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crystalwillow · 4 years

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The Pregnancy, Part One

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x Casey Valentine (F!MC)

Tagging: @kiteplayschoices @brycelahelalover @obsessedheehee @eleanorbloom @fuseboxmusebox @princesslahela @vibrantlyjaz @kaavyaethanramsey @queencarb @schnitzelbutterfingers @ramseysno1rookie @caseyvalentineramsey @ethanramseyswhore @whippedforethanfreakingramsey

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It was two weeks after Ethan and Casey had returned from their honeymoon and they were now back at work. Casey sat at the briefing table in the diagnostics room zoned out on a piece of paper as she focused on trying to keep her nauseous feeling at bay. But it was no use, suddenly she snapped back to reality as she rose to her feet and bolted out of the door to the nearest toilet. This wasn't the first time she had had to bolt to a bathroom to puke like this. This was about the 4th time it was happening this week. Casey flung open the bathroom door bursting in before leaning over the sink and puking out everything that was in her stomach. A knock on the door was followed by a voice asking if she was alright, "I'm fine! she shouted back before spitting out what was left in her mouth and cleaning the bathroom sink and herself up. Once she was done, she opened the door and was surprised to see Baz standing there, a concerned look on his face "Is everything okay?" he asked, Casey nodded "yeah it's fine" she smiled. "Ethan would have come but he's kin-" Baz started to explain but stopped when fast footsteps and a frantic voice came towards them. "Baz. what's taking so long? is she okay? I asked you to report back on the status of my wife ime-" Ethan rumbled but stopped as he rounded the corner, nearly crashing right into both. He took a step back and adjusted his gaze onto Casey, his brow creasing with worry as he looked closely and saw her clammy with sweat. "You're going home" he stated, "What?? Honey, I'm fine. I must have just had a dodgy croissant with my coffee this morning or something." Casey argued calmly, "Or the milk in the coffee was dodgy" Baz chimed in. Casey nodded in agreement. "Nope. Your skin is clammy, you just threw up in the sink, and, you have bags under your eyes. I am not having a member of my team, much less my wife, at work when they are ill. Get your bag and go home." He ordered trying to hide the worry he was feeling, before turning on his heel and walking back to the diagnostics room. Baz followed mouthing a quick "I'm sorry" to Casey.

Sighing, Casey collected her bag, slipping off her white coat and headed towards the elevators, pressing the button and waiting to get in. Once it arrived at her floor, she stepped and punched the button for the ground floor. She had quite a way to go down, so she occupied herself by pulling out her phone and headphones to get them ready for her journey home on the bus. Halfway down to the ground floor, the elevator stopped, and someone stepped in, also punching the button for the ground floor. "Hey" the person said, making Casey jump. She looked up to see her bright-eyed friend Bryce standing in the elevator with her, "hey" she said back with a small smile. "What's up?" he asked as he took in her glum expression. "Ethan's sending me home because I was just sick in the sink upstairs. I honestly don't think it's anything serious, but he doesn't want 'a tired and sick member of his team. much less his wife.' at work. I mean he didn't even allow me to use mouth wash or one of those chewy toothbrush things. he just demanded I got my bag and go ho-"Casey rambled on but stopped as Bryce put a gentle hand on her shoulder holding out half a pack of gum with a smile, "Take it. I have two more packs in my locker" he said softly. Casey gave a thankful smile and took it. The two hugged goodbye and went their separate ways.

Later that day, Casey was feeling tons better as she sat on the couch at home bored. She's done everything she could have. She'd watered the house plants, walked their dog, Bleu. She's even gone round the whole house cleaning and anti-bacterialising every surface that she could. So now, she was sat staring out the window at the garden with nothing to do. Suddenly, the house phone rang making her jump but she sprinted to answer it, desperate for human interaction. "Yes! Hello! This is Casey Ramsey speaking. How may I help you??!" she shouted down the phone excitedly waiting for an answer from the person on the other end, but instead was met with a familiar deep, rich chuckle "How are you?" Ethan asked. "ugh. it's you" she replied in a teasing tone, with a smirk on her lips. "oh. charming!" Ethan said back, sounding a little taken aback and offended. Casey just laughed. They spoke for the remainder of Ethan's lunch break before hanging up and going back to what they needed to do. When Ethan got home late that night, he found Casey asleep in bed, with Bleu snuggled next to her on his side of the bed. "Charming. I've been replaced by a puppy" he mumbled to himself amusingly. He cleaned up the left-over takeout containers and snapped a picture of Casey and Bleu, before then grabbing the spare blanket, taking he couch for the night, not wanting to disturb the cute situation in the bedroom.

The next morning, he woke up to the sound of Casey yet again in the bathroom puking. Rubbing his eyes, he stumbled to the bathroom, his heart breaking in his chest when he turned to go into the bathroom at the sight of his wife hunched over the toilet crying and throwing her guts up uncontrollably. He walked in and crouched down beside her, holding her hair back and rubbing soothing circles on her back. Once the nausea spell was over Casey stood up and brushed her teeth, Ethan leaning on the door frame, looking at his wife, his brow was creased with concern. "What's going on babe? this is about the 5th day in a row this has happened" He asked with a voice full of worry. She didn't know what it was she felt, but the next thing she knew, Casey was slamming her toothbrush on the counter and snapping at her husband. She felt bad but somehow her outburst felt justified. "Why don't you think about what we've been trying to do for months. what we no longer use when we're intimate together. Why don't you just stop being such a stupid, dumb ass excuse of a man and THINK!" she screamed in his face before stomping past him back to the bedroom and slamming the door. Ethan stood there for a moment trying to process what just happened. Childhood memories came flooding back. He started to think Casey was going to start treating him the same as his mother did before she left him and his father all those years ago, but he knew his wife. and random outbursts for no reason were not her thing. Then suddenly it dawned on him. A child. They had been trying to conceive a child for almost 7 months now. Suddenly he felt what Casey must be feeling. Pure fear. she was scared, and rightly so. He knew they had been trying for a while but for it to have possibly happened after only almost 7 months of trying was quicker than either had anticipated. He went downstairs and got her a glass of water and some toast, went back upstairs gently knocking on the bedroom door before entering with the tray. "Hey. Um, I got you some breakfast. Nothing too heavy, just some lightly buttered toast and water" He said cautiously as he held the tray out. Casey sat up and took it from him. Not daring to look him in the eyes, with the guilt she felt for her unjustified, but in her mind at the time completely justified, outburst. Ethan sat down beside her, pulling her close to him to show her it was okay. "i love you" he reassured her as he kissed a deep meaningful kiss to her temple, whilst she took a bite of the toast. After she had finished breakfast, she apologized to Ethan and the two took a warm shower together, washing each other and sharing gentle hugs with tender kisses. Soon it was time for them to head to work. They planned to leave a bit earlier so that when they got there Casey could do a pregnancy test before her shift started.

Once they got to work, Casey kissed Ethan goodbye for the time being as he was starting an hour before her. She made her way to the nearest toilet and took the test. Her stomach grumbled so she put the test back in the box wrapped in tissue before shoving it back in her bag. She washed her hands then made her way to the cafeteria, where she purchased a yogurt and an apple juice. Soon 25 minutes had past, and she was nervous to look at her results. She was walking the hallways to a bathroom when she saw Tia. Bryce's girlfriend. "Tia!" she called out. Tia looked up and smiled at her "Hey Casey. What's up?" she asked friendlily "Could you check something for me? I'm a bit nervous" She confessed. "Sure" Tia answered politely, with a smile. Casey reached in her bag and passed her the test. "I took this. I need to know what it says" She told her. Tia nodded and went into the nearby storeroom. Casey followed her and faced in the opposite direction once they were inside. Tia opened the box and unwrapped the tissue. She stared at the test, a warm happiness spreading through her as a smile grew on her face. "well?" Casey asked nervously as she turned around. Tia shrugged as if she was going to say what Casey was dreading. The test is negative. But was taken by surprise when Tia turned the test to face her and it read a strong positive result. "omg." she gasped happily, stumbling back into the shelves, hand going to her stomach. "I... I'm" she was so speechless she dropped her bag and hugged Tia extremely tight as tears streamed from her eyes. Suddenly she pulled back with realization, "I've got to tell Ethan!" she exclaimed quietly, Snatching the test from Tia in excitement. Forgetting about her bag as she sprinted out of the storage room and to the elevators. Punching the button, impatiently waiting. "come on. come on." she pleaded. Soon the doors went ping and she sprinted in punch the button for hers and Ethan's floor. As it made it's way up it felt like it was taking an eternity to get to her husband. When she finally reached the floor, she sprinted out of the elevator and straight around the corner into another doctor. "so sorry. I'll make it up to you later!" She shouted as she sprinted to the diagnostics room. Looking through the glass windows as she approached, she was glad to see Ethan alone and she burst through the doors. Startled by the crash he looked up from his computer, seeing his wife standing there out of breath, then back at the time on his screen. "You don't start for another 23 minutes Casey why're yo-" he started to talk but Casey cut him off, "No. Babe, be quiet. come here. and kiss me. now" she demanded. Perplexed by what she just said, Ethan saved the files he was working on and walked over to her. Once he was close enough she grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him with the type of passion and love he had never felt before. It made him lightheaded. As much as he enjoyed, he pulled away and searched his wife's eyes trying to find an answer, but he couldn't. They were too lit up and wild with emotion. Then Casey placed the test in his hand. He looked down at it and almost fainted when he saw the result. Staggering to sit in a chair he looked at his wife with a newfound love. It was one that was deeper than the kind of love they normally shared. "we... we.... we're having a child" he said breathlessly as he felt himself tearing up. Casey sat next to him. "Yeah. We're going to be parents" she whispered happily. Leaping up suddenly, Ethan pulled Casey up with him sweeping her into another passion and emotion-built kiss. He couldn't describe this feeling. It was like happy had taken a drug, and the drug had taken a drug before happy took the drug it took. The two stood in the middle of the room sharing their moment of happiness. They knew they were at work, but everything felt like it was a million miles away. In that moment it felt like it was just them and their child.

From that moment on Ethan knew that he would do everything in his power to keep his child and love of his life safe. He said till death do us part two months prior to this moment, and he intended to carry through on that promise. Because even though he didn't know much outside of the medical world. He knew one thing. That he loves his family and will forever.

#choices stories you play #playchoices #pixelberry studios #ethan ramsey #casey valentine #dr ethan ramsey #dr casey valentine #ethan x casey #ethan ramsey fanfiction #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfiction #open heart #open heart: second year

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mosylufanfic · 4 years

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Five Times They Got Caught Off-Guard (and one time they decided to settle the question)

Hail, @youareiron-andyouarestrong, I am your Secret Santa! Merry Christmas and here's your present! The prompt “WHO KEEPS HANGING MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE WE ARE” just made me giggle, so I wrote a goofy, fluffy, slightly pratfall-y 5 Times fic. I didn't use all your ideas for majors, but I definitely enjoyed hearing them. You said smut was okay, and while this is still T, it’s pushing the upper edge by the end. I hope you enjoy it, and that you have an amazing remainder of the Christmas season!

Five Times They Got Caught Off-Guard (and one time they decided to settle the question)

Cassian was stripping meat from bone with unsettling efficiency when Jyn walked in the kitchen.

"I can't believe you want more of that dusty jerky," she said, hoisting herself up to sit on the counter. "I've still got strings in my teeth." She picked her teeth with her fingernail to demonstrate.

"I'm making soup," he said, tossing a leg bone onto a plate and a few scraps of overcooked, dried-out turkey meat into a bowl. "Might as well get some good out of this bird."

"Ah," she said, reaching down for a carrot stick from the veggie platter that Han Solo, that cheap motherfucker, had contributed to their dinner. "Good idea. Do Americans really eat one of those awful things every year?"

"I think it's usually a little tastier." He shrugged, as unfamiliar with American Thanksgiving as she was.

A big noisy holiday dinner had been Bodhi's idea. Most of them in the elderly, rambling house just off campus were too poor to make it home over the break, and about half of them were international students anyway.

Add in some of the strays that Bodhi seemed to pick up like a magnet picking up leftover paper clips, and there had been enough people, and enough dishes, to make up for the dreadful main event. Jyn rubbed her belly and wondered if there was any of Bodhi's veggie curry left. Or the elote Cassian had made. Or the chocolate silk pie that their landlords Chirrut and Baze had brought. Her mouth watered.

A yell exploded from the living room. They both paused in what they were doing and exchanged eyerolls. They'd been booed down for attempting to veto the American football game on the telly.

"Call that football," Jyn said, and bit the carrot stick in half.

"Que chafa," Cassian said, shaking his head.

She laughed. "Man United is playing, too. Night game. Probably almost done."

"Since when do you root for them?"

"Watch your mouth, asshole, I'm rooting for whoever's playing them."

He smiled to himself, looking over at her. Suddenly his smile faded.

"What?" she said. "What are you staring at?"

"How long has that been there?"

"What?" She grabbed a spoon out of the drawer and tried to use it as a mirror. "I got something in my teeth?" Fucking turkey. She'd taken a slice for politeness, even though it had required a gulp of water after every bite.

"No," he said patiently, "look up."

She craned her neck and squinted at the ceiling, almost directly above her. "That's mistletoe."

"Yes, I thought so too."

She lowered her gaze and met Cassian's, feeling her cheeks heat. "I didn't put it up."

He looked away, back at the bird he was still stripping down. "Neither did I."

Her lips tingled. She bit them, and made herself stop. "Someone getting ahead of themselves with Christmas decorations," she said airily, hopping off the counter and sliding past him.

He lifted his head. "Where are you going?"

"I - " She shrugged. "Dunno, my room or something."

He reached over and pulled a giant knife out of the knife block. "Here. Make yourself useful and chop some veggies for the soup."

"You're actually going to let me help in your kitchen?"

"It can't be insulted any worse than it was today," he said. "Leia Organa will be running the world one day, but she won't be feeding it."

"It was supposed to be her brother," she pointed out, taking the knife. "Just, his flight got cancelled and she insisted on doing it in his place. Why'd you let her?"

"Because I've never cooked a twenty-pound turkey before and I foolishly thought she had. Celery and carrots," he instructed, passing her the veggie platter. "Leave the tomato and broccoli."

"You still would have been salty if Luke had been cooking the bird," she observed, following orders.

"Yes, but we probably would have been able to eat it."

Jyn chopped up the veggies at his direction. When she was done, she leaned against the counter to watch as he performed culinary alchemy, combining seemingly random herbs and spices with the veggies and the remains of the turkey carcass.

"There," he said, covering it with water and setting the timer on his precious slow cooker. "Let it cook overnight and I'll add noodles in the morning."

She almost moaned. Turkey noodle soup while it was cold and rainy out sounded perfect. "Save some for me."

"Cooks' portion," he said and gave her a rare smile. "You make a good assistant."

"Great," she said. "A fallback in case the cybersecurity market goes to shit before I finish my thesis."

They washed the dishes they'd used, leaving them in the drying rack as the dishwasher chugged away at the dishes from dinner. It was comfortable and companionable and if Jyn thought of the mistletoe dangling above their heads about once a minute or so, she felt sure that Cassian didn't notice.

He nudged her as he was wiping his hands dry. "Want to come hang out in my room? Avoid the fake football?"

She felt the blush start somewhere in her stomach. She crossed her arms, smirking at him. "You hit on all your kitchen assistants?"

Behind his beard, his cheeks darkened. "What? I - no - I - "

Oh. Damn. Well. Fuck, this was awkward.

"I meant to watch the Cruz Azul game on my tablet," he said. "It'll be in Spanish."

She swallowed and attempted a joke. "What's the odds somebody's gonna trip over nothing, roll around like his femur is shattered, and get up five seconds later to jog off the pitch?"

"High," he said, sounding like their housemate Kay, who was going for his PhD in statistics. "Very high."

"Well, that's more like it. Yeah, all right."

Cassian rubbed his temples. He had a bitter headache and had just sent out a piteous text to the house group chat, begging for someone, anyone, to bring him a coffee.

He focused on the essay in front of him. "Alicia, I'd like to see you expand more on this point. You gloss over it somewhat. Professor Draven graded you down for that on your last essay, remember?"

The undergrad he was working with shook her mass of blond ringlets back over her shoulders and scooted her chair closer to his. Why, he couldn't imagine, because his office wasn't much bigger than a closet. "What do you suggest?" she asked.

Even though Alicia was in another section of Professor Draven's 202 class and thus had a different TA, she always came to see Cassian for help with her assignments. A lot of international students in the poli-sci department tended to find him, because of the number of languages he spoke. Alicia had been the most regular this semester, dropping by before every test and essay. Her heavy body spray, some kind of vanilla musk, filled his tiny office and intensified his headache.

He made some suggestions and she noted them down. "So what are your plans for Christmas?" she asked.

"Oh, I can't really afford to go back to Mexico for the holiday, so I'm staying here." He scanned along. "Now this conclusion is rather good, but it will only be strengthened if you expand on your earlier point."

"So you won't see your family? That's so sad, Cassi!" She put her hand on his arm. "My roommate and I are having a party after finals, before I leave for Berlin. Would you like to come?"

"Um," he said. "I - maybe we should get back to the essay."

A knock at the door interrupted him, and he looked up. Jyn leaned in. "Got a coffee," she said. "Want it?"

"Yes, please," Cassian said, reaching his hand out to take it. He took a sip. Three sugars, no cream, perfect. He smiled at her. "Do I owe you?"

"Your first-born, as agreed."

"Will you take a rain check?"

"No," she said, poker-faced, "I demand a baby right now. Make sure it's a nice plump one."

He chuckled and took another drink. His headache was already receding.

Alicia was studying them both, narrow-eyed. "Is that your girlfriend, Cassi?" she asked in German.

But it was Jyn who answered, in the same language. "Nope," she said, leaning against the doorjamb and slurping from her own takeout cup. Tea, probably, strong and sweet and milky. She was very English in that way. "Just his housemate and caffeine delivery person."

Alicia studied her for another moment, then shrugged and smiled. "Nice to meet you." She turned her back and said, "Can you tell me more about the parts in the middle that needed work?"

"Actually," Cassian said, handing her essay back, "I think we were about done."

"Oh - but -"

"I have to prepare for class," he said firmly. "Just work on those sections and it'll be an excellent final project."

"I still wanted to ask you - "

Even more firmly, he added, "I hope you have a good trip back to Berlin."

Alicia bit her heavily-glossed lip. "I'd still love to see you at my party. Here's my address." She scribbled on a piece of paper from her notebook and handed it to him. "Lots of fun, I promise!"

Cassian waited until she was gone to drop it in his trash can.

"Frequent flier?" Jyn asked, taking the seat she'd left behind.

Cassian shrugged, leaning over to crack the window. The air that rushed in was bitter-cold, but clean and fresh, chasing vanilla musk out. "She always wants a lot of help, but never really needs it. Her work is very good as is. I think she just wants reassurance." He opened a drawer and found a pack of crackers, offering her one.

Jyn took it and crunched in. "Or she's pursuing you."

He almost choked on his own cracker. "She's - I'm sorry?"

"She wants in your pants real bad."

"I'm sure she doesn't."

"I'm sure she does."

"She's just a very conscientious student, always works hard on her essays, arrives early for . . . office hours . . . " He trailed off. "Oh."

Jyn chortled into her tea. "Wake up and smell the perfume, Cassi."

He made a face. "Don't."

"Why not? Don't you like it?"

"No, but I've given up trying to correct her." He looked at his trash can, the party invitation taking on a whole different cast. "Hell."

"Not into it? She's pretty cute."

"No," he said. "And annoyed you had to tell me. I thought she just really liked international relations."

She patted his arm. "She probably does, but she's thinking of a whole different kind of relations." She looked up and froze. "And she's very determined about it, too."

"What now?" he said rather wearily.

She pointed and he looked up to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging from his ceiling. He squinted. "How did that get there?"

"Was she early today?"

"Yes, but how would she get it up there?"

"Was your desk rearranged?"

Now that he thought of it, his keyboard was a little off-center, as if it had been moved and then moved back, maybe when a certain blonde German undergrad had climbed up on his desk to hang mistletoe from his ceiling.

Jyn laughed out loud. "For a journalist, Cassian, you're not very observant, are you?"

"I blame the headache," he said, reaching up for the mistletoe. It eluded the very tips of his fingers.

"I got it," she said, stepping up onto her chair and then nudging the keyboard aside so she could climb on the desk.

"Jyn - !"

"I'm fine, I've got it," she repeated, stretching up for the mistletoe. She had to go up on her toes to get at where Alicia had taped it to the ceiling, and yank hard. "What did she use?" she grunted, "superglue?" She yanked again, and the sprig came free, knocking her off-balance. She took a step into thin air.

Cassian grabbed her waist. "Steady!"

She teetered, folded over, grabbed his shoulders, and they both froze. She shifted carefully, getting both feet firmly back onto the desk.

"M'alright," she said.

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

He became aware that his arms were wrapped around her hips and his face was practically buried in her - ah.

And he'd knocked both their chairs aside when he'd grabbed for her. They were just far enough away that he couldn't hook one with his foot and drag it over, not with their combined balances so tricky.

"I'm going to bring you down," he said. "All right?"

"Uh-huh."

He shifted his grip, stepped back, and for a moment her whole soft, curving weight slid down his front. Her boots hit the industrial carpet with a thump, and they both let go very fast.

"Thanks," she mumbled, her face pink. She snatched up her tea, which had miraculously survived the shenanigans, and backed through the door. "I'm just - I - see you at home, yeah?"

"No problem," he said, watching her go.

Jyn walked in, went directly to the couch, and faceplanted.

Some time later, she heard the door open and Cassian's footsteps on the creaky old wood floors. "Jyn?"

"Ungh."

"Are you alive?"

"No."

He sounded amused. "What killed you?"

"An all-nighter," she groaned into the cushions. "A bitch of a project. Bugs. Bugs everywhere. It's raining and I forgot my umbrella so I'm cold and wet, and I didn't eat lunch, and I may have to do my project over again because like I said, it was a bitch."

"Anything else?"

She considered. "My foot hurts."

"Well," he said. "I guess I'll just leave your deceased corpse there to rot. It'll be very smelly." He walked out again, creak-creak-creak.

"Nice," she mumbled into the cushions. "Spending too much time around Kay, that's what he's doing."

She considered getting up. Changing out of her wet clothes. Heating up some soup. She groaned again, and downgraded her expectations to getting her wet socks off.

She'd just chucked them to the floor - splat - and was attempting to burrow her chilled feet into the divide between cushions when the floors creaked again. Something thick and warm settled over her. She grunted and turned her head, rubbing her fingers against the fuzziness of the blanket. "What - "

"Just in case you might be revived," Cassian said, crouching by her head.

She smiled at hm, pulling her feet in under the blanket. They began to sting and prickle with warmth. "It is the season of miracles and all that."

His hair fell damp and soft over his forehead, and his shoulders were rain-spattered, so he must have come in just after her. He could have changed clothes or gotten his own food, but he'd elected to get her a blanket instead.

She wanted to reach out and brush her fingers over his beard. Would it be scratchy or soft? She wanted to run her hand down his throat and feel the motion of his Adam's apple as he swallowed hard.

His eyes flicked up and he frowned.

She pulled her hand to her chest, afraid she might have already been reaching out to touch him. “What?”

He pointed, and she twisted her head on the cushion to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the reading lamp parked almost directly above their two heads.

“What - “ she said, looking back at him.

They both realized at the same time how close their faces were, and he lurched back, almost butt-planting before staggering to his feet. “Anyway,” he said. “I’ll leave you to warm up.”

“Thanks for the blanket,” she said. “You want it back?”

He shrugged, backing away. “I have more.”

When he was gone, she pulled it over her head with a groan.

Cassian was grading papers from his section when Jyn found him in the library. "Just who I was looking for," she said, plopping down.

"Have a seat," he said absently, opening up the next essay that had been electronically turned in at the last possible second.

"Have you thought about Christmas presents yet?"

Who could think of presents when he had forty-two essays to wade through and an analysis of the effects of European colonialism on Egyptian foreign policy due in three days? But he set his stylus down and said, "No, why?"

"Because I found the perfect thing for Bodes." She called up a website on her tablet and passed it over. "Look at it. No really. Look. Couldn't you imagine Bodhi's face when he unwraps that?"

Cassian studied the bomber jacket on Jyn's screen. Buttery chocolate-colored leather with a shearling collar, warm and thick and stylish. "He would love it. But the price - "

"I know, I know. That's why I'm showing you."

"Even half the cost is a lot," he said gently. "My budget is candy canes this year and even then it'll be the cheap ones."

"I can math," she said. "And you don't have to give me anything. Look, the more of us get on board, the smaller the individual cost will be. If I blackmail Leia and sweet-talk Han and you appeal to Kay's sense of logic - oh, hey, have you got anything on Han? Because I'm not so sure about my sweet-talking skills."

"You have this all planned out, don't you?"

"Bodes has had a shit year," she said. "We can't send him back to London to see his mum and sisters, but we can give him something."

He bumped his stylus against his lower lip. “Chewie will be in no problem, so ask him first and he'll make Han do it. And go by the Philosophy department to talk to Chirrut and Baze. They're both teaching this afternoon."

She grinned at him. "Right, I'll just have to catch Chirrut after his capstone seminar but before Baze gets out of his 101."

"Good thinking." Baze was always grumpy after a section of his Intro course, mumbling under his breath about pampered babies who wouldn't know Aristotelian ethics if it bit them on the ass. "Just don't let them pay for the whole thing. I want in. And I'll see who else I can round up."

"You're the best," she said.

Two boys walked up, holding hands. "Hi, uh - "

Jyn leaned back in her chair. "Can we help you?"

"Are you guys using this table?"

"Uh, pretty obviously yeah."

"It's just that we kind of wanted to sit here."

"There's like a thousand other tables on this floor alone."

Although, Cassian reflected, none of the others were tucked away in a sunny corner behind bookshelves, private and quiet.

"I know, but - " The shorter guy blushed. "This one has the mistletoe on the window."

They both looked up. Cassian swore under his breath.

Jyn got up so fast she almost knocked her chair over. "All yours, lads," she said.

When Jyn told her about the mistletoe issue, Leia was supremely unsympathetic. "So? You happen to see some Christmas decorations sometimes, and sometimes you happen to be with Cassian when you do. It's December and we live in a society that pushes a yearly orgy of consumerism with the promise that - "

"Blah blah late stage capitalism, yes, I know, but," Jyn said. "It's getting out of hand."

Leia looked skeptical.

“I swear to you," Jyn said darkly, "that if Cassian comes along, a piece of mistletoe will materialize over our heads within twenty seconds."

"Confirmation bias," Leia said.

"Is not!"

"Is," Leia said. "Mistletoe as a decoration is ridiculously common. Look, there’s some above the door right there.” Leia gestured at the door of the Echo Base Coffee Roastery. “And no Cassian.”

“Give it time,” Jyn said.

Leia rolled her eyes. “It's not that the two of you are making it manifest, It's just that you're hyper-aware of it when you're with him." She smirked at her. "And why is that?"

"Because it's haunting us," Jyn growled.

"Because you want to kiss him so bad you're drooling," Leia said and bit into her scone.

“So what if I am,” Jyn said, and slouched in her chair.

Leia stopped mid-chew. “Wow,” she said. “You really want to if you’re not denying it. So why haven't you just laid one on him?”

“He’s so calm,” she said. “I don’t know what he wants. He’s impossible to read. What if I slap lips on him and he screams and runs?”

Leia arched a brow. “Unlikely.”

Jyn pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look, I know what to do.”

“Slap lips on him, as you so romantically put it?”

“Nope. Avoid him until Boxing Day. You Americans rip everything down at 11:30 pm Christmas Day, and it’s like the holiday never existed. No mistletoe, no problem.”

“Yes,” Leia grinned, “but then it’s all Valentine's Day, all the time.”

Jyn’s face worked and then she huffed. “I’ll see you later.”

“You know I’m riiiiight,” Leia sang into her coffee cup, and Jyn made an obscene gesture. She stomped toward the door. Before she could grab the handle, it opened to reveal Cassian, Kay on his heels.

He stopped.

She stopped.

As if they’d practiced it, they both looked up at the mistletoe at the same time.

“Right,” Jyn said, pink-faced. “See you later then. Bye.” She nodded at their other housemate. “Kay.”

“Jyn,” Kay said, and stepped around her and Cassian both, announcing, “I advise you to get out of the way and permit the door to close. The wind is very cutting today."

“Right,” Cassian said. For a moment, he and Jyn performed a sort of awkward, shuffling dance as they both tried to pass through in opposite directions. Finally, Jyn was out, Cassian was in, and the door was closed.

Through the window to the left of the door, Jyn caught Leia’s eye. She pointed upward and mouthed I told you! Didn’t I tell you?! She was gesticulating so wildly she almost ran into a pole, and Leia made a dismayed sound.

Cassian looked at her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she said, watching Jyn scramble out of sight. “Just got some coffee down the wrong pipe.”

He looked doubtful, but turned back to Kay. “This is exactly what I was talking about. Now do you believe me?”

“Confirmation bias,” Kay said, surveying the offerings in the pastry case.

Leia smirked into her coffee again.

Jyn turned in her last final on the Thursday before Christmas, and slept like the dead for fourteen hours.

She wasn't the only one. The house was full of post-finals zombies. When she shuffled out of her attic room and down the stairs in sock feet and ragged sweatpants, she found Chewie, eyes hidden behind his mop of hair, wandering around the second-floor hallway with a toothbrush in his mouth. "Done with the bathroom?" she asked.

He grunted, went back and spit out his toothbrush, came out, and grunted again. Interpreting that to mean all yours, she crawled into the shower and cranked it as hot as it would go. She counted herself lucky that she'd remembered to peel off her sweatpants first.

She felt more human by the time she snapped the water off and climbed out. The sweatpants went back on, but she promised herself that she'd trade them for clean clothes up in her room. Rambling out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel over her hair, she almost crashed directly into Cassian. "Uh," she said. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Hi." Shit, she'd said that already. She slouched against the doorjamb, hoping she looked incredibly casual and not like she was feeling self-conscious about being caught by him in her rattiest clothing. "How's the grading?"

"Turned in," he said. "You? How did your final project turn out?"

"All in. It's probably shit, but it's in."

"I'm sure it's not," he said.

She shrugged. "How's everyone else holding up? Does Bodhi still gibber when you say the words high pressure system to him?" Their friend's aeronautical meteorology class had kicked his ass.

"He's downgraded to whimpers."

Somewhere off in the distance, the doorbell rang, with the four-note sequence of the Addams Family theme. (Chirrut thought it was funny.)

Jyn ignored it. Someone downstairs would get it and she didn't feel like moving. "Well, that's progress. We should go out tonight or something."

"Us?"

She choked. "Uh, yeah, all of us here in the house. Big, uh, big housemate post-finals party. Alcohol and cake and - " Debauchery, she almost said, and changed it to - "Frivolity."

"Maybe pizza to soak up the booze and sugar," he said.

"Right, yeah, that sounds good." She grinned. "The Mill?"

"That's a good choice. Han's so lazy he refuses to decorate for Christmas, so - "

"No mistletoe," she said brightly, and just like that it was all awkward between them.

She thought of Leia's skepticism that she'd be able to bury all this after Christmas. Especially with Valentine's Day coming up.

He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and averted his eyes. "Jyn, I - " He choked on the rest of his sentence, staring at a spot just over her head.

With a certain feeling of inevitability, she followed his gaze to see a sprig of mistletoe, hanging from the light fixture.

She dropped her eyes again and met his.

He said, "I still don't know who's putting those up."

"Me neither."

"At least in here," he added.

"Right. Yeah. The Roastery and the library were probably . . . some poor worker who's getting paid minimum wage to climb on a ladder and - " She felt herself rambling and hiked up her chin. "Look, it's five days until Christmas. We don't know why these are suddenly turning up around us but it's just making it weirder and weirder, so I say we settle the question."

"The . . . question," he said carefully.

"Yeah. Let's just kiss and get it over with."

". . . That question."

The doorbell rang again, more insistently. Neither of them moved.

She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Well?"

He swallowed. She followed the motion of his Adam's apple down his throat and felt herself break out in a sweat, heat thrumming at all her pulse points. She wasn't sure when she'd decided she wanted to lick his neck, but she did, she did. Maybe some heretofore unsuspected infection of vampirism.

"Maybe we should," he said in a low rumble.

She unfolded her arms and rested her hands high up on his chest. Damn, he was tall. She tilted her head back to meet Cassian's eyes, sticking her chin out in a dare. Go on, then.

Downstairs, a babble of voices broke out. They could have been in the next zip code for all Jyn cared.

He put his hands to her waist, warm through her worn-thin Gerrera's Gym t-shirt, and leaned down. She shut her eyes just before his mouth brushed hers.

Dry, warm. Fleeting. Tendrils of agreeable heat began to curl through her belly.

Then he was gone.

She swallowed and opened her eyes again, feeling the tendrils of heat curl themselves into nothing.

Her body hummed with tension and dissatisfaction. Was that it? Was that little taste all she was getting?

Even though the light fixture and its stupid, stupid mistletoe was right above their heads, she couldn't read his expression.

She dropped her hands. "Okay. That's done, th-"

The last word was cut off by his mouth covering hers again. Her back hit the wall so hard the light fixture rattled. She ignored it, too busy winding her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him, kissing back hungrily.

This, now. This.

If the first kiss had been a taste, this was a five-course banquet. They devoured each other, tongues and teeth and lips and hands. His hands slid south of her waist, clamping on her ass and hauling her into the arc of his body. She whimpered and hooked one leg over his hip. He pressed her harder into the wall and licked into her mouth.

She gasped aloud when he left her mouth and started kissing her neck. Somehow, both her legs were locked around his hips, and his hands - Jesus, he had good hands. She felt like a volcano, all liquid heat inside and liable to go off at the slightest provocation.

"That's more like it," she said, and nipped at his ear.

"I've been wanting to do that since September," he said against her neck.

"So why didn't - ohhh," she groaned as his teeth scraped her skin.

"I'm usually very good at reading people. But I find you impossible to predict."

She grabbed his head in her hands and stared into his eyes. "Take me back to your room and fuck my brains out," she said. "How's that for a read?"

He rocked against her and demonstrated he had no problem with her proposed course of action. "Your room would be better."

"Yours is closer."

He kissed her hard. "I'm next to Kay."

"So," she mumbled into his mouth.

"He's asleep."

"So?"

"I don't intend to be quiet."

Oh. Oh damn. There went her last brain cell. "Right," she gasped. "My room it is."

Over at the Mill some hours later, Leia watched them snuggle in a booth with a little smirk.

She'd been keeping an eye on that, texting her brother with regular updates. Luke always liked hearing the gossip from her house, especially any news of a certain British-Pakistani aeronautics major. She'd always thought Cassian and Jyn had a certain similarity, under their wildly differing outer presentation. And of course they'd been thirsting for each other practically since they'd met. They made a cute couple.

The smirk turned into a blush when they started kissing and groping each other again. Okay, whenever they got over that in public, they would be a cute couple.

She turned toward the bar and the giant bowl of eggnog that Han Solo had rustled up. Call him what you like - and she did - he could pull a party together.

Bodhi was already there, pouring himself some. "Want one?"

"Absolutely," she said, leaning up next to him. "So - the mistletoe."

He ducked his head and made a sort of grunt.

"You were the one putting it all up in the house, right?" She'd noticed Bodhi decorating for the holiday as early as Thanksgiving morning.

"Yep," he said on a sigh, passing her a full glass.

She chortled and took a sip that threatened to curl her eyebrows. It was very strong. She blinked and shook her head. When her tongue had regained feeling, she pursued her line of questioning. "What, did you just get tired of watching them orbit around each other for the past few months?"

"Actually . . ." He looked down into his own glass. "It wasn't for them."

She sputtered out her next sip of eggnog. "Say again?"

He sighed. "I had a whole plan. Remember how Luke was supposed to come for Thanksgiving?"

"And his flight got cancelled, yeah."

"And then he was supposed to crash on our couch over break?"

"And then his advisor asked him to stay to work on some 'special project'?" She made a face. She wouldn't be forgiving Professor Yoda anytime soon for attempting to deprive her of her twin. "But - "

"Well, I figured if there was all this mistletoe up, it would be sort . . . of . . . romantic," he mumbled.

Her hand stopped. "Bodhi," she said, slowly and clearly. "How long have you been crushing on my brother?"

"Look, I wasn't trying to be creepy - "

"Of course you weren't," she said. "Just - how long?"

He shook his head. "It's dumb, it doesn't matter."

A voice from behind him said, "I'm interested."

Bodhi whipped around to see Luke standing behind him, face bright and hopeful. "What - you - when?"

"A few hours ago," Luke said. "I drove overnight. I was taking a nap in her room until just now." He toasted Leia with his beer. "She left me a text to come on over."

Bodhi was still goggling at him, the tips of his ears going brick-red. "But I thought - "

"I excused myself from the project. Professor Yoda's not too happy, but I don't care. So, uh, what was my sister saying? About you and mistletoe, and me?"

They wandered off, eyes only for each other, hands bumping. No need for mistletoe.

Leia laughed to herself and drank more eggnog.

"Hey, princess, look what I found!" Han leaned over the bar and dangled a sprig of mistletoe over their heads. "Pucker up."

She tossed her eggnog in his face and marched off, refusing to reflect on the not-small part of her that had been intrigued. It would take more than mistletoe to get her to lock lips with Han Solo.

FINIS

#Cassian Andor #Jyn Erso #rebelcaptain #rebelcaptainsecretsanta #fanfiction #mosylufanfic lives up to her damn name #boy it's been awhile since I used that tag #university AU #modern AU #everyone is an overworked and slightly crazed student #fluff #star wars

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cassiopeiasara · 7 years

Text

Maybe This Time

For @amtrak12 on her birthday. Based on her meta here, Also on ao3.

Routine grounds her. ID badge, check. Entrance, check.

Lab, it’s all so big. Big in a way she didn’t expect. She fiddles with her badge as the woman from HR with a practiced smile shows her the workspace. There are so many people, most of them wave at her as she’s introduced. They’re all so focused, speaking quietly to each other or just quiet in general.

Anxiety coils in her stomach. Focus and quiet aren’t exact her forte. She can’t blast her music here, her food crumbs would not be welcome. It makes her wonder why they decided on her at all. She reminds herself that her work got her here and it speaks for itself.

Her escort smiles, that weird polite smile and Holtz tries to remember her name.

She points toward a portion of the lab. “I believe this space is yours Dr. Holtzmann.”

Holtz makes a point to smile back and shake the woman’s hand firmly. She forgets the thank you but the woman doesn’t seem to mind.

A packet rests on her table with her name typed on it. She opens it, plans for a new project. She relaxes a bit. This is where she’s safe. This is where she knows her way. Her work will speak for itself.

***

The same woman from HR frowns at her now. Well, it’s more that she’s trying to hide a scowl with a smile so it has a kind of sneer effect. She’s not the only one in the line opposite Holtz. There is a project manager (Jerry? Maybe? Gosh, it’s the first day and so many people), the head of her department, and the neighboring lab partner who saw it all.

“I’m afraid this isn’t going to work Dr. Holtzmann. Simon is stable luckily which means no criminal action.”

Holtz remembers Dr. Gorin stating these things happen. Remembers her saying the pursuit of innovation takes a few casualties. It isn’t the first time she’s been the cause of accidentally hurting someone but it is the first time death is a factor.

Holtz squirms a little in her chair as they discuss her one and only paycheck and all the hope they had for her.

We really thought you’d be okay this time, plays like a mantra in her mind. The image of her parents picking her up from science camp because she caused too many explosions, the girlfriend who left because Holtz started a fire trying to make breakfast, her first three failed interviews for being a teaching assistant before Dr. Gorin. It all meshes together like a broken record, over and over and over again.

We really thought you’d be okay.

Holtz nods in all the right places and is escorted out by security. Perhaps it’s a curse, some flaw she just can’t see, some piece of her that always drives others away, something wrong she just can’t seem to fix.

She calls Dr. Gorin. “Well, Jillian, we’ll just have to find someplace better.”

Holtz appreciates her words but the comfort that comes from them doesn’t quite seal the break in her confidence.

****

She answers the paranormal engineer ad because hey ghosts are cool, also if she doesn’t find something soon, it’s back to her parents and she really doesn’t want that.

Dr. Yates is nice and patient when Holtz takes her time to answer. Holtz doesn’t feel like her answers are always quite right and thoroughly believes this isn't going to work.

Dr. Yates is pensive for a moment and Holtz feels a shift, something about this is significant in a way she can’t quite decipher.

She gets the job, despite all the blacklisting in the academic atmosphere (complaints about her recklessness, a note about how unpredictable she can be, Dr. Holtzmann, the brilliant engineer that no one wants), despite drifting off somewhere in the interview and not responding to the right question.

She starts and Dr. Yates never brings up any of it though Holtz knows she could have access to all of it.

Dr. Yates just hands Holtz theories, equations, ideas and it doesn’t take long before Holtz realizes Dr. Yates isn’t scared.

Maybe this time, she thinks.

****

Abby is hilarious. She laughs at all of Holtz’s puns and she is completely game for playing pranks on the rest of the science department.

Abby includes her on takeout orders and invites her over after work to watch movies. Holtz wonders how long it will last, how long before Abby tires of her and gets frustrated like everyone else.

It’s almost two months before a significant lab accident occurs. It’s some sort of record and Holtz knows it’s because she’s been holding back, she really wants this to work.

She expects Abby to throw her out, to regret the decision to hire her. Instead, Abby approaches with a fire extinguisher, putting out the fire with practiced ease. She doesn’t yell, doesn’t even flinch. She just smiles.

“What happened?” Her voice is soft.

Holtz ducks her head, explains that she miswired something and the prototype overheated.

Abby nods, never wavering. “So what do you want to do this time?”

Abby’s gentle voice unlocks her mental block and she thinks of all the alternate avenues she could take.

Holtz hesitates then asks, “So I’m not fired?”

Abby tilts her head and raises her eyebrows. “Fired? ‘Course not, we’re well on our way to a breakthrough here. Stuff like this is why we have these.” She lifts the fire extinguisher.

Holtz wonders if Abby knows about Simon, if she’s ever looked it up. Holtz takes this victory but it’s only a matter of time. Abby will let her go one day and she’ll be alone again.

***

Five years later and Abby plays the song. Holtz is stuck on the proton gun but they’re inching closer.

Abby must know she’s struggling, she’s good like that, the time for Come On Eileen is here and Abby starts to sing the opening lyrics. Holtz looks up and Abby winks back at her. Holtz relaxes and starts to sing along, she can do this.

Her works always comes through and so does Abby.

***

Erin reminds Holtz of a praying mantis. She’s lanky with a shady edge.

Holtz watches over Abby, remembering all the years they’ve worked together, all the tales of the friend who abandoned her right when she needed her most.

Holtz searches Abby for all the things Abby taught her in the importance of taking care of friends. Is she okay? Does she need Holtz to do anything? Would she like some coffee, green tea?

Abby copes well and when she thanks Holtz for her concern, that pleased jump in Holtz’s stomach appears. She did something right. Holtz realizes Erin can’t ruin this no matter how hard she tries. Erin may have more history in her friendship with Abby but Holtz is good at this. Abby says so. Holtz can be a best friend.

Holtz pokes fun at Erin, purposefully ignites a fire, and uses it as a sign to Erin that if she hurts Abby, Holtz is fully prepared to fight back.

***

Holtz is not prepared for Patty. She’s not prepared for the way her heart skips a beat, the way Patty’s excited rambling pulls her in or the way Patty’s sass ignites a fire in her veins.

“You’re mouthy, I like that.”

Before Holtz can elaborate, before she can think of all the ways she wants to know Patty better, the ghost appears.

Right, this is their purpose. She powers up the proton machine and they start off.

***

Patty smiles at the more compact proton pack and Holtz feels her cheeks warm under the attention. It’s a check in the list of things to impress Patty.

When she met Abby, she wanted Abby to like her and although she wants Patty to like her too, this need to impress her bubbles up inside of Holtz and won’t go away.

She convinces Abby to make sure Holtz and Patty are always alone on food runs.

Abby smiles like she knows. “Got a crush Holtz?”

Holtz stops and blinks a few times. Is that what this is? She adjusts her glasses. “Uh, not sure, I’ll need more field research.”

Abby nods, her patient nod, the one where she knows Holtz is confused. “Like fitting her for a proton pack?”

Holtz bits her lip and nods.

Abby winks. “I heard her mention a craving for cheesesteaks.”

Holtz hugs her from the side, knocking Abby off her chair slightly. “You’re a genius, Abby.”

Abby smiles. “Just let me have some when you get back.”

***

Patty’s rambles are fascinating, not always in the information but in the way her hands fly up, in the way connections make her smile. That big, gorgeous, bright smile. The smile that Holtz wants more than anything to be directed her way.

Patty stops on their way back from the deli. It takes Holtz a minute to notice. Patty’s head is ducked slightly and she has a small smile, a shy one. “I’m not talkin’ too much am I?”

Holtz isn’t sure how to explain the fact that she could listen to Patty forever. She doesn’t know how to put into words how much she enjoys Patty’s voice, the crescendo of volume as she slowly reveals history and its significance.

Holtz doesn’t know what to say so she opts to smirk and shake her head.

Patty smiles back, bigger this time and begins anew.

****

Holtz tries to research the best ways to pick up women. Her two almost relationships were just a fluke, luck probably.

She wants to bring her A game for this because her heart skips have turned into heart leaps and she feels like if she doesn’t kiss Patty soon, she may go mad from want.

Pick-up lines turn out to be a weak option. It’s mostly because she can never remember them exactly. For example, Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? or checking a t-shirt tag and stating that she thought it would say made in heaven turns into patting Patty’s back awkwardly while she sits on her couch and stating Did you fall angel?

One day, on her fourth failed attempt, Patty presses a hand to her forehead. “Are you sick baby? Been touching those ghost traps too much?”

Holtz’s skin tingles from Patty’s touch and she just shakes her head. “Love in the time of Cholera.”

(She realizes later that’s not a line but a book Patty owns.)

Patty squints at her. “Have you slept?”

“No rest for the wicked, Pattycakes.”

Gifts are her next endeavor. She bedazzles a new ghost chipper, creates a hand grenade that emits a purple mist, and engraves Patty’s name along her proton pack. Patty is grateful but it brings Holtz no closer to her goal.

****

Patty walks in one evening with a dress that almost causes a nuclear explosion (only because Holtz is holding a grenade but she’ll argue any day that Patty’s beauty is powerful enough for such things). Patty’s dress is black with a lace overlay that hugs Patty in all the places Holtz dreams of touching.

Holtzmann manages to place the grenade down gently and approaches Patty with her mouth agape.

Patty smiles like she knows Holtz is having trouble breathing.

“Hey, baby,” she greets and smiles. It’s that smile, that wide, delighted smile Holtz is forever chasing and it’s directed at her.

Holtz manages to clear her throat. “Where you goin’, gorgeous?”

If she could get her brain to function properly, she might have a different compliment, something more imaginative than gorgeous because it is obviously inadequate.

“On my way to a party, just stopped by to drop off a book. My friend Aly got engaged.”

Holtz nods slowly. She understands Patty is talking but she can’t seem to process anything beyond how breathtaking Patty looks. Perhaps this is why her attempts keep failing, there aren’t words to describe the pull she feels, the want she has, or the contentment that comes from Patty’s presence.

Patty is looking at her expectantly and Holtz realizes that somewhere she must have missed a question.

Holtz adjusts her glasses and peers up at Patty. “Huh?”

Patty nods toward the door. “I asked if you want to come?”

Holtz considers her options. She should say yes. Being with Patty is never a waste but a party filled with people she doesn’t know is too much.

She lowers her head and shakes it. “No, but thanks Pattycakes.”

Holtz hears the regret in her own voice and hopes Patty understands. It’s too overwheming, all the people, the interacting. She is just used to the team and that is even hard some days.

Patty places a hand on her arm and squeezes. “How bout I come back after and you can show me the new containment unit? I’ll bring you some cake.”

Holtz beams up at her. “You’re perfect.”

Patty’s eyes are searching for a moment before she gives Holtz a soft smile. “See you later.”

***

She formulates a plan while she waits and is sure this time, it’ll work. (Maybe, possibly, probably not.)

After cake and the tour of the new containment unit (Patty gives her that impressed smile and her stomach does somersaults), Holtz invites Patty to watch a movie. It’s one of those romantic comedies Holtz always hears Patty gush over with Erin.

It bores Holtz mostly but while Patty is distracted, Holtz yawns and attempts to rest her arm behind Patty. A problem occurs when she realizes she didn’t take Patty’s height into account. She lets out a whine and Patty turns.

“What you doin’?” Patty’s eyes flit between the back of the couch and Holtz’s arm.

Holtz shrugs. “Hmm, nothing.”

Patty quirks an eyebrow. “Baby, have you been trying to flirt with me? Like seriously flirt with me?”

Holtz’s cheeks get red and she’s scrambling for some explanation. “Um, I, well, um”

Patty smiles, one of her patient smiles. “You can tell me anything, Holtzy, you know that.”

Holtz takes a deep breath. “What tipped you off?”

Patty laughs. “Oh, I don’t know, I’m pretty sure the yawn move has been around for some time, the backward pickup lines were interestin’ and the bedazzled weapons were a nice touch.”

Holtz blinks slowly. Patty knows, she’s been on to her all this time. She throws Patty a smirk. “Any chance they worked?”

Patty rolls her eyes. “You know baby, you don’t have to use all that stuff.”

Holtz tilts her head. “What then? What will work?”

Patty shakes her head and reaches her hands up to touch Holtz’s cheeks. “I like you baby, I always have.”

Holtz’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

Patty chuckles softly. “Yeah. I mean I worry about your priorities and your penchant for danger.”

Holtz shrugs. “Danger is useful.”

Patty shakes her head again. “We can talk about that later.” She leans forward as Holtz leans up and fireworks explode behind Holtz’s eyelids as Patty’s lips finally touch hers.

When they part, Holtz winks. “It was the weapons wasn’t it? The part that really sealed the deal.”

Patty laughs as she strokes her thumb along one of Holtz’s wrists. It really shouldn’t make Holtz’s heart race so much but it does.

“It wasn’t something you did, Holtzy. I like you because you’re you.”

Holtz couldn’t help the emotion that welled up inside of her. All those years of being avoided, all those times she was scared she’d blow everything up with one mistake, all those people that didn’t believe in her and none of it stopped Patty, she still likes her. Patty likes her, Abby cares for her and Erin, well, Erin could be a tossup but she sticks with her too. Patty fits like a piece Holtz didn’t realize she was missing.

Holtz doesn’t know how to explain all of that and instead reaches up to kiss Patty again. Holtz is always better with action anyway.

#my fanfiction #toltzmann #patty x holtzmann #hope you like it dear

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