#so ready to read the summer away oh my gOD

[visceravalentines]

folger's, eat your heart out

oh my god this got away from me so bad it's wanted in twelve states. but it's done (is anything ever done) and i'm.......i'm quite happy with it. i really hope you like it.

4.3k words. canon divergence, boys on the run. established relationship. character study, lots of introspection. implied sexual content, nothing too explicit. so much kissing. hand job. light s/m. night terrors and vague mention of canon-typical trauma. mostly soft, so soft. benson is so in love and doesn't know it yet <3

read on ao3 here if that's more your speed.

It’s a Tuesday. Benson knows this because his eyes snap open automatically at five in the morning even though he hasn’t set an alarm in weeks. He opens on Tuesdays, been on that schedule for so long he doesn’t even need the alarm anymore anyways. 

Well, he used to open on Tuesdays. 

He wakes up slow. Gets a savage satisfaction out of being somewhere unfamiliar, revels in it. With bleary eyes he traces the outline of the water damage on the ceiling and it’s different than the one back home. Room smells different too, stale sweat and dust and complimentary green tea bar soap. The mattress is too fucking soft, folds around him like dough. His spine is electric with pain. 

Fuck, he’s getting old. Twenty-nine going on fifty. 

He drags a hand over his face and wishes he could fall back asleep. Not going to happen. Not a chance with this marshmallow bed and the sun popping its stupid Raisin Bran fucking face through the blinds. Benson sleeps dark and cold and silent with his back to the wall. Arms locked in front of his chest like armor. Like a corpse on a slab. 

Or he used to, anyway. 

He can’t feel his left arm. He pushes his chin into his throat at an odd angle to look down at Randy, still asleep, curled up on Benson’s chest like a sandy-colored cat. His hands are tucked together, long, knobby fingers folded over each other, resting in the center of Benson’s ribs. The sun takes each strand of his hair and wraps it in gold, even his eyelashes, laying long and pretty on his cheeks. 

Fuck Folger’s. Nothing comes close to this. 

It’s surreal, still. Being here, being anywhere, together. Like, together. Unbelievable the way he fits so neatly under Benson’s arm. He rests his lips against the crown of Randy’s head. He does it because he wants to, because he can. He inhales slow and deep and he smells warm and bright and a little grimey. Like summer. Like sweat and mud and the most beautiful blue sky you’ve ever seen. Fucking perfect, he’s perfect. 

He's peaceful now, which is saying something. Randy’s a terrible sleeper. Sharing a bed with him is punishing. He thrashes in his sleep, digs elbows into Benson’s ribs and jolts him awake in a panic ready to fight, and then Benson has to stare into the abyss and count to a thousand before he can calm the fuck down and drift off again. 

He never talks about his nightmares. Benson knows he has them, but he knows better than to ask about shit like that. On occasion he’ll wake up to Randy tugging on his arm, pulling it around him like a security blanket. He doesn’t mind that in the least, rolls over half asleep and wraps himself around Randy’s sweat-soaked body. He pins his arms to his sides for both their sakes, buries his face against the back of his neck, and that’s that. Problem solved. 

Benson, on the other hand, sleeps like the dead–save for the nights he wakes up screaming and doesn’t realize he’s doing it. Doesn't even know he's awake until he sees Randy’s face floating above him in the dark, wide-eyed like some twig-limbed owl. Until he feels his hands on his face, wiping salt from his cheeks. 

Shit sucks, because then he has to turn all the lights on and pace the room, chewing on a cigarette and cracking his neck ‘til it's sore, trying to walk it off. Randy sits on the bed hugging his knees to his chest and watches him like a hawk. But he doesn't speak, doesn't try to push it, waits patiently until Benson crawls back into bed and lets him decide where he wants to be. 

He can't stand to be touched during and after those episodes, always hated when his ma would try to smother him when he was still young enough to smother, but funny enough, Randy’s okay. Doesn't seem to count. Maybe it's because he lets him set the pace and doesn't get his feelings hurt when Benson curls up on the edge of the mattress with pillows stacked between them. Either way, most times Benson falls back asleep with his head tucked into the hollow of Randy's neck and those skinny arms slung around his shoulders. And the light on.

The night terrors aren’t new, but it’s been a while since they’ve been this bad. It’s like they’ve worked their way to the surface of his brain. Like a splinter finding its way out of the skin. He doesn’t like Randy seeing him that way, but he can’t really help it. He used to sleep on his stomach with his face in the pillow so he wouldn’t wake Ma and have to deal with her on top of everything else, but he had so many nightmares about suffocating he can't do it anymore. 

But Randy never lets Benson apologize in the morning, insists he doesn't mind being woken up. He's told him that again and again, so often that Benson’s starting to believe him. They’re both fucked in the head just enough that it makes it okay. No hard feelings. 

Last night was quiet for both of them, for once. Benson wishes he was still asleep to take advantage of it, but this is nice too. He can feel Randy’s breath on his collarbone and it’s driving him crazy, a little bit. He’s not used to nice things. He’s always scared he’s gonna fuck them up somehow. Sometimes he wants to fuck them up. Track mud across the carpet, break a dish. Say the wrong thing. Bite down too hard. 

He’s learning how to be gentle. He’s trying, like, really trying. Randy doesn’t make it easy, that’s for damn sure. The way he whimpers when Benson’s hands are on him isn’t fucking fair. The way he bares his throat and gasps and begs. And then he shows Benson the marks afterwards like he’s proud of them, like Benson wasn’t there when he got them. 

“You did a number on me,” he said last night with this sheepish grin, almost giddy, leaning over the sink to look at himself in the mirror. Prodding at the bite mark on his shoulder, the hickies on his neck. Never mind all the shit he couldn’t see from that angle, but Benson saw it. The shape of his body all over Randy’s in bruises. 

Made him feel kinda good and kinda bad, sort of guilty, but then Randy looked over at him with those eyes, hair all mussed, bottom lip cherry red and swollen, and said with unmistakable adoration, “You’re an animal, Bence.” 

Un-fucking-fair. 

But he’s trying, he is. Trying to ease up on the reins. Trying to be soft, because Randy needs soft no matter what he asks Benson for in the dark. He can’t fuck this up. Can’t fuck him up; at least, not any more than he already has. On the list of things he’s ever wanted to fuck up in the world, Randy is at the bottom. 

And it’s good too, the lovey-dovey bullshit. It’s good. It’s great. The way Randy falls asleep on his shoulder halfway through the movie, any movie, no matter how good it is or how loud it’s turned up or how much Benson promised him he was gonna like it. The way he bumps his knuckles against Benson’s when they’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder, just because. Just to touch him. He’ll catch him smiling at him for no reason, all the time, just glance over and there he is looking like they’re on their way to Disney World. No one's ever smiled at him like that. He’s not even doing anything to earn it, he’s just living his fucking life. The fact of his existence is apparently an ongoing novelty to Randy. 

Crazy fucking kid. 

Benson feels like he’s body-swapped with someone on better terms with luck and the skin doesn’t fit quite right but fuck, he’s figuring out how to make it work. He doesn’t get handed things like this. Good things with no strings attached. He’s always kind of on edge, always waiting for someone to break down the door and haul him away. For someone to pause the laugh track and punch through the set. For Randy to suffer a moment of clarity and tell him to go fuck himself. 

He’s never had this kind of good, never expected it. Never really thought he deserved it. And Randy sure doesn't deserve this kind of bizarre sideways bullshit that makes up the best that Benson can offer. He deserves better from him. From everyone. From life. Benson keeps trying to tell him that. 

Too bad he can't quite convince him. Too bad Benson’s selfish and couldn't let go of him if he tried. Wouldn't even try. Wouldn't turn out well. 

He runs his thumb across the angle of Randy's cheekbone, feather-light. He wants to let him sleep and he wants him to wake up and he doesn’t know which he wants more. He draws lines across his cheek, from the corner of his mouth, along the edge of his jaw, carefully, carefully, so gentle his hand shakes. He’s probably never been hit in the face. Probably never had a black eye, broken nose. Shy, scared, beautiful thing. 

There’s been a violence in Benson for as long as he can remember. Bone-deep. And it’s a magnet, pulls other violence right to him like wasps to fresh meat. Sometimes he loves it, sometimes he hates it. He always falls back on it, no matter how hard he tries to leave it behind or wrap it up so tight it can’t get out. He fails again and again. But it doesn’t scare Randy anymore. In fact, it’s like Randy gives it justification. Permission. Validates it. Like maybe it’s hung around this whole time just so Benson could learn how to use it, for his sake. To protect him. At least until he figures out how to protect himself. 

And Randy’s learning, he is. Stands up taller, takes up space. Orders his own food at restaurants. But Benson kind of likes playing guard dog. Likes being needed in that way, and others. Likes being needed by Randy in particular. 

Benson’s already killed for him, so it’s like he’s always trying to find a way to top that. That should be hard, right, but Randy makes it easy. Gets excited over nothing, little shit like finding both their names on some dumb souvenir keychains. Or when he brings him a bag of plain fucking potato chips, his favorite. Or when Benson covers his eyes before the money shot in some gore flick because he’s a pussy and also it dredges up some shit for him that neither of them wants to think about. The way he lights up about that stuff, stupid little stuff, makes Benson feel worthwhile in a way he can’t describe. 

For all he goes on about helping Randy become the best version of himself, the version of himself who’s confident and decisive and knows who Trent Reznor is, sometimes Benson gets the feeling like maybe, Randy’s the one making him better. Not changing him, not really, just…making him kind of okay. Making it all kind of okay. There are so many things Benson’s taken for granted, never thought twice about. About himself, about his life, about where both of those things would end up and how they’d get there. Randy makes him reconsider. Makes it worth reconsidering. 

It feels wrong to stop him. Might as well let him try. What’s it gonna hurt?

Sometimes he wants to laugh in disbelief at it all. Who the fuck is he these days? Going soft right and left and glad for it. He feels like he’s on another planet. Hundreds of miles from home, no phone, no way back. Shooting towards the sun with everything he needs inside his shitty little rocket ship of a car. 

Randy’s a spaceman for sure, no question. Ever since they turned west and hit the desert, he hangs out the window when they drive at night through all that nothing, head craned back to look at the sky. 

“The fuck you think you’re doing?” Benson asked him the first time, when he rolled down the window and started climbing out like a fucking lunatic. 

“Looking at the stars,” Randy said. “There’s so many, Benson…you should look.” 

“No thanks, I'm driving.” 

“I mean…you could stop first.”

“I’ve seen stars, Randy.” 

Randy was halfway out the window so his reply was almost lost to the wind. “Not like this.” 

Benson reached over and grabbed him by the pocket of his jeans. “If you fall out I’m leaving your ass behind.” 

He let Benson pull him back inside then, and stared right at him in this new way of his. This new, brave Randy who had finally shaken some of that paralyzing fear of confrontation and figured out how to be direct. “No you wouldn’t.” 

Benson had looked at him for as long as he could without drifting into the other lane, and then looked at him a little bit longer and had to course correct. “You’re right, I wouldn’t.” 

He’s right. He wouldn’t. 

Benson lets the memory slide away and finds Randy gazing up at him here and now, eyes crusted with sleep. He feels a twinge in his chest like a guitar string being plucked. The whole room is golden now. 

“Morning, sunshine,” he says, and even he can hear the velvet in his voice. Feels self-conscious about it for a second until he gets distracted by Randy wrinkling his nose to stave off a yawn. 

“Morning,” he murmurs, peels his cheek off Benson's chest and leaves a pink circle behind that matches the one on his face. He rubs at his eyes and gives him that dumb Disney World smile. “Sleep well?”  

“Slept great.” Benson swipes away a stray eye booger from the inside corner of Randy’s left eye. “Nice to have one single solitary night where I don't have to fight you to the death.”

Randy bites the inside of his cheek, looks bashful. Benson fucking loves it. “Well, I mean…you wore me out pretty good last night.”

Benson smirks, takes hold of the back of Randy’s neck and pulls him back into his shoulder. “Yeah I did. I oughta do that more often.”

Randy worms his arm beneath the covers and around Benson’s waist and it gives him honest-to-god butterflies. He runs his fingers through Randy’s hair. It's getting fucking long, almost falls past his ears. He keeps asking him to cut it and Benson keeps refusing. It's got this little flip at the ends that he thinks is cute. He bets it’ll grow out into gorgeous fucking waves when it hits his shoulders. 

He takes a fistful and squeezes, does that a couple times before he tugs his head up so they’re nose-to-nose. Randy’s eyelids slide half-closed and his lips part on reflex. 

“What you wanna do today?” Benson murmurs. He can feel Randy’s breath on his chin, licks his lips. 

“...just this,” Randy says, almost a whisper. 

“That’s it?”  

“Yeah.”  

“You’re not bored of this?”  

“No.”  

Benson almost smiles. “Me neither.”

He pushes Randy's head back down into the curve of his neck, rides the swell of satisfaction he gets from his frustrated groan. “Don’t worry, babe, we got all day. How about you, how’d you sleep?”  

“Good.”  His thumb moves back and forth along Benson’s hip and it’s electric, feels like he’s got lightning bolts shooting around under his skin, makes his muscles twitch. He’s still not used to that. Gentle shit like that. “Had a dream about you.”

“No shit?”  He’s not sure anyone’s ever dreamt about him before. He’s kinda flattered. “Was it hot?”  

Randy snorts. “No, it wasn’t…like that. We, uh…we were at the beach.”  

Benson screws up his eyebrows, looks down at Randy. He can’t see his face from this angle. “The beach?”  

“Yeah. We were just, like…there. Just messing around. I mean, there were other people there, but they didn’t…matter.”  

Benson doesn’t know what to make of this. “Huh. That’s it?  Just…beach day?”  

“Yeah. Well, I mean, until the end. A shark showed up and you…punched it so hard that it died.”  

Benson does a genuine double-take. “I punched a shark. And it died?”  

Now Randy twists, looks up at him, smiling. “Yeah. It was awesome.”  

It sounds kind of awesome. Benson pokes him in the ribs. “You’re a fucking dork.”  

“I’m just telling you what happened!”  

“Look, Randy, I’ve never been to the beach, but I’ve seen Jaws about one thousand times and I know for a fact a shark would swallow my ass whole. And it would eat you and not even know that it happened. I’m not saying I’m scared, I’m just saying, don’t count on me to save you from a fucking sea monster.”  

Randy doesn’t laugh and Benson looks at him and he’s making that face, that little frown and the line on his forehead that means that Benson just said something puzzling. Here we go. He tenses up without meaning to, braces for it. Grits his teeth, pops his knuckles. 

“You’ve…really never been to the beach?”  

Fuck, he hates this feeling. Like loss except you never had the thing in the first place. Like realizing maybe you’re supposed to be mourning something but you don’t really know what that something is or why it’s so important. He knows his upbringing wasn’t shit compared to Randy’s, compared to most kids’. He just wishes he could grow out of giving a shit about it. 

So he gets defensive. He always gets defensive. “No, I’ve never been to the fucking beach. What’s so super-duper special about a bunch of sand?  And water that’s mostly fish piss?”  

Randy props himself up on his elbow, leans lightly on Benson’s chest, completely unfazed by his attitude. “Well…let’s go. You can decide for yourself.”  

“To the beach?” Benson says incredulously. “Randy, we’re in fucking New Mexico.”  

“Not–not today.”  Randy waves his hand dismissively. “We can leave tomorrow. Make a beeline for California.”  

And that’s that. The magical realism of the newly reformed Randy Fucking Bradley. No pity. No shame. Just the simplest solution in the whole damn universe. 

“California.”  Benson pictures the Beach Boys and hippies on rollerskates, rolls his eyes. “Sounds dreamy.”  

“It’ll be worth it, Benson, I promise.”  Randy looks at him with those puppy-dog eyes, chews his lip, slides his arm around Benson’s waist. He knows what the fuck he’s doing, the little shit; he’s too smart for his own good. “We don’t have to stay. We can leave as soon as we get there. I just…I think you would like it.” He leans a little heavier against Benson’s ribs, nudges his foot with his toes. “Please?”  

Benson huffs. He’s not a fucking pushover, swear to God he’s not, but it’s like he can’t help but fold these days. He’s gonna spoil the guy rotten if he’s not careful. He has to at least pretend to put up a fight, just to say he tried. “What if I say no?”  

His brow furrows. The puppy-dog eyes flick down to his mouth and back. “Well...maybe I could convince you.”  

One of Benson’s eyebrows pops up. He likes the sound of that. “I’m listening.”  

Randy sits up unsteadily on the marshmallow mattress and straddles Benson’s hips, tucking his hands beneath the pillow on either side of his head. Benson looks up at him, the angles of his face kissed by the sun, and feels a pleasant sort of ache in his chest. It's almost the same feeling as when he finally gave in and pulled over and let Randy sit on the hood, leaned back next to him and looked up at the stars and felt big and small at the same time. 

“It’s amazing, Bence…you can't even imagine.”  His thighs press against Benson's waist, wrists press against his shoulders. 

“Yeah?” Benson licks his lips. His eyes can’t move fast enough, trying to take in every piece of his face, of his body, his name written all over all of it in red and purple. “Tell me about it.”  

Randy's hair is hanging over his face like a messy kind of halo. He peers through it with this earnest intensity, this lion cub ferocity that might be the hottest thing Benson's ever seen. He shifts his weight to one hand and strokes the sensitive spot behind Benson’s ear with his thumb, sends chills spidering across his skin. 

“The smell of the water and–and the sound. You never forget it. And it makes you feel…it’s massive. It’s amazing.” 

“You know what else is massive?”  

Randy stifles a chuckle, looks away, color rising in his cheeks. Benson grins. “Listen to me, Benson.”

“I'm listening!”

“It makes you feel…it makes you feel small, I guess. But not in a bad way. We could just walk around or maybe…swim a little bit?”

Benson pictures Randy with wet hair, dark and wavy, water rolling down his neck. Salt water, salty skin. “Could be nice.”

“We can do whatever you want.”  He curls his toes against Benson’s thighs. “We could get ice cream and sit in the sun.”

The image of melted sticky sugar dripping over Randy’s hand, down his arm, hits Benson like a truck. Knocks the wind right out of him. He thinks about licking it off, watching him suck it off his own fingers. He wraps his hands behind Randy's knees and grips harder than he means to. 

“That sounds, uh…that sounds good. I’m into that,” Benson says and he sounds like a moron in his own ears but it makes Randy smile so it's fine. He can feel the blood rushing away from his brain as fast as it can and he’s about ready to give in and end the discussion. Move on to other things. 

Randy gets that earnest, uncertain look in his eyes all the sudden and touches Benson's face, brushes his thumb across the lines at the corner of his eyes in this foreign kind of way that Benson’s brain registers passively as tenderness, and all the sudden he can't breathe right. His throat’s fucked up like he’s getting sick. He swallows hard. 

“I want to–I want to kiss you in the ocean,” Randy says quietly. “I think…I'd really like that.” 

So now this is the only thing Benson cares about. His number-one goal. A shining and glorious reason to be alive. He’s going to kiss Randy in the ocean if it’s the last thing he fucking does. 

“How about you kiss me right here, huh?”  He cups the back of Randy’s neck and pulls him in, hard, yanks him really, because he can’t fucking help it. Because he wants him right now, right fucking now. 

Randy resists, just a little, on reflex, and then gets overeager and his lips crash into Benson’s, but that’s okay. Randy kisses like he’s starved for it, always, no matter how long they’ve been at it. Even now, first thing in the fucking morning, he opens his mouth expectantly and moans when Benson slips his tongue past his teeth, one hand twisting the sheets, the other gripping his shoulder. He’s greedy, wants more, always more, is done depriving himself after fourteen years of solitude. 

They’re a perfect match because Benson wants to give it to him. Anything he wants, everything, always, no matter where they are or how much skin is showing. He wants to share his space, his spit, his air, his anger, every inch of the car, every inch of the sky. All the bad nights. All the good ones, too. All the golden mornings that come after. 

Benson laps at Randy’s bottom lip, catches it in his teeth and pulls. He digs his fingers into the half-healed shadow of his own hand on Randy’s waist from all the times before, opens his mouth to catch the gasp that wrenches free from his chest and swallows it whole. 

“Benson,” Randy says, breathes his name like an exclamation of wonder. He presses the length of his body against Benson’s, weaves his fingers through the curls at the back of his neck and squeezes tight. He moves his hips in short, subconscious little thrusts, makes a desperate, hungry noise in the back of his throat. Benson can feel him hard against his stomach and fuck, he better pop a handful of painkillers for his back because they’re not leaving this shitty bed anytime soon. 

Randy leans to the side so there’s a little breathing room between them. He runs his hand over Benson's chest, down his stomach, wraps his fingers around his dick and the sound Benson makes is strangled, animal. 

“We can go, right?” Randy says. He strokes him like he can barely contain himself. “We can leave tomorrow?”

Benson arches his aching spine against the bullshit fucking mattress, digs his nails into Randy's back, feels lucky. Feels like a spaceman. 

“Fuck yes. Fuck–yes–you got it, baby.”

Randy lights up and it's like staring into the sun. Transcendent. Fucking beautiful. 

He twists out of Benson's grasp and ducks beneath the sheets and Benson can't fucking stand it. Can’t believe it’s real. He feels weightless, so light he just might end up way out there with all the stars. Nothing comes close to this, never has, never will. It’s not fair. He probably doesn’t deserve it. But no one ever said life was fair, now, did they?  Sooner or later the odds had to end up in your favor.

He closes his eyes and grips the sheets and lets it be, lets it all be for once. Because for once, it's good. He's good. He's great. And they’re leaving tomorrow. For California.

Sounds dreamy. 

tagging a couple friends who have gassed me up and been so patient sdlkfjlsk i just adore you guys <3

@crumb @ace-of-hearts-and-spades @cherubgore

#the passenger #the passenger 2023 #the passenger fanfiction #the passenger 2023 fanfiction #stockroom syndrome #randy x benson #ranson

[myfictionaldreams]

Day 17: Hate Sex - Sirius Black x Slytherin!Reader

Summary: You were in Slytherin, it was in your blood to hate Sirius Orion Black, so why can’t you stop thinking about his stupid, handsome face?

Tags: 18+ readers only, smut, hate sex, arguing, mocking, teasing, sexual tension, enemies with benefits, alcohol, size difference, praise kink, choking, dom/sub, slight degrading, rough sex, edging,

masterlist 📚 

kinktober masterlist😈 

AO3 Link 

“Fuck my life; why the hell is he in here?” you exclaim as Sirius Black saunters into the library with all the swagger and arrogance of someone ready to cause a riot.

“Here we go”, another student mutters under their breath from across the room. You weren’t sure who, but you glared in the general direction of whoever had said it.

It was infamous that you absolutely loathed Sirius, and he, in return, hated you with just as much passion. You were natural enemies; he was in prideful Gryffindor, and you a cunning Slytherin, but the hatred delved deeper than just this. You thought he was a pompous, arrogant prick who bullied Slytherins - mostly you - and seemed to always get away with it every single time. He had directed his pranks towards you more times than you’d care to count. You were constantly on high alert, paranoid that another attack was coming from the Gryffindors. Seeing any shade of red filled your heart with dread every single day.

Today, you were having a relatively good morning, mostly spent revising in the library with a towering pile of books beside you. It was a warm summer’s day, so most students were outside, which was always your favourite time to study, not having to fight with the others for specific books or for an area of the library to work.

Another reason you preferred to stay in the castle was that the Marauders were likelier to be out, causing havoc where the crowds were formed. You cursed loudly at seeing them in the library, instantly ruining your calm day.

“Well, well, look what dirt turned up in the library. I’m surprised you even know how to read, Sunshine”, Sirius taunts as he immediately struts over to your table, picking up one of the books in your pile and idly flicking through it whilst leaning his weight against the table.

You sigh heavily through your nose at the nickname, loathing it more than any other pet name that he decided to call you, mainly as it originated from a prank in your first year where he’d stained your hair bright luminous yellow and thus, Sunshine was his favourite taunt. “Please fuck off, I’m only going to warn you the once Black, and give me the book back!”

“Why would I leave? These books all seem highly intelligent for your silly little mind. Maybe I should help read to you, see here, this is what they call the ‘title’, it means what the book is called-”

“Sirius, I swear to Merlin, if you don’t shut the fuck up-”

“What’s going on here?” the librarian rushes over, interrupting your seething threat with her stern face, glancing between you and Sirius, who was grinning, ready to woo the teacher.

“Oh, nothing at all, Professor. I was just asking if I could borrow this book when she started to shout at me”, Sirius explained with surprisingly good acting skills that had your eyes widening and mouth gaping open with anger.

Before you could even begin to justify Sirius’ lies, the librarian turned to you, her lips pursed and eyes sharp. “Please leave the library. I won’t have you causing a commotion like this”.

She leaves before you can stand up for yourself, your cheeks flooding with heat as your blood boils with anger. Especially as your enemy begins to laugh tauntingly, head tipping back as he obnoxiously laughs, throwing the book back onto your pile.

“Thank god for that; I might be able to concentrate without a slithering snake like you here”.

You stand abruptly, wand in your shaking hand as you rage angrily, “I fucking hate you!”

He steps closer, invading your personal space as he smirks down at you, “The feeling is mutual, Sunshine. Now, do you want me to help you pack up your crap, or can you manage that all by yourself?”

Before you can answer, you’re both interrupted by a calm voice, “Sirius, leave her alone, will you?” Remus tried to convince his friend to step away. With Sirius distracted, you start roughly shoving your items into your school bag before turning back to them both, especially Sirius.

“I hope you choke”. With one last glare, you purposefully bashed your shoulder into Sirius, knocking his balance slightly as you stormed off.

However, as you passed a couple of Hufflepuffs, you overheard one whispering to another, “They probably just need to fuck, and they’d get over this stupid tension”.

“What the fuck did you just say?!” you demand, stopping in front of them, looking between them as their heads dropped to hide their faces. “That’s disgusting. How dare you even say something like that-” you begin to chastise, your wand returning to your hand as a reflex to defend yourself.

“Excuse me!” the Librarian returns to your side, which only makes you more frustrated as you’re stopped from doing what you really want.

“I’M LEAVING!” you scream, gathering the attention of everyone; you promptly scowl at them all, specifically Sirius, who you expected to see grinning at you getting into trouble, but instead, he was only a step behind you with an odd, wondering expression on his face.

You don’t stay to ponder what he was looking at as you grip your bag closer to your body and storm off. How could someone even think something so disgusting!? You and Sirius fucking?! Absolutely not. You’d rather walk around Hogwarts naked than go anywhere near Sirius fucking Black.

A few hours later, you’d found your friend lounging beside the lake, where you promptly joined her with a huff. “Oh no, what did Sirius do now?” she says, knowing your sour mood could only be caused by one person.

You explain with increasing agitation, “And then, you’ll never guess what some Hufflepuffs said! They said that me and Sirius Black,” You shiver for emphasis, “Need to shag, and we’d stop arguing! I mean, can you believe it? That’s disgusting; I can’t think of anything worse!” You’d expected your friend to look disgusted, just like how you felt, but instead, she raised one eyebrow with an unphased expression. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well, I mean… He’s not that bad to look at, and from what I’ve heard, he’s very much a people-pleaser in the bedroom. Anyway, you know what they say,  if you’re being teased by someone it’s most likely because they have a crush on them and I must say… You’re both always teasing each other”.

Even though your friend grins and mocks you, you still find it offensive that she would even say such a thing. “Are you kissing me? Sirius Black is a self-centred, arrogant asshole who only thinks about himself. There is no way I would ever go anywhere near him!”

“Yeah, but you can’t deny that he’s handsome. Even though he’s a Gryffindor, he's from the Black lineage, with his long hair, dreamy eyes, and stunning smile. There’s also the fact that he plays quidditch, so I bet those thighs of his are scrummy”.

Shaking your head at her words, you sigh, “That doesn't matter, he’s still-”

“So you admit it?” She cuts you off with a knowing smile.

“Admit what?” you question innocently.

“That you think he’s handsome”, she states confidently with a shit-eating grin.

“I’m not saying that, I mean- Uh… I don’t know!” You throw your hands into the air, exacerbated, “I guess he’s handsome, but that doesn’t change what an asshole he is”.

Your friend shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe this answers all the tension. The two of you need to fuck, and maybe all the arguments will stop”.

“If you ever say that again, I promise I’ll curse you. Right, I’m changing the subject. I don’t want to think about him anymore. Are you still going to the party later in the Ravenclaw's common room?”

“Definitely! I can’t wait. Are you going?”

“Yes! I need a drink after today”.

As the moon came out to play, so did all of the older students throughout Hogwarts, as it seemed everyone was going to the party. Staring at yourself in the mirror, you sighed in frustration as you couldn’t style your hair correctly, too distracted thinking about that good-for-nothing, long-haired, handsome idiot.

There was that word again. Handsome. ‘Was he handsome?’ you thought to yourself. Of course, he was, with his grey sparkling eyes, he was one of the tallest in the year, lean from all of his quidditch playing, and his hair was always clean and effortlessly styled, and his clothes were always smart and expensive looking, the only part of him that you could tell was from his pure-blood status.

You hated that you couldn’t stop thinking about him. Undoubtedly, you hated him, but would it be the worst to shag him? You shivered at the thought, internally demanding that the idea needed to leave your mind immediately, ignoring the pulsing between your legs as an image flashed into your head of his face between your legs.

You shouted in frustration, giving up with your hair and deciding that it would have to do. At least your dress was beautiful, a Slytherin-green floor-length gown with silky smooth material accentuating your body and a long slit up the right side revealing your thigh. It was lavish and probably over the top for a common room party, but it was so rare that you could dress up, so you seized the opportunity. You’d applied a generous amount of make-up and silver high heels to match the dress, adding a couple of inches to your height.

The problematic part was sneaking up to the Ravenclaw common room, but thankfully, there was a system of students on the watch to lead the way there. Once inside, you poured yourself a drink of whatever was in the cauldron and found a couple of your friends already there.

Ten glorious minutes of happiness passed before it all came crashing down around you as James Potter shouted, “The party has arrived!” Not only him but the other Gryffindors had entered, making you roll your eyes and drink a hefty glug of the alcohol in your cup, savouring the burn as it rushed down your throat.

You couldn’t see him immediately, and you hate that you searched the crowd looking for him; you pretended that it was because you wanted to be prepared if he walked over to you and no other reasons whatsoever. There he was, standing with his back to you as he poured his drink with Remus.

‘Fuck’, you cursed to yourself, quickly looking away as your cheeks warmed. Why did he have to look so good? It seemed his surname was his favourite colour today as he wore all-black, well-worn combat boots paired with baggy black jeans and a tight t-shirt that seemed to stretch over the well-toned muscles of his arms and shoulders. It wasn’t just this that had your thighs clenching together to try and relieve some building tension. Still, for once, he’d decided to tie his hair up in a loose bun, some strays of hair already loosening, but for some reason, that only made him more attractive, and did he always have an earring?

You finished the rest of your drink as you realised just how much attention you gave Sirius. You need to get him out of your head, so dancing with your friends would be the best distraction for now, but you fully anticipated that he would come over and ruin your night sometime soon.

However, Sirius stayed on the other side of the party, which even your friends commented was odd, considering he always loved making your life miserable. You continued to shrug it off, saying you were having a great time because of it; however, your eyes wandered over to him occasionally, and it seemed he always had the same idea as you would catch each other's eye and then quickly look away embarrassed.

The night continued, the music increasing in volume, and now that you weren’t worried about Sirius interrupting, you slowed down with the alcohol, not wanting a hangover in the morning.

“SOMEONE SNITCHED TO FILCH, HE’S GETTING THE PROFESSORS! EVERYONE RUN!” A second later, the entire party was shoving and pushing each other to get out of the door, running in different directions.

Some teachers were already in the corridors, catching students, giving them detentions and taking away house points. You followed a small crowd, struggling to keep up with your heels, which you now severely regretted; however, it was a small blessing when Professor McGonagall caught the group at the end of the corridor, so you quickly turned down a deserted corridor, breathing heavily and beginning to sweat from the exercise and fear.

Just as you turned down a corridor dimly lit by fires on the wall, someone from behind grabbed your arm, forcefully pulling you in another direction. Before you can comprehend what is happening, you’re engulfed in darkness, and a broad hand is shoved over your mouth as you’re pushed against the door to the store cupboard you were just pulled into.

“Shhh, someone was behind us, " Sirius whispered from the darkness; even though you couldn’t see him, you knew his face was in front of yours because you could feel the warmth of his breath on your face.

Your instinct was to try and shove him off, but then there were echoing footsteps in the corridor outside. You both freeze, not even daring to breathe in case you’re caught. Both of you listened intently until there was only silence on the other side of the door as you slammed your elbow into his stomach.

His hand drops from your mouth, allowing you to whisper, “Get the fuck off me, don’t ever touch me again”.

Now that you had a moment to calm down, as he moved back into a space, you could see a slither of him from the gap around the door that allowed the light to seep in. Sirius chuckles lowly, rubbing his stomach from where you’d elbowed him. The deep laugh seemed to affect you straight between the legs as, for some reason, you found the noise mildly erotic.

“Why? You never know; you might like it when I touch you”, Sirius taunted, his voice soft and yet husky at the same time.

Your entire body seemed to buzz with anticipation and excitement at his words because there was no way Sirius Black had just flirted with you in some capacity.

“Shut up”, you say bashfully, folding your arms over your middle.

In the crack of light seeping in, Sirius' head tilted to the side, “What, no comeback, oh my witty little snake, have you lost your tongue?”

It seemed you had no air left in your body at his words, but you forced yourself to move away from the door, turning with the intention of leaving. However, he hears something you don’t as he’s pushing you flush against the door; even with your heels, he’s towering over you.

Before you could question what he was doing, he rested his index finger across your lips and whispered into your ear, “There’s someone outside the door”.

You can’t hear that, though, as there’s only the pounding of your heart rattling in your ears with how close he is to you. He was inhumanly warm, and this close, you could smell his addicting aftershave that reminded you of citrus and oak, but lingering in the background was vanilla from his shampoo as a couple of strands of his hair fell into your face. In this position, you couldn’t see him; even as your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you had to rely on your other senses. 

You swallow audibly, causing your lips to press harder against his finger until the cool metal of his ring is indented into your chin. His breath is just as warm as his chest against yours, and this close, you could smell that he’d been drinking fire whiskey.

The pressure on your lips lightens as whoever is inspecting the corridor disappears again. Sirius doesn’t remove himself, though; instead, he allows his finger to do its exploration in the darkness, skimming across your cheek, over the shell of your ear, which causes you to shiver and your nipples to harden beneath the dress however the fabric was so thin that Sirius could feel them against his chest.

His finger continues to move down your jaw until it is at the point of your chin, pushing it up so you're forced to tip your head back further against the door.

“Sirius”, you whisper in a pleading tone, and he moves, fast and brutal as his mouth connects with yours. The kiss was fiery, full of passion and need. The hand under your chin desperately moves into your hair to hold your head in place while the other grips your hip, pulling your body closer to his. Your hands were just as grabby as one reached for his shirt, feeling the hard muscle beneath, and another moved to his jaw, feeling the softness of his recently shaved face.

You both moved as one, tilting your heads to the side to deepen the kiss further, mouths opening to allow the exploration of your tongues, tasting and wanting more. You weren’t thinking clearly, and neither was he but damn with the consequences.

Sirius bit into your bottom lip gently, tugging it back until it was snapping back to normal, but he didn’t stop there as his mouth began to move down your throat as he moved your head back. Open mouth, hot kisses were pushed into your skin until your toes curled in your high-heeled shoes.

You needed more of him, all of him, feeling so pathetically desperate that sweet little whines kept spilling from your lips as he sucked just below your ear like he knew that was your special spot.

Reaching behind his head, you roughly pulled the hairband out of his hair so, at long last, you could run your fingers through his soft locks. Sirius seemed to enjoy the touch as his hips thrust into yours, and you could feel the evidence of his arousal, rock hard in his jeans. Your arousal was currently ruining your underwear, clit throbbing and pussy begging to be touched in some way.

This could be a sign to stop and reason that this was your enemy. It had been since day one at Hogwarts, and now you’re ready to rip each other's clothes off.

As Sirius’ mouth moved lower, teeth scraping over your collar bones, you decided to be brave and lift your right leg, wrapping it around his hip to hold him closer. Sirius instantly gripped your thigh, groaning to himself when he was met with bare skin as he’d forgotten this was the side with the slit in the material.

“This god-damns dress”, he praised against your skin, which made you laugh lightly at how desperate he sounded. The heat of his palm against your naked thigh only made you want to feel him closer as he kissed you again. Higher and higher, his hand creepy, gripping your thigh until he pushed the silky material further up your body until you could feel your underwear was on show. This only encouraged you to pull his hips closer with your heel until his jean-covered cock was pressing against your panty-covered cunt.

Sirius shuddered, his hands tightening on your thigh and in your hair, as his tongue devoured your mouth, capturing every little moan you released as his hips thrust forward. It was your turn to tremble as the roughness of his jeans was felt through your thin underwear, nudging your clit and causing more moisture to gather in your underwear.

Everywhere felt like it was burning: your skin, core, and head. Everywhere that Sirius touched left a scolding mark as you couldn’t take it anymore, couldn’t fathom waiting a moment longer.

Pulling your face away from his, with a harsh pull on his hair to snap his head back, you roughly demanded, “Just fuck me already, Sirius”.

He grinned in the darkness as he rutted his hips harder against yours, knowing what you truly wanted. Sirius’ mouth returned to your through as he darkly said, “Say please”.

It was an effort not to roll your eyes, but you did huff as you, in turn, pressed your pussy against his crotch. “I’m not saying-”

Any sassy remark you were thinking of saying was cut off by the giant hand now wrapped around your throat, not hard enough that you couldn’t breathe but enough to draw your attention as his mouth hovered over yours. You could feel from the shape of his lips that he was smirking as he repeated with more emphasis and slowing of the words, “Say. Please”.

Your mouth dried of any saliva at the tone of his voice, instantly falling into submission as you quietly asked, “Please fuck me, Sirius”.

“Good girl”, he praises against your lips, making your knees buckle slightly, having never been praised like this before.

A hand wrapped around your ankle as he moved it back to the floor, and suddenly, you were holding onto the door as his body dropped to his knees, and you didn’t realise until now just how much you were relying on his body to keep you upright.

Sirius’ hands were underneath your dress, grasping the edges of your underwear and sliding them down your thighs. As you stepped out of them, he moved your dress back again, your bare pussy on display to him, and even though it was too dark for him to see, you could still feel the warmth of the flush on your face.

“We haven’t got time for that, just fuck me already”, you snapped at him. Of course, you would love for your earlier thought of his face between your legs to be a reality, but right now, you needed his cock inside you before you combusted on the spot.

Thankfully, Sirius didn’t argue or get you to beg for his cock any more as he stood back up, towering over you again as the rustle of his belt being undone was like music to your ears. “Always so fucking demanding”, he scolded light-heartedly under his breath.

Reaching for his waist in the darkness, you were planning on helping him undo his jeans to free his cock, and you wanted to feel what you were dealing with. Like every other time you’d known him, Sirius had other plans.

Your hands were pushed away as he grabbed your hips instead, but only so that he could turn you around. Your face was unglamourlessly shoved against the wooden door as Sirius rushed to gather the material of your dress until it was bunched around your waist. Clinging onto what he had planned, you pushed your arse out from him and were greeted with the pleasant sensation of something hot and hard against your cheeks.

“Spit”, Sirius demanded into your ear as he pressed his fingers into your chin. It felt filthy and slightly degrading to spit into his hand, but as you could hear him wiping the slickness onto his cock, you didn’t care anymore. In fact, it only added more eroticism to your thoughts.

Neither of you said a word as he adjusted the height of his hips, pressing into your arse cheeks to spread them slightly as suddenly something knocked against your hole. Sirius helped to guide his cock as he slid it into your pussy, your walls burning from the stretch of the sheer size of him. 

“Fuck! You could have warned me you’re so big!” you chastised him. Inch after inch opened you up wider until his hips were flush with yours, and his hand rested back in your hair, pulling your head back against his shoulder.

“Sorry, Sunshine”, he chuckled, kissing your cheek with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. You couldn’t help but hear that stupid nickname in his sultry deep voice, and with his entire dick pressed into your cunt, you couldn’t help but squeeze him tighter. Sirius ground his hips in harder, smiling against your face, “I fucking knew you liked it when I called you that”.

You wanted to retort back to him, hating when he had the upper hand, but as he began to withdraw his cock, any coherent thought disappeared from your mind entirely. As he pushed back in, you couldn’t help but rise to your tiptoes, following the lead of his body fucking into you.

Sirius made sure you were accustomed to his size before beginning to properly fuck you. All the tension, the bullying back and forth, the teasing and times of losing your mind at the idiot that was Sirius Black had all been worth it as he fucked you unlike anyone before. He was toweringly tall when you were face to face, but when his chest brushed over your back, you felt much smaller as he seemed to crowd around you everywhere.

He breathed heavily into your ear, occasionally biting your lobe or sloppily kissing the junction between your shoulder and neck. However, it was the pounding of his cock that had you completely and utterly at his mercy. His strokes were deep and long, his entire length disappearing into your sopping-wet hole. It felt so unbelievably good that you didn’t even care that you were near enough to scream out your moans for anyone in the corridor to hear.

Your hand reached behind your head to find him, your fingers slipping into his hair again to hold them. Harder and harder, he pushed the two of you into the door; it was a surprise that the barricade didn’t break with the force he was putting into fucking you.

Then you felt the deep coiling in your core, like everything inside of you was tightening, all pleasure amplifying as your orgasm teetered on the very edge. It seemed Sirius could feel this too, with how tightly your spongey walls were suffocating him as he grunted louder into your neck.

“Wait, don’t cum yet; I’m so close, don’t cum”, you begged, not entirely wanting it to end just yet. Sirius gasped, his mouth opening wide as his eyes did the opposite as they clenched shut as he concentrated on fucking you and not orgasming.

It doesn’t take long to feel the first flutterings of that eye-wateringly beautiful sensation between your legs as you quickly stammer, “I’m cumming! Fuck- You can cum, please cum with me”. Sirius’ legs nearly gave out underneath him, hearing your sweet words.

As your pussy contracted in wet bursts around him, Sirius released every drop of cum inside of his body, deep into your walls so that you could feel yourself becoming full and it beginning to drip out as it became too much. His thrusts slowed to a stop as you both slumped against the door, catching your breath for a moment, the tiny store cupboard now becoming suffocating.

The after-orgasm guilt hit you like a tonne. What had you done? You’d just fucked your worst enemy, and his cock was still inside you.

You couldn’t help yourself; you needed to ruin the moment, need to get free and cry into your pillow over what an idiot you are, so with hate and distaste, you turned your head further over your shoulder. “This changes nothing between us”.

Sirius took a moment to process the words before his mouth was hovering over your ear, his breath tickling your skin, “Not at all, Sunshine, I still hate you”.

Good, you think. That’s what you’d hoped because you still hated him too… right?

With a grunt, you elbow his stomach again but with less force, just needing him to back away from you. Thankfully he did without any arguments, his softening cock slipping out of you and globs of his cum following this.

With trembling knees, you shoved your dress back down. Reaching around in the darkness, you found the door handle and turned, neither of you saying another word as you walked out of the door, hair a mess, make-up running down your cheeks, dress creased, lips swollen and cum still dripping down your thighs.

You walk with as much confidence as possible, keeping your head high as you try not to turn around and see if he is watching you walk away. It was only as you turned the corner that you realised you’d left your underwear in there with him; cursing to yourself, you turned back, not wanting another student or someone to find them. You weren’t sure if you were happy or sad when you returned to the cupboard to find Sirius gone, but not only that, but your underwear was too.

#sirius black #sirius black x reader #sirius black x slytherin reader #sirius black smut #sirius black one shot #harry potter smut #harry potter one shot #mine* #kinktober #kinktober 2023 #THIS GIF HAS ME IN A CHOKEHOLD

[sebscore]

i live your writing! request for your gen z driver series! reader and the other drivers react to/make fun of rumours about her dating various drivers. thank you!

RUMOUR HAS IT

pairings: f1 grid x driver!reader 

warnings: mentions of cheating (but not actual cheating). swearing. catch the friends reference. 

author's note: I immediately imagined the setting for this, it took me a while to get to it, but I hope this is how you imagined it as well! hope you enjoy it, darling! 

masterlist

• • • • • • •

Some of the young drivers were chilling in their own little corner before the driver's briefing started, catching up with each other after the summer break. 

The conversation was interrupted when Lando walked into the room. ''Oh, there he is! My wonderful husband. The apple of my eye. My honey pie.'' Y/N greeted him, the sarcastic tone accompanied with a fake smile. 

''Honey, you're here already! Did you take the kids to school?'' Lando went along with her small skit, taking the seat next to her. ''What do you mean? I thought you were bringing them? We've abandoned our kids, Lando.'' She continued, dramatically waving her hands around. 

The group watched in amusement, except George who seemed totally confused looking at the two younger drivers. ''What are you guys doing? I can't follow.'' 

''According to some news site, they've been secretly married for like three years and have kids.'' Alex explained to his friend. ''It's the funniest thing.'' 

''You have to read it, George.'' Charles chimed in. 

Pierre handed his phone to the Mercedes driver. ''Here it is,'' the Frenchman grinned, ''enjoy.'' 

George skimmed over the words of the article, already chuckling at the first words. ''A mutual friend of both drivers spilled the beans on their impromptu Vegas wedding and the family they started afterwards.'' He read out loud, bursting out in laughter. ''Who's this friend?'' 

''It's obviously Mr. Gossip Girl over here.'' Y/N pointed at Pierre who jokingly dropped his jaw and placed his hand on his heart. ''How dare you?'' He gasped. 

''Don't act so surprised, you're literally a bigger gossip than I am.'' She retorted, having the entire group agree with her. 

The focus shifted to George as he let out a huge snort which he quickly covered with his hand. ''Oh my god…'' The Brit pointed at something on the small screen. 

''What is it?'' Mick asked, trying to see what he was pointing at. 

George composed himself before speaking. ''They just posted a new article claiming Charles and Y/N are dating, and live together in Monaco.'' He cited, attempting not to burst out in laughter again. 

Pierre grabbed his phone from George's hands, wanting to read it himself. ''Where are they getting this from?'' He scrolled through the report, chuckling as their source was another ''a mutual friend''. 

''You're cheating on me?'' Lando exclaimed, dramatically widening his eyes. ''What about the kids, Y/N? Why would you do this to them?'' 

''Lando, it's not what you think!'' She argued, impersonating the voice of those old movie stars in Hollywood films. 

Y/N could see the McLaren driver clenching his jaw, desperately trying not to break character. ''I see how it is- I'm taking the house and the kids.'' Lando held his hand in front of her face, essentially blocking her from his view. 

''And I'm taking your money, and me and Charles will be spending all of it.'' She bit back, pushing his hand away. 

Lando seemed ready to give a comedic comeback, but was interrupted by a curly-haired German. ''What's all the commotion here?'' Sebastian adjusted the headband on his head, his eyebrows furrowed.

''Y/N cheated on Lando with Charles and now they're getting a divorce- Lando is taking the kids, but Y/N is taking all his money.'' Mick answered his friend, matter-of-factly. 

Sebastian frowned, feeling like he missed a few chapters in the story. ''Oh, uh, good for you, Y/N.'' He walked away from the youngsters, joining Lewis and Valtteri on the other side of the room. 

''Thanks, Seb!'' Y/N amusedly thanked him, ''I can never do anything wrong in his eyes.'' She told the other guys, grinning from ear to ear. 

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#f1 fic #f1 fics #f1 x reader #formula 1 fic #f1 x oc #lando norris x oc #lando norris x reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc x reader #george russell x reader #pierre gasly x reader

[brodieland]

.˚ 𓈒 ࣪.𝝑𝝔 Two Starfish in a Reef ´ˎ˗

Percy Jackson x fem!reader Synopsis: Reader and Percy meet at Yancy, after getting close they find out something about Percy. Pre-beginning "The Lightning Thief" A/N: reader is not a half-blood. Word count: 2232

Best friends, partners in crime, soul sisters if you will. That's what you and Percy were, an inseparable pair.

The two of you met at Yancy Academy, a plush and expensive boarding school that rich and well off families pawn their kids off too so they don't have to pay constant attention to them. Which is why you were first sent there.

You weren't a troubled kid in the slightest, nor were you at all high maintenance. Though still being in the sixth grade, you needed a parental guide that your parents just wouldn't give. Your parents are famous and well-known lawyers in not just New York, but the country, meaning they travel a lot. With a career this successful, they never planned on kids, but that didn't stop you from coming along. They never acted toward you with any sort of hostility, but they were never loving. They'll sign you up for sports, but never come to a game. They'll say an artwork you made was impressive, but never hang it up on the fridge. You can win an award and sure they'll tell you good job, but never go bragging to their friends about it. If you had to define your relationship with your parents, the best way would probably be half-assed.

You thought there was a chance things would get better once you were surrounded by kids your own age, you sadly were wrong. Arriving at Yancy, you were always one to study hard and do well in classes. Having top marks in all classes kids are often mooching off your homework answers, but never offering to sit with you at lunch. You were fine it though, you were always quiet and conserved anyways. That was until one day your sitting in the cafeteria by yourself reading a textbook for class when this blonde boy in your English class comes up to you.

"Hey, um, your Y/N right?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, your.. um" This is kind of embarrassing.

"Its Percy, I'm in your English class" he chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his neck "Anyways, I'm in your English class and, well to be honest, dyslexia is kicking my butt and I'm failing. So, Mr. Nicoll said I should ask you to tutor me and help get my grade up to avoid summer school. So, please help me?" He held his hands together in a pleading motion, making you cracked a smile, causing him to smile along side you.

"Sure, no problem. Let's meet after school in the library, bring your homework and a list of what you need help in and I'll have you passing in no time." You said flashing a toothy smile, which he happily returned.

"Oh my gods your the best, thanks so much. Alright Y/N, I'll see you later." He said, still smiling as he waved you off as he walked away. For once, you were actually looking forward to studying.

After your last class you pack up your stuff and start your walk to the library. To your surprise, Percy was already standing there grabbing books from his bag with his back to the door.

"Wow, someone's eager to learn aren't they" you joke.

He jumped a little not realizing you were behind him "Oh hey Y/N, didn't see you there" he smiled "but what can I say, I'm ready to be turned into an A plus student."

"Alright then, let's get started"

You guys studied for about three hours, he got distracted kind of easy but you were always able to somewhat get him back on track. Aside from studying, you guys also maintained conversations and got to know each other better and learned you guys liked each others company.

"Alright well, curfews in about an hour so we should probably get going" You didn't really want to get away from him, but you knew it was time. Though his slight frown didn't go unnoticed from you, making you slightly happy at the idea he wanted to keep hanging out with you.

"Dang, your right" he blew out air from his mouth as he said this "We should do this again, you know, studying. Or even just hanging out normally, without the studying." He rambled out a little bit.

Oh my gods, he wanted to hang out again. This was awesome, have you just made your first real friend here at Yancy, and you couldn't be happier about it. "Thanks Percy, I'd love too." You were probably grinning like an idiot.

He had the same look on his face, just as idiotic as you. No one should be this happy in a library, but you guys were. And what you didn't know was he called his mom all happy and giddy to tell her about you.

After that day, the pair continued to hang out regularly, both over the moon of having found a best friend in each other. Even if you didn't end up bringing him up to a scholar, he was okay with a C average, as long as it meant being around you.

As months passed, he began to get more comfortable with you, opening up about things he's been seeing ever since he was a kid. You were skeptical at first, but both of you met this new friend Grover who introduced the pair of you to a card game where all the characters were the creatures Percy had been seeing. This helped feel a little more normal, but you knew he wasn't fully normal and something was different about him, but you didn't care. Everyone has a background, but you didn't care what Percy's background was. He wasn't a crazy kid, you could tell. He was a genuine person who never found the fun in lying to you, and you appreciated it.

Finally, it was time for you class trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we learned more about Greek mythology and background. You knew Percy and his mother were always very close, and that she taught him a little about Greek mythology as a kid. Being here made him think of his mom, making him zone out. You called his name out twice to snap him back to reality, yelling a little bit on the third time causing him to break the lead on his pencil, jump and yell out

"Mom!"

You looked at him with a raised eyebrow as Nancy Bobofit started teasing him behind you. Gods was she insufferable. And of course, Mrs. Dobbs got mad at Percy yet again, she was insufferable, too.

You, Percy and Grover went you eat your sandwiches on the fountains ledge sitting in respective order. You sit there zoning out of the conversation while they switch sandwich ingredients and Percy is talking about shoving Nancy in a dumpster and Grover is saying you never stick up to a bully, blah blah. You weren't thinking much of there little chat, when suddenly stupid Bobofit threw her cheese at Grover's face. The hell? Before I even fully perceived the thought of Grover getting a full slice of cheddar cheese smacked across his face, Percy was already rushing up to Nancy ready to shove her into the fountain. The weird thing was, when he reached out to push her, she was already flying and slamming into the fountain getting absolutely soaked before Percy laid a hand on her.

"What the f-" You were cut off.

"Perseus Jackson," government name, not good, "we're not fools, there was only a matter of time before we found you." Okay what the f-

Cut off from your own train of thought again when you see Mrs. Dodds transform into some giant demon thing with wings knocking Percy to the ground and landing on top of him asking, yelling by the way 'where is it.' That's when the cap of his pen flew off, turning his pen into a sword, going through Mrs. Dodds like butter, turning her to dust. Okay, what the fuck. Hey, you finished it that time!

You quickly turned to Grover frantically asking him if he saw the demon thing too. He seemed to freak out more when you mentioned seeing it.

"Wait, you were able to see it, you know still remember Mrs. Dobb-" Grover clapped his hand over his mouth, realizing he said too much, but you couldn't understand what he said to much of as he ran off to Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher. You ran up to Percy who was passed out on the ground and sat next to him slowly trying to shake him awake. He slowly opened his eyes when Mr. Brunner and Grover appeared behind you watching Percy wake up and ask for Mrs. Dodds, both of you confused because they kept claiming there was no Mrs. Dodds.

The bus ride home was quiet, nobody said a word, no matter how bad they wanted too. And waiting for Percy and Grover to get out the principles office might've been even worse. Finally, Percy stormed out with Grover walking with his head down behind him.

"Percy" you called out, but he barely stopped to look at you, as much as he wanted to stop, he didn't want to snap so he kept it quick.

"I'm expelled, gotta go pack." Then he kept walking. He was obviously upset so you'd just catch up to him later. So instead you turned to Grover and asked him what happened.

"Y/N, we need to talk."

So you guys spoke. And holy crap, did you guys talk. Greek gods are apparently real and Percy is a demigod? Demigods are kids with a mortal parent and godly parent. And you have clear sight, letting you see through the 'mist?' The mist is what covers the monsters and mythical beings from the mortal world, you can see through it though, cool..

"Grover.. I'm glad I'm getting filled in, but" you ran your fingers through your hair in confusion "why are you telling me all this? I'm sure there's a rule against telling mortals about this right?"

"Well yeah.." he replied sheepishly "but your very close to Percy and very important to him, and since you can see everything we see, you're basically are already in the know despite whether we want you to be. Good chance he'd want to tell you anyway. Plus now I can make sure you guys can stay in touch now that he has to hide out in camp" Grover shut his eyes realizing he said to much again "sorry, don't tell Percy that, let it unfold the way it was meant to. But I'll help make sure you guys stay in contact since phones aren't allowed. I gotta go, but if you wanna say goodbye, he's waiting for his ride so you should hurry up."

And with that okay to leave the conversation, you ran as fast as you could, not caring who you'd bump into. Until finally your outside and out of breathe, sliding into the seat next to him on the bench he was currently sat at.

"Hey" you said clearly out of breathe, shinning a bright smile at him. He laughed at the state you were in, messy hair, struggling to breathe but still smilingly up at him so brightly like there wasn't a care in the world.

"Hey Y/N, I'm glad you came out to see me" he looked back at you with admiration in his eyes. You loved looking into his blue eyes. You'd never say that though, the gods forbid he thought you were weird for that. "I would've swung by but I have to catch my ride you know. I'm gonna miss you most, it's gonna suck not being able to see you everyday anymore, but I'm gonna do my best and make sure we stay in touch. I promise." He held up his pinkie ready to make a pinkie promise, something only losers would break, and after reassurance from Grover, this was a promise you were happy to make.

You held up your pinkie and interlocked it with his and the pair of you leaned in and kissed your thumbs. You guys stared into each others eyes warmly, reveling in each other last moments. That's when you noticed Mr. Brunner, or Chiron as Grover called him, coming out the building, and you knew that was your cue to leave. With that, you lightly grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his cheek and held him tightly for a moment, leaving the poor boys cheeks hot.

After a few moments you leaned out the hug, saying "I can't wait till you come back and visit me, and tell me all about the trouble your gonna get into." You both chuckled, him rolling his eyes as he did.

He slide his hands down your arms and sliding his fingers through yours and hold your hands, swinging them side to side. He felt like the luckiest guy ever right now. "Don't worry, you'll know everything, because I'll make sure I come back to you Y/N."

That's when Chiron finally reached you guys. You guys let go and said your finally goodbyes, waving as you turned around. On your walk back to your dorm, just thinking how much your gonna miss that boy. Was best friend even enough to describe your feelings anymore?

..............................................................................................................................

Happy Valentines Day👿

#percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson x you #percy jackson x y/n #percy pjo #percy jackson pjo

[nichuuu]

Where Our Blue Is

(青のすみか)

Word count: 13k+

Even now the blue lives Even now the blue is clear I’ve got a curse for you stuck at the back of my throat. It’s the unvoiced voice that says, “We’ll meet again, right?”

-

“You ever think about dying sometimes?” 

You raised your head from your Jujutsu Kaisen volume to stare at Rei. Her head was tilted up, eyes on the stars that were visible from under the tree. 

“Why do you always ask these pessimistic questions?” you couldn’t help but ask. She gave you side eye. 

“I think that’s just the way you choose to view my questions,” she replied.

“That is a horrible opinion…” 

“And this is coming from the guy reading manga at 10pm?”

You shut the book and sighed. 

“I don’t get to read much at home Rei…”

“And that’s my problem because?”

Your lips formed a thin line. You smacked her with your book. She yelped. 

“Hey!” she chided.

“Cry me a river,” you replied. 

Rei pouted and crossed her arms. “So this is what I get for trying to initiate conversation.”

“Who starts a conversion by talking about death?” you questioned.

“Me. Duh,” she retorted. 

“I think you need to polish your social skills,” you suggested. 

She snatched your book away from you. “And I think that you should stop engaging in bitchless behaviour!”

You clicked your tongue and snatched your book right back. 

“Let me be Rei,” you muttered.

Rei’s haughty expression softened. 

“H-Hey… I-I didn’t mean to piss you off…” she apologised. You waved it off.

“I’m not angry… Just tired,” you told her truthfully. The back of your head rested against the coarse bark of the tree. She shifted herself closer to you. 

“You okay?” she asked you. You nodded.

“I’m fine…” you assured her, “sorry for being so grumpy.”

“It’s fine,” she brushed it off, “we all have our bad days.”

Cicadas chirped in the distance. The lamp hanging from the nail that you’d hammered into the tree illuminated the space around you, the light swaying in the summer breeze. Rei yawned next to you. 

“You wanna know something?” she asked. 

“What?”

She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her face on them. 

“I wanna be an idol.”

You raised your eyebrows. 

“Sounds fun… But—”

“Not a Japanese idol,” she interjected, “I wanna be one of those Kpop stars…”

She piqued your interest. Rei would have these moments where she’d randomly rant about what she wanted to do in the future. One moment she dreamed of being a teacher, the next a Physicist… Being flippant about her future was her specialty.

“Kpop huh?” you mused, “listening to all that Red Velvet finally got to you didn’t it?”

Rei shot you a glare. “I know you’re grumpy, but could you not insult me for like five seconds?”

You raised your hands in surrender. She continued. 

“Just imagine it… Naoi Rei, the next biggest sensation!” she sighed, “I’ll be all over the internet… Those bullies would google my name and regret messing with me… God, it's such a dream…”

You chuckled. Your fingers drummed against the cover of your book. 

“Sounds like fun,” you remarked, “but I heard that the Korean Idols live tough lives.”

She pouted. “Are you saying I can’t take it?”

“I’m not saying anything,” you clarified, “I’m just… Cautioning you…”

She sat up straight. 

“Mark my words,” she declared, pumping her fist into the air. “I will become a star!”

You smiled. She was clearly delusional, but you entertained her. 

“I’ll hold you to that,” you joked. Rei let her hand drop back to her sides. 

“Wanna bet on it?” she wagered. 

“Sure. What are we betting?” 

She sat up straight.

“If I become a Kpop idol… You buy me lunch for a week,” she decided. 

“Deal,” you agreed, “but if you don’t… You buy me a box of these babies.”

You lifted your manga and wiggled it in the air. She laughed.

“Oh you’re on,” she readily accepted, “I’m so ready to burn a hole in your wallet!”

“Same here,” you grinned. Rei stuck out her hand. 

“We shake on it.”

You rolled your eyes and gave her what she wanted. Satisfied, she stood and stretched. You didn’t get up cause you knew that she’d sit back down just a few minutes later. 

“Hey,” she called, “if either of us makes it big in the future… Let’s promise not to forget each other.”

You looked up at her, watching her hair reflect the light from the lamp under the veil of the dark blue night sky. 

“I can get behind that…” you smiled. Rei giggled.

Her eyes reflected the blue of the night sky.

(That was when you were thirteen. She was Naoi Rei—your neighbour and best friend.)

“Hey.” 

You raised your head, blinking rapidly as you adjusted to the light assaulting your eyes. Sleeping in class was never a good idea, yet you persistently indulged in it. Rei waved a paper in front of your face, a gleam in her eyes.

“I secured an audition!” she squealed. 

“Oh… Nice.”

She pouted.

“You could at least be a little more enthusiastic,” she remarked.

“What’s there to be enthusiastic about when I have Math as my first period?” you grunted.

“Aw come on… Just one compliment?” 

You sighed.

“Fine… Great job Rei,” you relented. She seemed satisfied. 

Rei slid into her seat next to you, plopping her bag down on the floor with a loud thump. She took out her books, neatly stacking them on her table and laying her acceptance letter atop of the stack.

“I applied to four other agencies. I think I’ll hear from them soon.”

“Sounds cool.”

“I know right? I can’t wait to see their headquarters!” she exclaimed, “I’ll finally get to explore outside Nagoya! Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“Very…” you muttered, slowly drifting back into sleep. 

Rei slapped the nape of your neck. “Reciprocate the excitement dammit!”

“Okay, okay! Happy! Yay!” you quickly spouted. Rei snorted.

“I always have to force these reactions out of you… Talk about a one-sided friendship…”

A hand grabbed the letter atop of Rei’s books. With a yank, textbooks and notebooks came tumbling down as the hand withdrew. Your head snapped up. 

“Wow Rei… I didn’t know they accepted ugly ducklings as trainees,” Riko sneered. She was the school’s “it” girl. Gucci glasses, an apple watch, horrible personality and a voice that could possibly shatter glass. To you, she was the epitome of the word “bitch”, a spitting image of Hiter’s missing testicle.

“Give that back Riko,” Rei huffed, throwing a hand out to snatch the paper back. The bully stepped back. 

“I think I’ll keep this actually…” Riko snorted, “hope you memorised the details of your audition Naoi Rei.”

Rei stood up.

“Give. It. Back,” she ordered through gritted teeth.

“Fuck you. You don’t deserve to be an idol,” Riko scowled, “ugly ducks like you would give people nightmares if they saw you on camera!”

The class erupted into laughter, you’d never realised that they’d been watching. You glanced at Rei. Her hands were clenched into fists, her knuckles slowly turning white.

“Get a load of this,” Riko taunted, pointing at a line on the letter, “we find that you have exceptional qualities and possess a unique personality!”

Riko tore her eyes away from the sheet of paper. “Do you feel better about yourself after reading this? All these lies making you feel good about yourself?” 

Rei’s whole body was shaking. She was about to make Riko catch her hands. You had enough. The legs of your chair dragged against the floor as you stood up. 

“Riko… Do me a favour and shut the fuck up,” you muttered. 

She gave you a look of amusement. 

“Wow! Such a hero,” she remarked causticaly, “do you get off following this bitch around like a dog?” 

You turned and strode right up to her. With as much disdain as you could muster, you looked her in the eye and scoffed. 

“Do you feel better about yourself spouting all this bullshit?” you questioned her, “does it really help you sleep at night knowing that you’re just some petty bitch that gets off on insulting others?”

You snatched the paper away from her.

“Hey!” she barked, lunging at you. You took a step back, relishing the look on her face as she lost her footing and fell. Her cronies rushed to get her back on her feet.

“Grow up. Go do something productive with daddy’s money. You’ll feel better about yourself that way.”

You walked back to your seat and settled back down. There was pin drop silence in the classroom. All eyes were on you and Riko. 

“Little shit…” Riko growled, “I’ll have—”

The sound of your homeroom teacher’s heels clacking against the floor alerted the whole room. Students scurried back to their seats, everyone pretending to bury their heads in their books. Riko shot you a dirty glare before storming back to her place.

“Bitch,” you mumbled, pulling in your chair and adjusting your uniform. 

You placed the letter on your desk and smoothed out the wrinkles on the snow white paper. Once satisfied, you slid it back over to Rei. 

“Get a folder for it,” you advised her, “it won’t crumple so easily if you have something to protect it.”

Rei stared at the letter. As you unzipped your pencil case, you could see from the corner of your eye that a smile was slowly creeping up her face. As homeroom started, Rei scribbled out something onto a scrap piece of paper. With tender hands, she slid the message onto your desk. 

Thank you. 

You stared at her pretty handwriting, a small smirk on your face. You flipped the paper over and wrote a reply. 

You can repay me with a fancy dinner once you become an idol.

Rei read your message and chuckled. With her eyes reflecting the blue in your uniform, she nodded and folded up the paper.

(That was when you were fourteen. She was Naoi Rei—your best friend, neighbour and an aspiring star.)

Rei slammed her locker shut as you approached. 

“Hey,” you waved, “how did the audition go?” 

Rei closed her eyes and sighed. 

“Rejected… Again,” she muttered. You let out a breath and patted her on the back. 

“Damn…” you huffed, “you okay?”

Rei opened her eyes. She smiled, an optimistic glow on her face. Her eyes reflected the blue of the locker.

“Yep,” she declared, “there will be more chances. I’m sure of it!”

You had always admired her drive. 

“I like your thinking,” you told her, opening your own locker to retrieve your things.

“It’s the only way to think,” she replied.

“Preach,” you chuckled. 

Rei giggled and leaned against the lockers. 

“Have you found anyone for the dance?” she inquired.

“Nope…” you sighed, pulling the last book out. “I think I just might go alone.”

You closed your locker. 

“What about you?” you asked in return, “heard you turned down Suguru…”

“Mhm.”

“Why?” 

Rei pouted.

“I don’t like his vibes,” she said bluntly, “besides… I think Nakamura Kazuha has been eyeing him rather keenly. I won’t get in that sweet girl’s way.”

She pushed off the lockers and stood up straight. 

“I don’t get it Rei,” you said, walking next to her as you made your way to class. “You’re getting asked out by all the popular and hot guys, but you turn all of them down.”

“What’s so wrong about that?” she refuted, “why should I go to the dance with someone just because they're hot or popular? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

You climbed up a flight of stairs.

“Well personally… I would jump at a chance to go to the dance with a hot and popular guy if I was a girl,” you expressed. 

“But we’re polar opposites,” she reminded you, “you and I are different. That’s our curse.”

You furrowed your brows. “Curse?” 

Rei shrugged. 

“I dunno… I guess it curses us to always be drawn to each other.”

You reached your floor.

“Ever so poetic Naoi-san,” you told her. 

 She grinned. “I top the cohort in literature for a reason.”

You walked with her to her class. Your classes were adjacent to each other, allowing the both of you to hold a conversation before separating.

“So who are you gonna ask to the dance then?” you couldn’t help but inquire. 

“I won’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

She smirked. 

“It’ll ruin the surprise…” 

She left you with that, quickly breaking away to slip into her classroom door. 

“Oi! Rei!” you called after her. She flipped you off through the crack of the sliding door. With a sigh, you were left to ponder on your own as you slinked into your own class. You plopped your books down on your table and hung your bag off the side of your desk. The classroom was noisy as per usual, the incessant chatter of Junior Highschoolers filling your ears. In your stack of books, you located the newest volume of Jujutsu Kaisen that Rei had kindly purchased for you. The cover was still on, Nanami’s face staring right at you as you folded your legs on your chair. 

You peeled off the plastic cover with care, gingerly sliding out the volume like you were handling a newborn child. The smell of fresh pages wafted into your nose, a smile turning up the corners of your lips as you flipped the book open to the first page.

That’s when the envelope slipped out onto your lap. It was light blue, your name scribbled across the cover with a brush marker. An onigiri sticker kept the flap of the envelope sealed. 

Casting surreptitious glances around you, you made sure that no one could see the envelope. After double-checking to ensure that the coast was clear, you unsealed the envelope and pulled out the folded letter within. It smelt just like a new book, the paper crisp to the touch. You unfolded the sheet of paper. 

I like you. Go to the dance with me. 

You almost dropped it. For a good long minute, you sat at your seat, stunned. 

“Yo yo yo! Watchya got there?” your friend chirped, throwing a hand over your shoulder. It took him a few seconds to read the note, and you could feel his eyes widen. 

“Wait… Is this actually…” he muttered. You swallowed. 

“I… I think so…” you whispered. 

It wasn’t the content of the letter that shocked you. Yes, it was the first confession letter you’d ever received, but the sudden reveal of feelings towards you wasn’t what made you flinch. For at the bottom of the page, a familiar handwriting had left its mark. It was an art piece really, but you never ever admired the hooks and curves of her handwriting more than you did that day.

Love, Rei.

Just like that, Rei had made the first move.

(That was when you were fifteen. She was Naoi Rei—your best friend, neighbour, aspiring star… And the first girl to ever ask you out.)

“Yo.”

You opened your eyes. Rei stared down at you, a glint in her eyes. “How long have you been sleeping up here?” 

You sat up and answered her with a lazy yawn. “I’d say ten minutes tops.”

Rei chuckled and settled down next to you.

“I think you should consider sleeping earlier,” she advised. 

You scoffed.

“It’s summer Rei, let me catch a break,” you grunted. She punched you in the shoulder.

“Don’t be grumpy because I’m caring for you.”

“Who said I was grumpy?”

She grinned. “Me.”

You loved the way her nose scrunched when you tickled her. You collapsed onto the mat with her, assaulting the flesh of her body with a barrage of tickles as she giggled and squirmed. 

“Stop!” she wheezed, dodging your nimble fingers that darted in all directions.

“I’ll stop when I want to,” you sneered. 

On the rooftop of your apartment, you tickled Naoi Rei endlessly under the blue summer sky. 

Eventually, you both got tired. With laboured breaths, you both laid on your backs and watched the white clouds dot the sea of endless blue before your eyes. It was a moment of peace, tranquillity… 

“Did you get any news from that agency?” you asked her. Rei let out one of those heavy sighs.

“Yep…” she answered. Her tone told you everything you needed to know. You wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. 

“It’s okay Rei… There’s always other opportunities,” you assured her, “an agency will accept you. I’m sure of it.”

Rei sighed and rolled onto her side. She buried her face into the crook of your neck, her breath tingling your skin. 

“I hope you’re right,” she muttered, “I’m starting to lose hope.”

“Don’t say that,” you frowned, “stay positive Rei… You’ll have your chance to shine.”

She pulled away—just a little so that she could look into your eyes. Here eyes reflected the blue of the summer sky.

“We’re always so different in thought huh?” she pondered. You smiled.

“That’s our curse…”

Rei chuckled and closed her eyes. Your lips met with hers, bodies melting into each other under the clear blue sky. The only thing either of you could hear was the sound of each other's breathing.

(That was when you were sixteen. She was Naoi Rei—your best friend, your neighbour, an aspiring star, the first girl to ask you out and the first girl you ever loved.)

Knock knock knock.

“Coming,” you grunted, getting up from the comfort of your sofa. You set your Jujutsu Kaisen volume down, leaving Sukuna to stare at the ceiling as you shuffled over to the door. When you opened it, she was standing there. Tears ran down her cheeks. She had a letter in her left hand, the paper scrunching under the force of her grip. 

“Rei?”

Her puffy eyes met yours. In the pool of her tears, you could see the blue of her sorrow.

“They rejected me…” she rasped, “they fucking rejected me…”

You stared at the paper in her hands. Your heart twisted.

“Rei—”

“Am I not pretty enough? Am I not doing enough? Am I not likeable? Is my personality all wrong?”

Her fingers were beginning to punch holes in the letter. 

“What’s wrong with me?” 

She looked at you, searching for an answer. You pulled her into your arms. 

“Nothing’s wrong with you duckling… Nothing’s wrong with you…”

She stood there for a moment, her ragged breathing filling your ears. 

Then she buried her head into your chest and cried. Heart wrenching sobs were torn from her being, the last remnants of her dream spilling out together with her wails and screams. You held on to her as tight as you could, fighting back the tears in your eyes as your girlfriend’s dream died before your very eyes.

You held for as long as she needed to be held for. She needed comfort.

(That was when you were seventeen. She was Naoi Rei—your best friend, your neighbour, the first girl to ask you out, your girlfriend of a year, and the victim of a crushed dream.)

“What… What do you mean?” 

Rei stood before you. Long had the gleam disappeared from her eyes, replaced by a soulless expression that remained unreadable. 

“You heard me… Let’s break up.”

Under the blue neon light of the convenience store, Rei looked you in the eye.

“I… I don’t see the point in staying together… We should go our separate ways,” she said, her voice devoid of any sort of emotion. 

“W-What? B-But… Why?” you asked, “d-did I do something wrong? W-Why are you suddenly doing this?”

You took a step toward her. She took two steps back. You stopped. She stopped.

“We’re… We’re different. That’s our curse…” she whispered. 

“H-Haven't we always said that’s a good thing?”

She looked away for a moment, slowly constructing her sentences in her head.

“As different people… I think we should lead our different lives…” She said, sliding her hands into her pockets.  “So yea… Let’s break up.”

“S-So… That's it?” you stammered, “could we at least talk about it?”

Rei chuckled. 

“I think it’s better for us to leave things this way,” she objected, “no hard feelings… it’s just that… You’re the easiest thing to let go of right now.”

She sighed and bit her lip. 

“That’s all from me,” she announced, “I… I hope you find someone that makes you happy.”

Under the blue of the neon light, through the blur of tears, you watched her turn and walk away from you. You tried calling her name, though it came out more as a strained cry.

She didn’t look back. You weren’t sure why you expected her to.

The curse that drew you together now pushed her away from you.

(That was when you were nineteen. She was Naoi Rei… 

And she had shattered your heart.)

Now as she sat before you in a posh omakase restaurant, rummaging through her bag to look for a file, everything she was to you came rushing back in a flurry of memories and emotions. As she set the file down, she kept her eyes on the table as she slid it over to your boss. 

“Thank you,” your boss smiled, flipping open the brown folder to review its contents. You were with her on another one of those client meetups, discussing the nitty gritty details of an event organised by your company's clients. It was set to take place in Shibuya two months from now. There was much to do, much to think of… It was all so fast paced. 

But when Rei walked in behind her boss and you met each other's gaze, everything seemed to come to a standstill. Years after she’d left you in front of the convenience store, she was back right in front of you. 

“It seems like your business has a good idea on what it wants to convey,” your boss mused, flipping through reports and various mock-ups of the venue. 

“Of course. This is a big event after all,” Rei’s boss replied. Your boss nodded and handed you the file. 

“Take a look. Feel free to give feedback,” she instructed. You nodded and accepted the file. 

“Rei here spent lots of time compiling and producing these,” her boss praised. “I can see the effort. Your work has my respect Naoi-san,” your boss complimented. 

“Thank you…” you heard her mutter. Her voice had changed a lot. 

You finished reading through the file as the first course arrived. 

“What do you think?” your boss asked. You set the file down on your right.

“I believe that the plan is… Feasible,” you nodded, “though I have to raise the fact that the logistics exceed the agreed budget by a significant amount…”

“We can always handle that,” your boss assured you, “money isn’t that big of an issue…”

You wanted to argue, but your boss shot you a look. You sighed and caved to her wishes. 

“Very well then… Is it safe to say that this event will take place on the date agreed upon?” Rei’s boss inquired.

“Yes,” your boss answered before you could input. She lifted her sake glass. “Let us toast to a successful project!” 

Glasses were raised, clinking filled the room. As you drank from your cup, you caught Rei’s gaze. 

Her eyes reflected the blue of your shirt. 

***

“You will probably have to go back yourself,” your boss told you. 

“I understand,” you promptly replied, “I will settle my own transport.”

She adjusted the golden earrings dangling from her earlobes.

“Try and make some friends,” she advised, “these types of events are the best way to make connections.”

The elevator door opened, the vastness of the grand ballroom revealing itself to you as you stepped out the doors. You adjusted your suit subconsciously, fiddling with the top button of your jacket. From across the room, Rei’s boss spotted the both of you. He said something to the guests he had been talking to, then brisk walked through the crowd towards the both of you. 

“Thank you for coming!” he beamed, “we’re so glad to have you here!”

“Thank you for inviting us,” your boss answered on your behalf. 

A week had passed since you had that meeting in the omakase restaurant. Work had been hectic for you and your team, but you managed to pull through the week with just enough sleep to keep you sane. The party invite from Rei’s company came as a welcome surprise, and your team gladly accepted the invitation. You opted to come with your boss after work, letting the rest of your team go off without you.

Now as you stood at a fancy looking table, hiding from social interaction by munching on all sorts of food, you wondered if this was really the break you needed. Now that you thought about it, you would have preferred to stay at home and catch up on the latest chapter of Jujutsu Kaisen. Your boss was off talking to Rei’s boss somewhere, you couldn’t really care less. 

“Hey.”

You froze. You were hoping that she wouldn’t be here. 

There was new weight on your plate. You looked down and saw an eclair sitting on the pristine porcelain. 

“Thanks for coming,” Rei smiled, setting down the pair of tongs. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Wordlessly, you stuffed the eclair into your mouth and turned to walk away. 

“Can we talk?” she piped. You stopped in your tracks, the pastry you at leaving a strange bitter taste 

“What’s there to talk about?” you asked. 

She walked around you and stood before you. She was wearing a dress that admittedly looked cute on her, but you didn’t let that comment slip past your lips. The dress was blue, blue like the summer morning sky.

“You know exactly what there is to talk about.”

You chuckled in amusement. 

“I thought you said that it was better to leave things as they were?” you sneered.

“I never said that.” 

“But you did,” you spat. “You said it right in front of the convenience store.”

She looked away for a moment.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

You scoffed. 

“So this is how it’s gonna be then?” you mused. “You’re just gonna deny our past? Way to let me know I didn’t mean jackshit to you…”

“Stop being immature,” she muttered. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“Me? I’m the immature one?” you asked, a generous amount of amusement in your voice. “Who’s the one who conveniently forgot about everything we went through?”

There were eyes on you. You didn’t care. 

“Look,” Rei sighed, “we’ll have to work together for the next few weeks… It’ll be better for both of us and our teams if we could just stay on good terms—”

“So what do you expect me to do then?” you interrogated her. “Conveniently forget about everything like you? Sweep everything under the rug and tell everyone that we’re strangers?”

The people around you were silent, watching you with a look of concern. Rei rubbed her brow. 

“I… I’m not expecting you to do anything…” she answered. 

“Then I won’t do anything,” you proclaimed. “We’ll do like you said, leave things as they are.”

In the same fashion she’d left you, you turned and strode away. It wasn’t till the elevator doors closed in front of you did you let out a small sigh. You leaned back into the elevator wall.

You had a few long weeks ahead of you. 

***

She was sitting across you, her eyes reflecting the blue of her computer screen. You didn’t want to admit that you’d been watching her for the past few hours, but you weren’t one to lie. She was focused as usual, her face full of seriousness and determination as her fingers flew across her keyboard. 

Seeing her on a daily basis wasn’t easy. Ever since the party, her company and your company had booked a co-working space for your team and their team to collaborate to work on the project at hand. You’d often make eye contact from across the room, feel her gaze on you as you wrote things down in your notebook… The tension was palpable, and your teammates could feel it. 

“Yo, what’s up with you and that Naoi girl?” one of them asked over lunch one afternoon. 

“Hm?” you asked, hiding the fact that you nearly choked on your tea. 

“I mean… I can’t be the only one that notices the way she looks at you right?” he continued, looking around the table. Heads nodded, eyes contained curiosity. 

“I uh… I don’t catch your drift,” you lied. 

“Aw come on… You like her don’t you?” another piped. “Don’t deny it, we can all feel the tension. Hell, we can almost grab it!” 

A laugh went around the room. You chuckled nervously. 

“I know that work is boring… But you guys can’t possibly be spinning this bullshit to entertain yourselves,” you joked. 

“But—”

“Let’s finish our meals,” you interjected, “we’ve got work to do.”

That was enough to get them to stop prying into your personal life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop them from doing all sorts of funny things. When you walked into the co-working space the next morning, you had to resist the urge to cuss. 

They had all rearranged themselves. Somehow, your teammates had managed to get Rei’s teammates on board, seating themselves in such a way so that the only space available was next to Rei. You gripped your notebook with a vice grip, every bit of your willpower stopping you from bashing all of their smirking faces in as you made your way to the sole empty seat.

“Morning,” Rei greeted you. You remained silent and sat down to begin work. 

And that was the way things were for the rest of the project. No matter how early you came in, your teammates and Rei’s teammates were somehow there before you. You admired the commitment they had put into forcing a close proximity between the two of you, but you’d have preferred if they could channel this level of commitment into their work instead. 

A week before you were due to head to Shibuya, all nighters became a common occurrence for you. As the team leader, your boss expected frequent updates and reports from you, and some of those reports required you to stay up till the wee hours of the morning to be completed. Rei shared a similar problem as her team’s leader, resulting in uncomfortably high amounts of tension when it was just the two of you in the space. She didn’t talk to you, and you didn’t talk to her. 

But that Friday night was different. You were packing your things, Rei was still working. As you slipped in your notebook, Rei broke the silence.

“How long are we going to keep acting like this?”

You zipped your bag.

“I didn’t know we were acting…” you muttered. Rei’s hands left the keyboard of her laptop.

“Could we at least talk this out?” she pleaded.

“I thought you forgot about everything?”

Rei leaned back in her chair. 

“I… I don’t want to keep this up anymore,” she whispered. “I’m tired… I’m tired of having to pretend that we’re strangers to each other.”

You set your bag down on the table. 

“Well… Maybe you should’ve thought about that before conveniently forgetting our past.”

“Don’t—”

“Maybe I’d be more willing to talk to you if you’d just said what you really wanted to say at that party.”

Rei closed her eyes and sighed. 

“I’m sorry,” she strained, “is that what you wanted out of me? Did you want me to apologise?”

You rested your hands on the table. 

“I don’t want an apology, Rei…” you croaked, “I want a reason. I want to know why we had to break up.”

You let yourself make eye contact with her. She looked hurt, like she was the one that had been walked out on that night.

“You left me without a reason Rei,” you whispered, “You just… Left me in front of that convenience store. I called, I texted… You didn’t reply. You cut me out of your life… I could never understand why.”

Pooling tears reflected the blue of the lights shining in through the windows. She wiped her eyes.

“So why Rei?” you implored, letting a tear run down your cheek, “why did you leave?”

She swallowed back a sob. “I-I… I can’t tell you…”

You closed your eyes and let out a shaky breath. 

“I guess we’ll never sort this out then,” you warbled, “good talk Rei.”

You shouldered your bag and left. 

She called out to you, and it was your turn to not look back.

It started to rain after you left the building. You’d never felt that the weather could fit your mood as much as it did that night.

***

She didn’t come to work the next day. Nor the day after. 

“Her Mom called me,” one of her co-workers that was close to her explained. “Apparently she got drunk and sat out on a park bench in the rain. She’s running a fever now… She must’ve been stressed by this project.”

You processed this information.

“Understood,” you replied, “thank you for letting me know.”

In truth, you would have appreciated it if she hadn’t explained why she was absent. You had more things to think about since she’d mentioned it. It made you feel guilty for not saying and talking things out with her like she’d pleaded you to. 

Despite your strong sense of priorities, your focus was messed up. You’d like to blame it on the lack of sleep, but you knew that wasn’t true. You caught yourself thinking about her as you poured your morning coffee. You found yourself in a daze when you were waiting in line for lunch. You realised that she’d been on your mind for a whole day when the last team member left for the night and your report was still blank. 

On Monday of the next week—two days before you were meant to leave for Shibuya—Rei still hadn’t shown up. That day, you made the executive decision to clock out early on the pretext that you needed some rest.  A phone call to your mother and a twenty minute drive later, you found yourself outside of an apartment door. 

It wasn’t any random door. It was Rei’s. Well… Not exactly Rei’s since she still lived with her parents.

“Am I really doing this right now?” you muttered to yourself. You gave yourself a minute to think about what you were about to do. 

“I’m just checking in on her… It’s not weird right?” 

Everything about that situation felt weird to you.

“Ah fuck it.”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“In a minute!” a familiar voice called out from the other end. The sound of sandals shuffling against the floor grew louder as someone approached. 

The door opened. 

“How can I…”

She stopped mid sentence, trailing off as she looked you up and down. You smiled sheepishly and waved. 

“Hello Ms Naoi… Long time no see.”

Re’s mother made a sound, an amalgamation of syllables that tumbled out of her mouth in a jumbled mess.

“What… What are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask.

“I… I heard about Rei,” you explained, “is she alright?”

Ms Naoi looked you in the eye. With a sigh, she opened the door wider and stood aside.

“Come in dear boy… There’s much to be discussed.”

She fixed you a hot cup of green tea, setting it before you on the tatami tea table that you recognised from your childhood. Rei’s mother knelt down on the cushion opposite you.

“How have you been?” she asked warmly. 

“I’ve been… Alright I suppose,” you answered. Ms Naoi smiled and nodded.

“You look healthy and well…” she remarked, “you’ve grown so much since I last saw you… When was that again?”

“It was… Quite some time ago,” you replied. To be exact, it was 8 years ago. The last time you ever saw Ms Naoi was 2 months before you broke up with Rei. You were over at their place, helping them fix an Ikea shelf because her father had back problems and couldn’t get it done himself. 

“Where’s Mr Naoi?” you inquired, the short jog of your memory suddenly making you aware of the fact that Rei’s father was nowhere to be seen. Rei’s mother sighed.

“He’s dead,” she stated solemnly, “he’s left us for some time now… Car crash.”

You blinked. 

“O-Oh,” you sputtered, “I… I didn’t know…”

“It’s alright,” she assured you, “you and Rei had split by then, and I’m not the type to tell the whole world that my husband is dead… How would you have known?”

Ms Naoi sipped from her own tea cup. You looked around the house. It was smaller than the original apartment, but cosy nonetheless. Your mother did explain that they’d shifted here for cheaper rent. Monetary problems were your best guess.

“I understand that you and Rei have… Reacquainted,” she began, setting down her cup. You shifted on your seat. 

“I-In a way,” you answered.

Rei’s mother nodded silently. 

“How do you feel about her?”

She’d caught you off guard. You expected her to ease into the hard questions, maybe ask you a little more about the type of work you and Rei were doing… You didn’t think she’d launch such a question 2 minutes into the conversation. 

“I… I-I don’t get what you mean,” you lied. 

Rei’s mother rested her hands on the tea table. Time had not been kind to her. She looked visibly worn, wrinkles covering her once smooth and lively face. Her fingers were filled with calluses, wrinkled and bony—A far cry from the gentle, warm hands that used to serve you a snack whenever you were over at Rei’s house.

“Rei… Rei has been thinking about you alot,” she informed you. “She’s been restless since you two started working together… I hardly see her sleep for more than four hours.”

Ms Naoi wrung her hands.  “She missed you terribly after you both split up… I thought that her final rejection letter from the idol industry would be the most she’d ever cry. I was… So, so wrong.”

You stared at her bony fingers, unable to form sentences to communicate your thoughts. 

“She never told you why she wanted to break up, did she?” 

You found the courage to look Rei’s mother in the eye. Slowly, you shook your head. Ms Naoi let out a breath. “After her father’s back problems got worse, we entered a rough patch. Money was dwindling, times were tough. I had to take on two job’s to keep us afloat… And I overworked myself one day and collapsed.”

Ms Naoi fiddled with her index finger.

“Rei didn’t want me to overexert myself, so she took on part time jobs to help chip in to stabilise our income…”

“That’s why she couldn’t meet me as much…” you whispered. 

Rei’s mother nodded. “Yes…”

Your eyes seemed to focus on one spot on the table. Those loose ends were coming together now, questions that’d been on your mind slowly answering themselves as you made new connections with the new information given to you. 

“I always thought that you were the one that broke her heart,” Ms Naoi chuckled, “I never thought that my daughter would be the one to leave you. She loved you so, so much… So much to the point where I thought she loved you more than me.”

There was a moment of silence as Ms Naoi stared at her hands. 

“But when I found her on that park bench two nights before, I realised how wrong I was.”

She looked like she was about to cry. You spotted a tissue box at the edge of the table. Wordlessly, you grabbed it and slid it across the table. She smiled gratefully and pulled a single sheet of tissue. 

“When Rei’s drunk… The things she hides all come pouring out. That night, she talked about you. She told me everything she’d hidden from you… And from me.”

Rei’s mother dabbed her eyes. 

“That girl… That stupid stupid girl…” she laughed softly, “why did she keep all that to herself?” 

You awkwardly cleared your throat and asked, “What did she say?”

Ms Naoi sipped from her cup. 

“I can’t give you the full rundown of what she told me, but I’ll give you something that I think she needs some help conveying to you.”

Rei’s mother reached over and held your hand.

“I think… She still loves you. She always has.”

***

She still loves you. She always has

A car drove by.

She still loves you. She always has

You walked across the road.

She still loves you. She always has

The asphalt seemed to reflect that very line. Sensory overload was what you felt like you were experiencing—The sun was setting behind the buildings, birds flew, trees swayed… You were suddenly aware of all the smallest movements around you. On the bench, you folded your legs in and stared into the sky. The sea of endless blue was slowly beginning to bleed gold. 

“I need a fucking beer,” you decided. 

And so you got one. From the nearby convenience store, you got yourself an icy cold Asahi, cracked it open, and took a small sip. You wanted a drink, but you didn’t want to get drunk. 

The beer helped to ground you in reality, the ringing in your ears slowly fading as you stepped out of the convenience store. Just down the road, a vendor was selling sweet potatoes. 

Dinner.

Beer. Sweet Potatoes. Park. To you, that was the perfect recipe for alone time. With your back against a tree and your eyes closed, you let yourself process the churning feeling in your chest. You were no stranger to this feeling. Your hand ran through your hair as you let out a frustrated sigh. The churn in your chest was nothing but a jumbled up, churned, mixed amalgamation of emotions. It was funny how one girl could make you feel the way you felt. 

Memories came and went in your head, moments that defined your relationship with Rei replaying like they had when you saw her in that omakase restaurant. A personal cinema in your mind, complete with surround sound and every single emotion you’ve ever felt with her. The blue of your past.

“Hey.”

You opened your eyes. She was standing in front of you, dressed in a blue cardigan and her hair looking akin to a crow’s nest.

“Aren’t you sick?” you asked.

“Not really. I just took an extra rest day.”

Silence.

“By the way… Is ‘Hey’ the only word you know how to greet me with?” you continued. She didn’t reply, opting to settle down next to you. You didn’t move away.

“Figured I’d find you here,” she said, “you dropped by our place?”

“So she told you,” you remarked, “I did drop by. Tell your Mom I’m sorry that I didn’t touch my tea by the way.”

Rei nodded and set her gaze forward. Before you, there were two children tossing a baseball back and forth. The blue of youth. 

“What did Mom say?”

“Not much…  She didn’t disclose any secrets if that’s what you’re wondering.”

She chuckled softly. Even though her voice changed, her laugh stayed the same. The blue of your memories.

“Why did you drop by?” she inquired.

“You haven’t come to work for three days. I wanted to see how you were doing…”

She rubbed her palms on her jeans.

“So… You came on purely a work basis then…”

You sighed.

“Not really… It was more personal than anything.”

She stared at you for a moment.

“I… I suppose we should talk,” she whispered. 

You folded your legs up. “I was just about to say that.”

You glanced over at her. She was fiddling with the sleeves of her cardigan. You held your beer can out to her. 

She looked at it for a moment, then she took it and took a swig.

“You go first,” you prompted. She removed the can from her lips. 

“Right…” she muttered, “I guess I should.”

She handed the can back to you. 

“Mom told you what happened to my dad, right?” 

“Mhm.”

“Then you know why I started working.”

“Yep…”

“And now you’re probably wondering why I didn’t say anything to you.”

You didn’t want to admit it, but you knew that this was the time to tell the truth.

“Yes,” you replied. You heard her head thump against the bark of the tree.

“Well I… I’ll just be frank with you. I didn’t want your help.”

You stayed silent to let her continue. She did.

“I knew that you’d do everything you could to help us out. The prospect of you diving headfirst into my problems scared me, because I knew that you had a tendency to over commit.”

She wasn’t wrong. In junior high, you committed at least half of your time there into baseball, thinking that you’d grow up to be a big shot pitcher when you grew up. No one ever had the heart to tell you that you sucked mega balls at the sport, but you learnt the hard way when you left junior high without ever playing a single baseball game for your school.

“And… That was the exact reason why I broke up with you.” 

You raised an eyebrow, failing to make a link between her predicament and your break up. Thankfully, Rei was thorough with her explanations.

“I knew that if I didn’t leave you, you’d find out eventually, and you’d want to help. Then I’d have to reject you, then we’ll argue and… I-I couldn’t go through that cycle. Yes, it’s selfish. Yes, it’s an assumption. But I… I just had this feeling that I’d rope you into my mess if you started to help us out.”

Her voice was wavering by the second. You didn't look at her because you knew that seeing her cry would make you cry too.

“I had to save you from myself so… I left,” she finished. “That’s… That’s it…”

There was a moment of silence as the long unanswered question had finally been brought to a close. With a sigh, you readjusted your seating position. 

“I suppose it’s my turn then,” you mused.

“Yea… I-I’m listening.”

You’d been thinking about this moment for a while. You had a plan on what to say, what you’d do, how you’d convey your pain and anguish into coherent sentences… But now that the moment was here, your grand speech had been lost in your mind. didn’t know what to say to her. 

With as much courage as you could muster, you opened your eyes and turned your head to Rei. You didn’t know what to make of the look that she gave you, but past her tear-glazed gaze, you could make out the blue that always seemed to be reflected by her eyes.

It was the blue of youth.

It was the blue of your past.

It was the blue of your memories.

It was the blue of your love. 

Blue was the colour of the night sky—the setting of when you made that promise to never forget each other. Blue was the colour of your uniform—the clothes that you’d accepted her confession in. Blue was the colour of the summer sky—the sky that you shared so many kisses with her. So many things, moments, emotions… All dumbed down into one simple colour.

And within Rei’s eyes, that was where your blue was. The blue resided there. The blue remained clear.

“Forgive me but… I’m going to curse at you Rei.”

She sat there. Her mouth hung open ever so slightly, her mind unable to fathom what she could possibly say. A tear rolled down your cheek, summer-like colours dazzling your vision. Rei squeezed her eyes shut. 

“Let it out,” she warbled. “Let’s fight it out if we have to.”

You stayed silent for a moment, thumbing the tab of your beer. The direction you were taking with this would be a far cry from Rei’s long-winded, heartfelt explanation. But then again… The curse of you being different from her still remained. Whether it pushed her away or pulled her back was in your hands

So you looked her in the eye and released the curse that had been stuck at the back of your throat.

“I’m still fucking in love with you Rei.”

You weren’t sure why you had to phrase it in such a strong way, but it simply felt right in your head. Rei watched you carefully, as if waiting for you to continue, but you had nothing left to say.

“Is that it? Is that your thing now? Giving me one-liners and leaving it as that?” 

You could only stare at your beer can.

“I’ve never been good with words Rei… You know that…” 

She went silent for a moment.

“Neither of us have been good at communicating,” she remarked, pushing her hair back behind her ear. “It’s one hell of a problem isn’t it?”

She was right. Neither of you were able to communicate how you truly felt about each other up until that point. Finding the words to tell her how you still loved her was hard, so hard that you had to cuss just to get your point across. It felt rather bleak, even pathetic to an extent if you had to admit.

“I guess that’s one similarity between us,” you chuckled. “Looks like the curse of us being different isn’t as prominent as we thought.”

The corners of Rei’s lips turned up into a smile, one of fondness. “Right… That curse.”

She reached out her hand. You handed her the beer can. She tossed her head back and took a swig.

“Since we’re out here airing our thoughts… Can I say something else?”

“Not gonna stop you.”

Rei set the can between the two of you.

“That night, I told you that you were the easiest thing I could let go of… Do you remember that?”

It was hard to forget. She’d devastated you with that line, left you questioning your self worth for an extensive period of time. Of course you remembered what she said.

“Mhm,” you hummed. 

Rei sat there for a moment.

“That… That was a lie,” she uttered. “It was a lie… You were the hardest thing to let go of.”

You had a feeling she’d say something along those lines. But you still chuckled and said, “Really?”

Rei wiped her eyes. “Yes…” 

You sat on it for a moment, then you asked, “why?” 

“Because I loved you. You were the world to me.”

Loved. Were. Past tense. You wondered if what Rei’s mother had disclosed was true.

“And what about now?”

She glanced at you. “What do you mean?”

“How do you feel about me now?” 

Her lips curled into her teeth.

“I still love you… I always have.”

Ah… There it was. You’d heard it from her mother, you’d heard it from her. Thesis confirmation. 

Your sweet potatoes had gone cold inside the paper bag. You hadn’t touched it since you bought it.

“You know Rei… I’ve thought about what I’d do if you ever told me that you still loved me,” you chuckled. “I had a whole speech planned and everything.”

Your fingers gripped a blade of grass and plucked it out of the ground as you vocalised your thoughts. “But now that you’ve actually said it… I don’t know what to tell you anymore.”

“Neither do I,” she replied.

You caught her gaze. She held it. 

You blinked. 

She surged. 

When her lips pressed against yours, your senses stripped from you as everything went still for a second.  For a moment and only a moment, it felt like all the wrongs in the world had been righted, a void in your chest made whole. It was only when your back hit the grass did your senses come back to you—A sudden wave of sound, a burst of colour, the smell of her hair, the taste of her lips, the feel of her body pressed up against your chest on the grass. Your hand instinctively wrapped itself around her waist, holding her close to your body as she kissed you gently, tenderly; letting the kiss burn on your lips for as long as she could allow it.

The blasted need to breathe eventually interrupted. Her lips pulled back. Her eyes fluttered open. There on the grass, in front of a bunch of people who were probably giving you the oddest of looks, Naoi Rei had made the first move on you once more. At this point, it was made clear what you were to each other.

Your voice faltered, a hot tear rolling down your cheek as you called her name. “Rei…”

“Yea?”

Her face fit right into the indent of your palm, a familiarity in the sensation of her warm cheek in your hand.

“Please keep loving me. Don’t let me go again…”

Her hand clutched the fabric of your shirt, gently tugging on your t-shirt; pulling you closer.

“I don’t plan to go anywhere,” she replied. “I’m staying… For good this time.”

Everything about the situation felt so right. Once more, reminiscent of that time on the rooftop under the clear blue sky, your lips found hers. A shared breath, a shared moment. Her body felt warm against yours, her hands finding their place on either side of your face, as if she believed you might disappear if she ever let go of you again.

It was a gentle kiss, one of passion and of love.

It was a gentle kiss, one of longing and of need.

Your blue was becoming clearer than ever.

“Take me out,” she whispered. “Somewhere, anywhere… I just want to be with you.”

Your lips curled into a smile. “Aren’t you supposed to tell your Mom that I’m sorry for not drinking the tea?”

“Fuck that,” she giggled. “Take me somewhere.”

You thought about it for a moment.

“How does a tour of my place sound?”

***

Courage. That’s what it took in that moment to bridge the gap between you and Rei. It felt awkward to be vulnerable around her once more, to be honest and speak your mind around her. You had to re-open old wounds to re-establish that connection between the two of you.

But the effort paid off. 

With her back pressed against your apartment wall, your tongue dug into her mouth. She held your face tightly in her grasp, pulling you in, pulling you closer. She wasn’t going to let go, neither were you.

“Fuck… I forgot how good that felt,” she rasped. 

“I’ve always been a good kisser,” you winked back. 

“Now I’ve got a curse for you—Shut the fuck up.”

Your hand reached under her chin. “Make me.”

She did just that. 

Stumbling, pressing, pulling, tugging… She was far from gentle as she forced her lips on yours. Wild? Frantic? You had no words that could describe how rough she was. You weren’t too sure how you got into the bedroom, and you sure as hell weren’t sure about how your hand ended up beneath Rei’s jeans, but you knew that she was so incredibly needy. 

A smack of her lips. She broke away from you. 

“You always liked to rush into things,” she mused as she watched you unbutton her jeans.

“And you always talked a lot… Where do you find the energy to speak this much?”

Her jeans slide off her legs with ease.

“I dunno… Where do you find the energy to read manga after work?”

“How do you know what I do after work?”

She pointed off to the side. You followed her gaze to the shelf next to your bed. 

“Still into Jujutsu Kaisen huh?” 

You chuckled.  “Uh huh… But I’m into something new now…”

She smirked. “Let me guess… Me?”

She was spot on.

You took off your shirt. She unbuttoned her cardigan.

Unfasten, remove. Unfasten, remove. 

Skin to skin, you pressed your lips on hers. Your hands found the cool skin of her tummy, her hands rested on your shoulders.

“You have a great body Rei,” you told her. 

“Thanks… I’m rather proud of it.”

“As you should be.”

Her hands held your forearms, breath on your neck. Her bra was still on her. 

“May I take that off?” you politely requested. 

“I dunno…” she smirked, “do I want to let you take it off?”

“That’s up to you.”

With a smile, she reached behind her back.  “Give it a second… It takes a bit of manoeuvring.”

“I’m not planning to go anywhere,” you grinned. 

Her eyes met yours. Within Naoi Rei was your blue.

“Neither am I.”

click 

The fabric atop her chest loosened. Left strap, right strap. Off her body and onto the floor. Simple, quick and alluring. Rounded, shaped and inviting—Her tits sat proudly atop her chest, light nipples standing at attention. You found yourself gawking, a tightness growing in your underwear.

“It’s… It’s rude to stare you know,” she quipped.

You snapped out of it. “Sorry.”

“You better be… Did your mother not teach you how you should behave with a woman?”

You rolled your eyes. “Don’t bring my Mom into this.”

“I bet she’d be real disappointed if—”

Her gasp tore through her sentence. Your mouth found its place on her left breast, gently sucking on the nub atop the mound. Her hand slipped beneath the waistband of her panties.

“You’re so fucking wet,” you grinned. 

“All… Your fault,” she manages to retort, a hint of feistiness in her rebuttal. 

“You’re right. Let me take care of it.”

Your digits slipped past the dripping folds, entering the warmth of her insides as you started to feel around inside of her. Juices coated your fingers, flowing from the tip of your pointer to the base of your wrist. Sighs filled your ears. 

“Baby…” she whined. Her hips bucked when you found the soft patch of flesh on the roof of her walls. She didn’t hold back on her cries when you began to wiggle your fingers, fingertips vibrating back and forth about the same spot as she squirmed on the bed. Luscious thighs clamped around your hand, locking your wrist in place while you worked your magic on her. Her front teeth revealed themselves when she bit down on her lower lip. 

“So… Good…” was all she could say. Wracked with pleasure, driven by need… Rei was a work of art. “L-Like that… Just like that!”

You never remembered her to be this wanton. Then again, it was your first time with her. It was a new side to Rei, a breath of fresh air from the usual cutesy, lovey girl that she was around you. You never knew that she was so well endowed. Then again, Rei never wore anything that flaunted the curves of her body or the swell of her breasts. It was all new to you, a new sensation, a new feel.  Her hips were bucking. Filth continued to pour out of her parted lips. Your mouth found itself back on her erect nipples, giving them the attention that they deserved. Her hand found your head, nails digging into the back of your skull.

“That’s it… Suck them…” she rasped. “Suck my tits, they're yours…”

Your eyes caught hers as you looked up.  “All mine?” 

She nodded furiously. “All… Yours.”

A flurry of motion. Your fingers exit her. Rei’s panties are removed, thrown somewhere in your room. In a matter of seconds, you're positioned above her, cock lined up with her flushed lips.

“I’m gonna own you Rei,” you growled.

With visibly flushed cheeks, she smirked and challenged your gaze. “Less talk. More action.”

You entered her with one firm, strong stroke, burying yourself inside the tight flesh of her body. Rei lets a long, drawn-out moan out as she’s filled with your cock. The moan soon turned into a long string of pleasurable sounds as you began fucking her. Her thighs opened, spread and stayed that way as you begin to fuck her with quick and strong thrusts, firmly spearing yourself within her and making sure she felt each entry and exit in and out of her tight body.

Your delight peaked at the sight before you—Those perfect curves of hers, those large round breasts and her full, flushed thighs bouncing and quivering with each thrust. Her eyes were half-lidded with pleasure, locked on yours from the moment you entered. The blue was replaced with lust and need. 

“So fucking good…” she moaned. “More… Give me more…”

You entered her harder, deeper. You move your palm up her body to capture one of her bouncing breasts. The feel of her sweat beneath your skin as you palmed the soft flesh was titillating. Her hardened nipple poked out between your fingers as you squeezed the sensitive flesh with your hand. Rei clasped your hand on her tits with one of her own. She squeezed your hand, passionate and encouraging, urging you to tighten your grip on her mounds. The soft curse that escaped her lips when you obliged told you everything she wanted you to know—She wanted it. She wanted you. 

“I’m gonna cum,” she said. The way she conveyed it only urged you to do more. Your movements became more urgent. Though your own orgasm was building, you resolved to make sure she enjoyed hers first.

The hand clutching yours on her breast squeezed your own tighter and tighter. With her body almost completely flushed against yours you increased the tempo of your hips as they crashed against hers. Your hand left her breasts, sliding down to grip her full hips, pulling her into your crotch as you thrusted into her. You slammed her against your body even as you thrusted deep with your shaft, impaling her as hard as you could with each thrust.

“Oh God!,” Rei cursed, “I’m gonna cum so hard! Oh! I’m so close… I’m gonna cum… I’m gonna—”

You silence her with a hand around her throat. “Do it, Rei. Cum for me.”

A dark look crossed Rei’s face. As if on command, Rei did just that. You watched as she was ruined by pleasure, losing control of her movements as she withered helplessly on top of your mattress. Her pussy pulsated around you, tightening and loosening, clamping down fiercely around your shaft. Her mouth opened—a soft, strained moan, one of pure pleasure, a gentle release of emotion. You released the hand around her throat.

You slowed your thrusts, letting her slowly wind down from the high while keeping your own orgasm at bay. Sweat glistened on her milky skin, her chest heaving. Her eyes were shut, lips parted to let sweet, fresh oxygen enter her body as she breathed deeply. 

“Why… Are you so good at this?” she huffed.

“I think I’m just a natural,” you grinned. 

Rei rolled her eyes. “You little narcissist. Come here.”

Her lips graced yours. The must of her sweat was wafting into your nose now, but you couldn’t care less. 

“Hey,” she called after you’d broken the seal. “You’re my first…”

You let that sink in. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yep… One and only baby…”

“Wow… I guess I’m… Honoured?” you responded. Rei laughed and pushed your hair out of your eyes. 

“Now’s not the time to tell me how you feel,” she lectured, “now’s the time to make me scream and make a mess out of your place.”

“We’ll have to clean up though…”

She smacked you on the shoulder. “Figure of speech dummy.”

You chuckled. “You know me—I’m bad with words.”

Rei giggled, resting a hand on your chest.

“But you’re not too bad with your actions,” she simpered, “so why don’t you talk less and do more?”

You challenged the jeer head on. “You sure?”

She sat on it for a moment. A familiar grin made its way up her face.

“Are you gonna make me change my mind?” she asked.

“Depends… What if I can?”

“I’ll… Buy you lunch for a month.”

You let yourself grin. “Same wager as last time huh?”

“I guess,” she shrugged. “Now how expensive is your couch?”

***

You were certain that you were bleeding from at least four points on your head, but you didn’t really care. Rei’s nails dug into your skull, acute pricks of pain littering your skull as she moaned your name. You’d found another way to make her squirm.

Your mouth on her crotch drove her off the rails, the loud gasp that left her throat being the biggest indication. You delivered long, slow licks from bottom to top, the flat of your tongue covering every bit of her pussy before settling on her clit. You swirled the tip of it around the hard little bud, bittersweet and tangy taste of her juices flooding your mouth. Her warm, sticky thighs wrapped themselves around your face, keeping you right where you want to be—Between the pillow heaven of her thighs and right in front of that dripping slit.

“Oh… Oh fuck… You eat me… So good,” Rei drawled. Her voice had taken on a new tone, the pleasure coursing through her body filling the filth spilling forth with generous amounts of need.

She’d make a great singer. You thought to yourself as she started to practically flatten you on her pussy. You wondered why all those agencies turned down a honey sweet voice like hers. 

Then again, she wouldn’t be moaning the way she was in an audition. Maybe she would if it was a casting call.

“Oh keep going… I’m so close,” Rei rasped, hips thrusting upwards in a desperation to chase her second orgasm for the night. You were happy to make her cum as many times as she liked. Your goal was to divulge every single method that would make her squirm after all. 

Pure filth—raw, unfiltered curses and explanations began streaming out of those parted lips. Her body tensed, her eyes rolled. 

The quickly built orgasm took Rei completely by surprise. She twitched, quivered, writhed on your couch as the pleasure completely overwhelmed her. You could hardly hold on to her wildly shaking thighs, struggling to keep your mouth locked onto her crotch as she thrashed about. Her sweet fluids dribbled down your chin, dripping onto your couch and ensuring you a rather complicated clean up. A future problem for future you to solve. 

She pushed you off her, her upper limit reached. Her head hit the cushioning of the couch, tremulous legs barely able to stay upright. 

“Change your mind yet?” you jeered.

“Fuck… You…” she managed to spit.

“Ah… Guess not,” you huffed. 

Maybe you needed something fresh…

***

“B-Baby…”

With her slim tummy pressed up against your kitchen counter, you pushed her hair over her shoulder so that you could see the delicious curve of her back. You looked down, watching as your rock hard cock disappeared and reappeared between the folds of her tight little pussy. Your shaft glistened with her fluids, lubricating your member to the point where you were sliding in and out of her almost effortlessly. 

“Harder,” she pleaded, “fuck me harder…”

Both your hands reached around her small frame to fondle those amazing breasts. “You sure.”

She nodded vigorously. 

“I’m a good girl… I can take it…” she whined, “Please… Give it to me…”

There was something about the way she vocalised her infinite need. A certain feel, a certain tone… Whatever it was, a dark part of you relished the way she pleaded to be fucked the way she liked it.

It turned you on to no end. 

Your right hand tore itself away from her breast, snaking up her collarbone and wrapping itself around her throat. Without warning, you applied pressure to her windpipe. A raspy gasp left her as you start to properly fuck her, giving it to her just the way she wants.

“Yes… Y-Yes baby…” she mewled, “fuck me… Fuck me like this… Own me.”

She had said it. She was yours for the taking. 

Drilling in and out of the tight hot warmth of her body, you railed her with quick deep strokes. With each stroke, you concentrated on pumping hard and fast, filling her as much as you could while you relished the tightness of the flesh wrapped around your cock. Skin slapped against skin, mixing with the delightful squelch of her pussy as the two sound waves mixed into an arousing symphony of pleasure. To top it all off, Rei’s strained cries floated above the sounds, filling your ears and filling your desire to make her quiver on your cock.

“Ugh…” Rei strained. She was gripping the counter with a knuckle-white grip, desperately trying to release her pleasure somewhere, anywhere. Her tightness was overwhelming—overwhelmingly tight and hot, overwhelmingly wet and slick. It grasped you tightly with each entrance, just like a glove. It sucked you in, held you, then released you. It was working all sorts of wonders on your body. 

“God Rei… I love your tight little pussy,” you growled into her ear. The hand around your throat limits her to a series of grunts and moans to reply to you. You pinched her nipple with your free hand. Her pussy clenched tighter around you. Her hand finds your one on her throat. She squeezed it tighter. 

“Har… Der…”

You weren’t one to refuse. 

You were practically ramming yourself against her. All the while, her eyes are glued to yours as she looks over her shoulder at you, those eyes glazed with pleasure and lust and just a hint of blue in her eyes, face twisted in a vinous mix of pain and pleasure—unfiltered lust. 

Soon Rei was cumming. Her mouth opened in a frozen, wordless “O”, her body tightening and pulsing around you. Her small, curvy frame quivered and shook as she momentarily lost control of herself for the nth time that night. You slowed your thrusts, gradually coming to a stop just as the tingle in your shaft was at its peak. You wanted to save the load for when she officially changed her mind. 

You almost forget about your hand clasped around her throat as you watched her cum. It was only when she frantically tapped on your hand did you release her throat from your grasp. She gasped, sweet sweet oxygen refilling her lungs as she slumped forward on your kitchen counter. 

“Shit… You okay Rei?” you asked with genuine concern. She gulped down another breath of air. 

“I… Still… Don’t change…” she panted. She didn’t need to complete her sentence, you knew what she meant.

“Feisty little duckling,” you sighed. It was getting frustrating. Your cock was aching for the sweet release of your orgasm. 

But your ego wouldn’t let you cum before she yielded. You decided that perhaps a nice warm shower could change her mentality.

***

The warm water fell over both of your bodies. Her skin took on a smooth, creamy and quality as it flowed over her perfect body, flowing over her round breasts and flying from her outstretched toes as her legs shook with each thrust. Blonde hair was plastered to her face, her cute features twisted by lust and pleasure. Nails dug into your back, arms pressing you tighter against her. Her pulsing pussy tightened around your shaft, a sign of yet another impending orgasm. You redouble your efforts.

“Cumming… Again?” you half grunted, half teased.

“Yes! Oh fuck I’m so close!” she shamelessly admitted.

Adjusting your grip on her tender ass, you lengthened your thrusts. Deep, hard and fast—you fucked Rei with her back against the cool tile, eliciting cries that echoed throughout your shower. Rei wrapped her legs around your waist, spreading her legs wider for you to get as deep as you could possibly go. She was holding on, grounding herself in the midst of her pleasure while she was being fucked senseless.

“Fuck Rei,” you hissed. “You're so fucking tight.”

“So… Full…” she managed. “I’ll… Never… Fuck…”

She could barely form sentences, the corner of her brain in charge of that rendered useless by the throbbing, rock hard meat that relentlessly slid in and out of her pussy. You had been relentless with your assault, thrusting frantically between her thighs from the get go. Your pride didn’t allow you to cum before Rei yielded. Till she did, you would gladly fuck her, finger her, eat her out… You’d make her cum a hundred times over if it meant beating her. 

You shouldn’t be this competitive considering the fact you’d just reunited with her, but something about the carnal way you fucked her and the cries you forced out of that mouth of hers made you believe that she’s enjoying every second of what was happening. She wanted it, loved it, needed it. She was about to break soon, you could feel it.

Her will finally snapped, the last straw on the camel's back laid. Willingly, she dug her face into the crook of your neck.

“Fuck the wager… I… I just need you,” she admitted. “Please… Cum together with me.”

A small sense of euphoria filled you, but it was quickly replaced by the pent up lust within your being. For the next few minutes there were no more words, only the sound of wet flesh hitting wet flesh and the long, uninterrupted stream of wordless moans escaping Rei’s mouth as she willingly gave in to you against the shower wall. Forehead against hers, your measure ploughed her wet, hot pussy again and again, her tight body rocked from head to toe with each impact of your crotch against her own.

Then in a moment of sheer bliss, you both groaned and succumbed to your orgasms. The pleasure that flooded your body was indescribable, warm, hot semen erupts from your shaft into Rei’s pulsating, welcoming depths that milked you of every last drop. Basking in the intimate moment, you held her close to you, her breath filling your ear to the backdrop of the falling water. 

When you pulled out of her, a thick load came oozing out of her creamy little pussy. Her eyes opened, held your gaze… You let yourself swim in the blue that had found its way back into her eyes, as if it never left this whole time. 

“I guess… I changed my mind,” she panted. You chuckled weakly.

“That’s what I thought.”

***

As it would turn out, you’d share a lot more firsts with Rei. Her first time buying a Shinkansen bento, her first ride on a Shinkansen, her first time out of Nagoya… You had the privilege of enjoying these experiences that were all new to her by her side. You’d forgotten what it was like to have her in your life, but the familiarity of dating Rei would come back sooner than you thought. 

Kisses, hugs, whispers. 

“I love you”s, jokes, petty bickering.

Her hand in yours, the blue in her eyes, that smile on her face. 

It all felt so nostalgic, teenage years flying right before your eyes. You’d both aged, but you were both the same teenagers that fell in love all those years ago. She was your everlasting blue, a blue that would never go out of style.

One new thing in your relationship was working together. She had a serious side to her that you were getting familiar with, and she was getting used to your task oriented nature. Notebooks filled with your different handwritings, diagrams were analysed and discussed. You wondered why you never got to work with her sooner. 

Another thing that was new was the sex and the fact that you were working together now. The night before you were both scheduled to leave, you’d learnt that she could fit your whole length into her mouth without gagging. The morning you were set to leave, you learnt that she loved the feeling of being choked while taking your cock in and out of her dripping pussy. The night you got back to the hotel after a briefing, you learnt that she had a tendency to let her hands drift all over you in the shower. She also had a tendency to moan extra loudly while you fucked her atop the sink. 

New day, new things.

“You ever think about dying sometimes?”

You raised your head from your notebook to stare at Rei. With her head resting on a pillow, she stared up at the ceiling.

“Where is this coming from?” you couldn’t help but ask. 

Rei shrugged. “Dunno… Just thought about it…”

“That is a horrible way to think…” 

“And this is coming from the guy working at 10pm?”

You shut the book and sighed. 

“Someone has to be responsible…”

“And that’s my problem because?”

Your lips formed a thin line. You smacked her with your book. 

She yelped. “Hey!” 

“Cry about it,” you replied. 

Rei pouted and sat up. “So this is what I get for trying to initiate conversation.”

“Who starts a conversion by talking about death?” you questioned.

“Me, dummy,” she retorted. 

“I worry for your boss… He wants you to talk to clients?”

She snatched your book away from you. “Nag, nag nag… Jesus, you’re like my Mom!”

You clicked your tongue and snatched your book right back. 

“Someone has to parent your childish ass,” you muttered.

Rei’s haughty expression softened. 

“Yea…” she chuckled. “Guess you’re the best person to take care of me huh?” 

You let out a small laugh. She shifted herself closer to you. 

“You okay?” she asked you. You nodded.

“I’m fine…” you assured her, “just a little tired”

“It’s fine,” she brushed it off, “I understand.”

Rei yawned next to you. You slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to you as you opened your notebook back up.

“You wanna know something?” she asked. 

“What?”

She rested her head on her shoulder. A soft, warm whisper filled your ear. “I love you.”

You didn’t need to look into her eyes to know that the blue was being reflected in her eyes. Your blue would always reside there after all.

For she was Naoi Rei—The girl that shattered your heart and put it back together again. She loved you. She always did.

And you loved her too.

/_______________________\

If you made it all the way here. Thank you so much for reading. I sincerely appreciate all the support you've given me. Have a great day :)

#naoi rei #kpop #smut #rei ive #writing

[softtdaisy]

🌲 save us for later l pierre gasly

summary. Christmas could have been great. if pierre didn't forget to tell his parents you broke. and you didn't have to pretend you were still together.

words count. 2,434

a/n. ok I'm totally obsessed with this one and I really hope you will love it as much as I do🫶

a very angsty Christmas l masterlist

“I can’t believe you did that.” 

You heard Pierre sigh by your side, like he was already tired of this situation.

Like it wasn’t his fault if you were there today. What a joke.

“You don’t even try to understand.” he added, still focused on the road to not look at you. You noticed he was gripping the wheel so hard his joints were white. Or how he was biting his lips so badly, a habit you helped him to cease doing but apparently he didn’t stop, it was almost bleeding. 

But you couldn’t care less. Because this was so typical of Pierre: putting the blame on you by saying you didn’t want to hear his explanation.

“Oh.” you laughed nervously, turning to look at him. “Maybe you’re right.” you took a break long enough for him to frown, wondering if you really agreed with him. He knew for sure that during your past arguments, none of you would flinch this easily. 

“I really can’t fucking understand how you could lie to your parents and pretend we are still together, Pierre.” 

“What was I supposed to do?

“Tell the fucking truth.” you replied, slamming your hand on the dashboard. 

This was absolutely not how you planned your Christmas’ eve. 

Well, to be honest, you didn’t plan much. Your parents were away for the holiday and you were just going to eat some homemade food in front of a christmas movie. Nothing much but a well appreciated evening.

For sure, you didn’t plan on spending it with your ex-boyfriend and his family.

Pierre suddenly drove on the sideway and stopped there, getting some horns from annoyed drivers. You looked at him with confusion, he wasn’t the reckless driver type. Obviously. It was his habit to scare you when you shared the car.

He stopped the car and turned to you. “I fucked up, ok? I know that. On so many levels.” you rolled your eyes at this and held back any bad comments. “But everything went fast after our breakup. I haven't seen them since this summer and I couldn’t announce that we broke off our engagement through the phone. When my mom said they were waiting for us tonight, I didn’t have the heart to ruin their christmas. You can blame me for lying. But don’t fucking blame me for protecting my parents for god sake!”

Pierre was right. You knew it. 

It was something you’ve always kinda admired about him: how his family would always go first. You couldn’t count the number of hours you waited for him in the hotel room, ready to go out and celebrate, while he was on the phone with his parents or his brothers. For sure, you would be a liar to blame him for something you’ve always encouraged him to do.

Especially considering that you accepted to play pretend tonight for the sake of protecting them, too. 

When Pierre called you tonight, you didn’t answer. When he texted you, you barely read the message.

When he knocked on your door, you didn’t have any other choice than to open.

And when he told you, you needed to come with him at his parents’ place to act like a couple even though you’ve been apart for three months now because he still hasn't told them about you…well you laughed. Nervously. And argued a lot.

Then you realised you didn’t want to be the bad person in this narrative. What was one night in a whole life?

You sighed, still looking at Pierre. He still hasn’t moved, waiting for an answer from you. You got lost in each other’s eyes.

And that was the thing that convinced you to come. The fact that he was ready to bring you back home if you really didn’t want to accompany him.

“Fine.” you sat back normally. “You could have told them I wasn’t available.” 

You heard Pierre laugh softly. “You still want to have the last word I see.”

Most of the ride went quietly after that. Pierre put on some music and you answered most of your texts. You only started to talk again ten minutes before you arrived to make sure you had the same ideas in mind. No break up, you were still planning your wedding and happy as before. And the reason you didn’t see his family in so long was simply a lack of time from both of you. 

“And…” Pierre started once he was parked in front of his family house. You frowned, wondering what you could have potentially forgotten. You memorised everything and it wouldn’t be that hard to pretend after a three year relationship.

But then it hit you when he took the box out of his pocket. “I almost forgot it at home but it’s here.” 

You remember when Pierre proposed to you. 

You went to Greece during the summer break, last year. One night, while you were walking around the city, you found a place that was recreating Mamma Mia and invited everyone to sing and have fun. And so you went there, singing Abba the whole night. At some point during the night, after a kiss that lasted longer than it should in public, Pierre looked at you with a big smile and said “I want to marry you.” You laughed, thinking he was joking. But he wasn’t. “I meant it. Would you marry me?” and this time you started to cry, nodding so hard you had a neckache. 

You later learnt that Pierre had imagined a whole different scenario for the proposal. But it spoke with his heart and did it when it felt perfectly right.

And tonight, you were putting back the ring you worshipped with your whole heart. “It feels weird.” you whispered. 

Pierre didn’t answer and simply left the car. It was hard for him too. Acting like he didn’t lose the woman of his life over stupid decisions.

“Vous voilà! Je suis tellement contente de vous voir.” (oh there you are! I’m so happy to see you)

Before you even got the chance to prepare yourself in front of the door, Pierre’s mom opened it and took you both in her arms. You couldn’t lie, it felt good to see her and feel just as appreciated as before. Like nothing changed. And it was the truth, somehow. For his mom, nothing has changed. You were still her son’s fiancé, the one she almost saw as a daughter.

You looked at them, the way she kept touching his face to see any changes. And, what she told you one day, if he had any scars from races he tried to hide from her. You had this weird feeling of being home. Like you were right where you belong. For a second, you were back a year ago, when everything was perfectly fine. 

But then it hit you when Pierre took your hand to bring you inside to see everyone. It always felt natural when you were holding hands. In one of your birthday cards, you told him he must be your soulmate simply because your hands seemed to be held by the other. 

Tonight, it didn’t feel natural. It was hesitant. Pierre wasn’t confident about closing his fingers on yours and you could feel it.

Everybody seemed so happy to see. They all see you as an official member of their family. And it would be lying to say you weren’t happy to be by their side too. 

It helped that you didn’t see much of them for months. You spend the first two hours of the night talking with everyone but Pierre. Asking about their life, their own family, their friends… you had many things to learn. And you avoided some questions. That was one of the rules you established with Pierre. Pretend that the wedding was a big secret you couldn’t tell a thing about. For the rest, you just made the truth prettier.

Sure, you started a new job. But you didn’t admit it was a full time one because you didn’t go to the races anymore.

Yes, your pet was doing so fine. You just had to find the right pictures that would show your new apartment. 

No, you still haven’t decided where you would spend the winter break with Pierre. Because you weren’t going on any holiday anymore. At least, not together.

The dinner was a little harder to live. Because you sat next to Pierre, like it was planned. Like it has always been. And this time, compared to the whole drive, you felt more trapped. Because you couldn’t roll your eyes at what he was saying, or avoid his hand when he tried to touch you. Everyone would notice that and understand that something was wrong. You had to be careful.

So careful that, at some point during the evening, you even forgot why you were acting like that. You got lost in his stories about races you went to and especially those you miss after your breakup. You laughed at his joke, sympathised with his bad moments and cheered at the podium you missed.

You remember that day, or night actually for you. You didn’t watch the end of the season after your separation but you still had the notifications from the official account. So you knew the results. And when you learnt that Pierre had secured a second place on the podium, you almost called him. It was still a natural reflex: this desire of celebrating with your loved one.

But you didn’t. You didn’t even send him a text. And for one good reason: the last text you got from him was simply “Je suis désolé” (i am sorry) and you couldn’t handle the pain of going through the pain again. 

There had been hard times these past months where you almost forgive Pierre for breaking your engagement. There had been many times where you still wanted to call him and insult him for breaking up just because he woke up one day and realised this was maybe not what he wanted for his future.

What was this? This has been the question you’ve asked yourself many, many times. Was it your couple, your wedding or just you? You had no idea. Pierre couldn’t even explain it himself. He just knew that it wouldn’t be fair to keep pretending he was happy in a life he learnt to despise.

And it was now, sitting by his side, that you realised you had overcome all these mixed feelings. You felt alright. Not good, because the wound was still wide open. But you had accepted it. You would never marry Pierre. And you didn’t want to anymore.

After he finished telling the story of the last race of the season and the battle of champagne he had with Charles, while everyone was talking together, Pierre turned to you. You both got lost in each other's eyes. And you were convinced his little smile was a soft thank you. For being here, for lying, for…being happy. 

Because it hadn’t been easy months for Pierre either. Many times he woke up, thinking he had made the worst decision of his life. And some morning, he still wonders if he didn’t lose you for nothing. And those questions weren’t created by some insecurities about his happiness because he knew that he felt happier without this weight on his shoulder. But because he was scared he had ruined you. He would have accepted to be miserable for the rest of his life over this stupid. But he couldn’t accept hurting you forever.

But tonight, you both realised that maybe, things were going better for the both of you. And maybe, that night, was the one you both needed to start healing.

This helps the rest of the night go smoothly. You played games together, laughed together without thinking about the lie you were telling everyone. Even the drive back home felt natural, you talked about his family a lot. He even asked about yours. It was a whole different from the outward journey earlier. 

Pierre insisted on walking to your door with you. “It wasn’t that bad, right?” you couldn’t help but smile at him. He had this kind of unserious almost flirty tone like he needed to prove to himself and to you that he was right, in the end. It wasn’t such a terrible thing to do. 

You crossed your arms on your chest, a way to protect your heart from opening itself again. “No it wasn’t. You’re right.” he shrugged like it wasn’t such a surprise and you immediately hit him in the chest. You both laughed and oh how it felt good to be this lighthearted again for a few minutes. 

It meant more than you imagined that you were standing in front of your door, with your ex-fiancé in front of you. When you could already be in the bed but rather got lost in his eyes. Because you knew exactly what this moment was. And deep down, you weren’t ready to let it go.

You could hear Pierre talk before he even opened his mouth. “We were good together, huh?” you tried to not focus on his glossy eyes or the way he was playing with his fingers. 

“Yeah, we were.” you smiled, containing your own tears from falling. “It was good while it lasted.” 

Pierre crossed the few steps between you. You closed your eyes when you felt his lips on your forehead. Such a kind and sweet attention you remember he had when you started dating. When, for the first time maybe in his life, he wanted to take things slow to make them last. But this time, there were no other moments to share. And you had to watch him leave your place.

For the last time. 

You finally put the key in the door, taking your time to not close this chapter of your life too fast. “Eh!” you jumped, turning around immediately and saw Pierre holding the elevator’s door open. “You know I'll still love you, right?”

“I do.” you tried to ignore this weird feeling in your stomach, not waiting to think about the fact you ended up saying the two words you would never say to him. “Me too.” 

There lies the truth. You loved each other. Still. 

But you couldn’t be together anymore.

And so when you finally opened the front door and got inside. When Pierre finally let the elevator closed on him and brought him back to his car. You both knew what it meant.

#pierre gasly #pierre gasly x reader #pierre gasly imagine #pierre gasly x y/n #pierre gasly x you #pierre gasly story #pierre gasly fanfic #pierre gasly fin #f1 #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 fic #formula 1 #my writing

[reidsmouthbabys48]

“You’ve been out of it all day kid, you alright?” Morgan whispers next to me nudging me in the arm. y/n is sitting in the passenger seat of the fbi car and the last thing I want is her to find out that I’ve been “out of it” because I was to busy thinking about how I’m going to confess my undying love for her - I figured it out I’m gonna write her a love note using quotes from her favorite pomes-. “I’m fine Morgan” I whisper back “bullshit” Morgan mumbles “not bullshit” I retaliate rolling my eyes.

“What are you boys whisper fighting about back there? Do I really need to separate you like you’re children?” Y/n says from the passenger seat.

“Sorry mamas” Morgan says with a smirk.

“Good, spencer?” She says turning around to look at me my face flushes “s-sorry ma’am” I mutter.

“Good boy, now no more bickering” she says, my face is bright red when she winks at me. I’m ashamed of the way my pants tighten at her comment even though it was a joke, I wanna be her good boy…

“Ok guys were here ready to get on the jet?” Hotch says from the drivers seat. Me, Morgan, and y/n climb out of the car and make our way onto the jet. I find a seat near the bathroom and pull my notebook out of my satchel to write her note, I want her to know how I feel about her even if she doesn’t feel the same.

When we get back to Virginia headquarters me and y/n are talking while she waits for her taxi home, I slip the note into her back pocket as she digs in her purse for her phone.

On my way home my heart is racing and I’m sure she will never want to talk to me again let alone feel the same when she reads the note but little did I know…

Y/n pov:

I finally get home as soon as I walk through the door I drop all my things on the floor and toss my keys on the kitchen table. I get to my room and start stripping off my work clothes, I pull a white tank top and some pretty tight sleep shorts out of my dresser and pull the on, something catches my eye as I’m changing and I pull a piece of paper out of the pocket of my work pants.

I opened it as I flop on my stomach onto my bed.

The note reads:

You’re eyes are as blue as the sea if I didn’t have you to pull me out I could stare into them for so long I’d lose all sense of direction.

Your smile could light up a room full of the saddest people in the world.

Your body was blessed by the gods every dip and curve is perfect.

If I look at your freckles for long enough I’m sure I could find Constellations.

I’m so deathly in love you y/n y/l/n.

- yours sincerely spencer Reid.

My eyes practically fall out of my head when i read the name at the bottom. Spencer Reid? My Spencer Reid? Boy genius spencer Reid? Spencer Reid I’ve had a crush on for 2 years spencer Reid?

I’m now pacing around my room it’s raining outside but I open my front door and step outside, it’s summer so the rain is warm. Spencer only lives a block away so I grab my flipflops and close my apartment door and run to his apartment.

My tank top is glued to my chest my hair is sticking to my face there is rain in my eyes but I knock on Spencer’s door and when he opens I’m met with the hottest sight ever, he’s wearing his glasses with no shirt on, his hair is wet, and he’s wearing the Cookie Monster pajama pants I got him for his birthday.

“Y/n?” He says his voice slightly gruff.

“I- damn spencer you look great. Anyway I got your note…” I say breathless.

“Oh uh yea it’s totally ok if you don’t feel the same but I just wanted to put myself out there like you taught me” he says rubbing his neck nervously. I don’t know any other way to show him how I feel so I walk in and pull him down to my height to whisper in his ear “kiss me spencer” I say and he grabs my waist and kisses me like he hasn’t kissed a woman In years.

#sub spencer reid #fluff #spencer reid smut #slow burn #friends to lovers

[hearts4hughes]

prompt 16 with jack hughes pleaseee

wakeboarding - jack hughes

jack hughes x fem! reader

100 followers celly!!

warnings: swearing, light kissing

notes: i don’t know if i like how this ends, but enjoy reading!

✨: “oh yeah? well then make me.” “my pleasure.”

gif is not mine

spending my weeks at the hughes’ lake house is always the highlight of my summer. i get to hang out with my best friends, luke and quinn, and my boyfriend, jack. this is my first year attending as jack’s official girlfriend, so the taunting and teasing from quinn and luke was at an all time high.

currently, i’m outside tanning, while the boys get ready to go wakeboarding. i’ve never been a fan of any type of surfing, especially wakeboarding. i tried it once and completely embarrassed myself. then, i tried it again, and even though i did good, no one let me forget what happened the time before.

“you coming with us, babe?” jack asks, jogging up towards me and sitting down on the chair next to me. i remove my sunglasses to get a good look at him.

god, he’s so cute.

“you’re adorable, but there’s no way i’m going on that boat with you.” i raise my eyebrows, pull a loud laugh out of him.

“c’mon! we won’t make fun of you this time!” he pleads, doing a fake pout. i giggle at his ‘very convincing’ argument, running my hand through his long hair.

“very convincing and i believe you,” i respond, giving him false hope, “but, no thanks.”

he throws his head back and whines ‘y/n’, really dragging out the syllables in my name. i mock him and do the same in return and a smile starts to tug on his lips.

“it’s not going to be fun without you. you have to come.” he mumbles as his big head falls into the crook of my neck. he lays soft kisses along my jaw and finally down to the ticklish spot on my neck. i bark out a laugh, pulling him away from my neck.

“oh yeah? well then make me?” i taunt. just as the words leave my mouth, i regret saying it. jack’s eyes light up like a child’s and i know exactly what he’s going to do next.

“my pleasure.” he grins, rising to his feet. before i can protest, i’m being thrown over jack’s shoulder.

“jack!” i scream, kicking, hitting, and wiggling, doing whatever i could to be released from his hold.

“what? you said make me.” he uses my own words against me and i can hear the cockiness in his voice. jack begins walking towards the dock, where the boat is tied up. i can’t see them, but i hear quinn, luke, and trevor all laughing as jack doesn’t even struggle to carry me.

accepting my fate, i go limp, allowing jack to carefully step onto the boat. once we are fully in, he sets me down. he stares at me with a big smile as i give him nothing, but dirty looks in response. the boat starts to take off and i sit down.

“you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.” luke whispers to jack, causing a hardy laugh to come out of both of them. i send them a glare as i flip them the finger and mouth ‘fuck you’.

**

we’ve been out on the water for about an hour, before everyone convinces me to give wakeboarding another chance.

nervously, i step into the board and steady myself. trevor puts the boat in neutral and we begin to slowly move forward. for a moment, i lose my balance and wobble, but when trevor starts to speed up, i stay perfectly balanced on the board.

“oh my god,” i exclaim, “i’m doing it!” my eyes flick between everyone in the boat, making sure they see how good i’m doing.

quinn has his phone out, recording this for evidence- like i told him to do before. luke giggles, waiting for me to wipe out, and jack watches me proudly.

“you’re doing so well, baby!” jack encourages. he wears a proud and excited smile on his face as he watches me balance on the board.

just as i’m staying completely steady, jack steps onto the boat seat. my eyes go wide, “what are you doing?!”

i don’t hear his response before he jumps off the motorboat, knocking me off the board. my head submerges in the water for a moment as my life jacket brings me to the surface again. i blink the water out of my eyes, trying to get all my senses back. when my eyes fully open, i see jack laughing his ass off.

“you dick!” i yell at him, playfully hitting him in the arm. “i was doing so well.” i pout, trying to make him feel bad.

he giggles, reaching out to grab onto me. we stay in the cold water, wrapped around each other. his cold hands cup my face and he presses our lips together. he tastes like lake water and the mint gum he was just chewing. the kiss is short, but just as i pull back, jack connects our lips once again. we ignore the whistling and cheering from the guys on the boat and continue to enjoy kissing each other.

#hearts4hughes #jack hughes #jack hughes imagines #jack hughes x reader #nhl imagine #hockey blurb #nora's writings 💐

[randomshyperson]

Wanda Maximoff x Reader - Summer Crush

Summary: The one where Wanda has a summer crush on the club's lifeguard. || Requested

Warnings: (+18), kissing, semi-public make out, smut, oral (r giving), nipple play, bottom!wanda, high school AU but summer vacations, some teasing and dirty talk, mutual pining, cursing, fluff, jokes and drinking. || Words: 4.815k

All Works Masterlist || AO3 || Wattpad ||

--//--

Despite Pietro's teasing, Wanda simply couldn't help herself.

You hardly knew of her existence - she thought it was a great victory that you knew her name - and yet, in a sacred sort of way, she came to the club every day since the summer began.

At first, it was something unintentional. Her friends, and her brother especially, insisted that she shouldn't spend the whole summer locked up in her room and dragged her to the Westview Municipal Club. Pietro and Yelena were already well known there - they had spent the last two summers betting on who could get more phone numbers from the countless girls who came to town during the vacations - and they had no problem introducing Wanda to half of the staff who worked there.  That's how she met you.

Charming and unapproachable. You went to public school, unlike Wanda and her friends, and worked at the club as a lifeguard both after school and in the summer. Wanda considered leaving the expensive boarding school she went just so she could have the same classes as you, but the idea seemed absurd after some thought. 

Her last hope was to voluntarily visit the club every day of the week, causing surprise even to her extroverted twin and best friend. Yelena realized that there was something out of the ordinary before the boy did.

"Okay, Wanda, tell me who it is." Asked the blonde with an expression between serious and provocative, when the two of them were comfortable on the beach chairs and Pietro was far enough away in the pool. 

Wanda - who until the moment had been pretending to read a book while stealing glances between the lifeguard's empty chair and the locker room door, waiting for you to arrive - frowned in confusion.

"Excuse me?" 

Yelena laughed, crossing her arms. "I love your company, but after all these years of being your friend, I know you hate it here and would rather be at home with your headphones on than in the hot sun. So tell me, who are you doing this for?"

Wanda looked at her friend, letting out a short laugh.

"If I tell you I've changed over the summer will you believe me?"

"Not a chance."

With a sigh, Wanda closes the book and settles into her chair, crossing her legs and turning her face to Yelena. "Okay. Maybe I have a little crush."

"I knew it." Yelena comments excitedly, mimicking her friend's posture.  "Is it on the surfboard boy? He seems interested."

Wanda makes a disgusted face. "What? No, by god. He's in my calculus class, did you know that? He tried to take a picture under my skirt once."

Yelena immediately widened her eyes and made mention of getting up, ready to start a fight. Wanda rushed over to hold her forearm, assuring her that that was a long time ago and was no longer a problem. 

"I was talking about Y/N." She decides to tell then, and the surprise is enough to get Yelena's full attention.

"Oh my god, the lifeguard?" She exclaimed loud enough for Wanda to feel her face heat up at the curious glances of a passing couple. She mumbled for her friend to lower her voice, and Lena gave an apologetic chuckle before doing so. "I totally get it though, she's so hot. Good thing I never tried to ask her out, that would have been awkward."

Wanda raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why have you never tried?"

Yelena puts a hand under her chin as if trying to remember. "I think I tried actually.... yes, the first summer. She told me she had a girlfriend."

"Oh." Wanda muttered disappointedly.

Seeing her friend's expression, Yelena quickly patted her thighs.

"Hey, that was ages ago!" She comments. "I've never seen her wear a ring, and honestly, she doesn't need to check us out as much as she does. I bet she's interested too."

Wanda bites her lip thoughtfully, a thread of hope rising in her chest. It's perfect timing for your shift to begin as well, and she looks away from Yelena when she recognizes your figure coming out of the locker room. 

She can't help the flutter that rises in her stomach or the warmth in her cheeks that spreads to the rest of her body when she lets her gaze wander to the amount of skin exposed by the uniform. When you smile gently after giving instructions to other people, her heart skips two beats in a row.

She is probably staring. Definitely. But she only stops when as soon as you climb into the lifeguard chair, and your gaze scans the pool, you meet her and Wanda feels her face burn, immediately turning away.

Yelena watched the scene in disbelief and amusement.

"That was the gayest thing I've ever seen in my life." Comments the blonde, and Wanda mumbles in shame, burying her face in both hands. Yelena laughs, "Why don't you ask her out?"

"And I'll say what? Hey, I know we don't know each other and I've been showing up at your work for two weeks, but I think you're pretty. Do you want to get laid?"

"Who's going to get laid?" Pietro intervenes in the conversation, having swum in close at that very moment. He rests his arms on the edge of the pool, and his sudden appearance only worsens the red of embarrassment in his sister's cheeks. Yelena lets out another laugh. 

"Did you know that Wanda is crushing the lifeguard?" The blonde questions, ignoring the brunette's slaps of protest at the exposure of the secret. Pietro raises his eyebrow.

"Y/N? That's funny."

Wanda stops attacking Yelena immediately with the sentence and turns around with a frown creased in curiosity and confusion. 

"Why is it funny?" She asks. Pietro shrugs his shoulders.

"She asked me if you were single." He declares with a simplicity that doesn't match the way Wanda's heart speeds up.

"What?" she exclaims, but Pietro shrugs his shoulders again.

"Yeah, a long time ago actually." He comments distractedly, starting to swim in circles. "She went to the state last year, you know? When the folks from her school won the game, I went to congratulate her on the field. She saw you on the cheerleading squad and asked if you had a boyfriend. I told her you were my sister, and she didn't press the matter."

"B-but you told her I was single, right?"

"Like I said, she didn't push it when I said you were my sister..."

"Pietro, I swear to god I'm going to drown you in this pool!" 

The boy made a scared face, but Yelena laughed at the interaction and held Wanda by the waist as she threatened to advance against her brother.

"Easy there, hothead. Look on the bright side." The blonde asks standing next to her friend. "Now you know Y/N is interested."

Wanda swallows dryly, risking looking at the lifeguard chair again. You were monitoring the pool, but it was obvious you were stealing glances at where she was, not least because as soon as she looked, you turned your face away, cheeks reddening. God, her poor little heart would not survive this.

"Now I'm more nervous than before." Wanda confesses in a sigh turning her attention back to her friend. Pietro laughs from the pool, muttering something like "Useless bisexual" before swimming away again. Yelena smiles in assurance.

"Don't worry, cupcake. I have a perfect plan."

Wanda looks at her doubtfully, but the blonde points to something behind them. When she turns around, Wanda catches sight of the bulletin board, and immediately the huge flyer about the fake luau that day caught her attention. "Any chance your father will let you stay late?"

"If I say I'll sleepover at your house, yes." Wanda comments making Yelena laugh.

–//–

After lying - or rather omitting parts of the truth - by calling her father to let him know that she and her twin were going to sleep over at Yelena's, Wanda hung up the phone and put it away in her backpack.

Her friend and Pietro were by the pool, both flirting with people she knew from school, and she realized that a cold drink would be much appreciated. 

Wanda could do this. Pretend she was reading even though the words were bending in her mind and all she could do was look through the edge of the book meters ahead at the one person who hadn't left her mind in weeks. She almost choked on her sweet drink when you caught her staring - a lopsided smile that sent a sharp warmth to her cheeks and further down too - and Wanda sank into her chair, trembling fingers putting the glass away as she hid her face behind the book.

She didn't see you get down from the chair, nor did she see you walk leisurely, waving and giving warning glances to anyone who was ready to break some rule, which is why she almost knocked the book to the floor when you appeared in front of her, the figure covering the sun.

"Hey, Wanda." You greeted casually, hands on your waist as you watched her. Wanda was staring, but if anyone asked it was at the whistle hanging around your neck and not anything else. "Nice to see you here again."

"H-hi." She managed to answer, your gentle smile being solely responsible for the way her voice was cracking. You didn't seem intimidated by her in the slightest, moving to fill the empty space Yelena had left.

"You know you can't bring that here." That was your comment, and Wanda was so absorbed in your presence that she had to blink a few times to realize that it wasn't about the book - now closed that she was staring at as something sacred - that you were talking about, but rather about the drink she brought from the bar to where she was sitting.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." She muttered quickly, and grabbed the glass again, flipping the drink so fast she felt her head freezing. You laughed in surprise, eyes slightly wide as she let out a grunt of pain, returning the glass to the table and placing her hands on her forehead.

"Damn, brain freeze." She complained but you chuckled softly, watching her with amusement.

" Well, you didn't have to turn the drink over all at once, Wanda." You commented. "You could have just taken it back to the bar, and drunk it there with ease."

"Yeah, that makes more sense." She retorts with a chuckle that you accompany. When Wanda raises her eyes again, you are still looking at her, and she feels her face warming up. She clears her throat, and comments, "Sorry about the drink, again. No need to make an exception, I understand if you want to give me a warning or something."

When Wanda gets nervous, the words come out before she can really think about it. It's worse when she likes someone, and unluckily for her, she likes you a lot.

You frown in confusion, a short laugh escaping your lips. "Um, you want a punishment, then?"

You suggest and it's certainly not intentional because as soon as the words come out and you notice the new pink on Wanda's cheeks along with the double meaning, you lick your lips and look away, a short laugh escaping. "That didn't came out right..."

"Hey, Y/N!" It's Pietro again, now stepping out of the pool completely wet. He gets close enough for Wanda to shrug her legs into the chair trying to avoid the water. You smile at him. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, almost a whole day." You mock softly, making him laugh. Wanda smiles too, but can't help the insecurity that arises about that being a complaint regarding their constant presence at the club.

Pietro reaches for one of the towels and begins to dry his hair. "We're staying a little longer by the way. For the Luau."

Your face lights up at that, and Wanda has to bite her tongue to keep from confessing how pretty she thinks you are.

"Really? That's nice." You comment. "The party is really lovely, and my friends are joining us tonight, so you'll finally get to meet them."

Pietro gets excited about this, commenting something about a friend of yours that he has wanted to meet since last summer. Wanda is more interested in your fingers spinning the whistle.

"[...] Anyway, I should get back to work before my supervisor comes to get me." You mutter, your gaze on the older woman on the other side of the club who has a stern warning expression about you sitting with club members instead of watching the pool. Before you go, however, you look Wanda in the eyes. "Hey, if you want, we can have a drink later. I promise it won't freeze your brain, I'll wait for you to finish."

Jesus Christ.

Wanda babbles an 'I'd love to' between one breathless giggle and another, and you smile at her before getting up and walking back to the other side of the pool.

Pietro laughs at the reaction, moving to pick up the empty glass. "Try not to drool so much, sestra." He scoffed, evading the slap with one swift movement, and carrying the item away toward the bar.

Wanda imagined he would stay a while to eat as usual, and it was just what she needed to let her imagination run wild until party time.

The club quickly empties throughout the afternoon from the usual families and members present - of whom Wanda has come to recognize after coming here every day for weeks - until she is the only one in the chairs.

Employees, not like you who went to the locker room, but waiters and cleaners, begin to prepare the luau and she, Yelena and her brother were invited to wait in the club's lobby.

Soon the party crowd is arriving - mostly young teenagers like herself - wearing summer clothes and some brave ones with guitars or ukuleles in hand. Wanda recognizes many people from the school, but many are also from other schools or older.

When the pool area is open again, Wanda is impressed by all the decoration that has been done. Everything is really beautiful - the low lights, the fake sand in some spots, and even the typically Hawaiian effects - and Pietro gets a table in a far corner for them.

"Lena, your girl is here." That's Pietro's warning once they each have a drink in hand, standing in front of the bar. Wanda is unsure about starting to drink - she has a feeling that someone needs to sober up in this trio, and she saw Pietro turn over a martini stealthily earlier - and looks away from the untouched cup to where her brother is looking. Yelena lets out an exclamation and turns the drink all at once.

"Who's that?" Wanda asks confused, and Pietro laughs as Yelena begins to prepare another glass.

"That's the Kate Bishop." Pietro replies, and Wanda lets out a small exclamation.

"Oh, she's back." The brunette comments, receiving a whimper from her friend. Before Yelena turns the glass over, Wanda places a hand on the lid. "Don't you think you'd better deal with this sober?"

Yelena hesitates, but sighs. "God, wish me luck." She asks and Wanda and Pietro exchange giggles before the blonde leaves them, stepping aside to greet the girl who was arriving at the party.

"I bet she'll turn yellow." Pietro comments and Wanda returns her glass to the drinks table, a thoughtful expression as she watches her friend clearly stumble over her own words while talking to the other.

"I think one-shot gave her the courage she needed." Wanda retorts. "Besides, this push and pull has been going on for almost two years, hasn't it? I'm the one almost taking action."

Pietro laughs. "And you can talk a good game about the long wait, can't you, little sister?" the boy mocked but received a slap on the shoulder.

"Don't you joke about that! It's your fault she didn't know I was single!"

“Ouch! Don’t blame me for you being a gay disaster!” He complained, escaping the next few attempts between giggles. 

Wanda returned to the table at the same time that the friends Pietro had texted about the party arrived. Soon she was surrounded - Natasha, Steve, Bucky and Sam - all in summer clothes and equally excited for the party around her. 

She was trying to pretend to be interested in everybody's summer stories when you showed up. You had changed out of your uniform into a plaid shirt and dark jeans shorts, and Wanda licked her lips at the collarbone exposed by the open buttons.

You made your time to come to her however, people she didn't know were greeted by you at the entrance, and you spoke to everyone before guiding the small quartet to her group of friends.

Carol, Monica, Gamora and Peter were the names that Wanda was most likely to forget. They all seemed friendly and nice, but honestly, how long before she got your attention again?

The glass in her mouth was soda, and Wanda bit the edge without realizing it, eyes watching you intently as you chuckled at the story of how Yelena and Kate had met online and were in some sort of friendship with blurred lines. 

Wanda had no way of knowing that every little movement, even something as simple as biting off the end of a glass, was being closely watched by you. Your attention wavered, and you missed a joke that everyone laughed at, gaze finding hers for a microsecond and Wanda knew.

She set her glass on the table, and moved closer, mouth finding your ear. "Come with me." Her fingers trailed down, brushing against yours, and she stepped away, smiling at herself as you followed her without question, or caring about the looks of doubt and insinuation from the rest of the group.

She made her way through the clubhouse that by now she knew like the back of her hand, ignoring your curious whispers all the way to the buffet area.

Her intention was to take you to the other side of the club, to the golf hill, but you grew in your curiosity, and wrapped your arms around her waist between one corner and the next, turning her body and moving forward until Wanda was pinned between you and a wall.

"Where are you taking me?" You asked too close for Wanda to answer with more than a gasp, fists closed at the side of her body as yours were firmly on her waist, skin burning with the touch. "Cat got your tongue, princess?"

Despite her heart racing in her ears, she smiles in defiance, lifting her chin. "No, my tongue is just fine. Here, try it." She barely suggested it and you were breaking distance. But to Wanda's surprise, it wasn't as hungry as she expected it to be. It was gentle and intense, and definitely over too quickly.

You leaned your forehead against hers, breaths out of rhythm and nervous fingers playing with the edge of her shorts. "I'm sorry, I... can this be not just a one-time thing?"

Wanda was so surprised that she didn't answer right away, her chest heating up with happiness. You flinched at her silence, swallowing dryly before pulling away slightly, adding, "I mean, that I like you. Like, real thing. And I have for a while. I didn't say anything because your brother is a friend and he seemed kind of jealous about it, and I wasn't even sure if you liked girls...[...]"

You were babbling. About the summer, about trying to approach her when she started going to the club, about telling your friends. God, Wanda thinks she could cry.

Instead, she brought her hands to your neck and kissed you hard.

The grunt of surprise turned into something else when you kissed her back, tongues wriggling for dominance as your hands tightened their grip and pressed Wanda back against the wall. This time she let a moan escape, your leg finding space between hers.

You kissed her until her balance shifted, legs turning to jelly and hips rocking forward in search of friction that she found against your knee. Wanda only realized how wet she was when you broke the kiss with a low whimper.

"Fuck, Wanda." You almost pleaded against her neck, and she blinked confused and aroused about what it was. Her face warmed considerably when she felt the gentle tug of your fingers entwined in the straps of her shorts. "Can I touch you?"

"Please." She retorted immediately, her eyes closed with the biting brushing of your teeth on her neck. You grunted but pulled your face away, hands moving to her cheeks until she looked up at you.

"Not here. Someone might see us." You warned before pulling away completely. Wanda complained about the lack of warmth, but your hand found hers and you guided your way into the club again.

The locker room was completely empty, and you led her into something that looked like someone's office and locked the door. You gave Wanda just enough time to recognize her surroundings before you were on top of her again, mouth to mouth.

She practically whimpered as your hands worked to get her on top of the table in the center, legs closing around your waist as your tongues danced together.

Tentatively, Wanda let her hands work on the buttons of your plaid shirt, fingers trembling as she tried to keep up with the rhythm of the kiss and felt your hands scratch her thighs. You threw the piece away when she finished, and Wanda gasped at the sight of your bare breasts in front of her.

You raised an eyebrow, cheeks burning under her look of adoration. "See something you like, kitten?"

Instead of answering, Wanda dived in. You let out a gasping sigh as you felt her mouth on your nipples, so eagerly sucking it. 

A hot heat grew at the tip of your belly with each precise, considerate movement of Wanda's tongue, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as you gripped her hair and held her in place.

Wanda released one nipple with a pop - a stream of saliva connecting your skin and her mouth - and you stared back at her fully dilated pupils and mouth open in a gasp, feeling a sharp tug of arousal at the image in front of you.

You kissed her again, hands more impatient than before pulling her bikini off at once. Wanda moaned deeply as your hands closed around her breasts, her hands trying to work on your zipper but failing with the stimulation of your fingers.

You smiled against her lips, finding her struggle amusing, and Wanda wanted to be angry about it but lost her train of thought when you tucked your thigh between her legs, hands firmly on her hips to rock her against you.

She broke the kiss with a gasping whimper, hands going up to your shoulders for support as she felt her body shudder with the friction. You moaned softly as well, feeling on your skin the wetness that already ran through the fabric of her shorts.

"Fuck, you're killing me, princess." You murmured affected, teasing a trail of kisses strong enough to mark all over Wanda's neck. She, on the other hand, could only whimper back, dripping all over your thigh. You smiled at her state, fingers caressing the bones of her hips as you guided the movements of her hips. The pressure against her clit was delicious and made Wanda's mind spin - it shouldn't have been enough, but she was so hot and bothered she wouldn't be surprised if it came with just that - and feeling your mouth on all the sensitive points of her collarbone was certainly making it harder to hold it.

She tried to increase the speed but you firmed your grip around her waist, laughing breathlessly at the grunt she let out.

"Be patient, baby." You pleaded as you met her face again, making her grunt in impatience once more, the lack of your lips and the slow pace taking her over the edge, and keeping her there.

"Just-fuck me." She choked, legs closing around you, trying to pull you close, increasing the contact somehow. You sighed deeply but didn't obey.

You came closer though, lips brushing against hers as her hips moved.

"I've waited so long for this, Wanda..." You comment in a low, husky, affected voice as you feel her gasping sighs in your mouth. "Ever since that day I saw you dance, that skirt that only made me think of burying my fingers underneath..."

"God." She panted closing her eyes, forehead falling against yours. She was so close if you would only go a little faster-

"And then you started showing up here, walking around in this lingerie you call a bikini. And I had to pretend not to think about fucking you every time you talked to me." 

Wanda whimpered, she couldn't hold it in. Slow or not, having you confess these things were more than enough to take her over the edge. She arched her back, body spasming, and when the grip threatened to explode, you stopped.

She almost cried out in frustration, something like a moan or a whine escaped her lips, but you kissed her so hard that she almost orgasmed just from the feel of your tongue. Her brain was an aroused mess. She tried to grab at you, to pull you against her, but you put one hand against her belly and another on her neck, pushing her down until she lay on the table.

Your hands were working to get her short off in record time, and Wanda was so in a trance from the latest events that she didn't realize what was happening until your mouth found her pussy. 

"FUCK!" She definitely went too loud, but neither of you cared. Your tongue devoured her eagerly, teasing between the folds and spreading her wetness around, nose pressed against her clit. You moaned against her, intoxicated by the taste, and Wanda couldn't control the sounds, one hand groping its way into your hair to keep you from stealing another orgasm from her.

This time you let her reach, smiling all the while taking her there. She whimpered on the table, thighs trying to close and hips instinctively moving away, but you held her open, burying your head and licking her until she spilled into you, a muted scream as she arched her back.

"Baby, too much..." She tried, twitching at the overstimulation. You didn't stop until she was ready to give you another, whimpering and forcing your face against her until breathless moans were all she could formulate on her tongue.

When Wanda had another orgasm in your mouth, you grunted heavily against her, the tightness in your belly exploding and spreading a wave of frenzy throughout your body.

This had never happened before.

You lifted your eyes to her, licking up every last drop of her cum before making your way up and meeting her in a lazy kiss.

You kissed her until she was able to match properly, hands finding your shoulders and hair to dominate it, making you smile.

"How do you feel?" You asked as you broke away, lips so close you could feel them.

"After two orgasms? Pretty incredible." She jokes making you smile. Your fingers come up, teasing her nipples between your fingers and making her sigh.

"What do you say we take this back to my place?" You suggest with gentle caresses, your mouth moving to deposit short kisses across her jaw. "I'm kind of worried about losing my job..."

Wanda laughed affectedly, nodding in understanding. "Lead the way." 

You had just finished helping her tidy up her crumpled clothes and tousled hair when loud knocks came at the door.

"Y/N? I hope you know you are still at your workplace." You sigh with relief as you hear the voice of your colleague and not your supervisor. "I just came to warn you because Ms.Harkness asked to lock the empty rooms..."

You opened the door before the boy could complete it.

"You're a lifesaver, partner." You thank him, hand entwined with Wanda's - who is too embarrassed to meet the gaze of the other who clearly understands what was happening minutes ago - as you leave. 

"I imagine you are Wanda." Comments the boy. "Y/N hasn't shut up about you since the summer started."

Wanda smiles, but you grunt. "Dude."

He laughs, nodding down the hall. "Go on, I'll tell your friends you left. And our boss that I didn't see you too."

"Thanks, Simon."

--//--

#wanda maximoff x reader #elizabeth olsen x reader #wanda x reader #high school au #marvel imagines #wanda x you #wanda x yn #wanda maximoff

[strangerthings-01]

He never deserved you

This is a kind of a long fic but I've been gone so long I wanted to give a long and more detailed story lol. I can either do a part two or if anyone has any suggestions, my inbox is open!

Summary: For a couple of months, you had been dating Jason carver until you realized what a douche he was. You never realized ending things with him would help you fall for another. Someone you didn't expect.

Angst, cussing, mentions of smoking

🖤🖤

The 6 AM alarm that suddenly went off, blaring in your eyes jolted you out of your sleep reminding you that it was time to get ready for yet another day of school. You really needed to find a different alarm. Waking up terrified was not the best way to start your day but on the bright side, at least it woke you up. You groaned slightly and rubbed your eyes trying to get the sleep out of them before you turned on the lamp on your nightstand. You squinted at the bright light that filled the room as your eyes tried to adjust from the pitch black they were just in.

Removing the covers off your body, you stood up and grabbed the clothes that you placed on your desk chair the night before, thankful you didn’t have to dig through your drawers to find something. You yawned as you walked into the bathroom that connected to your bedroom and began to get ready.

The outfit was simple. Skinny jeans and a black sweater that fell off one side of your shoulder because of it being just a size bigger than what you’d normally wear. Or maybe it was just like that. Who knows? After placing your hair into a messy bun, you headed downstairs and was grateful when you saw your mom had already brewed some coffee and made you a cup. “Oh thank you. I’m so exhausted today.” Having enough time before you had to leave, you sat down in the kitchen chair across from your mom who was reading the daily paper.

She looked up and set the paper down, leaning her head on her hand. “You’re welcome. Did you not sleep?” You sipped on it and squinted your eyes in concentration. “No I did. I don’t know. Just one of those days I guess.” She nodded and cleared her throat, leaning back in her chair. “Feel that. Well hopefully that coffee will get you through the day. You’re almost done with junior year. Just a couple of more weeks to go. I want you to focus okay?”

You nodded and gave a quick smile. “I will I promise. Finals are the last week of school. I’ve been studying like crazy trying to prepare. I can’t wait for summer.” You rubbed the side of your head and sighed before standing up and washing the mug out then placing it in the sink. “I know the feeling. Just- please don’t let him distract you. Jason, I mean. Boys are not worth more than your future.”

You turned around and leaned on the counter and gave your mom a far off look. “I know that. And I know how you feel about Jason and before you saying anything-“ her mom had opened her mouth to say object. “I know. I’m going to end it soon with him. He’s being an ass lately and hasn’t been treating me right anyways.” She scrunched her eyes brows. “He isn’t hurting you is he? Cause I will-“

“No no! Of course not. I just- he just says things that make me feel unimportant and distant from everyone. I just don’t wanna deal with it. After him, I’m hoping to stay away from boys for a bit.” Your mom smiled. “Good. You deserve better and thank god you’re getting rid of him. I couldn’t stand him.” You laughed and pushed off the counter. “Oh I’m aware. Alright I gotta go. I don’t want to be late. I love you.” You grabbed your car keys from the bowl in the living room and your backpack from the coat hanger and headed out the door as she was saying it back.

You got into your car and started the engine, shivering at the slight cold that nipped at your body. It had been true though. Jason had been treating you like crap. Telling you to be quiet when you said something or dropping your hand when he was around Chrissy which really pissed you off. You knew it wasn’t Chrissy’s fault but it still got under your skin that he didn’t even try to be subtle that he had feelings for another girl. That was the main reason why you were ending it at school today.

You knew it wasn’t the best thing to do but being in a public space made you more comfortable than if you were alone. It was known he had anger issues and you truly didn’t want to risk it.

As you drove off down the rode to Hawkins high, a million thoughts hit your brain. How would you end it? Where would you do it? Empty classroom? No that’s stupid. Maybe the lunchroom? You didn’t want to embarrass him. That’s not who you were. By the lockers would be good. People were around but no one would be paying attention. Not really. More thoughts invaded your brain pulling you from the Jason subject.

You still needed to study for the history exam and you hadn’t even started the science study guide. There was so much going on and you had no idea how you were managing it all. You took a deep breath to calm down and reminded yourself to take it one day at a time. As soon as Jason was out of your life, it was one less thing to worry about and gave you more of an opportunity to focus on exams. It would be a good thing.

You pulled into the parking lot and parked in a random spot. There weren’t many cars that took up the lot seeing as most people walked from the town being so small. The only cars were a few students and the faculty.

You turned your engine off and grabbed your backpack as you made your way into school, nervous about how the day would go. Walking to your locker, you sighed of relief as you noticed Jason wasn’t there yet giving you time to mentally prepare. You opened your locker and put in what you didn’t need at the moment and then shut it. As soon as the latch connected, your friend Tara came up to you. “Hey do you have the notes for English? I’m way behind.” You chuckled and shook your head not even surprised. Tara wasn’t really one to pay attention so she was always asking for notes but she was your friend and she meant well so you typically didn’t mind. “Yeah I do. Hold on.” You opened the English folder that you had in your hand and pulled out a couple of papers with notes scattered all over. “Don’t lose these please.” Tara took them gently and smiled. “I won’t. I promise. Thank you . I owe you one, see you later.”

A couple minutes after she walked away, you felt hands wrap around your waist. “Hey babe.” Jason. You felt immediate annoyance and anxiousness. “Hey Jason.” You turned around and backed away from his embrace. He smiled and leaned down to kiss you but you turned your head so his lips made contact with your cheek instead. He furrowed his eyebrows and pulled his head away. “What was that?” You shoved your hands into your sweater and cleared your throat. “We need to talk…” He raised his eyebrows and chuckled. “Okay? About what? Should we go somewhere private?” You shook your head trying to prepare how you were going to say this. “This isn’t working out. I think we need to break up.” The words flew out before you lost the nerve to speak them. Your hand almost flew to your mouth as if you couldn’t believed you had said it but you forced them to stay in your pockets.

“Uhh I really hope you’re just fucking with me.” He laughed humorlessly. You cleared your throat and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. They weren’t. “No I’m being serious. I’m tired of the way you treat me and it’s clear you like Chrissy so consider it an out. It’s over.” You looked up at him to try to grasp what he was feeling. He stood there, mouth slightly open and eyebrows scrunched as if she had just told him the most absurd thing. You thought for a second he might actually be hurt and feeling something but no he burst out laughing and pointed at you. “You’re breaking up with me? No babe I’m breaking up with you.” You rolled your eyes and took your hands out of your pockets to fix the strays of your hair. “Honestly if that’s what you want to tell people, it genuinely doesn’t matter to me. As long as I’m away from you.” You began to walk away when he grabbed your wrist tightly and yanked you back so you were face to face. Did no one see that?

“Ow Jason let go.” He sneered at you keeping the grip on your wrist. “You think you’re cute but honey I could have anyone in this school I wanted. The amount of girls I have lined up…you mean nothing to me. All I wanted was the sex and you couldn’t even give me that you fucking tease. So good I’m glad we’re over. Good look finding anyone to be with you.”Your eyes prickled with tears but you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying. “Let me go Jason. You’re hurting me.” He pinned you against the locker and gripped your face with his other hand. As soon as he did, he was thrown off by someone and you immediately backed away from Jason.

“I could have sworn she told you to let her go, carver. Laying your hands on women. Not a good thing to do around me.” You looked up at the tall figure and it was none other than Eddie Munson. The one everyone called the freak of Hawkins high. You had only talked to him a couple of times in class but he was a pretty nice guy. Just struggled a bit to keep up like Tara or so people whispered. Rumors over him being held back spread like wildfire.

You were shocked he was defending you considering he really didn’t know you. You instinctively got behind him and he gave you a side glance, not moving. “You can mind your own business freak. We were just having a little moment. No one was hurting anyone so back off.”

Eddie chuckled and shook his head, his curls moving around. “Not what I saw but consider it a warning. For her sake. But next time, I won’t be so nice.” Jason laughed and put his hands up shaking them. “Oh wow I’m so scared. Fuck off Munson. Next time I won’t be so nice. You and that little bitch better watch your backs.” He stormed off, leaving you two in the hallway and a couple of people were staring and murmuring about the commotion. Of course now they notice once Eddie is invovled.

Eddie turned around and looked down at you. Rubbing your wrist, you looked up at him and looked into his eyes. You never noticed how pretty his eyes were. Or just how pretty he was. You and Eddie talked occasinoally in class but you never really became clos mainly because jason forbade it. “Are you okay?” He asked which pulled you from whatever trance you were just in.

You blinked a couple of times and looked around the hallway before meeting his eyes again, the eyes that were still focused on you. “I’m okay. I figured he would have had a reaction like that. Why-why did you help me? We barely know each other." Maybe it was a rude question to ask but really, why would he have all people help you? “I know a lot more about you than you would think. Why are you asking? It can’t be hard to believe that I would help you. Especially from someone like Jason.” He looked a little hurt but the look on his face went away as fast as it had come.

His words struck you in a way you couldn’t comprehend. What did he mean he knew about you? I mean yeah you’ve partnered up to do projects but it never turned into a friendship. Conversations didn’t happen often between you two. What could he possibly know. “No no. I’m sorry. That was rude of me. Forget I asked. Thank you for defending me.” Being flustered around Eddie Munson was definitely not on your list of things to expect for the year. “No problem sweetheart. If he bothers you again, don’t be afraid to tell me. You know where to find me.” He winked and walked off giving you no chance to respond. Did he mean at the hellfire club? Or the lunchroom? Or the several classes you shared? You let out a sharp breath and blinked a couple of times trying to make sense of everything when the loud shrilling bell sounded. “Crap I’m late. Munson.” You muttered and ran off towards your first class of the day.

🖤🖤

After school, you were grabbing your things from your locker when tara came up next to you and shut the locker causing you to jump and let out a gasp. "what the hell tara? I'm glad my hand wasn't still there." She gave a slight eyeroll and then a pointed look. "I made sure you were done. You did not tell me that you were breaking up with Jason. I would have thrown a goddamn party. And what the hell was that with eddie munson today? I have literally never seen you have a full conversation with him outside of a classroom? What's the tea miss girl because you nelgected to fill me in at all and-" You cut her off mid rant and laughed slightly, one at the jab at jason and two at the enthusiasm of wanting to know everything all the time.

"I didn't tell you about Jason because I had literally been trying to work up courage all week to end it and I didn't want to lose the confidence to do it. As for Eddie, Jason was being kind of aggresive and he defended me..." Tara's mouth dropped as she leaned against the lockers. "The freak of hawkins high defened a popular kid? Whaaaa? He must like you." She giggled and rubbed her hands together. You rolled your eyes and started walking down the hallway towards the exit, tara hot on your heels. "First, I am hardly popular. More by assoication and that's gone for sure. Second, don't call him that. He's actually really....sweet and he definitely doesn't like me." You pushed open one side of the double doors and walked out into the parking lot heading to your car. "Sweet? I'm sorry. Where exactly did your sense go? This is the guy who stands on top of tables and yells at people who look at him the wrong way."

You turned to face her as soon as you reached the drivers side of your car. "No he yells at Jason. Big difference. I just think he's misunderstood, that's all. So what? He defened me from my jerk ex boyfriend. I doubt we'll ever talk again. He was just being a decent person." Tara scoffed and crossed her arms. "So he didn't say anything else after he defended you? It just happened and what? He walked away?"

You weren't sure if you should tell her the other part just because you knew how it sounded and Tara would totally take it a whole different way but you did want another opinion. "I thanked him and he told me that I knew where to find him if Jason ever messed with me..." You avoided eye contact after the words came out and she squealed, grabbing your arm. And there it is and here we go. "He is so into you. Look he may not be someone I would date and he may be weird as fuck but he's hot as shit. I would support you. Much better than carver." She made a throw up motion. "Tara, I extremely doubt he is into me. We barely talk outside of class like you said. Where would he have had time to gain a crush on me?" Tara shrugged and went to say something when her attention got diverted to something across the parking lot. "Can we talk later? Josh is here. Love you bye." Before you even had the chance to respond, she was halfway across the parking lot to catch up with her boyfriend. Typical Tara.

As you were unlocking your car, you felt eyes on you and looked around to see if it is maybe just paranoia from the events this morning when you caught Eddie leaning against his own car smoking a ciggirate, glancing at you. You made eye contact with him for a couple of seconds before he slightly smirked, put out his cig on the ground using his boot to snuff it and drive off in his car. Flustered, you got in your own car and drove home trying to process the days events.

Why had he smirked at you? Was he judging or had Tara been right about him having feelings for you? But it didn't make sense because in order to like someone, you would have to know them. You knew nothing about eddie munson and he definitely knew nothing about you, or did he? You let out a heavy sigh and forced yourself to focus on the road.

As soon as you got home, you went straight to your room and started studying. You had already gotten rid of one boy, you certainly didn't need to think about another, especially from one interaction. What is wrong with you? Pulling out all of your notebooks, you were determined to distract your mind when you notcied your english notes weren't returned. Tara. You shook your head and gave a soft chuckle as you opened your history notes and started to go through them. History was your favorite subject so it wasn't difficult for you to remember lessons from it. You went through pretty fast and studied half of your science notes as well before you crashed from exhasution. Thoughts of school, eddie, and jason fled from your brain as sleep took over your body.

Thankfully your alarm was set to wake you up at the same time everyday on weekdays because you slept the rest of the day and through the night until it was time for school again. When you were fully awake, you turned off the alarm and noticed the lights had been turned off and a blanket was pulled over you seeing as you were on top of your comforter. Your mom must have come in late last night to check on you.

Your morning routine stayed the same and soon enough, you were back at school and in your first class. Anxiousness filled your body as you realized you would more than likely have to see Jason today. After his outburtst yesterday, you weren't sure if he would leave you alone or not. You could take Eddie up on his offer but the truth was you didn't need protection or help. You could handle yourself and if anything, it would be tara beating his ass.

Your name being called from the roster pulled you from your thoughts and you muttered a 'here'. First class was homeroom so it was more like a free period. Most teachers let you do whatever you wanted in homeroom as long as you didn't get too loud. But today the teacher wanted you to get in pairs to discuss finals and assignments so you were on the right track.

You suddenly remembered eddie was in this class and subtly turned your head to see if he was there and sure enough he was in the same seat. Before yesterday you typically wouldn't have cared where he was considering he was just like any other student but after what he did for you, it was like you wanted to know more about him. His eyes met yours and raised his eyebrows up. "Wanna be partners?" You flushed and stammered a bit before clearing your throat. "Uh yeah sure." You hadn't expected that, not this early and soon. But you would humor it. What's the worst that could happen? Just as you were about to move, he got up and sat in the chair next to you. He had nothing with him but a notebook and a pencil. You were slightly confsued as to where he kept all of his work but that wasn't really important right now.

Before talk about finals and school, you had something else you wanted to discuss with him. "I wanted to thank you again for yesterday. I don't know if you were the only one to notice but you were the only person who did something." He breathed out heavily but not out of annoyance or stress, it was more like he was thinking about what you said and the events that took place just yesterday morning. "It was really no problem. Just did what I knew was right."

For some reason, that comment upset you in a way. Almost as if what had happened wasn't important or just simply not enough to talk about. But maybe he just didn't know what to say so you changed the subject. "I did have a question though. What did you mean when you said you knew more about me than I thought you did?"m The question had been presenting itself in your brain since yesterday. He half smiled and cleared his throat, tapping his pencil on the desk. ""It means that I watch you or observe, yeah that's less creepy." The admittance shocked you. What was so interesting about you? "Word flies fast in this god forskaen school. Just so happens people talk good about you and we've talked a handful of times. Let's just say Carver never desevred you." You felt unsure on how to take that comment in considering it had been said with such respect and genuineness but also not something you expected from the "bad boy".

"Thank you. That means a lot." You decided to go with the simple but grateful response and tried to move on beofore the awkwardness set in. "Um, so did you want to compare notes ? I'm so stressed for the finals." He gave you a look you couldn't comprhend that laid between awe and humor. "You really are a good girl aren't you?" You blinked a couple of times trying to understand whre he was going with that question. "I'm not sure what you mean. I just want to pass. Don't you?" He sighed and leaned his head onto his hand. "Well of course but I'm too far behind. The finals would let me pass though if I got just a good enough grade but I doubt it." So the rumors were true. He really didn't do school work that often but why? There was another question that had always kept you curious. "Did you get held back?" The words left your lips before you could fully process it. Your hand instinctively went over your abrasive mouth. "I'm so sorry. I have no idea why I just said that." He chuckled and shrugged, leaning forward. "it's not a secret sweetheart. Yes I did. No reason to hide it. Is that a problem?"

You shook your head, mouth parting slightly before speaking. "No no! Of course not. It's honestly none of my business. Look, I have notes for every class to help me study for the finals. Did you maybe want me to help you study for the next couple of weeks so you have a chance to pass?" He stared at you, a puzzled look crossing his face. "you would do that? Won't your reputation be ruined?" The comment felt like a slap to the face and went a whole different direction from the conversation that was just had, the dissappointment flooding your body. "I don't have a reputation and even if I did, that went over a cliff the moment I ended it with my mentally abusive boyfriend, okay? If you don't want my help, you can just say that." The bell rung at that moment which was perfect timing to make an exit. You gathered your things and got up quickly, trying to leave the classroom before anything else could be said. Maybe Eddie Munson was just like people said after all. What had you said or done to provoke a response like that?

As you reached the doorway, you felt a hand wrap around your wrist causing you to look back. "wait. I'm sorry. That was me being a dick. I-" You pulled your wrist away. "You think?" He pulled you off to the side and looked down at you. "It came off the wrong way. I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that you're a nice girl and people like you and well people don't like me" You sighed and looked at the ground for a couple of seconds before looking him in the eye. "I can make my own decisions and hang out with or help whoever I want. If people had a problem with that, not my issue." He pursed his lips and a look between embarrasment and awkwardness covered his features. "You're right. I shouldn't have said it and I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I would like your help."

He seemed like he was being sincere and giving him a second chance was something a lot of people neglected to do. Being treated the way he is would cause you to build a wall and that was something you could understand. "Okay fine. But say anything like that again, you can forget it." He gave a wry smile and nodded once. "Duly noted. So where should we meet? Your place?" You shook your head quickly. "No. My mom will question the hell out of you and I would rather not have to endure an iterrogation myself. Either a public place or your place?" You questioned, curiousity peeking at the edges indicating you were wanting to know where he lived.

“I live in a trailer park so not sure if you would want to be somewhere like that.” Confusion took over your features as you took in his words. Was he embarrassed about where he lived? “I’m not one to care or judge where people live? I don’t mind coming to yours.” He blinked and pulled his head back, surprised that you had no hesitation about it. “Oh okay. Well I guess you can come around, say 5?” You nodded and smiled with your lips. “Sounds good. I gotta get to class. Bye Eddie.” You left the room before he could respond and walked quickly to your next class trying to understand how everything was changing around you in just a day.

🖤🖤

The rest of the day went by pretty fast and the classrooms you shared with Eddie were spent talking about a bunch of random things. He was really easy to have a conversation with and it kept your attention. Plus he also happened to be funny and quick with his responses. It was a completely different story than the one people had been telling and it was refreshing to have someone listen to you, really listen to you.

After class, Eddie walked you to your car and stood with you for a couple of minutes just talking. Tara came up, eyes slightly widened as if she was trying to comprehend something. Eddie shifted uncomfortably and gave her a tight lipped smile. “I guess I’ll see you later?” You cursed yourself knowing she was going to question everything as soon as he walked away. “Yeah see you later.” No point in trying to hide it.

As soon as he left ear shot, Tara hit your arm. “Not gonna talk again huh? And see you later? What in the hell does that mean?” You deadpanned and crossed your arms. “You never gave my notes back.” She squinted her eyes in annoyance and grab the notes out of her backpack and handed them to you. “Don’t change the subject. Tell me everything.”

So you did. Every detail was shared including the study partner part and the entire time, Tara was squealing and dropping her jaw at the most mundane information. That’s who she was though. Excited about life and you couldn’t help but love her for it. “Okay that’s a lot to take in. I’m not against it though.” You adjusted your backpack on your shoulder and shifted to your other foot. “I’m so glad I have your approval.” She scoffed and waved her hand in the air, a dismissal. “You know what I mean. I’m glad you’re getting back out there though. Just didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

“Wow. Okay yeah no. Definitely not getting back out there. I’m just helping him study. I am not ready for another relationship.” You admitted. "I am literally just trying to help him get through the rest of the year." She groaned very dramatically and pretended to look intersted in her nails. "Yeah okay. We will just pretend that he doesn't have a massive crush on you and that I don't see you making eyes at him." You made strangly hands at her and made a sound through gritted teeth which got you a concerned look from people around you that were also lingering in the parking lot. "He doesn't have a crush on me and I don't make eyes at him. Yes he's attractive but I just got out of a very toxic relationship and I need to focus on school. Hence why I am helping him focus on school. If something happens to come from it, then it happens. Until then, he is my study partner and...a friend." The conversation didn't last much longer as both of you had to get home. It was getting close to 4 and you needed to be over eddie's place at 5.

Once you got home, you changed into some shorts and a V neck and the time flew by and soon enough you were back in your car headining over to the trailer park. You knew where it was considering Hawkins was a small town and you just so happened to pass it every once in a while. It took about 10 minutes to get there and soon enough, you parked and got out of the car looking around. Nervousness hit you as you saw a couple people outside staring at you, some giving you dirty looks. People like you who had it better than most weren't really welcome around this part of town.

You didn't blame them knowing how people treated the lower class but it still didn't settle the anxiousness creeping up. One guy jumped up and walked over to you, footsteps heavy and a beer bottle in his hand. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing around here? Looking for some trouble?" Your eyes widened and you took a small step back. "N-No of course not. My friend Eddie-" His sharp laugh cut you off. "Eddie Munson? Nah you better go on before trouble finds you." He closed in on you again when you saw Eddie running up and grabbing the mans shoulder. "Dan, it's okay. I invited her here. You okay?" He grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him, walking you away from the scene. "Sorry about him. He-he means well. Most people who come here to see me usually start shit."

Although you were still a little shaken up, you nodded and let him lead you into his trailer. "it's okay. I understand. He has a right to be catious." You looked around his place and it was actually really nice in here. Of course it was small but it was cozy and cleaned up well. You noticed the broom and dustpan out and the tied up trash bag and realized he must have been cleaning before you got here. How sweet.

He noticed you looking around and shifted on his feet uncomfortably not knowing what you were thinking. "Well thank you for understanding. It's not...the easiest living around these parts but it does its best. Sorry about the clutter and the smallness of it." He chuckled awkwardly while he fidgeted with one of his rings. "Don't apologize. I like it in here." You shrugged off your backpack and sat down on the couch and took in everything around you. He only had a couple of picutre frames up with him and what looked like his dad or maybe uncle? There were a couple of coasters scattered around and a couple of random objects. A dice, an empty glass, and a notebook. You felt the cushions shift and you looked over to see that he had sat next to you. "Thanks." He smiled softly. You nodded and pulled your backpack into your lap, digging some contents out. "Of course. Um I was thinking we could start with math since it's the hardest." He agreed and the studying started. It was rough at first because he was a lot further behind than you thought but he started to get the hang of it after about an hour of explaining different things. Between snack breaks and time outs, it was going pretty smoothly and he caught on really fast. You had him do a couple of test questions and when he got all but one right, you smiled and high fived him. "I bet that if we do it like this for the other subjects, you'll get a passing grade!"

Eddie's face lit up and he let out a gasp of air that sounded like relief. "I literally cannot thank you enough. I know we still have a ton to do and I know it's taking time away from you but I don't know if i even would have tried if you didn't offer." You gathered all of your things back into your backpack and zipped it up giving a soft smile. "It's really no problem. You helped me so I am returning the favour. I do have to get home though but I'm pretty much free all the time after school so we can do this whenever." He stood up with you and walked you to your car which you appreiacted greatly. "Be safe getting home." He opened your drivers door and shut it after you got in and said, "I will. Thank you." You drove home and thought about how tonight was the first night in a long time that you felt fully free and happy. The smiled that took over your face remained the rest of the car ride home.

🖤🖤

For the next couple of weeks, you helped Eddie study almost everyday after school until you were positive he was confident in all of the subjects. There were bumps in the road and frustrations in the air but you were patient with him and he was respectful towards you. After the first week and a half of doing this, you started feeling nervous around him which wasn’t something you were used to. He was just so nice and funny and definitely wasn’t bad to look at. You were a little scared of catching feelings considering everything that happened with Jason and also because it hadn’t been that long since the relationship was over. You had talked to Tara about it and for the first time, she actually gave advice that made sense.

She had said “how you feel about someone isn’t something you can control. There’s no time limits or expectations on how soon you can fall for someone. It just happens. I wouldn’t stress about it. You guys are becoming really good friends and if something happens, then it happens. Don’t force it but don’t push it away.”

It helped you think a lot on the situation and she was right. How you were starting to feel about Eddie wasn’t something you could control. Spending time with him and having real conversations had been what set the feelings off in the first place. You were skeptical about if he had feelings for you or not. The way he looked at you and the way he brushed you hair behind your ears. The way he defended you against Jason anytime he tried to make a comment.

It was Sunday and finals started tomorrow. You wanted to help Eddie go over everything one more time to make sure he was prepared. And maybe because you just wanted to see him. You had shown up at his trailed, unannounced. You hoped he wouldn’t be busy or upset but when you knocked and the door opened, he stood there with that beautiful smile on his face. “What are you doing here?” He stepped aside as you walked through the door. “I was wondering if you wanted to go over everything really quick one more time. Sorry I showed up with no warning. I guess I could have called your landline.” He shut the door and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh no it's okay. You're welcome here anytime. You know that. And I would actually really appreciate going over it one more time. My nerves are running high for tomorrow but I think I’ll pass.” You smiled and shrugged your jacket off, laying it across the back of his couch. “I know you will. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, Eddie Munson.”

He walked over and hovered over you, causing your stomach to flip. “Well you’re more thoughtful than you give yourself credit for. And also smarter.” He chuckled. You grinned and shoved his shoulder. “Oh hush.” Your cheeks turned slightly red and you watched as the smirk grew on his face. He sat down on the couch and his eyes followed you as you took a seat next to him. "I stayed up late the past few nights to make these flashcards so I'm really hoping they work." You chuckled and bit your lip. He smiled and cleared his throat, staring right at you. You tried to focus on the flashcards and the words written on them so you didn't stutter over your words.

You began using the flashcards and you had to admit, they were helping you too. It was actually really fun to go through them and it was def because you were doing it with eddie. It went back and fourth with one person asking the question and the other answering. For some unknown reason, both of you were cracking up at this ridiculousness of it all. You were answering most of them right and when you finally got one wrong, Eddie stood up and pointed. "Ha! You did not get that right!" You gasped and stood up alongside him and grabbed the card from his hand. "What? No way." You looked at the answer and pursed your lips. "I did in fact get that one wrong." He laughed and you flung the card at him. He scoffed and picked it up. "Sore loser."

"mmmm. Pretty sure I got more right than-" Your sentence got cut off as your scream replaced it when eddie suddenly picked you up and flung you over his shoulder. "what was that?" You hit his back and laughed. "Put me down right now!" He walked over to the couch and gently tossed your onto the cushions. You giggled and breathed out, the air blowing some of your hair away from your face. He stood above you, looking down. His smile faded slowly, the look on his face indicating he was deep in thought. "You okay?" You sat up pulling your knees to your chest to give him room to sit which he did. "yeah. I just uh- he never deserved you, you know?" Your lips parted and you shifted on the couch to where you were sitting directly next to him. "Who?" You knew who he was talking about but you wanted to hear him say it. "Jason. He never deserved anything about you and he's an idiot for not seeing the amazing girl that you are."

"That means a lot. Thank you but where is all this coming from?" He looked down at his rings and played with them for a second then let out a small laugh. He looked back up at you and shook his head. "Fuck it." He grabbed your face with both hands and kissed you. You were taken aback for a second but then reality set in and you kissed him back, making a sound of content. He carressed your cheeks with his thumbs and your hands went into his curls. After about a minute, you both pulled back to get some air. "Wow. That was not what I was expecting." Your fingers grazed over your lips still feeling his own against yours. "If you couldn't tell from that, I really like you. Not just because of all the help you've given me but just getting to know you has been incredible."

You raised your eyebrows. "And here I thought you knew so much about me from observations." He rolled his eyes and grinned. "You know what i mean, you little shit." You giggled and leaned into him causing him to lean back into the couch, your head on his chest. "I just mean the real you. Not the one from the narratives from other people. But I've always had a small crush on you so..." You looked up at him and your mouth dropped. "Oh my god. Tara was right. You were into me."

He had his arm draped over your shoulder, fingers barely touching your skin, a tingly feeling going down your arm. "Yeah yeah. Tara is also an observationist." A small smile was on his face. "Well I was stupid for not truly noticing you." He scrunched his eyebrows and licked his lips. "Nah. Jason had you wrapped around his finger. He was a controlling dick." You pulled your face up and kissed him softly. "None of that was real. That's clear to me now. I don't even think I had real feelings for him. I just thought I did because everyone wanted him and he went after me. You, however, I do have real feelings for."

"Well good because he's gonna be so livid." He laughed which caused you to laugh. "Oh fucking well. According to you, he lost a great girl." He played with your hair and made a sound of agreement. "A very great girl."

The rest of the night was spent just talking and laughing until it got dark and you had to head home for dinner. He had just walked you out to your car and you were standing next to the open drivers door. "I had a great time tonight. We got a lot done and killed two birds with one stone." He grinned and grabbed your wrist, this time you didn't pull away, and pulled you close to him before kissing you, even better than the first one. "Goodnight, sweetheart." You bit your lip and slid into the drivers seat. "Goodnight, Eddie." He shut your door and you drove off, seretonin filling your brain. You had fallen for a boy, the 'freak' of hawkins high. Your mom would flip but it was all worth it and you don't regret one single thing.

ahhhhhh. I had so much trouble writing an ending for this story lol. I have so many other ideas for a part two if that's something anyone would want! I am so sorry I have been gone for so long, I am trying to get back into writing and this is a start!

#eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson x female reader #hawkins high #hellfire club

[dmercer91]

just re read your trevor fic-

auntie el you say??

i say protective aunt ellen who has to step inbetween reader and her mom during another fight-

and she tells reader’s mom to leave

and trevor is just holding her while she cries

and the minute her mom is gone she goes running into ellen’s arms because she’s never had an adult stand up for her like that

auntie el is a hero and i love her

y/n is her honorary child and nobody!! will be speaking to her in any unkind way

also- i’m torn between having owen apologize for following in his moms footsteps and being an asshole to y/n or him just being completely silent around her for the rest of ever

cause he was young and it wasn’t his fault and maybe he’s not actually a prick?? or maybe he is actually a prick and keeps believing lies?? help

same old same old | look after you au, tz11

“you’re not going to that party, y/n!” your mother yelled, following you through the house and stomping dramatically

it’d been a year since you’d finally cut her out, and clearly it hadn’t helped her hatred towards you. ellen had warned you she’d be here this weekend- since her parents were up to see the boys and she didn’t want to leave her sister out.

“i don’t remember that being your choice,” you mumbled, opening up the fridge and grabbing a water, turning and leaning against it while she seethed.

“you’ve ruined enough of the last year for your broth- for owen. i’m not letting you spoil tonight too,” you rolled your eyes and eyed trevor as he walked into the kitchen from the commotion.

he immediately turned around on a search for ellen, walking as fast as he could without it being running

“he knows i’m coming, he doesn’t care. i don’t know why you care so much,” you were trying your best to stay calm despite the panic brewing in your stomach

you didn’t want to fight, you didn’t have the energy to fight- you thought you’d seen the last of these scream matches last summer.

ellen walked into the kitchen with trevor quick behind her just in time to hear your mom start to yell again.

“god, you’re still such a brat! you can’t just stay home this one night so you don’t embarrass someone who’s meant to be your family? oh wait- you abandoned us because you couldn’t handle having rules!” she was frantic, pointing at you and her face red with anger

“i know you think you’re hot shit with your dumb as a doornail boyfriend and your new spoiled life, but you’re not. you’re still annoying, and you still don’t do anything for anyone and you’re still the same selfish kid i wished i’d never had.”

you opened your mouth to speak and you couldn’t will anything to come out. you just shook your head to yourself- hardly present in the conversation

“hey!” ellen grabbed the both of your attention and you gulped, trying to keep the tears back until you could make your exit

“if i’m not allowed to punish your kids, you can’t punish mine. if you ever talk to her like that again, then i’ll have owen down here for the fourth and you can just stay home. hell, henry can come if he wants. but you? stay the hell away from my daughter,”

ellen had blocked you with herself, your heart rate slowing down form your panic now that you didn’t have to come to your own defence.

“why don’t you go out on the boat with trevor, honey. i’m gonna have a talk with sylvia,” you only nodded, going over to trevor and sticking to him, wrapping your arms around his waist and tucking your head into his neck

“come on, let’s go outside, yeah?” he mumbled, cupping the back of your head and kissing your forehead before grabbing your hand and walking towards the patio door

you spend a while in the middle of the lake- boat off and anchored while you and trevor just held each other and you quietly cried

eventually- when you’d run out of tears, you’d decided you needed to get home so you could get ready for the party that night, and so did trevor

when you got back, sylvia’s car was gone but owen’s frat shoes were still at the door, and ellen was sat on the couch with a glass of wine

you pulled yourself from trevor and kneeled on the couch next to her, hugging onto her as soon as she put her glass down

“thank you.” you whispered, her hand moving to rub your back softly

“always, honey,”

#look after you au ! #e’s 500 celly! #e’s blurbs! #trevor zegras #trevor zegras x reader #hockey imagine #nhl imagine #anaheim ducks

[romanarose]

Awakening: Melatonin

Frankie Morales x Benjamin Miller

Awakening Series masterlist

Summary: After the events of the group sex (detailed in the masterlist above) Frankie had been distant from Benny, not ready to admit his feelings for Ben. On a camping trip, they can't help but fall into each others arms.

Warnings and content: Anal sex, anal fingers, m/m, blowjob, balls sucking, love confessions, sexual repression, not the most correct termonoligy (Frankie and Santi largely use gay as the same as bisexual/lgbt/queer. They are old men so give them grace.) Internalized homophobia (not a lot, Frankie is just struggling). Aftercare <3 fishben bickering, Miller teasing.

A/N its been. 5 months since i updated lololololol IM SORRY!!! But! I had such bad writers block with how to get them together without just repeating the same stuff as Boys of Summer, but I DID IT!

I know this is just FishBen, not reader so you dont gotta read it when i now ur here for group sex, but next chapter will be the grand finale

ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT!

**************

“Fish. Hey. Catfish. Frankiiiiiiiiieeee”

“Oh my god, what?”

“I’m fucking cold.”

Frankie sighed loud enough that Ben could hear him in the next tent. The group had gone camping: Frankie, Benny, Pope, Will and you, and when you and Santi offered to set everyone’s tents up in order to let everyone start swimming, he should’ve been suspicious. Granted, he was suspicious. Suspicious they you and Santi wanted to fuck in the tent, not that the two of you had set Frankie’s tent up next to Benny’s. Assholes. You probably did fuck though.

“Of course you’re cold, you were swimming until fucking 10 pm. I fucking told you to start drying off while there was still sun out but you-”

“Oh my god, Fish, live a little.”

This is what simultaneously drove him insane and endeared Ben to him. Ben was a trained soldier: smart, capable, bright. ‘A one in a million talent’, as Will had said… but when he was out of the military, away from Pope’s insane missions and not in the ring, Benny had no impulse control. He chased his next high constantly, never being concerned with the outcome; something he could usually talk his way out of, like he was trying to now. Benny’s excitement for life and thrill at trying something new was contagious, and was the reason they were in this position right now.

Months ago, Pope had approached him, Benny and Will about helping him fulfill a fantasy of his wife’s; being dicked down by all of them at once. What began as a mission to pleasure you and you alone had morphed into something different, a shift in the group dynamics that scared the fuck out of Frankie. The sex was fantastic, you were beautiful and the energy in the room was one of raw sexuality and free love. He supposed he started it. It wasn’t like Benny had done anything to Frankie that Frankie didn’t want. Benny had sucked him off before in the scenario of a threesome with other women, that wasn't new. Benny was bisexual, and a mouth was a mouth so Frankie had been happy to indulge in the sloppy blowjob that ensued between both of your wet mouths… but it was Frankie who had gotten on his knees and kissed Benny, right there in front of the people they loved.

He simply hadn’t been able to take it anymore. The boy was a golden god, sharp but boyish features, devastating blue eyes, and mouth with many talents in and out of the bedroom. He admired so much about Benny, he was his best friend… but he was just supposed to be a friend. The kiss, the way Ben laid beside him when Frankie was still inside you and whispered sweet nothings, the way Frankie cared for Ben after the orgy had ended… none of that was supposed to happen. In the ensuing months, Frankie started withdrawing from Ben, made even more uncomfortable by the seeming romance brewing between Santi, you and Will; something you had all yet to label but were taking step by step. He was pretty sure Will had snuck into yours and Santi’s tent already. 

Frankie’s feeling for Benny were hard to ignore, but he was fucking trying. It was apparently bad enough that Santi had confronted him about it, telling Frankie to just talk to Ben and figure it out, but Frankie had insisted he wasn’t gay.

“C’mon, man, I’ve seen the way you look at him, the way he looks at you. Benny fucking worships you and you used to laugh at every stupid ass joke he made, now you just look at him longingly like a sexually repressed victorian woman.”

“I’m not gay, Pope. Just ‘cuz everyone else suddenly decided they were, doesn’t mean I am.”

Pope had looked a little hurt at that, slightly uncomfortable with being called gay just yet. “Frank, you were kissing him and-”

“So what!” Frankie had thrown his hands up. “It was the heat of the moment, doesn’t make me magically gay. You didn’t become gay when you got a dick up your ass!”

He was looking increasingly hurt at Frankie’s comments, but also obviously concerned at Frankie suppressing this. “No, I’m gay because I’ve always been gay, Benny just helped me explore that, and I think you should-”

“Oh fuck off”

Frankie stormed out after that. He later apologized, of course, and tried to be better around Ben. Benny hadn’t pushed for anything more, treating him like normal and no one had brough up group sex again so many things could go back to normal… but it’s been awfully fucking hard with Benny shirtless all day at the beach in his goddamn speedo.

“Fiiiiiiish”

“Wuh-uh-uh-uuuuht?!” Frankie whined.

“Can I sleep in your tent? Please? I’m fucking freezing.”

“Get another blanket”

“I have all my blankets!”

He wanted to say no, to tell him to fuck off and be more responsible… but watching Benny shiver by the fire early had tugged at Frankie’s heart, making him sympathetic. He could practically here his teeth chattering in his tent. “Fucking fine, but bring all your blankets. I’m cold as balls too.” whose idea was it to swim past labor day? Just because it was Florida doesn’t mean they should tempt fate.

Benny practically scampered inside Frankie’s tent, a broad grin on his face. “Thank you thank you thank you thank!”

Intending on Benny using his own blankets and just sharing the body heat of the tent, that went out the window when he saw his hair was still damp. “Jesus Ben, you’re gonna get a fucking cold, get your ass in here.” Frankie lifted up his blankets to allow Benny inside. Ben, for his part, kept a respectful distance. To Benny’s credit, he’d always been careful with Frankie, never pushing him to deal with this side of himself and never pushing for exploration with him. “For fucks sake, I won’t bite.” Frankie scooted up next to Benny, feeling his cold skin. He was sympathetic to Benny’s plight. 

Gladly, Benny took the opportunity to cuddle right up to Frankie, sharing in his warmth. It was nice, Frankie had to admit. They laid there for a while, their arms pressed up against each other being the only skin to skin contact Frankie’s received other than quick fucks from tinder.

Of course Ben had to start talking. “I’ve missed this.”

Frankie sighed again. Lots of sighing today. “Can we not talk about it?”

“Okay.” A pause. “I can leave, if that’s what you want.”

He thought about the options. Did he want that? Did he want Ben to leave when he felt so goddamn right? “No, Ben, of course that’s not what I want. I just want things to go back to normal. For us to go back to sharing a tent without it feelings weird.”

Benny turned to look at Frankie, but Frankie’s eyes stayed trained on the darkness of the tent. “It can go back to that. We never have to talk about it again, we can just go back to normal-”

“But we can’t!” Frankie whisper-shouted. “We can’t go back after I kissed you, I kissed you. All those other times it was you blowing me I could justify because you made the move, but I did this, it was me, what am I supposed to think of that?”

Benny seemed to think on that for a while, chewing over his words before speaking. “It doesn’t have to mean anything, Frankie.”

“But it does, because…” Frankie scrubbed his face, groaning. “Because it meant something. You-... ugh… you mean something… to me…”

Another, longer, silence. “What do I mean to you, Frankie? You don’t gotta answer but… maybe we could start there?”

Damn him, he was good at this. The intense darkness of their tent made for a more conducive environment than the harshlights and confronting words of Santi’s home when Santiago had tried, Benny’s calming voice and open ended questions allowing him to think, to speak clearly and with less pressure.

“I can go first, if that’s easier.” Benny offered.

“Yeah, yeah that might be nice.”

Benny didn’t need any time, it seemed like he had thought through this before. “You are my anchor, Frankie. You are… the thing that keeps me grounded. You remind me a lot of Will, in a way, and you’re the only person he’d probably approve of.” Ben gave a small chuckle. “He’s very picky, but… it’s clear the way you care for me. It’s in the way you wrap my hands before a fight and the way you tell me to get out of the goddamn water” Frankie felt a playful nudge. “And how you let me sleep in your tent when I’m freezing my ass off. You care about me, anyone can see it, and I like to think everyone can see how much I care about you. When the helicopter went down, it was you I ran too, your name I called, you I pulled out…”

“I remember…”

“You make me want to be better. You make me want to take better care of myself to lighten your load. You make me happy.”

Frankie was ready. “You know that song, you are my sunshine?” He wanted until he felt Ben nod… when did Frankie lay his head on Ben’s shoulder? “I heard it the other day and thought of you. Everything else gets really… it's gonna be hard to put into words but that’s the main thing. You are my sunshine. You make my days better, especially in recovery. I’ll be having a hard day and you won’t even know and you’ll just brighten it up. I just want to- fuck I just want to take care of you. You say you want to lighten my load but I enjoy it. I like seeing your smile when I bring you food, I like wrapping your hands correctly because I know it’ll help you and protect you. I like it because I like- fucking shit” He had started crying before he knew his eyes were watering, trying to choke it all back. “I love you, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Benny took a moment to process those words, the confession… before oh-so carefully taking Frankie’s face in his beat-up hands. Gentle, he guided Frankie to look at him. The night wasn’t too dark, but still bright enough to make out vague traces of Benny’s face he loved so much and was struck by how his eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. “We can take this slow, Fish. I know Santi jumped into it, but we can take it step by step. Or not at all, but… if you’re ready to admit you love me, I think you're ready for something. And for the record, I love you too. Always have, always will.”

He was doing this. He could do this. Benny would match his pace as he always had, he could take it slow… but right now, he was ready. With Benny beside him… it all seemed so much less scary. “Can you… can you kiss me?”

“Oh baby…” Benny sighed out in relief. “I’ll always kiss you.”

It was desperate, needy, teeth and lips and tongue and in a clamor to release the years of repression between them both, Frankie moaning into Benny’s open mouth.

“You’ll wake them.” Benny said with no real intent to hush his lover. 

“Oh please, Will climbed into their tent an hour ago.” Frankie fisted his hands into Benny’s shirt, yanking the boy towards him. “Fuck’n need you.”

“Always needed you, Frankie.” Benny muttered between heavy kisses, turning his body so he was half laying on Frankie. “Always will.”

Frankie’s hands found Benny’s hips, pressing him down on him so he could feel both bulges between them, and the way Ben rutted against him was electric, shooting to the very core of him and circulating through his body. “Fuck’n desperate.” Frankie murmured in Ben’s ear.

Benny chuckled. “Says the one grinding me on him.”

“Oh my god, you never stop talk’n, do yuh” 

But Ben could feel Frankie’s smile against his skin as they further pressed into each other, a desperate need for each other’s closeness.

“You wanna do this here?”

“God yes, need you.”

“We can take it slow, take it at your pace.”

“This is my pace, I always- of fuuuuck-” Frankie grabbed the meat of Ben’s ass in his sweats. “I always fuck on the first date.”

Kissing down his neck, Benny made sure to mark up Frankie’s neck. Everyone would know who he belonged to now. “Oh, are we dating now?” He teased.

Frankie’s voice was practically a whine. “Don’t fucking play with me, I can’t fucking take it anymore”

He stopped the motions, the heat of the moment cooling for just a moment while Benny forced Frankie to focus on him, only him. “Won’t play with you, promise. I’m yours.”

“Yours…”

It wasn’t long until both pants were shucked off (shirts remaining on for warmth, a blanket covering over them), Frankie fingering his wet fingers into Ben’s asshole.

“Can’t fucking wait to feel you” He muttered to the blonde, wriggling his body further down. “Gotta taste you, first.” Frankie wasn’t sure where to go first. “I’ve never sucked dick before…”

Benny smiled up at him encouragingly. “We don’t gotta worry about that today.”

“But I wanna…” Frankie’s large wet eyes glanced at him from his position between Ben’s legs. “Wanna make you feel as good as I can, Benjamin.” He tentatively wrapped his free hand around Ben’s cock, stick and hard and dripping for him. “Can I just… take you in my mouth, and you control the pace?”

Ben wasn’t sure how much control he was gonna have with two of Frankie’s long fingers in his ass making him pant and moan already, but he agreed, entangling his hands into Frankie’s soft curls as the older man lowered his mouth on Ben’s length. He took it slow, setting a steady pace but not pushing Frankie further than halfway down him. They could work on that later; they could spend the rest of their lives familiarizing themselves with each other's bodies, learning and growing together. Tonight was simplistic.

“Just like that, doing so good Fransisco… oh god doing so good” Benny moaned for him, the cold of the night long forgotten in the wet heat of Frankie’s mouth. His plush lips looked magnificent stretched out around his dick and the way Frank looked up at him as his fingers pumped Ben might be his favorite sight in the world. Frankie, for his part, was in fucking heaven. This felt right, this felt so fucking right and Frankie felt like he could spent his life sucking and licking on every inch of Ben’s body, and let out a whine when Ben pulled him off. Frankie moved further down, taking Ben’s balls in his mouth as Ben spoke.

“Gonna cum if you keep going like that, want us to cum together.”

“Wanna taste you in my mouth” His mouth joined his fingers, licking at Benny’s used hole.

“Seems like you got a whole lot of me in your mouth, Frank.”

Frankie groaned, frustrated. “Need more. Can’t get enough of you.” He lapped at the pale skin, only bits of him the speedo covered, the taste of river water and sweat dancing on his tongue.

“Francsco, look at me.” Ben called to him, and when Frankie looked up, lips detaching from his ass, Ben took his face in his hands and pulled him up for a kiss. “I know you’re making up for lost time, but we got the rest of our lives. I want to feel you inside me, I want to cum with you.”

Frankie nodded, obliging. “You ready? I know we don’t got lube, I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“You opened me up, and theres lot fo spit” he chuckled. “I’m ready.”

With a deep breath, holding onto Benny’s shoulder, Frankie slowly and carefully slid his cock into Benny’s gapping hole and fuck, it felt… it felt… “You feel like home…”

He didn’t try to fit all of himself in Ben; he was aware his dick was massive and without lube, it wasn’t worth potentially hurting Ben just to bottom out. It started out to deserate, so needy, a desire that just had to be fulfilled but melded into something softer. They had the rest of their lives… tonight could be sensual and slow. Frankie fucked into his new lover, Benny’s head tossing around on the pillow as theirs limps and lips entangled, Frankie chasing Benny’s mouth every time Bne’s pleasure became too might.

“Feel so goddamn good Frank, can’t wait to spend my life like this.”

Frankie kissed his nose. “Can’t wait to spend my life making you smile” He took Ben’s dick back in his hands, jerking him as he pumped into his ass. “Can you cum for me? I can’t hold on much longer, been wait’n too long.”

“Y-yes, yes Francsco, I wanna come with you, please?”

“Don’t gotta beg, just lemme see it, lemme see you cum, I’m right behind you, I promise.”

Benny complied, his body writhing as warm cum shot out from his cock. “F-fucking love you.”

“Good boy, baby” Frankie praised, jerking Ben’s pulsing length. “Look so beautiful cumming in my hand, gonna-fuckinghell-gonna fill up this perfect assohmygod” Frankie’s voice sputtered and hips stuttered as he filled up Benny’s warm hole with his cum, fucking him full. “Good boy…” One final time as Frankie slumped onto Ben’s body and into hsi awaiting arms as he carefully slid out. They laid there for a month, panting as they came down from their respective highs, a wide grin on Ben’s blissed out face.

Once he felt like his legs wouldn’t give out, Frankie a breath and pushed his body up to go get something to clean Ben off, but was surprised when Benny desperately wrapped his arms around Frankie’s body. 

“Don’t go, please?”

Frankie managed to lift up enough to look into Ben’s glowing blue eyes in the dark. “I’m just getting a towel, Ben. I’m not going anywhere…”

The worry of Ben’s face subsided just a little. “I just… I don’t want this to be like last time…” Last time, Frankie didn’t talk to Ben for months.

“It won’t, I promise. Can I clean you up?”

Benny acquiesced, and Frankie wriggled on his pants and left the tent, coming back with a damp towel and some of their waters and trail mix. Tender and soft, Frankie wiped his cum out of Benny’s leaking hole and Ben’s cum off the boys stomach, skin exposed by his ridden-up shirt. “Here.” Frankie made sure Benny had some of the trail mix and drank some water, then did the same himself. When Frankie was certain Ben was taken care of, he redressed him, making sure he was nice and warm. “I ain’t gonna leave you this time, Ben. I’m with you, now.”

Just as Benny was about to nod off, exhausted and lulled to sleep by Frankie playing with his hair, they heard Will from the next tent. Santi and your tent, actually. “Fucking FINALLY!”

The 5 of them burst out in laughter, Frankie nuzzling his blushing face in Ben’s firm chest but smiling still. “Oh my fucking god”

Ben called out to his brother. “How much of that shit did you hear?”

Santi spoke now. “All of it.”

Your turn. “It was a very sweet love confession”

Frankie lifted his face. “So you heard all of it.”

“Well, you weren’t exactly quite.”

Turning to Frankie, Ben shrugged. “Well, we weren’t”

Frankie playfully nudged him.

“So yes, we heard you eating his ass.” Santi teased, followed the distinct sound of either you or Will smacking him. “Ow! Hey, All I’m saying is the recent developments are gonna make the next ORGY wayyyyy more interesting.”

***************

THEY ARE BAAAAAAAAACCCKK!!!!

Thanks for all your patience!

@kittyofalltrades @bit-dodgy-innit @milkymoon2483 @luciannadraven33 @welcometostayingawake @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @cocodiem @imwaytooobsessedwithpedro @twistedboxy @juneknight @angelbabyyy99 @marshmallow--3 @ahookedheroespureheart @kandik @moonknightly @storyarcscribe @itspdameronthings @lou-la-lou @axshadows @saintbedelia @lucianadraven32 @your-voice-is-mellifluousuous @nana90azevedo @luciferiorbxtch @djarinluvr @aretha170 @mystinky-butt @uglie-hoe @sirenphrynne @sammierae-16 @thismessthatsm @luciannadraven33 @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @fieryglutenfreechickennoodles @cocodiem @gogh-with-the-flow @paintlavillered @tiny-raccon @luciferiorbxtch @feltonswifesworld87 @whitearmsredhands @pimosworld @mrscadilllac @i-wanna-be-your-muse @violentdelightsandviolentends @lunar-ghoulie @meveispunk @missdictatorme @itspdameronthings @luciferiorbxtch @lonelyisamyw-0love @poeedameronn @fieryglutenfreechickennoodles @luke-o-lophus @the-soulofdevil-reads @thepowerthismanhasoverme @miraclesabound @gogh-with-the-flow @simps-central @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @ssuperficialspacecadett @munson-hargrove-barnes86 @broken-arrow-ambassador @thedreadandthefugitivemind

@casa-boiardi @littlevenicebitch @caelumcvre

sorry if i missed anyone!!!

lmk if you wanna be tagged for the next part!!!

#fishben #benny miller x frankie morales #francisco morales #benjamin miller #benny and frankie #triple frontier #frankie x benny #benjamin miller x francisco morales #triple frontier fanfiction

[twostepstyless]

All Roads Lead To You

Authors Note:

NSFW

Harry and Y/N decide to take an open-ended roadtrip to Italy, they’ve been best friends since school but what changes when they get to run away for a bit and enjoy some overdue, uninterrupted time together under the summer sun as they journey across Europe. This one has been in the works, essentially, since Harry’s House was released. Heavily inspired by the song Keep Driving, the referenced are blatantly obvious LOL. Also wrote this about Harry’s trip to Italy he took during the pandemic when he drove there from England with a friend, in my story the friend happens to be Y/N. Some of the photos they take on the trip are also direct references from the Harry’s House album booklet, see if you can guess which ones! This is my longest fic to date and I hope you enjoy it, it’s been a labour of love. 

As always, reblogs, likes, feedback is appreciated and encouraged !!

Lots of love, G xo 

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Warnings: Recreational drug use and smut. Don’t do drugs kids (but if you do be safe xo) 

Contains: Long drives, crepes in Paris, Coffee in Pisa, Pizza in Naples, Audrey Hepburn in Rome and a whole lotta love in Positano and a lot of blatant references to the song Keep Driving xo OH and Y/N spills food… a LOT

Word Count: 22k (it’s a BIG one, may need to read on desktop, device depending)

***

“Right then, we ready?” Harry asked shutting the driver side door as he got comfortable in the leather seat. 

“Think so, did you lock up?” she asked, not yet looking up from her phone as she scrolled through their carefully curated road trip playlist. 

“No, jus’ left the front door open for a laugh, I’ve stuck a sign up out the front saying everything’s free for the taking as well,” he said, sarcasm dripping around every word. 

“Don’t be a smart arse, or you’ll be in for a long journey, I was jus’ checking. Did you lock the back doors?” She glanced up at him to see him sliding the key to the borrowed car into the ignition, his blue hat backwards on top of his grown-out curls, a pair of yellow tinted sunglasses hanging from the neck of his sweatshirt. 

Harry paused as he was about to turn the key to start the car up, “the back doors weren’t open,” he said slowly, as if trying to convince himself of the fact. 

“H, we ate out there this morning,” Y/N narrowed her eyes at him, baffled to the fact he couldn’t remember they were out there with coffee and pancakes not even an hour ago. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Harry grumbled, pulling the keys back out of the ignition and groaning as he got back out the car with his knees cracking as he stood. Y/N leant out of the open passenger window as Harry made his way back to his front door.

“Oi, try and lose that hat while you’re at it, yeah?” Y/N called out the window to him, a smirk playing at her lips as Harry looked back over his shoulder as he unlocked the door. Before entering he turned back to face her, spun his hat round so the front was facing her so she could read that god awful fisherman quote, and he stuck both his middle fingers up at her as he laughed, walking backwards into his house. 

While he was gone, Y/N took the opportunity to connect her phone to the sound system ready to deep dive into their playlist and then rifled through her bag in the footwell that had all their essentials for the first block of driving, just double checking she had everything to hand. A rough route map, or more so things they could stop to see and interesting places they could spend a night on their open-ended trip as they drove from London to Italy. Y/N had both their passports in a plastic wallet along with every other document they could possibly need and then some. Harry had joked her bag had looked like a police evidence container with everything separated into various wallets and folders. That had earned him a slap in the chest with one of those wallets and her saying, “well say, we get questioned about the car insurance at least I’ll know where it is, instead of you patting at your pockets as if it’s going to appear by magic, eh?” 

She wasn’t wrong either, Harry knew he was making the right decision asking her to come along on this trip with him. Not only was she so well organised it put him to shame but he really couldn’t wait to have some well overdue Harry and Y/N time. The pair had been friends since they started high school, in fact, Harry was of the opinion friends was too basic of a term for what they were to each other. Kindred spirits perhaps, confidante seemed a bit too high and mighty of a phrase. Soulmates. Platonic soulmates, Harry kept telling himself, but the ache in his chest he felt when they were separated by the Atlantic Ocean and every flight grounded for the foreseeable when he got stuck in L.A when the entire world locked down said differently. Their daily FaceTime calls, that happened at all hours of the day and night, when they would confuse their time differences and any semblance of a daily schedule fell by the wayside throughout lockdowns and quarantines, eventually turned into them fantasising what they should do to make up for lost time when they were finally reunited and restrictions allowed them to run away for a bit, and thus the idea to drive to Italy was born. They justified it by saying, well driving would mean they would interact with the least amount of people other than each other, minimising their risk of becoming unwell, it would also mean they could make the trip as long or short as they pleased as neither of the pair had anything they had to rush back for. The only small argument they had got into was which car would be taking them on the journey across the English Channel and Europe, Y/N’s ageing car, that Harry had affectionately named her ‘Doodlebug’ was out of the question, it was a little too small and if Y/N was honest she didn’t think the car would make it through the channel crossing never mind to Italy. That left them Harry’s multiple car options, all of which Y/N shot down as he suggested them, rejecting his classic and vintage cars because, “what if something went wrong H? I doubt some mechanic in the middle of nowhere France can fix a Mercedes from the 60s.” When he suggested his newer, modern cars, they ended up in the reject pile just as quick, “they’re all a bit ostentatious d’you not think? All a bit ‘look at me, I’m a wanker roaring through rural France in a sports car’ or a big, fuck-off Range Rover before you suggest that.” 

That left them drawing a blank, toying the idea of hiring a car until Harry mentioned his and Y/N’s plans while on a call with his Mum.

“Why don’t you take Robin’s?” she had suggested.

“Christ Mum, y’sure y’would be alright with that?” he queried, gnawing on his lip.

“Honestly Harry, please do, it would be a nice full circle moment, I think. We went all over the country in that thing, would be lovely to see you two take it further afield, make some memories like we did,” she had given him a soft smile through the phone screen as Harry gave her one back, feeling his eyes go glassy. 

Which brought them to this moment. The second Harry had found out he was able to get home from L.A, Y/N was taking the quickest trip back up North she’d ever had, to collect the car and give a quick wave through the window to her own parents as that was as close to them as she was willing to risk, and she was back on the road driving the borrowed car to London to await Harry’s arrival. They set their departure date for a little over two weeks after Harry returned, so they could both isolate and not risk each other’s health and safety. 

Just as she was repacking her final documents folder with their passports, Harry’s filled with a lot more stamps and used pages than her own, back into her bag in the footwell, Harry had returned, opening, and sliding into the driver’s seat, popping the key back into the ignition. 

“Well, was the back door unlocked then?” she looked over at him, quirking her eyebrow, a smirk playing at her lips, taking note that the ‘if you ain’t a fisherman, you ain’t shit’ hat was still sat firmly on his head, squashing his soft curls down. 

“Shut up,” he grumbled, deflecting from answering, he couldn’t help but let a smile tug at the corner of his annoyed pout as Y/N giggled from her seat, fastening her belt as Harry started the engine. “Next stop, the Eurotunnel,” he grinned at her as she wriggled excitedly in her seat, the idea of escaping the U.K for at least a little while was really doing a number on her. 

“There’ll be bluebirds over, the white cliffs of Dover,” Y/N warbled as she pressed play on the same song on her phone. 

Harry huffed out a laugh, “the Eurotunnel is in Folkestone, y’idiot,” he said as she continued her slightly off-key tune as the voice of Vera Lynn eased them into the first leg of a journey that would change everything. 

***

“Harry, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Y/N warned as she pulled out the document with their booking reference.

“M’fine,” he grunted, reaching through his window, fingertips just whispering across the touchscreen as he tried to plug in the details

“Jus’ accept you misjudged it and open your bloody door, I’m not popping your shoulder back into place in the car park,” she retaliated. 

Harry sighed before stretching out his seatbelt and popping the door open so he could lean closer to the screen all the while muttering under his breath, “jus’ embarrassing innit,” and “I look like a right knob,” as Y/N snickered and read out the code to him for him to punch in. 

Slamming the door shut and handing her the ticket they had to hang from the rear-view mirror, his eyes met hers as she pressed her lips together to stifle the laugh that was crawling its way up her throat, “not a word,” he cautioned lifting his foot from the clutch as they drove under the raised barrier. “How long’ve we got til our slot?” he asked as he followed the road round into the car park where a selection of shops and world duty free framed the tarmac. 

“Uh, 30-40 minutes, I think,” Y/N glanced at her watch as Harry pulled into a free parking space, “I really need a wee before we go anywhere though,” quickly attaching the ticket with the bold letter E inked on it to the rear-view mirror that would direct the staff to which train they should be on before undoing her seatbelt and reaching for her mask to slip on to enter the rest area. 

Pulling his own mask on, he unbuckled his own seatbelt before getting out the car with her, locking it behind him with the push of a button, “okay, you sort yourself out, I’m away to play ‘Supermarket Sweep’ in the shops, any requests?” he held the door to the concourse open for her. 

“The journey is only a bit over half an hour, but I could go somethin’ tasty,” she paused, mulling over what she could want before the pressure in her bladder interrupted her as she shot off towards the toilets, calling over her shoulder, “surprise me!”

Hands washed and dried and snacks purchased, they met outside the front doors of the concourse, so they weren’t lingering around many people before sauntering back over to the car. 

“Shit, I forgot to put that bloody U.K sticker on the car,” Harry said as he took notice of the white stickers with the bold black letters emblazoned on the car’s parked on either side of their own. “Pass me it out, s’in the glove box,” he passed her the bag filled with their snacks as well to deposit in her passenger side too. Y/N quickly located the sticker handing it to Harry who was stood behind her on the passenger side and just as she was about to close the compartment, she caught sight of something else.

“Oh… H, look at this,” wrapping her hand round the item before pulling herself back out the car round the back to see Harry squatting down, smoothing over the sticker over the bumper. She handed him the polaroid she found, one of Anne and Robin, perched on the bonnet of this very car, clearly taken before one of their many road trips. Harry’s fingers held onto the edges of the image as to not taint it with his fingerprints as he took in their beaming faces, Y/N watched smiling softly as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat before he cleared it. 

“I’ve got m’film camera in my backpack, we should take one too… like they did,” he glanced up at her timidly.

“That sounds like a great idea, let me put this back where it belongs and we’ll take one before we go, yeah?” she gave him a warm smile and a squeeze of his hand, taking the polaroid from him and putting it back in its home in the glove box so it would be on their journey with them. Harry was opening the boot, scouring through his large backpack that Y/N frequently teased him about, saying he looked like an 11-year-old on their first day of high school wearing it. Pulling out the camera and setting it up as he closed the boot again, Y/N sidled up to him as he held out the camera in front of them, trying to get the newly placed U.K sticker in the shot. Her hand came up to block the sun from her eyes as she beamed into the camera lens, a broad grin across Harry’s face too, as one eye squinted closed as he battled the golden rays shining in his face as he took their photo. 

“S’black an’ white film in it just now, that’s the only thing,” Harry said taking the camera and its accompanying bag, stuffed full of accessories and new rolls of film and cannisters into the front seats so they could take some pictures on their journey.

“Even better,” she smiled, sliding back into her seat, and fastening her belt, “should we get out of here then?”

“Let’s do this,” Harry reached over to squeeze her knee in excitement as he started the car and drove towards the Eurotunnel. 

***

Harry was adamant he was doing the first portion of driving from his home until they stopped overnight in Paris, one of the locations they decided to stop off at along the way to Italy, wanting to make it a ‘proper road trip.’ He was adamant he was doing that first portion of driving even when they got into a little scuffle next to the car while stretching their legs as the train hurtled under the English Channel. When Y/N tried to wrestle the keys from his grip and force herself into the driver’s seat. 

“Move your arse, it’s not happening,” he had said taking the keys out of her grip holding them up above both their heads and out of reach. 

“You’re the one that said we were splitting the driving,” she shot back as she reached up on the tips of her toes, her fingers just ghosting the keys, if only she could just hook a finger through the keyring.

Harry whipped the keys back down and stuck them in his back pocket before spinning Y/N round so he was closer to the open driver’s door, “and we’ll split it with you driving for a bit tomorrow, jus’ let me get us to Paris,” he stated as he sat down in seat and shut the door behind him before seeing Y/N’s furrowed brow through the open window, “oi, get in and buckled up, grumpy, we’ll be driving off soon.” 

Her grumpiness didn’t last long as they were on the road from Calais to Paris, with them competing in the car of who could remember more from high school French which was really just the numbers from 1 to 20, some greetings and how to say you were going to the cinema with your mates, all completed with their dodgy attempt at an accent. 

“Pass me a piggy,” he asked, looking out the corner of his eyes through his yellow sunglasses to see Y/N had burst into their snack haul.

“Um..” she began, feeling the heat rise on her face. 

“You’ve not tanked an entire bag of Percy Pigs, have you?” Harry asked whipping his head round at her quickly, mouth open, before his eyes shot back to the road, “and didn’t even offer me one.”  “No, no, not all of them, there’s some left, honest,” she giggled clutching onto the pink packaging that she had torn open.

“Then cough up,” he held out his left palm that had previously been resting on the gear stick. Y/N begrudgingly placed the pig-shaped confection in his hand. 

“I love Percy Pigs, they’re my favourites,” she said softly to herself mostly, as she ate the second to last sweet before handing Harry the last one in the bag. 

“I know y’do, there’s a second bag in there for the very reason I knew you would put that first bag away in record time,” he mumbled, chewing round a mouthful of fruit-flavoured pig.

“Shit, is there actually? You’re my second favourite after Percy now” she squeaked as she tore through the bag for life Harry had filled with her favourites while he played Supermarket Sweep earlier that day. Harry grinned at her joy of finding the second bag as he took a swig of water from the bottle that she had taken the lid off for him as he drove. 

***

She had played the opening song from Beauty and the Beast as they drove into Paris as Harry snorted at her choice before joining in her singalong and pointing towards himself during the line about the baker. They did a quick driving tour of Paris as night fell over the city, both too exhausted for anything more. They parked up to enjoy the glittering light show of the Eiffel Tower while they ate the crêpes Y/N had purchased from an overpriced stand while she said something about this being a trip to play up the tourist stereotype. Harry watched her eyes sparkle in the twinkling light as drip of Nutella landed on her chin and a slice of strawberry fell out her dessert onto the pavement below their feet. As the sparkling faded out to darkness, Y/N looked up at Harry, who laughed in her face as he wiped away the Nutella with his scrunched-up napkin while she played it off saying she was saving that bit for later. 

Harry had called in a favour with some friends in Paris and had managed to borrow an apartment for a night while his friend was out of town, gathering their overnight bags from the car and Y/N’s bag with all their important bits that she didn’t want to leave unattended in the car overnight, they shuffled into the quiet of the apartment to see Harry’s friend had made up their sofa bed in addition to their own bedroom for the pair.

“Bedrooms through there, Y/N/N, I’ll be out here,” he grunted out, his tiredness starting to become more evident in his voice. 

“Don’t be ridiculous c’mere,” she tugged him alongside her into the bedroom, “I also don’t want t’hear you whine about a sore back in the car all day tomorrow,” she stated before sitting him down on the bed and kicking her shoes off and grabbing her sleepwear from her bag, “I baggsy the bathroom first, though,” she said through a yawn as she walked away from him. Harry quickly got himself changed while she was out of the room and was swiping through the pictures they had taken at the Eiffel Tower, and quick shots of other sights through the window on their driving tour, on his phone, in addition to the ones on his film camera. He barely noticed her enter the room again and shuffle into the bed next to him until the mumbled, “bathrooms all yours.” Harry was quick in sorting himself out in the bathroom, doing his business, washing his face, and brushing his teeth as he felt his body succumbing to sleep. He stumbled back into the bedroom to see her already out, soft puffs of air leaving her, her hair covering her face. Slipping under the sheets next to her, he reached over, pushed her hair back and smiled softly, eyes blinking heavily as he took in her softened features before turning out the bedside light and letting his body fall under the sleep it so desperately needed. 

***

“H, I’m so hungry I’m hurtling towards taking a bite out the steering wheel,” she announced, looking over at him with a deadpan expression from her spot in the driver’s seat as he took a quick picture of her grimace on his camera. They had set off from Paris early with a long driving day in front of them with and Y/N was taking on the first stint of the drive to give Harry a break after his turn yesterday. 

“Percy not cutting it any longer?” Harry questioned, lowering his camera from his face, a teasing smirk plaguing his mouth.

“Not even a little bit,” she sighed looking down at the packet of sweets jammed into one of the cup holders, not in the slightest bit tempted as she was yesterday. 

“I’m already googling, I’ll find somewhere,” he reassured pulling his phone out of the pocket of his hoodie before pausing, “here, drink up, it’ll hold you over a bit before we stop,” he unscrewed lid of the water before passing it to her as she drank up gratefully keeping her right hand on the steering wheel. 

They drove for another 45 minutes before Harry instructed her to pull into a rest stop that apparently served a great breakfast, according to TripAdvisor anyway. Y/N parked up and unbuckled and as she reached for a fresh mask Harry gripped her wrist and deposited it back into her lap, “no point in both of us going in, we’ll eat in the car, yeah?” 

“Well, let me go then, don’t want you to get, y’know,” she spoke as she gestured her hands in the air as if to create some sort of fanfare symbolising Harry getting mobbed. 

“Considering we’re in the middle of nowhere France and there’s only a lorry, us, and a car from 1982 parked up,” he nodded towards the car, “I think I’ll be jus’ fine. Got m’mask and m’sunnies on as well,” he said as he donned both, nodding his head down quickly to knock his sunglasses from their perch in his hair to cover his eyes as he looped the elastic of his mask over his ears. 

“Take my wallet then, s’in the top of my bag, got some cash in there,” she reached over to adjust his sunglasses that sat squint on his face while he scrunched his nose up.

“Fuck off,” he scoffed at her suggestion of offering him money, unbuckling his seatbelt, and opening his door to get out.

“Harry just tak-” she was cut off by the slamming of his door as she rolled her eyes at his behaviour. 

He returned about 20 minutes later as she watched him through the front windscreen as he crossed the car park with a coffee carrier and a brown paper bag that the handles seemed to be straining on as he shook it in the air and wiggled his hips when he came to a stop in front of the car. She could see his eyes crinkle through his yellow lenses as he came back round to his passenger door. He passed her the coffee carrier in and balanced the paper bag on top of the centre console as he situated himself back in his seat. Y/N had rolled her own seat back as far as it could go to give herself a bit more room.

“That smells amazing,” Y/N sighed dreamily taking a whiff of the hot food coming from the paper bag as she took their coffees from the carrier and settled them in the two-remaining cupholders. 

“Oh, we hit the jackpot in there, I come bearing a bag of fresh, home-made, assorted pastries,” he pulled out a white paper bag that seemed to be filled to bursting with buttery, flaky goodness, “we also have- oops there’s the forks,” he distracted himself pulling out a bundle of wooden cutlery wrapped in some paper napkins. “We also have toast,” he pulled out a white cardboard box and placed it on the dashboard between them, balancing some butter packages and jams on top, “and finally, hash browns an’ fried eggs,” he grinned handing over a polystyrene container she could feel the heat radiating through and placing his own container in his lap. 

“Oh my god, aw I could kiss you,” she smiled patting her grumbling stomach, “did y’get knives though ‘cause I don’t like the egg whi-”

“Already dealt with,” he cut her off with a smile then taking a sip from his coffee, and sure enough it was. She popped open the lid of her food and saw her hash browns with two fried egg yolks sat next to them, the whites cut off from around them. Looking over at Harry, she saw him already wolfing into his yolkless egg whites in their chopped-up glory. 

They ate and drank with their music playing quietly in the background until their bellies were full and Y/N was feeling a lot less grouchy. She packed up their rubbish into the paper bag and went to get out the car to take it to the bin across the carpark, “wait hang on lovie,” Harry stopped her before taking his thumb and swiping it across her bottom lip and chin before holding it in her eyeline, “some stray strawberry jam this time, are y’planning on spilling down your chin at every stop?” he smiled before wiping his thumb clean on a spare napkin before putting that in the top of their rubbish too.

***

Y/N continued driving the next portion of the journey with Harry deciding he’d take over just before the Mont Blanc tunnel. Insisting even when Y/N fought him on it. 

“Why don’t we just swap the other side of the tunnel, seems a bit more logical to do it tha’ way.”

“No, no we’ll swap before,” his most reassuring tone evident in his voice. 

She paused, thinking, before it dawned on her, “you just want to say you drove through the big tunnel, don’t you?” she mused. Harry’s silence and the redness that coloured his cheeks and the tips of his ears gave him away in an instant. “Y’so silly, we’ll swap before the tunnel,” she said as he beamed to himself.

So, they did. Y/N pulled into the last rest stop before the Mont Blanc tunnel where it was her turn to fill up the tank anyway as Harry got himself comfortable in the driver’s seat, moving it into position and adjusting his mirrors. Petrol paid for; they were on their way again. Y/N was fiddling around with Harry’s camera changing the film from the black and white reel they had finished to a colour film instead. As they paid the toll for the tunnel through the Alps and waited on their turn to go through, she caught his attention, “right, look at me,” he turned his head as he drove up to the entrance of the tunnel as Y/N took his picture, catching him unawares. “There we go, Harry’s big moment driving through the tunnel captured on film to remember forever,” she teased. 

“You’ve got a real cheek, y’know, could’ve at least told me y’were taking m’photo, I would’ve posed an’ got a better shot,” he pulled his hat off leaving it on the dash, which she then took a photo of, while it was lit by the afternoon sun coming in the front window. 

“Nah, my photography is all about catching real, genuine emotions,” she said in her best serious voice. 

“Your photography,” he snorted, “right Annie Leibovitz, calm yourself down.”

“Oh, fuck off Harry, c’mon it’s our turn,” she said pointing towards the tunnel entrance. 

As he drove into the tunnel with a smile on his face, he mentioned the silly superstition they used to do as children, “I’d say hold your breath and make a wish til the end of the tunnel but it’s 7 and a bit miles long and I could be doing with y’not passing out halfway.” 

They decided to keep driving. Originally planning on having a rest night on the other side of the tunnel once they crossed into Italy, but Harry was feeling good and hadn’t driven much so was up for getting them to Pisa early so they could spend two nights rather than the one and get to see the city properly the next day. 

The highway hypnosis and gentle rumble of the car paired with their early morning start, rocked Y/N to sleep for a little while nearly two hours into their journey, and Harry couldn’t help himself by continuously taking shy glances over at her. Constantly worried that the next time she’s going to be awake and catch him looking, but he just couldn’t stop himself, her softened, relaxed features were just so endearing to him. It comforted him to know she felt safe, secure, and relaxed enough to fall asleep while he drove. He let her sleep as long as he could before he became wary about her not being able to sleep tonight if she slept all the way until Pisa. He considered reaching over and gently shaking her awake. Considered it, then swiftly moved on from that because at heart, Harry was a little shit to Y/N. A menace, and always had been over the nearly fifteen years they knew each other, and that wasn’t about to change now. He pulled over at a quiet part of the road and grabbed her phone that was still connected to the speakers, playing soft instrumental and orchestral music. He signed in with her passcode and entered her Apple Music tab, quickly finding the song he wanted and queuing it to play next before starting off down the road again. As the previous song faded into nothing, Harry quickly spun the volume dial and thought to himself, when in Italy. As the rousing opening to ‘Volare’ blasted through the car speakers, so loud the car 100 metres in front of them could probably hear it. Y/N shrieked awake and jumped so high her head brushed the roof of the car as Harry cackled. 

“What in the actual fuck, Harry?!” she clutched her chest as Harry kept laughing. 

“Y’needed to wake up or you’re not going to sleep t’night, so I woke you up,” he kept laughing, turning the music down to a volume that wasn’t threatening to burst their eardrums.

“So, you decided to do that by nearly giving me a heart attack?” she asked dumbfounded her heartrate slowly ticking back down to a more sensible rhythm. “You’re an actual dickhead, Harry Styles.”

“Shut up and singalong, y’love this song,” he grinned wickedly at her. 

“Where are we, anyway?” she asked stretching her arms above her head, finally adjusting to being awake again. 

“Just passed Genoa, f’you look out my window we might be able to see the water in a second,” Harry glanced out trying to see the sparkling blue of the Ligurian Sea as he began softly humming along to the song. 

***

As they reached Pisa, things were going the same way they had went in Paris. Agreeing they were far too exhausted to do anything that night, at least they had an entire day and night tomorrow to explore and see the city. It was really beneficial for Y/N to be friends with Harry, who had friends, everywhere. They were staying in another borrowed apartment from one of his friends for the next two nights, this one slightly more extravagant with a large balcony and two bedrooms so they wouldn’t be squished in together, Harry didn’t know if this was a positive or a negative, but it also meant that one of them didn’t have to be banished to a pull-out either. They were picking up the keys from Harry’s mate in the centre of town near a restaurant his friend had also recommended so they opted to get take-out from there, after Harry pulled out some awful joke about them having a ‘Pisa Pizza’ to take back and eat to settle down for the night. 

Harry pulled up and parked in a space a few down from the restaurant, and before Y/N even reached for her belt to undo it, he stopped her. “Jus’ you wait here, sleepy, I won’t be too long,” he uttered before reaching across and tucking strands of her hair behind her ear. 

“Hmm, okay,” Y/N yawned before reaching down to her bag, “take this though, an’ I mean it this time, H, don’t even try and give it back or you’ll be spoiling for a fight,” she ordered before shoving a few folded-up Euros into his palm to pay for dinner. Rolling his eyes, he pocketed the cash and got out the car. 

She had been scrolling her phone when Harry returned with a set of keys between his teeth and carrying two pizza boxes in his hands, a plastic bag balanced on top, and a paper bag tucked under his arm. Y/N reached over and popped open the driver’s door, so he didn’t have to struggle, and he handed her the boxes and plastic bag, filled with their food, in for her to hold. 

“What’s with the other bag,” she looked over as Harry kept hold of the paper bag before reaching back over the seats and depositing it into his backpack that had made its way into the backseat rather than the boot. 

“Jus’ somethin’ for tomorrow night and maybe something else for another night,” he had a knowing smirk plastered on his face as she quirked an eyebrow at him but was far too tired to push it any further. She’d find out eventually.

The rest of their evening passed in a sleepy sort of haze, having got into the apartment, eating their dinner, taking turns showering and completing their night-time routines. With full bellies, they bade each other goodnight and slunk away into their respective bedrooms. Although they both admitted to themselves that they missed the closeness of each other through the brick wall that now separated them. They had been in each other’s pockets the last few days and now not having the option to reach out and touch or feel the other’s warmth was missed, but they’ll keep those thoughts to themselves. 

***

Their day in Pisa had started off busy and got lazier as it progressed which was perfect for them and exactly what they wanted out of the trip. They felt they had to go and see the tower in all its leaning glory and made the move to go first thing in the morning to avoid the most amount of people as they could. They took the classic tourist snapshots of pushing and pulling the tower before handing Harry’s camera to an older man to take a photo of the pair of them. They smiled and said ‘Grazie’ generously to the gentleman before giving the camera to a woman who passed them a few moments later to try again, as the older man’s fingertip was definitely, at least partially, covering the lens. 

They spent the rest of the morning wandering piazzas and side streets, in shops and taking photos. A new pair of sandals for Y/N later, as the strap snapped on her own as they walked, and pictures of Harry posed with a bottle of balsamic vinegar he had purchased, they decided they needed a pick me up. Walking into a trattoria, Harry ordered coffees and food for them to share in the best Italian that he had learnt from his friends and the Duolingo subscription he raved about to her. 

“This is weird, y’know,” he noted, sipping on his coffee as they sat outside on metal chairs that never sat quite level on the ground and a matching bistro table that wobbled if you so much as brushed against it. 

“What’s that?” she questioned, peering at him through the yellow of his sunglasses he had placed on her face as she sat down in the seat that the sun was glaring onto as Harry sat with his back to it. 

“Sitting down and having a coffee,” he hummed before tearing off a corner of bread and dipping it into the oil and balsamic mixture and popping it into his mouth. 

“How’s that weird?” she enquired further as she took a drink of her own coffee. 

“Suppose not s’much having the coffee, more the act of being able to sit down and drink it. I don’t really get t’do this much anymore. If I get a coffee, or anything really, it’s like okay, get it to go, move, onto the next place, or the next thing, don’t stop or it could cause a scene,” he rambles. “I’m just happy I can sit here and enjoy this, and we can take our time and we can chat or not chat if we don’t want to, we can spend as long as want,” he paused taking in his surroundings before looking down at his lap and furrowing his eyebrows, “ignore me, it’s stupid,” he tried brushing it off. 

“Hey, look at me,” she said, pushing the sunglasses back into her hair before his eyes met hers. “It’s not stupid, it’s not. You’re just appreciating being able to see the world go by for the first time since you were 16, Har, it’s a big deal,” she responded. “It’s like we’re hiding you in plain sight,” she had a sort of mischievous glint in her eye because they’ve managed this far going undetected. 

“Thank you, Y/N/N, really,” he smiled, “genuinely, I wouldn’t want to do this trip with anyone but you.”

“Thank fuck for that because I’ve made it this far with you, would be a bit shite if you had changed your mind now,” she laughed as his dimples popped in a responding peel of laughter. “We can do this as much as y’want you know,” her tone turning into a mixture of being serious but also reassuring, “if you want to stop for a coffee, or smell the flowers or sit and gorge on pasta on a busy terrace at a restaurant where no one knows it’s you, say the word an’ we’ll stop.” 

That’s what they did the rest of the afternoon, walking aimlessly wherever their feet took them, discovering tourist spots and hidden gems, stopping to read a chapter of their books, they had bought from a second-hand book shop on a tiny side street, while perched on the wall of a fountain in a bustling Piazza and for dinner they had done just what Y/N had suggested, filling themselves up on pasta while sat on a terrace as the evening sun faded around them. 

***

They were sitting on the balcony of the apartment now as Harry poured their wine glasses full of the additional bottle of wine, he had bought from the restaurant for them to share when they got back.

“Cheers,” he raised his glass in the air, gripping it by the stem as he tilted the bowl of the glass to hers. 

“Thought you were supposed to be great at Italian,” she said picking up her own glass but not letting the glass chime together yet, “they say Salute here, so Salute, look me in the eye as well or 7 years of bad sex is coming your way,” she giggled catching his gaze before letting the rim of the glasses clip together in a pleasing, twinkly sound. They both took a swig from the glass and afterwards Harry put his down abruptly on the table and stood up.

“Oh shit, I almost forgot,” and he dashed back through the open doors into the apartment.

“Forgot what?” she called in after him, still cradling her own wine glass, taking another sip letting the alcohol warm her from the inside out. 

Harry came back with a small decorative bowl, placing it in the centre of the table and the brown paper bag from yesterday in his clutches. His eyes gleamed at her as he rustled through the bag, looking for something in particular. Firstly, he pulled out a lighter and placed it down onto the table, the second thing came soon after. A joint, perfectly pre-rolled in pink rolling paper. “This is also why I had to meet to get the keys in person,” he confided.

“Bloody hell, H, we’ve not done this for a while, thought you just got sleepy from smoking?” Y/N took another mouthful of wine before sitting the glass down and scooching her chair closer to his. 

“Mm, I do, most of the time, this is a different strain though, so we’ll see what happens, y’up for it?” he asked sincerely, if she wasn’t, he’d forget all about it. 

“Of course, I’m up for it,” she grinned reaching for the lighter on the table, “what else you got in the bag?” 

“Ah, that’s for me to know and you to find out, Sweetness,” he spoke vaguely, before placing the joint between his lips and leaning forward to let her spark it to life. He inhaled deeply, feeling it catch in his throat ever so slightly from being out of practice. He let the feeling settle in his lungs before steadily exhaling into the cooling summer air before ashing the joint into the bowl he brought with him and passing it to Y/N. Through sips of wine, deep inhales, ashes and exhales they passed their evening with soft conversation and fits of giggles. 

“Can’t believe y’broke y’bloody shoe out walking today,” he tittered before drinking down his wine before topping up his own glass and hers. 

“Aw don’t,” she whined, “I loved those sandals,” the full of her lip pouted before she took another drag. 

“More importantly, can’t believe the way you tripped when it broke,” he was cackling now at the memory of her earlier in the day, “I mean, fuck, y’nearly stacked it into the fountain,” he struggled to get out through his laughter, tapping off the joint she passed him back. 

“Oh, piss off,” she tried to keep her face serious, but Harry’s face lit up with laughter was hard to resist as she fell subject to her own giggling. 

They finished the joint and the wine between the pair of them. Letting the effects settle into their bodies for a little while, feeling more relaxed than euphoric. 

“Well, I better go drink a shit load of water and go sleep to sober up since m’driving in the morning,” Y/N began, standing to her feet, gathering the empty wine bottle and their empty glasses that were stained with lip marks and fingerprints. 

Harry stood to his feet as well, cleaning up everything else and tucking his paper bag back under his arm as they both toddled back into the apartment, shutting the balcony doors behind them. Popping everything they had brought in with them into the kitchen for them to tidy up in the morning before they continued their journey. They met again in the hallway outside the two bedroom doors as they said goodnight to each other. 

Harry couldn’t help himself in wrapping her in a warm hug, “thank you for today, really,” he whispered into her hair. 

“Don’t be silly,” she murmured back, wrapping her arms around his waist, letting her fingers dance on his spine as they swayed on the spot. 

“It meant a lot to me, today is right up there as one of my top 5 days, ever,” Harry kept going giving her a little squeeze.

“God, you’ve turned into a right wet wipe while you’ve been away, eh?” they broke away from their embrace as Y/N snickered. 

“Piss off,” he breathed out a laugh in return. Then he done it, he just couldn’t stop himself, his body already moving before the thought crossed his mind. He placed a delicate kiss upon the corner of her mouth and their eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips down. They blinked their eyes open at each other as Harry pulled back, a soft smile playing at their both their lips, then he done it again, just a bit closer to the target this time. He took her bottom lip between his and pressed a slow, lingering kiss to her lips before he stood back to his full height and quietly laughed again as they looked at each other. 

They both turned to enter their rooms for the evening before Y/N said, looking over her shoulder, “Oi, H, I want to hear what the rest of those top 5 days are at one point,” she beamed as they both closed their bedroom doors. The pair of them ghosting their fingertips over their lips where they kissed. 

***

“D’you think the car sounds dodgy?” she asked trying to listen closely to the car, something was definitely making a noise that wasn’t there before. 

Harry reached over and turned the volume of the music right down to listen closely, “eh, there might be something a little off, it’ll be fine though, we’re not driving that long this morning,” he said sincerely turning the volume back up. She glanced over at him, both her hands gripping the steering wheel as she captained them on the drive to Rome. Harry was talking a gulp of his coffee from his to go cup, baring his teeth round the steaming, bitter liquid as it seared down his throat. 

“You’re only saying that, so I won’t get dead concerned, aren’t you?” Y/N uttered softly. 

“Maybe,” Harry drew out the word, a glint in his green eyes, “but maybe not. You’re concerned no matter what I say, correct?” Harry passed her, her own coffee cup so she could take a drink when she made a grabby hand towards it. 

“Just a little bit,” she said handing him the cup back after gulping it down so he could put it down in the cupholder. 

“Let’s just get to Rome and we’ll deal with it if it becomes a problem,” he reached over squeezing her knee in reassurance as she let out a slow breath trying to push the engine noise to the back of her mind and enjoy their route to Rome. 

***

Harry was directing Y/N through the streets of Rome from a map on his phone and as they approached the area they were staying in, Harry spoke. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Hmm, what’s that?” she muttered, not fully listening as she was focusing on her driving as the cobbled roads were narrow, and they were surrounded by pedestrians. 

“Where we’re staying t’night, y’might recognise it,” a smile evident in his voice, “take a left here, doll and park up, we need to walk a little, not much parking on our street.” Y/N done the best parallel park of her life and killed the engine giving him a bemused smile at Harry’s vagueness. Harry took both their overnight bags after he slipped his backpack on his shoulders. After she grabbed her smaller bag, she reached to take her overnight bag off him, “s’fine Sweets, I’ve got it.” They walked down the road they had parked on as Harry kept an eye on his phone map making sure he took her down the correct street, “ready?” he asked as they stood at the corner of the street they were turning down. She nodded her head eagerly and followed him round, letting a soft gasp leave her mouth as she saw the stone buildings that were covered in sprawling ivy. Catching the street sign above her head, her eyes shot to Harry’s who was stood in front of her, their bags resting on the cobbled road as he took a picture of her face flushed with the heat, eyes bright with excitement a wide grin spread across her lips as a bubble of laughter that he would compare to wind chimes left her. 

“Via Margutta? From ‘Roman Holiday’? You’re actually having a laugh, Harry!” Y/N all but launched herself at Harry who had to catch her quickly before they both landed on the cobbles. 

Harry couldn’t help but laugh as he tried unlatching her vice grip, she had around his neck, “okay, okay, let me look at you,” he pried her hands off and held her by the wrists as they both laughed, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

“How did you do this?” she asked shaking her head as she looked around the street she knew so well from the screen.

“Saw it online when I was looking for a place for us to stay, know ‘Roman Holiday’ is your favourite, so I just had to,” he shrugged. She didn’t quite have the words to say how much it meant to her or even begin to process how thoughtful he had been, so she just hugged him, another bone-crushing hug that she just hoped got across how happy and grateful she was and Y/N assumes it did when she felt his lips pucker against the top of her head and his arms wrap around her as they embraced in the middle of the cobbles. 

***

Just as they left the apartment Harry stopped her and tied a silk neck scarf around her throat that he had been carrying in his pocket. “Now you look the part, Audrey Hepburn,” he booped the end of her nose before positioning her in the middle of the street, taking a couple of pictures of her on his camera, before pulling out his phone to get one of her on there as well. 

“Wait, take one with me,” Y/N reached towards him.

“Nope, this is all you this time, Miss Hepburn,” he took a few extra candid shots before he stretched out his hand to grab hers and be on their way. They had both explored Rome extensively, both separately and together so weren’t rushing to the major tourist hot spots, however on their walk they noticed the Trevi fountain was only about 10 minutes from the apartment and had to stop by for a wish. Y/N dug through her purse to find them both a coin and stood side by side holding hands, fluttered their eyes closed and wished, tossing the coin over their shoulders. 

“Y’know the rules H, so don’t even ask,” Y/N warned him before he even had the chance to open his mouth. 

“Yeah, well, didn’t want to know your wish anyway,” he pouted defiantly. 

“Don’t lie, you so want to know,” she smirked. 

“Whatever,” Harry rolled his eyes playfully before leading them out of the piazza, “right c’mon I’ve got something for us to do tonight.”

“Ooh, what’s that?” Y/N quizzed.

“You’ll just need to follow me and find out, won’t you?” he kept walking. They walked for nearly 40 minutes, they probably could have done it in half that, but Harry just kept stopping her to take pictures of them both, but mostly her, as the summer sun sunk down around them, casting her in a warm glow. “The lightings perfect, just stop for a sec,” and “wait, jus’ one more f’me,” and utterances of “so beautiful,” as he looked through his viewfinder and at the screen of his phone as he clicked away happily. Y/N had to agree, the lighting and backdrop of the city was beautiful, she didn’t know that Harry was more so calling his subject matter beautiful.

“Fun fact, this is the oldest bridge in Rome,” Harry said stopping in front of it. 

“Yeah?” she replied looking up at him as he took in the area. 

“Mhm, according to google, the Ponte Fabrico,” he put on his best accent, which to be fair, was actually pretty good.

“Where does said old bridge, lead us to?” she toyed with her neck scarf.

“Isola Tiberina, or Tiber Island,” Harry pointed towards the opposite end of the bridge as they began walking over it, “there’s a couple of mad myths about the island but we’re not here for that, they do a film festival every summer, while we’re not seeing a film, they have like pop-up bars and restaurants, thought we could just take a wander round, eat, drink, be merry y’know,” he smiled letting her loop her arm in his as she stumbled over a cobblestone that was raised higher than the surrounding ones. 

“It’s so beautiful,” Y/N sighed while noticing the tents that lined the island along the river as they made their way onto the island. 

They ate and drank their way around the island, rating each of their samples of food on a scale of 1 to 5 but nothing really scoring under a 3.5. Y/N eventually had Harry help her untie the neck scarf that was beginning to feel claustrophobic in the evening heat and after the couple of cocktails they had been drinking began to affect her. He gripped her wrist and tied it around there instead in a pretty bow for her as they finished up their evening on the island and began to walk back to the apartment. Slowly, with no intention of rushing themselves back. Stumbling over each other, not in drunkenness but more of a happy daze. 

“You tired?” Harry asked opening the door to the apartment and going towards his backpack.

“Not really,” Y/N responded undoing the silk scarf from her wrist and taking her earrings out, a move that always made her feel more comfortable when coming home.

“Great, I’ve got something else for us,” and Harry shook the paper bag that had held their shared joint from the previous evening, before dropping it into another tote bag he had prepared that seemed to be stuffed with something soft. 

“I don’t think we can smoke in here, H, even with the windows open,” she said. 

“We’re not smoking, thought we could go up to the roof as well, there’s a deck up there and they have a rooftop pool, as he popped the front door open again for her. They got up to the roof and sat down at the little table and chairs they had there, the rest of the terrace was filled up by the pool sunken into the ground and the tiles were spilling over with potted plants tucked in every nook and cranny around it. Y/N was enamoured looking out over the city and the rooftops of Rome before them. 

“It’s so beautiful,” she said softly.

“Yeah,” Harry breathed and when she turned round, he had been watching her, before blinking and shaking himself out of his reverie. Reaching for the paper bag he turned it upside down and a thin block wrapped in foil fell into his hand. He quickly peeled back the foil and placed the block of chocolate onto the wrought-iron table in front of them. 

“You brought me up here, t’eat chocolate?” She deadpanned, quirking an eyebrow at him. 

“Well, I also thought we could take a dip, I brought towels,” he nodded towards his overfilled tote bag, “it’s not just normal chocolate though.”

“Right Willy Wonka, what d’you mean it’s not normal chocolate?” She grabbed the bar and realised the second she brought it closer to her face when she could smell it, “y’got us edibles?” and he nodded. “Cannabis is a gateway drug, you should know,” she smirked as she snapped the bar into squares. 

“Gateway to what?” Harry snorted, “having fun, relaxing, and enjoying our holiday? Plus, I’m pretty sure we’ve done worse,” Harry laughed as they both picked up a square and let it melt on their tongues before eating. Harry wasn’t sure how strong it was, so they decided to cut themselves off after a few squares each, just to see how it hit them before overindulging. 

It was around 45 minutes later when the pair started to feel it, Harry began quietly giggling to himself as his eyes were drawn to the lights that cast a glow over the landmarks of the city which caused Y/N to start giggling at his giggling. 

“We should swim, I wanna swim, can we swim?” she asked him, standing up grabbing his tote and pulling out the two large yellow and white striped towels he had shoved in there, and she lay them flat on the terrace next to the pool. 

“Mhmm,” he mumbled, grabbing her hand to pull himself from his seat as he emptied his pocket of his phone and the key to the apartment and left it with the remaining chocolate on the table. They both kicked off their shoes before Y/N stopped. “What’s wrong?” he looked over at her, still playing with her hand in his grip, enjoying the feeling of her warm fingers, entwined with his own.

“Don’t have m’swimsuit on, do I?” Y/N grumbled. 

“That’s never stopped you, c’mon let’s just jump in,” he tugged on her hand, “sort of like we’re jumping off the roof innit, like we’re on the roof right now and we’re about to jump in a pool.”

“But the pools still on the roof,” she countered, “you’re so high,” giggling, Y/N kicked off her trousers anyway, leaving her in her underwear and t-shirt, as Harry quickly peeled off his own jeans, the idea of wet denim clinging his skin enough to put him off wearing them in the water. 

“Shh, let me have this, we’re jumping, in 3..2..1,” and with that, Harry quickly plugged his nose with his free hand and they leapt from the pool edge, the warm water splashing up around them. As they resurfaced Harry had a wild-eyed look as he felt the material of his blue Mickey Mouse t-shirt cling to his torso as it became soaked in water. “Y’look like Cousin Itt,” he laughed looking at his best friend, helping her scrape back all her hair that had covered her face, upon the impact in the water, with clumsy hands. 

“My feet don’t reach the bottom, will y’help me?” Harry doesn’t know why she asked, not that he would have said no, but she didn’t really give him the option or time to reject her either as she latched her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and gripped him like she was a koala. They waded around like that for a while, giggling at the feeling of the water tickling against their skin, every now and again, Harry would squat down and dip both their heads under the water and they would come back up gasping when they forgot to take deep enough breaths. 

As their high was peaking, they decided to get out the water and lie down on the towels and let the warm evening air dry their skin a bit. As Y/N joined Harry lying down on their backs, she felt every bone in her back click and pop as she lay against the flat tile ground.

“Jesus Christ, was tha’ you’re back?” he looked over open-mouthed in shock at the loud crack. 

“Mhm, think my spines just, like, moving everything back in place from the driving,” she sighed, feeling immensely relaxed from the satisfying bone pop, the weed as well mellowing her out. They lay there for a while, taking in the inky swirls of the night sky that was littered with tiny, glittery dots of stars. 

“It’s big, innit?” Harry whispered into the night. 

“Hm?” she mused.

“The sky, s’big.” 

“Yeah, there’s a fair bit of it,” she huffed a laugh through her nose. 

“Makes me feel tiny, insignificant,” he kept his eyes trained on the sky. Y/N furrowed her brow and rolled on her side to look at his side profile. He glanced down to look at her and seen her furrowed brow before his view went back to the stars, “not insignificant in the way you’re thinking, more in a broader sense. Like me and you are just little specks aren’t we, in the grand scheme of things, nothing we do matters in comparison to the universe.” 

“Yeah, I guess, but what we do now in our lifetimes matters now and affects stuff around us now, and that’s significant enough,” Y/N mused, “and if we’re just little specks, then you’re my favourite speck an’ everything you do matters to me, promise,” she prodded his side before he finally rolled over to face her. 

“You’re my favourite speck too,” Harry mused before leaning forward and nudging his nose against her cheek as they both fell into fits of giggles again. “I really missed you,” Harry finalised as Y/N reached up to tuck his hair back that had begun to curl as the pool water dried from his locks. 

“I missed you, too, an insane amount really. Which is weird because we’ve been apart longer when you’ve been on the road, but think it was, like, ‘cause I had zero option to see you an’ there was nothing we could do to change it,” she kept carding her fingers through his soft hair, her heightened senses making it seem like she could feel every single strand as it passed over her skin. 

“Mmm, let’s never do that again, yeah? Our daily calls really got me through it, no matter how late they were sometimes,” he smiled at her, leaning into her touch.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, the time difference thing still fucks me up,” she giggled, her mouth splitting into a wide grin. 

“Your smile is something else,” Harry complimented, thumb coming up to caress her cheek before running along her bottom lip. “Brightest star in the sky is right in front of me,” he whispered again. Then he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back. It was different than the kiss shared in Pisa. This one was more charged, and both felt a tingling under their melded lips and shocks under every touch and brush of skin. They broke away to catch their breath before blinking at each other and attaching their lips again, their tongues brushing against one another’s as Harry’s hand landed on her waist and her body shuddered forward to tuck herself in his hold, her hand in a fist, scrunching the still damp fabric of his t-shirt in its grip. Harry needed her closer, he gripped her hip and hitched it over his own, pressing their fronts together as they kissed deeply, Harry licking into her mouth, tasting sweet remnants of chocolate. Y/N still clutched the fabric of his t-shirt in one hand, the other reaching around to hold the back of his head, nails scratching at his scalp and the nape of his neck, causing Harry’s skin to erupt in goosebumps and a prickle of pleasure began to manifest in them both. They broke away properly this time, both rolling back onto their backs, staring back up at the night sky again and falling into bursts of laughter. 

“I think we should go to bed, Harry,” she said through her airy laughter. They packed up, and eventually made their way back to the apartment where they both took quick showers to wash the pool water from them and changed for bed. The bed that they were sharing again tonight. 

As they lay facing each other, Harry began to fall over the other side of his high, thankfully, considering he was driving in the morning again. Y/N however was still flushed and feeling the effects of the chocolate. 

“Your eyes are like, crazy,” as she stared into them, “crazy good,” she quickly affirmed. “Like crazy pretty, they’re green but not, they also look clear which is mental, feel like y’can tell a lot by someone’s eyes,” she murmured. 

“Yeah? What can y’tell from mine?” he entertained her thoughts. 

“That you’re like an angel that walks among us,” she said seriously as Harry cackled into the quiet of the bedroom, “nooo, m’dead serious. Your eyes show that your kind, and lovely and that you never mean any harm and they show when you’re happy, they’re even prettier when you get all emotional, the tears make them look all sparkly, like… like glitter eyes,” she rambled out as Harry smiled and tried to stifle another laugh. 

“Thank you, Sweetness, that’s nice of you to say, I think your eyes are super pretty too,” he said as she subconsciously batted her lashes at him in response, “but I think you should close them now and sleep, yeah?” 

“Mhmm,” she mumbled out before reaching out and attaching their lips together again, slower this time but no less passionate, with languid strokes of their tongues and soft hums coming from each other’s throats. Harry broke them apart as they both breathed deeply.

He uttered one final, “sleep,” before she fell under. 

***

“You’re lying to me, if you don’t think the car definitely sounds a bit dodgy now,” Y/N piped up from the passenger seat.

“I don’t know if dodgy is the right word, different maybe? There’s definitely something different,” and with that he took a glance at her. She looks beautiful he thought, comfortable and so beautiful. She wore a t-shirt of his she had filched from him years ago, so worn and washed you could barely make out the graphic, it more so looking like it was covered in paint chips in varying tones and shades than any sort of image. Over that she had a soft cotton set of overalls or dungarees as she had corrected them when he complimented them this morning. “They’re fucking dungarees, Harry,” she had griped as he rolled his eyes. They had wandered round and took some more pictures this morning, a quick visit back up to the roof terrace where another occupant of the building took a picture of the two of them leaning over the railing before getting back in the car for the drive to their next destination. 

“I don’t think I like it being different,” Y/N scrunched her nose.

“Different can be good,” Harry mused, last night and the night before that’s kisses going unmentioned but hanging and colouring the air around them. 

“Yeah… but I don’t think that applies to cars, gorgeous,” she was right, he didn’t mean different good about the car. The pet name she called him was pealing in his head like a bell, reverberating against the sides of his skull. She had called him that before, but it felt different now, good different.

“No probably not, listen just turn the music up, Sweetness, drown it out, there’s no lights on the dashboard saying something’s wrong. The car’s not been used for long distances in a hot minute s’probably just not used to it, I promise you, we’ll be fine,” Harry reassured her, knowing sometimes she just needed him to tell her it was all going to be fine when her mind started to run too fast for her to catch up with, he was her pause, her reprieve. 

***

They had decided to make one pit stop on their route to their destination. Y/N’s uncle had engrained the phrase ‘see Naples and die,’ in her from a young age, as long as she could remember actually and neither of the pair of them had ever actually stopped in the city before and sure enough it was beautiful. She couldn’t help but take multiple photos of the colourful buildings that lined the port, like little houses made of sweets, while boats bobbed in the water that lapped at the brick surround. Y/N stopped Harry every few paces taking photos of him against the technicolour backdrop and then asked someone to take one of the duo on her phone that was immediately used as her lockscreen, a house of turquoise and pink sat next to one of a tangerine orange behind them and Harry’s arm over her shoulder and her own hand against his waist. The pose they continued to hold as they walked along the waterfront before Harry pulled them into a restaurant, he had found online in his 2-minute search for traditional Neapolitan pizza.

“Genuinely, I think that’s the best pizza I’ve ever eaten,” Harry said dreamily as he rubbed the little food-baby pooch that had appeared at his stomach as they settled back in the car for Harry to finish the drive. 

“I think I’ll be thinking about that sauce and cheese for the rest of my life, y’sure y’don’t want me to drive?” she asked as Harry was fastening his seatbelt. 

“Postive,” he grinned at her, starting the car, “you’ve seen Naples then, reckon you’re happy to die now?” 

“Mmm, maybe not right this second, we’ve got a few more places to see and things to do first H, but I get what my uncle meant now, it’s so beautiful,” she grabbed her phone beginning to swipe through the dozens of pictures that had been added to her camera roll from their visit, including one of Harry with the biggest cheese pull, connecting his mouth and the pizza he was eating, she had ever seen along with the dribble of tomato sauce down his chin, proving it wasn’t just her who was the messy eater. 

“I think I’d be a bit gutted if you croaked it now, Y/N/N,” Harry huffed a soft laugh.

“Yeah?” she glanced over at him.

He quickly glanced over at her, catching her gaze as he furrowed his brow. “Devastated,” he said seriously, nodding, before leaving it at that as he re-joined the main road out of Naples.

***

“Buongiorno Amalfi!!!” Harry shouted with the windows rolled down letting the warm coastal breeze blow their hair around as he gave some rendition of the big crescendo of ‘Nessun Dorma,’ that was more shrieking than anything remotely related to opera as Y/N doubled over in fits of giggles. 

“Catch yourself on, Pavarotti,” she laughed as she scraped her hair off her face that had covered it as the wind blew it around. 

“You’re going to love it here, Y/N/N,” Harry looked delighted as he drove the coastal road to the town of Positano. “Don’t shout at me, though.”

“Why would I shout at you?” she queried, turning in her seat to face him. 

“I’ve, uh, booked us somewhere a bit nicer to stay rather than the apartment I sent you,” his face flushed. 

“H, we agreed on flats and apartments,” Y/N whined slightly, she hated when he did extravagant things for her, she never wanted him to feel like she expected it. 

“No, I know, but we’re stopping here for a little while, thought we would want something a bit more comfortable an’ I feel like we deserve it, you definitely do for putting up with me,” Harry smiled as he pulled up to a private gate before pulling out his phone and his notes app for the gate code, managing to put it in by reaching through the window this time rather than having to pop the door open. As the gate swung open, they were confronted with the large villa, the walls painted a cream colour, with teal shutters and sprawling pink bougainvillea flowers blooming across the walls and terraces. 

Harry let out a low whistle as they took in the sight, “shit, I’m trying my best to be so angry at you for this but it’s so pretty,” Y/N sighed as Harry brought the car to a stop in front of the house. 

Harry let her into the villa to explore with another code from his notes app and leaves her to it while he collects their luggage from the car bringing in their bigger bags as well as their over-nights as this was going to be their base for the next while. Harry left their bags at the front door and was on his way to find Y/N who had vanished by the time he returned, he let the air conditioning of the property soothe his clammy skin as he meandered from room to room on the lookout for his favourite person. 

He found her eventually, out on the tiny balcony of one of the guest bedrooms, small enough that only one person could stand on it with no room for any seating, he watched her from his place against the bedroom door frame, as the gossamer curtains of the balcony doors swathed around her back as she leant against the railing, leaning out, taking in the view. He walked quietly up behind her before placing his hands on either side of her, gripping the railing she was leant on, she didn’t even flinch as she felt his warm body sidle up behind her. 

“See something you like?” he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder as they looked out, able to catch a glimpse of the sea and the pebbled beach below.

“This is ridiculous,” she hummed, “places like this aren’t supposed to exist in real life.”

“Well, f’you like this one, I can do you one better,” Harry gripped her wrist and pulled her back through the guest bedroom and into another bedroom, apparently the master going by its size and grandeur in comparison. He pulled back similar gossamer curtains and opened the double doors out onto a terrace with tiled flooring and a pergola roof that had more of the perfumed bougainvillea flowers sprawled across the gaps. The terrace was equipped with a table and chairs for two at one end and a day bed at the other, but the real prize was the view. A full unobstructed sea view, where they could see how the waves sparkled as they crashed into each other under the bright sun, watching bodies mull around in the water, letting it cool their sun-soaked skin. 

“Fucking hell, Harry,” Y/N breathed out, seemingly astounded by the view and the place they got to call home for the next little while. 

“Pretty, innit?” he grinned at her. 

“Understatement of the century, Har,” her eyes were wide as saucers trying to take it all in while letting the soft perfume of the bougainvillea flowers wash over her senses, the salt-air of the sea below them mixing into the fragrance. 

“Thought we could take a walk this afternoon, explore a bit, take a walk along the beach, dip our toes in the water,” Harry dreamed up their afternoons plans as he took up place beside Y/N as she leant against the balcony, bumping his hip against hers. “Then on the way back up, do a bit of shopping to stock up the house for our stay, we could stay in and cook together tonight, eat out here, enjoy the view,” he plucked one of the paper-like pink flowers from the trailing plants and placed it in her hair by her ear before he bumped her hip again, “what d’ya think of that, sweets?” She nodded her head eagerly as she spun to face him as she stared into his face, watching how his dimples carved their way into his face, leaving perfect little pockets in which she would like to leave a kiss. Admiring the smattering of freckles that had begun to appear across the high planes of his face from where the warm sun has brushed his skin. His bright eyes glittering at Y/N’s obvious excitement for their plans. 

Harry’s plans came to fruition in record time, finishing a quick tour around the house they were quick to grab what they would need for the afternoon, not before Harry was ensuring Y/N’s shoelaces were tied tight because there were a lot of steps and hills and the last thing he needs is her tripping and cracking her head like it was an egg and he wouldn’t put it past his clumsy girl. Sorry, the clumsy girl, she wasn’t his, much to Harry’s disdain. They were staying a 5-minute walk from Fornillo Beach so made their way there first, where they could kick their shoes off and walk through the sand of this particular beach as the others were pebbled. They let the warm water of the Tyrrhenian Sea wash over their feet and lap at their ankles as Y/N’s dungarees were cropped and Harry had changed into a pair of striped shorts for the occasion. They kicked splashes of the salty spray at each other as they frolicked in the surf, Y/N nearly dropping her tote bag into the water as she dodged one of his splashes. They took a tonne more photos, Harry getting very snap happy with his camera, taking an obscene number of candid shots of her as she took in everything around them, to the point he had to put a new reel of film in as they left the beach. Y/N wasn’t slick though, Harry kept catching her taking sly photos of him on her phone in his peripheral and would see her smile softly down at the screen as she reviewed them. He kept his mouth shut though and approached a couple on the beach to take a photo of the pair, ankle-deep in the water for them. 

“I can’t wait to scrapbook the shit out of all these photos,” Y/N bubbled as they climbed the steps away from the beach finally. 

“I’m going to be a bloody fortune getting all these film photos printed,” Harry muttered as he tucked his camera away into its bag and squeezing that into his own tote bag. 

“I’m sure it won’t break the bank, H,” she teased as she pinched his arm before looping her free arm through his as they climbed the steps carefully, making their way to the little market Harry had visited when he was last here where they could stock up the villa for their stay. 

Y/N’s favourite version of Harry was this one, and those that could fall into the same category, and that was him doing seemingly mundane tasks, in this case doing his weekly food shop. She was back out with her phone camera in an instant, taking pictures of him reading the back packaging of pastas, photos of him bathed in the fluorescent lighting of the refrigerators as he picked out meats and cheeses and even a little video of him in the produce section holding out a tomato to her like he just couldn’t contain himself, “I mean, Jesus,  just give this a whiff, you can smell how fresh it is, Y/N/N.” 

Harry was glad he tucked an extra tote in his own because across the three bags they carried now, they were all fit to bursting. Bottles of wine shoved down the sides, fish and meat wrapped up, blocks of cheese in crinkly paper, their fresh produce balancing on top as not to get squished. Harry nearly had a heart attack and all the fresh bread options in the bakery and was going back with an additional loaf with a crisp crust tucked under his arm that he couldn’t fit in the bags with the other ones they just had to try. Before they walked back to the villa, they found themselves sitting on the step outside the market splitting the Amalfi speciality ‘Delizia al Limone’, that they made fresh in store. They moaned around bites of the sponge and custard dessert, the lemony glaze being so refreshingly tart. 

“It’s only been a few hours, and I reckon I could stay here forever, y’know,” Y/N gushed as she licked a stray glob of the lemon glaze off her fingertip. Harry had to blink hard to stop staring at her sucking the digit into her mouth.

“We could always jus’ run away here forever, we’d have a ball I think,” Harry said as he pulled himself to his feet taking two of the tote bags and slinging them over his shoulders before reaching down to pull her up by the hand as she held onto the final bag. 

“Hmm, just you n’me?” she contemplated, beginning their walk back to the villa. 

“Mhm, just us,” Harry reiterated trying to reach for the bag she was carrying for him to carry as well but she just swatted her hand away and placed the strap on her shoulder furthest from him.

“An’ I’ll be the woman who stole Harry Styles away and locked him up in her villa in the quiet streets of Italy, never to return, m’not sure about that one,” she dramatised. 

“You make it sound like somethin’ out of Beauty and the Beast,” Harry tittered turning them up another set of stairs. 

“You’re for sure the beast then, ‘specially with that Stache you’ve got brewing, keep that up and it’ll maybe be a real, full moustache by the time we go back to England,” Y/N taunted him. 

“Oi, I resent that…” Harry began, “you’re definitely all beauty anyway,” he murmured the last part, Y/N not quite hearing them as a tour group passed them down the steps. 

***

They made it back to the villa shortly after and packed away their shopping before deciding to start on their dinner for the evening, deciding on a pasta full of all the fresh vegetables they had bought earlier. They split the chopping and stirring between them as they snacked on antipasti they had bought while dancing around the kitchen to the playlist of instrumental and orchestral music he had been listening to recently. Just before everything was ready, Y/N opted on them dining on the balcony attached to the larger bedroom as Harry had suggested earlier so was taking everything they could need or want out there, setting up the little table that overlooked the sea. She uncorked a bottle of wine and filled their glasses full, and placed cutlery and napkins at their table along with some of the bread Harry so desperately needed. As she was about to turn back in to see if Harry needed any help, he was already walking out towards her with a steaming pasta bowl in each hand and a dish towel lazily thrown over his shoulder. He nudged her with his hip into her seat and presented her dinner in front of her as she groaned at how good it smelt. 

“Bloody hell, H, you’ve outdone yourself here,” she said as he cracked some black pepper over the top of her plate for her. 

“You helped,” he smiled as he took his own seat.

“I chopped some peppers and stirred the sauce, wouldn’t call myself a chef,” she laughed. 

“Hey, every chef needs his sous-chef,” Harry raised his wine glass to hers letting them clink softly together as they both took a sip before reaching for their forks to dig in. 

“You’re too good to me,” Y/N sighed around her first bite, letting her eyes flutter shut at the taste as Harry watched with a shit-eating grin, overjoyed she was liking what he made. 

Over dinner they discussed what they wanted to do while they were there, Y/N wanted to go to a museum she had seen on tripadvisor, as well as time on the beach with their books, and visits to all the little shops and some more time splashing in the water together. Harry mentioned something about a private boat trip to Capri he had seen advertised, that he had most definitely already booked for them before coming on the trip, but she didn’t need to know that. Something triggered the telling of an old story, and they began reminiscing about growing up together in fits of laughter at something that happened in their Year 10 science class and remembering when Y/N bumped off college for a week and a half to visit Harry while he was touring and they both realised that each of their favourite stories to tell people seemed to involve each other in every single one of them. 

“Aw Y/N/N,” Harry sighed as he ate his last forkful, “y’were doing so well,” he nodded towards her t-shirt which now had a forkful of food that had fell off her own last bite. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she whined at herself, scraping most of the food off back into her plate, leaving behind a reddish-orange stain in its wake.

“D’you want me to go get you a cloth or wipe or somethin’?” he chuckled. 

“No, s’fine, I can jus-” she wriggled her right arm free of the t-shirt sleeve and then the left arm following that as Harry quirked an eyebrow at what she was doing, “what? It’s cool, the dungarees cover all m’bits and pieces,” and she pulled the t-shirt over her head without having to unclip her dungarees at all. Seemingly a professional at that move she’s had to do it so many times as she dumped the soiled t-shirt on the tiled terrace. Harry gulped as the top swell of her braless breasts became visible, it’s nothing he hadn’t seen of her before over the years, but after how he’s been feeling over this trip, he’s struggling to keep himself in check. 

“Dance with me for a sec?” she questioned; they could still hear Harry’s playlist floating through the open balcony doors. 

“Uh… yeah, mhm, sounds good,” Harry babbled, scraping his chair back, quickly lifting his wine glass to his lips and draining its contents as she followed suit. Y/N was the braver of the two, reaching up first to wrap her arms around his neck and lean her head against his chest, she could feel his warm skin radiate through the thin button-up shirt he wore and the pitter-patter of his heart thud in his chest. Harry’s arms tentatively wrapped around her waist, settling, for the time being, on the small of her back as they swayed in time to the quiet music in the background. 

“This is m’favourite,” she whispered against his chest, he smelt of summer, a hint of citrus, sun cream and warm skin. 

“It’s Tchaikovsky, I think, sweets” Harry replied, letting his nose run along the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her fruity shampoo.

“Not the song, H,” she breathed out a light laugh from her nose, “although it is pretty. Just being here, no in fact it’s not even here, it’s being with you, could be anywhere, being with you is my favourite, today’s location is just a bonus,” she said letting her eyes flutter and Harry could just about feel her eyelashes blink against his chest and then he felt her lips press a kiss onto his chest. His breath caught and his hands came back to her sides, thumbs rubbing careful circles as they climbed higher. The fabric of her dungarees dipped quite low on her sides and Harry’s hands continued climbing until they found purchase where the seam of fabric met her skin. His thumbs resting on the side of her breasts, the swell visible from the dip in the fabric. Her skin was soft under Harry’s touch as he kept rubbing and squeezing at her sides as she tilted her head back to investigate his face, her eyes as wide as saucers as Harry seemed to snap back into his body and realise what he was doing. 

“Y/N, I-I…” he stammered out, lifting his hands off her sides leaving them hovering there, just not touching. 

“No, s’okay, s’okay,” she unlatched her hands from around his neck gripping his wrists and putting his hands back where they were. “You can touch, it’s okay, you’re okay,” she reassured nodding her head before she reached up and placed a kiss on his jawline. Harry’s eyes slipped closed, his lashes brushing his cheeks as he breathed deeply at the sensation of her plush lips that continued placing kisses and light sucks to his cheek, jaw, and neck. 

“Y/N/N,” Harry sighed lifting his head away from her lips immediate reach. 

“Mhm?” she asked, their eyes searching each other’s, pupils becoming more blown out by the second. 

“I- I jus’-” Harry tried to speak but it proved futile, they had no need for words anymore as Y/N began nodding her head at Harry’s unspoken question and he leant down and pressed their lips together. Their lips rolled and moulded together, Harry’s hands still pressing firmly at her sides, thumbs skimming the supple flesh of her side boob, as if he was trying to commit every ripple of skin, every pore and indentation to memory. He could eulogise her skin. Their kisses became hungrier, tongues meeting and licking the seam of each other’s lips, desperate for a taste. Stumbling towards the day bed, drunk on each other as Harry fell on his back as Y/N crawled over him, situating herself on his lap, feeling him growing beneath her as she gave an experimental roll of her hips against his own as he gasped into her mouth as they continued to kiss, breaking only to breathe as their lips still brushed. Her fingers began to play with the buttons of his shirt, waiting for his permission to begin undoing them. Harry’s hand came away from her side to latch onto her wandering hand to help her deftly undo the top button. After being allowed to do one, she quickly unfastened the rest on her own, pushing his shirt from his shoulders so it became a crumpled mess under his back. She giggled as she took in his bare torso and arms, the black ink of his tattoos hugging his skin, looking like he was born with them rather than something that was added later. 

“What’re you giggling at, Sweetness?” Harry panted as their hips still rolled and grinded together. 

“You’ve got a farmers tan, gorgeous,” she giggled again before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the tan line that wrapped around his bicep from the t-shirts he had been wearing, she nosed up his arm and across his shoulder, kissing her away across. “I like you all sun-kissed, look so healthy and glowy,” she kept kissing down his chest before feeling brave and licking across his nipple before biting softly into his pec. 

“Y/N,” he groaned out before sitting up right with her still straddling him as she gasped at his movement, it bumped their pelvises together as they moved, and she had to bite down on her lip to silence the moan that crawled its way up her throat at the sensation. His hands came to her front and quickly undone the fastenings of her jumpsuit, flipping the straps backwards over her shoulders and letting the fabric cascade down her body to pool at her waist, keeping her bottom half covered but completely exposing her from the waist up. Harry felt his eyes widen, the curvature of her waist and breasts as they swelled as she breathed deep was doing a number on him, so soft, supple, and inviting. Her nipples hardening with the exposure to the fresh air had Harry leaning in, wrapping his lips around one, laving his tongue over the peak and sucking it into his mouth, his hand coming up to toy with the other, squeezing the swell of her breast in his hand, rolling her nipple between his fingers as she gasped and keened under his touch. 

“More H, need more, gorgeous,” she huffed out as Harry broke away from his assault on her breasts, a string of saliva connecting him to her. His hands slid down to grip the fullness of her bum and he rolled them over so he was hovering between her legs as she laid on her back, her hands immediately going to the waistband of his shorts, pulling the tie undone and shoving them down as best she could. Harry helped her out when the fabric became caught up around the tops of his thighs and he kicked his legs free. Harry was visibly hard in his underwear, the bump hard to ignore, especially as he gave another roll of his hips towards Y/N’s as he moaned lowly in his throat at the friction. He gripped the bunched fabric of her overalls from around her waist and began to tug them down, becoming irritated when she refused to lift her hips to help him slide them down, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. He leant back up her lips, kissing her deeply, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth, biting softly, and letting it snap back into place. 

“Please,” he requested against her lips and Y/N lifted her hips immediately as he rolled her clothes down her body. Leaving her in her full coverage, orange striped underwear, Harry’s hands came down to play with the tiny piece of lace that wrapped around the waistline before toying with the satin bow that adorned the front. 

“Sorry ‘bout the knickers, didn’t think I’d be getting them out to show off an’ impress anyone,” she said shyly, focusing on the feeling of Harry’s fingertips dancing at her lower stomach. 

“God, believe me Y/N, m’impressed no matter what,” he groaned as he lifted the elastic waistline and let it snap back against her skin in a sharp bite. He stopped all ministrations and that point and let his eyes do the work, taking her in as she lay atop the day bed, hair splayed in a halo around her while her chest rose and fell in quick succession as she heaved in deep breaths. 

“What’re you doing?” she breathed, reaching for his hands to interlock their fingers. 

“Jus’ admiring, you’re so beautiful, Y/N/N,” Harry said sincerely, coming back to catch her gaze in his as his thumb rubbed the back of her knuckles of the hand that was gripping his. 

Y/N felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she gave a bashful laugh before she latched her hands arms around his neck to pull him down towards her lips in a searing kiss. Well, what would’ve been a searing kiss if they hadn’t both dived into it open-mouthed.

“Ow! Jesus, m’fuckin tooth,” Harry groaned his hand coming up to check he hadn’t gone all bloody gummed when they’re teeth clashed in their plight to kiss one another. 

“Oh my god,” she laughed, showing zero remorse. 

“Don’t laugh, Y/N,” he whined.

“I’m so sorry, H,” Y/N tried to be serious, “open up and lemme see,” she managed to get out before she loudly cackled in his face slapping her hands over her mouth to contain her ringing laughter. 

“Can’t believe I’m going t’need to go to the emergency dentist with toothache ‘cause I was that desperate to kiss you,” as they both laughed at the situation, “okay, be cool,” he pecked her lips, “s’fine, it didn’t happen,” he pecked her lips again. 

“It did happen,” she muffled out lips pressing against his in more short pecks.

“Shh, no it didn’t, just act normal, we’re all good,” and he leant down and pulled her into the passionate kiss they had been aiming for before. They were separated only by the thin cotton of each of their underwear’s and they could feel everything as Harry worked his hips in slow rolls against hers. The heat radiating from their crotches as Y/N moaned and gasped at the firmness hidden in Harrys briefs ticking against her, him aiming perfectly so the little damp patch on her knickers was just transferring to his own. His kisses began to wander from her plush lips, across her cheek, sucking and leaving a blooming mark on the patch of skin just below her ear as she writhed at the sensation, Harry forcing his hips down against hers to keep her from wriggling away from the assault across her collarbones and décolletage, licking and biting more of his marks like a trail of breadcrumbs to lead him back to her lips that he was sure he would need as he got lost in his heaven between her legs. Y/N’s hands came down to card through his hair, giving light tugs when he would pinch another patch of skin on her lower tummy between his teeth. Harry’s own hands were busy too, running lengths up and down her legs, letting his fingertips coast under the elastic of her panties that sat around each leg before they breezed back down her legs, his blunt nails lightly scratching her skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. When his fingers made it back up through the legs of her underwear again, Harry’s eyes flickered up to catch her own gaze in a silent question as Y/N rapidly nodded her head. 

“Take ‘em off, please gorgeous, want them off,” Y/N gulped, lifting her hips to aid the process as he stretched the fabric taught over his hands and wrinkled them down and over her legs. Instead of letting them fall to the terrace floor, like she expected, she watched Harry through her hazy, hooded eyes, sit back on his knees, scrunch her panties in his fist and bring the bundled fabric up to his face where he breathed them in deeply, moaning and letting his eyes close. Y/N’s legs snapped closed at the sight, thighs pressing together to try and give herself some form of release from the pressure that was building in her abdomen, teeth sinking into her lip to withhold the moan that so desperately wanted to make itself known. 

“Fuck, Y/N/N, baby, y’smell so good, I need t’taste you, just a little one, please,” Harry all but begged, prying her legs back open. 

“Go ahead, s’yours, take what you want, Harry,” Y/N let her hips tick forward towards his face to get the message across. Harry’s head dipped down as he lay between her spread legs, kissing her hipbones and the flesh of her inner thighs as she watched his every action. Nose skimming her lower stomach, he trailed it further, through the thatch of hair that decorated the apex of her thighs, breathing her in. She felt his shoulders quake as a shiver of pleasure ran through him as he flattened his tongue and painted it along the length of her soaking heat. “Shit,” she gasped, pressing herself up to balance on one of her elbows as one hand flew to Harry’s hair, scrunching the locks between her fingers. 

“Now I know why I’ve been calling you sweetness,” Harry murmured between flicks of his tongue, “Y/N/N, you taste…” he trailed off, his tongue delving into where she wept for him before tantalisingly teasing the tip of his tongue up to roll against her clit, evoking the most sinful noises from her. 

Y/N’s hips wriggled under his constant assault and her breath was coming out in pants as she succumbed to the intense pleasure. “H, more, baby, need it,” she whined through her struggling breaths, her grip on his curls tugging him as close as he could be as his lips suctioned round her clit, nose resting on her mound. Harry placed his left arm across her lower stomach, effectively pinning her against the day bed. 

“Still, stay still for me, baby and I’ll give you what you want,” Harry said breaking away from her centre briefly and leaning up to kiss her deeply. “D’you taste it? Can you taste how sweet you are for me?” he questioned as Y/N nodded her head limply before he made his way back down. “Y’gonna come for me an’ let me taste you properly, baby?” He didn’t wait for her response and if anything, Y/N was too fucked out to harbour one. He lingered over her pussy, opening his mouth, and letting the spit he had collected land on her heat before he flattened his tongue against the mess he made and shook his head in place to get in deeper. Harry’s right hand was wandering again, tracing patterns on her leg as he ghosted his fingertips up to join his tongue, his middle finger sinking into her with no resistance as her body tried to fight against his forearm that was pinning her in place as she felt the digit slide out and back into her at agonising pace. Harry was beginning to rut his own hips into the pillowy surface of the day bed, desperately needing to feel some friction against his solid cock. The mixture of Y/N’s taste, the glazed-over look in her eyes and the little whimpers and moans that would escape her was causing Harry to balance dangerously on the edge of finishing in his underwear. “Can you take another?” he grunted against her. 

“Uh-huh” she mewled. Honestly not really hearing what he was asking but would have said yes to anything in that moment she was so wound up. The next time Harry’s middle finger slid out, his ring finger joined it as they drove back in, reaching and curling to find that special spot of hers as his lips began suctioning around her little pearl of nerves again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Harry, oh my god,” she moaned loudly, both hands flopping down to her sides, fingers digging into the mattress of the day bed.

“Found it,” she could feel him grinning against her as his fingers focused on repeatedly tapping away at her g-spot to send her teetering towards her end. 

After a few minutes of that, Y/N was hanging precariously on the edge.  “M’gonna… m-gonn-” she cut off as Harry removed his fingers from her weeping hole, bringing them up to rub tight little circles against her clit, his tongue delving inside, feeling her walls flutter and pulse around the wet muscle as she found her release. She ripped the arm that was pinning her down off her, latching her fingers into his as her body curled in on itself as she shook her way through her orgasm, Harry moaning in delight at her taste, pushing his hips down to keep himself from exploding, his own fingers gripping hers just as tightly as his preoccupied hand began to let up on her clit. She tugged his hand so he became level with her face again, breathing deeply as she watched him take his fingers that had been inside her and suck them into his mouth to savour every taste he could get. “Fucking hell, H,” she said lowly as a low grumble of a laugh left his chest as he pulled their lips back together in a messy kiss, the wetness on his chin transferring to her own as he sucked on her bottom lip. “You’re turn, wanna taste you now,” Y/N expressed as they broke away from their kiss. 

“As much as I would love that, I can’t, I want to be inside you so bad and I won’t last,” Harry disclosed and when Y/N pouted at his response he couldn’t help the lazy, soft smile that graced his features. “Let’s save that for later, darling,” he nipped her pouted lip. 

“Fuck me, then. Want you inside, I want to feel you, Harry,” she nuzzled her face into his neck, hands running up and down, squeezing his biceps before looping over his shoulders and dragging her nails over the skin of his back lightly. 

“I want it too, baby, so bad. I don’t have any condoms though, didn’t exactly think I’d be shagging anyone this trip, let alone you,” Harry chuckled, slightly in disbelief that this was all happening, no matter how long he had craved it. 

“I’m still on my birth control, gorgeous. Please, I want y’so bad, m’aching, I trust you,” she said sincerely, kissing his neck, sucking on the skin leaving her own mark on him as her hands gripped the waistband of his briefs, shucking them down his thighs quickly. Harry gasped as the cool air reached his cock that was now free of its confinements, standing to attention and the precome seeping out painting his slit shiny. Y/N looked down, widening her eyes at his impressive length, her lips reattaching to his throat, biting and licking with more fervour she was so desperate to feel him slip inside of her.  

“I trust you too, more than anyone,” Harry said gripping her chin to look into her eyes, “how d’you wanna…” he tailed off. 

“Oh, uh, let me just,” Y/N untangled herself from their cluster of limbs rolling herself over til she was presented to him on all fours, her hips wiggling teasingly as she looked over her shoulder at him, seeing him gazing at the fullness of her hips and bum, lightly palming himself as her teeth sunk into her lip at the sight. Harry shuffled himself up behind her taking a grip of himself at his base, ticking his hips forward slightly so he could paint his tip through her folds, letting the wetness that was pooled there coat him. 

“You’re sure, Y/N?” he clarified. 

“Never been s’sure, I want it, gorgeous, I want you,” Y/N pushed back against him, feeling his tip applying pressure at her entrance. 

“Impatient little thing, aren’t you?” Harry began guiding himself into her tight channel, groaning at the feeling as one of Y/N’s hands shot back to spread herself open for him to bury into. He groaned at the vision of her hands dimpling the skin of her behind as she moaned at the pleasure-pain of him entering her. 

“Stretching me so good, Harry, feels so good,” their eyes met as she looked back over her shoulder. Once he bottomed out, he paused, letting her get used to him filling her, and taking a few steadying breaths of his own to calm himself. He grasped her hand that she had been using to spread open for him, holding it tight against her lower back, their fingers knotted together. “Fuck, you’re so big. Y’can move,” she whined, ready to rock her hips back against him if he wasn’t planning on moving. Harry reared his hips back, and was sliding back in within an instant, creating a slow but deep pace as both their breaths caught at the feeling. 

“Fuck, Y/N/N, you’re so warm an’ wet,” Harry groaned, Y/N clenched at his commentary, squeezing around his cock as he plunged back in, “fuckin’ tight as well, so tight, but made to take me, weren’t you?” Harry panted, their fingers still tangled together as his other hand gripped onto the plush at the side of her hip, squeezing, thinking to himself he would quite like to take a bite of the fullness of her hips, given the opportunity. 

“H, you’re so big, made for you, made to take your dick,” she whined, the hand that was holding her up collapsing under the rocking motion, so her cheek was pressed against the bed, bum still presented to him in the air. They were both already covered in a sheen of sweat from their activities and the warm evening air of Positano that lingered heavily around them. They were a mess of shivers, gasps, and moans as they fell into a rhythm with each other’s body’s. “Harder, can y’go harder, H? M’not going to break,” she asked as she began to push back against his thrusts. 

“Whatever you want, baby, but I’ll decide if you’re going to break or not,” his grip on her hip and hand tightened as he began to thrust into her with more vigour, loud smacking as their skin collided echoed around the open terrace, Harry was sure they were going to bruise, but he wasn’t opposed to seeing the bruised back of her thighs peeking out from one of her little sundresses she had packed, the idea made him slam his hips into her harder. 

Y/N pulled her arm, the one buckled under the pressure as Harry rocked into her, out from under her holding it behind her back to clutch onto Harry’s arm that held onto the other, desperate to feel his skin. Harry realising what she wanted, released his grip on her hip, holding both her hands in his behind her back.

“Jus’ needed to feel you, wanna feel you so bad, H,” she whimpered, fingers splaying over his forearms. 

“Yeah?” he panted, his thrusts sending shockwaves through the pair of them. 

“Mhm, so bad, skins so warm,” she babbled and if she wanted to feel his skin, who was he to refuse. He pulled her up to her knees, so her back was firmly against his chest, basically seated on his lap and as they fell into sync in their new position, she could feel him so much deeper than before. “Shit, shit, shit, Harry, you’re so deep,” her moans rising in volume. Harry released the grip on her hands and his own began to trail a path round to her front cupping a breast in each hand, rolling and pinching her nipples between his fingers as he kissed and licked over her neck, that the new position gave him access to, but he wanted her lips. Releasing one of her boobs from his grip he took his free hand and grasped her chin turning it to the side so he could kiss her deeply, her eyes had fallen shut at the deeper penetration she was feeling.

Breaking away from the kiss, he whispered against her lips, “open your eyes for me, pretty, and keep them open, need to see you,” her eyes fluttered open, seemingly with a little bit of a struggle as Harry bounced her on his lap, and bore into his own green ones. The hand he had gripped her chin with was off on an exploration again, dipping down her front, applying a little pressure to her lower abdomen, “feel me right here, baby?” Y/N could only nod in response before her lips were searching for his again. 

The hand that had been busy tweaking at her nipple came up to rest on the base of her throat, thumb placed on one side and the remainder of his fingers wrapping delicately round the other side as he turned her head to look out over the balcony of the terrace, they had made their bedroom for the evening. She could see the twinkling of the water from their upright position, the evening light dwindling and the glow from the moon beginning to paint everything with a silvery hue. “Look how pretty it is,” Harry murmured into the shell of her ear, his hot breath fanning over her. “We’re so lucky to have such a pretty view aren’t we, Y/N/N?” he sounded almost condescending as he pulled her earlobe between his teeth and nibbled. Y/N’s own hands had begun exploring, one reaching over behind her shoulder to find its grip in the hair at the nape of Harry’s neck, fingers twirling the strands he had let dry in their natural curls. The other hand came to rest atop Harry’s that he had around her throat and urged him to apply pressure by flexing her fingers against his. Harry’s eyes were searching the side of her face to make sure this is what she was wanting from him and with a subtle nod of her head her hand fell away to grip his thigh as his grip around her throat tightened, restricting her airflow, and sending a pleasurable buzz to her brain. 

“Fucking hell, Y/N, you’re so filthy,” Harry gasped as their hips moved in synchronicity, they were both teetering on the edge of bliss. “Tomorrow, we’ll go splash around in the water,” Harry kept her head tilted towards the view, “won’t that be fun, look how pretty the sea is,” his fingers flexed again, tightening against her throat once more. “Not as pretty as you, you’re so fucking beautiful, nothing could compare,” Harry whimpered out, the vice like grip around his cock was becoming overwhelming, he took his other hand and let it find it’s home on her clit as he began rubbing tight little circles there. Y/N’s cries were increasing in frequency as she bucked against the stimulation. “Louder, baby, let everyone hear how pretty you sound,” he panted

“Harry, m’gonna come,” she cried out when Harry gave her a second to gulp lungfuls of air into her system. 

“Me too, me too,” Harry babbled, “fuck, where d’you want me?” he asked quickly, if she wanted him to pull out it would have to be now as the elastic of his orgasm was stretched to its limit, just waiting for it to snap. 

“M’on my pill, inside, want it inside so bad, wanna feel all o’you,” Y/N was grinding her hips down to meet his thrusts as they increased in pace as they chased their high. That was all Harry needed to hear, and he was sent over the edge, ropes of sticky release pouring into her, Harry’s fingers tightened around her neck as his orgasm shattered through his body, hips slamming into hers, triggering Y/N’s orgasm as they came together. Her walls quivered and pulsed as she collapsed forward into the bed, Harry following, quickly rotating her onto her side so he wouldn’t crush her, still not pulling out.

“Shit,” they both breathed in unison, as they tried catching their breath, quickly the pair falling into giggles.

“Jinx,” Y/N whispered as Harry hummed a laugh, before placing three kisses on the back of her neck. They rested in silence for a few minutes, catching their breath and processing what had just happened, before Y/N opened her mouth again. “Think I need t’go clean up, things are feeling a little…sticky and not in a fun way,” Y/N said looking over her shoulder as Harry eyed her carefully before he leant forward and caught her lips in a kiss again. 

“Suppose so,” Harry sighed as he started to pull out, both hissing at the sensation. As Y/N stood and went to make her way across the terrace, he stopped her, “come stay with me tonight? Meet me in bed?” he asked softly, Y/N would say he even seemed shy or nervous to ask, as a flush painted his cheeks either from their activities or the embarrassment, he felt asking her to sleep with him in bed. 

 “Obviously, do you really think I’m letting you stay in the big posh bedroom without me? Dream on Harry,” she giggled, her tone light and airy, speaking to him as she always did as if their romp on the day bed never happened. She made her way back through the open doors, the gossamer curtains parting in billowy clouds around her as Harry flopped onto his back, running his hand through his hair, trying to piece together what the hell he and his best friend of nearly 15 years had just done.

***

Bedtime was easy. By the time they had both got cleaned up and dressed, them both in a fresh set of underwear and Y/N wearing another years old stolen t-shirt, any hint of awkwardness had completely dissipated. Harry was already in bed, the sheet pooling at his waist as he sat against the headboard typing a list of all the things they wanted to do while they were in town in his notes app. Moments later, Y/N was slipping under the sheets with him, a sleepy sort of smile gracing her features. Once she had wriggled around a little finding her spot, Harry put his phone down on the bedside table and was shrugging himself down the bed until he was lying on his side staring at his best friend in the darkened room. 

“Y’got some toothpaste,” he whispered, his thumb coming up to wipe away the white stain around her lip as she hummed softly in thanks. They stared at each other for a beat, tired eyes blinking heavily, muscles slightly achy from their endeavours on the day bed on the terrace. Just as they were about to fall over, they shuffled closer to each other until they were wrapped in each other’s warmth, legs tangled beneath the sheets, and they let their lips pucker together in a soft kiss, Harry taking her bottom lip between his own and suckling just a little bit. They broke away with a contented hum and let their eyes slip shut. 

“Minty fresh,” Harry whispered causing Y/N to let out a soft, twinkly giggle into the night mixing with the sound of the sea crashing into the rocks on the beach below. 

***

Harry awoke with a groan as the sun shone through the windows causing him to screw his eyes shut to protect them from the bright rays. He starfished his limbs across the bed, flexing his fingers and his toes to gain some feeling back in his sleep-drunk body. When his hands could reach either side of the bed, he realised he was alone in the nest of sheets and feathered pillows and sat up abruptly letting his eyes flit around the room and peer out the windows of the double doors for any sign of Y/N. With no immediate signs of her, he sat and took stock of how he was feeling after last night. Thrilled, to say the least, at first anyway. Harry had realised a while ago he cared for her much more than the average best friend does, and his want and need for her had only grown after being separated for so long, and now, having spent however many days constantly in her company, his feelings for her were undeniable now. He loved her. He was in love with her, and he could only hope she felt the same. Surely all their little kisses and especially last night meant something. Christ, what if it didn’t? What if it was just some fun while high or drunk? No, they weren’t drunk last night, they had a glass of wine each, both perfectly with their wits about them so that wasn’t an excuse. God, he hoped things weren’t going to be awkward. Where was she anyway? Shit, what if she’s done a runner? Harry thought to himself, his mind running at a mile a minute, barely registering the scent of brewing coffee floating through the air. 

“Oh, you fucker, ouch!” being shouted from outside the bedroom was the only thing that brought Harry back down to reality and the sound of gushing, running water seconds later as he found himself pulling off the sheets and stumbling blindly out of the bedroom to the kitchen where he heard a constant, “ow, ow, ow, ow,” being sing-songed. 

“Y/N/N, you alrigh’?” Harry rasped out; his voice hoarse from being asleep. 

“Was trying to make coffee in that stupid feckin’ pot I found in the cupboard and burnt my finger on it,” she whined, nodding towards the stove while running her finger under tepid water, a trick from her high school art teacher when she frequently burnt herself with the hot wax pot and the glue guns. Harry looked over to the stove top to see the stainless steel Moka pot steaming away on the hot plate, the smell of hot coffee much more intense and inviting in the kitchen. 

“Let me see,” Harry said. 

“It’s right there on the stove,” Y/N looked at him as if he had grown a second head, had she not just pointed out the pot to him?

“Your finger, thicko,” Harry rolled his eyes in faux annoyance as he reached towards her hand as she pulled it out of the stream of water holding it between their faces. Harry’s fingers clutched and twisted her hand delicately to see every angle. “Don’t think it’ll blister, but I’ve got some antiseptic cream in a first aid kit in m’bag,” he still held onto her hand, even though Dr. Styles was finished his examination. 

“Y’brought a first aid kit? Who are you?” Y/N smiled at Harry’s preparedness. 

“Y/N, sweets, you’re a bit of a liability, of course I brought a first aid kit.” Y/N paused her eyes path of taking in Harry’s shirtless form as her gaze shot back to his, mouth agape, seemingly appalled.

“…okay, that’s fair,” she eventually agreed, that yeah, she probably was a liability. Harry’s eyes flickered down to where he still held her injured finger between his own.

Without thinking, he brought the finger up to his lips and placed a kiss the pad of her fingertip, “there, all healed.” 

“Harry,” she whispered, feeling his lips pucker against her digit.

“Hmm,” he asked, post-verbally with a contented hum.

“Uh… um… d’you think you could reach the espresso cups from that cupboard,” she pointed towards an overhead cupboard and when Harry’s back was turned, she felt all the blood heating her face as she tried to calm her racing heart down. Her own mind had been whirring when she woke that morning so had to get out of bed to occupy herself, in her mad half hour she had managed to gather their discarded clothes from the terrace as well as clean up their mess from dinner both in the kitchen and where their finished meal had been abandoned at the table on the terrace. She had been flitting in and out the bedroom repeatedly, taking trips to tidy the balcony but each time she paused to look at Harry who was lying on his stomach in the bed, his arm reaching across to where she had been laying, his fingers scrunching the sheets that had been swathed around her body. She admired is sleep-softened features where his cheek was smushed against his pillow, puffs of air escaping his raspberry tinted lips. It would have been easy to crawl back in beside him and cuddle up to him but what if he didn’t want that from her? What if last night was just a bit of fun? Before she could dwell on it too much, she found herself in the kitchen scrubbing plates and starting on their breakfast and subsequently burning herself on the coffee pot.

Harry poured their espresso and turned back round to hand Y/N’s off to her to see her pacing round the kitchen trying to distract herself but moving manically. 

“Hey, hey, hey, stop, what’s wrong?” Harry questioned; his voice tainted with concern as he followed her round.

“Nothing, m’fine just trying to sort breakfast,” she was slicing bread and chopping fruit a little too fiercely to be considered ‘fine’, Harry wasn’t buying it. 

“Look at me, Y/N/N,” he said softly, and after a beat she spun round to face him, and Harry was confronted with her gnawing into her lip and a dampness glittering at her waterlines as tears threatened to spill. “Oh, sweetness,” Harry sighed sadly, “c’mon let’s go sit outside, we should, uh, we should have a chat, I think,” Harry gave her a smile, trying to reassure her, but he couldn’t help but notice the nagging feeling that her tears were his fault, they should’ve spoken before falling asleep, they should have spoken after Harry kissed her in Pisa, he just didn’t want to ruin the trip so early on if she wasn’t interested. He guided them out to the garden, still clutching both their coffees, he didn’t think sitting on the bedroom terrace was a good idea considering the memories of what happened there last night coloured the air out there. He handed her the coffee when they contented themselves on either end of the painted wooden bench. She took a sip of the searing coffee and let her teary eyes slip closed and tilted her head back to let the morning sun warm her face breathing out a heavy sigh. Silence fell between them, only the sound of the morning bird song and the light breeze rustling through the leaves of the trees disrupted them as they drank their coffee. Almost perfectly in sync, they drained the miniature ceramic mugs and placed them on the ground. Harry kept an eye on her out of the corner of his eye as she played with her fingers mindlessly, not sure who was supposed to speak first. 

“Why’re you s’far away?” he asked turning to face her, a light airy tone to his voice. He stretched the arm closest to her across the back of the bench, beckoning her under it. She looked at him, shyly at first, before that radiant smile he knew so well burst across her face as she shuffled along the bench, cuddling into his side, legs coming up to rest on the bench as his arm wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close. 

“I’m sorry,” they spoke in unison. 

“Jinx,” Y/N said quietly as they both let out an amused exhalation through their noses remembering Y/N saying the same thing last night. She took Harry’s hand that wasn’t around her shoulder, in hers, toying with his fingers in her grip.

“What’ve you got to be sorry about?” he asked bemused. “I’m sorry, I uh, came onto you I guess, that wasn’t fair of me to put you in that position. I- I don’t want things to be, to be awkward or uncomfortable with us, Y/N, but I understand if- f’you think d-different of me,” Harry was stumbling over his words, honestly not sure what he was trying to say, he just needed her to know he never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable or be the reason for her sadness. 

“Wait-what?” Y/N shot up from his side, turning her body to face him properly, he looked so upset. “Harry, no, I wanted you too, what we did last night, I wanted you to do, I asked you to, you didn’t like corner me or anything so, get that idea in the bin immediately,” she took both his hands in hers, thumbs rubbing across his knuckles in a soothing pattern. 

“You looked so sad this morning, Y/N/N, I thought you regretted it or were upset with me if I like coerced you into anything,” Harry’s voice was thick as he tried to reel his emotions in. 

“Christ, no, gorgeous, I was sad because I started overthinking everything, you know what I’m like. I just thought you would’ve wanted to ignore it like we did with the kisses, and I don’t think I could’ve done that, Harry, I just couldn’t,” she slumped against his chest as they both sighed in relief that neither of the pair seemed to regret their actions. 

“I didn’t want to ignore the kisses, I just didn’t want to ruin the trip so early on by telling you I liked you,” he was playing with the ends of her hair as she remained close to his chest. 

“I sure hope you like me; you’ve known me since we were 11,” she snorted against his chest. 

“No, Y/N,” he sat her up so they were looking at each other as she furrowed her eyebrows, “like you, like you,” Harry said, surprised at his own conviction, he always thought when this moment came it would be a lot more of stammering, nervous, voice that sort of shouted his confession at her. “Fuck, I’d use the love word, but I’d rather do that when we’re less snotty nosed and teary,” he chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear before thumbing away a stray tear that trickled down her face. 

“Thank Christ,” Y/N heaved out before throwing her arms around Harry’s neck and laying her lips on his, catching him off-guard, a muffled hmph escaping as their lips worked against each other’s. He tasted of the bitter coffee, but she didn’t mind, his lips were soft and attentive as he grasped her cheeks in the palms of his hands. His tongue splitting her lips as he licked into her mouth wanting to feel all of her. 

“Wai-wait… what?” Harry gasped for breath as they broke apart, Y/N’s hands carding through Harry’s fluffy curls he had been letting dry naturally. 

“I don’t care if we’re snotty, fuck Harry, I bloody love you, love you, love you,” she giggled wiping the tears from her face. 

“Yeah?” He asked, smiling bright.

“Well, I didn’t shag my best mate of 15 years for a laugh, gorgeous,” she joked nuzzling into his neck breathing in his warmth. 

“Look at me, Sweetness,” there was that nickname, the one that had stuck all these years as Y/N tilted her head up, “I love you,” she could feel his smile as he whispered the words against her lips. 

***

They spent about two weeks in Positano, days filled on the beaches, strolls in the afternoons, cooking in the evening and wrapped up together in the sheets through the night. Well apart from that one night they went to one of the quieter beaches in the area and took a middle of the night dip sans any clothing. Quick pecks in the morning, lazy kisses over lunch and fingers intertwined on their walks. They were leaving Positano in a different place as when they arrived. 

Y/N was in the passenger seat, digging through her bag in the footwell making sure they had packed up all their important bits again as Harry locked the front door of the villa, she peered up through the front windscreen to see him walking back over with that bloody blue hat sat atop his grown-out curls, yellow sunglasses tinting his vision, shooting her a sly grin when he caught her staring. He got himself comfortable in the driver’s seat, belt fastened and turned the ignition on, immediately handing Y/N the cable to plug her phone in to play their shared playlist, turning to look at her. “Where to next, my love?” he asked reaching over to caress the side of her face. 

“Mmm,” she hummed, leaning into his touch, “let’s just keep driving for a bit and see where we end up.”

“Sounds good to me,” he leaned over the centre console and took her bottom lip between his own and kissed her deeply before breaking away and putting the car in reverse to drive them away from Positano and onto their next stop. 

“Wait! Shit, did you lock the balcony doors?” Y/N cried out as Harry slammed the breaks, getting a fright from her exclamation. His eyes narrowed, searching her face as if she was going to tell him the answer to that. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he groaned, pulling up on the hand break before killing the engine and getting back out the car as Y/N giggled away in her seat. Just before he slammed the driver’s door shut to go check he leant back down and was calling into her, “by the way, you’ve got chocolate and jam down your chin this time,” and he tossed a napkin at her that he had tucked away in his pocket for the exact purpose of having to clean up his messy girl. 

***

MASTERLIST

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #harry styles fic #harry styles imagine #harry styles oneshot #harry styles one shot #harry styles blurb #harry imagine #harry styles fanfic #harry styles x fem!reader #love on tour #one direction #one direction fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles smut #harry edward styles

[channiesdelululand]

Begging Binnie

NSFW ChangBin x Reader

Warnings: 18+, MINORS DNI!, Unprotected sex, rough sex, begging, edging, dom/sub switching

Summary: Changbin has been pretty busy with comeback and the next leg of the tour, but you have needs to.

The last few weeks you’ve been going to bed by yourself as Binnie and the boys get ready for their next leg of the tour. It’s understandable but you still have needs. And after that little stunt Minho played during skz talker rolling up Binnie’s sleeve to show your favorite part of him, you’re physically in pain.

You’ve been texting Bin kinda off all day not because you’re mad but because you just can’t get the image of him absolutely fucking you mad out of your head. Of course you don’t want to take out your frustrations on sweet Binnie. He works so hard for you. But of course he can read you like the slutty tumblr piece you are. He feels the bed slightly vibrate at night when you think he is racked out after a long day. He knows how desperate you are so tonight he decided to leave stage practice a little early. You are his main priority tonight.

On his way home he texts you a quick selca. Still sweaty from the dance they were working on. His little bangs stuck to his forehead. “How’s my princess doing? What do you want for dinner, I’ll order for you.” Besides his addictive cock, food was the second best way to your heart.

Feeling more frustrated now seeing him like this. You send a bratty text back. “I’m fine, Have a good night Binnie.” You don’t want to be harsh but god he was just so perfect and you needed him now.

Shutting your phone off you get lost in watching the rain fall along the skyline, the tears of your sadness fall so slightly along with the rhythm of the droplets from the sky. You don’t like to cry but being an idols wife was hard at times.  You wouldn’t change your life for the world but sometimes it caught up with you. A sudden ding  at the door ripped you from that daze, you had a special alarm system alerting you to any entrance doors opening and closing. Something Binnie wanted to protect you when he was away.

From the reflection of your floor to ceiling glass windows you see a soaking wet Binnie standing next to the kitchen counter. Because of course him being the slight dumb ass he is, he forgot his umbrella and had to walk home in the Seoul summer rains.

“What are you doing I thought you guys had practice all night”

Of fucking course he wearing a white T-shirt! The nerve of him, I swear to god this shit is on purpose!

“Can I not come spend some time with you? I’ve missed you”

Absolutely not you start to think to yourself, he is not going to just come home and sweep you off your feet you will not be weak!

“It’s your house Changbin you can do what you want” you turn back around wiping a tear from your cheek before he notices

He does…

Not only does he notice the stain of tears on your face but now he knows with out a doubt you are upset. You very rarely use his name.

As he moves closer to you, you watch from the reflection as his muscles flex from his bodies movement, still swollen from the workout he did earlier.

He brings his hand around your face to your chin from behind you, bringing your face up to his.

“Princess I missed you, please don’t be upset. Let me help you feel better. You have me all night.”

So smooth with his tone, you were already getting warm.

You pull away and continue your stare out to the city.

“Come on don’t be like this, I know you need me. Now be a good girl and let me make you feel good tonight.” moving him self next to you on the couch he places his rough hand on your thigh squeezing slightly.

Pushing his hand off, “I don’t need you, I am fully satisfied by myself.” That’s it that’ll show him….

“Oh you are, are you? Is that why I hear you moan my name at night in your sleep?” His hand now traveling up your shirt to grasp your breast. “You can say you don’t want me but your hard nipple say something else. Please princess I need you. I’ve been thinking about that body all week. I know I’ve been busy but I trust me you’ve been the only thing on my mind”.

You carefully glance down to his grey sweats, which the baggiest of sweats would still be ungodly tight around his thick ass thighs.

Shit even semi he still has you practically drooling.

He normally has the high ground, making you melt like soft Mochi in his hand. But dammit his schedule always had you begging for attention. And this time you were going to make him beg.

“You are getting the couch all wet can you go change please” deciding to make him wait longer. His wet clothes are suffocating, showing off every curve, vein, and shape. You need him out of them to keep a straight mind. Because right now a dizzy fog is starting to take over.

He ignores your request places a few strategic kisses along you collar bone.

Kissing up until he is at your ear. “Please Princess I’m begging for you, is that what you want from me? Do I need to beg? Please I need you on my cock so badly. My brain hasn’t functioned in days. It takes everything I have to not just leave work everyday to come home and devour every single part of you.”

His hands running up the side of your face to get a gentle fist of your hair. Pulling your forehead to his. His lips right over yours now.

“Please beautiful, be my slutty little bunny for the night let me take you as my prey. I want to ruin that pretty little face of yours. “

He softly kisses with a slight whimper, he truly is begging he has needed you as badly as you need him.

His soft kisses turn rough as he moves his hand to the back of your neck bringing you into him. His tongue forcing its way into your mouth, you finally accepting his advance because fuck you’ve missed his feral desire for you.

You’ve seen Binnie horny many times this man is always so hungry for your body. He gets this lustful look in his eyes. But tonight was so different, did he like begging for you? A way of edging the both of you?

“You like watching me need you don’t you? I’m going to make you regret trying to dominate me Princess. It’s going to be a long night because I’m not stopping until you are an incoherent mess for me.”

Binnie takes a few moments to take you in. He loves seeing this look on you. You trying so hard to be strong and not fold in front of him.

Now caressing your whole body he grabs onto your thighs tightly, wearing his boxers around the house like this drives him wild. He used your legs to push him self up and lower himself to your feet his face now level with your already dripping pussy. With both hands he grabs your ass and lifts to make you stand, very aggressively ripping the shorts down and pushing you back onto the couch. You land with your legs together. He drags his hands up the outside of your thighs And back down the inside stopping at your knees to part your legs so he can finally see you glistening infront of him.

“Fuck baby girl I’ve been starving for this pussy all day” he says between breaths as his face is fully pressed into you. Lapping up every drop of your sweet arousal. Sending vibrations up your spine. Taking his strong hands shoving 2 fingers deep inside while using his thumb to circle your clit. You are already coming undone to this man.

Head fuzzy, room spinning Binnie sucking on your very sensitive clit he starts curling his fingers hitting your g spot so well. He can feel your walls start to tighten around him. Pulling away but keeping direct eye contact that he has been holding you so intensely in. You whine while your hips buck up, painfully wishing you could have ridden that high he had oh so closely brought you too.

“Binnie please?”

You whimper while your head rolls back.

“Oh, look who is begging now Princess? Thought you were so big and bad keeping me from what’s mine. You must have forgotten who’s really in charge here. I told you I’d make you regret trying to control what’s mine. But don’t worry pretty girl I’ll make you cum for me.”

With a quick stand and aggressive flip of your shaky body, Binnie has you on all fours hands on top of the headrest of the couch.

“Now you’re going to take me like a good girl, do you understand?”

Taking too long to respond to his liking, binnie takes your throat pulling back bending you back. “Did you forget how to speak? I asked you a question and I suggest you answer.” Before you could catch your breath Binnie insert himself with a quick and deep thrust. You take him so well and he loves that about you. Makes him feral.

“Yes Binnie I understand, please let me cum for you. I promise I’ll be so good for you”

Pleased with your answer Binnie grabs your waist digging his hands so dip into your skin leaving marks that will most certainly last a week. Thrust after thrust in a perfect rhythm.

Fuck it feels so good, his size, the way you can feel every throbbing vein, god you are just as addicted to him as he is to you.

“So Princess since you feel the need to be in charge tonight, can I cum with you” Binnie says with a smirk in his voice.

You are an incoherent mess but that sentence had you ready to climb.

“Pha uuu kkk, ye ss pa lease, pl ease god cum with me Binnie.”

Thank god for sound proof walls because you are screaming his name, a begging mess to cum.

“Go ahead princess, cover my cock.” With that command your walls tighten and waves of ecstasy crash through both of your bodies, cumming together mixing arousal until it starts to slowly drip out.

Pulling out and letting your limp body collapse on to the couch Binnie now standing over you. Leaning down to kiss your forehead. “What a good girl, I love you Princess. Now rest while I order us some take out and then we can wash up.”

#changbin x reader #changbin smut #changbin fanfic #stray kids smut #smut #binnie smut #skz #skz smut #skz changbin

[the-lonelybarricade]

We Bleed the Same - (4/?)

Summary: The forest was a labyrinth of snow and ice... The beginning to a story we know, unfolded a little bit differently.

A gift for my darling @belabellissima💝

Also huge thank you to @popjunkie42 for her super helpful feedback on this chapter 💕

Read on AO3 ・Series Masterlist ・Previous Chapter

-

The ring, at the very least, served as a useful projectile to launch at Rhysand’s head.

Feyre’s mind was whirring like a spindle, producing one thread of thought that twined around and around and around her chest. Wife.

Rhys caught the ring from the air with infuriating ease. She wished she could have seen it crash into his monstrously beautiful face. “It’s too late to return this, I’m afraid.”

He had lied, but why? When?

“I’m not your wife!” She hissed.

Rhys mockingly clutched his chest. “Oh, how the words of a loved one cut deeper than any blade.”

Nevermind what Nesta would say about her improper attire. Feyre pushed the sheets of the infirmary bed aside, scrambling to her feet. Her boots had been removed at some point in the night, and she might have been able to find them if she spared a moment to glance around the room. But a flood of anger carried her across the stone floor, allowing Feyre to ignore the bite of cold leaching through her threadbare socks. She stopped close enough that she would have been nose-to-nose with Rhysand if he wasn’t so gods-damned tall.

She needed to angle her head to meet his eyes, and he looked so amused that someone a fraction of his height was ready to pick a fight that she couldn’t resist jamming a finger into his chest.

“You had no right,” she said, seething. “Word of something like that in this village…”

A rumor like that would travel quickly. Feyre Archeron, the wild daughter of the fallen Archeron family, married to a mercenary. Dark brown eyes flashed through her mind. And for a completely foolish moment, she wondered what Isaac would think of the news. She shook the sad, useless thought away, reminding herself that Isaac would be married by the summer.

“You said you dream of being a spinster,” Rhys said. “Now you get to enjoy that lifestyle with none of the scorn. When my contract ends, I’ll move on from this town and you can claim to be a widow.”

“Why?” She demanded, shaking her head like that might clear away this strange reality. “What’s the point in all of this? What do you gain?”

He smirked. “Besides a pretty wife?”

Feyre felt her entire body flush with anger. Rhysand was the only person who’d ever called her such a thing, and somehow he managed to wield the compliment to get under her skin more effectively than years of Nesta’s hurled insults. She wanted to scream, or find a firepoker she could use to prod at him in turn.

But that’s what he wanted. She could tell, by the way his maddening smile grew with every ounce of her temper. “You’ve already figured out what I want, Feyre. There’s history between me and that High Lord. And now that you’ve fixed his interest, I need you here. Having you as my wife is just a delightful bonus.”

“I’m not—”

Rhys pressed a finger to her lips to smother the protest before Feyre could form it in full. He said, soft as a lover’s whisper, “Don’t let Lord Nolan hear you say such horrible things, sweet wife. If you want your family to be able to stay here, safely tucked behind fortified walls, then I’m going to need you to pretend to be the open-minded, adaptable woman that I know you can be.”

She pushed his hand away. “If you think my sisters are going to put up with this ruse—”

“Then you better convince them it’s not a ruse,” Rhys said.

“How?” Feyre threw her hands up in exasperation. “We just met yesterday. They know that.”

Like he couldn’t resist, his finger returned to her lips, tracing the outline with a fixation that had her sucking in a breath. “Why don’t you tell them,” he mused, “that all those times you were sneaking out to fuck the farmboy, you were actually seeing me? I guarantee I would have shown you a better time.”

Feyre tilted her chin higher as she stared him down. She refused to feel shame for her trysts with Isaac, even if he was only a farmboy, if their encounters had been brisk and clumsy and inexperienced. That touch of humanity had kept her sane, kept her alive, through these last cruel years.

“You don’t know the first thing about me,” she said.

“Do they?”

It was meant to be cutting, but the challenge drew a much bleaker thought forward. What even was there to know?

For years she had operated on one single-minded goal: keep her family alive and together. It was a vow she’d made on her mother’s deathbed eight years ago and without it, she was little more than the winter frost, drifting aimless day after day. The only true ambition she had was painting, a passion she hadn’t touched since that summer Elain had been able to afford three small pots of paint as a gift.

They could try to flee, try to hire a boat and make a new life for themselves on the continent, but without Rhysand’s protection it would be a gamble to try to get on a ship without being tracked by the High Lord. And a small voice, worn-out piece of her wondered… what would it feel like to surrender? Who could she become if she didn’t have to fight and barter and scrape for every meal? If they could stay here and be safe from the fae, fed and comfortable… it was beyond anything she’d ever dared hope for. A marriage to a handsome—if not infuriating—man seemed a meager price to pay in the end, if she could finally fulfill that vow to her mother.

“So we’re to be married,” she said in a single breath. “And live together on this estate, acting as a married couple, presumably sharing a room together…” He nodded in confirmation. “We’re not sharing a bed,” she said, flatly.

His eyes brightened, the very picture of triumph. “Consider it done,” he said. “I’ll be on guard duty most nights, anyhow.”

A relief, and yet… she felt oddly disappointed to think she’d be alone most nights. Of all the complicated affairs of marriage, there was only one aspect she truly had any experience with. She’d always known she was too wild and too sharp to be someone’s bride, but there had been moments in the barn with Isaac when Feyre had learned she could be soft, too.

With Isaac to be married, she didn’t see why she couldn’t seek that comfort elsewhere. If she had to put up with Rhysand’s company, she thought she could at least indulge the flirty remarks and bedroom eyes, if only as a distraction. Those perfect lips had to be good for something besides kindling her temper. And at least between her legs, she wouldn’t have to hear all his rakish commentary.

I guarantee I would have shown you a better time…

Feyre steeled her nerves to continue, “And if we fuck…” Rhys stiffened. She had to clamp her lips together to smother a laugh at his expression. Clearly despite his teasing, he hadn’t considered that sex would be on the table. But there was no denying he was beautiful, and if she was going to go along with this scheme she could at least glean some measure of enjoyment from it. “No kissing.”

That wasn’t a rule she’d used with Isaac. But with Rhys, and the attention he was already paying to her mouth, she thought it would be too dangerous to let him kiss her. Dangerous to be humoring this harebrained plan at all.

“No kissing,” he repeated, sounding a bit strained. “Understood.”

He was so close that she could watch his chest rise with his next breath. She felt oddly tempted to flatten her palm over his heart, like she’d done last night, just to measure how fast his heart was beating. Did this phase him at all? From his endless look of amusement, it didn’t seem like it.

Rhys drew the ring from its velvet cushion. Despite her better judgment, Feyre held her hand out, watching his face as he delicately took her hand in his and slid the ring onto her finger without hesitation. His eyelashes skimmed his high cheekbones as he surveyed the diamond adorning her hand. For a moment so fleeting she thought she might have been imagining it, a crease formed between his brows in the faintest glimpse of anguish. It vanished before she could even hope to speculate its meaning.

Then he was smiling at her like he’d never been more pleased with himself.

“Since I’m here, wife—”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

He continued as if she said nothing at all, “Would you like help getting dressed?”

Feyre resisted the urge to fidget under Rhysand’s slow, unhurried surveillance. A gentleman would have averted their eyes, or pretended they hadn’t noticed her state of undress. His eyes lingered everywhere they shouldn’t, heavy with something she couldn’t quite label as desire. But she didn’t have the sense he was displeased by what he saw, either.

“It isn’t as if the beast took my arms,” she said, turning away from him in dismissal. “It’s just a scratch.”

A scratch that could have easily found her bleeding out in the woods, were it not for the mercenary who huffed under his breath, likely thinking the same. Feyre ignored him, sweeping her eyes over the infirmary in search of something to cover herself. A wicker chair was situated in the corner of her bedside, a familiar cloak strewn over its back.

It would have to do. Her sisters likely hadn’t had the foresight to bring many clothes with them when they’d fled the cottage. She hoped Nesta had at least taken the coin Feyre stowed away, but she would need to return to sweep the cottage and see what was left behind. That was… If they were even permitted to leave. Would they be hunted the moment they stepped outside the walls of the estate?

Feyre could ask Rhys to accompany her, though her stomach curdled at the prospect of asking him any more favors. A man like him kept a meticulous ledger, and as she lifted his cloak from the chair, she knew even its use would be added to her list of debts. But she would argue if they were to act married, then what belonged to him also belonged to her.

Footsteps sounded at her back. She didn’t turn, not yet ready to subject herself to that piercing stare, and whatever smart comment he had prepared. Rhys stopped once he was close enough for his heat to warm her back, not saying a word as he reached around her to take the cloak from her hands. She allowed him, feeling him step away and for a moment believing he was taking it back, denying her from covering herself with it.

Then, slow as if not to startle her, Rhysand held the front straps open and pulled the cloak over her head. Its weight fell across her shoulders, tickling her neck with its soft fur. He pressed a palm into her uninjured shoulder, prompting her to turn so that he could wordlessly adjust the straps to her much slighter frame. Careful, all the while, not to jostle or brush against her injury.

So he had the capacity for decency. It wasn’t as if Feyre would give him a medal for it—and certainly not the thank you he was trying to tempt with his raised brow.

“There,” he said once he had finished with the straps. He gave a small laugh as he assessed her. “It practically swallows you.”

It wasn’t hard. All of her soft edges became sharper in the winter.

She shifted the cape, hating the way Rhys stared like he could see through the fur and cloth, straight to the ridges of her ribs underneath. He didn’t know they’d become more defined in the last three weeks, and she knew he was only making a light hearted comment. Heat itched along her cheeks all the same, and she couldn’t find it in herself to laugh—wasn’t convinced that it was something she was still capable of.

Silence sawed between them as Rhys waited for her to say something and she only blinked, fighting the wild thing inside her that wanted to snap and claw and bite for the insult he didn’t truly mean to inflict. When the fight had nowhere to go, she felt it sink down, draining out along with all of her energy.

Feyre sagged a bit into herself, and the next thing she knew Rhys was herding her back into that wicker chair.

“Seems like that tonic might be wearing off,” he said mildly. “Do you want more?”

“No,” she said, breathing through her teeth.

The pain in her arm hadn’t returned, but she did feel heavier. Was that the tonic wearing off, or had the world always been this heavy, and it was only now settling over her?

Rhys hummed in what sounded vaguely like agreement, helping himself to the task of lacing her boots. It was odd to watch him drop to his knees before her. Odder still, to feel his steady hand curve behind her calf and coax her leg upward so he could slide her worn boot onto her foot. He paid no mind to his miraculously clean trousers, seemingly content to muddy them by propping her heel against his thigh.

Watching those quick, nimble fingers move and pull against her laces lodged something free inside her, something she didn’t dare inspect. “I haven’t lost my arm,” she reminded him, though it lacked the sharpness she’d been aiming for.

He glanced up, pleased that she was speaking again. “Yes. But stretching those stitches is going to burn like Hell.”

Boot now laced, he set her foot down and gestured for the other. Feyre obliged, lifting her foot so he could slide the second shoe on. She supposed if anyone walked in on them, they would have looked rather… intimate.

“See?” Rhys purred, clearly sharing her line of thought. “We’re good at this.”

He looked up, both boots now laced. His hand was still curved around her calf, not quite prepared to let go. And because of the precious warmth spreading under her skin, she was willing to let him linger for just a moment longer.

“Which do you need first,” he asked. “Food or a bath?”

“I supposed this is where you offer to bathe me yourself.”

The devilish glint in his eye said he was already entertaining the idea. “I wouldn’t be opposed.”

Her mouth felt dry.

“Food,” she said. “I’ll bathe once I know you’re somewhere far, far away.”

-

Food, it turned out, meant leaving the infirmary to join Lord Nolan and his family for lunch in their impressive dining room.

Unlike the small, splintering table from their cottage, Lord Nolan boasted a broad dining table, hewn from rich, polished black ebony. More impressive than its size were the countless dishes of food laden atop its surface, all wafting decadent steam that drifted towards Feyre, twisting her aching stomach until she worried she might collapse.

Feyre willed her body upright as she swept her eyes over the generous spread. She flinched when her gaze unexpectedly landed on a pair of emerald eyes, staring back at her through the face of a snarling beast that was carved into each leg of the table. It looked enough like the beast she’d encountered the night before to curb some of her appetite, and she frowned, examining the rest of the carvings. Ward marking decorated the table’s apron—similar to the ones her father had spent the last of his fortune to have etched into the cottage exterior. She didn’t want to imagine how much the useless engraving had cost Lord Nolan.

Identical markings were carved into the backs of the chairs that Nesta, Elain, and her father were already seated in. They faced an elderly man hunched at the head of the table, dressed enough finery that there would be no mistaking him for anyone other than Lord Nolan. To his right was a handsome, much younger man—brown-haired and blue-eyed and already sneaking mooning glances towards a giggling Elain. The Lord’s son, if she had to wager a guess.

All conversation halted the second Rhys and Feyre stepped through the large, cherrywood doors. Nesta, stiff-backed from before they’d come in, set her silverware down hard enough to make Elain flinch.

“Feyre,” her father said, reaching for his cane like he intended to stand to greet her.

“I’m okay,” she said, with enough edge that her father dropped his hand back into his lap. Nesta snorted—either from the less than favorable first impression Feyre was already making, or simply because she enjoyed anything that displeased their father.

Ignoring them, and Elain’s wide-eyed stare, Feyre turned towards the Lord and offered a clumsy curtsey, which earned another thinly disguised laugh from Nesta. “Thank you for your generosity towards my family, Lord Nolan.”

Feyre hadn’t been given the same upbringing as her sisters. If she’d ever learned the proper etiquette for meeting nobility, she’d been too young to remember it. A curtsey seemed sufficient—though Nesta’s mocking sneer was quickly faltering her confidence in even that small gesture. If it wasn’t for Rhys, placing a steadying palm of Feyre’s back as he bowed, subtly, from the waist, she might have turned and darted straight out the doors.

“Thank you again,” Rhys echoed, with none of her wavering uncertainty. His voice dipped lower than it’d been a second ago. And from his tone, it sounded less like he was thanking them for a favor and more as if they’d fulfilled an obligation he was owed. As if he was the Lord. There was glee in his voice as he added, “My wife and I appreciate your kindness.”

Well now he’d done it. Feyre suppressed a sigh, her attention darting to Nesta, who’s blue eyes turned to slits. Elain’s mouth parted open, and she quickly grabbed for her wine to duck her face into the goblet, artfully evading any fighting she feared might ensue. And their father… he simply nodded to himself, eyes clouding with a sort of melancholy that caused Feyre to grit her teeth. As if this was some outcome he’d suspected, but was disappointed by. Just last night, they had all watched her walk out of the cottage, prepared for that beast to take her life. They should be grateful that she was even here. Alive.

The Lord, hawk-nosed and gray-eyed, nodded and said to Rhys, “I am pleased to see that your wife has recovered.”

His tone was bland enough that there was no mistaking his words as sincere. But he was being charitable to offer them at all. Feyre nodded her thanks, but Rhys… he just stared. Eyes narrowed slightly.

“Please, sit,” the Lord added, gesturing towards two of the unoccupied chairs, across from Nesta and their father.

Rhysand, either a fool or an unconventional strategist, claimed the chair facing Nesta. And smirked. In front of their hosts, Feyre prayed she could trust Nesta to keep her nastier comments to herself, or at least until she’d managed to corner Feyre in private. But it wasn’t helping that Rhys raised his brows at Nesta, as if daring her to say something.

“I’m relieved you’re okay, Feyre,” Elain chimed in after swallowing a large mouthful of wine.

Feyre couldn’t tell if it was said to cut the tension, or because Elain truly meant it. She glanced towards her middle sister, beautiful despite the marks of poverty. Her face was sharp and angular where it had once been full and round and flushed with life. But Elain’s eyes hadn't changed. Not in any of the years they’d been in that cottage. They were still bright and gentle, in a way that was rare to encounter in their village.

Last night, Elain’s eyes had been so wide her pupils nearly swallowed all of the brown, not a trace of the warm, honeyed tones that Feyre could see now. She could still hear how Elain sobbed, too terror-stricken for words, frozen like a doe. And when Elain spoke just then, there’d been a residual scrap to her usual lovely, lilted sing-song—from how loudly she’d been screaming.

One moment she’d been giggling over boys with Nesta and the next, their door was broken down by a terrifying, unexpected faerie beast. Feyre could forgive her sister for not trying to help. For being frightened. It was enough to know that she cared, that there was grief shining in her eyes as Elain’s lips stretched into a strained smile.

A hand wrapped over Feyre’s. She tensed, but Rhysand’s words swam over her. “It was very brave of you to offer your life to protect your family.” She turned, meeting his eyes, searching them and finding none of that amusement. Rhys leaned closer, pitching his next words just for her benefit. “Stupid,” he added, the breath of his whisper brushing along the shell of her ear. She tried not to shiver—not with Nesta watching them so closely. “Utterly reckless. And braver than perhaps anything I’ve ever done.”

She doubted that.

“Yes,” Nesta said, drawing their attention away from each other. “Well done, Feyre. It was so heroic of you to lure away the faerie that you brought to our door.”

Rhysand stilled, his fingers tightening over Feyre’s. The tone Nesta used, dripping in venom and outright contempt… It was nothing new. Though, knowing that she’d been moments away from death, it cut into Feyre nearly as viciously as the beast’s claws.

She sucked on her teeth, ruminating in the sting. What was it that elicited Nesta’s ire? Was it because of the praise, or Rhysand’s subtle prodding, or did her eldest sister truly despise Feyre so much that she didn't care that she was almost killed? Did she resent that Feyre had lived? No… no. Nesta could be cruel, but there had been grief in her eyes, too. They had looked at each other, and understood. Understood in a way that was perhaps too difficult to acknowledge in the aftermath.

Words lapped at Feyre’s tongue, too sharp or bitter or not quite right. What could she say that wouldn’t sound defensive, or self-important, or worst of all… hurt. Elain opened her mouth, prepared to mediate so they didn’t make a scene in front of their hosts.

But it was Rhys who said levelly, “A life debt is a very heavy burden, isn’t it? It can rest uncomfortably on the soul.”

Nesta’s eyes flicked between them, and she raised a cool brow. “Is that why my sister married you, because of a debt?”

“Nesta,” Feyre chided, sneaking a nervous glance towards Lord Nolan.

At most, the elderly Lord appeared bored with the theatrics, but his son was monitoring them—particularly Elain, now stiff and withdrawn from the demure lady who’d been giggling moments ago.

“What happened to Isaac?” Nesta pushed, causing even Rhysand’s casual posture to straighten, just enough that she worried the blade strapped to his back might find itself embedded in the dining table, or worse.

Their father reached towards Nesta, like he might put a hand on her shoulder to chide her for making a scene, but all it took was one cutting glance from his eldest daughter for his hand to immediately fall back into his lap. He lowered his chin.

No one was touching the food in the center of the table—hot, glorious food that would finally cure the ravenous hunger she knew was raging inside each of them.

Nesta kept her glare fixed on Rhys, challenging him to answer. He only laughed, leaning in to brush some of Feyre’s hair from her face, a gesture of casual intimacy that scorched her cheek where his fingers brushed.

He crooned, “Why don’t you tell your family how we met?”

“In the woods,” she lied. It was never something she’d been very talented at—she’d never really had a reason to, when her sister was critical of even the barest truths. Feyre wracked her mind for details that might convince them. “Four months ago, he got caught in one of my snares.”

Rhys’s lips twitched. She could practically read in the look he shot her, That’s what you’re going with?

“You would expect a mercenary to be more aware of their surroundings,” Nesta said, thoroughly unconvinced.

“Maybe I wanted to get caught,” Rhys said, flashing Feyre a grin. Then, paying no mind to the empty plates in front of everyone else, he reached across for the platter of chicken and began piling it onto Feyre’s plate.

“You must be a talented huntress,” the Lord’s son complimented. “Especially if you managed to kill a faerie.”

“She’s remarkable,” Rhys agreed. Feyre marveled at the pride in his voice. How did he manage to lie so convincingly?

When he was done with the chicken, Rhys handed the platter to Elain, who accepted it with a wary glance towards their host’s empty plate. Lord Nolan nodded in subdued approval, and that was all Elain needed to begin serving herself as well.

Rhysand continued picking up plates of various steaming dishes—vegetables, bread, sauces, even a decanter of wine that he poured into the goblet in front of her. She noticed he didn’t load his own plate nearly so generously, but when he nudged a fork into her hands, she didn’t think to question it.

She thought she might prefer to do away with the fork entirely and shovel the food into her mouth by the handful. Manners were a distant, faraway concern, but she was able to exact enough control to shovel an appropriate-sized bite into her mouth. It was an effort to chew slowly, to swallow, to look as if this wasn’t the first proper meal she’d had at least since autumn ended.

And the spices… she shut her eyes. She’d forgotten that eating could be something more than a means of keeping her body functioning. That flavor could dance on her tongue, evoking stories of the faraway lands they’d traveled across to get to this dining room. Her family had fallen quiet, equally absorbed in this rare chance to fill their empty stomachs. Rhys—thank the forgotten gods—kept the situation from being unbearably mortifying by making polite conversation with Lord Nolan and his son to fill the silence.

She learned a bit about them in the moments she could piece together between mouthfuls of decadent food. Graysen—the son—was a year older than Nesta, and he’d been training with the guards at the same age that Nesta and Elain began learning the pianoforte. From the gleam in his eye as asked after Rhys’s own training, she knew he had listless questions about their encounter with the beast last night. Thankfully, he was a gentleman as much as he was a warrior, and he reserved such questions until the last of their plates were empty.

Once the servants carried them away, he leaned forward, “Did you manage to kill it?”

Feyre wasn’t the only one who flinched.

“No,” Rhys said, jaw tight. “Thanks to Feyre, I was able to catch him with an ash bolt, but he’ll be back.”

“Great,” Nesta said, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair. “So—what? We can’t leave this estate without worrying about being hunted?”

It was never a problem before, Feyre wanted to snap. You never bothered to leave the house most days, anyway.

With a deep breath, Feyre said, “It’s only temporary, Nesta.”

Another lie. If the High Lord’s words were to be trusted, then the terms of the Treaty meant she would always owe a life debt to Prythian. The fae couldn’t lie, and his wording had been fairly clear.

A life debt is a very heavy burden, isn’t it?

Rhys, oblivious to his sharp words that were digging beneath her skin, nodded in agreement. “We’re putting together patrols to search for the beast and protect this estate—if he comes back, we’ll be ready for him.”

“Some of us have lives,” Nesta said. “Tomas was about to propose!”

Good. Feyre privately hoped that Tomas would fix his interest elsewhere. Out loud, she said, “If he loved you, Nesta, he would wait.”

“Not if he goes to our cottage and thinks we’re dead.”

“Write him a letter,” she said, patience thinning.

Graysen cleared his throat, his eyes wandering to Elain, as if seeking her approval as he intervened. “If you must go into town, one of our men could always escort you.”

Elain beamed at him. Graysen smiled back with an endearing, boyish sort of relief. They might have been a good match if the Archerons had managed to maintain their fortune. But without a dowry, or so much as two coins to rub together, Feyre wondered what Lord Nolan would think of a romance between his son and Elain. He didn’t seem to take any notice of his son’s budding interest—in fact, as Feyre studied the Lord she thought his eyes looked a bit glazed, his awareness drifting like a thick morning fog, not quite pinned on any one thing.

She fought the temptation to wave her fingers in front of his face. It was likely his age. People in the village tended to die long before age could claim them, and she supposed she didn’t have much exposure to the elderly—but with his wealth, and his abundant access to food and warmth and medicine, he could outlive the average human expiration.

Maybe that’s how Rhys had managed to get away with the lies. The old Lord was senile and his son—he seemed kind, though a bit too eager to find a faerie on the other side of his sword. Having killed that wolf, she supposed she didn’t have any room to judge, but… Feyre shuddered, now, to think that the creature she’d skinned had been as sentient as the beast she’d encountered last night.

“I’m tired,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. Her stomach hadn’t felt this heavy in years, and with the tonic wearing off she thought she could do with a bath, and a nap, and some method of putting this whole ordeal with the wolf and beast far, far behind her. “I think I’d like to retire, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Rhys said, as if he had any right to dismiss a guest.

Lord Nolan only nodded, unnervingly silent. Something tightened in Feyre’s gut.

She didn’t look towards Nesta or her father as she got to her feet. Elain offered another tight smile, but they all said nothing as Feyre slipped toward the door, Rhys trailing at her back like a new extension of her shadow.

It was only once Feyre rounded the corner and froze at the sight of a long stretch of corridor, flanked by rows of doors, that she realized she hadn’t the slightest clue where she was going. She’d been operating on a single directive: flee. Just as well Rhys had followed her, and had now stopped a healthy distance from her back, leaning against the nearest wall as he waited for her to process her next move.

Feyre sighed. “Just show me where it is, you asshole.”

He barked a short laugh before pushing off the wall, striding in front of her with more fluid grace than any man ought to possess. Maybe he’d been a cat in a previous life, and that was why his booted feet made hardly any sound as they strode down the hardwood floors, through halls mounted with weapons and hunting trophies. Though Feyre suspected they were wealthy enough to flaunt silver and gold, it was iron that decorated most of their fortress—iron sconces on the walls, iron latches on window sills, intricate iron handles on every door.

Rhys curled his fingers around one such handle, smiling at her as he stepped through the iron threshold. “Here you are—a room fit for a mercenary and his new, lovely wife.”

She could have laughed. Or wept. The room was likely plain by a lord’s standards, roughly the size of the cottage she’d shared with her family. Two rich velvet settees were settled beside a low wooden table in front of the fireplace, big enough that she wouldn’t feel too guilty making Rhys sleep on one. The large fur rug, likely won from one of the Lord’s many hunts, looked like it would make a pleasant place to nap as well.

And then there was the bed, about as large as the one she and her sisters slept on, but now she had it all to herself. That was a strange thing to come to terms with.

“I have to go soon.” His voice was gentle. “Do you want me to run you a bath?”

“I can manage,” she said, but he was walking into the attached bathing room anyway. She followed, feeling a bit lost. How was any of this real, how had her life changed so quickly, so drastically?

The iron handle squeaked as it turned, and a moment later the faucet rumbled, pouring steaming water into the large porcelain tub. Steaming. Now she was weeping, and she turned, not wanting Rhys to see. It was stupid—so utterly stupid, and pathetic, to be crying over a warm bath.

Footsteps sounded at her back as Rhys approached. Given how silently he’d walked before, she knew it’d been intentional, so she didn’t jump when she felt his hand on her shoulder. Feyre resisted his first attempt to make her face him. It was obvious she was crying and that was bad enough. But when it was clear she wouldn’t obey, he moved around her anyway.

They stared at each other for a moment, and she waited for him to say something about the tears streaming down her face. He didn’t. He just silently took to unlatching the cloak, until its weight dropped from her shoulders, pooling at her feet along with the weight of eight years of survival, of being solely responsible for keeping her family alive.

A sob ratcheted up her spine. Rhys gently grabbed the elbow of her injured arm, holding it steady as he unwrapped her bandages. Her eyes fell to the raw, angry skin freshly sewn together with dark, jutting sutures. She winced at the sight.

“You should be careful getting them wet,” he said. “Let me help.”

His voice held enough concern that she trusted he would be professional about it, but Feyre shook her head. “You said you need to go.”

“I can stay.”

The moment she was encased in that warm water, she knew there would be no holding back the floodgates. Nevermind that she wasn’t prepared for Rhys to see her naked—not yet, not while she was still bony and sharp and her arm looked like that.

“Go,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

Rhys pressed a hand to her cheek. It was only then that he swiped away her errant tears with his thumb. “The patrol might last a few days,” he said. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

She nearly pointed out that staying out of trouble meant staying as far away from him as she could get. But she wasn’t quite in the mood for jokes, and hearing that he would be gone for potentially days… she hadn’t realized how comforting she found his presence, until that moment.

“Enjoy your bath,” he said. “Try to eat and rest and get stronger.”

A goal. She was good at working with those.

Feyre decided she could give him one, too. “Try not to die.”

Rhys laughed. “Believe me when I say I’m very, very hard to kill.”

#Im going to go nap for 10 days now #We Bleed the Same #Feysand #Feysand fic #Feysand fanfic #Feysand fanfiction #Feyre x Rhysand #Rhysand x Feyre #Feyre x Rhys #Rhys x Feyre