you okay?” Jake asked.

You kicked your phone to his feet, eyes barely catching his movement as he bent down to retrieve it.

“What? What does it say?” Danny urges.

“Fuck.” he says, blowing out a breath, “Elle’s dad died two days ago. She’s not coming back.”

—

LATE JUNE 2021

You never thought you’d find yourself in this position. After Elle left you were a little unsure if you could ever even feel like that for another person again. It took you months to pull yourself out of the depression you were in. Spending night after night wondering where she was, and what she was doing. How she was doing. Texts went unanswered, phone calls straight to voicemail. It was the worst you had felt in your life, and you didn’t know how to snap out of it.

Throwing yourself into the production aspect of the new album, you nitpicked and critiqued every last detail until you felt it was perfect. Essentially it was. You and Josh would spend nearly every night listening to the album start to finish, picking out things to tweak the following day. Eventually both of you ran out of fixes. Those nights spent with Josh were the most helpful. Letting him talk to you in a way that only he could. Explaining things in the way only he can. Slowly you came around, meeting Daniel for dinner, or Jake for drinks. Going for a walk through the park with Josh. Every day started to get easier and easier until you woke up one morning and the hurt you were harboring was so small, you couldn’t feel it anymore.

A few weeks later you walked into a bar to meet the guys, and left with the last person you’d ever expected. A person who held a piece of your heart you weren’t sure you’d ever see again. Suddenly though, you took hold of a piece of hers, and you would be damned if you were ever going to let it go.

Things had changed. She had changed. But she was also the same girl you remember, sitting next to you on your living room floor, pencil behind her ear as she drug her pink highlighter through a history textbook. The girl who slow danced with you at prom to a song that has lived in your head ever since and for the first time in a long time Elle was not a thought in your mind.

—

You

1:37pm: Hey there sunshine! Question…

Y/N

1:41pm: Hey babe! Yes?

You

1:41pm: We made plans to go home for the fourth, would you like to go?

Y/N

1:45pm: Actually, I am already going back! Told my parents a few weeks ago I would be home.

You

1:47pm: Well perfect! We’ll be going to the lake, you’re invited obviously. I’ll let you know what time.

Y/N

1:50pm: You sure that’s okay?

You

1:51pm: Positive. Get some rest tonight, I’ll see you when we get there.

Y/N

1:52pm: Safe travels!

—

“Moooooom! We’re hoooome!” Josh called through the house as you followed behind, lugging bags and boxes of fireworks.

“My babies!” she cried as she came bounding towards the door, taking you both in her embrace.

“I’m so happy you’re all going to be here! How long are you staying?” She asked, taking the bags from your hands.

“Just a few days, Ma. We’re actually busy touring rockstars, did you forget?” you said, finally able to pull your sunglasses to the top of your head and close the door behind you.

It always felt so good stepping through the front door of your home, no matter how many times you’d done it. The familiar sound of the echoes of your voices bouncing off the walls, the smell of the home itself, and the instant feeling of comfort enveloping you, no matter how long it had been.

You and Josh had spent most of the evening stocking up for the lake the next day, visiting two or three stores to get plenty of beer and snacks for the long day on the water.

“Should we get mortars or bottle rockets?” you ask, standing back and looking at all of the choices on the shelves.

“Uh, fuckin’ both? Whoa, look at this!” Josh replied, picking up a giant box filled with a mixture of a bunch of different fireworks. He was like a kid in a candy store, filling up the basket with tons of boxes while you followed along through the aisles.

“Think this is enough beer? What is Danny even drinking these days?” Josh asked as you continued perusing.

“I don’t think he gives a shit as long as it gets him drunk.” You replied as you picked up two cases of seltzers, and some white claw for Y/N.

Speaking of…

You pulled your phone from your pocket to text Y/N, but instead found a text from a contact that you hadn’t seen in ages.

Elle?

Her contact in your phone still had a heart next to it. You couldn’t ever bring yourself to take it off. As you blinked a few times to make sure you were reading right, your heart dropped. It’s been almost a year since she’s contacted you. Since the day of her last text, she hasn’t even so much as sent you an ‘I’m ok’ message. No updates on her social media, nothing. Silence. After you spent weeks messaging her and calling her, you finally got the picture and gave up. So to see her name now on your screen, came as a bit of a shock. Your finger slowly and nervously opened the message.

Eleanor🤍

5:17pm: Hey Sam, it’s Elle. Not sure if you had my number still saved or not.

Strange.

You looked up from your phone to find Josh still trying to pick out his alcohol for the weekend. You were blindsided. You didn’t know what to say. Should you text her back at all? You were kind of upset with her for not giving you a good reason for ending things that you spent years building with her.

You knew she was going through an extremely rough time, but the two of you were serious, you thought at least. You wanted to be there for her, help her through the good and the bad, but she left without even a word. She abandoned a relationship that you thought was growing, right at the time that was going to make or break everything.

You slid the message closed, and opened your texts with Y/N.

You

5:21pm: We made it. Stocking up on stuff for tomorrow. Let me know when you get to your parents!

You

5:22pm: PS…don’t know where we’re going to be able to sneak off to this weekend, but I’m sure we could find somewhere ;)

Y/N

5:24pm: I’m not far, maybe an hour or so. And I’m sure we’ll be able to find somewhere. You’re telling me you don’t have any old spots you used to take your girlfriends?

You smiled, thinking back in time. You did have a few spots, but they were kind of, less than comfortable. But Y/N didn’t seem to really care about that kind of thing. You stowed away a few ideas in the back of your head, and urged Josh to hurry it up.

You

5:36pm: Hmm, I’ve got a few places in mind. See you soon!

The entire ride home, you wracked your brain searching for something to say back to Elle. Should you answer at all? Of course you should. You didn’t want to be rude. She wouldn’t be reaching out for no reason.

You and Josh unloaded the car, sticking all the alcohol into the fridge for the next day, and packing up snacks in coolers. You knew Josh would want to be out the door first thing in the morning, and packing tonight would let you sleep a tiny bit longer in the morning.

Finally you got the gumption to just do it. You felt anxious for some reason, to even bring up her name on your phone. She held such a special place in your heart for so long, it made your stomach do flips when you thought about texting her back. Y/N would be here early in the morning, so just saying hey to Elle shouldn’t hurt, right?

You brought up her text from earlier, figuring you let it marinate long enough. You plopped down in a chair at the kitchen island, your thumbs flitting over the keyboard as you thought of what to say.

You

6:48pm: Hey, Elle. Of course I still have your number. How are you?

There, that was easy. Light and simple. You huffed a cleansing breath. The seconds ticked by as you waited for her text bubble to pop up, your heart racing.

A smile crossed your face at the sight of the tiny gray bubble.There it is.

Eleanor🤍

6:50pm: I’m okay, just keeping myself busy. How have you been?

The conversation went on candidly and platonically, just catching up with one another as you brought her up to date on your life, and she with her own. She told you that she was working two jobs, one at a daycare facility, and the other waiting tables at a restaurant in the evenings. She explained how she made great money at both places, and was happy spending most of her days with young children, teaching them and playing with them.

You

7:18pm: Have you kept up with the band?

Eleanor🤍

7:20pm: Of course I have, you guys seem to really be making it big! Do you have any plans for anything new coming up?

You grinned, she has no idea.

You

7:21pm: Actually, yeah, we do. It’s in the works now, it’s probably our best work yet, honestly.

Eleanor🤍

7:23pm: Well, I’m very excited to hear it :)

Your conversation with Elle went on for hours, the two of you talking so easily, just like old times. You asked about her dad, and how everything had gone after he passed. You didn’t want to be too forward, but you also didn’t want to be rude and not ask. She let you know that he’d left her the house and a few other things, which wasn’t much, but he left her comfortable; she really didn’t need to work.

Eleanor🤍

9:15pm: Any plans for the Fourth?

You

9:16pm: Yeah! We’re actually back home in Michigan right now, gonna head to the lake tomorrow to spend the day drinking way too much and getting sunburned. You?

Eleanor🤍

9:18pm: That sounds like a great time. I’ll be working, but our boss promised to close up before dark so we could all watch fireworks together. I’ll probably just hang out with some friends.

The question crossed your mind, but slipped away as soon as it came. Should you ask? Is it too forward? You took a swig of the beer you’d allowed to get warm from sitting between your knees. Ah, fuck it.

You

9:20pm: Sounds fun. No one special in your life to watch fireworks with?

Vague. Basic.

Eleanor🤍

9:21pm: No, no one special right now.

Your stomach flipped. Why did that make you anxious? You felt a tiny bit of giddiness sneak up.

Eleanor🤍

9:22pm: What about you?

Shit. How do you answer this…

You

9:24pm: Nothing serious, no.

That will have to do. You didn’t lie…

You’d retreated to the couch, sprawling out and drifting in and out of sleep as Josh flipped through channels of old movies and spaghetti westerns. About that time you heard the front door open, and Jake’s familiar quiet tone ring out through the house.

"You made it, huh?" Josh asked, standing up from the chair.

“By the grace of God…” he joked. He walked a little further inside the house, you knew it had been some time since he’d been here. He probably felt strange.

“This place looks...”

"The exact same? I know, it's weird isn't it?” You said, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah.” He said, dropping his bag. "Is Mom awake?"

“I think so, I think she's in the basement. Dad is finishing a gig." Josh answers.

You watched as he rounded the corner and descended the stairs, followed by your mom’s hearty half-yell at seeing Jake coming down to greet her. You glanced to Josh, and the two of you shared a wide smile and a chuckle, her voice music to your ears.

With your brother finally home safe, you let your eyes drift closed, feeling peaceful in your true home, knowing Y/N would be here early in the morning to surprise the family. And that an old flame had decided to reach out once more and say hello.

——

You must’ve gone up to bed at some point during the night, not having much memory due to how tired you were from traveling. You also must’ve fallen asleep with your phone on your pillow, as it’s incessant buzzing woke you from your slumber. You cocked your head and peeped one eye open, seeing four texts from Y/N. You slid your finger across the notification and blinked rapidly to clear your vision.

Y/N

8:27am: Wakey wakey! I’m heading over in 10.

Y/N

8:32am: Helloooo…Sam..I thought you set an alarm

Y/N

8:39am: Do you want a coffee? I’m stopping

Y/N

8:51am: Fine, no coffee for you. I’m almost there.

You smiled at her discourse, feeling excited that you got to see her today. You hit the call button, waiting to hear her voice.

“Good morning starshine! The earth says hello!” She burst out, her voice light and chipper.

You laughed, the sound of her voice making your heart skip a beat.

“Okay Willy Wonka, did you get me a coffee or not?” You asked, rolling over onto your back to stretch.

“No, you didn’t text me back and tell me what you wanted. Sorry.” she said.

“Geez, how rude. I haven’t seen you in days and I’m not even on your mind?” You relayed.

“You’re always on my mind, babe. I’m in your driveway, jackass. Come get your coffee.” she quipped.

You smiled as you hopped up from the bed, unplugged your phone and pulled on some sweatpants. You bounded down the steps to find your dad and Josh in the kitchen. You walked over to the front door, twisted the lock and stepped out onto the front porch.

She was waltzing down the walkway, drawstring bag hanging from her shoulder, and two coffees in her hands.

“See, I knew you were thinking of me!” You teased, earning a severe eye roll from her as she shoved it into your hand.

“I hope you burn your tongue.” she says, cutting her eyes at you.

“Sheesh, already feisty this morning, I like it.” You said in your flirtiest tone as she entered the front door, your hand already attached to her backside before anyone could see.

You joined your family in the kitchen as your dad made breakfast, talking and laughing and catching up on life. It was so great being at home again, and having her here, it was like you were teenagers again.

Suddenly you heard the stairs creak, the last person to arise from his slumber. This isn’t gonna be good. You took a short breath as you prepared yourself for his wrath.

Some light normal conversation. So far so good…But you could feel the tension building in the room as you made eye contact with Josh. His eyes widened, feeling it too. It wasn’t long before you felt the sleeve of your t-shirt being pulled, yanking you to your feet and pulling you to the next room.

“What the fuck? What is she doing here?” Jake snapped.

“Well, I don't know if you know, but… her parents live ten minutes away. She was born here!” You answered in your most sarcastic tone.

“Sam…”

“Jeeze lighten up. She told her parents she would come back for the Fourth a few weeks ago. I invited her to come to the lake with us.” You answered.

“You invited her to the lake?!” He said, trying not to yell at you. “Sam…”

“What? It will be fine…” you reassured him.

“So you knew she was going to be here all along?” He asked.

“Mmm, more or less.” You answered.

“And you just thought…you shouldn’t mention that to me?” he asked.

“Mmm, more or less.” You shrugged him off, no longer trying to entertain his aggravation.

“You are on my fuckin’ list.” He said. What’s new?

You made your way back to the kitchen, quickly finishing your plate of food.

“You ready to have some fun today?” You asked her.

“Sure am! How ‘bout you?” She answered.

“Hell yeah I am.” You suddenly felt the urge, being close to her again always lit a fire inside you that was extremely hard to extinguish. You leaned in close, bringing your mouth directly to her ear.

“I’m ready to see your beautiful body soaking wet in a bikini all day. It’ll be hard to not rip it off of you right there on the beach…”

—

Everyone piled into the car one by one, ready to head to the lake. You’d asked Y/N to braid your hair like hers, so you could match. In all honesty, you just wanted her to touch you. It may be innocent, but you didn’t care. It was something.

“You ready?” She asked, flitting her eyelashes at you.

“Always ready for you, sweet thing.” The words slipped from your mouth before you could bite them back, knowing that they probably hit Jake in the gut.

She took all your hair in her hands and began rubbing your scalp, brushing her nails in and lightly and dragging them in tiny circles. Shit. She knew what this did to you, teasing little thing. She pulled your hair backwards into a tight fist, and lightly jerked it back toward her. You hissed through your teeth at the slight pain.

God damn. What is she trying to do?

She began lightly massaging again as you felt your whole body envelop in excited tingles.

“You’d better watch. Your. Fucking. Self.” you murmured quietly, just loud enough for her to hear.

Your heart was racing; she knew exactly what to do to get you worked up, even if it was as simple as touching your hair. She finished up the braids, tying off the ends as you turned back to her.

You took her chin in between your fingers, bringing her face close to yours. “God I wish we were alone in this backseat right now…” you said, and you brought her toward you for a sweet and sensual kiss. You couldn’t help yourself. Would it piss Jake off? Probably. But he’ll get over it.

Just then, you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. You brought it out to find a message from Elle. You both had fallen asleep mid-conversation last night, so she was following up with an answer to your last question.

‘Do you think we’ll ever get to see each other again?’ you’d asked her, with the tiniest bit of liquid courage and delirium from being half asleep. Your stomach dropped, seeing that she’d actually responded.

Eleanor🤍

10:46am: I don’t know, but I really hope so :)

Your heart fell to the floor. Could this be going somewhere again? You had a lot to think about, but you truly missed Elle. There wasn’t a day that passed since the last time you’d seen her that you didn’t think about her. Her gorgeous smile, her wit, her independence…all of it felt like it was ripped away from you when she left. Right as you were falling the hardest for her. A book left unfinished.

But, what Elle didn’t know, and what Y/N didn’t know, Jake, Daniel, Josh, or anyone but yourself…was that something had begun brewing in your psyche. Your conscience was being pulled again, reminiscent of a fierce and uncharted time in your past. Your entire mind, body, and soul were being beckoned a different direction, straight toward the girl sitting beside you in the backseat.

But here was Elle. You hadn’t even been talking for a whole day, but you already found yourself being swept up by her charm again. So, you threw yours on, too. She wouldn’t be texting you this much for no good reason, right? What’s the harm… you and Y/N had an agreement, and you were sticking to it, though you found yourself falling for her again, you had to stick to the plan. So you lied. You could never tell her the truth.

No feelings involved, only keeping each other physically happy for now. Best friends having fun.

Way too much fun…

You

10:51am: You really want to see me again?

Eleanor🤍

10:52am: Of course I do. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do…apologies to offer.

There went your stomach turning in on itself again. The giddiness of nerves from finally hearing what you’ve wanted to hear for almost a year.

You

10:54am: Well. I’d really love to give you the chance to do just that. ;)

—-

The day went on, the heat becoming unbearable as the sun got higher in the sky. You all spent the majority of the day in the water, downing drinks and swimming until your bodies were prunes. The perfect summer day.

Each time you’d go to grab a drink, you’d check your phone. And each time, you had a text from Elle, every one sweeter than the last.

When it reached afternoon, Y/N had gone up to sit on the beach and read a book. You snuck peeks of her from underneath your dark sunglasses, sat comfortably on a blanket still dripping with the remnants of the water. Hair a mess, cheeks pink, completely unbothered. You felt yourself staring, biting the insides of your cheeks as you fought hard to conceal what the murky water was hiding in your shorts. After a while, you noticed your can was empty, so you went to take a second to join her.

“Hey gorgeous. The view of you from the water is absolutely phenomenal. I really didn’t want to leave the water...” you flirted as you laid down beside her.

“Hmm… what made it phenomenal?” She asked, lowering her sunglasses.

“I dunno, these ties sit perfectly on your hips…” you said quietly as you tugged at them. “And this top accentuates your curves perfectly…it hardly covers anything at all. You’re barely leaving anything at all to my imagination, baby…” you trailed your fingertips all over her body, ending directly over her core.

“I’d really love to pull this to the side…do you think they’d notice if we disappeared for a minute?” You felt yourself hardening again in your trunks, turning yourself on just by speaking to her, watching her get worked up from your words.

“Mmm yes, they’d definitely notice.” She whispered, licking her teeth.

“Ha…you’re right. It’s too bad…I bet this bathing suit isn’t the only thing that’s wet right now, hmm?” you asked, your lips ghosting her ear. God you wanted her, bad. Right now. But you had to push the thought away. There was still a whole day of fun to be had.

She glanced to the woods, the car, then back to your brothers still bobbing in the lake. She sighed a heavy sigh, showing that she wanted to sneak off just as badly as you did. Chalk it up as a loss. You pulled a fresh seltzer from the cooler, offering one to her as well. You laughed to yourselves, both feeling the unending pull toward one another, and unable to act upon it.

You retreated back to the vehicle to check your phone again and have a smoke, you needed to physically separate yourself from her before you went crazy. Plus, you noticed Y/N and Jake had begun to make eyes at one another while you were swimming. Maybe you should give them their space?

—

As the day was coming to an end, you’d started to feel the alcohol take up shop in your body, a headache creeping its way in. Probably from too much sun, too. You’d had a blast with your brothers and Y/N, only getting a little bit careless with the fireworks. You’d talked to Elle sporadically throughout the busy day, sending cute and flirty texts every single chance you got. You were truly enjoying talking to her again.

You’d decided to go back home early with Danny to set up a special movie night for everyone, and, honestly, to let Jake and Y/N have a little alone time. You knew they had some things to discuss, and you could tell it was eating at them both leaving things unsaid. Though it hurt you, you knew it had to happen. As much as you wanted her, she could never be yours.

—

You’d just sat down on the couch when Y/N tumbled in the front door and across the room, immediately positioning herself close to you and draping her freezing cold legs across your lap.

“Fuckin kiss me, Y/N.” You demanded of her to be quick before your brothers made it inside. She grabbed your face, attaching her lips to yours in a quick and heated kiss as your hands dug into her sides. Her tongue buried itself in your mouth, and you let out the tiniest of moans at the contact. You needed to find that spot to sneak off to, and quickly. She detached herself, lust written all over her face.

Just then, Jake and Josh came in, Jake making his way to the fridge for a beer. You leaned in close to whisper in Y/N’s ear.

“I need to get you naked as soon as fuckin’ possible, you wanna go shower?” You asked her quietly. She giggled and nodded her head, the alcohol still lingering in her body.

“I’m gonna go shower, and then we can start?” Jake asked as he popped his beer open.

“Sounds good, I think we are gonna do the same.” You answered, earning a stern look from Jake. Oops.

Y/N stood up from the couch. “I’m going to go get my stuff from the car. Be right back.”

Just then your phone buzzed. Another text from Elle.

Eleanor🤍

11:27pm: Hope you had a great 4th!

She’d attached a photo of herself posing with exploding fireworks behind her, her face gorgeous and sunkissed and her eyes shut from the bright flash. She had on a giant dark green hoodie that reached way down to her mid thighs. An old hoodie. Your hoodie.

Your face flushed seeing that she had still kept your favorite high school jacket after all this time, and she looked absolutely gorgeous in it, still. She’d changed a bit, her hair was a little longer, and she seemed to be glowing. You stared at the photo until your screen went dark, taking in every little detail of her.

“You ready, Sammy?” Y/N’s voice broke you from your gaze.

“Yep, let’s go.” You responded as you followed her up the stairs, sending one last text before closing the bathroom door.

You

11:29: Still look perfect in my clothes :)

—-

After some of the hottest quickie bathroom sex you’d ever had, you left Y/N to shower alone, and joined everyone back downstairs in the basement for the movie.

“Not showering?” Jake asked.

“Nah, I will later.” You replied as you typed away on your phone, continuing to text Elle.

“What movie, Sammy? “ he asked as he sat down in his favorite spot on the other end of the couch.

“The best 4th of July movie there is! The Sandlot!” You replied, not bringing your eyes away from the screen in your hand. You and Elle had started flirting just a bit harder.

A few minutes later, Y/N came down the stairs, clad in a pair of your sweatpants and one of your old t-shirts. Oh, and Jake’s flannel? But hot damn, she looked sexy. Two women wearing your clothes tonight?!

You grinned to yourself at the thought as she came and sat beside you on the couch, cuddling into your side under a blanket. Her touch was still so electrifying to you, and you suppressed those pesky feelings as much as you could. Just sex. Just sex.

After a while you stretched out, moving Y/N down the couch toward Jake a bit. You laced your fingers with hers, leaving a hand free to continue texting on the phone buzzing on your lap.

Eleanor🤍

12:27am: I see you cut your hair!

You

12:29am: I did, do you like it?

Eleanor🤍

12:31am: I do, it’s very fitting :) What are you doing now?

You

12:34am: Sitting on the couch in the basement watching a movie with everyone. Our fourth of July tradition.

Eleanor🤍

12:36am: Oh, the couch, huh? I remember that couch…

Your face flushed in the dark. A memory flooded your mind, right when things had gotten hot and heavy with you and Elle, you’d made it back to Michigan to visit home for a couple of days. After too many drinks and a bowl a piece, you and Elle found yourselves wrapped up in a blanket, still half clothed and her straddling your lap as she rode you.

“We’ve got to be really quiet, we can’t make any noise.” she said.

“It’s 4:00am baby, no one is awake…”

You’d unzipped your zipper just enough, freeing yourself from the confines of your shorts to give her some leeway. She’d left her sundress on, and you’d pulled her panties to the side, the both of you covering each others’ mouths and stifling any noise either if you would make as she quietly brought both of you into a bliss you’d been chasing ever since.

You shook your head quickly to chase the memory away as Jake and Y/N both spoke out loud, “You’re killin’ me, Smalls!” at the same time as the movie did. The two of them laughed together…you watched as she laid her head back on the couch to look at him as they giggled, and it made your heart ache. He looked at her with the same amount of love in his eyes as you did.

After a while, you noticed Jake had fallen asleep, and Y/N wasn’t far behind.

Maybe this is a good time to go outside and talk to Elle.

“I’m gonna go smoke, you wanna?” You whispered to Y/N.

“Nah, I’m okay, thanks.” You squeezed her hand as you got up from the couch, and dashed up the stairs.

You

1:12am: You still awake?

Eleanor🤍

1:13am: I am

You took a deep breath.

You

1:15am: Would you care if I called you?

Eleanor🤍

1:16am: Wouldn’t care in the least :)

The late night air felt nice on your face as you stepped outside onto the porch, lighting up a joint and pacing the floor. You hadn’t heard her voice in so long…

“Fuck it. Just do it Sam.” You said to yourself. You clicked the phone symbol by her contact, heart racing as you let it ring out.

“Hey there, stranger.” She answered after a couple rings, voice as sweet as honey, her southern drawl still sending your gut straight into neverland.

You talked to Elle for almost an hour, catching up even more so on the conversations you’d already had. It felt new, but familiar all the same. The banter was just like it always was, and hearing her laugh again made your stomach fill with butterflies. You weren’t sure if the smile left your face the entire conversation.

After a while, you noticed her yawns becoming more frequent, and so were yours. You agreed that you’d talk tomorrow, and with a sweet goodnight, you hung up the phone.

You quietly tiptoed down the steps, trying hard to not wake anyone. The scene you found on the couch hurt your heart and filled it at the same time, Jake and Y/N cuddled together, her head resting gently on his shoulder with his arms holding her close as they slept.

You couldn’t help the smile that crept its way to your face. You know exactly how good that position feels. You grabbed your camera from the table and you snapped a sweet picture of them laying together, wondering if they would ever find themselves there together again.

—

The next morning you woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking, always your favorite part about home. You thought back to last night, and your conversation with Elle. You heart swelled at the thought of her. Talking to her, seeing her, touching her.

Shit. You forgot you’d left Y/N on the couch last night. You wondered if she woke up pissed. You threw on some shorts and climbed down the stairs, greeting your family as you glanced around the room. No Y/N. You walked over to the front door and her car was gone. She had left without even saying goodbye.

—

You’d made it back home to Nashville, feeling strange that Y/N had left without even a word. You decided maybe she needed some space, seeing as how she probably woke up cuddling Jake that morning, and found herself in a strange predicament. You told yourself you reach out, soon. You knew she liked to disappear sometimes.

Things with Elle had only gotten better; you’d begun every day with a goodmorning text, and your conversations had only become more intense. You were truly enjoying talking with her, so you decided you’d call her at least once a day, just to hear her voice.

When tour started you found yourself wishing Elle was there. Sure you had Y/N, your best friend and lover around but it was different. You knew Y/N wasn’t yours to keep. As you and Elle began to talk more frequently you found yourself pulling away from Y/N a bit, but when photos were exchanged backstage in Nashville, you found yourself being drawn to her once again and spending the night wrapped up in each other like usual. It felt so different with her. So intimate. Was it because you were denying your real feelings for her? Did she feel it too?

You felt like your heart was being pulled in two different directions. Elle and Y/N, the two most important women in your life were now silently competing for your affection. However, it was not lost on you that Y/N was also gravitating towards Jake, whether she noticed it or not. The thing about all of it though, was that you knew Jake. You knew Jake better than he thought you did. You could see that it was killing him to watch you with Y/N, especially after what happened back home.

You could sense a shift between the two of them. Something was there. Something was growing, and maybe, by removing yourself from the situation slowly, you would make room for that thing to reach its full potential. Even if it killed you.

—

LATE AUGUST 2021

BRIDGEPORT, CT

Eleanor🤍

7:16pm: Just landed.

You

7:18am: We are finishing up at dinner. If you go to the front desk at the hotel, I left a key for you in your name.

Eleanor🤍

7:16pm: Thanks babe

Your heart was pounding as the minutes ticked closer and closer to finally seeing her again. You just had to make it through this dinner. Y/N was sufficiently drunk, finally letting loose after her altercation with Josh in the lobby this afternoon. You felt terrible, you were so caught up coordinating with Elle that you weren’t there to defend her. Luckily, Jake saved the day.

You watched as Y/N flirted with Jake, and you found yourself smiling finally seeing his smile, after a few weeks of sadness. You thought you’d feel jealous, watching him grab her hand and whisper in her ear, but you didn’t. The only thing on your mind was the curly haired brunette waiting for you in your hotel room.

You swallowed nervously as Danny made the first motion to leave. You quickly stood and joined him as the rest of the table arose from their seats. Y/N was a little wobbly on her feet, but again, Jake stepped in and helped her find her footing.

Your heart was racing as you made the walk back to the hotel, chatting with Y/N as she stumbled along beside you. After a few minutes you noticed she was gone, looking over your shoulder to see her walking next to Jake as he smiled. It felt good to see the two of them where you knew they were always destined to be.

As you stepped into the hotel you knew that in less than five minutes you would be face to face, reunited with the girl that broke your heart. The girl who was here now, all this time later, to ask for another chance, and you would be an absolute fool to not give it to her.

Offering to take Y/N to her room, you were immediately shut down by Jake. You could have called that from a mile away. You sent him a knowing look and stepped out on your floor. You ran your sweaty hands over your pants and ran your fingers through your hair. You took a deep breath and tried to center yourself, as you tapped the key card to the door.

You pushed the door open, your hands shaking so badly you shoved them in your pockets to try and conceal them. As you stepped into the room, you saw her, sitting cross legged on the bed, flipping through the TV channels.

“Elle…” you breathed.

“Hi Sammy...”

You felt like all the air had been ripped away from your lungs, the sight of her here again feeling like a dream. She was just the same as the last time you saw her, except she had more of a glow to her, her hair was longer and her body was healthy. The last time you saw her she was in the midst of true grief, working like a maniac to take care of her dad and keep a job at the same time. But here she was now, blossomed and flourishing, and she seemed to only have eyes for you.

In true Elle fashion, she quickly leapt up from the bed, and floated through the air to stand right in front of you, eyes zipping back and forth as she searched your face; clearly she didn’t believe you were real, either. You stood frozen in place, unable to get over the fact that she was physically here, making your head spin and hands shake. Sammy, the nerves…it’s okay.

“Well are you gonna hug me like you know me? Or ya just gonna stand there like a bump on a log?” She said through the prettiest smile you were sure you’d ever seen. You felt a rush of pure adoration swell in your stomach, the sound of her voice even more like sweet honey than on the phone. God, you’d forgotten.

You bent at the knees, taking your hands from your pockets and wrapping them low around her waist, lifting her into the air in a tight embrace while you spun her around the hotel room. Her laugh, like coming home to your favorite place on earth. The way her body felt, the way her hair tickled the backs of your arms as you twirled her... all of it hitting your senses one by one, and making you weaker by the second.

Finally you put her down, letting her rebalance as you found her face again. For some reason, you felt your emotions tugging at you.

“Are you really here? Or is this a fever dream?” You asked her as the two of you slowly made your way over to sit on the edge of the bed.

She laughed hard. “I’m really here, Sammy.” Her hand found your cheek, her thumb brushing under your eye as she tenderly walked you through your realization.

“How are you?” She finally asked, bringing her legs to sit comfortably on the bed, and muting the TV. “How have you been? I know we talk everyday but…” her face blushed red.

The conversation flowed just like it always had, just like as you texted, just like it did on the phone. Except this time you could see the expressions on her face when she moved her mouth that certain way, her lower lip pulling down slightly to the left when she was explaining something. The freckles across her nose, her squeak laugh when you’d gently pick on her. Still full of enthusiasm, still as smart and quick-witted as ever. And you were drowning in her eyes.

Your favorite, though, was how good of a listener she was. She knew how to respond and empathize, and she didn’t even know she was doing it. You laid there and talked for hours, laughing and arguing and loving every single minute of it. Elle was like an enigmatic force, a warm presence that was unfaltering, picking up right where you left off. She felt like the first sip of cinnamon whiskey, shocking and surprising with a slow burn that you couldn’t help but get addicted to.

“…I guess I’m just really sorry I left you without an explanation, Sam.”

“We don’t have to talk about this now, it’s okay…” you interrupted.

“No, we do. I’ve wanted to apologize to you for almost a year, but I wanted to do it in person. You deserve to hear that straight from me.” She went on. You nodded, reluctantly.

“I was in an extremely weird and bad place back then, with my dad and everything. I was a shell of a person and not myself. I don’t even remember half of that time, you know? It’s like a blacked out blur…I thought I needed to separate myself from you to not bring you down, and the band, but…” you took her hand, locking your fingers with hers. It had been months…you could tell, something as simple as that brought her a little bit of peace. You were both lying on your stomachs across the bed, shoulder to shoulder as you talked.

“I know now that you were trying to hold me up above water, doing what you do best…keeping everyone happy, Sam. You always have. And I turned you away. The brightest light I’ve ever had in my life, I shut you off. And I’m sorry. I’ll never be able to take that back. You didn’t deserve that. I should’ve reached out again.” You could tell tears were prickling her eyes as she spoke.

“S’okay, Elle…” you whispered, leaning your head on her shoulder.

“No, it wasn’t okay. We were…getting pretty serious. I think.”

Yeah, you were very serious.

“And I just…stopped it all. For no good reason except my own selfishness. And I’m so, so sorry, Sammy. I really am. I regret leaving the only man I’ve ever felt like this for.”

Your stomach plummeted. Still? Felt like this?

You knew the expression on your face turned to pure happiness at her words.

“You…you still…?” Was all you could manage through broken breaths.

“Of course I still love you, you idiot. I never stopped.” She said, punching you in the shoulder. You melted. Wow…she still…

“Do you think I would’ve kept up conversation with you for weeks and come all the way out here if I didn’t?” She asked, her last word hanging on a high note.

That’s true…

“Elle, you are…” You couldn’t stop yourself, she was pulling you in. You brought your lips dangerously close to hers, letting just the tips of your noses touch as you let your lips brush hers. The electricity buzzing between you, her eyelashes fluttering across your cheeks. The warmth was immediately there, filling the space between you with a heat that you’d forgotten about.

“I am…what, Sammy?” She whispered, her breath hot on your lips. You could taste her already, so you moved your tongue to sit on your lower lip, savoring every single second that you could.

You brought your forehead to hers, letting it balance there while you caught your breath.

“Perfect.” You breathed, the word falling from your mouth as you let your lips connect with hers, so simply and so sweetly. Just like you always remembered. Just one tiny kiss to reintroduce yourselves; she’d only been back for half a day. But it felt right, and real, and she truly was perfect, she always was.

When you separated, you left your forehead connected to hers, as you let that lustful and heavy excited feeling settle in the pit of your stomach, taking up shop and re-rooting itself where it belonged.

It was then you knew that she was back for a reason, and you’d be damned if you let her slip away again.

——

That night, you slept platonically in the king-sized bed, sharing room service and a few beers while you reminisced, her getting sleepy and cozy while you twisted your fingers through her hair. You didn’t want to move too fast, though you could tell the heat was rising in her face, too. The way she looked at you…you recognized it. Nearly three years of her being your everything…of course you were still able to pick up on all her cues. You held back in acting on them, though, as difficult as it was, you wanted to still be a gentleman.

And getting to know her again? Like re-reading your favorite novel…remembering the details that stuck out to you while reciting the sentences you’d memorized. Re-learning and recalling her mannerisms, laughing so hard you couldn’t breathe, and sharing so many tender moments you felt like putty in her hands. God, you couldn’t believe she was back.

——

The second night of Bridgeport, and you finally had someone in the audience that you could play to. You had to admit, you were a little nervous. Anxious for her to see you play again, but excited all the same. You had a few more nerves in your system tonight, so you shook them away with an extra seltzer.

The show was going well, until suddenly your bass cut out. Fuck. You glanced to Jake quickly, signaling him to distract. He did, thankfully, as you rushed to the keys to play the bassline there. When your tech returned, all was fixed and well, but you were humiliated. For some reason whenever something like that happened, you couldn’t help but get upset. It was the producer in you, you assumed. And Elle saw. Your first show playing with her watching again, and that just had to happen. Of fucking course.

You finished out the show, hastily making it back stage to change quickly and get back to your hotel room. It had put you in a sour mood. You all loaded up in the van, and you shot a quick text to Elle saying you’d meet her back at the room shortly.

“You guys wanna grab a drink at the bar when we get back?” Daniel asked.

“No, I think I’m going to bed.” You answered curtly.

You felt Jake’s eyes shoot you a look of confusion. You shrugged.

“I could do one, then I think I’m gonna hit the sack myself. It’s been a long fucking day.” He answered.

“One. We leave early in the morning.” Josh said.

Daniel sighed. “Alright. It’s settled.”

——

When you finally made it back to the room, you felt strange at the still-lingering feeling of embarrassment from the mess up during the show. You set your bag down on the couch, peering around the corner for the sweet girl waiting for you.

“Sammy! Oh my god!” She yelped, pouncing into your arms as you caught her, her legs immediately wrapped around your waist. “You were so amazing! Better than ever, holy shit!” She was going on and on, her arms wrapped around your neck as you found a smile creeping up, almost completely dissolving your yucky feeling.

You turned, still holding her, and sat on the bed so she was now on your lap. Hello there. “I can’t believe how good you all sound, and the crowd? It was so good, Sam.” She went on, truly still on her high after seeing a good show.

“Thank you, thank you.” You laughed shyly. “You’re too kind…even if the very first show you saw, my bass fucked up.” You let your head fall to her shoulder.

“What? Oh yeah, you saved the day when you ran to your keys. Excellent job of thinking on your toes, babe.” She said, brushing it off.

Babe.

Ah, fuck.

“Do you want to take a shower with me?” You asked before you could even stop yourself, an exhilarated feeling enveloping you.

She sat back on your lap, arms still linked at your neck.

She smiled hard. “Yeah, yes. I do…let’s go.”

Be a gentleman, Sam…

——

You laid down in bed that night with Elle a bit closer than the night before, still facing each other and talking closely after your shower. Bodies hot and naked, finally feeling comfortable enough to be that way in front of each other again.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Elle. I’m so happy you came, really.” You said as she traced your features with her fingertip.

“Me too, Sammy. The timing was finally right…” she said.

“Yeah, finally…” suddenly your mind shot back to Y/N for a split second. You knew that things with her and Jake had been rocky lately, but you’d also been kind of giving her the cold shoulder. You felt awful for ignoring her, but, if she only knew why…

You drifted off with Elle in your arms, completely enjoying the feeling of her on you again, fully and totally. She turned over, letting you wrap your arms around her from behind. Your perfect girl, sweet and mellow, and all yours.

——

You woke up in the middle of the night, unsure of what startled you awake except for that late-night overwhelming draw to the woman cuddled into your body, still unclothed and gorgeous. Fuck, Elle. Gentleman is about to fly out the window, girl.

It started slowly, you taking your fingertips and brushing them lightly up and down her side as you kissed the back of her neck gently. You moved to her ear, lightly nibbling at the shell of it as you blew cool air. She began to stir a little bit, waking up at the feeling of your touch on her.

You felt her press her ass back into you, letting you know that she was aware of your intentions. And lord, were you ever intending. You let your hand keep tickling her, moving to her front, her stomach, her thighs…you felt her shudder against you and chill bumps rise on her skin.

Then she turned, bringing herself to face you in the pale light of the room, arm draped across your neck. Her hand found your hair, wrapping it up in her hand as she met your eyes, sleepy yet blown out with want for you, and you for her. Both of your chests were heaving as your hands began exploring, new territory that had lied so many years claimed by you, now ready to be retaken.

You could take it anymore, you snapped your head forward, connecting your lips in a heated kiss that she returned, finally allowing yourselves to taste each other after all this time. She is so sweet. Still, so delicious…

Next you felt her drag her nails lightly down your chest, your stomach…both of you fighting for dominance as you kissed, hard and sloppy and messy, completely falling into each other now. Her hand was dangerously close to you, you could feel yourself pulsing and growing more excited, yearning for her to touch you.

You took the opportunity to grab her ass, making her hum into your mouth as she pulled her leg higher over your hip, giving you access to move a little more closely to her heat. Damn, this is moving quickly... Keep it together, Sam. Remember what she likes…

You let your hand crawl from her ass to between her legs, holding back just a little bit, though her body language signified she wanted nothing more.

“Mmm?” You hummed.

“Mmhmm..” she responded.

With pleasure, Eleanor.

You let your fingers slip between her, feeling her wetness for the first time again. She was squirming now, as you wasted no time in going straight for her sweet spots, the memories of them coming back full circle. Her hand wrapped in your hair harder as she kissed you, her leg traveling higher as she began to fall into her pleasure-ridden high. Her sounds were filling your ears, spurring you on to keep going, keep touching, keep feeling…

As if your heart wasn’t pounding enough already, you felt her hand snake between you, fully gripping you firmly in her grasp. You broke from her kiss for the first time.

“God, Elle…” you laughed, tilting your head back as she began lightly pumping up and down on you, her mouth connecting to your neck as she did so. Your mind was already in a frenzy, and you hadn’t even fully felt her yet.

You continued like this for a while, going slowly but moving so fast at the same time. Her kiss was full of steam and wild passion, meeting you for eye contact every few seconds. Shit, you’d forgotten she liked to do that.

Focus focus focus.

“Sam,” she finally breathed. “I…I want you. Please…”

Fucking finally.

“Mmm, yeah? You do?” You answered, also falling into your persona of your natural love-making state.

She nodded harshly. “Yes. Yeah, come on…” she rolled to her back and motioned with her hands for you to climb on top of her. So, you did.

The two of you were already sweaty from just fooling around; it was evident that she wanted this just as much as you did. Heart still pounding in your ears, you pushed her legs apart with your knee as you hovered above her, looking directly into her eyes as you lined yourself up. You took yourself in your hand, dipping it low between her folds to pick up her wetness before you took the plunge, sending her back into an arch already.

She was driving you insane already…just the feeling of her…

Her fingertips were already digging into your back, pulling you closer as she spread her legs a bit wider, letting your hips gain a bit more space.

“Please, Sam…” she mumbled into your ear. Finally, you lost all control as you slowly entered her, letting yourself go as slowly as possible. Her breath hitched, and yours did too as you filled her, centimeter by centimeter until you couldn’t go any further. It was like your whole body had suddenly caught fire, no more breath in your lungs, no more thoughts in your head. Just her…and you inside her.

“God dammit baby, you feel so fucking…” she could hardly finish her words, but you felt the same. You withdrew a little, pulling out slowly just like you had before. You continued this for a few strokes, letting yourselves get reacquainted with feeling each other again. You picked up the pace a little, setting yourself up to hopefully last long enough to make it count. But god, she felt like heaven on earth…

She brought her legs up higher, her knees beside your shoulders as you went deeper, her head falling backwards into the pillow as you fucked her faster now…her hand reached back, grabbing onto the edge of the mattress to hold herself in place. Her other hand raked up and down your back, grabbed your pecs and pulled your hair back tightly.

“…feel so good baby…just like I remembered…so sweet and good for me…” you murmured out, your voice barely able to be recognized. You could feel her tensing around you as she lifted up on her elbows, bringing her face closer to yours. She started rolling her hips up as you did, meeting your thrusts exactly on time. Fuck, keep doing that.

“…so pretty Sammy, you’re doing so good, I’m so…” her mouth fell slack as her head fell back, revealing her throat to you. Your mouth connected to it, your tongue wanting to devour her right here on the bed. In a quick decision moment, you sat up on your knees, pulling her hips closer to you as you hooked her legs around you. You brought your hands behind her back, bringing her up to sit on your lap, straddling you as she sat. You never once disconnected, still buried deep inside her.

Here, you were face to face, mouth to mouth, and at an impossibly intense angle so that she could roll her hips just how she liked. The intimacy was mind blowing, her hands entangled in your hair, the view of her flawless body…all of it. You were completely blissed out. She’s so perfect…

Together, the two of you reached your peaks, grabbing and holding on to each other as you spun out of control, you jutted your hips up into her as far as you could, kissing her deeply as she screamed into your mouth. “Fuckkkk baby…”

As you both began to come down, you laughed at yourselves and what you’d just done, feeling comfortable again in her atmosphere, and also feeling as connected with her as ever.

“I waited almost a whole year to do that again, Elle. You don’t understand how badly…” she cut you off with a kiss, lying you down next to her back on the bed, bringing the covers up to surround yourselves again.

“Shhh, I know. Me too, babe. I’m so sorry I didn’t come back sooner.” She reassured you.

“Elle, I’m sorry, I didn’t ask you if you wanted me to wear a…ya know.” You blurted out.

She laughed. “It’s okay, I’m safe. And I’m also on birth control, so. No worries.”

No, no worries at all. Not a single worry you could think of.

“Okay, me too.” You said. “Well, I’m safe, not on birth control. I don’t think.” You teased.

She burst out in her deep belly laugh, rolling back over to kiss your cheek. “You’re an idiot, Sam.”

You smiled hard. “I know.” You rolled to your side to face her, too, taking her face in your hands.

“Elle?”

“Yes…?”

You locked into her eyes, smiling softly as you planted a soft kiss directly to her still swollen and pink lips. You pulled back slowly, confidence surging through your body.

“I never stopped loving you, either.”

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acrossthesestars · 5 months

Note

wyllaemond smut prompt: the fox of karhold and the rogue prince (ot3 verse)

well, this absolutely ran away with me. so much for being 1k words.

fall on me like night

pairing: aemond targaryen x oc wylla karstark

rating: e

words: 4.5k

this is a future outtake from the ot3verse, no more than i was or than i am, which you can find here

Lovely did not do justice to his sister's newest lady in waiting.

No, the Fox of Karhold was not lovely.

Haunting, perhaps. Or maybe devastating was a better word.

Her face was an amalgamation of features that may have been plain on anyone else: soft cheeks, rounded jaw, rosebud mouth. But her skin was pale as the moon, her eyes as gray as a storm that built off the coast. Narrowed in distrust as they were now, that storm built until he could swear he heard lightning in the distance.

“You want to dance?” she asked. “With me?”

The pointed question poked at the tender bruise of Aemond's ego. “That's what I said, isn't it?” he snapped, all snarling teeth but little heat.

He did want to dance with her. He'd watched her flit around all evening, draped in black velvet, diamond starbursts in her hair - hair that fell loose and curling to mid thigh. ‘Was it heavy,’ he wondered, ‘all that pretty midnight hair?’

“Fine,” she answered, her voice matching his bite even through her thick northern accent, and slid her small hand into his.

His uncle had goaded him into asking her, watching him as he watched her. “Go on then,” Daemon had said. “It's depressing to witness.” He had softened, pushing lightly at Aemond's shoulder when his face tightened at the implication. “She won't deny you. The pretty little creature has been casting furtive glances all evening.” He turned away then, back to Rhaenyra and Alicent beside her, both smiling at whatever inane thing they spoke of, his mother in a tiara of silver and emeralds, his sister in their father's crown. Rhaenyra turned toward him, as if she felt his stare, and gave him an encouraging smile, giving away that they had been talking about him.

Wylla Karstark’s hand was cool in his, as if the northern winds coursed through her veins instead of blood. It eased the heat that licked at his skin, ever present, perhaps more so since he had claimed his dragon.

“You're a better dancer than your brother,” the fox said primly, her eye on some faraway point over his shoulder as he guided her in the steps of the dance. His hands found her waist, pressing tighter than was altogether appropriate. But the way she inhaled sharply at his touch was worth the impropriety.

Aemond looked to where Aegon danced with his wife, Abrogail Strong. The red head was dainty, graceful even, and Aegon could not tear his eyes from her.

He cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

“I think this is the nicest you've been to me since I've arrived.” There was distrust in her voice.

Aemond bristled. “You say that as if I've been cruel.”

She laughed and the sound pulled at something low in his gut. It was a large laugh, boisterous, too big for her small frame. He wondered where she hid it. “Not cruel. Only disdainful. Distant.”

“You are my sister's lady,” was all he said in answer.

Helaena had taken to Wylla immediately upon her arrival from the frozen wastes she called home, wrapping her in dragon’s claws and claiming she would like to keep her. It made him happy to see she had finally found another friend. And Wylla did make her smile, letting his sister set her beetles to crawl over her skirts or placing moths in her hair like jewels.

He glanced down and found her staring up at him, head cocked, and suddenly he felt like prey, stalked through the Kingswood. But Aemond was not prey.

He was a dragon.

Leaning forward, he placed his cheek to her temple, feeling the little shiver that ran through her. “You have lovely eyes,” he murmured, and prayed the line would not leave him embarrassed.

Wylla cleared her throat. “Thank you, my prince.” He spun her then, the long bell sleeves of her gown fluttering around them. “Yours is lovely as well.”

He believed she meant it and smiled down at her, noticing for the first time a small scar that cut through her top lip.

The song ended and his fox was pulled away, though she kept her gaze on him until the crowd swallowed her up.

—

A week had passed since the queen's birthday feast and Rhaenyra had been in a happy mood. Her second-born, Prince Lucerys, had arrived back in King's Landing after a time spent warding with their aunt, Princess Rhaenys, and the Sea Snake. He was tan skinned from all the time spent aboard a ship, the tawny making his hair shine more gold than silver, all smiles and tales of life at sea.

Devoid of her attention, and subsequently his mother and uncle's, Aemond wandered until he found himself in his favorite spot in the gardens. A statue of Visenya the Conqueror rose up from a stone dais, her hand on the hilt of Dark Sister, her eyes cast to the distance. A fountain bubbled around her feet, and blooms he knew to be poisonous crawled up her legs like armor, blood red and a purple so dark and deep as to be nearly black.

There was a rustle of fabric from behind the statue and he leaned over to find Wylla Karstark looking over him, gray eyes wide.

Her raven hair gleamed in the torchlight, lit by servants as the sun set. Though they were alone now.

The thought curled deliciously in his gut.

“You could ask for her hand,” Daemon had said after the feast. “You know you want her. And her brute of a father would never turn you down.”

“Apologies, my prince,” she said, rising to her feet, blue skirts the color of the night sky tumbling around her legs. It was the same shade of blue as the sapphire he wore in place of his eye, lost six years ago in a sparring accident when he and Lucerys had been foolish enough to attempt live steel, both boys feeling as if they had something to prove.

“Aemond,” he choked out after a long moment.

“Excuse me?”

“My name.”

She raised a thin brow, finely arched. “Yes, I know your name.”

“You may call me Aemond.” He felt the blood creep into his cheeks.

“Och, is that right?” She was teasing him and he wasn't sure if he loved or hated it. “Well then, Aemond,” she purred, “I must be on my way.”

She passed, and as if his hand had a mind of its own, he reached for her, his fingers closing around her wrist. “Must you?” he asked.

The fox did not pull away. Instead she looked up at him from beneath sooty lashes, so long they graced the round of her cheek when she blinked away her surprise.

“Stay,” he commanded, though his voice nearly trembled with the word.

“I -.”

Aemond kissed her then to silence her. It was clumsy, foolish, but she didn't not push him away. Her fingers curled in the fabric of his doublet as if to hold him closer and his own hands found her waist to draw her against him. He had the feeling neither of them knew what they were doing, not truly. At least he did not, having only shared a few kisses with Helaena when they had snuck too much wine two years ago. But Helaena was to wed their nephew now, and Jacaerys made her happy.

He could not let her take Wylla to Dragonstone, not when he had only just found her.

They broke apart for a gasping breath and a flush crept over Wylla's snowfall skin.

“Do you often kiss women in secret gardens?” she asked, taking the measure of him.

He shook his head, though he could not help throwing back his own barb. “Do you often allow strange men to kiss you in secret gardens?”

“Not until tonight.”

He hummed and kissed her again, one hand finding its way to tangle in the hair at the back of her neck. A weak moan fought its way from between her lips, now swollen and pouting, and the sound of it nearly tore him apart.

Aemond backed her up in shuffling steps until they came to rest against the stone wall, the ivy framing her body and for a moment he wished it would entangle them, keep them hidden in this moment forever.

“Do you still find me disdainful?” His voice was a low rasp, stuck somewhere in his throat. He kissed across her jaw, down the column of her neck, his lips seeking purchase against any inch of bare flesh as his hand rose to brush a thumb over the little scar that marred her top lip. Visions of sinking his teeth into her danced across his mind and he wondered if she would enjoy the sting of pain as he did, a pleasure he had discovered when handling himself too roughly one evening, visions of her in that black dress painted behind his eyelids.

The girl blinked up at him, as if his words had only barely registered, and he felt a warm bloom of pride beneath his ribs. “Not terribly so,” she admitted, though her face was a strange mix of irritation and arousal, her eyes falling back to his mouth. He kissed her again, licking at her mouth, hoping for a taste. But her hands found his chest and she pushed gently. “I meant it when I said I must leave. The princess will require her bath soon and I must -.”

“And what of your prince?” He was pouting now, a familiar stinging petulance rising up in him. Aemond gathered her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing over her jaw, tightening a fraction too much. But she did not wince; she simply glared and pushed harder, ducking to slip beneath his arm.

“I’m sure the prince can find a multitude of ways to entertain himself in my absence.” The words were snappish, a cold wind, and he saw how she had earned her nickname, with her narrowed eyes and the feral cut of her mouth.

She gave him no time to reply, stomping through the arch and back toward the keep.

—

“You are pouting.” The soft voice curled around the shelf that he currently hid behind.

“I am not pouting.”

An indelicate snort of laughter, followed by the rustling of fabric, and suddenly his eldest sister sat beside him.

Rhaenyra did not wear her crown today. Instead her starlight hair was twisted into a series of braids that gathered at the back of her head before falling down her back in gentle waves. Her violet eyes, nearly the same shade of his, hid a glimmer of mischief, as if being queen held not a candle to the mental torture of her younger brother.

“Fearsome little Aemond, pouting over a girl.”

He glared. “And to think, the queen of the Seven Kingdoms sits on the floor in a library to tease her brother. Not particularly regal of you.”

“It’s a fair use of my personal time.” She nudged her shoulder against his, but he did not look at her, his eye still focused on the tome in his hands - the tome he had reread the same section of over and over. “The northern girl?” She asked.

Was he so hopelessly transparent? Had he become so pathetic?

“Not entirely pathetic, no.”

Aemond groaned when he realized he’d spoken the words aloud, dropping his head back against the shelf, the dull thud of it making his sister laugh.

“Aemond -.”

“Please don’t.”

She laid a hand on his knee. “I may have overstated your patheticness for my own amusement. But truly, you’re doing nothing wrong. Not nearly as ridiculous as your brother for the Strong girl or even Jace for Helaena. Of all my siblings, of all my children, you are the most stoic. But you aren’t doing anything wrong or shameful or embarrassing.”

“I hate this feeling. I hate the way it eats at me, the way it feels lodged in my chest.” He resented it, wanted to punish the girl for the sin of making him want her. At the same time though, he longed to see her smile directed at him, even if it was accompanied by her nearly constant ire.

Her answering smile was soft and for the first time in a long time, Aemond remembered how young she truly was, less than two decades his senior. Rhaenyra shifted, the black silk of her gown shimmering in the light that came in through the high windows. “If you’re lucky, that feeling never fades.” She waved her hand. “Take the girl flying.”

He made a face. “I heard her tell Helaena she does not care for the dragons.”

“To be fair, the largest animal she’s seen, other than a horse, is those wolves of the north. Dragons are fearsome, they are magic made flesh. You, my favorite brother, are a dragon.”

Aemond rolled his eye. “Aegon is your favorite.”

“No, he is simply the most like me. Which probably makes him your mother’s favorite.”

“Hateful,” he teased, the knot of worry in his chest loosening slightly. “Daemon says I should simply ask her father for her hand.”

“Please only listen to your uncle in small increments,” she sighed, dropping her own head back beside his. “Just…just go to her. Learn her. Know her. See what you find.”

The idea of knowing Wylla, of learning her, made some dark thing, hot and a little wild, curl up in his belly - a feeling that was altogether uncomfortable as he sat beside his sister, his queen, on the library floor. Aemond shifted and then stood, reaching down for Rhaenyra, who took his hand and rose to her feet. She did not reach for him, did not comfort him in the way she might Aegon, who basked under physical contact like a satisfied cat. Instead she looked at him, truly looked, and the corners of her mouth curled into a smile. “You are a dragon,” was all she said before turning and walking out of the room, leaving him alone with his desires.

—

The low torchlight was Aemond’s only companion as he traversed the tunnels, counting his steps and praying that he wasn’t about to open the wrong door. From Helaena’s rooms, Wylla’s should only be a handful of paces away, close enough that Helaena could call on her at any time should she need her.

He stood before the seam that should open into her room, directed beside the fireplace, if his rememberings were correct, and wondered if he was altogether insane for even considering this. Rhaenyra had told him to dismiss her husband’s advice, but he could think of nothing else since Daemon’s sly reminder that the little fox was prime for the taking in her own rooms, with no one around to distract them. “How could she deny you?” he’d asked. “You are far too like me to say no to.”

Aemond was not sure that was the compliment his uncle believed it to be, yet here he stood, torch in hand, his fingertips pressed to the rough stone as he imagined the girl lounging across her bed. ‘Did she sleep beneath northern furs?’ he wondered. ‘Would she taste like wine she had snuck before bed?’

Forgetting his misgivings and focusing on that dangerous tendril that snaked through him, Aemond pushed open the door, setting the torch in the iron holder beside it. He blinked when he entered the room.

Candles burned low on nearly every surface and the air smelled of cinnamon, thick and spicy, but not cloying. The bed was empty, as was the chaise at the end of it.

Water splashed to his left and his head snapped in that direction, eye widening at the sight of her in the tub.

Wylla’s gray eyes were wide, a small paring knife in her hand, clutched between her slender fingers. He saw the tray of fruit on the small table beside the metal tub.

“What in the hells are you doing?” she hissed.

He noticed that she did not shout, did not raise her voice to alert the guards, and a new sort of confidence built in him.

Aemond stalked closer to the tub, his eye darting between her face and the knife she clutched. Lower still, he found the soft round of her breasts only just covered by the still steaming water. Her hair was plaited and piled loosely at the back of her head to keep from getting wet, tendrils curling around her jaw and he wanted to lick the water droplets that raced down her neck.

“Put down the knife,” he murmured, his eye darkening at the idea of just what she might do to him with it. It was not an altogether unpleasant imagining.

But Wylla did not put down the knife. Instead, she stood, baring herself to him, teeth showing in a snarl that went straight to his cock. Her breasts were small, no more than a handful each, and her waist tapered before blooming into hips that were wider than he had expected. He could imagine exactly how her plump rear would feel in his hands. “Why exactly would I do that?” she asked. “You sneak into my room from some hole in the wall and expect what? A warm welcome?”

His gaze traveled over her body, cataloging each freckle and blemish that marked her pale skin. Surrounded by steam and wet as she was, he wondered if this is what those old gods of hers looked like: silent, though wild, beautiful and yet terrifying.

He wanted to taste her, to sink his teeth into her soft flesh, and found that he was at a loss for words. Stepping closer, never taking his eyes from her, he approached the tub. The heat was delicious as it rolled off of her, and he desired nothing more than to strip from his doublet and press close against her, close enough to imprint himself upon her. Gently, more gently than he realized he could, he reached forward, his fingers twining around her wrist. When she did not release the blade, he squeezed, reveling in the way her delicate bones felt against his palm.

The knife clattered to the ground and Wylla opened her mouth, likely to attack him with her teeth, but Aemond pulled her forward with a sharp jerk and pressed his lips to hers. Before she could shove at him, fight him off, he pulled her from the tub, pressing her wet body to his, molding her to him.

She surprised him then, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply, and with a little jump, her legs wrapped around his waist. Aemond moaned and she licked into his mouth, her tongue curling behind his teeth, her fingers gripping hard at his unbound hair.

In a clumsy rush, he walked them to the bed, doing his best to avoid tripping over unfamiliar furniture. He did not dump her against the furs, instead curling his body around hers, his hands finding her waist, her ribs, her breasts. She made eager little noises beneath him, finding the ties at the front of his doublet and ripping at them impatiently. He shed the damned thing and could not help but moan when she found his bare skin.

“My father will demand your head for this,” she murmured as he licked a trail over the column of her throat.

“He can’t.” His reply was breathless as he shifted, kissing the top of her breast before wrapping his lips around her peaked nipple. Wylla whined at that, arching her back.

“No?” It was a silly pointless question.

Aemond clutched at her other breast, molding it against his palm, delighted at the way his hand engulfed her flesh. “Not if you are my wife.” He abandoned his groping to undo the ties at his waist, lowering his breeches and small clothes until finally his cock was free, so hard it bobbed, throbbing against her thigh.

Wylla stilled beneath him. “Are you…asking me to marry you?”

The insanity of the moment, of the words he’d actually uttered, slammed into him. But such had been his uncle's advice and he owned the ludicrousness of it. “I don’t believe I asked.”

“You are telling me to marry you?”

‘Please, please, please,’ his heart thrummed, though his pride would not allow the begging question to cross his lips.

He kissed her soundly and pulled her bottom lip between his teeth, biting down sharply, as if asserting his desired ownership. “Yes,” he mumbled against her wet flesh.

A fearful look chased away the ire and desire he had seen just a second ago. “I cannot. I…I am promised to Lord Bolton’s son.” She gently gathered his hair in her hand, tugging sweetly at the ends of it in a gesture that had him wanting to rub against her like a cat.

Aemond expected rage. He expected that violent creature that lived in him to raise up, to swallow him and her both. He realized that she had allowed things to go as far as they had in a bid at claiming a bit of independence, a fantasy to cling to when she was back in the cold north, wife to a savage that burnished a flayed man on his banners. But it did not. Instead, something more solid, more demanding took its place. “No,” he said simply.

“No?”

“You are mine.”

He slid a hand between them then and found the place she wanted him most, and thanked the gods that his brother had beaten him over the head with bawdy retellings of his own escapades with his wife.

Wylla’s head fell back as he teased at her entrance, a finger dipping in only to retreat a second later. He found that little shock of nerves, working at it gently until she moaned for him, the sound surprisingly husky. She bucked against his hand and he surmised that she wanted more. So he finally took mercy and pierced her with a single finger.

There was something shocking about the tightness of her, and it kept him locked in his body, unable to tear his eyes from her as she writhed. Another finger added, and this time he curled them forward, tearing a groan from her chest. Fumbling hands found his cock and she stroked at him, no real finesse to her touch, but he was so desperate for her that it mattered not at all. All he longed for was to help her find his end, for he knew he would not last once he was inside of her.

His mouth found her breast again and she was so responsive to his touch, wanton even, when he sank his teeth into her, that it spurred him on. Aemond ground the heel of his hand against that spot that made her cry out, two fingers pumping in and out of her at a speed he slowly increased. The flutters around his hand were surprising, grasping at him as if to keep him there, and Wylla lifted her hips, riding him as best she could until she fell apart, panting his name, pulling him up and demanding a kiss as she whimpered.

She glowed beneath him and he could swear that her skin shined with the light of the moon. Had she hidden it beneath her skin, like some myth of old?

The question died in his mind as he pressed inside of her, and the world narrowed to only the places where she touched him. She was hot, scaldingly so, and so tight that he could not stop his eye from rolling back. A pained whimper caught his attention and when he looked down at her, her face was pinched in discomfort. He kissed the line between her brows, stilling until she relaxed. He wanted desperately to be gentle for her, but now that he was inside of her, his ability to cling to that softness was rapidly disappearing.

“I’ll be yours,” she whispered, her fingertips finding the scar that split his face, and he wondered if she felt beautiful in the reflection she saw shining back at her in his sapphire eye.

Those three words rended away his self control and he could not help but pull back, thrusting forward, and he moaned at the delicious friction. Wylla clung to him, her nails raking over his back, and he was surprised at how she matched each roll of his hips, as if even an inch between their bodies was too much.

It was only moments, but time stretched out strange and foreign before him as he fucked her, his face buried in her neck, his teeth catching purchase against her throat.

“Please, please, please.”

It was Wylla murmuring the words and they echoed in his mind, bouncing between the walls of his skull. He knew his end was near, that hot sensation gathering at the base of his spine. Aemond moved to pull back, to spill across her belly, not wanting to assume or risk getting a child on her before he had a chance to plead his case for her hand. But something instinctual in Wylla rose up, and she hooked her leg over his hip, holding him inside of her until he could hold back no longer and came with a groan of her name.

For a long moment, they simply lay there, him sprawled over her, his face against her chest. Wylla’s fingers found his hair, and she combed at the snarls she had tangled therein, the gesture shockingly comfortable for all of its intimacy.

“I warn you, my father is not the most agreeable man.” There was something hard in her voice, something full of resentment.

He looked up at her, resting his chin against his hand where it lay on her belly. “Good then, that I boast the largest and most ancient dragon in the realm.”

Wylla rolled her eyes. “Good then, that you also boast the largest ego in the realm.”

He crawled up her body and kissed her, just a soft press of his lips to hers. “Have I not earned it?”

The girl flushed crimson, a delicious sight. “I suppose,” was all she said, but he took it as confirmation and gathered her into his arms, dropping back against the pillows. A minute twisted in a few and he felt his eyes grow heavy, the fox a warm weight against his chest. Her fingers traced idle patterns over the skin of his stomach as she settled.

There was a sigh, a small shift that pressed her closer.

“Fine,” she huffed, pressing her face against him. “I’ll marry you.

#aemond targaryen #aemond targaryen x oc #house of the dragon #house of the dragon fic #aemond x wylla #aemond targaryen x original character #fyeahhotdocs #fyeahgotocs

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