#oh when I walked in to the school everyone looked at me scornfully that's something that happened in the last dream too

[mastermojo98]

Zhane & Vitani Chapter 4 Rachel's Wrath

It was Friday and Vitani couldn't wait for the school day to end so she, Ruby and their new friend Kimiko could head to the mall and find outfits for the fall formal.

"Girls we are just three weeks away from the dance", Vitani said excitedly.

"I know Vee, but I don't know what to wear. What about you Kimiko?", asked Ruby.

"Oh, that's an easy one, my qipao".

"What's that?", Vitani asked.

"It's a Chinese dress my grandma is seamstress, so she is making me one".

"Cool, I can't wait to see it".

"Oh, and thanks again to both of for backing me up against Rachel and Brianna."

Kimiko bowed in respect and gratitude.

"No problem, they're just a bunch bullies", said Vitani.

"I couldn't stop laughing when Vitani pushed Rachel into the desk. The look on her face was priceless!", Ruby squealed cheerfully.

"I don't think we'll deal with them anytime soon", said Vitani.

The final bell rang to go home, and the three girls raced through the hallways.

"Zhane and his friends are having Pokémon tournament at our house, so we don't have to worry him coming to the mall with us", said Vitani.

"Good last thing we need is a boy complaining about us shopping", said Ruby.

"We should at least give him a chance", Kimiko protested.

"Kimiko, we have a lot to discuss with you".

Before the girls reached their bikes Vitani stopped and her eyes stretch.

"Oh no! I forgot to get my bookbag. I'll be right back."

"Hustle, Forever 21 is having their weekend sale", Ruby shouted.

Vitani ran to her locker and grabbed her bookbag. As she raced down the hallway, a foot suddenly flashed in front her, and Vitani fell on her wrist.

"Hehehe. No running in the halls Vitani".

"Rachel, you tripped me!", Vitani yelled.

She struggled to hold back tears due to her throbbing wrist and embarrassment.

"Did you really think I was gonna let get away with pushing me?", Rachel asked

Vitani eyes were filled with tears of anger as she got up.

"Rachel, I'm gonna--".

"What? Tell on me? Go ahead I dare you. It's not like I can stop you or anything. But everyone will know you as snitch if you do", Rachel said mockingly.

"You're gonna regret this", Vitani said coldly.

"I have no regrets", said Rachel.

Rachel walked off laughing heavily at her misdeed while Vitani angrily headed outside.

"Jeez, what took you so long", asked Ruby.

"And why are you holding your wrist", asked Kimiko.

Vitani did her best to straighten her face, but her friends could tell something was wrong.

"What happened in there, Vee?", Kimiko asked.

"Nothing", Vitani replied.

"No, don't nothing us. Something went down in the hallway. Let's hear it", Ruby insisted.

Vitani let out big sigh.

"Fine. I was running back to you girls after I got my bookbag and Rachel came from a corner and tripped me".

"She tripped you", Kimiko shouted.

"Yeah, and I hurt my wrist, but it's not broken though."

"Are you sure you're okay Vitani", Ruby asked.

"I'm fine, Rachel is gonna get what's coming to her very soon. Now let's go."

The three got on their bikes and made their way to the mall.

While looking around in Forever 21, Ruby and Kimiko attempted to get Vitani to open up about being tripped by Rachel.

"Vee, you can't let Rachel get away with tripping you", said Ruby.

"Ugh, would both of you stop. My mom always taught me not to get riled up because of fools. and only take action when it's absolutely necessary".

"Yeah? Well, my mom always taught me to not suffer fools gladly", Ruby said scornfully.

"Rachel had no business tripping you or spitting in my face for that matter. You can't let her get away with that", said Kimiko.

"Don't get the wrong idea girls. Rachel is not going to get away with tripping me, but I'm not going to snitch either because that's the last thing I want to be known for", said Vitani. You know this isn't how I pictured 7th grade year to turn out."

"Hey Vitani!"

Vitani turned away to see Zhane and his buddies Michael and Jose approach them.

"We had stopped at the mall to get something eat first". What's with you sis? You seem irritated.

"It's nothing".

"Rachel Owens tripped her in the hallway", said Ruby.

"Ruby!", yelled Vitani.

"Say what!", yelled Zhane.

"Ooh Rachel Owens? She's hardcore; you never want to get on her bad side", said Michael.

"Yeah, but don't trip anyone and get off scott free", said Jose.

"Not to mention Vitani hurt her wrist when she fell", Kimiko replied.

"No, no, no. It doesn't matter if Rachel is hardcore. I know what mom always told us, but you gotta get her back Vitani", said Zhane.

"Enough already! What is this an intervention? Karma is gonna hit Rachel, and Zhane I appreciate the concern, but you worry about your own problems alright. Now move it we have shopping to do."

Zhane and his friends walked off as Ruby and Kimiko confusingly stared at Vitani's harshness towards her brother.

"Zhane was only trying to help you know", said Kimiko.

"Yeah, you didn't have to cut him down like that Vitani", said Ruby.

"Ugh, I know but I'm just not in a pleasant mood right now, and I want take my mind off of being tripped. So, let's find something for the dance okay."

Little did the girls know that Rachel and her friends walked into Forever 21 noticed Zhane and company leaving the store.

"Hey Rach, wasn't that Vitani's brother," asked Brianna.

"Yeah, boys don't shop at Forever 21. The only reason he would be here is if his sister was here", said Rachel.

Rachel's second friend Kelly noticed Vitani looking around the dresses.

"There she is", said Kelly.

"Ooh this too perfect. I almost feel bad about doing this to Vitani", said Rachel.

"What are you going to do", asked Brianna.

Kelly took a perfume bottle off a rack and showed it to Brianna and Kelly.

"Vee is going to get a special 5 Finger discount."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh? No girl should ever be banned from Forever 21", said Kelly.

Rachel quietly walked over to Vitani, who was too busy browsing through clothes to notice her, and quietly snuck the perfume in her jacket pocket as walked backed to the other end of the store.

"Alright girls get ready to enjoy the show in a couple minutes", said Rachel.

Meanwhile Vitani purchased a lush light green dress while Ruby bought a sky-blue version of the dress.

"We are gonna look so fly at the dance", said Vitani.

"Oh, you know it and I can't wait to see your qipao, Kimiko", replied Ruby

"Yes, there's absolutely nothing that can ruin this", Kimiko shrilled.

"Hey, let's get something to eat", said Vitani.

The three girls made their way out of the store with Rachel's group anxiously watching. When they walked pass the sensors the store alarm went off.

"Whoa! What's happening", Vitani yelled.

The store manager approached the girls with a huge frown on her face.

"Alright which one of you is stealing from my store", she said angrily.

"None of us. We brought our items. See the receipts."

The mall security guard walked in with his wand.

"Alright ladies I'm just gonna do a quick a scan if the wand doesn't beep, you're free to go."

The security guard scanned Kimiko and Ruby and the wand stayed silent. As soon as he scanned Vitani the wand beeped so loud everyone in the store could hear it.

"You brought everything huh", she asked.

Vitani heart and mouth dropped with Kimiko and Ruby staring in shocked.

"Ma'am, I swear I didn't steal it. I didn't even know it was in my pocket someone is trying to frame me", Vitani pleaded.

"Lame excuses. No one steals from my store. Enjoy that dress because it's the last thing you'll get from here."

Vitani began to cry.

"Please I promise I didn't steal it. I'm too scared to do anything like that!"

"Come with me miss", said the security guard.

"Don't worry Vee, we know you didn't steal that perfume", said Ruby.

"Just hang tight, we'll go find Zhane", yelled Kimiko.

Rachel and her friends laughed at the top of their lungs as they watched Vitani being escorted out of the store.

"I don't think we'll be seeing Vitani in Forever 21 anymore", Rachel said arrogantly.

As she was being taken away by security, Vitani sobbed and thought to herself.

"This day just went from bad to worst. Mom is gonna blow a fuse."

#Book #Books #Story #Storytime #storytelling #Storybook #Reading #Read #goodreads #Author #Authors #black authors #literature #literacy #fiction #realistic fiction #short story #short stories #stories #writing #creative writing #writers and readers #adventure #sibling rivalry #siblings #literary #fiction writing

[luveline]

baby fever [remus lupin x reader]

“I’m not sure what my children would look like, but yours would be ridiculously cute.”

“It might take a few goes. A practice run’s required, don’t you think?”

wordcount: 6.2k

warnings: marauders era, nsft, smut, its half friends with benefits half idiots in love, she/her pronouns used for reader, fem reader, 18+ only please

chapter list

“If you're so desperate for a turn, just ask Moony," James said.

"Moony?" you asked. "You mean Sirius."

"No, shortcake. I mean Moony."

"I don't know why I even told you, I should've known you'd make jokes."

James laughed, leaning his head back against his wife Lily's legs. You were in the Potter household, visiting your long time friend James now that you'd finished Hogwarts.

Lily was reading a book, looking half asleep. Little baby Harry was sleeping soundly upstairs.

Lily gave you a kind smile. "It surprised me too when I found out."

"Found out what?"

"Moony can be... how can I say this. He likes a casual hook-up."

"Really?" you asked, perking up from where you sat. You'd been friendly with the marauders in school, meeting them through your cousin Marlene. They were kind, accepting, and latched onto you like a lost duckling.

This suited you just fine, the more loving friendships you had in your life the better.

Despite this, the inner workings of the marauders were a mystery to you. You knew little of their private affairs, their bigger secrets. You were okay with that, content on being however close or far from them that they'd allow.

That being said, you felt a little put out that everyone seemed privy to this story but you.

"It's not a secret, he just enjoys the intimacy, I think," James said.

"Plus, he's very generous in bed," Lily said with a guilty smile, wiggling her eyebrows at you.

"What, you've... you've been with him?"

"Only once, before we knew how much Jamesy-Wamsey here fancied me."

"I can't begrudge her that," James said, laughing. "After all, I've also been with Moony."

"You have?"

"Not to air out his business, but so has Sirius. And your cousin. And Frank, too."

"And Alice and Mary and Gwen and Rich."

"Are you sure he'd be okay with me knowing all this?" you asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, he's very open about it."

"I'd no idea," you said. "Admittedly, I'm a little jealous. He's fucking everyone except me."

"Not us," Lily said, holding up her and James' joint hands. "Monogamy."

"Everyone who's single, then."

"It's not about looks or anything, doll," James said reassuringly.

"He just goes with what he knows. Though he and Sirius had to stop after the Toby Carvery incident."

You didn't want to know. You were perplexed by this, not that you thought it was weird. It was perfectly natural for Remus to be having sex, he was single and attractive and a very nice guy, you just didn't know he was open to sex with friends.  Like you'd confided in James and Lily moments before, it had been a while since you'd had sex. You missed intimacy and genuinely just the pleasure and sensation of it.

"How would I even ask him about it? He probably wouldn't want to take a turn with a girl like me, anyways."

"'A girl like you'," James said scornfully. "Beautiful, intelligent and kind?"

"’Intelligent’ is a stretch," you said, deflecting.

"You're putting yourself down again. You're stunning, Y/N. Remus thinks so. And if he doesn't want to, it would never be about looks anyways," James said.

"You're right," you sighed.

"The worst thing he can do is say no," Lily said. Then, at the sound of a fussing baby, "Oh, best get that."

"I'll go," James said.

"No, that's okay. I miss my little prince anyways."

Lily made off up the stairs on her impossibly light footing, humming something cheery all the way.

"I hate to see her leave, but I love to watch her walk away," James whistled.

You wrinkled your nose. "Disgusting. Stop being in love for five seconds."

"No, I don't think I will." He grinned infectiously.

You grinned back. "I'm so happy you're so happy, James. All of you. It's about time we had some good. Especially Sirius. His postcards are ridiculous."

"Aren't they just? I must get 5 a week. He's acting as though he's not a port key away."

"It's pretty funny. My favourite one is from Milton Keynes, it says that everything is impossibly made of concrete and the muggles reflect their environment."

James chortled. "Sound similar to what he said about the Liverpuddlians."

"He's more offensive than he realises."

"He's all in good faith. Moony said he's much more insufferable in his fire calls. He won't ring me 'cause he knows I'm still mad-"

"About the frogs. I know."

"What was he thinking? 12 frogs for one baby? Harry doesn't even know what a frog is. How he expects me to look after them all is beyond."

"You're hardly looking after them," a gravelly, soft voice said. You looked over your shoulder in surprise.

"I built them a house."

"A puddle in the back garden doesn't count," Remus said. He looked windblown, red in the cheeks. "Hi, Y/N. It's been a while."

"I know. It's my own fault. I'm working on my second draft now," you said apologetically.

His eyebrows pinched together. "That's amazing! I'd love to read it sometime."

"Oh, that's kind, but I don't think you'd enjoy it. Silly girl romance."

"I doubt it's silly if you wrote it."

You beamed at him. "Thanks, Remus. So uh, have you been up to much?"

"He's been doing lots," James said. “Lots of people."

You blushed all the way to your hairline.

Remus just laughed. A fresher looking scar pulled taut with the movement of his mouth.

"Not too much."

"Oh, that must be nice though right? Just taking time to slow down and enjoy life."

"He's certainly enjoying some things."

"James, please," you said, pinching the bridge of your nose.

"He's just jealous," Remus told you, nudging you with his elbow. "He's not getting anything with Harry teething all night."

James scowled. "Whatever, Moony."

You were blushing and pretending not too. You weren't overly shy, but certainly talking about Remus' sex life so brazenly was enough to make you feel as though every breath you took was too loud.

You couldn't help but think what he'd be like in bed, ruggedly handsome with his sandy brown hair framing his face, big hands on you. You felt ashamed of yourself, thinking about him in such a way whilst being sat right next to him.

He had that charming, amused smile on his face that he usually reserved for Sirius, like he could tell exactly what you were thinking.

James yawned, flopping onto his side and splaying out on the hardwood flooring. "God, what a boring day," he said, sounding pleased.

If you listened, you could hear Lily humming softly from, upstairs. For a split second your stomach rolled with jealousy. Oh, to be young and in love and content.

"It's nice," you said softly, smiling down into your mug of tea, growing cold. "I wish everyday could be like this."

"Try changing nappies all night and see how you feel then."

Remus smiled ruefully. "You'll miss it, one day, when he's slamming doors and getting girls pregnant."

"I'm more worried about you doing that."

"We get it, prongs, I'm promiscuous."

You giggled. "He needs to hurry so Harry has a friend."

"The Longbottom's have a boy only a few months apart, so he's all set for friends. Don't feel any rush," he said, pointing at Remus.

"Unless Sirius decides to carry my child I doubt you'll be seeing a descendant from me for a long while."

"Why's that?" you asked, feeling like you'd missed a page.

He rolled his shoulders. "Oh, you know, settling down isn't on the cards for me just now."

"I get that," you said, though you absolutely didn't. "I don't imagine myself having a baby anytime soon, either," you said, doing your best to keep the wistfulness from your voice.

"I'm sure there's a line of guys after you," Remus said compassionately.

James rolled his eyes. "You know our Y/N, doesn’t know you're flirting with her unless you put it in writing."

"That was one time," you protested.

"Poor Xenophilius. He's happy now anyways, Alice says they’ve a baby on the way," Lily said, traipsing back in with a grin, her long ginger hair flowing behind her.

"I'm not sure we would've been the best fit at the time," you agreed. "He was very handsome, though."

"And rich!" James cheered. Lily poked him hard in the back.

"Money doesn't matter to most people," Lily said. "If anything, your money makes you less attractive."

James keened. "You cruel woman."

"It is true, James. Money only matters if you don't like the person to begin with."

"I resent what you're implying."

You covered your mouth and drove your head into Remus' shoulder without thinking, laughing hysterically at your own joke.

Remus laughed, full chest, resting a hesitant hand on your shoulder to steady you both.

"I like you very much," Lily comforted her husband, though she was resting her feet on his back.

"I can tell," he said, face pressed to the floor.

-

The next time you saw Remus was at the Potter Christmas party, hosted by James' parents in the extravagant Potter Manor.

You were nervous, twisting your hands in the fabric of your champagne silk slip dress. It was a busy affair, for charity, with more attendees that you could ever name and most of them older, richer, and from a purer family than your own. Although your blood status had never mattered to the Potter's, who accepted everyone with open arms.

The weather was bitterly cold. You wrapped your shawl around you tightly against the freezing gales, looking up at the charcoal black night peppered in stars like crushed diamonds, stretched out across the expanse of sky. You couldn't make out one end from the other.

Your cousin Marlene had accompanied you, however your nerves were getting the better of you and so she’d left you for a moment to yourself. The sound from inside was raucous, clinking and laughter and the chorus of a live band. You'd sent her in, where she was desperate to seek out Sirius. Whether she was seeking a love affair or a tumble was anyone's guess.

You were shaking, your heels maybe a bad choice for someone who didn't wear them that often. Your breasts were tight with the cold and you moved an arm to cover them.

"This is silly," you mouthed to yourself. "They're just people."

You exhaled out of your nose and turned suddenly to enter, coming face to chest with somebody solid and lean.

"Woah, McKinnon. Slow your roll."

"Oh, Sirius. I'm sorry," you said, backing away.

"Just saw dearest Marlene," he smirked at you. "She said you were too afraid to come in."

"I'm not afraid," you scoffed weakly. "I was just warming up."

"That's the opposite of what you were doing," he said pointedly. "Your skin’s like ice."

"Ah," you said, hyper aware of your dress and your hair and your face.

"You look great!" he said encouragingly. "Let's not deprive the rich and prosperous of you any longer, hmm?"

"Right."

You let yourself be steered inside, his arm over your shoulder.

"So - how was the world?"

He laughed, "well, I didn't see much of it. Missed home too much," he said. You didn't think he was talking about the Noble House of Black.

You smiled, spotting a photo of him and James displayed proudly in the foyer, which was teeming with people in various states of dress, half with their coats on waiting to be attended to.

"It's very busy."

Sirius nodded at your comment. "You should see the parlor, one can barely move. Like sardines. All the young ones are in the den, this way," he said. You abandoned your shawl at a coat rack that could barely keep itself up.

"You look particularly ravishing tonight," he said. His voice was much easier to hear now, the commotion of the party falling away as you walked.

"Oh," you looked down at yourself, feeling silly and overdressed and like you didn't fit right. "Thanks, Sirius. You look nice too."

"'Nice,' she says." He held a hand over his chest like you'd punched him.

"Handsome," you corrected yourself. "You always do."

He grinned. "That's better."

He came to a stop. Light was creeping out under the door into the hallway, painting your pointe-toe kitten heels a warm shade of Amber.

Sirius opened the door, nudging you inside.

It was like a time machine, though everyone was much better dressed. It may as well have been a seventh year party with all your favourite people, though the amount of alcohol was lower and the amount of kids surprisingly higher. Wow, people have been getting busy, you thought. There were more people than you could count but thankfully you knew or knew of almost everyone there.

"Y/N!" Marlene cheered, half straddling the arm of the sofa where Remus and Peter sat.

"Hi," you said, greeting the few who'd turned to look at you.

Lily nodded at you, dressed in an ankle-length evening gown with a beaded bodice and spaghetti straps, a saturated blue that complimented her cool, red hair. James was busy trying to persuade a half-crawling Harry from eating his own socked feet, his shirt untucked, suit jacket discarded.

Following Sirius' lead, Peter had forgone a traditional jacket for a leather jacket. You grinned at him.

You weren't sure where Remus' outerwear was, distracted by the sight of his lean forearms clearly displayed by his rolled up sleeves. He was watching you assess the room.

You gravitated to him without thinking, taking the seat opposite whilst Marlene was motivated by Sirius' return to find somewhere else to be.

"Hi, boys," you said, still nervous.

"Hi, Y/N," Peter said. He was staring over your shoulder at a gaggle of girls who'd been in Ravenclaw when you were at school. One was smiling shyly at him.

"Evening," Remus said.

"Be right back," Peter mumbled. Remus rolled his eyes and you both watched him steel his nerves and approach the woman he'd been eyeing.

"You look great!" you said, perhaps too loudly.

He smiled at you. "So do you. I haven't seen you so dressed up since the wedding."

James and Lily's, he meant. You looked back fondly at the memory. He'd been exhausted, a shocking red cut trailing from his ear down into his neckline. He'd been ecstatic anyways.

"That seems so long ago now."

"It does! Even longer since school. Time's moving so fast."

"It's kind of nice. There was a time where I couldn't imagine anything but school," you said, shocking yourself with unexpected honesty.

"I know what you mean.”

"You do?"

"Sure. I didn't think I'd live past my first year."

You frowned. He'd always been so ill, so sick. Often relapsing and spending days away from everyone.

"I'm sorry," you said, sympathetic.

"Oh, don't be. I had everyone and everything I needed. I couldn't ask for more."

You smiled at him, happy for his happiness.

He laughed, "Godric, that got serious quickly. What are you drinking?"

"Oh, I'm not. Lest we forget what drunk me achieved at every other house party."

"I like drunk you - she's very honest."

You covered your eyes with the back of your forearm, groaning. "Don't remind me."

"Hey, we might not be friends if you didn't tell Sirius how you felt."

"You make it sound like I was in love with him."

"Having dreams where he's your big brother isn't much better."

You cringed. "One dream! He has a very brotherly vibe about him..." you defended yourself.

You dropped your arm, meeting his crinkled eyes. "He doted on me heavily after that."

"Didn't he just! When Perkins stood you up at the three Broomsticks in sixth year-"

"He had detention for 5 weeks," you sighed.

"I'd never seen Minnie so angry."

"It's nice to remember these things," you said.

It probably wasn't any secret that since Hogwarts had ended you'd been incredibly lonely. Your friends had their own lives now, you had yours. It was just... emptier. Going from seeing these people every day to only at weddings and parties was a change that left a yawning gap in your chest.

"Do you miss school?" you asked him.

"I do. Not the exams. But I miss Gryffindor common room and the courtyards and sneaking out. It's not as fun going for a midnight snack in your own home."

"Mm," you probed the roof of our mouth with your tongue. "Everything's changed."

"Not us. Not you. You're just as lovely."

"And you're still ridiculously nice," you deflected, blushing.

"I'm not being nice. I'm being honest."

"They do say I'm the prettiest Mckinnon," you joked.

"Yes, you are."

He said it in such a steady voice you felt your stomach twinge. He's seducing me. I'm being seduced.

"Y/N!" James cheered, a half sleeping Harry in his hands. He had dribble all down his front. "Hold darling Harry for me, would you?"

You held out your arms with little protest.

He was heavier than you expected him to be, cooing at his little pleasant face in delight. James didn't waste any time, spinning on his heel to find a new shirt, you thought. You held Harry close to your chest in awe. He was so big and so small. He babbled, a little disgruntled from being passed to you. You swayed him so slowly it hardly registered. It surprised you that he could be so calm in such a loud room.

He was watching you in baby puzzlement, as if to say, I know you, but I don't. You've held me before, but not many times.

His small hand reached for your hair. You let him, despite his surprising strength, it didn't hurt.

"So mean," you murmured. "I bet you don't pull your mummy's hair."

His pulling made it so that the clips in your hair came free, sliding out of place. The hair that usually framed your face came down from its restraints and fell in your eyes.

"Here," Remus said.

He was on his feet, rounding the sofa to collect your hair in gentle hands. He pulled an elastic from his pocket and tied it up in a loose ponytail with such careful, delicate movements. You shivered at the feeling of his hands in your hair, his index finger gracing the soft skin of your neck.

"Thank you," you said, half turning your face to offer him a grateful smile. He tucked the last loose strands behind your ear.

"Good as new."

Harry gurgled. You pushed the dark hair from his face tenderly.

"So strange to think he came from James and Lily," you whispered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" a voice said in your ear. Remus was leaning his forearms on the back of the sofa, close to your side. Though he was talking to you he was staring at Harry.

"Nothing like that... just. They love each other and now there's a person I have to use both arms to hold that shows that."

Remus didn't reply. You rocked Harry, whispering gibberish back at him everytime he babbled. He nodded off in no time at all.

"Come on, I'll get you a drink. Anything in particular?"

"Water is fine," you told Remus, careful not to move too much.

He disappeared into the crowd in no time. From where you sat, you could see Frank Longbottom rocking with an unhappy baby, his wife Alice watching with something close to adoration in her eyes. Melinda Donavan was dancing shamelessly with her girlfriend Emmaline Vance next to the windows, though shy Emma seemed much less willing.

Lily and Peter were sequestered to the side, Peter looking positively downtrodden. His advance couldn't have gone well.

Sirius was suspiciously absent, as was James. Perhaps he hadn't intended to change his shirt at all.

Your friends from school, Poppy and Guenivere, were half way across the world, and hadn't been able to make it home for Christmas this year. You missed them, feeling a little envious that they'd shot off without you.

You felt forlorn, suddenly. When tonight was over, you might not see everyone again for a long while. James or Sirius didn't mind if you popped around for tea at your leisure, and Poppy was very attentive at sending you weekly letters.

But it wasn't the same as belonging to somebody. Feeling needed.

"Oh, Harry," you whispered. "You're so lucky. And so cute."

A little while later you found yourself sipping on your glass of water, Sirius and Moony beside you, bantering. Baby Harry slept on the sofa next to you in a makeshift bed of pillows that made you nervous. Lily assured you he was safe enough, never wriggled and was happy to have him back from you whenever you wanted.

To tell the truth, you weren't sure you ever wanted to give him back. Especially as someone who'd never had to change him or wake up to his cries in the middle of the night.

Lily was dancing with James in the middle of the room surrounded by your peers. It was easy to spot them, her stunning long legs and gorgeous red hair, his long, lean frame and handsome, cutting face.

They were like supermodels.

You felt a little silly in your slip, prodding the curve of your tummy with a pointed, painted fingernail. Your hair was falling out of the bobble Remus had tied around it. You took the tie out to run your hands through it, pulling the hair away from your face and scraping it into a tighter ponytail.

Sirius was recounting a funny story from his British road trip, laughing before he'd finished his own jokes. His and Remus' knees were pressed together familiarly.

He was trying his best to include you in the conversation despite your distracted demeanour tonight.

"Well, that's if you can believe it."

"I can," Remus said dryly.

Sirius howled like it was the funniest thing anyone had ever said. You fought a smile.

“Oh hey, it’s that dame from Beauxbatons… What was her name?” Sirius asked, nodding subtly to the left.

“Two things, you can’t call women dames. This isn’t the forties,” James said, appearing from nowhere. It was so sudden it forced a laugh out of you. Remus grinned at you.

“And her name is Thalia. Be nice to her, she’s Lily’s pen pal,” James finished.

“I’m going to be very nice to her.”

“Boo!” you protested. “You corn dog.”

He only smirked and flounced off to bother her. She was insanely pretty, feminine and slender with perfectly curled hair and clear, tanned skin.

“She’s pretty,” you said.

“She is,” Remus agreed.

“Not as scrumptious as you, shortcake,” James said, ruffling your hair. “You look different tonight. Haircut?”

“Nothing I can think of.”

“Do you want a haircut? I’ve been practicing a new spell.”

“Absolutely not.”

James pouted. “No one ever lets me practice. How will I get good at these niche spells?”

“You could practice on yourself?” Remus suggested.

James gasped. “And risk my perfect swoop? Go to hell, Moony.”

“Where’s your keeper?” Remus asked, mock condescending.

“She’s gone to ask mum something. Not,” he said pointedly, turning from you both and shouting over his shoulder, “that that concerns you, dickhead.”

“You’re in his bad books.”

“Till he gets bored. Ten minutes tops.”

“What will you do with those precious ten minutes?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Could travel, see the world. Might sit down and write a book.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” you said, tone full of ire. You tilted your head, neck bared, to stare at the ceiling.

“It’s not going well?”

“It’s okay. My uh, my agent likes the second draft. We’re looking at publishing houses now but it’s - a long process-” you struggled to find the right words, “-people aren’t interested in contemporary right now. Muggle’s love magic and science fiction, surprisingly.”

“I guess it makes sense. Magic isn’t as interesting to those of us that use it everyday.”

You nodded. “But get this - they love werewolves and vampires. There’s a whole sub-genre of like, werewolf boyfriend fiction.”

Remus stiffened next to you. You turned inquisitively.

“That’s bizarre. Don’t they think werewolves are dangerous?”

“I guess they do,” you conceded. “But it’s just like real werewolves, right? Just because they’re dangerous doesn’t mean they’re evil.”

He smiled at you in a way you couldn’t describe. Almost gratefully. You smiled back.

“I think I’d quite like a werewolf boyfriend. Settle down, have his puppies, watch him fight all the other werewolves off.”

“Werewolves don’t usually fight other werewolves.”

“No?” you asked.

“No,” he said, as though he were an expert. He probably was. Remus always knew something if you didn’t, or at least he had in school.

“That’s too bad. How will I know he truly loves me if he’s not willing to fight to the death for me?”

“I never pegged you as someone with delusions of grandeur.”

“Delusions! You’re so mean, Remus.”

“You can call me Moony, if you’d like.”

“Moony,” you tested the word out. “I never understood that nickname. I’ll keep calling you Remus, if you don’t mind. It’s a nice name.”

“It’s an obscure inside joke, I’m afraid. And it would take a while to explain.”

“That’s okay,” you said pleasantly, righting yourself. You turned to peer at little sleeping Harry. He was flat on his back, dozing without a care in the world.

“Aw, Remus. Everytime I look at him I get a little bit jealous,” you said, voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe I’m just close to my period.”

“He is charming.”

“He’s everything.” You leaned dramatically into his chest behind you. “Cute little baby. Hey, you wanna have kids with me?” you asked him, mostly joking. “I’m not sure what my children would look like, but yours would be ridiculously cute.”

When he spoke, you could feel his chest vibrate. “It might take a few goes. A practice run’s required, don’t you think?”

You took a few seconds to process what he was saying.

“You’re definitely trying to seduce me,” you said quietly.

“Is it working?”

“We need a babysitter,” you said, in lieu of a yes.

“Yeah, I’ll take him,” Peter said. You and Remus did a double-take, finding him sat at the table behind you drinking a lemonade with a morose expression. “Go fuck, or whatever.”

“Are you sure, Pete?” Remus asked. You were too embarrassed at being overheard to form words.

“Oh please, as if I’ve anything else to do tonight.”

A long and heart pounding traipse to an empty guest room later, you found yourself in the lap of one Remus Lupin. It had started respectably enough at first, which is to say, with a kiss that made you feel like you were weightless.

“Who taught you how to kiss like that?” you asked, breathing hard. He kissed a stripe up your neck whilst you caught your breath.

“The answer may horrify you.”

“Sirius?”

“How’d you know?”

“James told me all about it.”

“Oh he did, did he?” His hand was creeping down from your neck, ghosting over the straps of your dress and down, pausing inches above the rising valley of your chest.

“Can you touch me instead of teasing?” you pleaded.

“I can do both,” he laughed.

Finally his hand slipped down, under the cowl neck of your dress, to press against your heaving chest.

How he could kiss at your neck with deadly precision, finding every sweet spot you never knew you had, whilst simultaneously performing the most masterful ministrations under your dress was anyone’s guess. What factory had they made him in?

You said as much, giggling.

He pressed a hot kiss to your mouth in response.

“I liked how we were sat before, didn’t you? Here,” he said, leaning against the headboard. “Turn around.”

You did, curiously, pressing your back to his chest. He gripped the outer sides of your thighs, lifting you flush against him in an attractive display of strength.

“I knew as soon as I saw this dress I wanted to take it off you. But I can wait. After all, you look so good in it.”

It wasn’t what he was saying, it was how. It was the fact that Remus, intelligent, pensive Remus was saying it.

You struggled to speak. He kissed you chastely on your temple.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked.

“I’m sure. Are you?”

“Mm. We can stop whenever you want.”

“Okay, handsome,” you said, apprehension colouring your voice.

Wordlessly, he traced a line up your bare thigh, the fabric of your dress pushed up from the move, till his hand rested at the bottom of your stomach. His other hooked under your knee, pulling your one leg up, up, exposing your centre. If anyone were to enter the room, they would find you in a compromising position.

You pushed your heel into the mattress to keep your leg elevated, even though Remus continued to hold it up.

He pushed his hand down, index and middle finger coming to find your clit through the fabric of your underwear with an expert ease. You gasped in happiness.

“There you are,” he said, hushed. He set a steady, circular motion, laughing every time you struggled to breathe properly. The slither of fabric separating his touch from your skin was dampening alarmingly quickly.

“That’s cute,” he said, mouth pressed to your neck.

“Is it?” you asked, breathless.

He pulled his two fingers apart, sliding the bud of your clit between his fingertips. You moaned without thinking, your legs closing on instinct.

He pulled your legs open again, none too gently, tutting.

“Teasing,” you protested.

“You like it. I can tell,” he said, pushing your underwear to one side.

He rubbed a circle around your entrance, spreading slick. “Physical evidence,” he said. He pushed in the tip of his finger slowly. The initial stretch was always the strangest feeling, though you were wet enough to enjoy it thoroughly.

He stopped, pulled out. You whined.

“Shhh,” he placated. His middle finger went back in, first knuckle, then second. You gasped. Your knees wobbled.

Out. He released your knee and it leaned back in automatically. The hand that wasn’t fucking you went under the hemline of your dress and up, silk shift gathering around his wrist. He massaged the supple skin of your breast.

One finger became two. He knew exactly what he was doing, curling inside you and touching a sweet spot relentlessly. He was steady, maintaining a pace that wasn’t fast or slow.

You were gasping, hitching, mewling sounds that had him hard against your back. You grinned at that.

He pulled out completely, rubbing a slick circle into your clit.

“Lift your hips?”

You did. He pulled your underwear free and tossed it gently to the side. You were sliding down slowly, back starting to be more against the bed than his front, the feeling of his erection poking into your shoulder blades. You shifted your arms just to listen to his breathing change.

You were a mess, leaking wet on the sheets, moisture collecting in your lashes from the stimulation.

He was performing a tantalizing move wherein he fingerfucked you deeply and rubbed your clit at the same time, almost bringing about your end prematurely.

“Oh my god,” you said, shutting your legs in a fruitless attempt at warning him.

“Feel good?”

You gasped, closing your eyes against the overwhelming sensation. You came hard, walls constricting around him. He chuckled, the sound music to your ears, only laughing more when his continued ministrations had you gripping his leg with a white-knuckled grip.

It was a blistering orgasm, as they went.

You turned in his lap, pulling his face down to kiss him, easy as though you’d done it a hundred times before. “Oh, you liked that, huh?” he asked against your lips.

“So unkind,” you said. You reached down between you both to palm his dick where it strained in his slacks. It was his turn to moan.

He smiled at you, pulling your hand from his erection to hold it tightly in his . “Don’t try to finish me before I’m inside you, please.”

He pulled you flat on your back, crawling to kneel between your legs.

“Your cunt is so pretty,” he said, reaching forward to finger you again, wrist turned to the ceiling.

“You talk to all your girls like that?” you said, strangled.

“Only ones with cunts like yours,” he said. He unzipped his trousers, pushing them down with his boxers just enough to free himself. His dick was long, curved, and surprisingly wide. Your pupils were blown.

He adjusted your dress so that your breasts were out, leaning forward to kiss your chest affectionately. The tops of his thighs pressed to the back of yours, splaying you open. You could feel your entrance gaped, a line of wet dripping down. Remus used his hand to rub his dick up the line, wetting his head. He rubbed your entrance and clit, thrusting against you without entering.

You whimpered. He watched your face, using his free hand to cradle your cheek.

You grinned. He lined up, fucking into you with controlled, shallow thrusts. You stretched around him slowly. Only when he bottomed out did he increase his force, thrusting so deeply your body rocked into the mattress and sprung back up.

“How does that feel, sweetheart?”

“Good,” you whimpered, gripping the backs of his thighs. You couldn’t quite reach.

“Good? Like this?” he asked, breaking his rhythm to drop into you. Your whole body rocked.

“Oh,” you moaned, scrunching your eyes shut. “Again?”

He did this many, many times. The sounds you were making only spurred him on, as though every gasp were an encouragement. You grasped his face with trembling fingers, the way he kissed you enough to make you moan into his mouth.

He paused his thrusts and you protested, wriggling your back, trying to fuck yourself on him. He found this endlessly amusing.

“Please… please.”

It was enough. He took his hand between you both to rub your clit, though his motions were imprecise and sloppy, your slick making it hard to find purchase. His thrusts slowly fell out of rhythm, his only aim to penetrate you as deeply as possible.

You could barely think, stretches of silence filled with your heavy breathing. You struggled to hold your legs up, instead finding them pushed up with every time Remus moved forward. If he minded, he didn’t say anything.

He found your g-spot quickly, perceptive of your disrupted moans each time he hit it. It was a sweet torture, enduring him.

You wanted him to cum before your second, clenching down around him everytime he pulled out. You were unraveling quickly. You moved your hips in loose circles, trying to relieve him of all the work.

“Cum in me?”

“You want me to?”

“Please, Remus.”

He threaded his fingers through yours, arms pressed tightly together between your bodies. He leaned heavily into you and you could feel the whole weight of him behind his last thrust. He came inside you, thrusting wildly. He kept going long enough to dedicate himself to your clit, thumb moving up and down till your head spun. You seized up, your arm tight around his neck, pushing his face into your chest. He chuckled, nipping at the sensitive skin if your nipple.

Only after it stopped did you realise how illicit the sound of him fucking you had been. You blushed, grateful your face was buried in his hair. You blinked away tears from the intensity of your second orgasm. Your stomach felt like it was alight.

He pulled out, leaning back on his haunches, rubbing out what was left of his cum. It dripped obscenely down his fist. You felt the mixture of your cum leaking out and running down your aching legs which you set on the bed, sickly pleased when they shook.

“You’re a dream,” he said. “A fucking dream.”

You turned your face to the side and covered your mouth, your pleased smile.

-

“When I said to fuck Moony, I didn’t mean in my house,” James said the next day, where you’d gathered for tea and buns in godric’s hollow.

“You didn’t specify,” you said lightly, peering at him over the rim of your cup of coffee.

“I did not ever think I needed to.”

Remus’ hand was comforting on your shoulder. “You definitely should’ve.”

James frowned. “God, I can’t even look at you both. Stop smiling. This is an infringement of my human rights. We were literally downstairs while you were canoodling.”

“Fucking.”

“Bah! I regret encouraging this.”

“Be fair, James. We would’ve eventually,”

“We would’ve?” you asked.

“In that dress? Definitely.”

James gagged. “Get a grip, Moony, before you break the hearts of all your casual lovers.”

Remus shrugged. “It can’t be helped.”

You hid your pleased expression with a well timed sip.

“What’s your objective? Marriage?”

“Puppies,” Remus remarked.

James shot tea through his nose in shock, though you didn’t know what was so funny.

my masterlist <3

#remus x you #remus lupin #remus lupin x you #remus lupin x reader #marauders #marauders era #Post hogwarts #no Voldemort cos I said so

[hazyturmoil]

Why did I have a Second fucking dream about high school smh

#first I was in minecraft world with my roommates in the nether? and there was the same lava I had found in a dungeon irl but in the dream #there was a treasure and then more treasure that broke into a whole new area with a lake and a fuckton of presents and I was able to get #four of them but we had to get a taxi to the real world? because we were stuck somehow?? and I tried to pay the person at the real world #counter in gum but that wasn't allowed so I have her one of my presents which were stacked into one and had to be opened one at a time with #fried chicken which... interesting choice brain... and then we were in my high school?? and it gets blurry for a bit.. at some point I was #in a basement and learned/ revealed that I was a vampire which just was nbd in this world #oh when I walked in to the school everyone looked at me scornfully that's something that happened in the last dream too #and there was a booth and they were trying to remember the around about above across stuff and then I went to the woods?? which surrounded #the school and I was looking for mr tumnus who was a werewolf but I couldn't find him and then there was something about me owning the #booth everyone had been getting into? which meant I had to sit in on I think a school council meeting?? but it was just one teacher and #then a bunch of kids from my grade. and some of them including Calvin were in cosplay club but found it weird that I found it weird even #though I'm pretty sure they just all dressed up as footballer?? anyway people were given tasks and had to do things with trees but no one #used silk touch which I found weird and there was a lil slug guy that became I think presslys to take care of and elli did something with a #tree and plants and then jake got mr tumnus but also there was a giant holding a whole tree walking by which was cool but I heard mr tumnus #and I lept to my feet and sprinted into the forest and yelled for him and this time he came and I hugged him and then jake showed up and I #told mr tumnus the wolf to run and he did and jake was mad at me but I just shrugged and told him if he wanted him he had to get him #himself and that was the end of the dream #insert John mulaney we don't have time to unpack all of that gif

[kkodzvken]

take the dive - sugawara koushi x milf!reader

tags/warnings: smut, 18+ ONLY! slight dubcon, infidelity, post timeskip (suga teaches reader’s kids). overstimulation and slight dumbification, oral (f. receiving), unprotected sex, semi-public (in an empty classroom)

a/n: this is my piece for @ultimate-astridwriting’s milf fuckers collab, which you can find here!! thank you for hosting this astrid, and thank u to everyone in the server for ur love and support as i worked on this <33. title cred: take the dive by jonghyun

wc: 3.9k

Amidst a faculty full of stuffy old dinosaurs and suits, Sugawara Koushi is a breath of fresh air. He’s a welcome distraction, a pretty face to focus on at dull PTA meetings and assemblies. And you knew that you weren’t the only one making heart eyes at him. Everywhere that he went, heads turned, and moms whispered. At the bus stop, on the sidelines of sports matches, in the waiting rooms outside dance classes.

It was just that, though -- just whispers. Little knowing glances and nudged shoulders, dreamy sighs and brief sinful indulgences. Nothing more than a brief escape from the monotony of your everyday lives. You’d lose yourselves in the fantasy for a few seconds, and then pull your heads down from the clouds and plant your feet on solid ground. You enjoyed your gossip with the other moms, and then you returned home, to your husband and children. To your family.

You love them, of course. Your children are your world, and your husband is a good man. He’s a good man, and that’s what made it so hard. He treats you well, keeps his words soft and never once put his hands on you. 

He may be good, but, God, was he boring. You can’t remember the last time that he’d even kissed you, let alone fucked you. He came home later and later each night, too tired from work to do anything but silently scarf down his dinner and plant himself on the couch in front of the television. He dragged himself into bed hours after you did. He tried to be quiet, he really did, but he woke you up every single night with his stomping and shuffling. When you snuggled closer to him, he pushed you off. My back hurts too bad, he’d say, voice tinged with regret. Remind me to book another appointment with the chiropractor. 

It was always some excuse or another. 

So, really, you couldn’t blame yourself for your wandering eye. You weren’t going to act on it, of course -- you weren’t a cheater -- but the young teacher was something to occupy yourself with. A pretty face to fill your thoughts as you wrangled your horde of screaming kids from swim lessons to dance practice to art classes. A pretty, pretty body to imagine as you fucked yourself with your fingers, teeth sinking into your bottom lip to muffle your moans. You couldn’t help but imagine that it was him, lithe body leaning over yours. No complaints of aching backs and sore muscles, none of the complications that came with age. 

You’d leave your husband catatonic on the couch, put the kids to sleep, and then go dream of their hot teacher. You should’ve been more ashamed, but there was a part of you that loved the thrill of it. You flushed whenever you saw Mr. Sugawara the next morning, memories of your illicit thoughts filling your mind, but it also made your body feel electric. 

Of course there was a part of you that longed to throw caution to the wind and jump the young man, but your conscience was much stronger than your weak, lustful thoughts. You were happy with the way things were now. As dull as your husband was, and as insufferable as the children could sometimes be, you were happy. 

This was all you had ever wanted. A house in the suburbs, a husband with a well-paying job, three kids and a dog. You’re living the fucking dream. You’re happy, you tell yourself.

So why the fuck are you so unsatisfied?

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

With a deep breath, you stare down the heavy glass doors at the school’s entrance. You want nothing more than to find the idiot architect who designed this building, and strangle him for installing pull doors. Your arms are already sore from carrying the giant tray of brownies from your car to the front of the school, and you worry that if you put the treats down to open the door, you wouldn’t be able to lift them up again. A quick glance at your watch tells you that you have two minutes left to reach the gym where the bake sale is being held. The PTA president is notorious for hating latecomers, and you weren’t in the mood to get your head bit off.

You’re debating doing some gymnastics and using your foot to grab the handle, when you notice footsteps approaching from behind you. You open your mouth to ask for help, but they beat you to it. “Let me get the door,” says their syrupy, melodic voice.

Their familiar voice.

Your body practically freezes as a strong arm reaches over your shoulder. Long fingers – fingers that you’ve fantasized about too many times to count – twist the handle and push it open easily. You don’t know how you didn’t notice him approaching sooner, but now that he’s here, your senses are in overdrive. The sweet scent of his cologne, the sound of his breath, the warmth of his body – it’s all too much, and it makes your knees feel weak.

“Mr. Sugawara,” you say, voice coming out much breathier than you intended. This must be some kind of Pavlovian response from all your fantasizing, because there is no reason for your stomach to be twisting right now. “Thank you.”

He grins sheepishly and steps away, and you hate the way that your body screams at you to lean into him. “It’s no problem. Is that for the bake sale? Here, let me carry it for you.”

You try to protest, but there’s really no point. His long fingers are already pushing yours to the sides, and you swear you’ve been electrified as he pulls the tray out of your hands. It’s a shame, really, that he’s wearing a button-down. The sleeves are rolled up to his forearms, at least, but you would’ve loved to see his biceps flex as he carried that tray…

What am I doing? You dig your nails into your palm to snap yourself out of your thoughts, but it’s hard to stay lucid when he’s so beautiful. He carries the brownies with ease, using just one arm to support their weight as the other holds the door open for you. It should make you upset, that you’re so weak in comparison to him, but the thought just makes you feel even more breathless. He’s so strong, so young, and so unlike your husband.

“Thank you,” you say again as he steps into the building behind you. You reach for the tray, but he waves you off.

“Nonsense. I’ll walk you to the gym.”

“Oh, really, you don’t have to—”

“I insist. Anything for my favorite mom.”

His…favorite? His words leave you too stupefied to protest any further, and he takes your silence as compliance. Your body automatically follows in his footsteps as he paces down the hallways.

He looks over at you and smiles comfortingly. It lights up his entire face, but does little to ease your turbulent thoughts.

Your mind is still fixated on his words as you step onto the squeaky wood flooring of the gymnasium. Sugawara calmly walks over to the PTA president, who looks like she’s about to rip her hair out. She’s surrounded by a gaggle of other moms, all jabbering away with concern painted across their faces.

“Is something wrong, ladies?” he asks. His voice snaps them all out of their conversation, and their eyes widen as they take him in.

“Yes,” says the PTA president scornfully. “We were supposed to have the brownies here already! The sale starts in ten minutes, and if this keeps up, I won’t have enough time to inventory everything and make it presentable, and –”

“I have the brownies,” you cut in, resisting the urge to roll your eyes.

She blanches, and looks from you to the tray in Sugawara’s arms. An oh is all she can muster before grabbing the brownies and rushing off.

“Is everything okay?” one of the other moms asks, her voice laced with fake sweetness. “Oh, and you look so tired, dear. If you couldn’t manage your part, you should’ve just said so!”

“It would’ve been no trouble,” another woman says. “I’d have had no trouble whipping up a tray for you! Everyone always does love my baking.”

You grit your teeth and resist the urge to snap at them. It’s always like this – the other moms seem so in tune with their lives of domestic bliss, playing games of politics and constantly competing to be the best. Try as you might, you just can’t satisfy yourself with a life like theirs.

The material of Sugawara’s shirt brushes against you, and you start. He doesn’t pull away as you flinch, instead gently resting his hand on the small of your back. “Sorry to interrupt, but can I steal her away? Mrs. (L/N), I have your son’s science fair project sitting in my classroom. He keeps forgetting to bring it home. Would you like to go collect it now?”

You nod, relieved at the excuse to escape these women and their sickening artificial sweetness. Sugawara gently guides you with the hand on your back. You can’t help but internally smirk at the thinly-veiled jealousy on the faces of the other mothers.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.  

“This is why you’re my favorite,” Sugawara says, once you’re safely out of earshot. “All these PTA moms are so fake. But you’re not like that, are you?”

You nod, still a bit convinced that this is all a dream. He doesn’t remove his hand from your back as you walk down the hallways, and only pulls away when you reach the door to his classroom. He fishes through his pocket and pulls out a ring of keys, before insert one into the knob and pushing the door open. He gestures for you to enter first, and so you do, blinking at the harsh sudden brightness of the automatic lights.

You awkwardly glance around the room. You’ve been here plenty of times before, but that was all during the daytime, when it was packed full of energetic children. It feels…strange, to be alone in a classroom as an adult. Or, well, alone, except for the stupidly attractive teacher that you’ve been lusting over.

“Where’s the project?” you ask, trying to diffuse some of the tension building in your stomach. “I should head home soon.”

Sugawara leans his back against the door and cocks his head. “You know, I know what you say about me.”

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb.” His eyes rove across your body, lingering on your chest for far longer than they should. “I’m not deaf, you know. I hear all the things you say about me. You’re just like all the other moms.” He pushes off the door, stalking closer to you. You instinctively take a step back. “Only difference is, you might actually have the guts to do something about it.”

Your heart thuds in your chest, so hard that you think your ribs might bruise. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Sugawara. I-”

You take another step back, and another, and suddenly your back collides with concrete. Your body jolts, and you yelp at the sudden pain.

Sugawara leans closer. One of his hands braces against the board behind your head, and the other one comes up to cradle your face. His long fingers hook under your chin and press, forcing you to tilt your head up and meet his gaze. His thumb brushes against your lip, and you can’t deny how the sensation makes your body feel like jelly.

Every rational thought in your mind is screaming at you to run, to leave, to get away from him and go back to your husband, but God, it’s been so long since you’ve felt like this. It’s been so long since someone’s made your heart race and your breaths quicken, since someone’s made you blush like a schoolgirl over a simple touch.

“What was that you said?” he asks, his voice dripping with honey. “You don’t know what I’m talking about?”

You swallow and bite the inside of your cheek. The pain does nothing to clear the fog inside your mind. “I-I don’t, I-”

“You do,” he interrupts, his thumb still toying with your lip. “You’re so fucking obvious. I bet you’re wet already, aren’t you?”

“Mr. Sugawara!” His lewd words make you gasp, but more than anything, you hate the fact that he’s right. Your body has a mind of its own, and it wants nothing more than to wrap your lips around his thumb and pull him closer. It wants to feel his arms wrapped around you, feel his body towering over you.

But you can’t. As much as you want to, you can’t, because you have a husband at home who’s waiting for you. Sure, he isn’t home right now, because he’s putting in extra hours at the office. And sure, he hasn’t touched you or made you feel desired in weeks. Hell, you haven’t had a genuine conversation in weeks. But he’s still your husband! You try and remind yourself of that. You roll the thought around in your head, hoping that it’ll push your thoughts of Sugawara away.

But the young teacher is persistent, and there’s a glimmer in his eye that makes your chest tighten. “Call me Koushi, princess.”

“Don’t call me princess –”

“What, you’re going to pretend that it didn’t make you wetter? Going to pretend that you aren’t clenching your thighs together right now?” He leans in even closer, so that his breath brushes against your ear as he whispers. “Your body doesn’t lie, baby.”

A whine slips past your lips at his words, and then you gasp, mortified with yourself. But the grin that covers his face makes your transgression worth it, because God, he’s handsome. His hand squeezes your chin even tighter, and then trails down to your neck. Your breath catches in your chest. You’re hyperaware of his every movement, of his fingers trailing across your skin, his touch feather-light. It leaves you aching for more.

You instinctively whine again, and he lets out a noise of surprised delight. “Whining like this, and you’re still denying that you want me? What’s got you so embarrassed?”

“I have a husband,” you hiss – or, at least, you try to hiss. It comes out more like a whimper than anything else.

Sugawara looks at you for a beat – and then throws his head back and laughs. It catches you off guard, and you furrow your brow. “Why the fuck are you laughing?”

He collects himself, but his eyes are still gleaming when he looks back at you. “Sure, you have a husband. But that doesn’t stop you from thinking about me, does it? Tell me, when’s the last time that your husband took care of you? When’s the last time that he touched you, or fucked you, or made you feel good?”

“Mr. Sugawara, this is inappropriate–”

“Stop lying to yourself.” His voice suddenly drops, his stare forceful and deadly serious. “Say the word, and I’ll go. We can pretend this never happened. But anyone with eyes can tell that you’re unsatisfied.”

“I…I don’t…” Your thoughts feel like a wave, building higher and higher. They bounce around your head, reverberating against your skull, so loud that you can’t even think.

“Why are you settling?”

“Mr. Sugawara, please, I–”

“Why are you settling, when you know you want more?”

The wave crests.

You don’t know who moves first, but somehow, your fingers are tangled in his hair, and his lips are slotted against yours. It’s not soft, or sweet – it’s a mess of teeth and tongues and feverish breaths. His hands are everywhere. They trail over your skin, explore the curves of your chest and your stomach, grip tightly at your waist to pull you closer.

“Mr. Sugawara,” you pant against his lips. Your lungs scream for oxygen, but you can’t bear to drag yourself away from him for even a second. He kisses so well. It may be rushed, and messy, but there’s so much hunger behind his actions that it makes your head spin. It’s like his lips are a live wire, and every second that they touch yours, they send a thousand volts of electricity arcing through your body.

“Koushi,” he breathes. “Call me Koushi, please.” You nod, and then hurriedly undo the buttons of his shirt, popping a few off in the process. Neither of you care. His hands finally dip beneath the hem of your dress, and he wastes no time in unceremoniously tugging it off your body.

Your hands instinctively go to cover yourself. Age and childbirth have changed your body, and you know that Mr. Sugawara – no, Koushi – is probably used to beautiful young women. You still don’t understand why his eye landed on you. He surely has dozens of girls his age fawning over him, with flat stomachs and perky tits. Why you?

He grips your wrists and pries your hands away from your body. “Don’t do that,” he says, so gentle in contrast to the fire from just moments ago. “Don’t cover yourself up. You’re beautiful.”

Oh.

You can’t remember the last time that someone called you beautiful. You can’t remember the last time that you felt beautiful.

But right now, with Koushi staring at you, eyes blown out with lust… you feel it.

He sinks onto his knees, lips already pressing little kisses against your hips and upper thighs. You try and protest – really, Koushi, you don’t have to – but he shushes you instantly. He hooks one of your thighs over his shoulder and dives in without hesitation. Even through the fabric of your panties, you’re in fucking heaven. His tongue laves against your clit, focusing so much attention onto the swollen bead that you can’t help but let out a moan.

You slap your hand over your mouth to silence yourself. You’re in an elementary school, for God’s sake. The bake sale is at the other side of the large building, but you’re terrified of someone walking past and catching you. Guilt swirls around your heart, but it’s quick to dissipate when Koushi tugs your panties off and throws them over his shoulder. He buries himself into your cunt again, and it’s even better without the barrier. The coil in your stomach is tightening embarrassingly fast, but you can’t seem to find it in yourself to care. His tongue laps at your folds, slurping lewdly.

The pleasure is overwhelming. Your body moves of its own accord. Your hips grind against Koushi’s face, and he moans right into your cunt. His lips move up to your clit again, alternating between licking and sucking. You’re so focused on his mouth that you barely notice his fingers, so long and pretty, collecting your wetness.

You do notice when he fucks two of those pretty fingers into you. He immediately starts scissoring his fingers to stretch you out, before hooking them against that spot inside of you that makes your head spin. Your entire body is shaking with euphoria, so much that you can’t handle it.

“Close,” you cry out, trying to keep yourself upright. “Close, close, please, don’t stop!”

He moans into you again when you tug at his hair. It’s the push that you need to finally fall over the edge. You bite into your palm to keep from screaming as you gush all over him, chest heaving and eyes tearing up.

He keeps curling his fingers, keeps lapping at your clit, until you tug on his hair and cry that the overstimulation is too much. As he lets your leg down and stands up, he makes a show of licking your cum off his fingers, slurping on them loudly. It would make you embarrassed, but you’re too focused on his other hand as it dips down to his belt. The muscles of his stomach flex as he undoes the buckle. You take the opportunity to rake your eyes over his toned torso. He seems so slender when he’s dressed, but his shoulders are surprisingly broad.

He looks up at you with a little smirk. “Caught you staring,” he teases. You blush as he pulls his pants and boxers down in one go, freeing his cock. It’s already hard, and so pretty, just like him. His tip is red and dripping with precum. You want so badly to get a taste, but Koushi has other plans. He spins you by your shoulders, and then presses at the small of your back to make you lay across his desk.

You groan when you feel him slap his cock against your ass a few times, before running it through your folds to collect your wetness. “Please,” you gasp. “No teasing, please.”

“Just came, and you’re already needy?” he chuckles. “That husband of yours must really not be satisfying you.”

You’re spared from having to think of a retort by him sinking into you. A cry leaves your lips, but it’s too good for you to even care about the sound. He feels like heaven as he sinks into you. His cock stretches you out deliciously.

You’re already feeling delirious as he starts to shallowly thrust and work his way in. “Fuck, you’re tight,” he mutters under his breath, more to himself than to you. “So – fuck…”

You can’t do anything but moan and scratch at the table as he starts to fuck into you in earnest. His cock is perfectly curved to hit your spot every time, and soon you’re reduced to a mess underneath him. His balls slap against your ass with every thrust. It hurts, it’s all too much, but it’s so fucking good. You don’t think you’ve ever felt pleasure like this – mind numbing and all consuming, so powerful that it makes your eyes roll back.

“Fuck,” he groans again, bending down so that he can loom over you and leave little bites all over your back and shoulders. “Not gonna last if you keep squeezing me like that, shit!”

“Faster, please,” you beg, and he obliges. He sets an absolutely brutal pace, somehow managing to fuck you hard, fast, and at the perfect angle all at once. Moans and cries spill freely out of your open mouth. When he reaches forward to toy with your clit, it’s all too much, and it sends you over the edge again. Your body practically spasms as he fucks you through your second orgasm. He shows you no mercy, gives you no time to come down. You don’t know if you’re coming again, or if you just never stopped. Your mind is hazy with pleasure and overstimulation.

You’re a twitching mess by the time that he pulls out, but you still whine at the loss. You’re far too fucked out to turn around and look at him, but in the corner of your consciousness, you can hear him panting and stroking himself furiously. His moans are so beautiful. Within a few short seconds, he’s coming all over your ass, painting your pretty skin white with his seed.

You don’t know how long you’re laying there before he taps your cheek to get your attention. “C’mon now,” he says, a tired smile on his face. “Let’s get you cleaned up. We wouldn’t want your husband finding out, would we?”

#sugawara x reader #sugawara x reader smut #sugawara smut #haikyuu x reader smut #haikyu x reader smut #haikyu x reader #haikyuu x reader #sugawara koshi x reader #koushi sugawara #sugawara #haikyuu #haikyu #haikyuu smut #haikyuu imagines #haikyu smut #tw: dubcon #tw: infidelity #tw: overstimulation #tw: dumbification #suga x reader #🌘.collabs!!

[writingfortoomanyfandoms]

Mudblood

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff!Muggleborn!Reader

Summary: The complicated relationship of a pureblood and a muggleborn, shown through their time at Hogwarts

Requested: No

Warnings: Swearing, blood purity, angst, death, mentions of torture, all that kinda stuff

A/N: can you truly count yourself as a Harry Potter writer if you haven’t written something about Malfoy dating a muggleborn??? I hope you guys enjoy this! Please let me know what you think - hearing your comments always perks me up and inspires me to write more! Also this is a long’un so strap yourselves in!

First Year

Y/N Y/L/N wasn’t scared of Draco Malfoy.

It wasn’t because she was brave, or because she knew she could outsmart him or anything like that - nothing like the reasons so many Gryffindors and Ravenclaws gave to try and convince themselves that they held no fear of the Slytherin bully.

No, it was nothing like that.

In a way, she felt sorry for him.

Sometimes, it seemed as though he was merely parroting his father’s words when he spoke so harshly to people.

She had been scared of him - most Hufflepuffs were. Hufflepuffs were aware of the way that a lot of the students - Slytherin’s in particular - viewed them. Knew that they were often perceived as being the ‘lesser’ house. And being a muggleborn as well just seemed to reinforce the point that there was no way that Draco Malfoy and his band of Slytherins would ever allow her a single peaceful moment.

During her first term at Hogwarts, she had dreaded every lesson she had with Malfoy, who she felt went out of his way to make her and Justin (the other muggleborn Hufflepuff student) feel inferior to everyone else.

But it didn’t take her long to get over that initial fear. 

It probably came from her friendship with Harry, Ron and Hermione. It wasn’t as though they were close friends, but after helping them out during Herbology class and studying in the library with Hermione fairly regularly, it was safe to say that they were definitely friends.

And any association with the trio was immediately seen as a red flag by Malfoy, putting an even larger target on Y/N’s back. 

But after hearing the many, many, rather creative insults thought up by Harry, Ron and Hermione about Malfoy, it was difficult for her to fear him.

“Watch where you’re going, Mudblood.”

Y/N had collided hard with the floor, her books falling from her bag, scattering on the ground. 

“You walked into her, Malfoy,” Ron piped up from where he had been walking with Harry, a little behind Y/N and her friends, all of them on their way back into the school after Herbology. 

“Then she should have gotten out of my way, shouldn’t she, Weasley,” just one glance up at Malfoy’s face allowed Y/N to understand how happy he was to pick a fight with anyone - the fact that Ron was also getting involved only served to cheer him further.

There was nothing that Malfoy enjoyed more than aggravating Harry and Ron, goading them into a fight just so that he could somehow swing it to a teacher to place the blame on them instead, causing the loss of Gryffindor house points.

Harry had dropped to the floor beside Y/N, kneeling down to help her gather her books back up.

“Thanks,” she muttered with a small smile, standing up and watching the interaction of Ron and Malfoy, both of whom were getting more and more worked up. “Ron, just leave it,” Y/N called, grabbing the attention of both boys mid-argument.

Malfoy glared at her but Y/N ignored him, looking instead at her friend.

“It doesn’t matter,” she told Ron, who opened his mouth to argue, but Y/N cut him off. “It doesn’t matter,” she repeated more forcefully, looking to her Hufflepuff friends before walking away.

It was a surprise for Y/N when Malfoy approached her the next day, when she was sitting alone in the library, getting her Potions homework finished.

“Can I sit here?” 

“You’re asking?” Y/N asked in surprise. She shook her head quickly before offering a slightly nervous smile. “Go ahead.”

Malfoy sat in the chair opposite, but didn’t say anything - instead he stared at her from across the table, seemingly deep in thought as he studied her.

“Did you want something?”

Malfoy glanced down at the parchment Y/N was writing her homework on, tilting his head just a little to be able to read it. 

“You got question four wrong.”

“Oh - right.”

Y/N was still frowning in complete confusion at Malfoy’s actions.

“Seriously - can I help you with something?” She asked after they had sat in awkward silence for another five minutes at least.

“You never fight back - is it a Hufflepuff trait? Being a pushover?” Malfoy inquired cooly.

“I’m glad you sought me out to attempt to insult me.” Y/N commented mildly.

“Attempt?”

“It’s not a Hufflepuff thing, being a pushover. I just don’t think you really mean it when you’re rude to me, or to most people, in fact.”

“You think I secretly like you?” Malfoy asked scornfully.

“No - I just don’t think that you’re as big of a dick that you act. I think that you’re trying to live up to some stupid expectations that you think everyone thinks that you should.”

Silence fell between them again, but (and maybe it was just Y/N’s imagination) Malfoy’s gaze seemed a little less harsh on her. She returned to her homework, aware that Malfoy was still watching her and feeling embarrassed under his scrutinising look.

Second Year

“Y/L/N!” Y/N nearly jumped out of her skin at the harsh call of her name.

She saw Justin’s eyes widen a little, looking over her shoulder to see who it was.

Y/N turned around, equally surprised to see Draco Malfoy stalking towards her - unusually, he was not accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle, or any of his usual Slytherin crew. 

When he came to a stop in front of Y/N, his eyes slid over her to glare at Justin, who quickly caught onto the message.

“I’ll just…” he pointed helplessly towards the Great Hall, where the feast was about to start.

“Save me a seat.” Y/N responded, smiling to her friend who nodded, before rushing away, evidently wanting to be as far away from Malfoy as possible. “Hey, Malfoy,” she tried to maintain her smile but was incapable of keeping the mild worry off of her face - even now that they weren’t on exactly bad terms, it wasn’t like Malfoy to go out of his way to seek out a conversation with her - Y/N wouldn’t kid herself, she knew how Malfoy continued to view her.

“You’re awake,” Malfoy finally breaks the awkward silence between them, stating the obvious. It brings a real smile to her face as she nods.

“I am.”

“I’m… I’m glad,” Malfoy confessed, looking uncomfortable, breaking their eye contact.

“So am I.”

“Do you… remember anything?”

“I don’t know what happened while I was petrified if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Oh… right,” a faint tinge of pink rose in his cheeks and he scuffed his shoes. “I… I visited you.” 

“What?” The shock-induced word was out of her mouth before she could think better of it and she stared at him, wide-eyed.

“Nothing - it’s stupid,” immediately he had built his barriers back up, meeting her eyes again but the harshness was back in his gaze, his jaw set in place, all angles and hard edges.

“You visited me?” Y/N repeated, finally regaining control of her surprise and beaming at him.

“Well… yeah,” Malfoy looked wary of her as he confirmed his actions. 

“Why?” A light laugh accompanied her words and she could have sworn that she saw the corner of Malfoy’s mouth twitch, too, as though he wanted to smile back at her.

“I… I didn’t want you to die.”

“That makes a change,” but it’s clear that she’s teasing him from her smile, from the tone of voice that suggests that she’s about to start laughing again and she sees Draco soften a little, even allowing himself to smile back at her, albeit tentatively.

“I can help you catch up, if you want,” he doesn’t seem to be aware of making the offer, judging by the look of mild surprise that crosses his face, but which he quickly covers up as best he can.

“Pardon?”

“I know we only have a few days left of term but, I could try and help you catch up, if you wanted - I’m pretty good at Potions,” he seems more sure of himself this time and it causes Y/N’s smile to widen.

“Thanks.”

“Of course.”

Third Year

“You’ve been avoiding me.” 

Y/N turned her head to look at Draco, not at all surprised to see him standing there, with his arms crossed, glaring at her.

“Is that so?”

“You know you have,” Draco grumbled, pouting a little at her.

“You’re acting like a child,” Y/N warned, turning the page of her book dismissively.

“You’re being a bitch,” he huffed in response. “Hey!”

Y/N had hit him with her book the moment the insult had left his lips. 

She lifted her book to hide the smile growing on her face from his indignant reaction.

“What do you want, Draco?” She sighed.

“I want to know why you’re ignoring me.”

“I thought you didn’t care what mudbloods think?” A groan slipped past his lips and he fell to the ground beside her, watching her intently.

“What’s it really about?” Draco asked at last.

“I thought everything was about blood purity,” Y/N commented.

“Y/N.”

“Why did you do it?” She burst out, snapping her book closed and staring at him.

“Do what?”

“Make such a big deal about your arm - I know it didn’t hurt that much and Madame Pomfrey healed it immediately. You didn’t need to get it executed.” Tears were burning in her eyes.

“I didn’t know it would be executed,” Draco protested.

“You knew your father wouldn’t let it go easily - you must’ve known something like this would happen,” Y/N declared, shaking her head.

“Why do you care so much?”

“Because Buckbeak was a living creature, Malfoy! It didn’t deserve to die just because you were too bloody proud to listen to what Hagrid was saying!”

“You weren’t in the class! You don’t know what happened!” 

“Harry told me what happened.” Y/N muttered, aware of the reaction it would bring from her friend.

“So you’ll believe Potter over me?” 

“You haven’t denied it,” Y/N pointed out darkly.

“You’ve been avoiding me for months because of a fucking Hippogriff?”

“Well it does make a change from it being you avoiding me.”

Her words had an immediate effect on Draco, who recoiled a little, becoming even more defensive, wounded by her accusation.

“You know why I avoid you.”

“Yes - because your reputation is more important to you than your friends.”

Y/N went to stand up but Draco caught hold of her hand, looking utterly desperate when Y/N cast her eyes back to him and he tugged, evidently hoping that she would sit down and join him again.

“Please don’t leave me,” guilt laced his voice, and Y/N wondered if he understood at last where she was coming from - if he understood how it felt for her every time he pretended she didn’t exist, when he scorned her in front of their classmates but acted like she was his closest friend when it was just the two of them. “I’m sorry.”

It didn’t take much to get Y/N to give in to his pleas, one look into his puppy-dog expression and she sighed, resuming her previous position beside her friend.

“You’re really important to me, you know,” Draco said after a while, his words quiet and when Y/N looked to him, he didn’t look up, studying his hands as though lost in thought but by the blush on his cheeks it was clear that he was just embarrassed.

“It’s okay, Draco - I understand. It’s how you were brought up.”

“But you really are - you’re one of the most important people in my life,” Draco insisted, finally looking up. Y/N gave him a small smile. “But… not just… as a friend,” he was frowning a little and y/N’s heard began to thud in her chest.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that… that I like you. I like you a lot,” he breathed a slight laugh with his confession, giving her a nervous grin that sent her heart fluttering even more.

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

“You know that makes everything between us even more complicated than before?” Y/N asked, but she moved closer to him, resting her head onto his shoulder, wanting to reassure him that she wasn’t rejecting him.

Draco seemed to pick up on what she was truly trying to say and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together.

“Are you okay with hiding with me a little longer?” He whispered. 

Y/N squeezed his hand.

Fourth Year

Y/N had been able to feel Draco’s eyes glaring into her all day, and she had a feeling that she knew exactly what it was about.

This knowledge was why she wasn’t exactly surprised when she was walking with Ernie, Justin and Hannah towards the Great Hall for dinner, after Transfiguration, and a hand reached out and clasped around her wrist, tugging her to the side.

A slight yelp left her lips, however and her fellow Hufflepuffs turned to look at her, frowning in concern.

“I just realised I forgot something - go in, I’ll catch up with you,” she offered with a strained smile. Her friends exchanged looks before doing as she asked and Y/N turned to the figure that had retreated the moment that her friends had looked towards them, rolling her eyes at him. “Way to be subtle,” she told him, but Draco just glared at her. “What’s wrong?” She sighed, following Draco a little further into the shadows, out of view of any other students.

“Is it true?” Hurt was clear in his voice and it was only then that Y/N took in the sadness that gleamed in his eyes.

“Is what true?” A feeling of dread settled in her stomach, though - she was well aware of what Draco was asking her.

“I heard Potter talking during Potions - apparently he’s taking you to the ball. Is that true?” Draco’s words were stiff, desperately trying to hide how much it hurt him to speak them aloud.

“Yeah, I’m going with Harry,” Y/N confessed.

“Why?” He didn’t even attempt to keep the shake from his voice.

“You weren’t going to ask me - Harry needed a date so he asked me to go with him. As friends,” Y/N shrugged.

“You wanted me to… to ask you?” Draco repeated a little faintly, his eyes searching hers desperately. Y/N smiled just a little and gave a half shrug of her shoulders.

“I thought that much was obvious.”

“I couldn’t ask you.”

“I know.” 

“I wanted to.”

“I know,” Y/N reached up a hand, cupping Draco’s cheek and angling his face carefully to force him to look at her and she gave him a sad smile. “I understand, Draco - I do, I promise.”

“But why Potter of all people?”

“Because we’re friends, Draco,” Y/N laughed, watching Draco lean into her touch, his eyes closing contentedly. “And I knew you were going with Pansy,” she admitted in a whisper, not wanting to allow her own insecurities to be heard too clearly in her voice, but it was clear that she had failed in that regard when Draco’s eyes snapped open and met hers.

“It’s not like that,” he hastened to assure her and Y/N responded with a half-smile accompanied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. Silence fell between them before Draco let out a slight sigh. “I wish I could go with you,” he confessed, leaning down and resting his forehead against hers.

“I would’ve said yes if you’d asked - just for the record,” Draco breathed a laugh, his eyes closing again. 

“I don’t deserve you,” he murmured, brushing his lips against hers, feeling her smile her shy, sweet smile.

“I’ll always wait for you,” she responded instead, stating it as though it was a simple fact. 

Harry had conveniently forgotten to mention to Y/N that agreeing to being his date to the Yule Ball also meant agreeing to dancing in front of the whole school and their visitors. 

“I thought you’d say no if I told you!” Harry laughed as he led Y/N off of the dance floor, towards Ron who was standing with his rather disgruntled-looking date.

“And it would have been perfectly reasonable for me to say no!” Y/N announced, pushing her friend’s shoulder playfully.

“Can we go sit down?” Ron muttered, barely sparing a greeting for his friends. Y/N raised an amused eyebrow at Harry who grinned at her, a silent promise in his eyes to fill her in later.

As Y/N crossed the room with Ron and Harry - Padma Patil in tow, though not looking at all happy about the company she was in for the evening - she could feel eyes watching her. Y/N looked over in the direction of the group of Fourth Year Slytherins. Sure enough, Draco was standing there, Pansy in front of him, evidently attempting to engage him in conversation. Draco was nodding along with whatever she was saying but his eyes were on her, an expression on his face that Y/N didn’t quite understand.

She offered him a small smile and thought she saw a slight quirk at the corners of Draco’s lips before he managed to get control of his expression again and returned to his conversation with his date.

Y/N felt a pang in her chest when she saw Draco laughing at something Pansy had said. 

It was late into the evening when she was, once again, grabbed by the wrist from the shadows, having been on her way to get butterbeers for herself, Ron and Harry. 

Draco pulled her into an alcove off of the Great Hall, where they could still hear the music being played by the band. He smiled down at her.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he told her, squeezing her hand. Y/N’s skin crawled with embarrassment and she looked down to the floor, grinning to herself.

“Thanks - so do you.”

“I look beautiful?” Draco asked, laughter in his voice and when Y/N looked up at him, her heart fluttered at his crinkled eyes.

“You always look beautiful.”

Draco flushed a bright pink but his smile only widened.

“I know it’s not the same but - would you like to dance with me?” He offered, tilting his head a little in the direction of the source of the music. Y/N bit her lip and nodded, stepping closer to him and breathing in the scent that she had become so familiar with lately.

“I should warn you, though, I stepped on Harry’s toes a lot when we danced.”

“I’m sure that was Potter’s fault, not yours. He strikes me as an awful dancer,” Draco commented, beginning to lead them in their dance.

“I never thought you’d be so good.”

“Most purebloods are - we go to a lot of galas and dances, see?” He looked a little embarrassed. Y/N knew that, when he was with her, he didn’t like to talk about his blood status, it only served as a reminder to what she was - to the reasons why they had to dance in alcoves, rather than with the rest of the school.

Y/N didn’t reply other than to rest her head on his chest, her eyes squeezing shut as they continued to dance, wanting to savour every moment of happiness.

Fifth Year

“She’s a bitch.” Y/N stated, fixing Draco with a glare that practically dared him to disagree with her.

“She’s not that bad,” Draco insisted.

“You only like her because you share a dislike of Harry!”

“That’s not true.”

“She’s an awful teacher,” Y/N pointed out and Draco sighed heavily. “And she’s just awful to everyone!”

“She’s not that bad to me,” Draco shrugged, going back to his Defence Against the Dark Arts homework that him and Y/N were both meant to be working on.

“Of course she’s not that bad to you,” Y/N laughed.

“What do you mean by that?” 

“You’re a pureblood - and a Malfoy at that! She respects you!”

“I am pretty deserving of respect,” Draco mused and Y/N rolled her eyes, throwing a scrunched up piece of parchment at his head, causing him to laugh, batting it away. “Does she really give you a hard time?” He asked and Y/N could see the concerned look in his eyes as he asked.

“It’s nothing that I’m not used to,” was her response, immediately feeling bad for bringing up her blood status.

“Y/N…”

“You of all people understand how some witches and wizards feel about mudbloods.”

“Don’t call yourself that.” Draco snapped immediately, a harsh look in his eyes.

“Why not? Everyone else does,” Y/N pointed out drily, going back to her own piece of parchment. “You did.” She added, not looking up. Not needing to, to know the reaction that her words would cause. 

“I was stupid,” Draco told her, a pained edge to his voice. 

“You still call the others it.”

“You’re different.”

“Why?” Y/N inquired, looking up again, tilting her head just a little to the side, taking in the expression on Draco’s face. 

“You know why,” Draco muttered.

A heavy silence fell between them, unlike any that they had experienced since their second year. Y/N broke it at last, scooting over towards him and resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry - I shouldn’t have said anything,” she said quietly. Draco hesitated for a moment before dropping his head down to rest atop hers.

“I don’t want this.” He admitted and Y/N tensed up, unsure if she wanted to hear what else Draco was going to say. “I don’t want to hide you.”

“You said that it was for the best,” she reminded him mutely.

“And it is,” Draco agreed through a long sigh. “Especially now he’s back,” they were approaching dangerous territory. 

They had yet to discuss Voldemort’s return. Y/N was aware that Draco’s parents were Death Eaters - Draco had confided in her that his father had indeed returned to Voldemort’s inner circle the night marking the end of the Triwizard Tournament the previous year. But other than that, it had been very much a taboo subject - it made their relationship even more turbulent than before. Even less certain of a future.

“But just because it’s for the best, it doesn’t mean that I have to like it,” he finished and Y/N couldn’t help but smile a little.

“You sound like a child.”

“I wish it were all easier.” 

Y/N thought she heard a slight crack in his voice, but knew better than to mention it. Instead, she nestled a little closer to him, craning her neck to press a kiss to his cheek.

“One day it will be.”

Sixth Year

Y/N allowed her fingers to trail up and down Draco’s arm, lost in thought.

Lately, they had gotten into the habit of sneaking Y/N into the Slytherin boys dorms after everyone had already gone to sleep. Draco didn’t go to bed until well past midnight anymore anyway, choosing instead to spend his time working on the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement.

He had confided in Y/N fairly soon into the term - he never had been very good at hiding things from her, and while he would by no means allow her to help him directly, completely refusing to let her be tied to his awful assignment in any way, she had done her best to help him.

Joining him in his dorm after he would turn in for the night was one of the ways she would attempt to soothe her boyfriend. 

Draco didn’t sleep anymore.

His mind was plagued with far too many anxieties, overworked with ideas of how to fix the Vanishing Cabinet, of how to get Voldemort to forgive his father.

He was carrying the weight of his family on his shoulders and he was only sixteen. Y/N wondered how he hadn’t cracked yet. 

“Draco?” Y/N whispered into the darkness.

“Yeah?” 

“What’s going to happen now that… now that you’ve fixed it?” She asked and she felt Draco take a deep, shuddering breath and held onto him a little tighter.

“I have to… fulfil my duty,” his voice was hoarse and Y/N could feel dampness on the top of her head and felt her heart break. She moved so that she was looking up at him, meeting his eyes, swimming with tears that had begun to overflow.

She reached up a hand, cupping his cheek, using her thumb to gently brush away his tears.

“Hey - it’s going to be okay.”

“Is it?” He sniffed, turning his face to kiss her palm, his eyes shutting. “I’m so fucking scared - and it’s happening tomorrow. There’s nothing I can do anymore.”

Silence engulfed them again, broken only by the sounds of Draco’s dormmates snoring.

“I think we should break up.”

Y/N physically recoiled from him, staring at her boyfriend in wide-eyed hurt shock. She can see the response that the loss of her touch has on him, Draco looked a lot more alert, a lot harder than before, but a little more broken, craving the reassurance that her gentle touches would bring him.

“It’s for the best,” he whispered, another tear slipping down his cheek.

“Draco…”

“He’ll hurt you if he finds out about you - he’ll use you to get to me, just as he used my Father. And it’ll be worse for you because you’re...”

“A mudblood,” Y/N finished for him. Draco gave a quiet, pained moan at her words, grimacing.

“I shouldn’t have started this,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have let myself fall in love with you.”

Y/N let out a quiet laugh, though her cheeks were wet with tears.

“If only it were that easy.”

Seventh Year

“Where is she?” Draco demanded Harry.

Tears were burning in his eyes, pain radiated off of him, the aura of loss hung around him.  He had just lost Crabbe - one of the closest things he had ever had to a friend, one of the people he figured he’d always have, even just as back up. 

He needed her.

The one person who wasn’t scared or intimidated by him, but who loved him because she thought that he could do some good.

“She was tortured because of you!” Harry screamed back, the two of them seemingly unaware of the Battle that continued to rage around them.

“I love her,” Draco told him, utterly defeated. “I’ve always loved her.”

“We had to rescue her from your home!” Harry raged, his gaze murderous, ignoring Ron and Hermione’s calls to him.

“Please just tell me that she’s not here - please tell me that she’s safe somewhere - somewhere far away from here,” Draco pleaded.

Harry didn’t respond, but the look on his face before he rushed away with his friends was answer enough for him.

It was enough for him to pull himself together, heaving himself up off of the floor outside the Room of Requirement and, leaving Goyle still recovering on the ground, he moved towards the sound of fighting, determined to find her.

Determined to put her right.

The last time that he had seen her was one of the worst days of his life - it was tied with the day that Voldemort had looked into his mind and discovered her existence and the importance that she held to Draco, and also with the day that she had been captured and brought to Malfoy Manor.

It was his Aunt that took the most pleasure in her company. 

While Draco had screamed and writhed against his father’s restraints, wanting to get to her, Bellatrix had cackled and tortured Y/N, though Draco wasn’t exactly sure what she had hoped to gain from it.

Y/N was screaming for death by the time Bellatrix had grown weary and she had been taken to the basement to join Ollivander and Luna who were already being kept captive down there.

Draco had screamed himself hoarse and was sobbing, pleading with his parents to let him go, to let him free her.

It hadn’t taken long for him to realise that they kept her alive only to keep him in line.

Anytime he showed even the slightest sign of doubt, Y/N was brought back up.

When Fenrir had appeared with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean and the goblin, Draco had for the first time since her arrival, allowed himself the slightest bit of hope.

“Take her with you,” he had pleaded in his mind as the group were thrown down to join the others in the basement. Draco knew that there was no chance of Harry remaining there - he knew he would escape because it was Harry Potter. As infuriating as it was, getting out of tight situations was what Harry did best.

Draco didn’t find her until he entered the Great Hall after Voldemort had called a truce and implored Harry to find him in the forest.

He skirted around the sides of the room, not wanting to disturb the mourners. He felt a pang in his chest when he caught sight of the group of redheads, all of them gathered around a body on the floor.

But his sympathy didn’t last long because only moments later did he catch sight of her and relief flooded through his veins. 

He was running towards her before he could think better of it. Tears were streaming down his face and she looked up, hearing the fast approaching footsteps. Her lips parted in shock and then they seemed to twitch upwards in the beginnings of a smile.

Y/N stood up, opening her arms to embrace Draco the moment that he barrelled into her, muttering apologies to her over and over again.

“I’m okay,” Y/N whispered, running her hand through his platinum-blond hair which was, at the moment, tinged black with soot and grime. “I’m okay.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Draco hiccuped, trying to get a hold of his emotions, pulling back but before he could wipe his eyes, Y/N had lifted her hands to do it for him.

“You still look beautiful, you know.”

And even though the word was burning around them, even after the horrors that they had both seen in recent days, months, years, even with the grief in the room and the hollowness in their chests, Draco laughed.

And then, aware that they were being watched by many of their former classmates, he pushed some hair away from her face and kissed her.

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy fluff #draco malfoy angst #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #draco malfoy x hufflepuff!reader #draco malfoy x y/n #courts writings

[rhneg-rhpos]

A Series of Notes

Surprise story for the one and only @petri808

Kyo is caught between a lie and Tohru. What will come of his good intentions?

Summer break. It was finally here and Tohru was already trying to start preparations for the next school year. Luckily, her friends had other plans for her in hopes of some fun over the break.

“Come on, Tohru! Live a little!” Uotani exclaims, throwing an arm around the smaller girl’s shoulders.

“Yes, Tohru. You work much too hard.” Hanajima adds solemnly. “We should make many memories for the summer.”

“And I know just how we can kick it off!” The blonde steers them through town towards their favorite cat cafe.

“Aww! I can’t wait to see how much the kittens have grown since the last time we were here!” Tohru says excitedly. Her eyes shine and glimmer in delight, all thoughts of homework and school prep easily diverted by the cute fluffy animals mewing in greeting as they walk through the door with a soft bell jingling their presence.

“Welcome in!” A boy about their age greets them from behind the register counter. “How may we serve you today?”

Tohru couldn’t believe her eyes. His smile shines through his soft grey eyes which were only a shade darker than his short, grey hair. Very lean and holding himself with an air of dignity like someone of royalty, it was impossible to notice just how handsome he is for someone their age. The young brunette finds herself at a loss for words, left staring at the prince-like being before her.

“A table for three, please,” Hanajima responds politely, stirring Tohru’s focus back to earth.

“And some menus! I’m starving!” Uotani announces as the three follow the boy to a small rounded table.

As they sit down, he hands each of them a menu card showing the sweets, snacks, and various summer beverages the cafe offers. “Here you ladies are. If there’s anything else I can help you with, my name is Yuki so please just let me know.” He tells them with that winning smile of his again. 

Tohru could feel her heart beating just a little faster. Surely he’s just this nice because it’s his job, right? Opting to distract her thoughts, she looks over to where a few of the cats were laying by the large window in direct sunlight taking a midday nap. Just then, a familiar mop of orange hair appears to fill up a few of the food bowls for the cats.

“Kyo!” Tohru gasps excitedly. Her friends turn toward his direction, a smirk growing on Uotani’s face.

“Hey, Carrots! Why don’t you come join us?” She calls him over with her favorite nickname for the carrot-top.

Kyo grumbles at the attention thrown his way. “Can’t you see I’m working, you damn Yankee!”

“Geez, always such the grouch still I see. Glad you all recruited some help with better manners.” The blonde retorts turning back in her chair, dismissing the obnoxious boy.

“Huh?! You better not be talking about that damn Yuki!”

“Oh, Kyo. Yuki was very nice when he greeted us!” Tohru explains. “How well do you know him?”

“Tch, he’s my cousin, so more than I care to.” Kyo replies shortly resuming his task of taking care of the various cats scattered about the cafe, giving one or two of them the occasional scratch under their chin or behind their ear if they bothered to wake up from their nap and acknowledge his presence as he approaches. 

Tohru smiles at the tender affection Kyo gives the tiny balls of fur as a kitten comes pouncing over to him. He may be brash and loud-mouthed, but honestly Arisa loves to get a rise out of him. It’s just how she is. But, Tohru knows that Kyo is much more than what he lets people see and believe. It was one of the few biggest reasons they kept coming back here.

“Besides, he’s only working here for the summer. So, he better do a damn good job!” Kyo finishes. Apparently, he isn’t too fond of his cousin, so Tohru didn’t want to push the matter while her friends just wanted their orders taken already.

Just as Kyo leaves, Yuki returns from the back and the two glare at each other in passing, but only briefly to not bring about attention to themselves. Had Tohru not already been watching Kyo, she would’ve missed the interaction herself. It was gone just as quick as it had started in a blink. Yuki’s smile returns as if it had never faded from his face as he comes to finally take their order.

“Are you ladies ready to order?”

  ~~~BREAK~~~

 The first several weeks of summer went by quickly and the trio continued visiting the cafe multiple times each week. Whether they dropped in for cool refreshments after taking a walk along the beach and were heading back home, wanting a light snack during the middle of the day, or simply just wanted to sit somewhere peaceful and watch the cute smile on Tohru’s face as she watches the kittens roll around to play with each other.

“Awww! Look how big they’re getting!” The brunette gushes to her friends, kneeling on the tiled cafe floor by the playful kittens. “Aren’t they just so cute?!”

Her friends chuckle quietly behind their hands as they watch her just as Kyo marches up to their table, seemingly in a bad mood.

“What do you want?” He nearly demands them.

“Whoa, Carrots, what’s got your tail in a twist?” Uotani asks, noticing the scowl on the boy’s face.

“That damn Yuki! Couldn’t even come in for his own shift so now I have to cover it!” Kyo vents aloud to them. “As if I didn’t have enough work of my own to do!”

Tohru gasps. “Oh no! Is he okay?”

The group had grown fond of the silver-haired boy. His quiet and sweet demeanor added another element of peace to their visits to the cafe that they rather enjoyed. Tohru especially had seemed to grow fond of him, trying to connect with him in hopes to gain another friendship much like she felt she had with Kyo.

Kyo huffs at the question, not wanting to keep on the subject. “How the hell should I know?! He’s probably sick or something. He used to get sick all the time as a kid.”

Tohru frowns then starts digging through her bag. Her friends all watch the brunette as she pulls out her pencil bag to retrieve her sticky notes and a pen. She quickly scribbles a short note on the little square then pulls the top sheet off to hand to Kyo.

“Please give this to Yuki for me!”

“What?! Why the hell-” Kyo starts to argue until he sees the glares from her two friends. He groans and snatches the tiny note from her hand. “Fine! Not like I have anything better to do.”

Kyo walks away with the note in hand, forgetting that he didn’t even take the group’s order as he enters the backroom for employees.

~~~BREAK~~~

 Kyo toes off his shoes as he walks into the house and drops his bag at the door. Next to the door, three bowls sit on a small  table- two are filled with Yuki’s and Shigure’s keys, wallets, and other miscellaneous things they keep in their pockets during the day. Kyo empties his own pockets into the same bowl, and as he does, he finds the note Tohru had given him for Yuki. He walks down the hallway, opening it up and reads it.

  Yuki~

Take care of yourself and get well soon!

~Tohru

 Entering the kitchen, he sees Yuki sitting at the table eating some miso soup, so he tosses the note on the table in front of Yuki saying, “Girl at the cafe asked me to give that to you.”

Yuki, not looking up from his soup, responds, “Are you my personal mailman now?”

“Shut up, you damn rat! You’re lucky you look like death warmed over or I’d kick your ass right now!”

Yuki, not feeling up to interact with Kyo’s energy right now, finishes his soup, puts the dishes in the sink, and throws the note in the trash.

"You aren't going to write back?" Kyo asks, leaning against the counter.

"No, it's just another girl. Why would I care?"

"She took the time to wish you good health."

"Why do you even care? Do you like her?"

"What? No!” Kyo sputters.

Yuki strides out of the room and not looking back at Kyo, says. "Sure, like I care."

After a while, Kyo pushes off the counter with a grimace to retrieve the note from the trash and walks up to his room. He ignores Shigure as he passes by, tuning when Shigure starts talking about Yuki. 

Poor Yuki, he is sooo sick. Everyone should cater to him and treat him like a king.  Kyo thinks scornfully.  Sorry, but he’s nothing but a dick.

  ~~~BREAK~~~

 When Kyo clocks in the next afternoon, Tohru and her friends are already there, sipping on their coffees and looking into the window of the cat room. He walks up to the few tables of people and explains that he will be their waiter for the remainder of their stay as they just had a shift change. When he gets to Tohru and her friends’ table, he could swear that Tohru’s face lights up a little.

 “There was a shift change and so I’ll be taking care of you all for the rest of the night.” he repeats for them. “Is there anything I can get you? Also this is for you.” 

He digs the note out of his pocket and hands it to Tohru.

“Oh! Thank you! He really wrote back?! And no, I think we are okay for now!” Tohru replies, beaming with her usual energy.

Kyo nods his head and walks away to go back into the kitchen. As he walks away, Uotani grabs the note and flattens it so everyone could read it.

I appreciate your concern. I am fine. Don’t worry. 

-Yuki 

“Geez, kinda cold coming from the prince.” Uotani scoffs, leaning back in her chair and balancing on it’s back two legs.

“That’s so sweet of him to take the time to write back! I really didn’t expect any kind of reply.” Tohru practically gushes as she picks up the small, plain note.

“Leave it to Tohru to find the good in everything.” Hanajima sighs before taking another sip of her iced coffee.

Tohru quickly shuffles through her things, replacing the note with a pen and notepad, then scribbles out another note. Just as she finishes, she looks up to find Kyo leaving from another table. Almost stumbling out of her chair, she makes her way over and holds out the new note.

Kyo turns around to see her holding out a piece of paper. Before she could say anything, he cuts her off.

“Do I look like a damn mailman to you?!”

Tohru’s face flushes red with embarrassment and clutches her hands to her chest. “O-oh I’m so sorry Kyo! I didn’t mean to just assume. I’m a dummy! Of course you have responsibilities to tend to! I can always drop it off to Yuki later-“

Kyo rolls his eyes and snatches the note sticking out between her fingers. “Give it here. I didn’t say I wouldn’t, just next time ask before writing another note. Besides, do you even know where he lives?”

Tohru stares at him blankly, at a loss for words, making Kyo nearly smile.

“Don’t worry about it. Just go back and have fun with your friends.” Kyo tells her.

While the two exchange a few more words- Tohru trying to convince Kyo that he should come hang out with them sometime when he’s not working- Hanajima watches from their table.

“His waves are changing.” Hanajima murmurs. 

Her gaze falls onto Tohru’s bag where Yuki’s note could be seen sticking out of the top. She didn’t feel the cold, harsh words that Uotani got from first glance. That didn’t seem fitting for the shy and considerate Yuki that had waited their tables. His energy resembles a calm, secluded pond. The waters are always steady and comforting to be around, yet never disturbed by its surroundings, unlike his cousin’s. Kyo’s resembled the waves of an ocean, ready to crash against any open shore, nearly unpredictable and ever changing. 

There was something about that note, though, that seemed more calculated. A faux reserve presence trying to emulate that of the prince’s. Hanajima couldn’t quite understand the mixed signals she receives from the note, but she didn’t believe it to be from Yuki at all.

“Everything alright?”

Tohru’s voice cuts through her thoughts, bringing her focus towards concerned brown eyes.

“Of course.” Hanajima smiles, easing Tohru’s worries as she reclaims her seat next to her friends.

Kyo watches as Tohru returns to her friends then looks down at the note in his hand with a heavy sigh. Quickly, he makes his way to the back room and reads it once he’s alone.

I’m so glad to hear it! I was so surprised to get a note back from you. We all miss you at the cafe! Wishing you well!

-Tohru

 Kyo leans his head back against the wall, groaning at the situation he’s placed himself in.

This damn girl… Why is she wasting her time making sure this good-for-nothing Yuki is getting better?! It’s not like he’s showed any interest or care for her, and he certainly doesn’t give enough of a damn to write her back!

Rage bubbles in Kyo’s chest towards his cousin. It was always easy for Yuki to attract people. Everyone wanted to be around Yuki, have Yuki’s attention, be noticed by Yuki, but not a single one of them would ever know how much Yuki found each one of them to be the same. To him, each one was a burden of a conversation, a task to complete so he could continue about his day. To Kyo, the bastard only seemed to care about appearances, not people; he had been like that ever since they were kids. Yuki wanted everyone to like him and would sacrifice the feelings of a few to make any situation slightly more comfortable. Kyo had been excluded from many family gatherings as a result of this. It angers Kyo, wishing something that came so easy to that damned rat wouldn’t be so carelessly discarded. But, that was just who he knew his cousin to be. Kyo at one point in time had attempted to be more collected and nonchalant like Yuki, but it was a wholly painful experience and went against the core of his being. Since then, Kyo had accepted that he just wasn’t a person that was going to be liked... by anyone. If he was being honest with himself, Kyo sometimes wished he could make friends like Yuki could; and, if he could, he wouldn’t just throw them to the side. 

With a deep breath, Kyo pockets the note and returns to work. He’d have to reply to the note later.

  ~~~~~BREAK~~~~~

 Someone so caring deserves a response back.

-Yuki

 “Now that sounds more like the prince we know,” Uotani comments as she sips on her boba tea.

Tohru looks up at Kyo seeing him waiting there with his arms crossed while Hanajima’s eyes watch him closely.

“Go on. Ask already!” Kyo huffs at her.

Tohru fidgets with the note from “Yuki”, trying to find a spot for her eyes to focus on. “Oh, uhm.. Well, do you...mind...giving Yuki just one more...note?” she asks hesitantly.

His brows raise in surprise. “So this is the last note you plan on writing?”

Her head nods assuringly.

Kyo sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “Fine. One more.”

Tohru’s face lights up and she turns to her satchel to find paper and pen. While she’s turned away from him, a small smile graces Kyo’s features which doesn’t go unnoticed by Hanajima’s watchful gaze.

“Interesting,” she murmurs, catching her blonde friend’s attention.

“What’s that?” Uotani asks her.

“Their waves call out to each other,” she says simply before taking a sip of her milk tea.

Uotani stares at her cryptic friend before Tohru’s chipper voice brings her attention back to the pair.

“Here! And I promise this is the last one!” Tohru swears with her version of a serious look, something she couldn’t pull off.

“Pffft, yeah okay,” Kyo responds trying to keep from laughing. 

With a wave, he turns away, note in hand, and returns to work as the group heads out. As Kyo wipes down the countertops, he watches the group chatting just outside the cafe bay window. Kyo pauses in his cleaning, hand fisting into the rag as he’s lost in his thoughts of the brunette. The smile Tohru graces her friends as she speaks excitedly to them, the endearing looks her friends give in return, but it’s Tohru that mainly catches his eyes. Her carefree attitude full of light and innocence; her calming presence and her excessively spastic expressions that make him want to laugh; but most of all, it’s her wide eyes so soft and filled with such care for everyone to witness, a kindness and love so pure that even those who didn’t deserve it where graced with it. 

Finally, the trio move on and Tohru leaves his sight, bringing him back to reality. With a heavy sigh, he looks down at the flat surface he was once cleaning and his hand trails towards his pocket where he put the note. How could this one girl suddenly occupy most of his thoughts? She doesn’t even know it, but he’s afraid to tell her the truth about the notes. Would she think he’s crazy? A creep? No… he couldn’t risk it. The one person he’s come to care about how she thinks of him and risk finding out she’s just like everyone else? No, he’ll hold on to this fantasy of his for as long as he can, even if it does seem to be nearing it’s end anyways.

Pulling the note from his pocket, he unfolds it and reads the message Tohru had scrawled out for Yuki. Despite her rushed state, Kyo couldn’t help but smile at her girlish handwriting.

  Yuki, 

Maybe once you’re feeling better we can hang out! 

<3 Tohru

 “Shit…” he says under his breath. “How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?!”

Kyo stuffs the note back into his pocket and tries to focus back on work, but the words continue to haunt his thoughts the rest of his shift.

Finally, Kyo makes it back home as his feet shuffle the whole way to his room before dropping his bag just inside the door. He hits the door with his foot to close it and makes his way over to his desk before plopping down in the chair with a heavy sigh. His head leans back as he stares blankly at the plain ceiling above. He daydreams about what it would be like to take Tohru on an actual date: walking through the park, sitting at the cafe together and just talking, or maybe going to an amusement park and playing the carnival games and winning those shitty stuffed animals for her. 

Forcing himself out of his thoughts, he leans forward in his chair and opens his desk drawer to grab his notepad and pen where he sees the other notes from Tohru. He had kept them in there for safe keeping and away from potentially prying eyes- knowing full well his family is full of them. Looking at the notes, he doesn’t realize he’s smiling again even as he tries to think of what to write for the new note. 

Kyo was so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice his door opening slowly from where it had failed to shut entirely. 

Yuki stands at the threshold of Kyo’s room, finally feeling well enough to be walking around and not laying in bed drinking soup. The prince looks on curiously at his cousin, the small smile not going unnoticed. While he didn’t know Kyo well, Yuki knew him well enough to know he rarely, if ever, smiled. Curiosity getting the better of him, he strolls in uninvited just to see what has managed to break Kyo’s normally cantankerous expression.

A shadow looms over Kyo and blocks some of the light over his notepad which causes him to look up from his desk. Much to his displeasure, he finds himself face to face with the one person he least wanted to see, especially in his room uninvited.

“The hell?! Who the hell said you could come in here?!” Kyo yells, standing up from his desk.

Yuki ignores his usually explosive cousin and continues looking at the notes on display. His name in particular catching his attention. He scoffs and moves to the side to better read the notes without being plowed over by Kyo’s abruptness. 

Kyo realizes what has caught his cousin’s attention and quickly tries to hide the notes even though it’s already too late.

“You truly are pathetic,” Yuki says softly, turning towards the door. “He suddenly has the ability to become a writer of his own, yet uses my name as his to get the attention he’s so desperately craved all his life…”

Yuki stops just at the door and looks back over his shoulder, his expression apathetic and priggish. “And all just to get a girl who isn’t even worth the time. If you’re going to use my name, at least get someone who’s actually useful and not so painfully dull.”

Kyo fumes, hands tightening to fists as his body moves on it’s own towards the door. He throws himself at Yuki as they fall into a heap in the hallway, Kyo’s clenched fists now around his cousin’s collar. Anger tints his vision red as he pulls a fist back ready to punch him out cold. The smug, yet disinterested expression below him fuels his anger further; however, his fist connects with the floor barely an inch away from Yuki’s face.

“The only one who’s painfully dull and not worth anyone’s time is  you .” Kyo spats in his face. Pain ebbs at his knuckles still firmly placed against the hard floor but he keeps his eyes locked on the pair of pale, blue eyes below him. “For someone so smart, you don’t know a damn thing about her. And why would you? Just like everyone else, you’re so trapped in this God-forsaken family that everyone else fades to the background. Yuki, the one who’s always surrounded by people, yet I think you’re the loneliest one here. You think you’re better than me? Name one friend… At least I know where I stand and have accepted who I am, rather than be what everyone expects me to be.”

Kyo shoves himself off and leaves Yuki on the ground as he shuts his door behind him. His heart beats erratically inside his chest from the rush of adrenaline. Oh how he wanted to punch his damn lights out! But he wouldn’t give Yuki the satisfaction of getting to him so easily. With a new wave of determination, Kyo sits back down at his desk and begins writing his reply back to Tohru.

 Tohru,

Meet me at the Fountain in the park by the cafe. 

Saturday at noon. 

Let’s do this properly.

  ~~~BREAK~~~

 Kyo fidgets nervously standing next to the fountain. He had arrived 30 minutes earlier and has now switched between sitting and standing at least 40 times. He feels sick to his stomach, what if she doesn’t come, what if she runs away when she sees it’s him. She thought she was meeting Yuki. Why did he think that she would settle for him. No one ever wanted him, he was just the cat that was always cast aside. No, I can do this. At the very least, I should tell her the truth and let her feel how she wants. Time to man up. 

He could see her coming up and looking around for Yuki. He’d take a deep breath and finally step out to meet her. Standing before her, he’d rub the back of his neck nervously as she’d turn to see him.

“Oh hi, Kyo! Have you seen Yuki?”

This would be the moment. He’d have to tell her the truth. Clearing his throat, he’d gain his resolve. “Actually… Yuki isn’t coming,” he’d tell her hesitantly, watching her confused gaze staring back at him. “I was the one writing the notes back to you.”

He waited for her to respond, unable to gauge her reaction as she stood there as still as a statue. Had she heard him? Before he could ask, her face turned downcast and her eyes wouldn’t meet his. He felt his heart shatter into a million pieces as he saw the look of disappointment he had recognized so many times before clearly written across her features. He didn’t have the nerve to go through this again, not with her. Panic squeezed the air out of his lungs, rooting him to that spot and unable to move, to speak, much less breathe. 

“Why did you do this to me Kyo…” She said as he saw a tear drop from her down turned eyes. “Kyo...”

“Kyo... Kyo? Kyo, are you ready to go?”

He looks up from where he had been standing and staring at the fountain, just to see Tohru walking up to him with her signature smile. “Are you ready to go?” She repeated.

His heart beat steadily inside his chest, his breathing evening out as he realized it was all in his head...but, wait...what had she just asked him?

“What?” He asks dumbfounded.

Tohru giggles. “I asked if you’re ready to go. What were you thinking about? You seemed a bit lost in your thoughts. But you looked so sad, is there something I can do?” Tohru smiles brightly.

“No,” he says slowly, her smile warming the inside of him and breaking the ice his cold thoughts that had been frozen within his mind after all these years. He smiles back at her, “I’m fine now.”

Before he could ask her anything, she turns away and looks inside her bag before pulling out a small, folded piece of paper then hands it to him. Kyo looks at her curiously as he reaches out to take the note. Holding it in his hands, he looks down at it, then back at her. Tohru nods with a small smile, prompting him to open and read it.

Kyo opens the note and reads it quickly. His eyes widen in surprise as he looks back up her before rereading the note to make sure he understood it correctly, but she grabs his hand and pulls him forward.

“Come on! Let’s go get something to eat.”

Kyo’s shock fades away as a smile takes its place, letting the small brunette drag him to wherever she wanted.

 ~~~END~~~

#fruits basket #kyo sohma #yuki souma #tohru #tohru x kyo #love notes

[less--beans]

so i might need a little time before i heal

despite having writer’s block for literally the last 3 months, i’ve written like 3 watt fics in the past week. here’s one that i wrote tonight!

word count: 2039

summary: Cairo's headed back to school for the first time since the infamous second sleepover. Kate finds her in the bathroom crying.

Cairo lets out a deep breath. The school looms ahead of her, students milling around in front of it, laughing and talking with their friends. 

She automatically looks for the cheer team, knowing that Riley prefers them to hang out before school, no matter how quiet and awkward it is. She sees a flash of red hair and starts to head for it-

No.

She stops, remembering. She won’t see Riley smiling, beckoning her over. She won’t sit on the stairs with her, watching the team sit awkwardly around and listening to her best friend talk. She won’t see Chess laugh at some dumb sarcastic comment Kate muttered under her breath. She won’t see Farrah try to sneak a swig of something from a flask, hiding from Annleigh’s disapproving glare. She’ll never see any of that again, because Chess and Farrah are dead. And Riley is in prison for their murder. 

Cairo falters, not knowing where to go, when her name is called. She looks over, surprised, and it turns out to be Reese who is now calling her over. She hesitantly walks in the direction, silently sending up a thanks to whoever is listening that it’s on the opposite side of campus than their normal spot. As she gets closer she realizes the rest of the team is there too, sprawled out on a staircase. It seems as if they decided to keep hanging out in the morning, even in their captain’s- former captain’s absence. 

“Good morning Cairo! Come sit with us,” Reese says with a smile. Cairo decides to try to ignore the obvious pity and hesitance in the expression and just comply. She sits on the bottom of the steps and figures she’s not going to even try and pay attention to whatever the girl is going on about. Instead, she surveys the remaining members of the team.

Kate sits at the top of the stairs alone. She doesn’t seem to be listening either, staring off across campus with an empty expression. There is an obvious gap between her and the rest of the team, as if someone were sitting there, a painful reminder of a time when someone did. Annleigh is a sharp contrast, paying too much attention. She is grinning widely, though it seems to be physically hurting her, and she’s nodding as Reese speaks. Mattie seems scared, and Cairo wonders if she feels worse for the girl they wrongfully imprisoned or the girls who lost people to whom they rightfully imprisoned. Someone drops something metal across the campus, and Mattie flinches, drawing into herself with a haunted expression on her face. Eva looks unsure of what to do, standing awkwardly. She’d never gotten to know the team before the drama of that night. Cairo almost smiles. What a wonderful first impression they’d made. 

The bell rings, loud and jarring, and Cairo startles. She hasn’t even noticed the time passing, too busy trying to adjust to the changes. She gets up and walks away without a second glance, not bothering to try and make conversation with any of the other girls as they all headed to class. There was only one person she wanted to talk to, and she’d never be able to again. 

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

The bell signals the end of class, and Cairo drags herself to her feet. The two classes she’d had so far seemed to go by in a blur, but they also seemed to last forever. The colors and noises ran together, and for most of the classes she’d been left staring at the empty desk beside her. 

She makes it to her locker, trying her best not to look at the pictures she’d had hanging up in it. She is just starting to think that maybe she’ll get through the day intact when she overhears a conversation from across the hall. 

“Can you believe that we had our very own Death Of A Cheerleader right here in this town?” Cairo stiffens. She can’t believe her luck. Of all the things for the girls to be gossiping about, it has to be this?

“I just wonder what caused that girl to snap. I mean, everyone knew that team was the worst, but murder?” Riley’s comment about being “the worst team ever” plays through Cairo’s mind, and she thinks she’s going to throw up. 

“She killed only the drunk and the junkie though. Oh, and that cute boy- I wonder what she was thinking,” one girl comments thoughtfully. The other girl laughs scornfully. 

“She wasn’t. She’s, like, insane. Didn’t you hear? She had a whole breakdown-” and that’s all Cairo can stand before she’s pushing through the crowd towards the bathroom. 

She manages to make it to a stall before she throws up. It’s the little things, she thinks cynically, slumping to the floor and leaning against the wall. She realizes she’s crying with some surprise as the tears roll off her face. She wonders for a second if the splotches the tears are leaving on her jeans match the splotches the blood would’ve made and has to stop as she feels bile rising in her throat again. 

The door opens and for a second the loudness of the hallway is all she can hear before the door swings back shut and the silence returns. The girl who entered shuffles on her feet awkwardly and Cairo waits for her to go into a stall so she can leave without having to interact. Instead, the girl speaks. 

“Cairo?” With a jolt of surprise, Cairo recognizes the voice as Kate’s. Despite Cairo’s lack of response, she continues hesitantly anyway. “Cairo, I know you’re in here.” 

Cairo briefly considers pretending she’s not there before realizing she’s visible from underneath the stall. She sniffs, wipes her face, and stands up, unlocking the door. 

Kate takes one look at her and makes a move as if to hug her, but clearly thinks better of it. “The bathroom isn’t really a good place to sit. Germs on the floor.”

Cairo looks at her. “Yeah, I guess.”

“So let’s go outside.” Cairo thinks she must have lost her mind. 

“We have class,” she points out. “We can’t skip.”

“Sure we can,” Kate says, shrugging. “Come on, follow me.” Well, why not, she figures.

Cairo doesn’t really remember how they got outside. The bell must have rung, because the halls are empty, but she can’t recall hearing it. All she knows is that Kate dragged her through the building and now they’re sitting in a hidden spot in the courtyard, a place known among the students as a good place to skip class, seeing as none of the teachers know of its existence. Surprisingly, there are no other people in sight. 

“Why are we out here?” Cairo says, breaking the silence. 

Kate sighs, still not looking at her. “Like I said, the bathroom is dirty. Not a great place to sit. No one will bother us here either.”

“Yeah, but why do you care?” It isn’t a secret that Kate and Cairo have never really liked each other. Riley used to complain after practices that half Cairo’s attention was always on the other girl, not on the routines. Something about the other girl just rubbed her the wrong way, though. 

Kate finally faced her. “Because I wasn’t going to leave you sobbing your eyes out on a dirty bathroom floor.” 

Cairo scowls, opens her mouth to say something about the fact that she was not sobbing her eyes out, and closes it as she realizes that she kind of was. Kate raises an eyebrow at her, and her scowl deepens. “I would’ve left you.” 

“I know,” Kate says simply. “And I almost left you. But… I know what it’s like to lose your best friend. And it sucks. It really, really sucks. And sometimes you end up crying in a bathroom stall. And the one person who would’ve noticed you were gone and come to find you and comfort you is the one you’re missing most of all. So I wasn’t going to leave you there alone, not when she already did.” 

Cairo’s crying again. She hates crying, especially in front of Kate of all people, but she can’t help it. “You’re not supposed to be this nice.” Kate looks confused again, and she opens her mouth to say something, but Cairo cuts her off. “You’re supposed to hate me. You do hate me. And we’ve hated each other for years. I bullied you for no reason, I mocked you when Chess… when Chess died, and here you are, comforting me. And over Riley! She killed Chess! My best friend killed your best friend, and you’re comforting me for missing her.” 

She finally looks at Kate, ready for Kate to realize she’s right and yell at her before leaving, but instead Kate’s crying. “Yeah, your best friend sucks,” she admits, and Cairo lets out a surprised little choked half-laugh, and then they’re both crying harder and somehow laughing through it. Once she’s calmed down, Kate continues, “Just because we don’t often get along doesn’t mean that I’m just going to leave you crying in the bathroom alone. And I don’t think you would’ve left me either, not when it actually comes down to it. And,” she turns to Cairo, her eyes fierce and watery, “you can’t blame yourself for what Riley did. That’s not anywhere near your fault. No one could’ve seen it coming, not even you.” 

“Thanks,” Cairo says, her voice coming out as a whisper. Kate offers her a gentle smile before facing forward again. They sit quietly for a while. It feels… surprisingly nice. Cairo hadn’t realized how much she needed to vent, and now that she has, it feels like a little bit of the weight she’s been carrying has been lifted. She’s not sure how much she believes Kate, but just hearing what the other girl had said has helped her come a little closer to accepting it.

“The bell’s going to ring soon,” Kate said after some time. “We should head back in a few minutes.” Cairo nods. 

“How’s Annleigh holding up?” Cairo asks, thinking of the other girl who’d lost people that night.

“She’s- well, she’s not fine. But she’s getting there. We Skype pretty often, usually in the middle of the night, and we talk about them. Do you want to join the calls?” Kate offers. 

Cairo shakes her head. “No. No, I’m alright. But…” she hesitates. At Kate’s encouraging nod, she continues, “Can we do this again sometimes? It helped to talk.”

“Yeah, we can. Just let me know when, alright?” Kate passed her phone over. “Put your number in and just shoot me a text.”

“I already have your number, remember? Team captain and all that,” Cairo reminds her, handing the phone back. 

“Oh yeah! You’re the new team captain. I’d forgotten about that. How are you holding up with it?” Kate asks. 

“I’m worried about it. I’m not really a people person, that was always her job. I don’t think I’ll be anywhere near as good,” Cairo admits. It’s funny, she thinks. Before today she never would’ve told Kate of all people this. But there’s something about crying your eyes out with a person over your dead or imprisoned best friends that really lets you open up easily. 

“Hey, the bar’s pretty low on this one. Just don’t murder and you’ll already be doing better than she ever was,” Kate points out with a wry smile on her face. 

Cairo chuckles a bit and looks down. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You’ll do fine. Trust me.” Before Cairo has a chance to dispute this, Kate is checking her watch and standing up. “The bell is about to ring. Come on, let’s head in.” 

Cairo takes the hand offered to her and stands up as well. “Thanks again for this.” 

Kate smiles at her. “Much better than a dirty bathroom stall, isn’t it?”

Cairo laughs and smiles back. “Very much so, yes.”

The bell rings, and the halls fill with students as they sneak back in. Cairo waves to Kate and heads to her next class. The seat next to her doesn’t feel quite so empty, and she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she’ll be alright. 

#we are the tigers #watt #kate dalton #cairo watt #healing #comfort #grief

[ohtheseboysilove]

Finally home. [AU Soldier!Ben Hardy x F!Reader]

Words : 3, 700 K +

Warnings : tiny bit of angst, fluff

Summary : High-school reunion and Reader has to go all by herself. But Ben has a little surprise for her at the last minute.

Note : I got a thing for men in uniform and I got a even bigger thing for Ben so here we go, hope you like this oversweet little piece :)

x Masterlist x

“Yeah, I’m still coming tonight” You replied to your friend through the phone, biting absent-mindedly on your nails. “No, Ben is still in Kenya, he should be home around next week, not before” You hated the pity in your friend’s voice and quickly said your goodbye before hanging up and threw your phone on your bed.

Tonight was the ten-years reunion with your old classmates from High-school and you said that you would go when you got the invitation. Now you were bitterly regretting it. You weren’t sure why you said yes, honestly you didn’t even have a good time through your fifteen to your eighteen, seriously who did ? You had few friends, few bitches in your class too and a meaningless boyfriend. Nothing too horrible but nothing you remembered like good old time. You didn’t see most of these peoples for ten years and you knew what was the point of this reunion, most of them just wanted to show how good their life was now compared to the other old mates from school. That was stupid but now it was too late to cancel. And seeing few good old friends from their early years of your life couldn’t be so horrible after all.

And Ben wasn’t even here. It wasn’t his fault, he was in the British Army and his team was deployed in Kenya to track illegal wildlife trade until next week. If nothing happened before. It didn’t sound like but it was actually a dangerous mission. These people were ready do anything to keep their merchandises then sell them, including killing those who would try to stop them. You were worried most of the time about his safety but you knew Ben loved his job and you were incredibly proud of him. But sometime it was hard to be alone for such a long time. And for an event like this one…you would have loved to have your fiancé at your side. You were twenty-eight years old and it would be a bit depress to show up alone.

But you had to go anyway. Even without Ben by your side.

**

You were in the cab, going to a very fancy restaurant which was entirely ranted for the evening. A ball of nerves was stuck in your stomach. No one was very confident as a teenagers and the thought of seeing these people again brought you back to this period, with a very low confidence. You were wearing a pretty dress, a light but classy makeup and sadly, you were all by yourself.

Not everyone was coming tonight but you were pratically the only one without a date. You felt crappy but you kept your mouth shut and smiled at every of your old classmates.

“Hi Jeanette” You quickly hugged the little brunette, one of your old friend which you didn’t see in almost eight years.

“How my god, (Y/N), hi! How are you doing?” She was still as happy and bubbly as you remembered. “This is my husband Devon”

And this went on for solid forty minutes. You met every girlfriend/fiancée/wife and boyfriend/fiancé/husband of all your old classmates, receving the little pity look when you explained that your fiancé couldn’t come because of work. Delia, probably the worst bitch during high-school quietly scoffed and you were pretty sure she called you a liar when you talked about your engagement with Ben.

“So (Y/N), what was the name of your boyfriend again? Barry ?” Delia asked as you were speaking with few of your old classmates at the bar. You knew what she wanted to do and it was pissing you off. She never directly attacked you at school because you were basically quiet and invisible but right now, you were the number one target as everyone was rather nice about you being by yourself rather than mocking you like she probably hoped they would. Apparently not everyone change.

“My fiancé’s name is Benjamin” You gave her a fake smile and took a big sip of your wine, knowing you would need that to go through the evening. “But just Ben is fine”

“Oh sorry, I’m bad at remembering name” She shrugged and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, clearly not finish with her interrogation. “So why he isn’t here tonight? I forgot what you said”

“He is working” You bit the inside of your cheek to not just tell her to fuck off.

“Working? Pity really, my Trevor took the night off to come with me” The pretty redhead giggled, apparently proud to rub in your face the fact that her fiancé was here and that you were alone. “This little boyfriend of you should really review his priorities” She scornfully added, throwing dramatically her hairs back.

This was the last drop. You stood up brutally and was ready to throw your Martini right in her face when you felt a warm but firm hand on your shoulder, making you turned your head.

“What the— Ben ?” You felt tears immediately pooling in your eyes at the sight of your fiancé, still wearing his military clothes with the most charming smile ever.

“Hi, love” He smiled warmly and wiped with his thumb the single tear on your cheek. “M’ sorry I’m late. Just came from the airport, traffic was insane” You giggled with glossy eyes and threw your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“You’re here. I can’t believe you’re here” You cried, face buried into the crook of his neck as he gently rubbed your back, hugging you back.

You could feel every eyes of the room in you but you couldn’t care more. Ben was in your arms and alive. He tried to break the embrace but you refused to let him go, like if he would disappear as soon as you would. He murmured something about the bathroom and practically dragged you in there.

“Love, stop crying, please. I’m here now” He pressed several kissed on your hairs, feeling your body shook between his arms. “I’m sorry I’ve been away so long but I won’t be deployed away for the next six months, alright?”

You haven’t see him in almost sixteen weeks, worrying to death every day, wondering if he was alright. You couldn’t contact him like you wanted, sometime he wouldn’t have Wi-Fi for several days and you could help but imagining the worst.

“I— I was so, so worried for you, Ben” You sniffled against his skin, savouring his familiar and comforting scent.

“I know, love but I’m fine, I promise” He felt his heart tightened at the pain he was inflicted you. “Look at me, I’m totally fine”

“Gimme a minute” You rested your head against his chest, listening to his stable heartbeat, quite not believing he was here.

“Take your time, love” Ben ran his hand up and down your back, waiting patiently until you collected yourself. “How your evening is going?”

“Better now. I was…I was about to throw my drink into this bitch’s face” You chuckled and slowly broke the hug, sighing loudly. “But you stopped me right on time” You smiled and he imitated, showing his high and cute cheekbones in full display.

“Meh. I would have loved to see that” You giggled heartily and he squeezed your hips, bowing his head slightly to reach your lips. The kiss was sweet and slow, the both of you savouring the long-waited reunion. “I missed you so much” He whispered against your mouth, sliding his palms against your cheeks to bring you closer.

“Me too, H. So much” You deepened the kiss, hooking your hands behind his neck and simply melted against him, wondering how did you survive four months without your Benny and his plump, delicious lips.

“Maybe we should go back before it becoming suspicious” He teased through the kiss, gently tugging on your lower lip.

“We should” But none of you stopped kissing though, continuing to make out for few more minutes. “Now we really need to go back” You chuckled breathlessly and grabbed a tissue to clean the smudged makeup around both of your mouths, grimacing as you noticed the large bruise on his jaw. “What happened ?”

You were used to see Ben come back with bruises and scars, it was part of his job but you still didn’t like it. That always made you remember how his work could be dangerous.

“Got hit by a guy who tried to run away. Little fucker knocked me off with his gun but we caught him anyway” He shrugged like if it wasn’t a big deal and it probably wasn’t for him but for you it only made your stomach churned, thinking about him getting hurt. “It’s doesn’t hurt much more, don’t worry" You nodded and pressed a little kiss on the purplish bruise before straightening your dress and combing slightly your hairs.

“How do I look?” You twirled on yourself and giggled when he whistled wolfishly, smacking playfully your arse.

“Gorgeous as always” He grinned and pecked your lips once again before opening the door. “I love you” He murmured into your ear then slid his arm around your waist, walking back to the dinning table.

"Love you too, baby ” You replied with a dreamy smile and blushed slightly as, once again, every eyes went back on the both of you.

He pulled the chair for you and you thanked him before seating and interlacing your fingers as soon as he was next to you.

“This is fuckin’ fancy, didn’t get the dress code before coming” Ben commented with an amused smile and few of your classmates chuckled, looking at his clothes.

He was clearly looking out of context with big military jacket, the dark green shirt matching his camouflage pants and then his large ranger boots to complete the perfect army look. Every guy were wearing suits and every woman were in fancy dresses but you couldn’t care less, he always looked good.

“The invitation indeed said that there was a dress code for this evening” Delia gave him a fake smile through her champagne glass, looking at him like he was an annoying little bug.

Ben recognised her poisoning tone right away, a slight smile curling on his lips. He squeezed your hand to calm you, knowing how easily you could bit back when someone disrespected your friends or family.

“Forgive me darlin’, was a bit busy and didn’t get the invite. The postal service in Kenya is not as good as is it in England” The curly man smirked and the all table bursted in laughed, making Delia clenched her jaw.

“Should we order now that everyone is here ?” A girl who you barely remembered, Matilda, said to calm the tension and waved to the waitress.

“I’m fucking starving” Ben mentioned to you, his fingers playing with yours, both your hands resting on your thigh. “The food was shit in the plane"

You chuckled at his little pout, knowing how grumpy he could be when he was hungry.

“Be patient, baby” You gently stroked his sweet face, smiling widely when he kissed your knuckles. "I’m so glad you’re here” You murmured with a honey-coated voice, heart fluttered at his pretty eyes.

The moment was broke by the waitresses bringing several plate of food and putting them in front of everyone.

“But we didn’t even order yet” Jeanette furrowed her brows as she looked at the fancy dishes.

"Oh that’s normal, it’s Trevor’s company which pay for everything tonight so we already set a menu for everyone” Delia stepped in, rubbing her fiancé’ shoulder with a proud smirk. “For the starter we have a watercress and celeriac soup with goat’s cheese croutons” She explained with a haughty voice, asking a waiter to pour more champagne in her glass.

“That’s a really fancy name for a vegetable soup” Ben commented quietly, a little grin on his face. You giggled silently and he winked at you.

The portion was minuscule and in three spoonfuls you were done, craving for more.

“It’s was delicious” You complimented to no one in particular and few guests agreed with you, nodding and repeating your words.

"I’m glad you’re please , all the food is cook by our personal chef, Louis” Delia bragged immediately, her fingers tugging on her — obviously — expensive diamonds necklace. “He is french and he is one of the absolute best !“

"Only the best for my fiancée” Trevor smirked and she matched his smirk, visibly both of them happy to rub their money in the face of everyone.

“I always forgot that you went in a fancy ass snobby school” Ben murmured after the ridiculous intervention of Delia and Trevor, making everyone awkwardly chuckled. “Thanks god you didn’t turn like that”

“I would kill myself seriously” You mumbled and played absent-mindedly with your engagement ring.

For the ten next minutes, Delia monopolised the conversation to talk about her wedding coming up in few months. You and Ben exchanged few glances, quietly laughing at the fanciness of everything. She was getting married in a freaking castle in France, of course, during summer and their were apparently a big number of important guests invited, including few celebrities from Hollywood.

“And then I’m still not sure for our honeymoon, I want Bali but I heard that the Bahamas is great too” She shook her head and pouted slightly, seeming to have a true dilemma. “Uurgh I hate that, it’s so hard to choose !”

You pinched your lips to not laugh and you looked at Ben who was rubbing his chin, watching your old classmate like she was some kind of alien.

“Baby, I wanna go to the Bahamas too” You falsely pouted and a large smile broke on his features. “And I want the Queen of England to bless our union" You added as you crossed your arms, mimicking perfectly Delia.

“Only the best for my fiancée” Ben repeated the precious words of Trevor, laughing heartily. “You can also have a unicorn to ride toward the aisle, would it make my girl happy ?”

You snorted loudly and immediately clasped a hand on your mouth, blushing a bit as everyone glanced at you.

“And what about you (Y/N) ?” Delia didn’t miss the occasion to drag you into her competition of who would have the best wedding. "Where Ben is bringing you for your honeymoon ?”

“On the moon” The blond man replied with a cheery voice and few people laughed.

“We’re going to Argentina” You said fondly, you and Ben had talk about going there for years and it was finally the best occasion to go. “Road trip all around the country for two months” You beamed and locked eyes with your fiancé, both of you very excited about this trip.

“Argentina ? Isn’t it a bit…rural ?” Delia arched her brow, visibly not impress by the choice of destination. “I mean if you want to go in South America, which I strongly not recommended, I had been robbed twice there, you should go to—"

“We’re already made our choice but thanks for the advice” Ben cut her rather harshly and she seemed offended by it. You were happy he stopped her because she was being rude and insufferable. “Argentina is our thing, had bee for a while now, isn’t it, love ?” You nodded with an adoring smile, looking at him fondly. His smile was matching yours and it warmed your heart.

His last comment relaxed the atmosphere and the conversation went back smoothly, even if Delia was a bit less loud than before.

“You’re the best” You mouthed to him and he winked at you, squeezed your thigh.

You raised your head to the waiters back, bringing the main dish, in a perfect synchronisation, giving to the meal a really snobby tone.

Delia cleared her throat once everyone get their plate, ready to explain the probably really fancy name of the ridiculously small dish.

“This is a duck breast with pomegranate and citrus glaze” You had no idea what on earth was a citrus glaze. “Bon appétit” She said in french, trying her best to suppress her english accent.

“I guess it’s too late to say that I’m vegetarian” Poppy, probably the coolest girl who was in your class during high-school – she offered you your first and only cigarette – sarcastically said with a fake smile for Delia.

The redhead chuckled awkwardly and went back to eating her plate, cheeks a bit redder than before. You glanced at Poppy who rolled her eyes and pushed on the side the duck before taking a spoonful of vegetables.

Ben gave you a distress look at the size of the dish and you shrugged, cutting a piece of the duck.

Once again, it only took few minutes to eat the small meal and you couldn’t wait for the dessert. You were in deep conversation with Denis, one of your old lab partner which was an absolute sweetheart and Harry was talking to Maggie and her wife Tracy, both clearly charmed by your fiancé’s aptitude to adapt everywhere. You loved that in Ben, he wasn’t really fitting the standards to be here tonight but he didn’t care, simply enjoying the night without any problems. His hand stayed linked to you knee, rubbing it sometimes.

“So Benjamin, how could you be here tonight ? If I remembered correctly, (Y/N) told us you were deployed for few more days" You glanced at the blond man because even you didn’t know how did he manage to be here.

“Well, easy, we caught the big fish we were after and wrapped our mission quicker than we thought. Our colonel was satisfied with our job so he let us go home sooner” You absolute adored how everyone seemed to admire his work and how brave he was to go this kind of mission. Rudy asked him what he did in this mission and so Ben explained simply that he was, for now, affected on the capture of the traders of illegal wildlife merchandises like rhinoceros’ or elephants’ horns for the ivory mostly.

“That’s very impressive !”

“Do you need guns during your work ?”

“For how long have you been doing that ?”

You smiled at the flow of questions for Ben which answered every one of them like it was simple office job. Delia didn’t look very happy to not be the centre of the attention anymore but even her fiancé was asking question, clearly impress by Ben’s job.

The questions finally calmed down when the deserts came and Delia announced it what again : It was a mango and coconut verrine with on the side, a pistachio macaron. Ben immediately dove into the sweet little thing, the glass looking ridiculously small into his large palms.

“When did you know you could come back home ?” You pushed your empty plate away and pressed your hand on Ben’s shoulder, rubbing softly his — probably — sore muscles.

The blond man glanced at you, his mouth full of macaron and chewed exaggeratedly before swallowing. A cheeky smile blossoming on his face.

“Yesterday morning” He replied, wiping his lips with a napkin.

You cocked your head and watched him leaned back against his chair, clearly knowing where you were going with your questions.

“Before or after our phone call ?” You slid your hand up to his neck, stroking his warm skin.

He squeezed your knee in return and stole you a quick kiss.

“Before” Ben said with your favourite boyish smile.

“Why didn’t you tell me ?” You cheekily pinched his skin and pouted. “I was so nervous to go by myself at this stupid reunion !” You brought your chair closer to his and he threw his arm around your shoulders, pressing a peck on your cheek.

You felt yourself snuggled closer to him, immediately relaxing at his touch. God, how much you had miss him. He brushed his nose against your skin then raised his hand, tracing the shape of your cheek’s bone and you couldn’t do much expect giving him a dreamy gaze.

“I wasn’t sure if I could catch a flight early enough to go with to your party, didn’t wanna give false hope” He explained with a soft voice. “And I also wanna surprised you” He grinned and squeezed your cheeks together, making you pout like a goldfish.

“Seriously ! I cried like a baby, It was embarrassing” You pushed his hands away making him laughed.

“No, that’s was adorable” His features turned more serious and his thumb went back on your cheek, caressing it sweetly. “You don’t know how much I love coming back home to you and seeing you so emotive and happy to have me back…” He gently cupped your face and gave you a loving kiss, you sighed quietly into the sweet moment. “That’s my favourite thing, ever. You’re my favourite person, ever” You sniffled and took a deep breath to not just burst in tears right now. “No more tears, lovie” He chuckled softly and you hid your face against his shoulder.

“Sorry but it’s your fault" You brushed a little kiss on his jaw and sat back correctly, you were in a fancy ass restaurant after all. “You’re too cute and I’m extra sensitive when you’re away for so long”

“I know, I’m sorry” Ben whispered and interlaced your hands together, smiling softly at the sight of your engagement ring.

“It’s not your fault” You smiled tenderly and sighed, looking around as everyone were in deep conversation. “What about we go home now ?” You whispered, suddenly the only thing you wanted was going back to your and Ben’s flat and cuddling in bed for at least three days straight. You didn’t wanted to be here anymore, you just wanted Ben, no one else.

“That’s a fuckin’ great idea” The blond man grinned and stood up, tugging you with him.

You said your goodbye to everyone and Delia seemed glad that you were finally leaving, a satisfied smirk adorning her face.

“Wanna go to McDonald’s before home ?” You asked Ben as he helped you put your coat on, grinning wildly at your suggestion.

“Hell, yes. I’m fucking starving”

***

#ben hardy x reader #ben hardy x you #ben hardy #ben x reader

[another-snape-story]

Breakfast

Chapter VI

When you woke up the next morning, for a few seconds you couldn't understand where you were. The place was new for you, and your sleepy brain failed to process the surroundings. But once you came to your senses, you felt a rapturous uplift in your soul. Recalling your yesterday agreement with Professor Snape, you started up, frightened you've overslept, but luckily it left enough time. The dim light fighting its way through the water barely gave any understanding about the time of the day, although it was clear the sun has risen already. You leisurely walked up to the window, peering into the depth. What you've expected to see there – you couldn't answer, but definitely not that Giant Squid, oh Merlin's pants!!! You jumped back, pressing your heart back into your chest. 

How many more surprises were there waiting for you? However, this sudden occurrence stirred you up – the remnants of slumber vanished in a blink. 

Dressed up and ready to take everything this day has prepared for you, you fidgeted on the edge of your bed, hypnotizing the clock and counting minutes remained before you'd face your standoff colleague. It was unbearable to continue sitting idly by, so you stood up resolutely and strolled through your room back and forth, throwing wary glances at the window, specifically, trying to spot the creature you've just seen on the other side – you won’t let it take you aback again – and shuddered, recalling its long fleshy arms with huge suckers.

You decided it wouldn't hurt if you left a little earlier. The cool air of the corridor breathed on your skin when you opened the door, and your body answered this sudden contact with goosebumps.

“Ugh,” arms crossed on your chest, you rubbed your shoulders to chase them away.

Looking around, you couldn't find a living soul within eyeshot. But as far as the passageway offered you a plenty of statues lined up along its walls, you didn’t see it as a problem. The flickering torch light stroke the figures, revealing their shapes, and the shadows jumping on stone faces added frightfulness to their appearance, which – combined with inhospitable darkness of the dungeons – created a distinctive mood to the whole ambiance.

Absorbed into studying the surroundings, you didn’t hear the steps and flinched, once tall black figure swept out of the dark.

“Oh, that’s you!” you giggled and sighed with relief. “Good morning!”

“Who on Earth could it be at such an early hour…” he made a pause, slowly approaching you, “...while I’ve been the only one who dwelled in these dungeons… till recent time.”

“You did?”

“I thought it was obvious, taking into account that I accompanied you exactly to this place last night,” the man invited you into a move with a step forward and a gesture of his hand.

“Sure. How witless of me to assume you’d walk me here just out of kindness!” you sneered and he pursed his lips in response.

“My chambers lay in the end of the passage. Not that I'd like to see you at my door…” he clarified calmly, “unless it's something urgent.”

“Don't worry, Professor, I won't stalk you,” you reassured him jokingly, regaining the understanding this sarcastic manner of his was a usual thing and shouldn’t be taken as offence, “unless it's something urgent.”

The way you talked to him, intrigued Snape’s mind. He was not the one who’d grow with sympathy for anyone that fast, but you clearly would have a chance… in other circumstances… in other surrounding… in other life…

“I saw a squid today,” you spoke as you went upstairs. “A huge one! It scared me to death!”

“It’s harmless,” the man beside you answered indifferently.

“I thought they inhabited salty water?”

“Right, but this one’s of a different – magical – subspecies,” he explained softly.

“I see…” you fell silent for a moment. “Don’t you mind it swimming around?”

“Do I look like I would?” Snape arched an eyebrow astonished, and you laughed. This time you could say for sure – there was (!) a barely perceptible smile in the corner of his mouth.

The reason why Professor Snape volunteered to take you for breakfast remained inexplicable for you, because the Great Hall located – as it turned out – right off the Entrance Hall, where the narrow spiral staircase brought you. Did he really consider you unable to navigate a corridor? However, he was a nice man, no doubt, but why would he pretend otherwise?

You walked past four long rows of old wooden tables appended by same long rows of shabby benches on their both sides each and headed for another long table at the front of the Hall.

“Where are the rest?” you inquired seeing there was no one else here.

“Not long in coming,” Snape took his regular seat, and you joined him.

“May I ask?”

“You did it already.”

“It’s not just rumors about the return of… You-Know-Who, isn’t it? Why would there be such a fuss around the Stone then?”

“Rumors do not appear out of nowhere – there must be a reason, clearly,” he agreed in a soft yet impassive manner of his.

“Do you think there is a chance of him getting the Stone? I mean… breaking in the school and everything which follows with it?” you couldn’t deny this possibility made you feel uneasy.

“I usually tend to be prepared for the worst outcome,” Snape admitted, filling his plate.

“Sounds encouraging…” you sighed, and he answered your sarcastic remark with a teasing “you’re welcome.” Both of you realized the matter was no joke. As long as the Stone remained within school walls, it was responsibility of each staff member, and you were no exception.

“G-g-good m-morning, P-p-prof-f-fessors,” a pale young man in lilac turban interfered your conversation.

“Good morning, Professor Quirrell,” you greeted your colleague, while the other Professor sitting beside you just ignored his presence.

“You m-may c-c-call me Q-q-quirinus,” he bowed with an amiable smile.

Professor Snape, who was busy with chewing his meat, stopped working his jaws – a piece of food bulging from behind his cheek – and reluctantly continued his meal once uninvited guest made himself comfortable on the chair next to yours.

“So you’re teaching Defense Against Dark Arts? I loved this subject being a student,” you decided that starting acquaintance with professional questions would be the right thing.

“I was t-t-teaching M-muggle St-t-tudies b-before I t-took a year-l-long s-sab-batical,” he clarified.

“Oh, and what have you been doing the whole year?”

“G-gaining f-f-first-hand exp-p-perience, you kn-now.”

“That’s praiseworthy!” you approved. “And which kind of experience?”

“W-well, d-d-different…” he focused on his plate.

“What did you find the most exciting then?” you were eager to find out something new.  

“M-m-many things,” the man’s head almost disappeared in his shoulders, as he vigorously cut the leaf of salad.

“So many you can’t even name at least one, Quirrell?” Professor Snape snapped scornfully.

“It m-might t-t-take l-long,” he explained away.

Meanwhile your other colleagues joined in. Each of them tried to talk to you, depriving you of any opportunity to put something edible in your mouth. Although Professor Snape sat beside, withdrawn in his own thoughts he didn’t seem to be interested in this conversation.

You carefully shoved your elbow closer to him and slightly pushed his forearm. The look he gave you was pure astonishment. With an askew glance you pointed at your plate where a word ‘HELP’ was put out of corn grains. Snape’s lips twitched in an attempt to suppress a grin, and he stifled with a strange smothered sound which broke through his nostrils.

“Now that you’re finished,” he addressed you intentionally louder than usual, drawing everyone’s attention, “I think it’s high time to discuss the issue of supplying my storages with ingredients, as we’ve agreed.” With these words Professor Snape rose up to his feet and remained standing behind your chair, waiting for you to do the same.

“Yes, sure,” you hurriedly put the napkin on the table and followed suit.

“Pity you’re leaving so soon,” sighed a squat little witch, “I wanted to show you Herbology Greenhouses, I thought you’d like to see them.”

“Of course I would! I’ll join you later,” you replied kindly. “Thank you, Professor Sprout!”

<<<  Previous Capter • Next Chapter >>>

Tag: @diaryofafan17​ @yul-is-sparkling​ @fullmoonshadowwrites @forthehonourof​

#snape #severus snape #snape x reader #severus snape x reader #snape fanfiction #severus snape fanfiction

[ripley95]

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 8

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 2.9K

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Shepard has some bonding time with all of Kaidan’s sisters, leaving her with more regrets. Shepard and Libby work through their differences.

Link to Chapter 8 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14

Read the chapter here below the cut:

Raiya and Shepard made their way upstairs after finishing their coffee on the porch. Raiya still hadn’t elaborated on her plan to get Shepard on Libby’s good side. The house was still silent. None of the other Alenkos had woken up yet. Shepard was starting to fear that Raiya was about to wake Libby up to moderate some harsh discussion between the two of them. Sometimes the direct approach was the best, but Shepard wasn’t too keen on the idea, scared that waking her up in such a way would do nothing to sway Libby. Her fears were quickly alleviated when they ended up in front of Maisie’s door instead.

Raiya barged right in without so much as a single knock, and sat down gently on the bed next to Maisie.

“She sleeps like a rock, so hopefully she’ll want to wake up,” Raiya said, looking at Shepard before prodding her sister on the shoulder to no avail. “I’m sure if she knew Commander Shepard was in need of her help, she’d be more interested,” Raiya said, with a raised voice this time, while fully shaking Maisie’s shoulder this time.

“Uuuggghhh,” Maisie said, while rolling over, still not bothering to open her eyes. “Someone better be dying,” she groaned out.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m afraid not.”

“What do you want, then?” she said, basically slurring her speech with how tired she was.

“Jane’s here, and we need your help.”

Her eyes jolted open, and she looked towards her doorway to see Shepard standing there, waving as a greeting. Maisie promptly sat up, wondering what was going on.

“What is it?! What do you need?”

“Do you have any of that hair dye left?” Raiya asked, pointing to Maisie’s hair.

“Hair dye? That’s it? That’s what you had to wake me up for?” she asked, clearly irritated.

“Sorry. I know it doesn’t seem like something worthy of being woken up for, but I didn’t want to use any without your permission, and we’re kind of on a time crunch.”

Maisie looked over to Shepard now, with an entertained grin on her face. “Why? Trying to disappear from the Alliance, so you can run off with Kaidan or something?” Clearly, her imagination had already run wild with ideas.

“Jeez, Maisie, why are you always so dramatic?”

“I’m not dramatic,” she said, looking scornfully at her sister. “You’re just boring.”

Shepard held back a laugh, contemplating once again what a life with siblings must have been like. It was certainly interesting from this side of the conversation, at least.

“So, if it’s nothing so dramatic,” she said with an emphasised distaste of the word, “what was so dire that you had to wake me up?”

“You saw Libby yesterday. She was practically seething at Jane.”

“You could say that again.”

“Yeah, well, the wedding is tomorrow already, but I think I’ve figured out a way to extend an olive branch.”

“By dying Shepard’s hair?”

“Well, Libby’s problem with Jane being here is that she’s too recognizable, and she doesn’t want the attention taken off of her on her big day, right? So maybe if we make her not look so much like ‘Commander Shepard,’ Libby won’t have to worry about that.”

“Hmm. Yeah, okay, maybe that’ll work.”

Shepard still hadn’t even gotten a word in edgewise, but she had to admit that the idea sounded promising. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt anything, so it was worth a shot.

“Great, so do you still have any?”

“Psht, of course.” 

“Well, can we use it?”

“Use it? Come on. I’ll even do it for you,” she said as she flung the covers off of herself, shoving her way past Shepard, still standing in the doorway.

She walked across the hall, into the bathroom, and started rummaging around in the cupboards, Raiya and Jane following after her.

“Oooh, I think you’d look good with this,” she said, holding up a box of what looked like the rest of the blue dye she must have used in her most recent colour change.

“The point is to draw less attention to her, Maisie. Don’t you have anything a bit more basic?”

“Ugh, yeah, fine,” she said, going back to the cupboards to rummage around again. She stood up with a box in her hand, showing them the new option. “Here. I think this is about as opposite as it’s going to get while still looking natural.”

“I think that’ll work,” Shepard said, taking the box and turning it over in her hand, sounding pleased. “How long does this stuff last, exactly?”

Maisie laughed at that, eliciting a slightly worried gaze from Shepard.

“Oh, you’re serious? It’s permanent, so until your hair grows out.”

“Of course it is,” she said, slightly exasperated, handing the box back to Maisie. “Oh well. It’s not a big deal. I really don’t like the thought of ruining Libby’s wedding, so whatever it takes.”

“Well, if you don’t like the colour, we can always dye it blue after the wedding,” Maisie said teasingly as she opened the box.

-

As she studied herself in the mirror, Shepard had to admit it was a pretty substantial difference. She was rather pleased with the outcome, hoping it was enough to make Libby feel better.

“It looks good,” Raiya said from behind her.

“Yeah? You don’t think I’m too recognizable still?”

“I mean, you do have a pretty recognizable face,” Maisie said.

“People only really know you as a soldier, though. Maybe with some makeup and a dress, most people won’t even notice,” Raiya said.

“Hopefully,” Shepard agreed.

“My husband will be arriving later today. I didn’t get a chance to tell him that you were Kaidan’s date, so he can be our first test subject to see if this might actually work,” Raiya said with a laugh.

“Ooh, that’ll be fun,” Maisie said from behind them, as she started cleaning up all the supplies. “Make sure I’m in the room for that!”

“Sure thing,” Raiya said with a smile.

“I think I actually forgot you were married,” Shepard said, looking back towards Raiya.

“Yeah, almost 8 years now. He’s a teacher. He’s set up a school closer to our house. He’s trying to provide structure for all of the kids in town again since the war ended, so he wanted to wait to come here until a little closer to the wedding. He’ll be bringing Austin, too.”

“Your son?” Shepard asked. She vaguely remembered Kaidan telling her something about a nephew during their time together on the Normandy.

“Yup,” Raiya said with a smile. “But anyway, I think this could do the trick.”

“Unless people are a little too curious about Kaidan finally bringing someone home that they start asking a ton of questions,” Maisie said.

“I guess that’s a possibility. At least this is something, though, right? Maybe it’ll at least make sure the ceremony goes well since people won’t get a chance to mingle until the reception for the most part.”

“It’s not like I’m going to introduce myself as Commander Shepard at a wedding,” she cut in.

That made Maisie laugh. “Could you imagine? That would be hilarious. That is a good point, though. We didn’t even know you by your first name, so if you introduce yourself as Jane, maybe this actually has a good chance of working.”

“See, now we just have to get Libby on board. I’m sure she’s awake by now. Probably best to rip the bandaid off and get it over with, right?”

“I’ll go check if she’s up,” Maisie said, running over to her door and knocking urgently, Raiya and Shepard following after.

“What?!” came a yell from the other side.

“It’s Maisie, can I come in?”

“Yeah, fine,” they heard from the other side.

Maisie opened the door, and all but shoved Shepard into the room before closing it on the two of them.

Shepard heard a “Wow, Maisie, really?” from behind the door, followed by a “Yeah, it’s better to let them deal with it by themselves.”

Shepard would have preferred to deal with this herself anyway, but she might have liked a smoother entrance. Now she was left a little dumbfounded, standing by the door. Libby was sitting in front of a vanity, putting makeup on. The commotion made her look in the mirror towards the door to see what was going on. Shepard made eye contact with her through the reflection and gave a subtle wave.

“Um, hi,” Shepard said, still caught slightly off guard. “Sorry about that, but I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute. Not exactly the way I would have gone about it, but here we are.”

Libby took a good look at Shepard through the mirror before letting out a sigh and turning around. “Yeah, Maisie can be... forceful,” she said, pointing towards the end of the bed, her way of telling Shepard she could have a seat.

Shepard smiled in acceptance, and went to sit on the bed across from her. She was pleased by the fact that Libby didn’t sound too annoyed.

“Did you do that for me?” Libby asked, pointing to Shepard’s hair, immediately recognizing the gesture.

“Yeah. Listen, I really feel like I need to apologise. I never joined the Alliance intending to be in the spotlight. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that I’m this public figure, especially when I’m just trying to live my life, you know? The last thing I ever wanted to do was ruin your wedding.”

Libby shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re the one apologising.”

“What?”

“Oh, come on. I think we both know I was pretty terrible to you yesterday.”

“I think I just took everyone by surprise.”

“You’re too kind. I know it wasn’t my finest moment. None of this was your fault. There’s no excuse for me being so standoffish. I’m sorry about that. My reaction wasn’t even really about you, to be honest.”

Shepard nodded slowly, accepting the apology, sensing the tension easing between them slightly. “Wait, so are you telling me I did this for nothing?” she said, pointing to her hair, laughing.

That elicited a laugh from Libby, too. “Well, not for nothing, I guess. I appreciate you wanting to make a peace offering. And honestly, I could see that creating less of an upheaval throughout the wedding, so I’m still grateful that you did it. I’m just sorry that you felt like you had to,” she said, a little more solemnly.

“Don’t worry about it. I can always change it back or let it grow out. It’s just hair dye. It’s not a big deal.”

Libby forced a smile at that.

“Hey, I know we only just met, but if you want to talk about it, or need extra help or anything, I’m not just here to be a bystander.”

“Thanks,” she said, looking down at her hands. “It’s just that nothing about this wedding is going how I expected it to. I think seeing you yesterday was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Shepard nodded, perceiving that there was a larger issue going on. “I can understand that. But hey, you don’t owe me an explanation. I know this must be a stressful time for you.”

Libby huffed out a sigh. “You could say that again. And I may not owe you an explanation, but after the way I treated you yesterday, I kind of feel like that’s the least I can offer you. You probably didn’t know this, but I was supposed to be getting married the same week the reapers landed.”

That suddenly made a lot of sense. Of course, all of her original plans would have gone flying out the window.

“The whole family was here. Kaidan was even in Vancouver for work, and the timing was perfect since he wasn’t assigned to be off-planet for a while. It was going to be the first big family celebration since Raiya’s wedding. Dad was here…” she trailed off.

And of course, now he wasn’t. Shepard hung her head, understanding the significance of everything that had changed for Libby.

“Derek, my fiancé, enlisted almost immediately after the reapers landed, otherwise we might have just eloped. He and my dad were both shipped out so quickly, we didn’t even have the chance. Obviously, Derek made it through to the end of the war just fine, but we ended up holding it off for so long now. Things have been rough with the rebuilding efforts, and Derek has been shipped out on duty more often than not, making it hard to plan anything. Kaidan was missing for so long, and Dad’s status was officially changed to KIA. The entire family was so distraught that we didn’t particularly feel like having a wedding for a while after the war.” 

“But then when Kaidan finally made it back,” Libby continued with a smile. “Everyone was so happy. There was finally a reason to celebrate something again, and I kind of thought that a wedding was a perfect excuse to get everyone together and be happy for once. But nothing feels happy right now. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still thrilled that Derek and I are finally getting married. We’ve been waiting for so long. But nothing else feels right about it. It feels so trivial to be doing something like this when the galaxy is still rebuilding. It feels wrong, trying to celebrate when there are people that were supposed to be here, but aren’t. Dad should be here,” she said, letting out a sigh and rubbing her forehead.

“Obviously, none of this is your fault,” she amended quickly. “But I guess something about seeing you felt like it was just another wrench being thrown into my plans. It really shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. I think everything’s just been getting to me. I haven’t seen Derek for months. He wanted to help with all of this, but we decided it would be nicer to spend quality time together after the wedding rather than wasting all of our time together planning it, so we timed his leave around that. I miss him. I miss my dad. With the weight of it all… well, I guess I just overreacted,” she said as she turned back toward the vanity, looking regretful.

“Libby,” Shepard said softly to gain her attention again. “I know nothing I can say can fix everything you’re going through, but I think if there’s one lesson that we can all learn from this war, it’s that we shouldn’t squander these chances to celebrate the good things in life. I didn’t know your dad, but he seemed like a good man who valued his family more than anything. I know this is easier said than done, but I think he’d want you to be happy and enjoy your life.”

Libby nodded, and turned back towards the vanity. Shepard took that to mean that Libby likely wanted some privacy, so she stood up from the bed. Before moving to leave, she went to put her hand on Libby’s shoulder as a sign of comfort.

“You don’t have to feel guilty for being happy about something so important to you.”

Libby looked up at her in the mirror and gave her a weak smile. She squeezed Shepard’s hand with appreciation.

Jane took that as her cue to leave. Right as she was about to go through the door, Libby spoke up one last time.

“Thanks, Jane,” she said, watching Jane’s face through the mirror.

“Any time,” she said genuinely. “And hey, if this doesn’t do the trick,” she said, pointing to her hair, “Then I’ll just excuse myself to try to make things as easy for you as possible.”

Libby huffed out a laugh as her smile turned into something more authentic. “It’s okay, Jane. I’m not going to make you do that, even if you do cause a scene.”

Shepard nodded in acceptance. She was glad that Libby wasn’t actually mad at her, at least.

“No hard feelings, I hope?” Libby continued.

“Of course not. I’m just glad we got to clear the air.”

“Thanks for the talk,” Libby said. “Damn, you really are diplomatic, aren’t you?”

Shepard grinned. “So I hear.”

“Well, I appreciate it,” Libby said in thanks.

“Don’t mention it,” Shepard said, taking that as her cue to leave, closing the door behind her to grant Libby some privacy.

As she closed the door, she stood in front of it silently in contemplation. It was good that she managed to fix so much, yet she was worried about the ever-growing hole she was digging herself into with everyone thinking she and Kaidan are in a relationship. It was almost easier when she thought that Libby and Raiya really didn’t like her. It would have been so much more simple to go back to her life without Kaidan, thinking that his family at least wasn’t fond of her. But now their whole mishap had gotten so out of hand. Libby was apologising, and Raiya was giving her a second chance. Kaidan’s family was nice. Too nice. She could already feel them weaselling their way into her heart just like he had. It was bad enough having feelings for Kaidan, but now she could feel herself beginning to care about his whole family.

‘It’ll all be over soon,’ she reminded herself, as she finally decided to move somewhere that wasn’t right in front of Libby’s door. One way or another, it was true, and that damn saying would become her mantra.

#f!Shenko #f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko #f!Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #mass effect #fanfiction #mass effect fanfiction #mini slow burn #angst #friends to lovers #accidental dating #my fic on tumblr #my writing

[carewyncromwell]

[Taking Ben’s recommendation, Carewyn headed to the Training Grounds. Although she hadn’t seen either Beatrice or Merula yet and was concerned about both of them, she already knew full well who she was going to find there. Sure enough, Merula Snyde was lashing out her wand in violent turns, burning and slashing at the dummies with ferocity.

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed upon Merula’s back as she watched her for a moment.

Her old school rival was laser-focused on what she was doing. There was a tenseness in her shoulders and a harshness to her stance that spoke of intense, cold rage. Even as Merula’s hand clenched over her wand and she precisely slashed the dummy’s head in half before it magically reformed a second later, it was clear there was no control -- no hint of restraint. She had a hold over her wand movements and dueling form...but her emotions were clearly set ablaze.

Her eyes softening grimly, Carewyn approached Merula. When she spoke, her voice was very soft.]

[Merula seemed to have already sensed someone was there, but there was an odd twitch in her neck and shoulders at the sound of Carewyn’s voice.]

And thinks too little...

[Pushing that meaner thought down, Carewyn tried to respond with some dry humor.]

“Well, I suppose he was sorted into Gryffindor for a reason. They do have a talent for making a commotion...”

[Merula, however, didn’t seem in the mood to chat. Her turning around was harsh and confrontational.]

[Any trace of lightness left Carewyn’s face.]

“Ben seemed to think that you’ve been having a tough time, after what happened last year.”

Merula: “And I suppose, as usual, you thought to stick your nose in other people’s business?”

[Carewyn refused to rise to the insult -- so instead she just pursed her lips, letting Merula rattle on a bit while she conjured up a more level response.]

“(warily) Get in the way of what?”

Merula: “Of killing Rakepick.”

[Carewyn faltered visibly.]

Merula: “I know you want to stop her too, Cromwell. We’re looking at a ‘kill or be killed’ situation right now...and I know what side I want to be on.”

[Carewyn’s eyebrows furrowed over her narrowing eyes critically.]

[Carewyn’s eyes widened, her chest filling up with an emotion she couldn’t quite define.

The idea of killing Rakepick hadn’t seemed completely out of character for Merula. She’d always been a very vengeful sort, and she could go way overboard in trying to hurt someone. After all, this was the person who’d trapped her and Rowan in a Devil’s Snare in first year. But this -- this response --

It infuriated Carewyn.]

“...How dare you.”

[Merula’s eyebrows knit together over her eyes, creating an expression that both looked offended and confused.]

“(lowly and harshly) After all those years of ranting about how you’re going to be ‘the Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts’ -- after all the work you’ve put in, to prove yourself -- to show up all those people who misjudged you, for what your parents did -- you’re just going to throw that all away? All of your dreams, all your ambitions -- your future, your life? And for what -- to kill Rakepick? You know the Aurors are hunting her down -- there’s a very good chance she’ll die trying to escape from them! And even if she doesn’t, she’ll be locked up in Azkaban for life.”

Why would you choose this!? I don’t have a choice -- my life is never going to be the one I wanted now! Why would you -- !?

“Why would you throw away your chance of living a normal life, just to -- ?”

[Merula’s pink eyes flared.]

Merula: “Normal? Nothing is normal for me! I’m not like you, Cromwell -- I can’t just get up and go to class every day like a good little witch planning her career...not as long as Patricia Rakepick walks the earth!”

[It was interesting how differently Merula and Carewyn expressed their anger in that moment. Carewyn, as always, tended to go ice cold whenever possible, so as to better keep hold of herself and her head -- Merula, of course, had no desire to censor herself or hold back, so her anger came out like licking, hot flames.

As the two glared at each other, something in Merula’s eyes shifted a little.]

Merula: “After what Rakepick did to your brother...I thought you’d want revenge too.”

[Carewyn’s blue eyes darted down to the ground just to the left of Merula’s foot.]

I do want Rakepick to pay. I do want justice for what she did to Jacob -- to Bill...even to you. But...I know I could never kill anyone...not even Rakepick. And I definitely -- definitely don’t want you anywhere near her again -- not when she has all of R behind her, when she’s such a threat --

“(solemnly) ...Seems to me like the best revenge would be not letting Rakepick have that kind of power over you. To live well and become powerful despite her.”

Merula: “(scornfully) So just staying in line and letting her get away with it.”

[There was a short, tense pause. Then Merula spoke again, her voice a bit lower than before.]

Merula: “...I heard Khanna telling Barnaby that you weren’t planning on going after the Vaults or Rakepick, but I didn’t think you’d become this cowardly, Cromwell.”

[The word “cowardly” was an arrow in Carewyn’s heart, but she was too proud to acknowledge it. Keeping her eyes just to the left of Merula’s face, just over her shoulder, she responded as levelly as she could.]

“It’s not cowardice -- it’s preservation. Rakepick tortured you, Merula. She injured both Bill and me, and we both know it could’ve been so much worse. This whole thing has gotten way out of our control, and I don’t intend to lead anyone else on any more crazy adventures.”

Merula: “So this is you stupidly trying to ‘shield’ everyone. (mutters) Why am I not surprised... (more confrontational) Whatever happened to not relying on anyone more than you rely on yourself, Cromwell?”

[Carewyn met Merula’s eyes squarely, her blue eyes very cold. She hated being reminded of that conversation.]

I don’t. But...

“(lowly) ...You’d said I sounded like Rakepick when I said that.”

[Merula’s pink eyes, however harsh and confrontational they were, seemed to glint with something...tenser.]

Merula: “Well, for once, you both had been right!”

[What was that look in Merula’s eyes? Was she...actually a little frustrated? It seemed like she’d been trying to say something, but it was almost like -- she didn’t know what to say...

Almost like how Carewyn felt, not knowing how to talk to Ben...

Carewyn’s stony gaze cracked, betraying some amazement and softness despite herself.

Before she could say anything, however, the two Slytherin girls were interrupted by another girl in Hufflepuff robes dashing over to them.]

[Penny glanced from Carewyn to Merula, looking confused.]

Penny: “Why are you both out here alone in the dark?”

Merula: “(very sardonically) Oh, so you’ve come to judge us, Penny? Brilliant.”

[Penny looked very taken aback by Merula’s hostility.]

Penny: “Huh? What’s going on? Do you hate me, all of a sudden?”

[Carewyn rested a hand on Penny’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.]

“(coolly) No, Penny -- Merula’s just in a mood.”

[She shot Merula a very reproachful look, but Merula rolled her eyes.

Penny turned to Carewyn with a bit more concern in her face.]

Penny: “...I was actually looking for you, Carewyn...it’s about Beatrice.”

[It took all of Carewyn’s composure to not snap at Merula as she shot her a very sharp glare out the side of her eye.

Penny, however, merely shook her head, her face rippling with worry.]

Penny: “No...this may be worse...”

((OOC: Wow...I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’m enjoying writing Merula and Carewyn’s interactions, now that they’ve surmounted the Portrait Vault together! I still don’t think they’ll ever be friends, exactly -- more like frenemies -- but they’ve really developed a very interesting contrast, as two Slytherin girls with similar ambitions but completely different personalities and methods of going about achieving their goals. Plus their eyeshadow looks are now rather similar! I plan to keep using smokier eye make-up for Carewyn in year 6, at least until that certain Redacted event.*groans in despair* But yeah, I’m going to get a lot of use out of my character theme for Year-6!Merula while writing her, from now on...

Next-up...year-6!Beatrice.))

#carewyn cromwell #jacob's sibling #hphm #hogwarts mystery #merula snyde #ben copper #jacob #jacob cromwell #patricia rakepick #penny haywood #beatrice haywood #roleplaying #gameplay

[wildflowerhigh]

Second Time Around (c.h.) | Part 8

Read part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7

Summary: Maybe, just maybe, Calum Hood isn’t so cynical about love anymore.

Word Count: 2.8K

A/N:  This is the end! What a rollercoaster to get here, but we’ve finally arrived. I’m genuinely sad this series is over, but like I said before, this is not the end! I’m hoping to post a couple of bonus one shots. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with me and reading this till the end. I hope you guys loved this series as much as I loved writing it. Also, y’all are more than welcome to come and shout in my inbox about Harper and Calum! I’m more than willing to keep writing about these two, but you gotta tell me what you wanna read. So… send me blurbs or something, I don’t know hehe. Okay, I’m just gonna shut up now and let y’all read, bye!

---

“HIGH SCHOOL REUNION - CLASS OF 2014,” Harper read off the massive banner hanging inside the school gym. Luke, Michael, Harper and him were at their high school reunion, surrounded by their ex-classmates sipping wine from stem glasses. Ashton obviously hadn’t come, choosing to have a date night with Kaykay instead. Sierra and Crystal had decided not to come either.

“Technically we’re not class of 2014, we dropped out before we graduated,” Luke commented as they surveyed the gym. As Calum scanned the room, different names popped into his head as he recognized each person. Some of them he had actually been friends with, but most he had barely known.

“Yeah, but you’re famous, that’s probably why you got called,” Harper said, smirking, before walking off to talk to someone else she had spotted. The group split, and Calum found himself talking to Jenny Campbell. She had been a cheerleader, and in a quite cliché manner, had looked down her nose at him and his friends. But here she was now, talking to him like they had been the best of friends in high school. If Ashton had been in his place, he probably would have made a snarky comment to her face and walked away, but Calum was unfortunately nicer than him.

“Hey Cal, come with me, I wanna show you something,” Harper slid up next to him, grabbing his arm to pull him away. She interrupted Jenny’s rant about some topic (that was verging on racist territory) and made Calum want to claw his eyeballs out, so he was glad that his girlfriend had stepped in. Jenny cleared her throat, to get Harper’s attention.

“Jenny. Hello,” Harper said, and Calum could hear the mock pleasantry in her voice. “How are you?”

“Calum and I were having a conversation, Harper, before you so rudely interrupted,” Jenny replied scornfully.

“Oh yeah? What you were talking about?” Harper asked, turning around to face her. Calum remembered now that Jenny and her had never actually gotten along; Jenny was fake nice, which Harper hated.

“Something you wouldn’t really understand, Harper.” Jenny smiled at Harper condescendingly, and it was clear that Jenny thought her and Calum were somehow better than Harper. Calum cringed at the thought.

“Right, of course. And how’s the divorce coming along?” Harper asked cheerfully, but Calum noticed the scathing tone in her voice. Jenny’s jaw dropped, and from the expression on her face, he could tell Harper had hit a nerve. “Heard it lasted only ten days, and he cheated on you with your bridesmaid? That’s just so, so, sad.” She looked at her with mock pity. “Okay, Jenny, it was great talking to you, bye!”

She turned Calum around and pushed him away, shooting her a condescending smile. He struggled to stifle his laughs- he managed to say goodbye to Jenny, and she looked like a volcano ready to burst when he last saw her. Harper and Calum made it out of the gym, laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.

“That was cold, baby,” he said between laughs, the nickname seamlessly slipping out of his lips. Harper’s grin somehow got even wider. 

“I’m up to here with her bullshit,” she said when they had stopped laughing, gesturing next to her head with her hand. “I never stood up to her in high school, but I couldn’t give less of a shit now.”

“And that’s how it should be,” he said encouragingly, giving her a high five. She smiled at him, her cheeks slightly red. “How did you even know all of that?”

“Amy told me all of it, just now,” she replied. Amy had been Harper’s other best friend. She was quite a nice girl, as far as he remembered.

“Oh yeah, how is she?”

“She’s doing great, she’s an entrepreneur now,” Harper said, nodding.

“Wow.” Harper and Calum just stood there looking at each other, smiles stretched across their faces. “Why did you pull me away anyway?”

“Oh!” Harper smacked her forehead. “I wanted to go see our old classrooms.” She grabbed his hand, and pulled him up the stairs.

“My Year 12 classroom,” Harper murmured, peeking into the first room to the right. Calum peeked in too- that was where he would have studied if he hadn’t dropped out. It looked identical to his older classrooms, to be perfectly honest.

“Year 11,” she mumbled to herself, moving on to another classroom. By now she had a lazy smile on her face, probably saturated with memories and nostalgia. Calum joined her in looking at Year 11. He was there for most of it- it had been good in terms of the friends, but he just couldn’t hack the studies part of it. 

“What did they say when I dropped out?” Calum asked, and Harper shrugged.

“Don’t remember, actually. I don’t think people were actually that surprised.”

Calum squinted at her. “I wasn’t that bad at studies, was I?”

“No, but everyone knew the band was your main goal towards the end. It simply became a matter of time,” she replied, and rubbed his arm soothingly. “Don’t worry, love.”

They moved on to the Year 10 classroom, reminiscing about that year, and then finally to the Year 9 classroom. The year Harper had joined.

Harper stepped in and looked around the room, a wistful smile stretched across her face. The room hadn’t changed one bit in so long. “I’m so glad my dad got transferred here,” she murmured, and Calum smiled at the back of her head. He was glad too.

After their evening at the cliff, he had taken her out on a couple dates, which had only cemented his decision to make this relationship work. She was absolutely incredible. He had asked her to be his girlfriend, and to his delight, she had instantly said yes.

Calum walked over to his old table, two rows from the back of the classroom. He sat down on the bench (he was too big, he just barely fit on it), facing the blackboard. Harper looked over at him, amused. “I was sat here, just like this, when you walked in that day. On your first day of school.” He tapped the table slightly. “You introduced yourself, and I’ve been whipped for you ever since.”

"Just like that?" She teased, half giggling, and did a mock catwalk into the room, twirling around like a Miss World contestant.

"Exactly like that, yeah," he managed to get out in the midst of fond giggles at his girlfriend's fooling around.

She smiled at him and crossed him to sit at her own old table, diagonally to the right behind his. He swiveled around in his tiny seat to face her. "You would lean over and correct my maths work," he remembered.

She shrugged. "It was the only way to talk to you," she said, making Calum's eyes go wide. “Yeah! I used to keep looking at your work to see if you made mistakes- and you made a lot of them- and I would correct you.” She chuckled slightly, shaking her head. “I stupidly thought that was the way to weasel myself into your heart.”

“But it worked, though,” he said, and she smiled at him. "I wish I had asked you out then."

"I'm actually glad you didn't. We would have turned out as different people if we had been together then, and…" she walked over to sit on his table, and he looked up at her. His hand automatically moved to her calf, lightly stroking it. "I like the people we are right now."

He stood up in front of her, pulling her legs around his waist. She smirked at him, and his heart flipped like it always, always did. "I like the people we are right now too,” he said, and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss almost immediately got more intense, her hands ruffling through his short hair as he tilted his head.

"Mr Hood, Miss Romano, maybe don't make out in this classroom," a familiar voice piped up near them, and Harper and Calum instantly pulled away to look at the source. Mr Wayne, their English teacher was standing in the doorway, frowning amusedly at the couple. "There are children who study on that very table."

"Mr Wayne, hello!" Harper said, jumping off the bench, brushing her hair. Calum brushed a hand over his face and hair as well. "We were just reminiscing!"

"By kissing? That’s an interesting method," he commented.

“Sorry, Mr Wayne,” Calum said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Mr Wayne shook his head, a smile appearing on his face. He had been a pretty chill English teacher, Calum remembered.

"I really don't know if you kept him and the others in less trouble, or if they got you into more trouble, Miss Romano," he said, walking closer to them, his hands behind his back.

"Let's just say it was a mix of both, Mr Smith," Harper said, making Mr Lee chuckle.

"And you two are reconnecting in an unconventional manner," he quipped, and both Harper and Calum blushed, his hand moving to the small of her back. 

"Yeah, it... just happened."

"Well, please don't make out again in the classrooms. It was nice seeing you two again." He turned around to leave, and then looked back at them. "And I must say, it’s about time." He smiled at them and walked out, leaving the two of them confused.

“What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Harper whispered.

"I have no idea."

---

An hour and a half later, after a decent dinner hosted by the school itself, the four of them drove back home together. They had gone in Calum’s car, so he was driving. Harper had placed her hand on his that was on the gear stick five minutes into the ride, leading to a constant barrage of teasing from Luke and Michael, but Calum didn’t care- all he felt was contentment. 

They dropped off Luke and Michael at their respective homes, and as the car sped away, Harper sighed loudly. “I don’t wanna go home,” she whined.

“You don’t have to go home right now if you don’t want to, you know, you’re an adult,” he remarked, and her eyes grew wide.

“I’m an adult. Oh my god, I can do whatever I want!”

Calum chuckled at her. “Yeah, being back home makes you feel like a kid again, doesn’t it?”

“It really does, I feel like I should be at home doing homework right now,” she replied, giggling.

“So, Ms. Harper Romano, the adult,” he joked. “Where do you wanna go?” He pulled over on the side of the road- he didn’t wanna overshoot their destination that she was yet to pick. 

Harper looked around; suddenly, her hand gripped Calum’s tighter. “Benny’s Diner. It’s right there.” She pointed at a tiny restaurant on the side of the road with her free hand.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah! I remember all the couples used to come here for dates back then,” she said. Calum shrugged, stopped the car and got out, his hand disconnecting with hers for a few seconds till she was by his side again. This time, she slid her hand fully into his, and Calum couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face.

The name of the diner sounded kinda familiar to him, and as they walked in, he realized where he had heard it before. “I’m pretty sure Luke used to come here with his high school girlfriend,” he remarked, and Harper nodded.

“Probably. Literally everyone popular ate here. I’m pretty sure they came here after the school formal too,” she replied, settling into one of the booths. Calum sat down next to her, and he reluctantly let go of her hand. “I didn’t go with them, though. I went home after the dance. There’s only so much socializing I can do.”

Calum smiled at her, and looked around. It was a cute place, but he didn’t think he had ever come there before. He definitely hadn’t come here on a date, he would have remembered. “Who did you go to the formal with?” he asked.

“Tommy Huang,” she said, looking up from the menu she had picked up off another table. Calum’s mouth fell open at her answer.

“Seriously?” he asked, for the second time that night. “That guy was such a douche!”

“Yeah, but he was the only guy who asked me, and everyone else had dates.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “I didn’t wanna be that chick that’s all alone at the formal.”

The waitress interrupted them just then- Harper ordered a chocolate milkshake while Calum ordered a tea. 

“If I had been there, I would have asked you to the formal,” Calum said, after the waitress had left, and she smiled warmly at him.

“And I would have said yes, but you were in London,” she replied. She didn’t sound at all bitter, but the guilt ripped through his heart anyway.

“I’m sorry we abandoned you,” he said, reaching out to grab her hand, and she gladly took it. “And left you to get through the mess that is high school all alone,” he finished, and she shook her head.

“You didn’t abandon me, Cal, you guys were following your dreams! I would be a horrible friend if I felt bad about this.”

“So you don’t feel bad at all?”

“Well, I-” She paused, looking for words. “I was a little lonely, of course, I don’t blame you guys for it,” she said pointedly. “In fact, I’m glad you guys went to London, I mean, look where you are now!”

The universe has a funny way of proving points, and as if on cue, the diner’s speakers started playing She Looks So Perfect. Both of their jaws dropped- while Harper’s expression was more of amusement, Calum’s expression was sheer horror.

“And your song wouldn’t be played at random diners if you hadn’t gone to London!” She clapped her hands in glee, getting up from the booth. Calum put his face in his hands, hiding the smile that popped up from looking at his girlfriend’s joy. 

“You’re kidding, right?” he asked, watching her dance and sing along to Luke’s verse of the song.

“I am not kidding, Calum Thomas Hood, now up you get!” She dramatically raised her hands,  gesturing to him to stand. He got up, smirking at her shining face. “The whole world loves you, baby,” she cooed, taking his hands into hers, and he laughed. She forced him to dance, moving his hands like that of a doll, and he sheepishly went along with it, unable to stop laughing. He noticed the waitress staring at them like they were crazy, but at this point, he kinda felt like they were.

During the chorus, he even twirled her around; Harper cackled, which made Calum cackle as well. He felt carefree- like the world was only him and her in this diner, dancing to a song that he had made, acting silly.

When his verse came, he serenaded her, getting down on his knees as he sang the line, ‘If I showed up with a plane ticket, and a shiny diamond ring with your name on it, would you run away too? ‘Cause all I really want is you!’

Harper laughed as he sang, cracking up so hard she couldn’t talk. Calum was laughing just as hard- he could feel his stomach clench from laughing so much. After they finally caught their breath, Harper stood up fully, pulling him closer by his shirt. They were still giggling, and Calum doubted they would stop soon. “What are the odds of them playing this song right-fucking-now?” she asked, amused. He shook his head, his hands gripping her waist.

“Very, very slim,” he replied, and bent down to kiss her cheek. She grinned at him, and Calum felt like he was on cloud nine. The song had reached its end by now, and some other hit pop song started playing.

“I would, by the way,” she added, after a few moments, and Calum shot her a confused look. “If you showed up with a plane ticket and a shiny diamond ring with my name on it, I would run away with you.”

Calum didn’t think his heart could melt for her even more than it already was, but it did. Looking at her cheesy grin- the smile that bowled him over in the first place, that would forever be etched in his memory- he fell head over heels for her once again, as he had countless times before. In this time that he had reconnected with her, which was almost a year, he had found something worth fighting for.

Looking into her eyes, Calum felt a tinge of apprehension, of fear that he would lose her and go through the awful feeling that was heartbreak all over again. But much stronger than that apprehension, crushing it into pieces, rose hope- hope for a future of love, with her. A feeling he hadn’t experienced in so long, it seemed almost foreign.

“Consider it done,” he murmured, and her smile widened. And when she stepped closer to him, her hand brushing his cheek, and pressed her sweet lips to his, Calum knew there was nowhere else he wanted to be.

---

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[melodiouswhite]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde rewritten - Ch. 49

49. Her Ladyship's strange and remarkable Friends (tw: bad French and mention of violence and gore)

Just a few days later, Lady Summers informed them, that her old friends would be happy to meet them on Sunday. But they would have to come to them, as they had no housekeeper and couldn't leave their house alone.

Lanyon had major issues with permitting the Lady to travel across London in her state. It had been only three weeks since the incident and she was still very fragile.

But it was quite impossible to talk her out of this, so he gave up. He did however ask the coachman to drive as carefully as possible.

“Don' worry, Doc”, the Irishman replied gruffly, “My drivin' won't be the problem 'ere.”

This didn't make Lanyon feel better in the slightest, but he said nothing more.

And so it came that on Sunday, Lady Summers and the male quartet were on their merry way to Soho of all places and apparently not far away from where Hyde lived.

Of course Lanyon's greatest worry was that his Lady was fine. But deep down … he had to admit that he was curious.

He really wanted to meet those childhood friends she had been talking about so much lately.

After a while, the coach stopped and they got off.

Lanyon was surprised to see that they were standing in front of a corner bookshop, that seemed to share the building with a surgery. The house was in good shape and looked a bit out of place among all the other buildings that were anything but.

He read the sign above the door.

Flamel & Wife – Bookshop and Library, est. 1865

Antiquary books, textbooks and school utensils

And right next to it:

Dr. Faust, surgery

“Huh. I do know that house”, Hyde stated, “I bought a few books here. The bookseller was a Frenchman and he was really-”

“He's one of the friends I'm going to introduce you to”, Lady Summers told him.

Then she slowly stepped up to the door, but hesitated to ring.

“I seriously hope that they remembered”, she muttered, “Last time they thought I was someone else and the reception was … explosive.”

Lanyon swallowed and tried to ignore his sense of foreboding.

Now the Lady finally rang the bell.

Something moved inside and a chubby woman with auburn hair and brown eyes opened the door.

She recognised the Lady, gasped in delight and called something over her shoulder further into the house.

“Careful, careful”, Lady Summers told her, when she wanted to hug her, “I'm having a sick phase.”

The auburn-haired woman frowned. “Oh mon dieu! Je suis désolée¹!”

Lanyon's attention was up. That had to be the French proprietress.

Lady Summers stepped to the side, so the other woman could see her company.

“Perenelle, these gentlemen are-”

“Tell us all at once”, the other responded. “Entrez! Les autres vous attendent²!”

“Perenelle, speak English”, the Prussian reminded her. “Only two of my companions are fluent in French.”

Sheepishly, the Frenchwoman apologised and let them in.

About time, Lanyon thought. It's pretty rude to wait that long to invite people in.

“Cut them some slack”, Lady Summers responded telepathically, “They don't have guests that often and are quite apprehensive.”

The four men were lead into the parlour, which was a bit cluttered, but otherwise cosy enough.

A gaunt, platinum blond man with silvery eyes and a pince-nez fetched a few extra chairs. “Do sit down”, he invited them. That had to be the bookseller Hyde had mentioned.

And sure enough, they recognised each other.

“Monsieur Flamel”, Hyde spoke. “Quel plaisir de vous revoir³.”

“Mister 'yde”, the man returned. “Fancy seeing you again.”

Their tone was cool and they didn't look as pleased, as they claimed. Then again, no one was pleased to meet Hyde and the brunette naturally reflected the antipathy he was met with.

Then the man named Mr. Flamel turned to them. “Welcome, gentlemen. I'm Nicolas Flamel, the landlord and owner of the bookshop in the front and the small library upstairs. This-” He pointed at the auburn-haired woman, “-is ma merveilleuse épouse⁴, Perenelle.”

Lanyon tried to recall, where he had heard those names before, but then Jekyll solved the riddle for him.

“Nicolas Flamel?”, he cried, “The Nicolas Flamel? The man who is said to have found the philosophers' stone?!”

Oh. Now Lanyon remembered, but-

What the hell?! That man lived 500 years ago!

The Frenchman chuckled. “I'm surprised you know me. People aren't that interested in alchemy these days.”

Jekyll blushed a little. “I am”, he admitted quietly.

The other man, who was tending to the fire, paused. “Really? How nice! I'm an alchemist myself. Everyone in this house is, actually.”

The man was stocky and thin, had unkempt, ginger hair, a crooked nose and sharp blue-grey eyes with slight bags and frowning wrinkles. He gave Lady Summers a warm smile and said something in German to her.

She laughed: “Good to see you too, Johann. Gentlemen, this is Prof. Dr. Johann Georg Faust. Yes, that Dr. Faust”, she added, when she saw their incredulous faces.

They just had time to introduce themselves, before Hyde suddenly barked: “You! I remember you! You're the doctor I was forced to pay, when-”

“You trampled a little girl”, Dr. Faust finished icily. “Well, if it isn't Mr. Hyde! It's not a pleasure to see you again.”

“Likewise!”, Hyde hissed, “You wanted to kill me!”

The ginger-haired doctor looked at him scornfully. “I didn't try to. Besides, what kind of reaction would you expect after walking over a little girl like she's a dirty rug!”

“Well, what was that brat doing out there in the middle of the night to begin with?!”

“Running from a creep her parents had sold her to! I know that, because-”

“I don't bloody care-”

“Don't lie to me! I have the same ability as Luise and some more. And if I didn't know what happened to you since then, I would-”

“What would you do?”, the brunette snarled. “Turn me into an animal?”

“Why not, I bet you'd make a beautiful cat-”

“Please!”, Jekyll cried, startling them, “This is not the moment to argue about this!”

“He's right. Pull yourselves together, girls! You're both pretty!”, Lady Summers agreed firmly.

The two squabblers stared at her. “GIRLS???”

“And please don't turn him into a cat, Johann. You know I'm allergic to them. Außerdem hat er viel gelernt in den letzten Monaten⁵.”

Lanyon stared at Dr. Faust in horror. “So what Marlowe and Goethe wrote about you is true?!”

Dr. Faust shook his head. “It's not. Don't wreck your brain, Dr. Lanyon.” A mischievous smirk. “I don't need a demon to do the fantastic! Do you want to see-”

“No, I do not want to see it! I've seen enough witchcraft in one year! This is too much!”, Lanyon spat angrily. Then awareness of his tone set in and he apologised: “I'm sorry. How rude of me.”

Dr. Faust shook his head. “It's fine. I'm accustomed to worse.”

Then he smiled lopsidedly. “I'm stoked to meet you. Not to sound offensive, but … you three went to school and finished it. So far I've been the only one!”

The Flamels coughed in the background.

“Oh shut up, you two have been home-schooled!”

Jekyll frowned. “Not to sound offended, but what is that supposed to mean?”

Two more men entered the room.

Dr. Faust sighed and pointed at one of them. “This is what.”

The one he pointed at was a peaked boy with long hair, glasses and amber eyes. He looked young, but his black hair was greying and tied up in a messy pony tail.

The other was huge (not smaller than 8ft), had yellowish, nigh transparent skin, creepy yellowish eyes, a black mane of hair and looked more like a huge rag doll than a living man.

“Oh, they're here! Hello, everyone”, the boy said, “It's a pleasure to meet you. Luise told us so much about you-”

“Did you clean up the mess?”, Dr. Faust asked.

“Yes, Doctor. I did.”

“Next time think twice, before you make a mess in my lab, do you understand me?”

“Yes, I do”, the boy said duly, but looked a bit agitated at being talked to like a child.

But Mr. Flamel jumped to his aid: “I don't see 'ow you're one to admonish 'im about making a mess, Jean. Do you remember that one time you almost blew up my bookshop in Paris?”

“That was 200 years ago and an accident! You can't still be angry about that!”

The Frenchman's silvery eyes narrowed.

“… I guess you can.”

Meanwhile the boy turned to Jekyll: “I'm Victor Frankenstein.”

Jekyll gasped: “What a surprise! I read the novel by Mary Shelley, but I didn't think that I would ever meet you! Charmed!”

Oh! The novel 'Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus' by Mrs. Shelley! Henry loves that one!

Victor blushed awkwardly. “Likewise. You must be Dr. Lanyon?”

“No, that's me”, Lanyon spoke up sourly.

Frankenstein blushed. “Oh! Oh Heavens, I'm so sorry! I didn't think-”

Dr. Faust facepalmed and groaned: “Of course you'd assume that Luise would love the man you would find most handsome in that group!” (Jekyll blushed) “Stop stuttering and introduce to them what you made!”

“Right, sure. This-” He pointed at the giant, “-is my creature.”

“His homunculus”, Dr. Faust corrected cuttingly, “And he has a name.”

Lady Summers stood up slowly and introduced the creature. “That's Adam. Johann named and adopted him – sort of – because Victor doesn't want to deal with him.”

It was Hyde, who first stepped forward, looking up at the giant in wonder. The creature named Adam stared back. Then he knelt down and Hyde placed one of his small, bony hands onto one huge knee. He looked even tinier and more fragile next to the black-haired giant.

Lanyon could tell in their eyes, that they were recognising each other, seeing the fellow artificial creation in each other, the suffering companion. There was something heart-rending and intimate about it and the bespectacled doctor had to hold back tears, when the two hugged each other (awkwardly, as Hyde wasn't used to giving affection, while the other seemed unused to getting it).

From the corner of his eye, he could see Mrs. Flamel wipe her eyes with a handkerchief.

Dr. Faust looked mollified at their interaction, seemed like he really cared about the giant.

After a while Jekyll joined his other half and held out his hand. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir”, the blond said kindly. “I'm Dr. Jekyll. I'm his creator.”

Jekyll placed the other hand on Hyde's shoulder and rubbed it gently.

The giant blinked. Then carefully took the offered hand and replied: “The pleasure is mine.”

Lanyon and Utterson exchanged a glance, before following suit and introducing themselves.

“So, we 'eard about what 'appened at the royal gala”, Mr. Flamel brought up later.

Hyde and Adam were sitting in the library, while the rest of the group was still in the parlour, having tea and cakes.

“Such a barbaric thing to do to a lady. Seeing you in such a state around this time of the year, when you're normally fine … 'ow bad was it three weeks ago, right after it 'appened?”

“It was awful”, Lanyon told him, before the Lady could answer. “We needed to give her two transfusions, because she was suffering from severe anaemia …” He felt a lump in his throat and had to turn away to regain his composure. “I'm sorry”, he apologised.

Lady Summers grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

But Mr. Flamel shook his head. “Why apologise for love and care? It's the most wonderful thing in the world. And we don't just feel this way because we're French.”

Mrs. Flamel took her husband's hand and gazed at him lovingly. “We've been married for 518 years”, she told them.

“That's wonderful”, Jekyll replied, “I wish I had such a wonderful relationship.”

“You will”, Dr. Faust suddenly spoke up, “But you need to learn an important lesson.”

The blond doctor frowned at him. “And that would be?”

“To be careful with how you speak to and about the ones you love and, most importantly, consider the feelings of others!”, the ginger told him bluntly.

Lanyon could tell that Jekyll was offended and about to make a snappy retort. But a gentle look from Utterson silenced and pacified the angry scientist.

They all knew that Dr. Faust was right, but it was wiser not to say that out loud.

Still though, how the hell does that man know?

The eerie alchemist answered aloud: “I already told you, I have the same ability as Luise and some more. I can also predict the future and perform necromancy, but I don't use that to earn my livelihood these days. I'm tired of people insulting or trying to kill me.”

“Necromancy?”, Lanyon repeated, “You raise the dead?!”

Dr. Faust frowned. “No. No spell in the world can really bring back the dead, even though Victor here would love to tell you otherwise. I can only conjure their spirits and question them. And that alone is something that shouldn't be done.”

“Have people ever asked you to do it?”, Utterson asked curiously.

“Of course!”, the alchemist groaned, “In fact, it happens quite a lot lately. It's always the same kind of people. They can't get closure over the death of a loved one and want to get them back. This is so boring and tiring, that I just send them away. If they have an actually good reason and can pay accordingly, only then I consider it, maybe!”

“Uhm …”

Everyone startled, when Victor Frankenstein spoke up.

Right. That lad was still there too. He was looking at Jekyll in fascination. “So … you're in love?”

The blond Doctor blinked. But then he nodded and smiled. “Yes. I certainly am.”

Frankenstein tilted his head. “But you're not married. I see no ring on your finger.”

Jekyll shrugged.

Of course he could have replied something the likes of: “I would, if I could.” or “It's illegal”. But then he would have given away that he was loving another man (or two, because Lanyon was quite sure, that Jekyll loved Hyde as well) and that was more than dangerous these days.

Both Lanyon and Utterson knew that and that's why they weren't offended by his apparent nonchalance.

The Flamels and Dr. Faust seemed to get the hint as well, because they made no remark either.

But Frankenstein began to pry: “Who is it? The black-haired lawyer sitting-?”

Dr. Faust promptly elbowed him. “Shut up, Victor. It's none of our business, who he loves and it doesn't matter anyway.”

“But I want to know how their-”

“It's none of our business!”, the alchemist growled, “And even if it was, you wouldn't understand the emotional depth of it.”

The black-haired boy glared back at him. “How are you one to talk? In the 400 years of your life, you've never once been in love!”

“Neither have you”, the ginger-haired man retorted. “You claim that you were in love with Elisabeth, but you never confided in her, never were there for her, when she would have needed it and on top of that, you left her alone on your wedding night. Everyone in this room can tell you, that this has nothing to do with love and it's not how you treat someone you care about.”

The others nodded affirmatively.

But Faust wasn't finished yet – in fact, he seemed to be just getting started.

“And don't even get me started on how you treated your creature. You animated him and ran away, because you didn't like his eyes. And you still insult him and call him a monster, ugly and other charming things like that. I would have preferred dying over treating my little Gretchen like that, when she was alive.”

That caught Lanyon's attention. “So your alleged mistress was actually your daughter?”

“Mhm. My little sunshine she was!”

“'E was a good father too”, Mr. Flamel spoke up, “'E took good care of 'er.”

Dr. Faust smiled warmly. “She really was the best person in the world. But then she fell in love, married and decided to grow old and live a normal life with her family. Of course it broke my heart, when she died and I still really miss her sometimes. But she was happy and that's all I could ask for as a father.”

He pointed at an oil painting at the wall. “That's her. Nicolas painted that.”

It was the full body portrait of a beautiful, blond woman with grey eyes and rosy cheeks.

“She doesn't look anything like you”, Utterson pointed out.

“Oh, that's because I only adopted her. I met her shortly, after I had faked my death in 1541, when I was moving around with the Flamels (we were already a group back then) and she was sitting at the side of a road, begging for alms. She just looked so pathetic, I had to do something. That's how I got myself a daughter.”

“When did you become immortal?”, Jekyll asked curiously.

The German alchemist shrugged. “When I was 38 years old. Then I met the Flamels on a trip to Heidelberg and after some persuasion, they agreed to teach me how to make a Philosophers' Stone. For a while I could conceal that I wasn't ageing. There was no registry back then and as a wandering Doctor, I was always on the move. However … I was very famous in a lot of territories of the Holy Roman Empire, so it was only a matter of time, before someone would question my age. So I created a puppet, that looked like me and caused an explosion. It worked perfectly, they thought the Devil had claimed me.” He shook his head. “Of course I had to go into hiding after that. But I still nearly got killed countless times. Got accused of some vile stuff I don't even want to take into my mouth.”

“To their defence, Johann”, Lady Summers remarked. “You're rather unheimlich⁶.”

She had a point there.

Dr. Faust was obviously brilliant and charming in a gruff way, but he also seemed paranoid, difficult and – to put it politely – borderline creepy. Something was just off about him. Not as extreme as with Hyde, but it was unsettling.

Like Jekyll's science.

Yes, that was it. The aura of alchemy and dark magic was just oozing off him.

Totally someone people would pin to have a deal with the devil.

Suddenly Lanyon remembered, how Lady Summers had said that the two would get along famously. And he realised that she might be right.

“I can't decide, if I should be flattered or offended”, Faust drily responded to his inner musings.

The hoary doctor blushed at being caught red-handed.

The ginger-haired man turned back to Jekyll. “Are you interested in becoming immortal?”

That caught the Flamels' and Frankenstein's attention and they looked at the blond expectantly.

Jekyll considered the question.

But then he exchanged a look with both Lanyon and Utterson.

He smiled and shook his head. “No. I don't think I could handle watching my loved ones die, while I live for centuries. I don't want that. I'm fine with living a normal life, as long as the people I care about are in it.”

Lanyon grinned; he wouldn't have expected any other answer from their mad scientist.

Utterson smiled fondly, a rare thing to see in public.

Lanyon didn't need his Lady's telepathic abilities to know that the two men's feet were touching under the table.

These two silly lovebirds.

“That's coming from you?”, Dr. Faust's voice suddenly sounded in his head, nearly making him jump, “You call Luise your 'radiant angel' and you're her 'dear doctor'! So shush!”

Said Lady glared at her old friend. “Johann, stop that! The only one who's allowed to invade his mind is me!”

He laughed and stood to make a bow. “Of course. Do forgive me, oh Marchioness of Brandenburg, Princess of Hanover and Countess of Calenberg and Cornwall. Will I be granted mercy?”

“One last time, you lowly commoner”, she responded playfully.

The Flamels and Frankenstein chuckled.

Now Utterson spoke up again: “If you don't mind, ladies and gentlemen: how did you meet?”

The alchemist group and the mad scientist frowned.

It was Frankenstein, who answered: “Well, somehow that evil organisation found out about us and kidnapped us; that is, me and the Flamels. We were experimented on for weeks, they took quite a lot of our blood – to experiment on the samples, probably. One day they carried a half-dead ten-year-old girl into our cell. And that was Luise. That's how we met her. Dr. Faust and the Wre-” (he corrected himself, when Dr. Faust glowered at him) “-Adam came to free us. The Doctor blew up whole parts of the building and was totally shocked, when he saw the ill little girl with us.”

The ginger-haired man nodded. “Yes. But she wasn't too ill to get enthusiastic, when she looked into my mind and knew who I was. Seriously, I've never seen a little girl so happy to meet me.”

Lady Summers blushed and laughed awkwardly. “I'd never heard about the Flamels until I met them, but I had already read Goethe's Faust and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, so I was ecstatic to meet the men themselves – that's just how children are.”

Lanyon almost laughed at the Flamels' wry smiles and Dr. Faust's cocky grin.

He hadn't expected their visit to Lady Summers' old friends to be so strange, long or entertaining.

All the time their hosts had been nothing but friendly and well-mannered and Dr. Faust had quickly warmed up, when he had concluded that none of them meant harm to their mind-reading friend.

He even became friendlier to Hyde, after seeing how harmoniously the brunette and Adam interacted.

In fact, when the group came to pick the gremlin up, they found him dozing in the giant's lap.

Adam put a hand to his mouth as a sign to be quiet.

Jekyll broke into a huge smile, crossed the room silently and brought a gentle hand to Hyde's pale cheek.

“Hyde?”, he spoke, just barely above a whisper, “Hyde. Wake up.”

Lanyon saw those bilious green eyes slowly open and blink.

“Huh? Already time to go?”, he mumbled sleepily.

“I'm afraid so”, Jekyll replied and turned to Adam: “Sir, give him back to me, please. We have to go home.”

The giant was obviously extremely unwilling to let go of his “brother”, but Jekyll looked so friendly, asked so nicely and seemed to be so fond of Hyde (and he was, Lanyon knew that), that he finally gave in.

With a chuckle, the blond helped his alter ego up and helped him put on his coat.

“Let's go home, my dear other half”, he said fondly.

Hyde appeared too drowsy to really register it and just leaned into him.

They all said their goodbyes and left.

Of course not before Dr. Faust had threatened to blow Lanyon to bits, should he ever break Lady Summers' heart.

“I have nothing to fear, then”, the hoary man had calmly retorted, before saying goodbye and seeing himself out.

Jekyll and Hyde had been the first to get off the coach, when Mr. O'Connor had dropped them off one by one.

Something had concerned Lanyon though.

“Have you noticed something about Hyde?”, he asked the other two.

Utterson nodded. “Yes. He was so quiet, ever since he first saw Mr. Adam. And just now he was so clingy towards Jekyll. That's so unlike him. Something is making him upset and I wish I could do something about it. You have seen it, right, Milady? You know the answer, you have seen it inside his head!”

“Of course I have. But I'm not going to tell.”

Both men were frustrated.

But they knew: her silence meant that this was a matter between Jekyll and Hyde.

---

1) French: Oh my god! I’m sorry!

2) French: Come in! The others are waiting for you!

3) French: What a pleasure to see you again.

4) French: my marvellous wife

5) German: Besides, he’s learned a lot in the last months.

6) German: the feeling that something is off, without being unable to pitpoint it; uncanny valley; strange at best, a subtle kind of creepy/eerie at worst (sorry, I couldn’t contain myself XD)

Edit: I corrected the French grammar mistakes, in case it wasn’t clear. One of my followers was so nice as to point them out to me.

#The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde #Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde #Dr. Jekyll #henry jekyll #Mr. Hyde #edward hyde #Mr Utterson #Gabriel John Utterson #utterson #Hastie Lanyon #dr lanyon #oc #jekyllxutterson #uttersonxhyde #jekyllxhyde #lanyonxoc #frankenstein #victor frankenstein #frankensteins creature #dr faustus #johann georg faust #nicolas flamel #perenelle flamel #i actually wrote a crossover chapter #and my story initially wasn't supposed to be a crossover #it won't happen much from here i promise

[a-robin-among-thorns]

In The Shadows Of The Rising Sun Chp 10

Chapters 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 , Chapter 8, Chapter 9

I know this has been forever and for that I am very sorry. And for everyone still interested in this fic please know that it means the world to me that you enjoy and support my writing :)

Chapter 10: Silver Linings

Word Count: 2,388

Reina stumbled into the living room where young Chise sat dressed and ready for school with her nose buried in a book. She was confused for all of twenty seconds before remembering that she didn’t particularly care about the brat one way or the other. Sleep still thick in her eyes, she rubbed her cheek and trudged to the bathroom with all the grace of a decrepit zombie. Quick work was made of the grime on her face and aftertaste in her mouth before emerging clean and pristine. A bun so tight her forehead was stretched like a taut wire sat atop her head as she slipped into her business casual skirt and blouse. 

She fumbled with her keys when Chise called out, “Have a good day.” In autonomous response she answered “You too.” and exited out the door.

Chise sat in silence, lungs burning on bated breath, for one minute. Two. Five. Ten.

“Coast is clear.” 

Elias emerged with his jaws stretched wide in a tactless yawn. He had not been happy at the prospect of waking even earlier and would have taken the opportunity to lie asleep in the shadow a bit longer. But with his time with Chise limited, and the threat of being woken by the screaming of her caretaker, it was a more than necessary sacrifice. 

After a short breakfast they were on their way to school, Chise in the sun Elias in the shadows. 

It was most certainly not her imagination, walking to school was pleasant. The sights, the smells all fresh and new and yet so familiar. Warm sunshine hugging her skin as cool air filled her lungs. For once as she walked into school her back stood straight. She was certain that students stared at her even more scornfully thanks to yesterday's incident but she was hard-pressed to care. Even the class periods, that normally took eons to endure, came and went with little interruption. 

During lunch, she once again slipped out of the classroom to the secluded grove under the tree branches. The second her bottom met the grass Elias emerged with his hands presented to her. His mouth parted eagerly as he shoved his cupped claws up to her, “Here.” 

Blinking, she placed her tray sidelong and peaked down. Sitting in his bowled hands were coins and bills of various sizes and prints. Chise blanched in shock her heart growing erratic at the not unlikely possibility that he had stolen them. She met his face again, that had somehow grown even more pleased than before. “Where...where did you get these?”

“People had dropped them and some were on the ground.” 

Her body slumped in released tension, thankful he had not slipped shadows into pockets and bags. But…

“Why are you giving me these?” 

“You need them.”  He said simply. His shoulders began to sink in light of her reaction being distinctly not as he had hoped. She thought for a second. They did need money if he was going to eat enough and Reina had certainly noticed their indulgence over the weekend. They had needed it, and so he got it. The simple throughline of thinking brought to mind the image of a child accidentally shoplifting at the supermarket. 

Much of his logic ran through that childlike throughline now that she was consciously thinking of it. His decision to celebrate his birthday, how to help her during the storm, striking the boy that knocked her down...oh that was right. 

She smiled in indulgent patience. “Elias I appreciate that you got this for me and you are right that we do need it.” His shoulders rose in the face of the praise. “But, you’ll need to be careful about getting this money. Even if they weren’t around it does still belong to somebody.” He cocked his head. 

“But...they dropped it and didn’t return for it.” He said in a slightly wondering tone. 

“I know, and that sometimes is ok,” She poked around through the bills pulling out a five thousand yen note and pointing to the number. “But this is a lot of money, they will notice if it's missing and they might not get to eat if they can’t find it.” 

His shoulders sank again. “I see. I’m sorry.” 

She smiled again. “It's ok, you didn’t know and you were trying to help. Just promise me you’ll only pick up the ones on the ground and only take the coins.” 

He nodded. “Ok.”

“And one other thing. I know you were angry yesterday when that boy hit me but you should not hurt them. They might suspect something.”

“I was...angry?” His nose pointed down, an unseen obstacle placed before him. “How would I know that?”

Chise blinked, the obstacle now stood in her path. How did she put the feeling of anger into words? And why did she need to? Did it matter or should she just answer his question and leave it at that? She chose the latter mentally sorting through words like she would the keys to her apartment. 

“Well, um, your heart beats very fast and it becomes hard to think clearly.” She stumbled for breath her eyes meeting Elias’ intense curiosity. “Your body will sometimes feel hot and you’ll want to make whatever is making you feel this way stop however you can.” She hoped this would provide sufficient explanation. If not, it gave Elias plenty to consider as he remained silent for several seconds. 

“So then,” He began slowly, “I should not act when I feel...angry?”

“Well, you should try not to until you feel calm again. Otherwise, something you might regret later might happen.”

This one seemed to confuse him but he nodded in agreement.

Chise took the money from his hands and separated out the coins placing them in the small side pocket of her bag hopeful that the close contact would discourage jingling. She took the three bills and frowned. “Do you remember where you found these?” 

He shook his head no. She thumbed a thousand yen note before handing the ten thousand and five thousand back to him. “Just put these somewhere out of the way in the hall. I doubt we can get them back to their owners and the principal would think I stole them but I don’t feel right taking them.” He nodded and they continued on with lunch without interruption.

As final period rolled around Chise was primed and ready. Before the math teacher had even reached his desk Chise presented her papers, her hands vibrating with barely contained excitement. He accepted without a word and vaguely gestured for Chise to sit. A cautious optimism bubbled in her chest at the rare possibility of a good grade. Well, half a good grade. She wouldn’t know until the end of the week, but she found herself oddly hopeful. Before she knew it the class was finished and they found themselves on the trek home. 

Once again Chise felt as though she was traveling the path for the first time as her senses delighted in the world around her. Her breath whistled deeply throughout her lungs, bringing with it the sensation of something heavenly. A sweet busy scent begging to be enjoyed. On the adjacent street corner sat a young street vendor happily attending his umbrella-topped grill. 

The temptation of fresh sweets and the newfound burning in her pocket was just too much. 

“Thank you, come again!” The vendor said with a somewhat artificial but still pleasant smile. Chise nodded through her awkward blushing and hugged her taiyakis and soda to her chest before securing them in her pack.  

So many nice little things greeted her in the form of previously unnoticed beauties of the city on her walk home, she found herself wishing it wouldn’t end. The thought of the cramped apartment brought tension in her stomach that was strong enough to force her mouth and gaze downward. Her feet came to a halt as she ground her teeth in frustration. She huffed a sigh, forcing herself to take in the surroundings one last time in an attempt to improve her mood. As chance would have it, she had come to a stop right at the spot near the unmanaged ditch. 

The same ditch leading to where her life had changed in the span of a minute.

The grass had corrected itself and the rain erased all traces of the chase given days earlier. Sun-soaked air circulated her nose and with no input whatsoever from her brain she found herself once again descending into the forest heart. She trekked long, uncertain if she had since passed where they had met, finally coming to a halt once the city’s murmur could no longer be heard. 

She glanced down to Elias. It was a funny thing, a shadow peering around looking perplexed. Chise nodded in encouragement. His skull emerged up from the blackness like a dolphin jumping from the water as his body resettled into its solid shape. Away from the school and apartment, he was able to assume his full stature. 

“Why are we here?” He asked. 

“W-well,” Chise stuttered, struggling to summon the boldness that led her to that spot, “Reina doesn’t really care if I’m home before dark, so we can spend some time together out here.” 

Despite his shadowy appearance, his entire demeanor brightened with her words. Before she could protest his arms swooped her in as he settled against a tree nestling her onto his lap. Startled though she was she couldn’t help the contented sigh the spilled out in conjecture with his. 

They ate their taiyaki, crumbs spilling overhead Chise to the forest floor, and sipped their soda as Chise attended her homework. Elias attentively watched her proceed through Japanese to English translation, asking questions as they went along. Once she came to the dreaded algebra, she breezed through the problems thanks to her helpful tutor. Her coursework went more smoothly than she could ever recall even with a constant shower of crumbs overhead. She silently thanked her cheeks for the service of containing food they blessed her with. With their bellies full as they contend basked in the evening sun their yawns slowly dissolved into a full-fledged nap. 

When the dusk sun drew into her lashes Chise’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She stretched gingerly to avoid waking Elias when something rustled at their side. She shifted to see. 

In a circle stood a group of tiny creatures. Their bodies were translucent like raindrop cakes bearing two black dot eyes and pointed noses. Their heads wore acorn caps and small leaves draped their shoulders like cloaks. They were picking at the crumbs of their snacks from earlier, in a few of them she could see the crumbs in their translucent bellies. 

Curiously, Chise plucked a crumb from the foliage. The little spirits pipped in surprise as their clear bodies disappeared letting the leaves and caps flutter to the ground in tiny heaps. “It’s ok.” She urged in Japanese presenting the crumb between her fingers. The closest spirit rose under its cap, it’s head lifting the acorn but leaving its leaves flat. It’s black eyes looked her over before its body returned raising its leaves. Stumpy clear hands stretched out and took the crumb. It shoved the whole crumb into a mouth that opened up in its clear body and squealed happily. The rest of the little spirits arose from their fallen leaves hopping close and hugging her fingers. 

She laughed lightly as Elias’ skull sunk into the corner of her vision.

“They’re cute.”

“Yes, but you should still be cautious with neighbors.” His words rumbled against her back as his arms wove more tightly around her. “Small cute things can be just as dangerous as the large scary ones.”

“Even so, with you here, I’m safe right?” Chise replied. Elias hummed approvingly, eyes forming semicircles. “Are these little..." She searched her mind, "donyurei dangerous?”

“Donyurei?” 

“Acorn spirits,” She shrugged, “I don’t know if that’s what they’re called, but I think it fits.” 

“These spirits have taken a liking to you. They are too weak to be harmful but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t be helpful.” 

Chise’s smile faltered. “How would I know when they’re safe or not?”

Elias hummed. “There are rules of thumb that mages can know, but even those have exceptions or can be unique to their region of origin. It is likely that much I know of Lapland is useless here.” 

He reached for one of the spirits, extending his forefinger. The spirit sniffed then hopped on. Elias brought it close and whispered to it. He lowered it back down and spoke in a language Chise didn’t recognize. The spirit glowed a soft blue and swept its arms forward. The earth before it glowed and shifted until a small sprout wriggled up from the soil. The sprout twirled and budded opening up to a tiny white flower like on the oaks in springtime. The spirit plucked it and presented it to Chise with a smile crinkling it’s dot eyes. 

“Thank you.” Chise accepted smiling in turn.

“The only way to truly understand neighbors and their magic is to study and practice. The way of mages is to know the ways of the magic around them. To sense it and utilize it. Accepting the world as it is and learning how to interact with everything around you.” 

One the spirits had nestled itself in her palm nuzzling her thumb. 

“I never really had the chance to appreciate it before.” This new perspective of the world around her as a haven instead of an enemy had brought forth something that had lain dormant inside her. “Knowing now that not all of it was dangerous.” A quiet but steady hunger to see and experience more of the world. “I... I want to learn about it. The magic around me.” She would heed Elias’ warnings about performing the art of magic. But she could no longer just sit idle.

If Elias had sensed this shift within her was impossible to say. But whether because of an unconscious detection of her conviction or something beyond her knowledge he took in the significance of her declaration. 

The forest felt alive as Elias repositioned his arms possessively around her waist. “Then we should begin soon.”

#the ancient magus bride #mahou tsukai no yome #chise hatori #elias ainsworth #robinthorn #chise x elias #elias x chise #fan fic #fan fiction #stormy writes #lots of fluff here tbh

[impracticaldemon]

Fairy Tail ~ NaluWeek 2018 ~ Bonus Prompt Drive

He Drives me Crazy by impracticaldemon for @nalufever with thanks

“It’s gonna happen.”

“It’s so not gonna happen.”

“Luceeeeeee!”

“We do not need a car.  We do not want a car.  You get sick in cars.”

There was a moment of tense silence.  Then Lucy tried once more to find out what was going on.

“I just don’t understand, Natsu - why this sudden mania to have a car?”

“...Okay, we can just rent one.”

“And again, I ask -”

“Because.  Just because.”

“Then no.  Just no.”

“They won’t let me rent one.  Something dumb about some minor problem in the past.”

“You’re a little hard on upholstery.  And buildings.”

They were both more than a bit stubborn, to put it mildly.  ‘Like two heads on the same damn donkey’ was Gajeel’s comment, a week ago.  Lucy hadn’t objected to the subsequent fist-fire-metal-fight, although she’d made a point of taking herself and her drink out of the vicinity.  Not that she hadn’t secretly been cheering for Natsu, but he’d really annoyed her about - well, something - right before Gajeel had annoyed her more.

“Luce?”  Natsu sounded uncertain, which was unusual.

“Natsu... you know I want to help... and you know I have a ton of confidence in you when it comes to most things... but I can’t risk our savings without knowing why.”  They hoped - Lucy hoped - to get a bigger place soon. Bigger than Lucy’s apartment, more practical for the bathtub- and convenience-minded than Natsu’s place, as great as it was in terms of size and setting.

“You should just tell’er, Natsu.  Best plan, after all.  I mean she’s gonna find out as soon as -”  Happy was interrupted by a muscular arm around his middle and a strong, blunt-fingered hand over his mouth.  Natsu could move really fast when he had to.

Lucy closed her eyes.

“Natsu - if I’m going to find out anyway-”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.  I just needed a little help getting the car.  For a week.”

“Give it up, Dragneel.”  Lucy raised an eyebrow, but there was a gleam in her eyes that told Natsu that curiosity was winning over frustration.  Plus - and this was the best part - she loved him.  She’d always loved him enough, as a friend and as a lover, to hear him out.  Mostly.

“Fine, Heartfilia.”  

Lucy cracked a smile.  As much as she had once all-but-hated her family name, these days she was proud of it.  Even her father had redeemed himself in the end, and she had to accept that some of her drive and competitive spirit came from him.  Plus... Natsu had helped make it special for her, simply by insisting without fail that she was who she was, and he wanted her with him.  These days, they used each other’s last names as a sign of affection.

The words came out in a rush.

“I-made-a-kinda-bet-that-I-could-drive-for-the-new-speedy-delivery-company-for-a-week-and-win-top-driver-only-I-thought-they-provided-the-car.”

Lucy applauded her fortitude when she asked, “Why?” without breaking a sweat or shouting.  Then something occurred to her.  “Wait... JUST WHAT DID YOU USE TO MAKE THIS BET?!”

“If I win, it would be enough to fix up my place just the way you’d like, Luce.  I know how much you’d prefer that to another apartment...”

Lucy took a deep, fortifying breath.

“Your savings. You used your savings.  I can tell.”  She closed her eyes, because that’s what her characters always did in her stories when they were being cool and not losing their tempers.  “So if you lose, we can’t move anywhere.”

“I won’t lose.”

“Natsu-”

“I know, I know, I miscalculated a little. But come on, Luce, none of the other drivers’ll be mages as powerful as I am.  I can power that car so fast-”

“Why wouldn’t other mages participate if there’s so much cash to be won?”

“Oh, well, according to the place that runs the delivery service, most mages figure it’s beneath them.”

“So the bet isn’t with Gajeel, or Gray, or something normal?”

“No,” Natsu replied scornfully.  “They don’t really have the kind of money we need, plus, they’re not seeing the big picture.”

Lucy considered her options.  She sensed a con.  A delivery company might want fast, competent drivers, and they might host a driving contest, but the idea that you had to provide your own car and cash up front to enter was deeply suspicious.

“Natsu, what if it’s a hoax - you know, what if it turns out that your, um, potential employer has taken your ‘stake’ and left with it?  I mean, they’re probably counting on your motion sickness - because that became less of a secret after the Grand Magic Games - to cause you to forfeit the money.  But what if they’ve just, you know, taken off with it.”

The smile left Natsu’s face immediately, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.  He was a little naive, and had a tendency to prefer leaping to looking, but he was in no way dumb.

“Then they’re about to learn all about messing with a dragonslayer, and it won’t be pretty.”

“Okay.  Now that I know about the surprise, why don’t we both go have a chat with them?”

“You got it.  I’ll be bad cop, and you can be angry-girlfriend-of-bad-cop.”

“Deal!”

“And if it’s not a con, they you’ll rent me a car.”

...Right.  She’d forgotten about that.  Welp, nothing else to do:  “Deal.”

Natsu and Lucy had learned all about moving at speed when they needed to.  Plus, Natsu had the best nose for tracking in the business, as well as a shrewd sense of where people trying to run might go.  Just half-a-day later, Lucy was sitting with Virgo by the side of a little-travelled road, watching Natsu handle a very frightened group of would-be-swindlers.  He was smiling at them.

“So, I was wondering why you all left town in such a hurry.  I mean it sounded like you really wanted drivers for your new outfit!  Or maybe you’re trying out this coach service?  I’m sure they’re just fine” - Natsu grinned amiably at the driver, who cowered when he saw fangs - “but they’re not as fast as me!”

“N-no, obviously not...” murmured the lead swindler, with a sickly smile.

“But maybe you doubted my driving experience,” Natsu continued, turning serious.  “And I gather that there are a few people around Magnolia and even beyond who do too.  So I’m here to put your minds at ease!”

Lucy pulled out a bag of sweet popcorn and started to eat.  Happy sat beside her with his own bag of treats.  It was quite companionable, really.

Natsu casually started unhitching the horses.  Horses were always a bit skittish around him anyway, so a firm tap on the rump sent them running.

“See?  I can drive horses.”

“But!”

“Well, I can drive them away, anyway.”  Natsu gently lifted out the box with his savings and carried it over to Lucy.  “Would you hold my box, dear?”

“Dear?” Lucy stared at him, but he blithely went about unloading the other boxes and bags from the carriage. 

“Oh, and see, I can drive carriages pretty well too!”  Without even breaking a visible sweat - although Lucy detected a hint of magic - Natsu hefted up the front end of the carriage.  He took off at the run, then managed an abrupt, skidding stop while hurling the nicely-upholstered vehicle up over his head.  It landed perfectly in the middle of the road quite some distance away, and continued along at a great pace, jouncing and bouncing along as though fleeing for its life.

Suddenly, the swindlers discovered Natsu back among them, his smile even more maniacal.  Lucy passed some popcorn to Virgo, who ate it daintily, her chains chiming musically.  Happy was chortling gleefully.

“M-Mister Dragneel, sir, um, we think you may have misunderstood us, um -”

“No, no, I’m quite sure I didn’t.”  Natsu moved the largest of the trunks to an open spot and regarded it thoughtfully.  “Lucy, does the word ‘drive’ include ‘driving’ my fist through the top of this box to make sure that there won’t be any other items missing from Magnolia’s fine citizens?”

“The word ‘drive’ is, in fact, open to many meanings and is used in many idioms, as I mentioned last night,” Lucy told him, trying to school her features to innocently angelic and failing.

“Oh, good.  Well then-”

“Argh! No! Stop!  You’ll break everything!”

But Natsu had already driven his fist through the tough wood and leather lid.  Once the would-be thieves had had time to feel properly horrified, he melted off the lock, and lifted the lid - showing them that he’d punched a perfect hole through the material without so much as a scratch or dent to a single item below.

“You see, dear ersatz employers,” Lucy said in a friendly way, to the fully-cowed group in the road, “Natsu does drive quite well.  He’s an expert with his fists, for example - extremely useful for driving in nails when there isn’t a hammer handy.  He also knows exactly how to drive me crazy-”

“- In a good way, right Luce?”

“- In a few different ways, some of which aren’t anyone’s business but ours.”  Lucy strolled over, finishing up her popcorn.  “And now that he’s driven you out of business, I’m going to drive the point home that it NEVER”- the men flinched as Lucy suddenly seemed a lot angrier and more scary- “pays to mess with mages.”  She snapped her fingers behind her like a crime boss.  “Virgo!”

“Yes, Hime-sama?”  Virgo was loving this, Lucy thought.

“Bind these miscreants and drive them back to town the old-fashioned way!”

“Y-You don’t mean-” gasped the lead miscreant.

“Yup,” Natsu chimed in.  “You’re walkin’.  Next time maybe you’ll think before driving good folks to desperate measures.  I mean, look at me!”  Everyone looked at him, although probably only Lucy was admiring his fine biceps and shoulders.  “I’m starving!  I had to give up a proper breakfast to catch up to you guys before lunch!”

“But!  Look at these shoes!  I can’t possibly walk in these!”

Everyone looked at the man’s shoes.  They did indeed look very tight and pointy.

“Oh well,” said Lucy airily.  “Maybe you can discuss the situation with my friend here.  Though I should warn you that Virgo knows how to drive a hard bargain.”

Natsu snickered.  “Yeah, I think we’re done here.”  He gave the unhappy swindlers a last, fanged smile, then took Lucy’s hand and started to walk away.

“We’re really leaving them to Virgo?” Lucy asked quietly.

“Yep.  Besides, we - Virgo and I - made sure the coach isn’t too far down the road.  I figure we can get part of our renovation money out of those losers if we let her scare them a little.”

“Isn’t that... extortion?  Kind of?”  Lucy was very taken with the idea of the extra money, but one had to have standards.

“Nah, it’s a fee for services that they very much want rendered.  The horses’ll turn up thanks to whoever’s fetching’em back--”

“Sagittarius.”

“--Right.  So, you know, stop worrying.  Besides...” Natsu slid an arm around Lucy’s shoulders, pulling her closer. “You’re driving me to distraction in that outfit.”

“Okay, points for idiom use, but first of all, I wear this outfit all the time--”

“--Which explains a lot, really.”

“--And second of all, I think even I am done with the verb ‘to drive’ now.”

“Ah, sweet lady, y’ehll drrive me tae drrrrrink!”

Lucy clapped her hands over her ears.  “I don’t know what’s worse: your accent, or that word!”

They were now well into the woods and on the path that would take them to a separate carriage home.  Natsu stopped, turned, and tightened his arms around Lucy.  Happy muttered something indecipherable, and flew off in a hurry.

“Natsu...”

Warm hands were moving slowly down Lucy’s back and sides.  A slightly raspy tongue teased her ear, making her squirm a little.

“I just wanted to give you what you want, Lucy.”  The words were a little indistinct.

“All I really want... is for us to live life to the full... together.”

Lucy pressed her mouth to Natsu’s neck and shoulder beneath his scarf, and put teeth and tongue to good use.  For several minutes, neither of them spoke.  The temperature went up several degrees in their vicinity, puzzling the local plants and insects.  Eventually, their lips met in a deep, passionate kiss.

When they were forced to pause for breath, they found themselves panting, but laughing.  Life was good.

“...Bet I could too drive a car, though,” said Natsu, with just the hint of a challenge in his voice.

“Maybe you should stick to driving other things for a while,” suggested Lucy.

Since she had pressed herself - or he was holding her - very tightly against him, Natsu felt zero inclination to argue.

“Deal.”

[END]

Tags:  @eliz1369 @hidetheremote @sabinasanfanfic @canadiangaap @shell-senji @unashamed-shipper @naluloverforever @strawberryliaelleth @miss-zei 

@fic-writer-appreciation

#fairy tail #ft fanfiction #naluweek #nalu #prompt drive #impracticaldemon #imp writes

[wordsablaze]

All The Exes and Love

Simple bickering over cereal leads to a heavy argument about exes that might have torn anyone else apart, but Dan and Phil can always find their way back to love and happiness. Written with the superb @jocollins, enjoy!

A/N: Want a fic? we finished this days ago but I'm useless and didn't upload, I'm blaming rize because why not?

- Can you fucking stop eating my cereal?! I've already had to buy two packs just because you always eat it all! - Dan sighed, dropping the empty boxes into the trash.

Phil gave Dan a sheepish smile. - Sorry, it just tastes so nice, it's your fault for having such good taste in cereal! -

- Phil, you literally have the same bloody cereal! - Dan turned around to look at Phil, a bit pissed off that, once again, he'd need to search for something else to eat as breakfast.

- Well, why don't you eat my cereal then? What's the big deal? - Phil muttered, shrugging.

- Because I want MY cereal. - Dan was getting even more grumpy.

He was always grumpy in the mornings and when someone messed with his food, oh my, he got even more out of control. He was like an angry bear whose honey had been stolen.

Sighing, Phil grabbed and offered Dan his own cereal box, only half eaten. - You literally just said I have the same cereal so now mine is yours. There, now enjoy breakfast�� -

- I. Don’t. Fucking. Want. It, - Dan growled through his teeth.

- Then make toast or something! - Phil shook his head. - Honestly, Dan, there are only so many options! -

- Oh, really? You fucking know that I eat cereal for breakfast! Just like you! If only you could keep your dirty hands away from MY cereal! You seriously act like such a child! I've told you not to eat mine so many times but no, of course, no, you still keep doing it, wanting to piss me off every morning! - Dan was so pissed off that he didn’t even care anymore.

Phil was trying his hardest not to get mad, frowning. - You can't be serious. You're the one acting like a child right now, we have the same cereal and it's not difficult to just accept you'll have to take some of mine this morning! -

- I am not you, who eats other people food! - Dan growled, searching for coffee to drink.

Phil just stood there for a moment, watching Dan find his mug and look for the coffee container, before he took a deep breathe, not really wanting to fight.

- Dan, look, I'm sorry, it's just one of my habits. I know you might have had a bad night or whatever but just have my cereal for now and we can go buy more later I guess. -

Dan didn’t even answer, waiting for his coffee.

After waiting a moment, Phil stepped forwards. - Dan? Are you really ignoring me right now? -

Dan didn’t answer, taking a sip from his hot coffee, cursing under his breath at how burning hot it was.

Phil sighed deeply. - Dan, seriously? Come on, you're better than this… -

- Mhm. - Dan put his cup of coffee back down.

- Alright, fine, be grumpy. I'll go and watch today's anime on my own then! - Phil folded his arms, annoyed.

- Of course, ruin other people's mornings and then go enjoy yourself. You couldn’t even leave some coffee for me to drink even though I always make one for you, - Dan grumbled under his breath.

Phil narrowed his eyes, his patience wearing thin. - I woke up an hour ago, Dan, because I was editing our video for you. If I'd made coffee, it would have gone cold by now! Why don't you just wake up earlier, like everyone else? -

- Oh and now I need to wake up earlier? Of course, then you wouldn't have to make any breakfast yourself because you know that I always make one for you too! Of course. -

There was a moment of silence before Phil exhaled loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose before looking back at Dan. - What do you expect me to do, shower you with gratitude every few minutes? I appreciate that you make breakfast for me but there'd have been no point in me making it so long ago! -

- Has it ever been a problem to me? No! Even if I wake up several hours before you, I still make you a warm breakfast! - Dan turned around to face Phil.

Exasperated, Phil threw his hands up in the air. - Okay, so you're better at making breakfast! Big deal! Why are you trying to make me look bad? -

- I'm not trying to make you look bad! I am just so done with you always eating my cereal! - Dan crossed his arms over his chest, his face like stone, without any emotions.

Without thinking, Phil mirrored his stance, crossing his own arms too. He paused briefly before gritting his teeth. - I can't help it! Can't you just accept that one thing instead of trying to control everything? -

- Control? I am not controlling you! - Dan clenched his jaw.

Phil scoffed. - Yeah, sure. You want me to eat specific cereal, make you breakfast, never watch stuff without you, have coffee ready for you… and you want to tell me that's not controlling? -

- I am not fucking controlling you! - Dan raised his tone a bit.

- Then stop shouting and eat my cereal for once! - Phil tried not to shout but his voice was louder than usual, he couldn't stop it.

- Stop shouting at me! - Dan let his arms fall to his sides.

If Phil hadn't been so annoyed, he might have felt bad. Instead of apologising like he usually might have, he just scowls. - Stop accusing me of things then! This isn't secondary school, you can't just get away with that! -

- Then don’t act like you're in one and stop shouting at me like a damn teenager! - Dan’s voice was quiet.

Phil's fingers curled into fists. - Yeah, because you'd know all about shouting at people you're in a relationship with, wouldn't you? -

- Well, it looks like you do! - Dan spat back but still kept his tone steady and quiet.

Phil only shook his head, trying to calm down but slowly getting more and more frustrated. - Yeah, no. I actually cared about people instead of trying to control them! -

He felt slightly bad for saying it but it had been said, couldn't be taken back, and he'd been carried away by anger so he just stuck with it, folding his arms once again.

- Oh, really? Then why did they all leave you? Were there even any before me that you actually dated or are you just making that up to make me look all bad? - Dan asked, masking his hurt.

For some reason, despite normally being able to tell when Dan was hurt, Phil missed the fact that Dan was putting on a brave mask and just stepped back, shaking his head scornfully. - What, you don't think anyone else would be attracted to me? You're not the only one that can make coffee, Dan. -

- Oh really, then go ahead and tell me about them all. If they even really exist. - Dan’s voice was dying, it had become hard to even open his mouth to get sound out.

- Fine! I'll write you a stupid list of everyone who didn't mind my love for cereal! And you can tell me about everyone else who made you breakfast or whatever in return! - Phil tried to shout but it came out softer, a small lump of regret in his throat, knowing that they don't like talking about who came before them, but wanting to prove this point and end their argument.

- Fine. - Dan simply spat out before walking out of the kitchen, slamming his bedroom door shut.

Wincing at the sound, Phil grabbed the notepad they had lying around the kitchen and walked back to the living room, looking for a pen to write with.

After an hour or perhaps a bit longer, Dan came to the living room, carrying a notepad with him, to see if Phil had finished his list.

Phil looked up, his pen in his mouth. He cleared his throat and gestured for Dan to sit down somewhere. - I, uh, have most people down, I think. I might have missed some though… Are you done? - he tried to keep his voice steady.

- Yeah… - Dan took a deep breath. - So, let's start. Show me everyone who was not a control freak like I am. - Dan stretched out his hand, pushing his own notepad under his thigh with his free hand.

Phil raised his eyebrows. - Aren't we exchanging them at the same time? Isn't that so much easier? -

- Nope, let's just see yours first so you can tell me more straight away and then we can do the same with mine. - Dan was back to his poker state, not showing any emotions through his body.

Still frowning, Phil bit his lip but nodded slowly, handing Dan his notepad. He looked at the floor as he started to talk, explaining about his first girlfriend, the boy he'd shared a dorm with and everyone the few others he'd dated before he'd met Dan.

- So many… - Dan mumbled under his breath, his breath then hitching.

Dan put Phil’s notepad down, his hand trembling a lot.

Phil still didn't look at him, shrugging. - Yeah, I guess. But I don't even know most of them anymore so… Anyway, let's see your list now? -

Dan couldn’t even speak anymore, a big lump in his throat. He just put down his notepad in front of Phil before walking out of the flat to get some of the fresh air he so needed right in that moment.

Surprised, Phil let him leave, not wanting to upset him, wondering why he'd left so suddenly. Then he looked at the notepad Dan had left behind and his eyes widened when he saw what was written on it.

A single name.

Just Phil's name.

And, no matter how many pages he looked through, there was only his name and nothing else.

Dropping the notebook, Phil swore to himself and immediately ran after Dan, grabbing keys before shutting the door behind him and looking for where Dan could have gone.

He found Dan leaning against a tree in the park right next to their apartment building, trying to breathe without shaking, tears streaming down his cheeks.

- Dan! Hey, please don't run again! - Phil took a moment to catch his breath before stepping closer to Dan, not too close but close enough to lower his voice a little. - You only wrote my name…? -

- Yeah, go ahead and laugh in my face because I have no experience at all! Go on, you can put one more virgin name on your list. - Dan spat, angrily wiping away his tears, stepping even further away from Phil.

Phil shook his head, staying still so as not to come across as rude. - Dan, please don't say that, I'm not proud of my list and you're more than just a part of it. And I don't care at all if you haven't had experience! -

- Phil, just leave me alone, okay? I am really not in the mood for this right now. Just go home. - Dan’s back was facing Phil, his hands still trembling.

Watching Dan for a minute, Phil shook his head for what he thought must have been the twentieth time that day. - How can I, when my home is standing right here, with his back to me? -

- Don’t. Just don’t, - Dan warned, close to breaking down again. - Can’t you just leave me alone for a bit? Is that too much to ask? -

- You know what? It is. It's way too much to ask because I know you won't come back until late, and it's not safe for you to stay out so long. Please, Dan, you don't have to talk to me, but just come back to the flat? - Phil knew he sounded desperate but he didn't care, he couldn't stand seeing Dan like this.

Dan knew that Phil wouldn't let him stay outside alone so he just walked back to their flat, locking himself into his bedroom.

Phil sighed but just sat outside Dan's room. - Dan, I know you're listening. You don't have to say anything but I just want you to know that I really don't care who you have or haven't been with, I'm happy with you being you… -

Dan just turned up his volume so he wouldn’t be able to hear Phil or anything else apart from the music playing.

Tears appeared in Phil's eyes but he ignored them, staying sat down, letting his head fall back against the wall and listening to the music, unsure of what exactly to do to get Dan to listen to him.

Suddenly, a note was slid under the door to Phil. When Phil picked it up, he saw that Dan had written a letter, a couple of tear marks staining the paper.

I am sorry.

Not the best way to start this but, before I say anything, I need to say that I am so damn sorry.

I am sorry that I am such a bad boyfriend.

I am sorry that I have no idea how I need to act in relationships.

I am sorry.

I am so damn sorry, Phil.

And that’s why I am letting you go.

I am sure that, in no time, you will find someone better, someone who won’t be mentally unstable and someone who won’t control you or shout at you.

I’m sorry for all the pain I have caused you in these past years.

I am sorry that I forced you to be with me all this time while you could have been with someone so much better.

I am so damn sorry for everything.

I am sorry.

The last words were hard to read because of how shakily they were written, meaning that Dan’s hand was shaking terribly, tear stains making the tint fade a little.

As soon as he'd read the words, thanking the universe for making him a quick reader, he jumped up and ran back to the kitchen, grabbing the set of spare room keys they keep in case of emergencies.

Fearing the worst, he stumbled into the room, glancing around and sighing loudly when he saw Dan curled on the floor next to the door, crying.

Kneeling next to him, Phil wrapped his arms around Dan and pulled him close. - You scared the life out of me… Please don't do that again, I don't want to lose you. Dan, you're so special and you haven't forced me to be with you, I chose you and I'll always choose you, even though you sometimes say stupid stuff like this. - he said, laughing and crying a little at the same time.

- I am the worst boyfriend ever. Like you said, I am controlling and… - Dan took couple deep breath just because he still wasn’t able to speak properly. - And you deserve someone so much better. Someone who is healthy and good in bed, who will actually know all the stuff and won’t need you to teach them to even use a condom or how to prepare each other. Someone who won’t control you, who won’t shout at you because of your cereal eating thing. Someone who isn’t me. - Dan scooted away from Phil, well, at least, he tried, his body failing miserably at that.

Not that Phil would have let him even if he'd have been able to. Phil had been shaking his head the entire time and, once Dan stopped talking, he shifted so they were sat opposite each other, placing his hands on Dan's shoulders and looking into his eyes.

- For someone who's so smart, you're saying really stupid things. You're the best boyfriend ever because you're the only one who's you. I don't care that I have to teach you things because then I get to see you blush, and there's nothing cuter than that. I don't need someone healthy, I need someone who knows how to play Mario Kart with me and someone who knows how to hide sweets from me so I don't eat them… - Phil’s voice was quiet but smooth, he was trying his best not to just cry. - And, excuse me, I think we both know we've gotten the hang of preparing each other by now, even the neighbours would agree. You're more than enough, Dan, stop thinking otherwise. -

Hot tears were slipping down his cheeks, into Phil’s hands. His lips were shaking.

Phil waited until Dan offered him a small, hesitant smile before pulling him close again, sliding his arms around Dan's waist.

Dan moved a little, setting himself into Phil’s lap, his hands clenching around Phil, sure to leave some marks, hiding his face against Phil’s neck, sucking a big and bright love bite so that everyone would see that Phil is his and he is Phil’s.

Phil shivered slightly, his grip on Dan tightening, before he gently nudged Dan's head with his own. - Dan, I really do mean it, you're the only boyfriend I ever need in life and I'm so, so sorry we argued, I didn't want to- -

- Shhh. - Dan pecked his lips against Phil’s, so softly that it felt like they'd never touched him, to make him stop speaking. - It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been so grumpy. Bad night, day, whatever is not an excuse for that. I’m sorry. -

Now it was Phil's turn to gently press his lips to Dan's, smiling a little, pulling back before either of them can deepen the kiss. - It's okay, you don't need to be sorry. I'm sorry for eating your cereal though, I'll try not to keep doing it, I pryimisw! - 

To anyone who wasn't Dan or Phil, that might have sounded like absolute gibberish but Phil sometimes had this odd habit of squashing words together and making a new, ridiculous ones out of them. 

And the fact that Dan could understand these weird mutant words so well made Phil love him even more because no ex of his had ever understand them, not even getting close to talking about thinking that it’s cute, like Dan does.

- That’s why I always buy one extra pack, it’s cute… - Dan murmured, leaning closer to Phil’s lips, trying to catch them in a kiss, not being able to really stay away from Phil, not even talking about his kisses.

Dan was crazy to think that he could get rid of Phil, his whole body and soul wouldn’t let him.

Phil grinned happily at Dan, shifting again so they were even closer, which shouldn't have been possible but they managed, and kissing his forehead. - I think you're cute too. - 

- Can you kiss me already? - Dan sighed, tightening his grip on Phil even more, not really registering that, right now, there would be not just light marks but full on bruises for sure.

- Only if you say the magic word… - Phil drawled, winking at Dan with a mischievous spark in his eyes. 

- Fuck me? - Dan licked his lips with something like a smile starting to appear on his chewed lips.

Having expected a lot but not that, Phil choked a little but just accepts it, turning them to the side a little so he could kiss Dan without banging their heads on the wall and giving Dan a concussion.

Dan softened into the kiss, melting away fully, all the trembling gone. He let go off Phil with one of his hands just to slide it into Phil’s hair.

No matter how much Dan wanted to keep kissing Phil, he had to pull away, pressing their foreheads together, trying to catch his breath.

- Now you know why I hate talking about exes so much… - Dan whispered, almost without sound, sucking in a sharp breath, still having trouble breathing.

Gasping a little himself, Phil nodded slowly, opening his eyes to look into Dan's. - Yeah, yeah, I get it now. And, never fear, I might be old but I will not forget it… so can we get back to kissing now? - 

- You’re not old… - Dan mumbled before pulling Phil’s hair a bit to guide him into a kiss even though he needed to then pull back right away because he just didn’t have enough air in his lungs.

Phil chuckled but it sounded weird because he couldn't breathe properly. He just took Dan's hand, stood up, and pulled them both to the bed, the two of them immediately collapsing since they didn't have any energy left. 

- I'm so old, Dan, and you're so small and cute… - Phil smiled, poking Dan's cheek where his dimple usually came out. 

- You are not old. - Dan mumbled, his eyes closed. He would have smiled when Phil poked his cheek but he just didn’t have any energy to do it.

Dan looked so exhausted, simply lying there, no strength left to even clutch onto Phil properly, his breathing still too uneven.

A frown bloomed on Phil's face as he looked over Dan, worried for him. He gently lifted Dan so he could pull the duvet out from under him, then tucked Dan into it so he could fall asleep more easily. 

- Don’t dare to leave me or I swear that I will chop your dick off… - Dan mumbled without really making a real sound come out of his mouth, trying to move closer to Phil, finally gripping Phil’s wrist a bit too harshly.

Phil winced but didn't say anything, knowing it wouldn't be as bad as the bruise on his neck that they could laugh about tomorrow. 

He grinned and slid under the duvet beside Dan, pulling him close, brushing his curls back and planting a soft kiss on his forehead. - I'm never leaving you, ever. And not just because I want to keep my genitals, - he murmured softly, his voice like velvet. 

- Doop… - Dan breathed out, losing his grip on Phil, nugging his face close to Phil’s neck, finally being able to steady his breathing a bit, already half asleep.

- Coop, - Phil replied instantly, - So many coops for you! - 

Dan sighed softly before drifting fully into sleep.

Phil smiled softly down at him. - I'll make sure you get all the coops in the world, Dan… - he wasn't even sure what he was saying, half asleep himself, but he curled up next to Dan and closed his eyes, content. 

He jolted awake three minutes later, remembered to take his glasses off, then fell back into a comfortable sleep, the two of them happier than they'd been for a while, and all because of cereal and exes…

like/reblog but don't repost, thanks! 

#phan #Phanfiction #phanfic #Dan and Phil #dan howell #danisnotonfire #daniel howell #amazingphil #phil lester #fanfiction #hurt comfort #romance #angst #fluff #Domestic #cereal #exes #fanfic #dnp #My writing #ateal #Oh my stars this took hours to finally post #hurt!phil #hurt!dan #making up