#sorry this is late I was unexpectedly in hospital last night so couldn’t finish it then | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thosewickedlovelies · 3 years

Text

AND THEY WERE WALLMATES: Cookies (part 2)

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Reader

Rating: T for mature themes (implications of sexy times and violence). It will go up later ;)

Summary: You share an apartment wall with Javier Peña, but that doesn’t make it any easier to get to know him. You didn’t think your baking would be the catalyst.

Javi and Reader continue to get to know each other.

Tags: Mention of blood, super vague description of wound care. Additional TW for Javi: the Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known.

Word Count: 3,484

A/N: I was NOT expecting the amount of enthusiasm I got for the first chapter, but I’m so grateful for it!! I struggled a little bit with this chapter because it was the only one I didn’t have a solid plan for lol, but here it is because I’m impatient to share (and also tired of looking at it). I promise the next few will be better ;)

Masterlist

---

The next evening, you give yourself a stern pep talk before going to knock on Javier’s door. Javi, you remind yourself. You’re here to check on his leg, assuming he needs you to.

The door swings open much more readily than it had the night before, and Javier appears, an expectant half-smile curling the corner of his mouth. “Neighbor,” he drawls. Despite the new air of informality about him, his eyes hold a familiar suggestion that makes your heart sink a little. Back to his customary flirting, then.

“Hi, Javier,” you say, more coolly than you had originally planned. “I came over to see if you wanted me to check on your leg. I just kind of assumed that you would have the right supplies and stuff when I was giving you instructions last night, but if you don’t I can give you some, change the bandage for you. The first few days of healing are the most critical,” you explain, willing yourself to cut off your own rambling.

He examines your face for a second, the ready welcome fading. “Why do I get the feeling this check-up is more for you than for me?” He hitches an amused eyebrow back up, stepping back to let you in.

Over the threshold you cross your arms. “I don’t know, did you want your secret stab wound to get infected?”

He puts his hand on his hips with the beginning of a disbelieving frown. “It wasn’t a stab,” he grumbles defensively, with all the dignity of a petulant child.

You roll your eyes at his assertive posturing. “I know. I examined it.” Javier doesn’t move, though it couldn’t be comfortable maintaining such a wide-legged stance in those tight jeans. Your lips twitch the slightest bit as you take in your normally composed neighbor, his conflicted moue suggesting he’s been thrown off.

Taking pity on him, you borrow a page from his communication manual, nodding to a chair. “Come on. Pants off,” you deadpan, letting just a hint of your amusement show.

His expression starts out relieved, then cycles through several emotions in the space of the next second (albeit extremely subtly). He seems to freeze momentarily. “Uh, if you’ll just excuse me for one second, I’ll have these off for you in no time.” He winks, which would be charming if it weren’t Javier and he didn’t look like he had forgotten something important, and hastily strides toward the bedrooms.

Mystified, you look around, curious about the man despite his unpredictable demeanor. The apartment looks comfortably lived-in, yet there’s a distinct lack of personal effects, creating an odd contrast. There’s an empty takeout container by the sink, but you aren’t fooled by that- very occasionally, you’ve smelled amazing things coming from this kitchen. You wonder what sparks his culinary inspiration.

A throat clears behind you and you jump. You hadn’t heard Javi return, but there he stands by the dining room table, the fly of his jeans already gaping. He quirks a brow at you. “See anything interesting?” he asks, tipping his head to indicate the apartment. Apparently at ease, he begins to remove his jeans, and you avert your gaze, a flush creeping up your neck.

What? You saw people in all states of nudity every day at the hospital; why should you be flustered now? Annoyed, you busy yourself sorting through supplies while he sits down,

though not before he pulls out a chair for you.

Just like the previous night, he waits until you’re almost finished working to speak. “How did you know I was in pain last night? I didn’t think I made much noise.” His eyes are narrowed, like it’s something that’s been bothering him.

You reflect on your answer before giving it. “You...moved like you were in pain. Slowly, shuffling. And...you made a noise once you closed the door. I heard it, you know, through the wall.” You admit the last part with your eyes down, focusing on adhering tape to his skin.

“Through the wall, huh.” Something in Javier’s husky voice makes you glance up. He looks contemplative, dark eyes studying you thoughtfully. He angles his head down toward you. “What else do you hear through the wall?”

You’ve walked into a trap of your own making. Those daring insinuations are back in his eyes, but you can’t escape to your apartment in the middle of changing a bandage. So you answer truthfully: “I hear you cook sometimes. Smell you cook sometimes,” you correct yourself brightly. “What do you make that always smells so good, Javier?” You meet his gaze with deliberate innocence, although you would genuinely like to know.

His expression shutters, and he leans back in the chair again. “Food,” he mutters. “Stuff I learned a long time ago.”

An unexpectedly real answer; you quash the intense curiosity it provokes. Not wanting to pry too much, too soon, you just snicker in response. “Food, huh? I think I’ve heard of that.” His attention snaps back to you, but you just let him brood as you finish with his leg.

This time when you stand, you linger over your supplies, leaving some out for him and explaining things to watch out for. “I’ll come by again tomorrow night, but it should be fine as long as you don’t aggravate it,” you conclude.

“Well, non-aggravating is my middle name.” Javier gives you a winning smile, one that probably would have passed the muster of anyone who hadn’t heard the mocking edge in his voice.

A laugh sputters out of you. “Is that so? I’ll be sure to tell Connie next time I’m over there.”

Something like fascination sparks in his eyes, a hunger he can’t hide propelling him to lean forward. “Oh? You two ladies talk about me?”

Your lips purse as your mind races through suitable responses. “Well, I had to get the dirt on my mysterious neighbor from somewhere,” you say lightly. Because it sure wasn’t coming from him. Yet the longer you spent in his company, the more you found you wanted to know.

“Hm.” A huff is his only response. His shoulders relax against the chair back as he returns to regarding you wordlessly, but in a distinctly more agreeable way.

You suppress a smile as you pick up your bag. “Well. Goodnight, Javi.”

Almost a week after your last checkup, Javier grinds his cigarette butt into the ground and flicks a last glance at your window. He and Steve had arrived home at the same time, so he’d stalled with the excuse of a smoke outside, knowing that if he entered his own apartment, he’d lose his nerve. Gritting his teeth, he limps up the stairs and to your door. He knocks.

The noise of the tv cuts off, and a moment later, you open the door. You blink in surprise. “Javi! What are you doing here?” Concern clouds your face as you take in his rumpled appearance.

The words lodge in his throat. “I, uh. I need your help,” he admits, dragging his gaze up from the floor. “Banged my leg at work today. Think I opened it up again...thought I should let you take a look at it.” He couldn’t stop imagining your reaction if you found out he hadn’t.

Your eyes widen, and you immediately step back to let him in. “Of course! Please, here-” You offer your arm, but Javier has enough pride this time to make it to your dining room table without help. When he looks up you’ve vanished, dashed off to your stash of medical supplies, he assumes.

He takes the opportunity to look around. Your place is cute, homey-feeling, because of course it is. He notes, however, that most of the decoration has been locally bought, and curiosity needles at him. Nothing more personal to bring with you? He gets a fleeting glimpse of the bottle of wine on the coffee table before you return.

“...sorry about that, I don’t know why I stashed this away so well when I knew you might need it again.” Your setup is a familiar scene by now. You keep glancing over at his blood-stained bandage, frowning worriedly, and he wonders how you can be so damn caring when it’s clear he’s interrupted your evening.

He makes a sound of disgust. “Nah, this was a stupid accident,” he says, annoyed all over again. “Normal, routine chase after some narco, but I slid against a wall that had some shit sticking out of it at just the wrong spot.”

Your eyes leap to his in shock, and too late he remembers that Connie gave you the ‘janitorial services’ line. You don’t ask though, pressing your lips together and determinedly refocusing on peeling off the bandage, and Javi can’t help but feel a twinge of respect.

Well, someone in the building would tell you sooner or later. “I’m an agent of the DEA,” he says, monitoring your reaction. “Since you were about to ask.”

You straighten indignantly. “I was not!” you protest, before you see the lazy gleam in his eye and realize he’s joking. You roll your eyes reproachfully, but the press of your lips now looks amused. “I just thought there was probably a reason Connie didn’t tell me.” Javier winces as you gently prod at his injury.

“Well, what’s one more secret between neighbors?” He winks conspiratorially at you. Just like the last time, however, it gets minimal reaction, and it confounds and intrigues him in equal measure. Women usually respond to his efforts. Even if there’s no real intention, he likes seeing them get a little flustered, likes the feeling of having influence, control. And women don’t seem to mind.

But you...you resisted. Javier doesn’t know why, but you don’t react to his usual charm in the ways he’d come to expect. He’s sure you don’t dislike him- but he’s not exactly sure what he’s doing to make you like him, either. There was something...enticing about it.

The familiar feeling of your fingers smoothing tape along his thigh brings him back to the present. He tries not pay too much attention to it, knowing that it would be extremely asshole timing to pop a boner.

“Well, you should be all set. Again.” You look sympathetic, not resentful, and Javier nods, suddenly feeling awkward. How could he possibly make up all of this up to you?

“Just- try to be careful, okay? You don’t have to hurt yourself as an excuse to hang out with me.” Out of nowhere you’re teasing him, with a line to rival some of his worst. His eyebrows raise, and he chuckles as he dips his head.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He gets to his feet. “...Thank you,” he says gruffly, hoping he’s conveying even a tiny amount of how much he means it. “Enjoy your evening.” He doesn’t let himself look back as he heads for the door.

Steve and Connie have invited you to a movie night. Or at least, Connie has. You assume the invite comes from both of them, even if a movie night doesn’t seem like something Steve would initiate.

“Javi will be there too,” Connie had informed you nonchalantly, but she watched intently for your reaction.

You hadn’t even blinked. “Great!” you said easily- until you realized the opportunity this presented and beamed. “What should I make?”

Which is how you end up standing outside her door, one floor up, holding a plate of cookies. You were glad now that you decided to make them today and not yesterday- finishing them barely 20 minutes ago had effectively given you no time to tailspin about what to wear or how you were supposed to act around Javi. Or rather, Javi and Steve and Connie, since although you and Javi had a secret, it was not what they’d imagine it to be.

Connie answers the door, and that’s definitely not a twinge of disappointment you feel, because why would Javier have answered the door of someone else’s house?

“Hey, come in!” Connie gushes. She waggles her eyebrows meaningfully at the plate in your hands. “What are those, and what are you drinking with them?”

Her easy familiarity grounds you. “Whatever you’ve got,” you reply, some of your nerves settling. Your friend leads you to the kitchen, where Steve and Javi stand continuing some conversation at the bar counter.

“The party has arrived, boys!” She announces. “I told you all that smell was for us.” She winks at you, a bottle already in hand to pour you a drink.

“Welcome, welcome,” Steve greets in his easygoing way, gesturing with his beer to encompass the apartment as a whole.

You smile in thanks, your eyes flitting briefly to Javier. He hasn’t said anything yet, but there’s a loose relaxation to him you haven’t seen before, a softness playing on his lips as he absorbs the scene. It’s similar, you realize, to the moment when he complimented your lemon cake, the first time you felt like you were meeting the real him.

This observation only takes a heartbeat to sink in. Tucking it away to examine later, you shyly lift the plate and set it in the middle of everyone. “She‘s right,” you confirm, peeling off the plastic wrap. “Peanut butter cookies.” The next few seconds are spent in an expectant semi-quiet as everyone takes a cookie and savors the first bite.

“Mmm,” someone sighs, and the dam breaks. A flurry of compliments all around, new threads of conversation bursting forth. You absorb it gratefully, relieved at their enthusiastic response and happy to have been able to contribute. You try not to react to Javier’s eyes on you.

The ice broken, you all chat and drink around the bar for a bit, before Connie declares that it’s movie time, leading everyone to the living room. Before following them, Javier grabs the plate of cookies. “We’ll just take these with us,” he says decisively, and you take it as a compliment.

It’s the first time he’s addressed you directly since you arrived, and there’s a knowing glint in his eye. “By all means,” you respond pleasantly, meeting his gaze. Taking your tenuous first step in sharing the establishment of a public-facing persona to your relationship (such that it is).

In your delay, Connie and Steve appear to have gotten into a hissed discussion, standing between the couch and the loveseat. Connie whirls around as you and Javi approach, fixing a smile to her face. She waves you over to the smaller sofa. “Come on, we get to snuggle up on the loveseat, so the big men have more room to spread out.” She aims a cool faux-glare at her husband, but a glimmer of real frustration prevents it from being believably fake.

Steve sends Javi a long-suffering, apologetic look. “Sounds cozy,” you chirp, mediating before anyone else can say anything. “So what are we watching?”

At this, Steve’s face lights up with a grin that almost makes you wary. He takes great delight in announcing the selection, some military action flick with “enough drama and hunky actors to keep the ladies entertained as well,” apparently.

“A true classic.” Javier nods sagely from his sprawled seat on the couch, his smirking grin suggesting that it was not at all true. Steve kneels to put the tape in, and as he and Javi continue to snigger over it, Javi shoots a self-conscious glance in your direction, his posture shifting.

Connie sighs. “They’ve done a few of these now. I should warn you that it’s less about watching the movie than it is about bonding over making fun of it,” she confides.

You keep the two men in the corner of your vision as you turn to reply to your friend, feeling warm with gratitude at being included. “That’s okay,” you assure her. “It’s a good bonding activity.”

Connie smiles, but seems distracted. She lowers her voice to speak again. “I should also tell you that they make fun of it because they know how government/military stuff really works. From their job at the embassy.” She seems unsure if she should say any more.

“Oh!” You realize that Connie has no way of knowing about your conversations with Javi. “I know. I mean, Javier told me. What they do.”

Connie looks amazed. “Javier told you? When?” Her voice drops to just above a whisper.

“Recently,” you hedge. “I was, um, helping him with something, and it slipped out.” No point in getting him in trouble.

Connie looks ready to burst, but before she can say anything the tv blares, and Steve pointedly declares that it’s starting.

You settle in for the mock-fest, and sure enough, the men don’t disappoint. It’s hard to follow what’s actually going on through their exasperated groaning, but you don’t mind. Their back-and-forth is just as entertaining, and you even manage to join in occasionally during the medical scenes.

Throughout it all, you surreptitiously watch Javier. His opening up is a slow-building thing, like he can’t decide how much of himself to reveal. He steals frequent glances at you, as if trying to judge what you’re thinking of him in this new context. But he can’t pretend to be his usual lascivious self in front of Steve and Connie, and all at once he seems to decide to just be, and damned if you don’t like it.

You don’t let on that you’ve been paying such attention, only teasing and acting like you normally would around friends. But you can’t help but respond to the way Javi’s eyes crinkle when he smiles; to the hard-won sound of his laugh, sending pleasant tingles down your spine. With other things for him to focus on besides you, you’re able to observe him more freely, noticing things you hadn’t before.

When the movie finally ends, you and Javier stand to leave, managing to only after Connie extracts ironclad promises from the both of you to do this again. The tentative banter you’d fallen into in the apartment carries you down the stairs; it felt rather like you were still creating the steps to a dance in which you weren’t quite sure if you were competitors or partners.

He walks you to your door. “It’s like eight steps down the hall, Javier.” It’s sweet, despite your objection.

“A lot can happen in eight steps,” he counters, undeterred.

At the door, he murmurs your name. You look at him in surprise when he takes your hand, even as your body sings from the warmth of his attention. “I don’t believe I’ve thanked you for all your help yet.” He brings your hand to his mouth and presses his lips to your skin. Softly, lingering. “Properly, that is.” In his hooded eyes is a brazen offer.

His mustache brushes more softly than you would have thought, and your mind immediately leaps to imagine what it would feel like against your mouth. Heat flares within you at the thought, but you pull your hand free and step back from him. You can see his thoughts slow, reorganize at your retreat.

“You don’t have to thank me with sex, Javier.” It would be lying to say you hadn’t considered this possibility; you place each word with care, knowing that any future relationship you might have with Javier would depend on his response to this conversation. “I didn’t help you as an excuse to sleep with you.”

It wasn’t that you weren’t interested in sex with him, exactly. The truth was...you didn’t want to be done with him yet. You wanted to learn more about him, uncover all the little things that made him him behind the gruff armor. But if you agreed to be seduced by him tonight, it would send the opposite message. That all he had been to you was a debt that was now paid.

Javier looks befuddled, the furrow in his brow deepening as his listens. Your next words come out sounding more practiced. “If that’s all you want from me then fine, but...friendship is good too, you know? Friends are a thing people have.” Your gaze drops briefly, a flicker of embarrassment overtaking you. But you’re determined to make him understand that this isn’t a blanket rejection.

His expression turns frustratingly inscrutable as he digests this. “Right.” Slowly he nods, shifting away from your door.

“Just- think about what I said, Javi. Okay?” No pity in your voice, only a soft, steady plea.

Javier continues to nod as he backs away. “Sure,” he replies, step by step, toward his own home. “Buenas noches, Vecina.” Good night, Neighbor.

In a twisted reversal of your usual roles, you watch him walk the length of the hall. A contemplative saunter, hands sliding into his pockets to retrieve a cigarette.

You can only hope you said the right thing.

---

A/N: In the first scene, Javi left the room to go put on underwear lmao.

Fic Taglist: @din-damn-djarin, @thirstworldproblemss

#javier peña x reader #javier peña x you #narcos fic #narcos #javier peña #pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters

185 notes · View notes

rosieshipper · 3 years

Text

A place to stay

Summary: After Rose and Ellie find out the truth of what happened with the fireflies, they both go their separate ways away from Joel

Dina was sitting alone in her living room watching a movie when she suddenly heard the sound of knocking at her front door. Pausing her movie, she slowly stood up and walked to the door. When she opened it, she saw her girlfriend, Rose, standing in the doorway. “Rose? What are you doing here so late? Shouldn’t you be back home?” She asked with concern when she saw her. But her concern only grew when she noticed Rose’s red puffy eyes and tear stains on her cheeks. “I know it’s late and I’m sorry for coming on such short notice but I need a place to stay. Home isn’t exactly where I want to be right now.” Rose explained as she wrapped her arms around her torso. “Of course, come on inside.” Dina told her as she opened the door further so that she could step inside

Rose muttered a quiet “Thanks” before walking inside. Dina ushered her into the living room and had her take a seat on the couch, fearing that she may pass out considering how pale she looked. “Is everything ok? You never come over unexpectedly like this.” She asked her softly as she rested her hands on Rose’s shoulders. Rose was quiet for a bit after that. She knew that she couldn’t explain the full extent of the situation to her because she had never told Dina about her immunity or her past with the fireflies. So eventually she let out a sigh and looked down at the ground. “It’s complicated Dina. But all you need to know is that me and Joel are no longer on speaking terms and I can’t stay in the same house as him anymore.” She explained with a deep frown

Dina frowned herself at that. She knew the situation was severe when Rose referred to Joel by his name rather than Dad. For as long as Dina knew her, Rose had always called Joel Dad. But now that she knew that Rose doesn’t even want to associate him as Dad anymore, she knew that Joel must have royally fucked up big time. With a sympathetic frown, Dina reached over and gently took Rose’s hand into her own. “Well, even though I don’t know the whole situation, I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through this. But don’t worry, you can stay here as long as you need to.” She whispered to her before leaning up and kissing her cheek. Rose’s emotions began to overwhelm her once more and she found herself hugging Dina tightly as she buried her face in her shoulder and sobbed quietly

Dina didn’t say anything, she didn’t question anything. She just hugged Rose close and let her cry until she couldn’t anymore. After a few long minutes, Rose’s sobs eventually died down into quiet whimpers and she pulled away slowly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping all of this on you out of the blue.” She said with a sniff as she reached up and rubbed away her tears with a clenched fist. “Don’t apologize for anything babe. You have nothing to apologize for. You’re clearly in a lot of pain because of whatever happened between you and Joel. I want you to know that I’m here for you.” Dina explained as she gently rested her hand on her cheek, wiping away one last tear with her thumb

Rose eventually nodded in understanding and let out a shaky breath. “Thank you Dina. You’re always so kind to me.” She whispered quietly before giving her hand a light squeeze. “You’re my girlfriend, it’s my job to be nice.” Dina told her with a small smile before standing up from the couch. “Now you wait here. I’m sure you must be hungry so I’ll go get you a snack if you’d like.” She offered as she looked down at her girlfriend. Rose nodded slowly, feeling her stomach beginning to ache from the lack of food she ate today. “Alright, I’ll be right back.” Dina hummed before walking out of the room and into her kitchen

As Rose sat alone in the living room, her mind immediately drifted back to the events that took place earlier that day. She and her sister Ellie had taken off in the middle of the night, leaving Jackson on their horses. They had traveled all the way to Salt Lake City all night to find the hospital that used to be the fireflies base. Leading up to that night, the both of them had had their suspicions that what Joel had told them about the fireflies wasn’t actually true. So they were determined to find out what actually happened. Once they made it to the hospital, Ellie had found a recorder that belonged to one of the fireflies, explaining that there was no chance to make a vaccine for the virus now because the two immune girls were gone and the only person that could have made the vaccine is dead

By the next morning, Rose and Ellie were outside of the hospital. They were listening to the recording over and over until suddenly Joel had come riding up to them on his horse. Jumping off his horse as soon as he could, he rushed over to them and hugged them both close, telling them about how worried he was. Ellie and Rose both didn’t say anything, they just moved out of his embrace. They both wanted to say a thousand things to him but the words just wouldn’t come out. Until finally Ellie finally spoke out, telling Joel to tell them what exactly happened at that hospital and that if he lied again he would never see them again. Rose wasn’t saying anything, her emotions were too jumbled for her to talk. But nevertheless after a few moments of silence, Joel finally told them the truth after so many years

There weren’t dozens of other immune people. Rose and Ellie were the only ones. And the surgery that they both would have had to go through would have killed them both. Joel didn’t want to lose both of them, so he went in and killed nearly all of the fireflies, including the only person who was capable of making the vaccine. The big reveal had hit both the sisters like a truck and they both began to break down. Rose was in complete shock and disbelief while Ellie was kneeling down on the ground crying uncontrollably. Rose had her back to Joel and Ellie when she heard Ellie snap at Joel, telling him that they’ll go back to Jackson but after that they were done

Rose heard her grab her bag and leave to get to her horse, leaving her with Joel. Rose was shaking as she bit down on her finger. She felt Joel place a hand on her shoulder and jerked away, looking back at him with tears in her eyes. She looked at the man she saw as her father and only saw a stranger. “How could you?” She murmured to him before immediately walking past him and grabbing her bag as well. She couldn’t bear to look at him any longer out of fear of breaking down completely in front of him. She climbed on her horse and followed Ellie all the way back to Jackson, not daring to look back. By the time they arrived back home, it was nightfall. And after dropping her horse off at the stables she made her way to Dina’s house, leading her to where she was now

“Rose? Did you hear me?” The sound of Dina’s voice snapped her out of her daze and she looked over to see her girlfriend standing not too far from her with a bowl of fruit in her hand. “Oh sorry, I was just lost in thought. Sorry.” Rose murmured as she watched Dina take a seat beside her. “It’s ok. I made you some fruit salad. It’s not much but it should fill you up for the time being.” Dina explained as she handed her the bowl. She gladly took the bowl from her and began to eat, finally getting rid of the hunger that she had felt most of the day. Once she was finished, she placed the food bowl on the table in front of the couch. “Thank you Dina. I really appreciate it.” Rose hummed before leaning against her girlfriend. “You’re welcome hun.” She told her in response and kissed her forehead lovingly

For the rest of the evening, Rose stayed curled up to Dina’s side as the two of them watched old nature documentaries to help take Rose’s thoughts of the events of that day. She really appreciated all the help and comfort Dina was giving her, even though she knew that she would never know the full extent of the situation, it was still nice to know that she wouldn’t question what had happened and would always be there for her no matter what. At some point during the documentaries, Rose had fallen asleep against Dina and she took that as her sign to call it a night

Switching off the tv, Dina gently picked Rose up and carried her down the hall to her now shared bedroom and carefully laid her down on the mattress. She then crawled into bed with her and pulled the blankets over the both of them before cuddling up with her. She knew that Rose was gonna be in a lot of pain for a while, but she was gonna be there for her no matter what

Tags: @astralshipper @aricka-and-her-fictional-others @magicalbunbun @recordplayershipping @journalofdeath

#self shipping #self ship #selfshipping #self ship community #self insert #selfship community #the last of us #tlou #the last of us 2 #tlou 2 #tlou dina #otp: at the end of the world #the last of us dina #tlou joel #joel miller #tlou ellie #ellie williams #my fics

8 notes · View notes

marvellouslysupernatural · 3 years

Text

Une pour l’argent - Chapter 1

Note: This series will 18+ overall for explicit, NSFW content. However, each individual chapter will having its rating marked accordingly.

Summary: Your life has always been basic, predictable, normal. You couldn’t even deny that, at times, it was boring. The only thing in your life that was evenly remotely out-of-the-ordinary was that you were a waitress at a five-star restaurant. Well, at least it was the only different thing in your life, until that very job lead to you serving one infuriatingly attractive man. This is the story of how you inevitably became woven into the life of the infamous James Buchanan Barnes.

Warnings: none.

“Y/n, if you don’t get here in the next 10 seconds I swear to god you’re fired!”

You cringed, sending a charming smile at the couple at the table before swivelling on your feet and sprinting to the kitchen. The sweet aroma of over-priced food that was in a language you couldn’t pronounce swept over you as you skidded to a halt in front of your manager.

“Sometimes I wonder why I ever hired you,” he muttered, glaring at you as if you had shown up 2 hours after he on called you, not thinking that you may have been doing your job or anything.

He had only hired you because he had his last waitress ‘unexpectedly quit’ on him and needed a replacement ASAP. You happened to be walking past the restaurant when the girl stormed out, the manager trailing out beind her and calling her back. So, despite your lack of experience in five star hospitality, he offered you a job, as long as you could start right then and there.

Hah. Something told you that it was only unexpected for him that she left, not anyone else that had to put up with his neglomania and superiority complex everyday.

“We have some very important guests tonight, so make sure to do your job properly tonight. Give them everything they want, whenever they want it. Don’t let them wait for a moment, you hear me?” he demanded.

You restrained rolling your eyes, but curiousity also knawed at you. You always did your job; you showed up 15 minutes early, stayed back late whenever they needed and were a customer favourite due to your personability and kindness. Who was coming that was so important your manager was practically telling you to stay at their table?

You’re starting to think that this job wasn’t worth it, but your pay and rent would argue otherwise.

“Of course Glenn,” you responded obediently, watching his lips purse and his head nod once.

“Good, they’ll be here at 7. Now why are you still here? Get back to work!”

You hadn’t stopped since your break at 3, and your feet might as well have been on fire. You also hadn’t been able to check the time since then either and had almost completely forgot about the 7 o’clock guests. You brushed your hair behind your ear and turned toward the sound of the opening door with a smile plastered on your face, ready to greet your 800th customer of the hour.

First to enter was a copper headed man; well dressed in black slacks and a deep purple collared dress shirt. His smirking face was tilted in the direction of the person entering behind him; who, you might add, was a strikingly attractive red-headed woman in a tight black dress and heels. Her lips perfectly coordinated with her hair, but her expression and posture screamed ‘don’t fuck with me’. Then followed a beautiful brunette woman in a red and flowy halter-neck dress. You think you heard a tint of a Russian accent as she chatted to a darker skinned man who followed her. He was dressed similarly to the first entrant, but wore a goofy grin on his face. Following him was a dirty blonded, muscular specimen who adorned a sharp, neutral expression. His blue eyes coveyed his emotions, though, as they looked like he was a kind man who had seen too much. Maybe military?

If it wasn’t enough that five people had entered already, it appeared that another was coming, as army boy held open the door. You practically choked on air at the next person to enter. He was absolutely stunning. He wore acompetely black attire; black slacks, shoes, coat, undershirt and a slightly lighter toned tie. He had black slicked hair to match, but the most vibrant thing about him, you noticed, was his piercing blue eyes. They weren’t like his army friends; they were glossed, covered, cold. It made his stance, although he was already quite tall, seem intimidating. But you couldn’t help but stare at him.

Your smile had faltered, distracted by the entrancing view of his face, before you realised that he was practically in front of you. He cleared his throat and gazed into your eyes, analysing you.

“Excuse me, but we have a reservation for 7,” he released smoothly, his gaze not allowing yours to move off of his. Shit, it’s them Glenn warned you about, and you’ve already fucked up.

“Y-yes, sorry. Right this way,” you pointed at their corner table with a shaky hand before leading the way. They sat down, chatting and opening their menus. Except for him. He still hadn’t looked away from you, eyes discerning. You felt as though he could see you - all of you. And that made you nervous.

Who is this man?

His stare wouldn’t falter, and so you just had to perservere.

“To start off, would anyone like a drink?“ you smiled, looking around the table.

You started from the opposite side of him, working your way around the table and laughing at little jokes that some of them made, scribbling notes as you went. When you finally reached blue eyes, he had looked away from you. In fact, he was looking at the wall in the exact opposite direction to you, his jaw clenched. What was with him?

When it came to his turn, his head turned slowly to you, eyes starting from your feet before edging his way up to your face, but he kept silent.

You cleared your throat a little in an attempt to dissipate the sudden silence and forced a smile at him.

“And for you, sir?”

“Whiskey, straight,” he clipped before he turnedaway from you.

The night continued upwards and onwards in a similar fashion, until they had finished their meals and were starting to get heavy on the drinks. Blue eyes had been ignoring you practically the entire time, which made you oddly disappointed - had you pissed him off? By 10:50 everyone but military man and him were at least tipsy - and it was almost closing time. Your boss told you to let them know, “but do it nicely,” he’d said, “if they don’t want to go yet, don’t make them. Do what they want first.”

So here you were, standing awkwardly next the man you had decided you had annoyed somehow, about to ask him to leave. For the first time in almost 4 hours he looked at you and before you could say a thing, he nodded and stood.

“Come on, it’s time to go,” he directed at his table, moving out of the way as his companions edged themselves out, drunken laughs all the way out the door.

Kind eyes looked back at you, smiled and thanked you before heading to the door and holding it open. You turned to go back to the kitchen before you almost bumped into him.

He looked angry. Okay, now you were just getting confused and honestly a little bit frustrated with his bipolar attitude. You’d had enough.

“Excuse me, sir, but I have to clean up. Enjoy your night,” you mocked, staring him dead in the eye before making a move to go around him before he held out an arm blocking your path. You noticed a slight smirk graced his features.

How’d you not realise he was a solid 6”1 before? You felt tiny all of a sudden, and you tried not to cower.

He craned his neck down to your ear, lips almost grazing. “Watch it doll, you don’t want to piss me off,” he whispered, before handing something to you. It was a piece of paper. Well two, actually; one was a $100 bill and the other was an address.

He nodded toward the card, “If you need anything, call this number. I’ll send a car to pick you up from home at 6pm tomorrow. Don’t worry about your boss, I’ll tell him to let you have the night off. Oh and please wear something semi-formal for me doll, if you could. Oh, and the names James - James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky,” He asked, grazing his fingers lightly along your shoulder as he walked away.

You turned to watch him, dumbfounded. His hands slipped into his dress slacks, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter; sitting it between his lips before casually striding out of the door.

You had so many questions: how did he know where you lived? How could he know that you’d actually get in the car? When he’d left, you’d had a closer look lat the card. You’d nearly choked on air. You knew that his name was familiar, but now it made sense.

The card belonged to Winter Corporate, one of the largest and most successful trading companies in the world.

If only they were just a trading company. Nope, that’s just Winter Corporate’s public facade; but everyone knows that, in reality, they’re the most powerful Mafia and weapons traffickers in the entire freaking country. Oh, but to place the cherry on top of the cake, they also happen to be run by one James Buchanan Barnes. The same man who just asked you out.

Shit.

#bucky x reader #alternative universe #bucky barnes #reader #fanfiction

14 notes · View notes

katherinemallory · 3 years

Text

#6 A sign from the stars

You can find the previous chapters here: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5

In the last few days it seemed I hardly recognized myself. One Friday I stayed at the MI6 Headquarters much longer than usual, because I needed to finish all the work before the weekend. I wanted to prevent anyone from bothering me on one of my free days, so I did everything I could to make sure I didn't forget about anything. It was getting dark outside the windows, as 8 P.M. got closer, so I drew the curtains before I sat in my armchair.

I was trying to relax and regain the energy. I've just finished preparing some of the documents I had to deliver directly to M, but didn’t intend to go there just yet. I needed a short break. I waited there for 15 minutes, doing absolutely nothing, apart from listening to the cars that were passing by the MI6 Headquarters outside the window. Then I locked my office and went to the last floor.

I was wondering whether Eve would still be working that late in the evening. My assumption was that she would stay in the building as long as Mallory was there. But with Mallory... you could never know for sure. No one was fully aware of his schedule... perhaps for safety reasons.

The corridors on the last floor were empty and it felt like the whole building has been abandoned. You could hear quiet phone conversations from behind the doors, but that late in the evening it felt a bit as if the ghosts had invaded the place.

I knocked on Eve’s door twice, but didn't hear that welcoming voice in response. I was extremely tired, barely could see anything with my eyes, and I wanted to go home so badly, that I ignored the basic savoir-vivre rules and went inside even though I had not been invited.

There was no one sitting behind Eve's desk. The lights were off, and with all the important stuff left on the desk I felt like a burglar.

Great, I thought. There is no one around to assist me. I can't leave these documents here, not making sure they would go directly to Mallory... but I can't step into his office either if he's not here!

To me it seemed like he wasn't there. The omnipresent silence suggested that the office was empty, but I didn’t have much choice. Damn it, I'm going to check if the door is open...

I placed my hand on the doorknob and pushed the famous maroon door. To my surprise, the door has opened, but no one greeted me, which meant I've just broken into M's office.

The interior looked quite mysterious. Just as in the previous room, the lights were off, but the office wasn't covered in total darkness, as someone didn't draw the curtains next to the M's desk. The city lanterns’ light was trying to reach the book shelves behind the desk. For a moment I wondered what kind of books does my supervisor enjoy the most.

I went straight to his desk, my moves being extremely clumsy. The only thing I had in my mind was to do it as quickly as possible and leave.

When I stopped in front of the desk and placed the documents on it, I felt my heart *racing* in my chest. I tried to remain calm. Calm down, Kath. You *had* to deliver this directly to Mallory... and you just did it. Calm down. There's nothing wrong with you being alone in your supervisor's office. I had trouble with convincing myself of that. That is probably why I didn't hear someone coming inside.

I didn't hear the footsteps. I realized that someone has joined me only seconds before being hugged from behind. I felt the warmth of a man’s body.

"Someone has broken into her supervisor's office?" whispered a pair of lips that gently kissed me on the neck, refusing to wait for my response.

A familiar voice had come from the lips that kissed me. I knew exactly who that man was.

"I came to bring you... the documents... you had asked for... earlier today... sir," I said, staying still: having M's desk in front of me, and unable to see the face of the man who was still holding me in his arms.

"Thank you, Katherine," he replied, while he moved his hands to my waist. "But it would be a waste of time... to come here only to bring me documents."

He kissed my neck once again, this time more predatory, and turned me around.

At first, I only saw his silhouette in the office's darkness, but soon recognized Mallory's face thanks to the dim light coming from outside the window. I was both astonished and thrilled, and, as a result, unable to move. He held me tight in his arms, looking deeply into my eyes.

"I *couldn't* wait any longer," confessed Mallory and smelled my hair. "Since your first day in the section I've been thinking about you..." he made a pause and hungrily glanced at my lips. “So I stepped in when I saw you here. I just hope..." he whispered, "... I just hope you're okay with that."

I couldn't believe my own ears, but I knew exactly *what* I wanted to do and *how much* I wanted to do it. I seductively bit my lower lip and then slowly raised my right hand and caressed his cheek, admiring his face for a brief moment.

"The feeling's mutual, sir," I said breathlessly and kissed him.

My hands laid on his chest, impatiently exploring his body in the dark. He continued to kiss me passionately as he lifted me onto his desk, while I started to unbutton his shirt. We got lost in the moment completely: he, caressing my hair and my back, and me, sitting on his desk, with my hands taking off Mallory's braces...

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

I opened my eyes, as the alarm clock rang. I looked around, expecting Mallory to be lying in my bed next to me, but I was the only person in the room. So, that was only a dream... such a shame, I thought, as I touched my neck as if I were a man who intended to kiss me.

I wasn't in the good mood. Who would like to come back to reality after such a night? But I got out of bed to turn the clock off and to check my phone. Still no response from 007... You have really screwed this up, Kath.

I wasn't sure how many days or weeks have passed since my failed mission and the infamous conversation I had with Bond. I stopped to count them.

The life in the double-0 section has slowed down, but there was one thing to look forward to. All of us had to attend a one-on-one meeting with M who has been trying to figure out if there's a leak in the section.

I looked at my wall calendar only to discover that today was the day of mine "interrogation" with Mallory. Maybe that's why I had such a spicy dream tonight... cause my heart gets crazy before our every meeting... And let’s be honest Kath, your subconscious wants him *really* badly.

The truth was that I missed Mallory dearly, as I haven't ran into him in the recent days. It was an uncomfortable feeling - to miss someone you don’t know much about, but at the same time be aware of the fact that this *someone* makes you unable to sleep at night. I found myself regularly thinking about his mysterious green eyes and dark brown hair. I *loved* looking at him when he was giving orders to other double-0s, talking to Eve, or even just wandering around the corridors. The way he moved like seemed fairly attractive to me... Was I being ridiculous? Was I really in love with him? I wasn’t sure, but I was *craving* for my next meeting with Mallory.

I was nearly ready, drinking my everyday cup of Earl Grey and eating breakfast, when my phone rang unexpectedly. I had to stand up to pick it up.

It was Eve. Did the hour of my "interrogation" change?

"Hello, Eve, what's up?"

She sounded a bit strange, as if she was afraid to tell me why she has called me.

"Hi, Kath," she said in a faint voice. "Have you... left your apartment already?"

"No," I replied. "But I will do it in 15 minutes time."

"Well... in that case... don't leave your place then."

The way Eve said the last few words made me feel really worried.

"Why so? Eve, what is going on??" I said nervously, but determined to uncover the truth. "You sound differently than usual... did something happen??"

"Y-y-yes," faltered Eve. "Do you remember our last conversation about M when you said..."

"Yes, I remember," I interrupted her. "Though I’m not sure what that has to do with this..."

"Well Kath... I'm really sorry to tell you this, but... 003 who had his meeting before you... he tried to assassinate M."

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed and fell on the couch. I began to tremble. "He tried to do WHAT...? Is M alright???"

"He was taken to the hospital a while ago," responded Eve. "A stab wound to the left arm. 003 attacked M with a letter opener from his own desk..." she made a pause and then sighed. "It was really awful, Kath. I was behind the door and could do absolutely nothing! I didn't even know something was going on there! M must have pressed this button under his desk to signalize emergency... the guards came into the office very quickly and took 003 to the isolation room but... M's arm has been already covered in blood. When I saw him I nearly fainted... and then I thought of you... since you feel something for him..."

"How serious is his injury?" I asked immediately, being surprised by my ability to remain rational.

"I have no idea, Kath. But I'll keep you posted."

"Thank you so much Eve... I really appreciate that you've called me..."

I suddenly realized that something was not right. Again, I was surprised by the fact I was able to think straight in such an emotional situation.

"... but Eve, why you've told me to stay home? I can come to work and continue with the documents..."

"No, Kath, I'm sorry, but you can't," she said. "003's last mission was set in that area in Australia where Abbruscato wanted to buy mines... and since you and Amanda were both so close to him... you're first ones on the list of suspects. I'm sorry, but..."

She didn't have to explain this to me. This is how the world of espionage looks like.

"... but we're under arrest," I said calmly as I opened the curtains, and looked through the window to see the street. "The guards are coming right now, aren't they?"

"Yes, they left a while ago. They will stay at your door until the investigation's over."

I became quiet.

"Katherine, are you still there?"

"Yeah...” I answered, staring at the street and tucking the hair behind my left ear. “Thank you, Eve. Thank you so much," I said briefly and I hanged up.

After a while, I was sitting on my couch, looking on my cup of cold Earl Grey.

I didn't want to talk anymore. To anyone.

Just as in my dream, I couldn’t move. It seemed like I lost the ability to feel anything because of the unexpectedness of the news. If someone came to me and wanted to hurt me in any way, I wouldn’t care at all. I just wanted to know how’s Mallory.

So this was the real meaning of my dream... It was a warning. A prediction. A telepathic sign from Mallory? A sign from the stars telling me something terrible has happened to the man I love?

Wait, did I just think that? Did I just call Mallory the man I *love*?

***

To be continued.

#james bond #bond james bond #007 #fanfiction #james bond fanfiction #gareth mallory #m #katherine mallory #002 #eve moneypenny

9 notes · View notes

ft-dads-au · 4 years

Text

Come Into Bloom

Femslash Fairies 2020 Prompt: Flower Shop Pairing: Erza x Mirajane A Collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404 AO3 | FF.Net September 25, 2021

“It’s getting pretty crowded out there,” Sherry commented to Erza as she looked out the shop window.

“Hopefully, that will be good for us,” Erza mumbled as she worked on another corsage, this one a pretty combination of lavender and pink flowers.

They were right in the middle of Fantasia, the biggest flower holiday of the year. Unlike Valentine’s Day, which was mostly targeted at lovers, Fantasia was meant for everyone. It was just as likely for a father to give a token to his children, as to his partner, or even his own parents.

Erza had already made Natsu's order that morning, a beautiful flower crown for Hana, as well as a large bouquet for Gray. Atlas, Aki and the twins were getting some flower-shaped cookies that Mira and Elfman had baked and decorated for the boys the previous night as they were a little too young to appreciate flowers.

“Isn’t it about time for Mira to get here?” Sherry asked her employer, smiling as Erza’s hands immediately went to her hair.

“Oh yes, you’re right,” Erza looked back down at her work table not wanting to give away her agitation.

“It’s so nice that you two make a habit of having lunch together every Saturday,” Sherry enthused, with hearts in her eyes. “Are you getting her something for Fantasia?”

“I uhm, hadn’t thought about it,” Erza lied, not wanting to admit that she had spent hours trying to devise the perfect bouquet of flowers. One that would let Mira know once and for all how she felt about her, but with all the orders she needed to fill plus walk-ins, there had been no time. It was only her and Sherry, and she couldn’t afford to hire more employees.

She’d started working at Rose of Yūen during her college days, and once she’d graduated, she’d bought it from the elderly couple who had owned it. It was her pride and joy, but it also took up a lot of her time, the rest of which was usually claimed by her brother and niece and nephew.

Which is how she had ended up pining for the same woman for years and finding multiple excuses to do nothing about it.

The tinkling of the shop’s door alerted them to a visitor, and Sherry went to help their customer, knowing that Erza was about to go on her lunch break. Erza smiled, remembering the special order she had hidden in her office cooler. Ren Akatsuki, Sherry’s husband, would be by to pick it up as soon as Sherry went on her own break.

That was one of the things she loved about having the shop. Most of the time, she got to see the best in people. The shy teenage boy anxiously looking for a corsage for his first date, the elderly couples that were still madly in love with each other even after a lifetime together and everything in between.

There was Rogue Eucliffe who special ordered flowers from Edolas, to give his husband a taste of his home country. And Alzack Connell, who bought flowers for both his wife and daughter at least once a month and would probably stop in today.

Even couples who were rekindling a love thought lost long ago. Silver Fullbuster and Gildarts Clive were probably some of her favorite customers, always coming in full of boisterous insults towards the other, yet the love in their eyes was unmistakable.

In fact, it seemed like everyone around her was either in love or starting a relationship. Even her brother, who had unexpectedly become a widower last year, had already found someone. While Erza remained forever alone.

She was done with that though, after spending the last eight years building up her business and helping Natsu get back on his feet, it was time to do something for herself. To stop pining for her best friend and try her own hand at love. If she didn’t do something soon someone was likely to whisk Mira off her feet, and she’d have no one to blame but herself.

It was while she was lost in these thoughts that Erza felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Mira smiling at her, “You always get so lost in your flowers. I’m gonna go set these up in your office, okay?”

Mira moved towards the office without waiting for Erza's approval, a bag of food from Fairy Tail in each hand. When she noticed Erza wasn’t following, she called behind her, “Hurry up, I brought you a surprise, but if you make me wait too long, I’ll eat it myself!”

Erza put her tools down and scrambled, knowing there was a good chance the surprise was strawberry cake, and she wasn’t about to give that up.

Her office wasn’t very large, but there was enough room for her desk and chair, a watercooler and a small round table with two plastic chairs. Mira had already set out the food, rolling her eyes when Erza’s eyes were already on the two slices of cake that were visible inside a clear plastic container. “How you don’t weigh 300 pounds, I’ll never know,” Mira giggled.

Erza ignored the comment, digging into the chicken pot pie Mira had brought. “Mhmm, this is really good!” she complimented, closing her eyes to savor all the different flavors.

“Yeah, I remembered it was your favorite. I changed the recipe up a little, made it lighter, and the crust a little flakier.”

“Whatever you did, it’s amazing!”

“You really are as bad as Natsu, just as messy too,” Mira laughed fondly, grabbing a napkin from the bag and handing it to Erza, who had sauce dripping down her chin, before taking a bite from her own dish.

“Have you been very busy today with Fantasia?” Mira asked curiously.

“Yeah, a lot of walk-ins, lots of special requests too,” Erza replied, continuing to eat, “What about you guys?”

“It’s still a little early for the drinking crowd, but the restaurant was pretty busy, they had Natsu subbing in for a waiter that called in sick, at least until the bar needs him back. That was uhm, interesting,” Mira’s eyes twinkled with mirth, “Good thing he’s an excellent bartender.”

She leaned forward in her chair, curious as always, “What kinds of special requests?”

“Well, different flowers can mean different things, it’s almost like a language all its own. Like those flowers that Rogue gets for Sting? Those mean everlasting love.”

“Why am I not surprised? Those two are sickening,” Mira snorted, “Is there one that means I really kind of just like you as a friend?”

“Well, there’s yellow roses, they’re not associated with romance. Oh, and alstroemeria,” Erza recited, clarifying when she saw Mira’s blank expression,” It’s a type of lily.”

She got up and opened one of her desk drawers, grabbing a book and bringing it back to the table. She looked through it until she found a picture of the flower she had mentioned and showed it to Mira.

It was a beautiful flower that came in a variety of bright colors, with center petals that had contrasting stripes. Mira studied the picture, and it’s given description curiously, but her attention was soon drawn by other flowers on the page.

"Wow, I never knew that there was so much symbolism behind flowers," she mused as she turned the page, "It’s a lot more complicated than I’d thought.” She looked up at Erza, a devious smirk on her lips and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes that Erza found really adorable, but also a tad bit troubling. “Hey, are there any flowers that have an offensive meaning?”

Erza snorted, immediately thinking about the first time Gildarts had come to her shop with a similar question, “Look up yellow carnations.”

“Disappointment and rejection? Ouch!” Mira giggled, and the sound translated into butterflies in Erza’s stomach. “So, do you know all of these by heart?”

“I know most of them, but there are so many variations, and each color often has its own meaning-”

Before Erza had the chance to get lost in the passion she had for her job, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Erza, I’m sorry to disrupt your lunch, but do you think you could come out here for a few minutes? There are several customers and another special order,” Sherry looked apologetic.

While slightly disappointed, Erza didn’t mind too much, she’d already known it was probably going to be a busy day.

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to hurry,” Erza apologized to Mira, wiping her face with the napkin before getting up from the table and rushing out the door, a smile already on her face.

Mira continued eating, grabbing the book Erza had left on the table and flipping through its pages, the beginnings of an idea blooming in her mind.

Erza never returned to finish her lunch, and eventually, Mira had to go back to work, so she cleaned up, putting Erza’s food in her small fridge and leaving both pieces of cake for her to eat later.

Mira hurried to the door waving goodbye to both Sherry and Erza on her way out.

0-0

It had been a long day, both Erza and Sherry had been going nonstop, although Erza insisted Sherry take her break if only so she could get Ren his flowers.

They had sold out of everything in the refrigerators and had to scramble to replenish them. Erza felt like she had seen just about everyone in town. Loke came in to get corsages and flower crowns for his daughters, and a small bouquet for Lucy.

Silver and Gildarts had come in with Rogue and the kids, along with an order from Gray for Natsu. Lyon had surprised both her and Sherry by coming in to get something for Chelia. That had probably been her favorite moment of the day, watching the usually stoic Lyon acting nervous and awkward as he tried to find something special for the daughter he’d just discovered he had.

Almost as lovely as watching Sherry help him pick something Chelia would like. Alzack, Macao, Warren, Cana, Juvia, the list went on and on. About the only person she hadn’t seen was Sting.

Almost as if on cue, Sting raced in, hair disheveled, breathing in gasps and eyeing her worriedly, “Am I too late?”

“You’re fine,” Erza assured him, “We don’t close for another hour.”

“Oh, good. Rogue has the car, and I had to run here from the hospital.”

“The hospital?” Erza’s eyes widened in disbelief, “You’re an idiot, you should have taken a taxi or something.”

“No, there’s a ton of traffic, they’re starting to close off the streets for tonight’s events.”

“I see,” She went into her office returning with a folding chair and a cup of water. ”Sit.”

“Now, what nauseatingly romantic thing are you wanting this time?” she teased.

“Well, Rogue’s playing his first gig tonight since forever,” Sting’s eyes blazed with pride, “So here’s what I was thinking.”

And as he began telling her what he wanted, she wasn’t disappointed. They chatted as she worked on Rogue’s flowers, and when the phone rang, Sherry answered it.

“Alright, I’ll give her your order, thanks!” Sherry spoke into the phone, “What’s that? Oh, yeah, got it! Don’t forget Hana’s flower crown, okay. No, he already paid for that as well as Gray’s arrangement. Thanks, Mira!”

“What do you think?” Erza showed Sting her finished arrangement, and his wide grin made her smile wistfully. She handed the flowers over and reminded Sherry to give him the frequent customer/family discount.

“Are you going to meet with us later?” Sting peered at her from behind the enormous bouquet, which Erza already knew Rogue was going to have a hard time moving around with. Hopefully, they’d thought to bring the stroller.

“I’m not sure yet, I have to go to Fairy Tail to drop off Natsu’s stuff, I’ll decide then.”

“Does that mean you’ll decide when you know whether Mira is going?” Sting regarded her with a knowing grin. “Seriously, Erza, are you ever going to do something? Your brother has discovered a whole new sexuality in the time it’s taken you to make a move.”

“Go away, Sting,” Erza muttered in annoyance but mostly because she knew he was right.

“Well, I hope you come,” Sting entreated, “it will be fun to have everyone together.” He struggled to balance the flowers in one arm as he paid for them and then left, nearly missing the door and walking into the wall because of the obstructed view.

Erza shook her head as she watched him leave, reminded of how similar he sometimes was to her brother. Filled with enthusiasm and energy, a bit silly, but with a good heart. They were also amazingly devoted partners, which was reflected in their grand romantic gestures.

How she’d wanted to do something special for Mira, she thought sadly. Maybe there was still time! But before she could give it any real thought, Sherry had given her the order she’d taken over the phone. It was for Mirajane Strauss.

Erza read the names of the flowers listed on the order again: red tulips, red roses, gardenias, and amaryllis. She scrunched up her face in distaste at the combination.

“You’re sure these are the flowers she wanted?” she challenged.

“Yep, she was especially adamant about the red tulips,” Sherry informed her.

Red tulips, red roses, gardenias, and amaryllis. Four species of flowers that looked so vastly different from each other that Erza wasn’t even sure she could combine them into an arrangement that would actually be aesthetically pleasing. But it was for Mira, so she was going to give it her absolute best.

It was for Mira.

Wait a second… Erza listed the order in her head once again with growing anxiety. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Mira had requested these flowers after she’d been looking in that book Erza had shown her during lunch break. They all referred to deep love, affection, and attraction. It was a love confession hastily pieced together in flower meanings.

Shit! Erza’s heart pounded in her chest, the fear that she might have waited too long making her feel light-headed. Who were these flowers for? Erza wracked her brain to think of anyone Mira might have mentioned recently. Mira worked at Fairy Tail, she got hit on constantly, but she usually just laughed it off.

They’d both dated people casually over the years, but it never lasted long, and they always returned to their comfortable camaraderie, laughing at how there was no one out there for them. Although in Erza’s case, what she really meant was there’s no one out there for me but you.

She reviewed the meanings in her head.

Red tulips - a declaration of love, perfect love

Red roses - the most classic of all expressions of love, a child could tell you what it meant.

Gardenias- a symbol of purity and sweetness

Amaryllis - splendid beauty

Every one of these flowers was like a stab to her heart.

“Did uhm, did she say she was picking these up herself?”

“No, she asked that you bring it to Fairy Tail along with Natsu’s stuff,” Sherry answered moving towards the back of the shop, where they kept overstock and orders they didn’t want to be mixed in with sale items, “I’m going to get his things from the back now.”

“Ah, okay, thank you,” Erza muttered, gripping the edges of the table tightly.

“Are you okay?” Sherry hovered over her in concern.

“I’m fine, just a little tired,” Erza smiled weakly.

“Do you want me to take over?”

“No!” Erza replied quickly, “It’s for Mira, I should be the one to do it.”

Sherry didn’t look convinced by her assurances, but she went into Erza’s office, returning with a glass of water and the box containing the cakes Mira had left for her. “Here, eat something, you never even finished your lunch. I’ll go pick the flowers, and you can arrange them, alright?”

Erza nodded gratefully, sitting down on the chair she had brought out for Sting. She opened the container, eating her cake but for once, finding no joy in it. She still managed to eat both pieces by the time Sherry came back, arms laden with the requested flowers.

“I’m going to lock the door. Otherwise, we’ll never be able to leave,” Sherry called over her shoulder.

Erza didn’t answer, already busy with the flowers on her work table. Well, there was nothing she could do; if Mira had given her heart to another, then she would just have to accept it. Mira deserved all the happiness in the world. They would still be friends and aunts to Natsu’s children.

She would make Mira the most beautiful bouquet that could possibly be made with these flowers, and she would even add her own well wishes to it.

“Sherry? Can you get me some red peonies, please?”

“Just a minute, I’m getting Natsu’s order.”

Erza arranged and rearranged, not satisfied with her efforts. She jumped when Sherry arrived with the flowers she’s asked for.

“More red?” Sherry wrinkled her nose in distaste, “Are you sure that’s what you want? That bouquet does not exactly scream love.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what it’s screaming,” Erza disagreed, showing her the piece of paper that she’d scribbled the order on. “The red peonies are to wish her luck.”

“Oh! Oh,” Sherry frowned, realizing what Erza was saying. She was about to say something else when there was a tapping on the door. A quick peek showed Ren and Chelia waiting for her outside.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Sherry asked in a soft voice, “I can ask them to come back later.”

“Nonsense, go have fun with your family, I’ll see you on Monday!”

Sherry didn’t look convinced, but she gave Erza a hug, letting herself out and locking the door from the outside.

With no one left to act tough for, Erza let her tears flow as she continued to work, arranging and rearranging once again until she was satisfied.

0-0

Mira stood next to Natsu, both trying to stay on top of all the customers that had flooded the bar. She was growing increasingly nervous the closer it got to the end of her shift, knowing Erza would show up any minute. She’d bungled up more orders than she could count, having to resort to shameless flirting to keep from getting in trouble. Noticing her state, Natsu took pity on her, asking her to prep fruit for him while he handled the drink orders.

“It’s gonna be fine,” he assured her with one of his smiles, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze before moving on to a customer that was calling for his attention.

For most people, being handed a knife while they were in turmoil was a terrible idea, but for Mira, who had a knife in hand as often as not, it was fine. The repetitive action of cutting the lemons, limes, and oranges needed for drink garnishes was relaxing.

When she’d arrived back at work from her interrupted lunch with Erza, she had been excited about her idea. She’d written down the names of a bunch of flowers and their meanings, trying to construct a love confession in a language Erza would be sure to understand.

A few hours later, she had been wavering, scared that maybe she’d been reading the signals wrong all these years. If she went through with her plan, she would only be exposing herself to heartbreak and ruining the beautiful friendship she and Erza had worked so hard to sustain over the years.

There had always been so many reasons for Mira not to start anything. At first, it had been because they hadn’t exactly hit it off in the beginning. Then, when that had changed, it was because she was trying to sort out the mess Elfman had gotten himself into, especially after it had caused Lisanna to run away in fear. To Edolas, where she was followed by Natsu, and about two years later, they got married.

It had felt awkward to ask Erza out once they were linked by family, so Mira had dated others instead, trying to distance herself from the love and attraction she felt for Erza. None of them had worked out. Her heart just hadn’t been in them, and when the years hadn’t worn down her feelings one bit, she’d begun to think maybe it was time to take a chance.

But then Lisanna had died, and Mira had been grieving and trying to be there for Natsu, who was clearly falling apart. It was a new excuse but one that felt valid. After all, if she acted now and things didn’t work out between them, it would affect Hana and Atlas, which wasn’t fair to them. The last thing they needed was for their aunts, who each fulfilled a part of a female role model they missed so deeply, to be the cause of uncomfortable tensions.

Sharing babysitting duties with Erza and helping raise the kids had been fun, bringing them even closer together, but also filling Mira’s head with visions of what it might be like if the kids they were taking care of were theirs instead.

But it had been watching Natsu find love again with Gray that had truly sparked her to want to make her own move. If Gray, who had just come out of what was arguably the worst relationship ever, was willing to take a chance on a Dragneel, then why not her? And if Natsu, whose whole life had been turned upside down when he lost his wife granted himself another shot at love, then why shouldn’t she?

It felt right. Maybe that was just Mira's inner hopeless romantic speaking, but it spoke loud and clear, and she was done ignoring it. Besides, they had both turned thirty that year. Not that Mira felt old or anything, but she sure as hell wasn’t getting any younger either. She’d been looking forward to starting a family of her own for so long now. All she needed was someone amazing to start it with.

And Erza was amazing. She was smart, beautiful, and kind, and she had this awkward vulnerability that was incredibly endearing. Which was not to say that Mira wasn’t aware of her faults, like her stubbornness, and her fiery temper.

Mira knew that Erza wasn’t perfect, she was just perfect for her.

It had been Natsu who had encouraged her to make the call, telling her she would never know if she didn’t try, and Fantasia was a perfect occasion. He’d looked over the flowers she had jotted down, making his own suggestions.

“Here, do these. There’s no way she could mistake it,” Natsu assured her.

“How can you be so sure?” Mira asked, eyebrow raised in question.

“Because they all clash horribly in a mess of red that no sane person would ever like,” Natsu’s eyes crinkled with merriment.

Mira stared at him in disbelief and then began to laugh, “Is that what you did with Gray?”

“No, we were just honest with each other, but you two suck at that so gaudy bouquet it is!”

Mira had swatted at him playfully, but she had to admit he was right, she and Erza never seemed to be able to tell each other how they felt about each other, always tiptoeing around anything that might upset the balance they had achieved.

So she had made the call, relieved to hear Sherry’s cheerful voice answer the phone and now there was nothing left to do except wait.

Mira had sliced enough fruit to keep the night shift bartenders going through their entire shift, and still, Erza hadn’t arrived. She could see Makarov and Porlyusica already waiting outside with Atlas, Hana, and Wendy. Had she been held up at the shop?

A few minutes later, there was an unmistakable flash of scarlet, and she could see Erza talking to her foster parents, arms full of packages, with both kids latching on to her excitedly.

“You ready to go?” Natsu asked, signaling the end of their shift.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” Mira sighed, the natural confidence she usually exuded escaping her for once.

Natsu snickered and grabbed her hand, pulling her behind him as he weaved his way out of the crowded bar and to their waiting family. They were the last to arrive, and Mira was pleased to see that Gray had joined them, even if he was wearing a cap and large sunglasses. Elfman had made it too. Natsu let go of her hand, heading to Erza and asking for his purchases.

Once Erza had finished helping Natsu, she turned towards Mira. “I brought your order too, even added a touch of red peonies for luck,” she chirped with a fake cheerfulness that confused Mira, as she accepted the bouquet she had ordered.

She examined the flowers in her hand and immediately saw what Natsu had meant. As much as Erza had obviously tried to make the flowers she had requested look as appealing as possible, it was a cacophony of contrasting reds, loud and garish. Those flowers had no business being together. And apparently, Erza had felt the need to add her own touch to the mix, yet another red flower.

What the heck? Red peonies for luck? What did she need luck for?

Erza refused to meet her eyes, and if it hadn’t been for that odd phrase, Mira would have expected some yellow carnations in her future. When she looked at her more closely, Mira saw that Erza’s eyes were puffy as if she’d been crying recently.

Did something happen?

“Luck?” Mira blinked owlishly, trying to understand what was going through Erza’s mind.

“Yes, for you. So that you get the answer you want from whoever you give those to,” Erza managed an awkward smile that tore at Mira’s heart as she finally put two and two together.

“Whoever I give them to?” A laugh escaped her before she could stop it. The hilarity of the situation too much for her to handle. Here she’d thought she’d been as brazen as could be, and all she’d accomplished was to make Erza think they were for someone else.

Erza didn’t seem to know how to react to Mira’s outburst. She peered at her before once again looking down.

“They’re for you, you dummy,” Mira wiped her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that everyone in their group was staring at them with either curious eyes or knowing smiles.

“F-for me?” Erza stammered, her face turning as bright red as her hair once she realized her mistake. A tentative smile crossed her lips.

“Yes, for you,” Mira repeated, handing the bouquet over to Erza with a grin, waiting for her to say something.

“Did your added luck work in my favor?” Mira teased when Erza remained silent, although truth be told, she was starting to feel nervous.

Tears shimmered in Erza’s eyes as she nodded happily, taking out one last item from the bag she had brought from the store and handing it to Mira. It was the most beautiful bouquet Mira had ever seen, and she didn’t have to know anything about flowers to understand that Erza had poured all of herself into it.

They stared at each other, frozen in place by all the years they had spent hoping for this moment, imagining it in hundreds of different ways. Both desperate to take the next step but also terrified of what it would mean.

“Just kiss already,” Hana’s voice startled both of them out of their reverie, followed by the well-meaning laughs of their family and closest friends. She might have been only eight years old, but she’d managed to say what they had all been thinking.

So Erza and Mira did, neither one sure of who took the first step towards the other, or who’s lips pressed against who’s first. All they knew was that as awkward as the moment was, it was also perfect.

They were soon surrounded by the loud congratulations and, in some cases, happy tears of their family. Even though they were out in public, the promise of what was to come enough to make them both smile radiantly.

For the rest of the evening, they enjoyed the festivities with the others, walking hand in hand through the streets of Magnolia. They fed each other snacks from the many food carts that had gathered around the city center, watched Phantom Lord's live performance, slow dancing to some of their songs, and topping off the evening with soft kisses underneath the fireworks.

It was a beautiful evening, filled with more than they could’ve hoped for, but they both couldn't help but look forward to the moment when they were finally alone and could express their feelings more privately.

@femslashfairies

#fairy tail #ftdadsau #femslashfairies2020 #erzajane #ftlgbtales #fics #prompt: flower shop

15 notes · View notes

axiumin · 5 years

Text

Extracurricular Activities | The Morning After

Thanks to the anon who politely demanded a continuation for Extracurricular Activities, I’m finally posting the second part! I honestly adore the idea of teacher!Jinyoung, so I’ll definitely be playing with this universe in additional stories.

If you’re interested in reading the first part, check out the masterlist on my blog!

Pairing: Jinyoung x F!Reader

Rating: T

Genre: Fluff, AU

Words: 2.1k

You awoke to a brilliant beam of sunlight spilling in through the window and settling directly on your face. Honestly, as pretty as the sunrise was, you always firmly believed that it had no right to wake you up, so you were always careful to make sure you didn’t get an apartment with bedroom windows that faced east. You grumbled and buried your face into the pillow, dissatisfied that the sun seemed to spite you by rising in the west today.

It took a moment for your brain to catch up and inform you that no, the earth had not changed its direction of rotation; you were just not waking up in your bedroom today.

It took another moment for your brain to helpfully remind you exactly whose bedroom you were in.

Your eyes snapped open and you scrambled up into a sitting position. The room was utterly peaceful despite the pounding of your heart, and you noticed that you were by far the most disheveled thing in there. Nothing was out of place, and even the clothes that had been carelessly tossed on the floor the night before had been sorted out. A moment of searching revealed that your clothes— including your shirt, previously discarded in the living room— were folded neatly at the foot of the bed. Beside them, a clean t-shirt and sweatpants had been laid out in clear invitation.

Jinyoung was nowhere to be seen, and the bed beside you had long since grown cold. But once your heart settled down enough for you to be able to hear something other than its pounding, you realized that you could hear sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen.

Your stomach decided to get with the program and growl right at that moment, and you spared a moment to despair the fact that your stomach was always a bit keener than your brain. Sighing, you excavated yourself from the blankets and slowly stood up, testing the slight burn of your thighs that served as a memento of a night well spent.

You eyed the t-shirt and sweatpants, deciding quickly that they were a much better alternative to your rumpled clothing from the night before. They were soft and definitely not the right fit for you, and they smelled of Jinyoung, which made your stomach flutter with butterflies despite yourself.

Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any sort of mirror in Jinyoung’s bedroom, and his bathroom was down the hall and would require you to venture outside the relative safety of his room, so you were left to run your fingers through your hair and hope that you didn’t look too rough. Taking a deep breath and gathering your courage, you padded out into the short hallway that led to the kitchen.

Jinyoung stood with his back to you, fussing with something on the stove. He was also wearing sweats and a t-shirt, and you took comfort in knowing that you wouldn’t be underdressed. You lingered awkwardly at the edge of the kitchen, wondering just how you should announce yourself, but Jinyoung turned around before you had the chance to make up your mind.

He smiled when he noticed you, and your shoulders released the tension you hadn’t realized you’d been holding.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked, subtly looking you up and down. He either seemed pleased to see you wearing his clothing, or you were just projecting. Maybe both.

“Good. Maybe too well, honestly. How long have you been awake?” You nodded towards the frying pan, and Jinyoung shrugged and turned back to the pan, poking at its contents with a spatula.

“Not long,” he said over his shoulder. “Just long enough to get started on breakfast.”

You padded closer and looked over his shoulder to see scrambled eggs. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about being an impeccable host,” you said.

Jinyoung scoffed. “Hospitality isn’t something to joke about.” He gave the eggs a final stir and cut the heat. “These are just about done. Go ahead and take a seat. Do you want coffee?”

Once the food was dished up and you were both sitting at the table, you were struck by how comfortable it all was. You certainly felt a bit awkward when you first woke up, but now that you were face to face with Jinyoung again, everything felt unexpectedly natural. How did things feel this natural?

Your confusion must have seeped into your expression because Jinyoung interrupted your train of thought. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

You sighed and shook your head. “It’s nothing, really. Just. This should be awkward, right? So why isn’t it awkward?”

Jinyoung raised his eyebrows. “Am I making this too easy on you? Sorry about that. It’s just tricky to play hard to get when I like you.” He was smiling at you, the same warm, teasing smile as ever.

You sighed again, cracking a rueful grin. “I’m overcomplicating this, aren’t I?”

He shrugged, smile dropping into something more thoughtful. “It depends. Are we on the same page here?”

Slowly, you set your fork down and sat up a bit straighter. “Depends. What page are you on?” you asked.

“Last night, you said you wanted us to get to know each other better. You said you wanted to get to know all of me.” He paused and looked you in the eye. “Do you know everything you want to know?”

You were shaking your head before he even finished asking. “Not at all,” you said honestly.

Jinyoung nodded once, his lips slowly tugging into a smile again. He looked a bit relieved. “Good. Then we’re on the same page.”

You chuckled and shook your head in disbelief. “That easy?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

Well, you couldn't argue with that— not that you would. You lapsed into silence as you considered what he said. You really did want to get to know him. In some ways, you did know him— intimately. And there were other things you learned about, too. That he was considerate, that he was kind and took care of you. That he could make a decent breakfast, too. But there really was so much that you didn’t know about him. Last night, he asked you out on a date, but you were the one who suggested to speed things up a bit. You couldn’t help but wonder if you were doing things backwards now.

“You’re doing that thing again,” Jinyoung said, starting you out of your thoughts for the second time that morning.

“What thing?”

“The,” he paused and reached across the table, pressing a thumb against the furrow in your brow, “over-thinking.”

You raised your eyebrows, and he dropped his hand. “Over-thinking? Who’s to say it’s not just normal thinking?” you challenged.

He looked unconvinced. “The last time you looked like that, you were trying to convince yourself that you should feel awkward.” Well, okay, you couldn’t argue with that.

You held his gaze for a moment before finally giving in. “Okay, you’re right,” you sighed. “I was just thinking that I really don’t know much about you aside from what I’ve seen during our interactions together.”

Jinyoung leaned back in his seat, looking satisfied. “Is that it? Why don’t you just ask me, then?”

There he went again, making perfect sense. You swore that once you weren’t feeling so off-balance, you’d be able to match him word-for-word. Maybe you’d get there after a shower, or once you weren’t wearing his clothing, sitting and eating breakfast at his dining table.

Maybe.

Either way, until then, you still had to concede that he had a good point. You decided to start off simple. “So, what do you do when you’re not educating the youth? Got any special extracurricular activities?”

Jinyoung chuckled. “I think most people would call those hobbies,” he teased gently. Before you could sass him back, he continued. “I guess just the usual? Watching movies, going for walks, listening to music. Things like that. What about you?”

You hummed thoughtfully. “I guess the same. I read a lot— and write even more, though I don’t know if that can be considered a hobby.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, it’s kind of more of my job now. I work in copywriting and editing.”

He hummed. “Ah, that was going to be my next question. But what kind of writing did you do before?”

You shrugged, feeling your face grow warm. “Not much. Just a couple of short stories. Nothing of interest, really.”

Jinyoung scoffed. “I don’t believe that at all.”

“No?” you asked, cocking a brow. “And why’s that?”

“Look, I can already tell you’re bright. I’m sure you have something meaningful to say through your stories.”

You considered this. “You know what? Maybe you’re right. After all, who knows? Maybe you’re looking at the next E.L. James,” you teased.

Jinyoung paused and made a face. “I… don’t actually know who that is. But from your face, I’m guessing it’s not a good thing.”

You chuckled. “Depends on your private life.” Jinyoung looked skeptical, but you pressed on before he could ask. “Anyway, tell me about how you became a teacher.”

The two of you settled into an easy conversation from there, talking about everything and nothing until the morning grew late and the coffee was long cold.

During a comfortable lull in conversation, you glanced at the clock over the stove and sighed. “It’s almost noon. I should really get going.”

Jinyoung echoed your sigh. “You’re right. But let me give you a ride home.”

It didn’t take long for you to change back into your clothing in spite of Jinyoung’s protests that you looked great in his sweats, and soon you were sitting shotgun in his car, watching the city pass outside the window.

A light weight on your knee brought your attention back to Jinyoung and his hand resting on your leg.

“Hey,” he said, glancing at you before looking back at the road. “I wanted to let you know that I had a good time last night. It’s not how I expected things to start between us, but I don’t regret a single part of it.”

You smiled and laced your fingers in his. “I agree, actually. It’s not how I usually start things.” You hesitated to call it a relationship just yet, though the word was on the tip of your tongue. “But I had a lot of fun.

“You truly are an impeccable host,” you added, with just a hint of teasing.

Jinyoung nodded solemnly. “Thank you for acknowledging the truth.”

You chuckled and went back to looking out the window. “You know, if your offer from last night is still on, I’d really like to go on that date with you soon.”

His hand squeezed yours. “It’s still on,” he said softly.

You saw your grin reflected back at you in the car window and knew you were well on your way to being gone for this man. When he walked you to your apartment door and departed with a soft, undemanding kiss, you knew that you were already closer to falling for him than you’d thought.

You closed your apartment door and leaned against it with a heavy sigh, scrubbing a hand over your face and trying to remind yourself of what it was you were going to do before the feeling of Jinyoung’s lips against yours managed to make you forget pretty much everything else.

Your hand came away from your face streaked with the remnants of your mascara from the night before, and you grimaced. Right. First, a shower, and a promise to yourself to never fall asleep in your makeup again.

The hot water was heavenly against your back, easing the remnants of the aches from your night with Jinyoung. It was incredible, you mused, how much your thoughts could be occupied by one person. You thought about his fingers in your hair as you rinsed out your shampoo; you thought about the careworn softness of the shirt he loaned you when you got dressed in your own lazy-day clothes.

Even as you finally fished your phone out of your purse and scrolled through the many texts from your friends from the night before (overwhelmingly congratulatory, and yeah, you knew they were going to be asking for details and you’d have to dish), you couldn’t help the way your eyes honed in on the texts from Jinyoung.

You huffed out a quiet laugh when you read them and quickly typed out your response.

Shaking your head fondly, you finally decided to let your phone charge so you could focus on other things. But even as you settled into the cushions of your couch and started flipping through different shows on your TV, you couldn’t help but think about Jinyoung still.

You’d managed to learn a lot about him in your short time together, but you found that the things you did learn only made you want to get to know him even better. Anticipation mingled with the butterflies that fluttered pleasantly in your tummy, but you knew you had to be patient. After all, you had plenty of time.

202 notes · View notes

she-is-tim · 5 years

Text

Bleeding Hearts | Elu Vampire Soulmate AU Ch.1

Eliott is living on alcohol, weed and blood. That drives his dead body on a daily basis, giving him at least some kind of purpose in his meaningless life. Being immortal sucks. Being dead sucks even more. All he wants is to get out of this endless loop of nothingness, but he doesn’t expect that to happen so soon. When he meets him, his world turns upside down and his heart starts to beat again.

In a beat of the heart

The night was calm, nothing extreme happened and it was good like that. March just started a week ago, so the weather was still cold, it was often raining, but he could never complain about that. The more the sun was behind the clouds, the more he could walk in daylight. Not today though. Today the sky was clear, moon shining brighter than the city lights below. Cars were rushing through the busy streets, but he was focused on one building.

There was always a lot of people around the hospital, people running in and out, Ambulance coming in with paramedics, taking unconscious patients inside to save their lifes. He could hear every single heartbeat, even from this far away. He knew when someone would not make it, but that was alright. Death is part of life. It’s something that happens when a person had finished his task on this world. Yeah sometimes it happened before that, unexpectedly at a young age, but that was alright too. He would do anything to be like that. A normal human living his life until death comes along the corner to take him and he would fall into his arms with a smile on his face.

He looked at the empty blood bag at his feet, he could still feel the metallic flavor on his tongue and it made him sick. It was never enough, his body was craving for it, but he could never get enough. That was probably the worst out of all if he doesn’t consider that hs body was dead. The endless craving. It was like tiny ants crawling under his skin, a beast growling inside him, screaming for it. I need blood. Give me blood. He could hold it back most of the time, feeding it just enough to shut its mouth. There were days when it was harder, when the beast was stronger. On those days he needed more blood and he had to stay in his apartment, behind locked doors. It wasn’t impossible to resis the craving, but it was harder than anyone could imagine. His whole body was itching, like it wants to burst out in flames.

Focus!

He shook his head and looked back down at the street, throwing the remains of his cigarette aside, tucking the empty blood bag into the inside pocket of his jacket. He noticed the person he was waiting for waling towards the hospital, it was almost time for the night shift to start, therefore he had to get ready. With his speed and soundless movements it wasn’t hard to get into even such a crowded building as a hospital. He did this countless of times, always being successful.

He jumped, feet landing on the sidewalk quietly. No one noticed, because they shouldn’t. People were so blind about their surroundings that it was almost ridiculous. Since Eliott became one of these things, he realized how ignorant and idiotic regular people can be. Of course that made things easier for the nightcrawlers, but it annoyed him so fucking much. They were basically offering themselves for the beasts. Letting them feed from them, charm them into death or the promise of eternal life. Yeah, sorry, bad news. Eternal life sucks.

He stepped into the hospital, people walking past him, not even realizing that he’s there, though he was pretty outstanding in the bright environment. His black clothes, his pale skin, his stormy grey eyes and deep black hair was in a stark contrast with the white and light blue colors inside the building. Yet no one paid attention to the stranger and it was okay. He got used to this side of being dead. People only noticed him if he wanted to, otherwise it was like wearing camouflage in the woods. He was hidden. He was just a shadow. Not breathing, not making a sound. Not being alive.

His steps were soundless, the tiles under his feet were cold, but not as much as his own body. He wasn’t wearing any shoes, there was no point, since he couldn’t get sick or feel cold. The jacket was on him only because it had a large pocket, making it easier to carry the stuff he came for. He walked past the waiting area, going straight towards the stairs. The smell of antiseptic was burning his nose, even though he wasn’t breathing it in. Things like these always found a way to bother him. Small noises, irritating scents, everything. His senses were much more sharp, eyes seeing things from miles away, ears hearing heartbeats from afar, nose smelling things through walls. He might be dead, but that made him even more dangerous. A predator designed to lure in the prey and end its life quietly, quickly. As he took the steps, heading down towards his goal, theawful scent of the antiseptic was more than welcome in his nose, as long as it covered the smells that would drive him crazy. The smell of fresh blood.

The hallway was awfully quiet, even to his sensitive hearing. There were distant sounds of steps, heart monitors and other machines. It was already late, past 22 actually, so there wasn’t much people in the building other than the night shift workers. Especially not on this level, where the storages were. He fastened his steps as he got closer to the end of the hall, turning to the right. Before he could open the door, it moved on itself. Well, not actually.

The woman behind it was wearing light blue hospital outfit that was in high contrast with her beautiful, chocolate brown skin, her black hair in small braids with an ocean blue headband on top. Eliott flashed her a smile, which she weakly returned. Imane, because that was her name looked really tired. It wasn’t easy for her to do her night shifts and study at the same time. She was on biology major in college, wanted to be a doctor, but for that she had to work even harder than others, considering her place in society. Eliott always found it infuriating how much they looked down on black or muslim people in schools, like they are incapable of having high IQ or being talented. Since he became a beast of the night, he knew how it was feeling separated, different from everyone else. Maybe that’s why they understood each other so well with the girl.

He stepped into the room, his eyes fixed on the large freezers that were standing by the wall exact opposite from the door, filleg with bags of blood. He could feel his mouth hurting, his fangs wanting to pop out, ready to drink up all of it, but he held it back. He got quite good at controlling the beast by now.

“You look like shit.” Imane said quietly, standing right next to him, eyes scanning the boy from head to toe.

“Well, try living without heartbeat or breathing for a while. We’ll see how pretty you can be.” Eliott shot back with his usual sarcastic humor, which the other seemed to like a lot.

“I prepared some for you. They are kinda fresh, so it won’t taste so awful like last time.” she said, walking to the drawers in the corner, that were there for documents to hold, but Imane always used the bottom one to hide blood bags in them. No one really cared for the papers in there anyways, it was the task of the night shift nurses to organize paperwork and make sure everything is registered. He knew that Imane was risking a lot by helping him out, but she was a smart girl and kept reassuring him that she made sure no one notices the missing blood bags. Eliott believed her, even if she was lying, because this was the only way he could feed the beast without hurting people. Imane also knew that.

“Is everything alright with you?” Eliott asked and it was genuine interest. He could be dead, but that didn’t mean he had no feelings or thoughts. Of course he tried to not get too attached to anyone, especially not to mortals, but his friendship with Imane was special, something that gave at least a small reason for him to get through his days.

“You can say that.” she mumbled, placing bags of blood from the drawer to the table in the middle of the room. Eliott needed all his strength to focus on her words and not get lost in gazing at the crimson liquid behind the thick plastic. “College life is hard, but I’ll manage.” she said nonchalantly and shrugged, flashing him a toothy smile as she finished packing. There was six bag on the table, enough for at least a month or so. If he doesn’t get carried away like last time.

“I still don’t know how to thank you all of this.” he said, voice slightly raspy as he tore apart his eyes from the bags, looking at the girl.

“You look like you could use more.” she said, concerned look on her face. Eliott could swear that her skin was the smoothest he had ever seen.

“Yeah, well, I only take what I can.” he shrugged and walked towards the table, stuffing the bags into the inside pocket of his large, leather jacket. If someone had told him many years ago that he will meet a black, muslim girl that’s going to help him get blood, he would laugh into the face of that person. Tables have turned since then, and he couldn’t imagine his life without the help of Imane. She was a genuine and caring person, not even afraid of a monster like him.

“If you need more, I can...”

“Cut it!” he said gently, raising his hand. All the rings on it were shining in the sharp white of the neon lights. One skull ring, slightly faded silver, one bronze snake ring, wrapped around his middle finger and a simple black one on his index finger. “This is more than enough, don’t worry.” he said and placed the last bag in his pocket now. “Just make sure to let me know if I can help with anything. I might not be a hundred years old, but I still know things.” he winked playfully, earning an eyeroll from the girl.

“You know I can see right through you, right?” she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I know that you are unhappy. I can see the burn marks on your skin.” she said seriously, her eyes fixed on Eliott’s bare feet. There was a small place of skin that was still a bit red from where the sun touched it. “You can’t do this to yourself.”

“This is the only way I can feel anything, other than the hunger.” he answered roughly, eyes slightly squinted. He liked Imane a lot, but talking about feelings wasn’t his favorite topic, especially since he became one of the dead.

“Fine.” Imane sighed and rested her hands on the table now, leaning forward. She learned to keep the distance between them during their usual “blood meeting” because if she would be too close, Eliott might not be able to hold back the beast. It liked young blood more than anything. Young and fresh blood.

“Thank you again, Imane.”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t want you to starve to death.” she smirked and now it was Eliott’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Ha-ha, very funny.” he said mockingly, but it was good to have someone who was comfortable enough around him to say jokes like this. He zipped up his jacket, making sure he won’t lose the bags on his way out, giving the girl a two finger salute before leaving the room.

The only noise in the hospital was the sound of the magazine the receptionist was reading. She seemed to be pretty preoccupied with it and Eliott was too, since he didn’t notice the boy walking towards him. He was talking fast into his phone, arguing with someone. The tall boy only noticed someone was coming closer when they shoulder bumped to each other. It was only a slight touch, the other didn’t even notie it, too busy with yelling quietly into his phone. But for Eliott it felt like a lightning struck. He suddenly felt everything, like his nerves were going crazy. His nose was filled with the scent of the combination of mint and deodrant. He fell to the wall next to him, grabbing his jacket by his chest. The world was swirling around him, the floor felt like ice, hurting his feet. The walls were closing around him, his vision slightly blurred. Static noise was filling his ear and something else he quiet couldn’t recognize. It was like something was drumming on his ribcage, trying to burst out of his body, something was pumping under his skin. His eyes burned, filling with tears as he was gasping for air. Gasping for air?

It took him long minutes to realize that what he was feeling in his chest was in fact his heart, beating. The feeling under his skin was his own blood filling his veins. He could hear it. Tears were running down his face and he couldn’t stop them, not like he wanted to. He haven’t been able to cry since he died, not even when the sun was burning him. But now they were overflowing, wetting his cheeks, leaving warm traces on the pale skin. He looked at his hands, seeing his veins popping out, slighting thumping to the rhythm of his heartbeat. It was too fast, irregular, but it was his heart.

It felt like hours passed, but it was only a couple of minutes. He looked up from his hands to see the boy leaving the building. He couldn’t see his face, just a grey hoodie and a beautiful crown of brown hair. Whatever that person did to him, he had to find it out. His mind was racing with a hundred miles per hour, he still felt dizzy. He couldn’t remember when or how he left the hospital, but the next thing he saw was the door of his own apartment. He slowly opened it, walking inside and sitting down on the couch. He could feel the bags of blood in his jacket, but he couldn’t think of anything else, but that boy. The scent of him would not leave his nose. It was driving him crazy.

━━━━

After the shock came the panic. Eliott spent most of his night curled up on the couch, trying to take in all the shit around him. If his senses were sharp before, now they were even worse. He could hear bugs crawling inside the walls, the snorring of the old lady from downstairs. Everything got on his nerves, making him lose his mind. And of course on top of that there was his fucking loud heartbeat and his breathing. Those were the worst. He so got used to having a dead body that now he had no idea what to do. He wasn’t even sure if he was alive, but he felt alive.

His forearms were red from where he kept scratching it endlessly, but he couldn’t stop the itching. His body got slowly filled with his blood and that was surprisingly painful. It felt like when your limbs go numb and they slowly getting back to work, but it’s also super sensitive to even the lightest of touch. Yeah, coming back to life was something like that. Shaking the numbness off your body, embracing the pain that was coming with it.

When the morning came, Eliott felt exhausted, like he was running for hours and hours. It was probably caused by his panic attack. Who would have thought a creature of the night could have one. But he would have never thought it’s possible for his heart to beat again, so there’s that.

He got up from the couch, basically pulling his legs with him as he entered the kitchen. He only drank coffee out of habbit before, but now he felt like his body could use some caffeine to function. Everything was weird with his extra sharp senses and he still couldn’t get used to the beating heart in his chest. He could feel every movement of the muscles making it pump the blood through his veins. He knew that being alive didn’t feel like this before, this was something else. He might have a beating heart, but he was still a monster, which confused him even more.

━━━━

Not more than two weeks passed and now he was back there on the rooftop, glancing down at the street. It took him a while to calm down and try to find some sort of explanation to what happened to him. Sadly the internet wasn’t much of a help, so he had to look for old books written by actual vampires. Eugh, he hates that word so much. Vampire. It makes his skin crawl just by using it in his head. He is one of the bloodsuckers, the dead ones, but he hated his own existence more than anything. Well, he did before all this happened. Before a boy made his heart beat again.

His research didn’t go as well as he wanted it to, but there were some information and crumbs of situations like this in the books. All of them mentioning deep connection, fate, meant to be together and even soulmates. Like that is possible. How could a dead creature have a soulmate? That sounded ridiculous, but he had no better explanation to this. That boy literally made his heart beat again, bringing him back to life and maybe giving a reason for him to embrace that. He still hated the fact that there was no detailed paragraphs about all this soulmate bullshit. Was he supposed to approach him? But how? He was just a human being, probably knowing nothing about the creatures of the night. And on top of that there was no way it wouldn’t be dangerous for Eliott to be around him. God, they just bumped into each other, only touched for mere seconds and they should now be together forever because what? The universe decided so? What about their feelings? What if that boy would hate him? He can’t ask him to accept him the way he is, because he can’t even accept himself. He can’t ask for his love when they don’t even know each other. How is he supposed to tell him this? Oh, hey, I’m sorry to bother you, but we bumped shoulders last week and it seems like our fate is to end up together. Oh, and I could rip out your throat anytime if I lose control over the beast inside me. I’m Eliott by the way, your soulmate, you know.

He buried his face into his palms, rubbing over it slowly. He let out a deep, desperate sigh before lighting up another cigarette. The roof around him looked like an ashtray already, since this was the third night he spent up here, observing the hospital from afar. Usually he came here once a month, or even less often, but right now he had to see that boy. It was stupid, he knew. They met here more than a week ago, whatever brought him to the hospital could not be there by now, but there was a deep feeling, a little tingling inside him that he’s going to see him again.

And there he was. It felt like electricity running through his body, soft smell of mint and deodrant filling his nose. It was crazy how intense these feelings were, though his boy just stepped to the street from a crowded bus. His eyes fixed on him instantly, examining his features and damn, he was the most beautiful human being for sure. His skin was soft, smooth even, small moles scattering around it here and there, his hair was brown, slightly disheveled, cherry pink lips that were a bit chapped. Eliott could imagine kissing him, breathing into his mouth and never letting him go. He shook his head, pushing away the dirty thoughts. The most captivating thing about the boy was his ocean blue eyes, they were basically glowing, even under the dim light of the street lamps. He was wearing a grey hoodie and black sweatpants. How can someone look so gorgeous in sweatpants? It should be illegal.

He was holding a plastic bag in his beautiful hands, walking towards the front door of the hospital. Eliott was so focused on him that he only noticed Imane when the two of them met in front of the building. He could feel his heart sink and then beat faster at the sight. They greeted each other like friends, Imane even hugged the boy, Lucas. That’s how she called him. Beautiful name for a beautiful boy, indeed.

“Good to see you here.” Imane said softly, rubbing the arms of the boy, who smiled at her softly. Eliott felt like he could melt from that smile if Lucas would ever flash it at him. It made him look even more beautiful.

“Yeah, you too. We should hang out sometime.” the brunette offered.

“Definitely, but I think both of us is busy with work and studies.” she said with a sad smile, earning a slow nod from the other.

“For sure. I think I’m going crazy with all those assigments.” he smirked. “But that’s the life of a university student.” he said, shrugging nonchalantly. Eliott could watch and listen to him for hours. He had such a soft voice and his face was just... so fucking pretty.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he missed the rest of their conversation. His stomach churned at the sight of the boy entering the hospital, leaving the line of his sight. The urge of going after him, grabbing him and never let go was almost stronger than his hunger for blood. Which was terrifying. How could he crave for a boy he had only seen twice and never spoke to him? How can there be a connection between them?

He let out a thick cloud of smoke and got up from the edge of the roof where he was squatting before, throwing away the remains of his cigarette. This building got closed off since years now and Eliott had claimed this rooftop for himself since then. It was high enough to be out of sight and close enough to the hospital too. A perfect hiding place for a monster like him.

He fished his phone out of his pocket, letting his heart take control over his body this time. It was such a long time ago since he had feelings like this, so deep that they could physically hurt. Being apart from his boy, from his soulmate was just like that. His chest was aching and he couldn’t get his face out of his mind, he was everywhere inside his head. Those bright blue eyes were the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life. And he had seen a lot of things.

He didn’t have much people in his contacts, so it was fairly easy to find Imane’s name an click on the chat button. His fingers were hovering above the screen for a while, not being sure what to type. He didn’t wanted to involve Imane even more into the sack of shit that is his life. She had enough problems without this vampire-soulmate-beating-heart crap, and honestly it was still not clear for him what all this meant. He only knew that he was destined to meet Lucas and the moment their shoulders bumped, their lives intertwined with each other.

After taking a deep breath, he put his phone back in his pocket and sat down on the edge of the roof, lighting yet another cigarette. He needed to think. Think about what to do. Approach Lucas, let him into his life, into his heart or stay away for good, saving probably both of them from the inevitable pain that would come with this bullshit.

“I am so fucked.” he mumbled into the cold, starless night, his grey eyes fixed on the transparent door of the hospital. “So damn fucked...”

ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^ˇ^

Soooo, I did a thing. I know this might be a short first chapter, but I really wanted to post something to get some reviews from you. I’m hoping that you guys like it and that I could explain the things fairly okay. I wrote a lot of fantasy stuff when I was a teenager (like 10 years ago), but not in english, so this was a hard task and I would appreciate some honest opinions about this. The base idea was stolen from Kresley Cole’s vamp books I read like 8-9 years ago, but the story is completely made by my crazy mind. Anyways, I will stop rambling. Thank you for reading and make sure to leave a feedback. Bisou

#Skam France #Elu Vampire Soulmate AU #Bleeding Hearts #Elu #Eliott Demaury #Lucas Lallemant #Eliott x Lucas #Elu fanfic #Imane Bakhellal #Le Gang #Sofiane Alaoui #Idriss Bakhellal #slow burn #pining Eliott #vampire!Eliott

120 notes · View notes

thismanateelovestowrite · 6 years

Text

When you get into a car accident

Request: Can I request a NCTU scenario where you had a car accident and the members knew it

Thank you so much for the request and sorry x10000 for not getting around to doing this earlier. I still hope you or someone else will find this entertaining despite the long wait~

you can rate my customer service 0/5 stars if you want, i totally understand ><

Words: 1489

i seriously don’t know what to label this, help >< A light hearted read

Requested by @joeyburritooo ♥

”I’m telling you, this is not a good idea,” Doyoung had worry written all over his face. “Driving this late isn’t safe. You should just sleep over.”

“As fun as that sounds, I won’t for the sake of you guys,” you sat down in the driver’s seat and looked at the group that had come out to see you off. “Knowing us, we’d probably end up staying up the whole night talking about the stupidest things. I don’t want to be the one responsible for your tiredness tomorrow.”

“That’s better than you getting hurt, though,” Jungwoo mumbled.

“We could ask hyung to drive you home,” Mark suggested and you shook your head immediately.

“I don’t want him to dislike me any more than he does already. Just relax. I’ll be fine,” you smiled reassuringly. This wasn’t the first time you drove home that late. It had happened several times over the summer.

Before they could voice any more objections, you pulled the car door close and waved them through the window before starting the car and driving off. You could see them from the mirror and chuckled a little. Their worry warmed your heart and made you feel safer in a way. Of course, it wouldn’t be able to physically protect you, but it was still nice to know that they would do their best to help if something did happen.

Despite the dark, you didn’t have any problems. There were some other cars too and you felt even safer. You listened to music and hummed along to it, on a good mood. Surprisingly enough, you weren’t that tired even though it was already midnight. Maybe it was the fact that hanging out with the guys often energized you to an unbelievable extent. Or the fact that they had made coffee for you in preparation for a variety show appearance they had coming up. You had unexpectedly become their taste tester and ended up drinking enough coffee to last the whole night. Surely this won’t be good for my sleeping schedule,you had thought while sipping the coffee. Nevertheless, you had felt good about being able to help them out, so you considered the trouble worth it.

One of NCT’s older songs started playing and you smiled widely. It always brought back memories of the time you had the opportunity to work with them for the first time on a reality show. They had all seemed so lost and nervous as the format had been new for them. You had tried your best to encourage them and be kind to them. Eventually, it had become an unbelievably fun experience for both and you always looked back on it with a wide smile. The show had, in fact, also been - surprisingly enough - the start of your close friendship with them.

The memories of those times put you in a happy daze. Memories played in your head like a movie and before you even knew it, you lost control of the car. As the car traveled towards the side of the road, you hit your head and lost consciousness.

***

“- never let you drive again. I swear to god, you idiot, I’ll eat your driver’s license,” you woke up to a familiar voice.

You started hearing beeping noises and a weird smell made you frown a little. The smell of a hospital room.

“What if something worse happened? I could be mourning a loss right now,” Doyoung’s voice kept talking and you heard him walk around. “I swear, next time I’ll lock you up at the dorm so you can’t leave that late in the night.”

Struggling a little, you opened your eyes. The light hurt your eyes and you frowned. “Why is it so bright in here?” you asked with a raspy voice.

Doyoung hurried over to you immediately. First he looked relieved, then worried. “Thank lord… Are you hurting anywhere?”

Your whole body ached, but it wasn’t like you were in agonizing pain. “Why are you here?” you decided to ask. “What time is it? What about your schedules?”

He crossed his arms. “A certain someone got hospitalized,” he looked at you with a frown. “I couldn’t not come. We spontaneously decided to announce that I got sick. Good thing we don’t have music show recordings today. That would have been a total mess. Not that this isn’t already.”

You felt bad. “You should’ve just gone with the others. I’m fine.”

“Is that something to say when you literally just broke your leg and almost broke your back?” he nagged. “You could have died, you know! Can you even imagine how shocked we were when we were informed of your accident?”

“Wow, it was that bad?” you were surprised. “I don’t really feel anything.”

“Well, I guess the medication is doing its work then,” he sat down on the chair next to the bed and sighed. “Anyway, you’re never driving again. I will personally drive you if needed but I am not letting you sit down behind the wheel ever again.”

“Did the accident hurt others?” you asked cautiously, ignoring his nagging. “I didn’t crash into anyone, right?”

“Luckily, no one else was harmed,” he informed you and you let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness,” you exclaimed.

“Is this a time to feel relieved?” he asked. “You were still hurt! This is serious, _____!”

Looking at him, you felt somewhat amused. He was obviously just shocked from the accident and worried about you at the same time, which caused him to overreact. You let out a small chuckle of amusement.

“Anyway,” he sighed. “Do you want something to eat? I can fetch something from the cafeteria for you.”

Before you could respond, the door of the room opened and a doctor walked in. “Oh, you’re awake. Marvelous,” she smiled.

Doyoung was told to leave and the doctor inspected you. She told you about your injuries and you found out that the fracture on your leg was not very serious. Nor did you almost break your back, unlike Mr. I’ll-eat-your-license had told you.

“It does need some time to properly heal, though,” she explained. “It would be best not to walk with it, so we’re giving you crutches for a few months. It would also be best for you to stay here for a few days so we can monitor your state.”

She went on to explain a few other things before telling you to rest. When she left, Doyoung came back inside with plastic bags in his hands, this time accompanied by a few others; your best friends from the group. Jungwoo looked like he was about to break down in tears, Mark was frowning in worry and Lucas just seemed happy to see you. You smiled excitedly at them and they walked over to the bed, all having drastically different expressions on their faces.

“I lived, boys,” you stated with a grin.

“Oh lord,” Jungwoo wept.

“Hell yeah you did,” Lucas grinned.

“Are you hurting a lot?” Mark worried.

You shook your head. “I’m not that badly injured. There’s a very minor fracture on my leg but the doctor said it can be easily treated with a cast. And, I didn’t sustain any other injuries,” you gave Doyoung a look.

Mark seemed a little relieved and you smiled at him.

“How about your schedules?” you asked the three. “Are you done for today?”

“Such things don’t matter in a situation like this,” Jungwoo stated, wiping his teary eyes.

His actions only amused you.

“We have a break now. The next schedule starts in an hour,” Mark explained. “The rest went back to the dorms to rest. They wanted to come, too, but were afraid that too many people could be overwhelming to you. Besides, the risk of getting recognized grows the more people are here at once.”

“It’s okay,” you smiled. “Tell them not to worry about me and that I understand. Anyways, have you guys eaten anything yet?”

They shook their heads.

“Good thing I bought this, then,” Doyoung lifted the plastic bags in the air and everyone looked at them in curiosity.

He walked over to your bed and spilled the contents on it. You four all looked at the variety of food with sparkling eyes and the guys quickly gathered around the bed. Lucas sat down next to you after you made some room for him and the rest sat down opposite you.

With food and your comforting words, Jungwoo became his cheerful self in no time, telling you jokes and making you all laugh with his actions. Mark loosened up and laughed loudly with Lucas as Jungwoo joked around. Doyoung laughed along, too, while taking care of you by handing you more food once you finished what you had been eating. Time flew by and you almost forgot that you were in a hospital by the time you finished eating.

99 notes · View notes

imaginetonyandbucky · 6 years

Text

Worst Case

Read it on AO3

Chapter 2

The next day Bucky found himself in the same room in the hospital again. He didn't have much hope concerning the test results today and he still had an inkling that this was all a joke because Tony was already late. Not exactly a promising sign, nevertheless he made himself comfortable on the chair, as comfortable as possible at least, and put on his music.

Bucky was already halfway through the current playlist when suddenly the door burst open and Tony wheeled in a contraption.

'Contraption' was really a too nice of a word for the thing that Tony had created, Bucky hoped he had created it, otherwise, it might have spawned directly from an alien dimension. It looked nothing like the sleek white machine with the STARK logo on the front from yesterday. (It hadn't really looked like that anymore when Tony had been done with it at the end of the day.)

"How's my favorite guinea pig doing today?" Tony greeted him while already going to town on the cables and electrodes. Despite his cheery demeanor, he looked exhausted and extremely disheveled with stains all over his shirt, which looked suspiciously like yesterday's shirt.

"The guinea pig is extremely scared about what you are going to do to him with that monstrosity."

Tony laughed wholeheartedly and it was an addicting sound, something Bucky wanted to hear more of.

"Nothing that I didn't already do yesterday, this is the new and improved neuromuscular nav-channel analyzer, I call him NEWMAN, doesn't quite fit with the acronym yet, I'm working on it. He's going to get us the results we need today. Aren't you, Newman? You're going to be a good boy."

Strangely enough, the machine started beeping as if answering Tony, Bucky was even more scared now. The machine was clearly sentient. He was still staring at it with wide eyes when he pulled off his shirt and Tony started applying the electrodes.

It took all of 30 seconds after Tony fired up the machine before it started beeping again. "There we go!" Tony fist-pumped, grinning from ear to ear, he was still fiddling with the buttons.

"What does that mean?" Bucky asked, a little bit concerned that he might get electrocuted any second now.

"That, my friend, is the sound of your nerves doing a little happy dance, a very tiny happy dance, a hardly noticeable dance, but it's there." Tony swiveled around in his chair, rubbing his hands together. "Technically it's an auditory output of the minuscule amount of voltage being detected in the sodium channel of your neurons, but let's go with happy dance."

(More after the break!)

Bucky blinked at him slowly, he hardly understood a word but what he had gathered from that torrent of technical expressions was that there were results.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?"

"We have results, Mr. Barnes!"

Bucky almost broke down then and there, it had come so unexpectedly, he couldn't believe it. Tony had done it, he had really done it like he said he would. This man was amazing.

"If I wasn't hooked up to this devil's machine you've created here, I would hug you, I don't care if that would violate doctor-patient relationship ethics."

Tony chuckled. "You can hug me when I get you a second arm. This is just the beginning, you'll need a whole different system for a prosthesis than the other participants, it's going to take a while. I basically need to condense this whole thing -" He gestured to the monstrosity. "- into something that you can comfortably wear. Preferably something arm-shaped."

"You alone?" Bucky was still grinning, he was over the moon right now, he had never expected to get any results. He had hoped, Tony's enthusiasm was contagious, but he had never really believed.

"The R&D department, I mean, it's a team effort."

----

James (10:37 am) "The bastard did it." "He fucking did it."

James (10:39 am) "He says it's still going to take several weeks until they have a prototype ready, but daaaaaamn!" "Can't stop grinning!"

Nat (10:40 am) "I'm so happy for you, дорогой!"

----

The next couple of weeks Bucky was at the clinic almost every day, from morning until late into the night. It was fun working with Tony, they quipped and bantered almost non-stop. Often while the tests were running they had time to discuss topics other than the prosthesis work. They discovered they were both fans of various science fiction and would get stuck in a Star Wars vs Star Trek debate only to be interrupted by the machine that had finished calculating.

But the work was also very taxing on Bucky. Often times he didn't bring enough food to last him through the day and he went hungry for long periods of time until Tony finally let him out. He never dared to say anything, he didn't want to interrupt the tests. It was extremely exhausting not only physically but also for Bucky's fragile mental state and on a particularly bad day he was close to canceling.

In the end, he didn't call. Tony was working so hard to give him a prosthesis that would work with his fucked up nerves. Bucky didn't want to jeopardize that and so he dragged himself to the appointment.

Of course, that day had to be one of the longest so far. He was at his breaking point and unable to concentrate anymore. Tony was asking him to move his left arm and he just couldn't do it anymore. Occasionally reaching for something with his missing arm when he was blissfully unaware of his disability for a moment was one thing but moving his missing arm on purpose was another and on a bad day, it was horror.

Tony was putting a constant stream of words forward that Bucky had long ceased to understand. The air in the room was stifling and he hadn't eaten anything in hours. He was falling into a breakdown. Fast. His head was already spinning.

Bucky's savior came in form of a fierce woman bursting through the door and stalking right up to Tony. With her tight pony-tail and pressed suit she looked like she came straight out of a business meeting and was out of place in the hospital.

"You're still at it, Tony? It's been 13 hours, almost 14. I told you 8 is the maximum with breaks, that was the condition that I let you do this. Release this poor man." She sounded so angry Bucky ducked away from her even though the words weren't directed at him. If looks could kill Tony would have been dead three times over already. He shied away from the woman, avoiding her eyes and glancing at his tablet.

"I forgot the time."

"And the 15 messages from me that I know you saw. Did you even think about him once?"

Tony visibly flinched.

"Look at him!"

Bucky, at this point, didn't care, he was exhausted beyond belief, even if they let him out now there was no way he would make it home on his own. He must have looked as bad as he felt because Tony's face drained all color when he looked up, he stumbled to his feet and started to remove the electrodes on Bucky's shoulder.

"Fuck, Bucky, I got completely lost in the tests. I almost have everything now."

"Mr. Barnes." The woman turned to Bucky and her anger was gone in an instance instead her eyes were full of kindness and she smiled sympathetically. "My driver will escort you home tonight and ensure you are properly fed. There will be no appointment tomorrow or the day after. We from STARK Industry care deeply for the participants in our programs and I apologize on behalf of all involved that the duration for a test session has been stretched beyond all regulations. It will not happen again. I am sure Tony will agree."

"Yes, of course." Tony was quick to say while he handed Bucky his clothes, he didn't meet Bucky's eyes.

Bucky didn't feel much of anything as he was guided out of the hospital and into an expensive car, except numb. He was too exhausted to think about anything and barely registered when the car stopped at some point and a pizza box appeared next to him then continued to his place. The driver, a middle-aged man in a suit made sure he arrived at his apartment and put the pizza box onto his table before excusing himself.

The whole situation was surreal and Bucky couldn't wrap his head around anything that had just happened, he wouldn't have believed that he was just driven home by what must have been some CEO-level business woman's driver if it wasn't for the pizza he was shoveling into his mouth.

He couldn't remember actually getting up and walking to bed when he woke up sometime in the afternoon of the next day.

------

Nat (11:43 am) <5 unread messages>

James (5:12 pm) "m fine"

-----

Bucky didn't blame Tony. Not in the least. He blamed himself for not being able to keep up with the genius doctor who only wanted his best. Doubts were circling his mind when he went back to the hospital after two days of rest. Rest he desperately had needed but wouldn't admit to it. What if his inability to keep up with the tests made him inadmissible to the program? He half expected to be escorted out of the clinic as soon as he set a foot into it but the lady at the reception greeted him with a friendly smile as always and nobody looked at him twice when he took the elevator up to his usual room.

Tony was already in the room to Bucky's surprise. He was working on the machine again and had several tablets scattered around him. Pen in mouth, he mumbled to himself and didn't notice when Bucky walked in.

"Am I late?"

Tony twirled around and his whole face lit up. "Bucky! No, not late at all. I was here early, got everything ready for the last round of tests." He gestured to the familiar mess around him. "Good to see you."

So Tony wasn't mad at him, yet Bucky still felt the need to apologize. He sat down and pulled off his shirt, something that came to him quite easily now. "I'm sorry."

"You what?" Tony didn't look up from placing the electrodes onto Bucky's shoulder.

"For the other day. For not being able to keep up. You work so hard on this and all I do is sit here and do nothing and yet I couldn't even do that properly."

"Hold on....you're really apologizing to me?" Tony looked flabbergasted, a look that wasn't quite at home on his face.

Bucky blinked, thinking he misheard, then frowned. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"Listen, Buckeroo, if anybody has to apologize, it's me." Tony reached for Bucky's hand and clasped it between his own. "I fucked up, Pepper was right, I got so engrossed into my work I forgot there was a human being at the end of these electrodes. A very nice human being, that I like a lot. I should have never put you through so many tests, there was no need to rush how I did. I'm sorry."

Bucky stared at their combined hands. Buckeroo...

When Bucky didn't say anything Tony let go of his hand and turned back to the machine. "I can understand if you only came back because you want the prosthesis and don't want to put up with me. I promise I am going to be nothing but professional. We're going to have a break at noon, there's going to be food -"

Bucky snatched Tony's hands back, one of them at least, and stopped Tony from rambling. "I thought I was going to be thrown out of the program."

"What?" Tony's eyes went wide. "No. No no no no no. Never. I promise! What made you think that?" With his other hand, Tony lifted Bucky's chin up to look him in the eyes and at first Bucky wanted to avoid looking into those deep brown eyes. He feared he would get lost in them if he looked too long and suddenly his biggest fear was not being able to see these eyes anymore, the eyes that crinkled so lovely when Tony smiled. And that smile...

"Bucky?" Tony's worried brought Bucky out of his thoughts and he avoided his eyes again.

"I couldn't do the tests, what if the results are false because I was so out of it?"

Tony laughed softly, not malicious but relieved. "Tests can be repeated and to be honest myself, we have to repeat some of them. But don't you dare blame yourself for that." He added when Bucky hunched in on himself.

"We're going to do this together, alright?" Tony properly clasped their hands together and squeezed lightly before letting go and turning to the machine, the moment finally ending. Bucky immediately missed the contact and the warmth, he started to shiver slightly when the cold breeze of the AC flowed over him, making him acutely aware that he was shirtless.

Tony looked back at him after powering up the machine, the familiar smirk spreading over his face. "Besides, you still owe me that hug.”

#winteriron #tony x bucky #bucky barnes #tony stark #no powers AU #amputee Bucky #Pepper Potts #Natasha Romanov #prompts #james prince

153 notes · View notes

lezziemanville · 6 years

Text

Fic Start: BERENA “The snow could melt and go”

[[[ Note: this is unfinished but a holiday fic I was writing last year ]]]

——

“I’m sorry Miss Campbell, but there aren’t any trains out of Gatlinburg tonight.”

Clarence never liked giving bad news. It was a personal goal of his to keep his customers happy. He had always prided himself on his ability to bring even small amounts of cheer to the gloomiest of customers and to diffuse difficult situations. He hadn’t earned his title of bell captain at Cotsmere, one of the most prestigious lodges in all of the Smoky Mountains, for being subpar. This time however, faced with the unmistakably attractive but very irate Serena Campbell, he couldn’t help the fray of his usually stoic demeanor.

“Of bloody course, and why would there be? I don’t suppose there’s some sort of car service you can recommend - or is that impossible as well?” Miss Campbell’s voice was a low rumble and her steely gaze was fixed upon him, her mobile clutched white-knuckled between her fingers.

“I, well, I… with the snow… it’s making it… Miss Campbell, it’s just that, it’s Christmas Eve —“, he scrambled at explanations, excuses which he offered unhelpfully, as though the intelligent woman before him had no idea that a major holiday had chosen this particularly trying time in her life to arrive upon them.

“I know what day it is!” Miss Campbell interrupted, before shaking her head furiously and winding her inappropriately cheery Christmas scarf around her neck, “Oh for — nevermind, I’ll walk if I have to.”

“But Miss Campbell - it’s 26 degrees Fahrenheit out there! You’ll freeze!”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Serena stop!”

Clarence’s head swiveled to the grand staircase that emptied into the lobby, watching a slim blond woman in what looked like pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved shirt taking the steps down two at a time. The last three stairs she skipped altogether and in sock feet rushed after Miss Campbell who had just been swallowed outside by a gust of snow speckled air that sucked into the warm lodge from the frigid cold of evening.

He watched the blond hesitate for only a moment at the door before bracing her bare fingers against the frozen door frame and following the agitated woman out into the night air.

“Serena, wait!”

Clarence slowly let the tension out of his shoulders as he sagged forward, hovering over his computer and frantically thinking of how he could turn this special night around for a very unhappy customer and her… sister? friend? cousin? who had just dashed out into what was quickly becoming blizzard conditions, very underdressed.

———

December 20th, 2016

“Oh Bernie,” Serena said breathlessly as she looked out the window at the glorious landscape of the snow-covered smoky mountains stretching around them, “had you any idea it was this beautiful?”

“Oh yes,” Bernie replied so softly that Serena turned to look at her, feeling a prickle at the back of her neck when she caught Bernie’s gaze upon her, and not on the enchanting picturesque scenery passing by as their train winded around the mountainside.

Serena smiled shyly, eyes downcast a moment before turning back to the window, “It’s… I suppose I didn’t know what to expect.”

“Well that’s not surprising seeing as you only invited yourself along on a whim!” Bernie answered, sounding all too smug about it.

True, Bernie was right. The plan had come about rather unexpectedly only three weeks prior when decorations were beginning to pop up around the ward at Holby City’s AAU department.

Bernie had been eating the tiny candy canes faster than Serena could hang them on the tree, and she’d almost banished her from the ward until she’d finished putting up the Christmas cheer.

“How on earth do you get through your own decorating, if you can’t so much as lift a bulb to a tree here?” Serena had asked, not all that annoyed if she was honest, since Bernie had at least carried the boxes up several flights of stairs from the storage cupboards down in the basement, instead of taking a porter away from possible patients in need.

“I don’t decorate,” Bernie had answered simply, picking at the plastic cellophane sleeve of yet another small candy cane before bringing it to her teeth in an attempt to rip the packaging. Several unsuccessful tries later, she snapped it in half.

“Really, you don’t decorate at all?” Serena hadn’t really expected Bernie to be a decorating type, but she’d at least thought she’d perhaps dabbled as a mother.

“Not even when your children were little?”

Bernie popped the curved end of the candy cane into her mouth and crunched a little, “Marcus had the edge in that department. I wasn’t always around for Christmas and when I was, I usually ended up getting in on Christmas Eve and when I arrived, it had already been done.”

“Gone for the struggle of tangled fairy lights, but there to appreciate a hall-decked home?” Serena rose an accusatory eyebrow but the smile was ever present on her lips.

“Something like that,” Bernie smiled back and held out a star-shaped ornament, which Serena took and found a place for on the very old plastic tree.

“There we are. That’s it for this elf,” Serena dusted her hands off and stepped back to look at the slightly lopsided, thinning fake tree. It wasn’t the most inspired Christmas tree in Wyvern, but it would do the trick with a cash-strapped NHS and no budget for splashing out on new festive decorations.

Bernie gathered up the spare tinsel from the floor, and the odd ornament that had lost its hook over the years, popping them into one of the cardboard boxes and lifting it. Serena walked alongside with an admittedly lighter box as they made their way back to the basement.

“What are you doing for Christmas?” Serena asked conversationally, using her elbow to activate the door release button. Bernie pushed through it and stood to allow Serena to pass through the open door.

“Oh, I was… well, I was actually planning to go to America,” Bernie said, as if it were the most normal thing she could possibly do, like popping out to grab a curry for dinner.

“America?” Serena was shocked. She knew Bernie was a traveling woman but hadn’t expected her to go that far on a measly week off. Especially without having said anything to her, unprompted. Granted their friendship had been a little strained as late.

They walked alongside one another down the corridor, Bernie peering around the large box in her hands and Serena helping to steer her out of the way of oncoming hospital staff, “I’ve always wanted to go to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee and well, what with my children, very much otherwise engaged, an ex-husband who makes me out to be the ghost of Christmas past, and an empty apartment - seemed this year was as good a year as any.”

“Ah,” Serena said quietly.

Bernie turned her head to study the brunette who had gone uncharacteristically silent all of a sudden.

“What about you?” Bernie asked and Serena didn’t look at her but opened a door to the stairwell with a little more force than was needed.

“Oh, you know, had booked the week off, expecting Eleanor and Jason at home for Christmas this year, but despite my greater efforts, which were rather reaching to begin with they’ve both made other plans, and I’m looking at a completely empty home for the holidays. To add to that, I’ll be owing Ric Griffin a cornucopia of favours over the coming year for having him cover AAU, vacation days I can’t even get out of at this point.”

They navigated the stairs together, easily enough, but slowly.

“Oh, well. Gives me time to catch up on this Netflix everyone’s been talking about for years,” Serena added, distancing herself from the quickly falling mood.

“Oh, well…” Bernie started, unsure of what to say really. Of course she couldn’t ask Serena to, come with her could she? That would be overstepping the boundaries of friendship, wouldn’t it? And what if she said no? Why would she say yes? They were friends of course. Just lovely, good friends until she’d gone and kissed her very good friend on the floor of the operating theatre. They were friends still, but there was a new everpresent tension lingering between them. She’d changed things and made Serena uncomfortable. So now they were friends, but with this one memory wedged between them that neither talked about directly but both seemed to instead avoid at great lengths. And then beyond the kiss on the theatre floor, beyond the tension that followed them from hospital hall to office and home - beyond all that, it was America. It wasn’t merely taking the ferry to France for a daring weekend excursion.

“Yeah,” Serena continued, “Not an exciting trip to America is it?”

“No,” Bernie started. It almost seemed like Serena was prompting an invitation but surely she was misreading the situation though? She couldn’t…

“Serena,” Bernie stopped in front of the door to the basement, just in front of Serena who hovered over her a few steps up, “Look, I don’t want you to feel pressured, but —“

“I thought you’d never ask,” Serena beamed down at her, then descended the remaining stairs and brushed by her, swinging the door open, “If you could have your itinerary to me this afternoon I can make arrangements.”

Bernie smiled to Serena’s turned back and nodded, “Right, good.”

——

#berena #my fic #bernie wolfe #serena campbell #holby city

48 notes · View notes

fanficsofmine · 7 years

Text

Secret Love Song- Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry this is getting posted so late. It was a long day, and then a TEASER HAD TO DISTRACT ME FROM FINISHING IT.

Also- prepare for feels. -T✨

Secret Love Song: Chapter 1, 2*, 3, 4, 5, 6

I was unexpectedly blinded by a sea of white light when I opened my eyes. I immediately shut them, and then tried again. I squinted around the room.

The walls were stark white. My ears swam with the mumblings of people I did not know in the room with me mixed with a ringing sensation. I saw myself hooked up to an IV.

"Oh thank god. You're awake," I heard a whisper next to me. I turned to see Jongin. His face was black and blue and his right arm was casted and resting in a sling. My brow furrowed.

Suddenly, the night before flashed in front of my eyes. I remembered leaving the club. I remembered the wreck.

I gasped loudly and tried to sit up, but an incredible pain stabbed my rib cage and caused me to cry out. Jongin jumped to sit on my bed with me and gently guided me back down with his free arm.

"You have multiple broken ribs," he informed me, "you need to slow down."

"Jongin. What happened? What's going on? Where is Sehun?"

A deep sigh left his chest.

"One question at a time, I suppose. There's a lot that you need to know. Do you want me to get you some water first?"

I nodded as he walked over to the mini fridge and grabbed me a bottle. He stepped with a limp and I noticed his face formed a wince with each step.

"How bad is it," I asked, the concern lacing my voice apparent to even me.

Jongin smirked as he hobbled back over to me.

"Ah, I'm fine love," he handed me the water bottle and kissed the top of my head, "I definitely got the least of the damage.

His face fell when he said that, "I wish it was me instead of you and Sehun."

My heart sank when he said those words.

"Where is he? Why isn't he here with you," panic pumped through my blood, "Jongin, where is Sehun?" My heart hurt from the speed that it was pounding in my chest. My breathing was short, which ached my ribs. I tried to force myself up, but Jongin placed his hand on my shoulder. He did not apply any force, but it was enough pressure on my aching body to lay me down.

Something instantly bothered me, but I let him speak before I decided to address it.

"He's alive. Let me get that out of the way right now, babe. He's alive."

I rested my head back against the pillow again.

"He's in surgery getting some screws put in to pin a few of his leg bones back together. I missed all of the medical jargon. He sustained a lot of injuries due to being on the side that got hit. He's got a long recovery ahead of him, but he'll be fine. Broken jaw. Several cuts from the shattered glass. Several broken bones. He'll be in casts and braces for a while. He endured a major concussion. He's, well, he's actually less injured than you are some how..."

His voice strained. His eyes began to well up with heavy tears that he could not hold back. He cupped my face with one of his hands as they streamed down his face. He was not sobbing loudly, but silently crying, which was almost scarier. I had never seen Jongin unable to control his emotions before

Realization clicked in my brain. The next question that I was going to ask him was answered for me.

I asked it anyway.

It came out as a harsh whisper.

"Why couldn't I move my legs when I tried to stand up?"

Jongin's thumb ran along my cheek. He attempted a strong smile, but it faltered.

"We aren't even sure how it happened, to be honest. With you being in the middle, you shouldn't have... it doesn't make sense..."

He took a deep breath to attempt to gain his composure. It was failing. He stumbled over his words for a few minutes before he was able to say it completely.

"Your pelvis was crushed," he finally managed to get out. He grabbed my hand after he said it.

"I'm... am I..."

"They don't know. They think you may regain the ability to walk. It's just going to take a lot of work... and it's a pretty big 'may be able to.'"

Time froze.

I processed an unhealthy amount of emotions all in one fleeting moment.

Anger. Worry. Calm. Sadness. Loss. Hope.

Somehow, every single emotion swam through me.

I did not move. I was not sure that I was even blinking. Was I breathing?

Jongin's face etched with concern.

He held my hand and pressed his forehead against it as it rested on the bed.

I was not sure how long we sat like this. It was silent. I fiddled with his hair as he stayed in the room with me. I was not sure how to feel. I could not cry. For some reason, I did not feel as empty as I anticipated that I should.

After a while, I saw Jongin's breathing start to pace itself. I glanced down to see that he had fallen asleep with his head on my bed. I sighed heavily.

My sweet Jongin. My best friend. How much hurt had I caused him lately? How much hurt had he been hiding since I had started dating Sehun? And now, this?

I knew that he carried an amount of empathy that was unmatchable. He was going to feel every minute of our pain. Every ache that we felt, so would he. Physical and mental. Maybe that was why I was unable to feel any sadness; Jongin had taken it all so that I would not have to.

A young nurse came in and I put my finger to my lips, then pointed down at Jongin's resting figure. She smiled a kind smile as she tiptoed over to us.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," she whispered, "he and your fiancé have been painstakingly worried about you."

She took my vitals and checked my eyes. As I blinked the dots from her flashlight away, I saw her face fall.

"Did he tell you," but before she could finish, I nodded.

She continued, "okay. We are planning on having you meet with the doctor tomorrow. He's going to give you your recovery plan. There is going to be an excruciatingly long road ahead of you. As long as you really want it, you'll get there again."

I told her that I understood right as there was a knock on my door. It jolted Jongin awake, and he turned to look at me to make sure I was okay. I threw an, "I'm fine," smile his way and called out, "come in!"

When the door opened, I saw Sehun sitting in a wheel chair. He was cut up. Purple and swollen.

I had still never laid my eyes on a more handsome man in my entire life.

He was rolled over to me, his left leg in a cast. His eyes were hazy, I assumed from anesthesia.

"Baby girl," he mused as he leaned himself against my bed to push himself up. He, awkwardly, due to his injury, fumbled his way into laying on the twin sized bed with me. He was gentle with every touch. Both of us were battered and bruised.

But we were together.

"Jongin," I said, "can you come here?"

He came to the side of the bed that Sehun was not on. Sehun was already dozing off again from the pain killers they had him on for the screws in his legs. Jongin smiled.

"I'm glad you're both functioning and up. I'm gonna go back to my room now..."

But I cut him off.

"I'm going to need your help," I said in a hushed tone to not wake Sehun up.

Jongin's head tilted slightly with confusion.

"I have a plan."

Several months passed. Little by little, I was gaining my strength back. It was infuriating.

We had, obviously, been unable to continue with dancing for the tour I could barely walk some days. The girls, however, refused to let us walk away.

Jongin and Sehun helped run the merchandise table, and I was put in charge of helping do hair and make up. Considering I had had it done myself for months on end, my knowledge of the styles was abundant.

Every day, I would make progress.

I had my bad days.

I nearly called off the wedding at one point. It was closing in on the date. I had just finished wedding dress shopping and picked the one. I had cried as I stood there in it. It hugged me perfectly. It was a simple, spaghetti strapped dress with a lace top. The bottom draped down and there was a short train behind me. I had a beaded headband in.

"It is perfect," Perrie had squealed. I began to cry and ended up sitting back in my chair. My hips had begun to ache as I just simply stood. How was I going to do this?

I told her and Jade, who had gone dress shopping with me, that I was overwhelmed from finding the perfect dress.

After I had bought the dress, I went back to our hotel. I rolled my wheelchair in through the door, and did not make it farther than that before I broke down. I had no idea that Sehun was in the room until he was in front of me, on his knees, asking what was wrong.

"I'm just going to be a burden to you," I choked out, "what if I can never walk again? And you're... you're just... you're stuck with this? With this wheelchair and this girl that is now different than the one that you thought you would spend your life with?" The words spilled out of my lips like a dam had broken.

Sehun lifted me out of my chair and carried me to the bed. We sat there and he stared at me for a long time before finally speaking.

"Do not ever call yourself a burden to me again." His tone was soft, though his words firm.

He cupped my chin tenderly with his hand, making me maintain eye contact with him.

"You are no less of the woman I love whether you can stand or not. If I see you wheel yourself down the aisle to me, then so be it. But I will be down at the other end, waiting, regardless of your physical state.

"I love you for your heart. I love you for your mind. I love you for your compassion and generosity. I love the way that you get excited over watching Star Wars even though we have watched it six hundred times.

"I'm. Not. Leaving. You." Each word of his last sentence was annunciated.

That night, I could not sleep. I texted Jongin.

Send Text Message: Are you awake?

Receive Text Message: Yeah. It's 2 am, though. Are you okay?

Send Text Message: Remember the night of the hospital? When I told you that I had a plan? I'm ready. Are you still in?

Send Text Message: I'll meet you in the hallway in 15.

Jongin and I maintained our secret meetings.

The day of the wedding finally snuck up on us

I rolled my chair around the venue. I was still not incredibly strong. I had wanted nothing more than to be skipping around on this day. That had not been a realistic goal, I suppose.

The venue looked stunning. The outside chairs lined with bows of ribbon with a gorgeous white arch at the end of the aisle. It was simply perfect.

Sunflowers acted as the decor. The bridesmaids were in pale pink dresses with bouquets of baby's breath. I had my stunning dress on, and I stared in the mirror as Leigh-Anne pinned some of my final curls back.

"You look incredible," she said as she leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.

Sehun and I had opted out of a first look. He had told me that he wanted to maintain the element of surprise of seeing me for the first time as I was coming down the aisle.

I looked at the clock in the dressing room.

It was time.

My heart pounded in my chest.

We lined up in our order inside. I could see Sehun through the glass doors, although he couldn't see me yet.

He looked so handsome. I wanted to run to him. I wanted to tell him that I was sorry for sneaking around these past few months. That I was sorry that I hadn't been honest with him.

That would have to wait.

The music started.

"Marry Me" by Train started, and the bridesmaids made their way down the aisle. The wedding coordinator opening and closing the door behind each one. I watched them in envy and awe. Their legs moving so gracefully. It almost made me ask my father to turn me around so that we could just leave. I did not want to humiliate myself by appearing clumsy after them.

However, that song faded and "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers started. This was my song. It was time for me to be escorted to Sehun.

The doors opened, and I saw Sehun's smile stretch across his face when he saw me. He bit his lower lip to prevent himself from crying.

I looked next to him and saw Jongin. He simply nodded at me. I nodded back.

"Daddy," I whispered.

Mumbles scrambled through the audience as my father stopped rolling my chair. He leaned down and I whispered in his ear. He smiled at me before coming around to the side of my wheelchair; locking the tires.

Gasps filled the room. Jongin finally let his knowing grin cross his lips.

I stood up.

And I took a step towards Sehun. And then another. And then another.

It was a slow process.

But I made it up to the alter. Tears streamed out of his half moon eyes as he beamed at me. He shook my father's hand before taking my arm in his to support me fully.

He turned to face me.

And I had never felt more complete in my life.

32 notes · View notes

hellokafkiana · 7 years

Text

“Third time this week”

CLEXAWEEK, DAY SIX

FRIENDS TO LOVER

“Third time this week” Clarke commented faking casualty as her best friend with whom she also shared an apartment. “What?” the brunette asked as she was getting ready for her hot date. She was so… excited, Clarke genuinely thought she had never seen her that excited, not even the day she had received the letter of acceptance from the Harvard University course of Law. And this didn’t bother Clarke, not at all, the blonde kept repeating to herself but then her voice came out more obstinate than she had intended to “It’s your third date with her, three days in a row this week.” “Yes,” Lexa replied distracted, without really paying attention to her friend. “And…?” Clarke insisted taking a step closer, clearly upset and annoyed. “You’ve met her” her friend replied adjusting the makeup “She’s amazing.” “Yes, I know, but it was only a moment and…” “What do you want to know, Clarke?” “Nothing, I’m…” she paused lowering her eyes “Happy for you.” “She’s amazing” the brunette started turning in her direction with small eyes “She is… intelligent, brilliant! And so beautiful, I mean have you looked at her? That perfect skin and her eyes… wow…” “You have beautiful eyes, Lex” the blonde pointed out in a moment of excessive honesty, and she bit her lips, cursing that audacity. Sadly for her, the other one barely noticed that “What?” Lexa’s voice asked distractedly. “That looks…awesome” Clarke said with a sad tone, but this time too the brunette barely heard her “I know, right?”

The next day Clarke arrived home exhausted after a long hard day of study and work and all she needed was a night with her person, her best friend, her light. A night with Lexa. Once she entered their living room and noticed Lexa’s keys on the table she felt such a relif, incredibly relif, then she noticed her silhouette, half hidden by the refrigerator.

“I’m so glad you’re home tonight I so need a Netflix marathon with you right now” as she was finishing that sentence she realised that the girl emerging from behind the refrigerator was not Lexa. Definitively not Lexa “Oh, that’s…embarrassing” Clarke continued staring at Costia, who was now standing right before her with a very short shirt covering her body. She knew that shirt, small, white, with small red squares, she used to love that shirt and knew who that shirt belonged to. It was Lexa’s. She had been wearing it that same morning.

And now Costia was wearing it, and that girl was staring at her, clearly embarrassed “I’m sorry Clarke, we thought you had a class study for chemistry” she whispered “We…” “You… yes, I had but plans changed” Clarke excused herself, still staring at Lexa’s… girl, who seemed even more uncomfortable as minutes were passing. Then she spoke, “I totally get it, it’s your place, after all, probably I should leave…” “Don’t.” Clarke stopped her “It’s Lexa’s place as well after all.” “Yes,” the other girl agreed “She’s in her room if you need to…” “And you’re clearly grabbing her some after-sex food” Clarke’s voice came out far more bitter than she had expected to, but before Costia could ever say anything more she left the apartment in a hurry, without an excuse, with some tears unexpectedly and inexplicably falling from her eyes.

Before she knew she was knocking at Raven’s and Anya’s apartment.

“What’s wrong?” Anya asked, worried for her friend’s desperate voice. “Nothing” Clarke replied lowering her eyes “Can I come in?” Without hesitation she let in, then once she was on her couch she started speaking, hesitantly “You…cried, Griffin.” “No.” “You did” she insisted “Why?” “I’m fine, it’s just…” Anya breathed in, guessing that Clarke’s behaviour had anything to do with her sister’s new girlfriend “Does it have anything to do with Lexa’s new hot/super-intelligent/again hot girlfriend?” “No.” “Clarke…” The blonde tried to resist tears and once again she failed “She’s… beautiful. And intelligent, and…perfect for Lexa” she hissed while tears were falling round her “She..” “But… I thought you weren’t into Lexa” “Yeah, I thought that too” Clarke agreed with her “You rejected her” Anya insisted “You…” “I know.” “In high school, she opened her heart to you, and you rejected her” the elder Woods repeated. “I know” Clarke acknowledged “I was with Finn and I… she was my best friend and I…” she paused for some instants before continuing “And know she’s with someone else and it’s too late.” “Do you love her?” Anya asked after a long moment of silence. “She’s happy, now. At last” Clarke replied avoiding that question, but Anya had no intention of letting that go, so she insisted “And you?” “I come from our apartment. Costia was in our kitchen, grabbing some food for…, and she was wearing Lexa’s shirt and only and then…” her voice cracked “It broke my heart.” Anya heard her story and then nodded before speaking again “You should tell her, you know that…” Clarke shook her head in return “She deserves so much better and she’s so happy now…” “And she loves you.” Anya interrupted her “She has always loved you” she insisted, looking for the blonde’s eyes “How do you know? She has moved on now” “Com’on, she’s Lexa.” “And…?” “The way she looks at you. It’s all in her eyes, Griffin. Trust me, I know my sister.” “Do you think so?” Clarke asked, feeling a small hope rising inside her heart. “I’m afraid there is only one way to find out” Anya replied smiling at her, but Clarke shook her again, even more energetically “No. I made my choice, a long time ago and now I have to live with that, but… I guess I’ll move out. I can’t bare the pass a single minute hearing those two laughing together. Can I come here?” “Of course” Anya agreed “Of course you can, Raven will be excited to have you here.”

The next day Clarke reached her apartment and started packing things, but then Lexa arrived unexpectedly early, and she had to explain her her choice to move out. Sadly for her, her friend didn’t seem to buy her version of the story.

“I still don’t understand why you’re doing so such in rush, you’ve never…” “Your sister’s apartment is nearer to the hospital and with the craziness of my shifts…” “I understand really, but…” Lexa said reaching for her arm “I’ll miss you.” “I’m sure Costia will entertain you, while I’m away” the blonde hissed bitterly leaving what it used to be their home. “Clarke!” Lexa cried annoyed and hurt, and the blonde had to stop and turn “I’m sorry, Lex. She’s perfect, you two are perfect. Now I have to go.” “Clarke…” Lexa called her, this time more hurt and desperate “You’re hurt.” “I’m fine” the blonde murmured “Don’t worry.” “Don’t lie to me, Clarke. I know you” the brunette whispered, “What’s wrong?” “Nothing.” “We’ll always be friends, Costia doesn’t change a thing” Lexa whispered, trying to reassure her. “I know” Clarke replied “I know.” “So what? If know you that, you surely…” “That’s not the problem, ok?” Clarke interrupted her. “It’s not?” Lexa asked genuinely confused “I’m afraid I don’t understand what’s happening…” “The problem…” she started hesitantly “The problem is that I can’t be your friend, not anymore.” “What?” Lexa asked lost “What do you mean? Of course, you can” “I can’t…” Clarke confirmed once again “I don’t want to.” “Clarke… Why?” “It hurts too much” the blonde hissed “It hurts like Hell.” “I don’t understand” Lexa repeated again and Clarke couldn’t help but “Being with you… but not with you… I can’t bare that” “I’m not sure I understand…” “You have,” Clarke said firmly “I’m in love with you, I always have been, and I’m sorry it took me so long to understand that.”

Lexa took a step back and closed her eyes. Clarke knew her, she knew her very well, and she would have bet that Lexa was… angry.

“Lexa…?” “How can you say that to me NOW?” her voice echoed angrily between them. “Lexa…” “I loved you!” the brunette cried in her face “I…” “Loved?” Clarke asked, incapable of truly registering those words “You…” But Lexa did not let her finish that sentence “You were into that Finn and I loved you, you were sleeping around with that pathetic Niylah and I loved you! You wanted to be alone, and I loved you, you needed a friend, and I loved you!” “I’m sorry…” “And now… now I’m with someone amazing, someone that cares about me, someone that values me and….” she paused, holding tears back “And you chose now, NOW to tell me…” “I’m so sorry… so sorry” the blonde repeated once again “So sorry, probably I shouldn’t have done it, but I needed to know how…” “How what?” Lexa cried exasperated “How what, precisely?” “How do you feel?” the blonde said after a short pause. The brunette looked away, fighting the urge to scream at Clarke “Lexa…?” the blonde called her again, and at that moment she met her eyes and whispered the answer to Clarke’s question “I’ve loved you all my life, Clarke. You know I never stopped, you know I love you still.”

Before Lexa knew it, their lips were together, Clarke’s hands holding her closer, her hands finding grip on her shoulder. A moment later Clarke deepened the kiss and Lexa opened her mount to let her in, all those feelings repressed for so many years were emerging, and Lexa separated from Clarke.

“Lexa…?” the blonde asked, “Do you want me to stop?” The brunette waited a second before shaking her head and replying “Never” and hearing that made made Clarke smile gently “I won't.”

#clexaweek2017 #clexaweek #sorry I'm late #day six #friends to lovers #clexa #clarke x lexa #Clarke and Lexa #clarke griffin #commander lexa #lexa kom trikru

29 notes · View notes