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80s4life · 11 months

Text

Pawns”

Word Count: 4,522

Status: Requested!

Ask: Pleeeeeaase write more of Cal from titanic. Literally any prompt I’m so hungry😭

Ask #2: Pleasee could we have more cal hockley content, specifically more chapters for "the things I've never done" and even more short stories if you have the time, I love your work 💕 [THANK YOU SM! I WAS STARTING TO GET SELF CONSCIOUS OF MY WORK AGAIN]

Ask #3 will have an attachment to a separate Cal fic as well, so no request will be shown here until that one.

@: Three cutie pie nonnies!

Relationship: Caledon “Cal” Hockley x Female!Reader

Fandom: Titanic 1997

Summary: Thrusted into the roaring 20′s, all you wanted to be was free and outgoing as all the booming women in city. However, your father’s deal with the devil seals your fate in the hands of your advisor and boss, Caledon Hockley; a man who is haunted by memories, stubborn in his ways, and opposed to the newfound strength in the young women of America. You’re a slave at his will in his eyes, yet you’re just as free as the new reformed women in your own. You’re stuck at a standstill in this endless game of chess, but who’s the pawn?

Warnings: forbidden, early 1900′s morals and customs, Reader is a maid, Cal is the head of the house, Post-Titanic sinking, mature language, kinda spicy, PTSD, domestic violence (included in a PTSD episode ONLY), Kind of a Beauty and The Beast AU for inspiration

{gif is not mine, credit goes to @locke-writes}

It was all an act of practicality from the start: your father owed his father money and he had a set of nimble hands to rid himself of.

Nathan Hockley was a millionaire who dealt in the steel tycoon business in Pittsburgh. Your father had a habit of gambling with the wrong people, which had allegedly caused your father to have an uncomfortable run-in with the powerful man. Unable and too stubborn to do so, your father handed you off as a way of reparation for the damage the bastard had caused.

Nathan’s son, Caledon Hockley, was the exact replica of his father. He was cunning, stubborn, powerful and wealthy; a disrupting mixture of facets that could either lift or crush you with a simple snap of a finger. He was dangerous, among many of his other qualities, which made your business in the Hockley’s presence just that much harder.

With the pandemonium that followed the sinking of the Titanic in 1914, the physical and mental effects had taken ahold of Nathan’s deeply treasured and only son, practically keeping him on house arrest until he was “better”. However, to both Nathan and Caledon’s dismay, 6 years had done nothing for his declining health, the reasoning behind why Nathan had administered you into Caledon’s household in the first place.

All of these events have led you up to this point, your suitcase rolling behind you as one of the many maids in the manor lead you up to your room to unpack. You haven’t seen this young and precarious man yet, but something is telling you that you most likely don’t want to. You are soon to be given your list of instructions to follow immediately and precisely; left to your own devices to either stay afloat or drown in the fury of the Hockley men.

Maria, a young maid in her 20′s, around your age, approaches you with a pure and youthful grin, a light blush to her cheeks. Her hair is cut into a cropped bob of black hair with short but soft curls, her lean frame with modest green eyes making her endearing - intoxicating. “You must be Miss Y/L/N?” her cutesy, high pitched voice only adding to her allure and picturesque innocence.

“Yes, that’s me,” you mutter, displaying your hands as if to show yourself off in sarcasm.

“No need to be so glum!” she giggles, bowing her head to catch your eyes and raise your line of sight. “I’m Maria Espinosa, but I’d assume the least you’d want right now is formalities.”

You snort, but let her continue nonetheless.

“I’ve your instructions - written myself, of course!” she smiles brightly; any harder and she might break her face. “As you know, with your appointment into this manor, the rest of the faculty will be let off, per Nathan Hockley’s request. But, don’t fret, the list is simple, short and can last all day without having to pay too much mind. Every Tuesday and Thursday, there will be a grocer that will restock the cabinets, refrigerator, etc. and help you with the cleaning. You are not to touch the east wing and only reside within the west - this will help eliminate the messes to clean and prevent extra exertion-”

“Sorry, if I may be crude, why are we not to go in the east wing?” you ask, curiosity getting the best of you.

“It was...” Maria drifts off, choosing her words lightly, “After the accident in 1914, the east was torn by his own hands. It was once used for balls and such, but after the Titanic,” she whispers the name as if someone might hear her, “Caledon was bedridden and sick, upset, angry, any emotion in the book. He used that wing as a way to let those emotions out.”

You stay silent as you stare at her with morbid curiosity and fear, nodding once before returning your attention to the list. The rest seems easy, not like the job was ever hard to begin with, just an annoyance for better words.

Maria clears her throat, “Anyway, you must make at least two meals a day, mainly breakfast and dinner, both at 8 am and 8 pm. Caledon might decide not to have lunch some days, but if he does, make sure it is brought to him by 12 pm. He doesn’t like tardiness, so as long as you follow the rules as tightly as you can, you won’t be a target. Any questions?”

“No, no. I’d presume you’d want to be heading out?” you smirk at her mischievously and instantly watch as her taut muscles relax.

“Very much so, yes! It’s been forever since I’ve had a moment of freedom.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you, I’m sure I’ll be fine,” you shoo her off playfully. This is your family’s mess to clean, the least you can do is let her be free of the shackles that are now passed down and chained to your ankles.

Maria is halfway through the door when she turns to you from the foyer, “I’ll do a monthly checkup to make sure everything is in line, and for a little company in your lonesome, okay?”

You smile gratefully, hands coming up to play with your nails, “Thank you, you’re very kind. Though, I don’t want to be a burden.”

“A burden? You just gave me my freedom!” she exclaims, laughing as she waves a hand. “I’ll be back by the end of the month! Settle in and enjoy the quiet!”

The moment the door slams shut, your shoulders droop heavily. Your eyes scan the spacious mansion with frightening curiosity. You’ve never even remotely been near land such as this, and now that you’re inside, it feels almost too much. You let your hands glide the carved wooden banister as you walk up the huge steps to the second floor, taking a left down a hall.

Your legs carry you down the long corridor, and, as you place your key into the fob, your eyes lay onto the door across from yours: ‘Lord Hockley’ carved neatly on the door. There’s a rustling behind it and footsteps that approach the other side of the door, eliciting you to push the key one click further and dive through the door as quickly and quietly as possible.

You flop onto the bed with a huff, trying to calm the beating of your heart just enough to allow you to unpack and prepare dinner within the course of 3 hours. When your room is finished, you nod in satisfaction, taking a bath in the connected bathroom and changing into a thin, sheer dress before exiting your room and back down the steps to the kitchen.

Finally do you take the time to read the list on your own. It includes very detailed and descriptive instructions, easy nonetheless, of medication usages and what to do with each, meal plans, recipes, a map of which rooms to clean and how to clean each one, and Caledon’s nightly and morning rituals to follow precisely.

Shrugging your shoulders, you roll your neck to release the tension before opening the cookbook up to the recipe designed for today’s date. “Pork roast,” you state alloud, cringing at the echo of your voice being followed by more movement in Hockely’s room.

Your mind roams as your eyes get lost at the sight of the luscious woods out the window, hands deftly whisking away at the pork roast’s grease with the intent of making a nice gravy to coat the dry, but tender pork roast. Shaking your head, you peer down and try to busy yourself with the already settling boredom you’re consumed by.

You can hear the halls creak, the water drip from the faucet, birds chirping outside, the soft sway of the wind, random clicks, ticks, and other noises. You’re destined to go insane.

You jump unexpectedly with the sound of a crash from upstairs. The noise comes from the general direction of Caledon’s room and you all but groan at what the sound indicates - what your being here demands.

Putting the roast of low, you close the lid with a soft click before ascending up the stairs to Caledon’s room. You stand outside the door, hand on your heart, as you try to calm your rapid heartbeat and breathing. This was to come about sooner rather than later, so you should be glad it’s happening now. However, the banging continues within the room and you know that even if you had met him in a few months, the hell that follows him would never be escaped for as long as your father’s debt remains.

Knocking on the hard wooden door, you speak softly, “Lord Hockley? Is everything alright?”

You’re not given an answer, only the sound of something heavy being thrown and falling to the floor.

“Lord Hockey?” you call out again, louder this time. Unsurprised, you are followed by no answer once more. Annoyance creeps into your words a third and final time, “Lord Hockley, I will come in there myself if you do not open this door. Now,” you demand.

Shrugging when no voice calls to you form the other side of the door, your hand twists the doorknob and pushes the door open. You legs carry you only so far before they stutter to a stop just past the door frame.

Just before you, there is a disheveled, sweaty Caledon Hockley, fit from youth and some maturity in his thirties, shirtless. His eyes look crazed, like a madman, as his hands grip a chair at his desk with white knuckles. Around the room, there’s shelves torn down, broken, books in a disarray on the floor. His bedsheets are thrown about with the other chair from his desk propped against the wall in his fury.

You stare wide-eyed, but somehow, not alarmed in the slightest. You were accustomed to this sort of outburst, especially within the hard working men. You saw it in your father - even in your younger brother. “Lord Hockley,” your voice is softer again, all annoyance and anger lost at the door.

His eyes snap up to you, as if he had just noticed your arrival or presence. “What are you doing in here? You are not to barge in a man’s room, that is uncouth for a woman of your age and status. What is wrong with you?”

“Lord Hockley-” you try to start your confession.

“A woman is not to speak up to a man; are you ferel? Are you-?”

You don’t allow him to finish his slandering, “-I am mentally efficient, Lord Hockley, and very aware of my positioning here. However, I did knock, three times to be exact, with no answer. There had been a ruckus in here for about-” you peer up at the clock above his desk, “-an hour and a half now. I came to be of assistance, but if my help is unwanted, I’d happily leave you to your self-pity on your own?”

He has no other emotion present except bewilderment plastered to his face; eyes wide, mouth agape, and at a struggle for words. His fists clench and unclench as his eyes pan down to stare at the floor, appearing deep in thought.

“Lord Hockley, if I may be so bold?” you ask, scanning his body language and searching to find the meaning of this man’s crazed outburst.

“Go ahead,” he mutters, a hand going up to rub some hair from his eyes, still staring at the floor.

“You may confide in me if that means helping your mental health?” you offer. You know this could go one of two ways: either one, he’ll turn you away, suffer alone, and claim that men have no such weaknesses, or two, he’ll let his guard drop and release him from these dark episodes he’s no stranger to. The latter seems rather unlikely.

“I am not mental.”

“I did not say that. I was simply insisting that everyone has a dark place their mind goes to, which is a detriment to a person’s mental health. Let alone someone who is expected to heal quickly and pick up the family business, am I correct?”

Just as you thought you were getting somewhere, Cal’s eyes snap back up to yours with anger, the malicious anger tearing at his body again, “You know nothing of my family’s business and nothing of me. You have no audacity as to even assume or place yourself in my shoes. I should have you thrown out or hanged for your mouth alone. Get out!”

“Just trying to be of service, sir, since I’m at your will!” you smile sickeningly, bowing to him and sliding through the door just as a book is picked up and thrown.

You let out a deep breath of air on the other side of his door, now in the safety of the hallway. Your throat tightens with a soft sob, tears welling in your eyes. You truly feel as a prisoner on death row, hands and ankles encased in heavy metal cuffs; struggling to walk under the watchful gazes and heavy chains slowing you down, keeping you locked in this manor.

You weren’t the perpetrator, you know this, but you were framed to support the guilty with your own naivety and love.

You drag yourself back down to the kitchen to finish the man’s meal with dejection, but still devoted for the greater future - when you no longer have to be a maid in this manor and be free, lost in the world again.

“Lord Hockley?” you call once more at his door, only this time, you’re holding his tray of dinner. “I have your meal, are you decent?”

You hear a muffled ‘Yes’ and proceed through the door cautiously.

It seems he’s settled now, sitting at his desk with notes and papers scattering the floor and desk. He hadn’t cleaned the room, which you suspected you’d have to clean in the near future. However, you notice the bed is drenched in liquid, and when you look back at him, you notice sweat beading at his forehead, a thin sheen of sweat glistening against his skin.

“Lord Hockley?” you call again, stepping closer towards him. He chooses not t answer you, so you press further. “You’re sweating.”

“I’m very well aware of what my body is doing.”

“Are you feeling ill? I can help you if-” you are cut off by his fist meeting the solid oak of the desk.

“I do not need any assistance from the likes of you, nor do I want it,” his voice is stern, scary.

You try not to lose your temper so easily this time, so you give him a kind, tight-lipped smile. “Of course, my lord, you are a man after all. A man is able to take care of himself just fine, though he installs many maids within his manor. Maids like me,” you giggle dryly, “What shall I do instead, since you are able to clean, cook, and much more without the help of the ‘likes of me’?”

Caledon only groans, “Just leave the food here, you are dismissed. I’ll leave my tray for you to clean in the morning.”

“Oh, how kind,” you roll your eyes, scurrying to the door.

“Oh, and Miss, maybe you could find a better countenance and leave your convictions in your pillow when you arise. Wouldn’t want to explain to my father - and yours - as to why you were no longer needed and let go.”

You can hear the sinister smirk in his voice, but you choose to ignore it - for now - and head to bed briskly.

The next two weeks follow you in a similar form. You do as your told, albeit begrudgingly, and get into many of your childish arguments. Your interactions with the man are nasty and violent at times, always finding yourself dodging an object, taking threats, and coming in the next morning asking for more.

More, more, more; you ask for more because there is nothing else to be given. You have to take everything as a grain of salt. You have to because this means your father’s life and yours. If you manage to screw up, and you will, they will not only have your father’s head, but yours for Caledon’s punctured ego.

Though, somewhere within those weeks, you started to care less and less.

“Lord Hockley?” you knock at his door, tray of food in hand. He once more gives you no answer, so you push in.

Greeted by no light in the room, you walk around in the darkness, knowing this room like the back of your palm now. Placing the tray of food on the oak countertop and go to strike a match, lighting the candle on the desk. Going around the room, you light each and every one of them until the room is dimly lit enough to see.

On the bed, you find Caledon, sweat having gotten worse as you’ve noticed he never leaves his room. When you step closer, he is shivering, teeth chattering. Worried, you go to place the back of your hand to his forehead, but quickly draw your hand back when he jerks upright.

“Lord Hockley!” you jump, the ghost of his skin still lingering on the pads of your fingers. “You’re burning up, I need to help assist you now. You’re very ill and the sickness has gone on long enough-”

“No!” his voice rips through you quiet pleas, rattling off the walls.

“But, Lord Hockley-”

“I said ‘No’! I do not want assistance, I am a grown man!”

“’You can take care of yourself’, yeah, yeah, bullshit!” you scream, the frustration, fear, and hurt finally meeting your words as you are blinded by your emotions.

“What did you say?” Caledon looks at you in disbelief.

You cringe as you can guess what is about to take place in mere minutes, but you don’t hold back anymore. “Is your bigotry deafening your hearing or did you hear me call bullshit?”

Shakily, Caledon gets off his bed, his frame towering yours as he glares down at you with pale skin and dark, chocolate brown eyes.

“Your father wouldn’t want you to be sick, knowing that you would have to run his business soon.”

“My father-” Caledon cuts himself off, a hand going to wipe his face. “This has nothing to do with the business.”

“No? Well then, why else would I have to pamper you like a king? Is it because you’re defective?”

Caledon’s pacing now, trying to calm his increasing ragged breathing.

“Or is it because your useless to him? Mentally unstable?” you continue, trying to get a rise out of him.

“You know nothing of his business nor my personal life!” Caledon snaps back to you, anger finally bursting.

As his anger ensues, he takes steps close to you each time, piercing his thick index finger into you chest for emphasis. “You are nothing, you are worthless. I am a wealthy businessman. I am a strong, independent man with power. People would miss me if I were gone!”

“If you’re such a big man, you wouldn’t lock yourself away in your room like a toddler.”

That’s what finally did him in. You pressed a personal button when your short quips finally hit a nerve, testing his masculinity. Before you have time to react, a glass vase is hurled at you. It was a short throw, and was nowhere near your face, however it caught you by surprise and smashed against your hip.

You ignore the pain, though all you wanted to do was bury yourself in a hole. You came here to help him, but all you are returning is anger and hurt that is most definitely placed at you.

“You’re sick and it is my job to take care of you, so your father won’t have my ass because his baby boy isn’t okay. It’s my job to make sure you are very well satisfied. It is my job that you get your linens washed, food prepared, room cleaned, and make it my duty that your estate is fully functioning all on my own!” you jab a finger in his direction, placing more distance between your bodies until your back hits his door, his body on the other side of the room behind his desk.

He goes to say more, but you cut him off with more furious blows.

“Though, what isn’t my job is to allow you to threaten me. It isn’t my job to be belittled and yelled at by you. It isn’t my job to allow you to throw objects and whatever anger you have and hurl them at me! That is not my job, nor what I will allow any longer!”

“I never asked you to be here. I didn’t want you here. You forced yourself into my estate to protect your father. You knew what you were getting into just by the public papers alone. You knew what was to be expected and yet you came here anyway. You made a prisoner and a victim of yourself.” Caledon’s gaze does not falter and neither does yours.

“You’re correct, Lord Hockley, I may have known what I was getting myself into. What I didn’t know nor expect was the childish frustration and blatant disregard for human decency. I’ve tried over and over again to be kind, but against your better judgement, you couldn’t allow me to be the person to hold such compassion.”

Your eyes are welling up with tears now as you feel a warm liquid flow down your palm and to the tips of your fingers.

“You do not understand what is bothering me and you never will,” Caledon finally starts to calm himself, the self-pity returning as he recounts lost memories you cannot decipher.

“No, but I have made it abundantly clear that I was here to help assist you. However, you saw it as being weak, so it wasn’t in your cards to even allow me the common courtesy of being a human being. You felt as if I was lying to you.”

“God, you are so annoying,” Caledon groans.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“You know, when you’re silent, I almost like you - wait, are you injured?”

“No!” you yell almost instantaneously.

“Did I do that? Its dripping on the floor, what happened?”

“The glass,” you almost stutter, the atmosphere changing quickly. “The glass shatter and cut some of my hand, I’m fine.”

“You’re hurt.”

“And, you’re ill.”

Caledon sighs, his shoulders slumping. Motioning for you to exit the room, Caledon says nothing as you make a silent pact to clean up.

You are suffering whiplash from the sudden change of emotion and it leaves you on edge, but with the cooling of his mood, it allows the adrenaline and some stiffness to leave you. Confusion overtakes your mind.

Guided into the kitchen, you start to take out numerous medications, searching for something to accommodate his symptoms. Caledon walks up to you quietly, almost afraid to get too close.

You do not say or look at each other, finally finding the right medicine and sliding it to him on the counter before sitting down on one of the bar stools. He sits beside you carefully, taking the medicine.

Taking some gauze and wiping away the cuts with an alcohol wipe, you struggle to wrap your hand. That is, until a warmer, larger one goes to encompass it gently, waiting for an action of opposition to its intentions.

Caledon gaze burns the side of your head before you finally acknowledge him with fear. Softly, he starts, “…Just allow me to help?”

You nod softly as the tears form in your eyes again. Some time passes before you finally work up the nerve to ask, “Why do you do this?”

Caledon looks up from you hand with confusion, which urges you on to elaborate, “Why does your mood change so swiftly, so suddenly?”

Sighing, Caledon gives you a firm look, as if he’s deciding whether to trust you or not - to tell you. “The Titanic,” he starts, “When I survived, I lost almost all of who I was. When I returned home to my father, I was constantly burdened with memories. They would consume me, control me, until I felt like a madman. The only solution was anger. When the anger takes control, there is no longer that burning sadness, guilt, and regret; no hoping I’d done something differently. I couldn’t allow myself to do that because I was no longer that man anymore.”

“It’s scary,” you croak, peering into his eyes.

“It is, but what’s worse is the life I’ve lived after the episodes. My father found me defective, worthless. I will never be able to fully recover, which is bad for business. He locked me away in this estate to stay hidden from prying eyes, bedridden to remain unseen even in this secluded property. I insist on doing the simplest actions myself because it makes me feel as if I’m showing my father I am still capable, just changed.”

You nod slowly as you take in this new information, grateful. The man has finally opened up to you, he’s no longer a stranger in his own home as it seems.

Calmly, Caledon pats your hand, signalling that the wrapping is done. A hand reaches up to tuck a strand of hair from your face, resting it on your cheek just afterwards. “I know I’ve hurt you, but please, try to understand me, I’m not asking for your forgiveness... I just wanted you to understand-”

“You don’t need to ask that, I already forgave you a long time ago,” you smile softly, placing one of your hands on his opposing cheek. “We will learn to adapt, just as you have many times before. We are no longer strangers, yeah?”

“Yes,” Caledon smiles with glossy eyes.

“We will work on this together. You are not alone anymore.”

Caledon looks at you with uncertainty.

“I am here, always. Understood?”

“Understood.”

Kissing his forehead softly, you other hand goes to be placed on his shoulder, “Repeat it.”

“I am not alone,” a tear slides down his cheek.

“Not as long as I’m alive,” you smirk, placing a kiss to each of his eyelids.

“Never again,” the both of you say together, lips finally meeting as if to seal the promise the both of you now shared deep in your hearts.

“Never alone.”

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dmwrites · 2 years

Text

As The Law and the sheriff, it was important to have integrity. Without it, he feared that he and his town would be mocked, ignored even! And he couldn’t have that.

However, morals be damned, because Joel the Very Stupid And Also Short god had just made another toy story reference in Tumble Town to annoy him. Specifically, he’d turned all of Jimmy’s pigs into plastic piggy banks. And yes, before you ask, there was no money inside, just organs.

“I’ve had it up to here with that god!” Jimmy raged, pacing back and forth while his deputies watched him and lounged in the sun. “I can’t stand for this! I am not a toy! I am The Sheriff!” He groaned, taking his cowboy hat off and burying his face in it. “But how can I stop him? As much as I hate to say it, he’s literally a god. I may have the power of the law on my side, but he has literal god powers.”

There were some growling meows, and Jimmy looked up to see his deputies play fighting.

“Oh guys please don’t- oh!” Jimmy watched Deputy Flick get his big brother Deputy Norman in a headlock-looking thing, and an idea so stupid it might just work came to his head. “Oh my god I know what to do! I’m going to put Joel in jail!”

To put a god in jail is no easy feat. Not only was Joel, as much as Jimmy hated to admit it, very tall, he was also full of unknown god power. Keeping such a person in a physical jail cell might be impossible.

“But,” Jimmy said to his deputies, who were now watching him make a small building out of stone bricks, “it’s more about the message it sends. I will uphold the law, no matter who it is! Gods, terracotta thieves, flirty colorful men…” Jimmy grinned at the idea of so many criminals to apprehend. “I just know that Scott guy is going to cause me trouble… Anyway, so yes it may be silly to make something that a god could easily break out of, but it’s about making a point!”

——

It was a pretty good jail cell, if Jimmy did say so himself. Just a simple stone brick building, with bars on the window and intimidating messages on posters inside, saying things like “you smell” and “bet you wish you’d respected the law now you idiot”.

All that was left to do was to apprehend the criminal, so Jimmy sent Joel a message asking if the god would come to Tumble Town for a moment. Even added a please at the end. Just because he was about to arrest the god didn’t mean manners didn’t exist.

“Hello puny mortal.” Joel landed with unnecessary force in front of Jimmy, sending dust and sand flying. “What do you want?”

Jimmy crossed his arms. “Joel, I am arresting you. Get in the jail cell. Please.”

Joel looked down at Jimmy blankly for a moment, then at the pitiful box of a jail, then back at Jimmy.

“You are a silly little man.”

“Little? LITTLE??” Jimmy puffed out his chest in fury, which always made Joel laugh. “I am The Sheriff, and you will respect the law!”

“Well, what law am I breaking? You don’t even have any kind of law book, you idiot toy.” Joel said. “Toon Town has no laws unless I see it in writing.”

“It’s Tumble Town!” Jimmy looked somehow more comically angry, and he actually took his hat off his head and bit it. “Listen, Joel, you have turned my pigs into- well, I guess they’re still pigs but- listen, they’re plastic now! You have disrupted the peace multiple times in Tumble Town, and I can not stand for it. Get in jail!” Jimmy pointed again at the jail cell.

Joel rolled his eyes. “You know what, little toy? Fine, I’ll go in your stupid jail cell, but it’s just so I can break out of it. I’m humoring you, human. You’re so pathetic that you deserve a W for at least a second.”

Jimmy’s face split into a huge grin, and he clapped his hands. “Yes! Thank you- no, wait, why am I thanking you? Get into the cell, you criminal!” He opened the jail cell door, which was big, but Joel still had to stoop to get inside. Jimmy slammed the door behind him, and let out a shout of laughter. Joel went to the barred window, listening to Jimmy climb a ladder to stand eye-to-eye with the god.

“Oh no, whatever shall I do, I’ve been apprehended by the sheriff.” Joel said in monotone.

“Yeah you are!” Jimmy was bouncing on the balls of his feet, a grin so big it looked painted on. “That’s what happens when you call me a toy and mess with The Law! Your prison sentence is one week! Hope you enjoy bread and water, you idiot god!”

Joel sighed. “It really is like playing dolls with a child. Okay Jimmy, you’ve had your fun. I’m leaving now.” Joel went to stand up fully, intending to break the prison room from the inside out, but instead hit his head against the ceiling. “Ouch! Good Joel, what is this prison made of?”

“Stone bricks!” Jimmy said with pride. “I made them myself.”

“Hm.” Joel muttered, massaging his head, wondering what on earth made up those bricks, because his head hurt now. He went to the front door instead, grabbing the door handle. “OUCH!” He lurched back, holding his now-smoking hand. He looked at the door handle in horror, which was bright gold with a heat behind mortal compression. Joel stared around the jail cell in confusion.

“You can’t just leave jail when you feel like it, Joel!” Jimmy said smugly, watching him through the bars.

“I’m a god! You can’t just trap-” Joel took a moment, and turned on the spot, really taking a look at the place he found himself trapped in. It was sparse- four walls, a ceiling, a floor, a bed, and a couple of silly posters drawn in crayon. But the way the posters were drawn were curious… and familiar.

“You’ll have to excuse my penmanship, my handwriting isn’t the best.” Jimmy admitted, noticing Joel studying them. “I had to make them quickly.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Joel asked, but he could tell that Jimmy was being genuine. “Jimmy. You’re handwriting is so shit that you’ve accidentally made a god capturing spell on this building. Do you realize this? Do you know how powerful this is? How many mortals have studied for decades trying to replicate such a spell, the one that you’ve apparently accidentally written?”

“What?” Jimmy’s mouth fell open, and then he burst out laughing. “What a silly sausage I am! Only I would accidentally draw a powerful spell! Ah, well now you really have to do your time! See you at dinner time, partner!” Jimmy swaggered off, laughing just to add insult to injury.

“JIMMY! You get back here right now and let me out! I am a god, and I will not be captured by some toy!” Joel bellowed and yelled, but to no avail. He was truly and utterly stuck. Joel groaned. He’d never hear the end of this one.

#August 4 2022 #fic #empires smp #solidaritygaming #smallishbeans #long post

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touchmycoat · 7 months

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Temptation Tuesday oh I love it: a list of the ideas distracting you from your current WIP (tagged by @authenticaussie)

fic ideas pouring out my brain (all Only Friends TTT):

sequel to everyone bleeds, Sand catches Ray & Boeing at the hotel and has a Fucking Moment. Ray gets to see Sand's insecurities up close and personal.

Ep 12 fix-it where BostonNickBoeing bang at the club, Nick goes with Boston to the nye party, and Sand apologizes to Boston in front of the whole friend group about stealing the recording. This disrupts the "Boston needs to apologize to everyone" flow and Cheum gets competitive apologizes too for the Atom thing. BostonRay bff agenda, and as everyone gets progressively more drunk Mew also comes around. Ray and Mew catch Boston & Cheum up on the whole Boeing situation and Boston demands to see a pic. Nick is horrified he sucked Sand's ex's dick 'cause that's not Bro Code.

OF x Not Me crossover where once upon a time, Sand helps a random street artist escape pursuit by cops and as luck would have it, Dan's one of the arresting officers at the Halloween party. Problem is, Dan's more interested in shutting Sand up than taking Top's money so he finds an excuse to take Sand away (a la Dan just kidnapping Yok out of school & taking him to an abandoned building). This is where all my dark fantasies can go but point is, no good deed goes unpunished for Sand yet again and Ray has to contend with the fact that Sand's bearing the consequences for his recklessness.

Another Not Me crossover but it's just a Sand/Ray/Yok threesome, 'cause Sand trusts Yok and Ray deserves to be the filling in a First sandwich

OF x The Shipper crossover where Kim's working in heaven as *handwave* a junior in the Grace department (in exchange he gets to watch his loved ones grow old and move on, at least for a little bit, until he feels like he's got closure). He develops a little program based on A Christmas Carol and yoinks Ray to purgatory to show Ray past, present, and future: Sand's past with Boeing to explain why Sand reacted the way he did when Boeing came back into the picture; the present, some of the little things Sand does because of Ray that Ray doesn't know about; a vision of the future where eventually Ray's inability to exercise patience & self-destructive tendencies results in him really hurting Sand again. Ray gets frustrated at this point at Kim putting all this blame on him. Kim reveals that Sand's been his client this whole time, not Ray; it's Sand who needs a bit of grace. Ray's even more panicked at the prospect of failing Sand so he asks why Kim didn't just tell Sand all this instead of him. Cue Kim monologue about how he just wanted to prove something, how he'd immediately seen Sand was the type to stupidly carry the whole world on his shoulders and how he just wondered if someone Sand loved would be willing to share the burden.

Don't know if this would be a part of ^ fic or a separate relapse fic but Ray & Kim having a conversation about suicidal thoughts. Something about how Ray imagined his death would bring people relief vs. Kim imagining his death would bring about regret, very vindictive how does it feel to lose everything I do for you huh? vibes. And ultimately how both their thoughts stem out of the same desire: I wish I could stop. Ray wants to stop fucking up and disappointing his loved ones. Kim wanted to stop taking everything onto himself and resenting the world for it.

I don't fucking know I just have so much unresolved grief about Kim I want to rotate him

Tagging YOU who sees this (so I can scramble to a work meeting nsklfasjdbfksd)

#my fic #personal #i'm a mess lol

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mariacallous · 1 year

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For a man on a moral crusade, Sam Bankman-Fried lived a life of surprising luxury. The $40m penthouse in the Bahamas, the supermodels and celebrities roped in to back his business ventures, and the fawning glossy magazine profiles would all be perfectly standard trappings for a Wall Street tycoon or hedge fund playboy. But they seem strangely reminiscent of the tired old capitalism Bankman-Fried got rich rejecting, not the one he was supposedly building in its place.

Once one of the world’s youngest billionaires, Bankman-Fried made his fortune in cryptocurrencies – forms of digital money originally invented to circumvent the supposedly corrupt financial elite and empower the little guy – and had grand plans for giving it all away to life-changing progressive causes. But instead of bringing the rotten old order crashing down, he was this week arrested on fraud charges (which he has denied) relating to the implosion of his currency exchange FTX in what bankruptcy lawyers describe as “one of the most abrupt and difficult collapses in the history of corporate America”.

Cryptocurrency is sometimes called “the people’s money”, because of the way it tapped into the rage of those who had lost trust, for understandable reasons, in the post-crash financial system: often young men, economically disfranchised, willing or desperate enough to take a gamble on a volatile and intangible asset, and prone to hurl threats and vitriol online at anyone arguing for tighter regulation of this wild new frontier. But if you thought Wall Street couldn’t be trusted, try being an FTX user, wondering if you’ll ever get your money back.

Will we come to see 2022 as the year populism finally ate itself? For if the last few years have been all about the collapse of public trust in the establishment then 2022 was the year trust in the anti-establishment collapsed too. It’s been a bad year for revolutionaries, but a worse one for those who badly needed to believe in them, only to realise too late they seem to have jumped out of a frying pan into the fire.

God knows there are legitimate criticisms to be made of mainstream politics, the City, and – as Harry and Meghan pointed out at length from their Netflix soapbox – the mainstream media, among a raft of other institutions recently in the firing line. It’s hardly surprising that so many want to believe in better. But this has been a year of realising that untrammelled populist alternatives are just as capable of turning toxic, if not sometimes more so, than the supposedly broken systems they seek to disrupt.

Liz Truss’s surreal six weeks in power looks in retrospect like the peak of this phenomenon. She was determined to rip up stuffy old economic orthodoxy and, in doing so, finally deliver the mythical fruits of the Brexit revolution. Instead she proved that orthodoxy exists for a reason, with a mini-budget that cost the country billions and drove former leave voters into the arms of safe, conventional, remain-voting Keir Starmer, the polar opposite of everything she represented.

Perhaps a similar kind of disillusionment with the radical alternative explains last month’s otherwise decidedly surprising finding by the pollsters Ipsos that trust in journalists has hit its highest point in 39 years. Closer inspection of the numbers shows faith in the written press has been quietly rising for years as faith in the internet – which once promised to democratise information, bringing truths quashed by corporate media or political censors to the masses – correspondingly declined. Perhaps it’s not that people have learned to love Fleet Street hacks so much as that they’ve grown disillusioned with new media platforms awash with conspiracy theories, fake news and hate.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk’s decision to suspend several journalists covering his activities from his platform after he said they were “doxing” him, meanwhile, is a useful reminder that revolutionaries often end up morphing into what they once decried. Having previously declared too much content moderation “contrary to the will of the people”, Musk seems to have decided there are limits to free speech after all, especially when it’s him you’re talking about.

The moral of the story isn’t that the establishment is perfect, nor that all revolutions are doomed. But it is to beware of populism in all its guises, and perhaps especially the profit-making ones. The people’s rage turns out to be easily monetised, and some have made fortunes from it. But this was the year of realising that it’s the people, in the end, who usually pay.

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invincible-selfxmade-punk · 1 year

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This past week I had to share a room with my ex boss who is now one of 12 assistant superintendents. To put this in perspective: we have 12 superintendents in a school district with less than 9,000 people.

I hate to say I have PTSD because of work because it sounds so trivial.

I do have PTSD because of years of abuse between my childhood and part of my marriage. That type of PTSD I understand.

But being so terrified of one person who has never physically laid a hand on you, still just freaks me out.

That is exactly how I feel about my ex principal.

Our relationship started out very well and we got so close that I even thought of her as my work mom for a few years. But something happened and once I got on her bad side & she never let me forget it.

What I did to get on her bad side was to be dumb enough to take advantage of her "open door policy" and come to her several times with concerns I had or just needing someone to talk to.

She instantly took that information and used it against me.

When I was diagnosed as autistic at age 47 I was stupid enough to tell her. I thought this might explain my behavior and cause her to try to help me or at least see things from my perspective.

At first she did nothing with the knowledge whatsoever but in later years she definitely used it to push my buttons and have an advantage over me. Last year knowing that I have a cute anxiety and agoraphobia where I cannot be out in wide open spaces and I am Mobility challenged and walk with a cane, she forced me to participate in the school's field day which for the first time was not taking place on our small school grounds but at the high school football stadium. It involved so much walking over such a huge wide expanse that Within 10 minutes I was in lockdown mode. I don't have fight or flight I have freeze and fawn and I was definitely Frozen to the point that she had to come and get me and walk me the rest of the way to the stadium into the stadium and up into the stands with everyone in school watching.

All she had to do was give me a pass to stay at school that day. She gave several much younger and much more able-bodied people passes but made me participate.

Last year she gave me the worst evaluation i had in the 33 years that I have been in the workforce. It had nothing to do with my actual job performance and everything to do with her opinion of me and the fact that she needed to put me in my place, which is really what she spent all of last year doing.

In her office that day had a panic attack so bad that I didn't want to ever teach for her again. I never wanted to teach anywhere again.

By the grace of God she got peomoted and we got a new principal so I don't see her that much. However, my experience last year was so bad that now when I hear her very specific ringtone in the hallway signaling that she is on campus that day, I will have a hard time breathing.

Anyway.... in my worst class that usually makes my blood pressure go like a pinball machine, finally last week I had to call a parent in to come into class because of her son's disruptive behavior.

What I didn't know is that she & my ex boss are very good friends and that my ex boss was coming in with her to talk to the kid.

Even though it had nothing to do with me, and I was not the one in trouble in the least, being forced to sit in a room and listen to that woman talk to a kid in the same voice she talked to me with all of last year, dearly made me have a cardiac arrest. I was literally waiting for her to turn to me and say "This is all your fault for being a crappy teacher!!"

I had to keep my composure and pretend that I was not having the mother of all panic attacks & was so light-headed I thought I was going to pass out. This took place during my conference and only left me about 10 minutes to compose myself before had to go back to teaching.

My doctor--- who is one of the few doctors we have in our town-- does not believe in prescribing tranquilizers or xanax for occasional panic attacks so I just had to consume a lot of sugar and talk myself down.

Ever since then I have been waking up with the worst nightmares and have been unable to sleep. And of course now that interaction that she and I had last year that was so traumatizing is back in my head and all I can think about.

It is so s***** that one person has that much control for you and that you are made to feel so powerless.

@traumasurvivors

@elderberriesandarsenic

#teaching #bad mental health #job induced anxiety #job induced ptsd #shitty bosses #smal rown #really long post #ableism #help

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l3vi4than · 1 month

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Yours was the only reblog on that australian voting post that had any empathy or insight, so thank you. One addition though, us polling locations at least on official voting days are packed with hundreds of people all day long so I don't think showing up in a group would disrupt much for us, lol.

Oh, wow, you're welcome! And thank you, too, for that addition! I'm not familiar much with US elections, so I can only share the experience I've witnessed in eastern europe (mainly Ukraine, Russia and Belarus)

But yeah, I get what you mean. Disruption is not the primary goal, though. It is more about meeting people who share the same beliefs/opinions and getting this reassurance that you are not alone in this

What I tried to refer to with this was the most recent "Noon against Putin" event this year that didn't do any damage and was completely legal (people just went to their local points to vote). Still, it caused such a hysterical response from the pro-regime media that it was very clear that the government is horrified by even a thought that people might get about how small the real support of the regime is. It was a small but delightful cheer-up on that dark day, especially for the people in small regional towns/villages. It was especially impressive to watch people getting arrested only for arriving at the voting place at noon. Nothing highlights the regime's desperation better than absolutely ridiculous acts of violence

But you're right. This might not make any sense in the context of a different country/culture. But maybe the idea itself might still be useful if applied in a slightly different manner, adjusted for your national specifics? Or not, I don't know. I wish there was an objectively good answer to "what to do," but unfortunately, there really isn't 😭

Sending you love and support, the stress of upcoming elections is the most fucked up bullshit ever. Feeling like refusing to participate in this circus is quite a natural response i believe. If only it could do more good than harm

#election 2024 #voting matters #us elections #russian elections

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cheelduh · 3 years

Text

How to get Hit-listed by a Stonehide Lawachurl (High School AU!)

Part 6 of the highschool au

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Synopsis: Childe’s a menace to everyone when playing dodgeball. Even as his new girlfriend, you’re no exception to his affinity for raising hell during the most tranquil of circumstances.

Warnings: Swearing, bad humor, and absolutely horrid spelling mistakes.

Words: 5.3k

Note: Longest chapter yet sheeeesh 🗿

Negotiation is an art.

Childe, or "Tartaglia" has utilized the art of negotiations in his daily life. Whether that be scamming the ninth graders with fake weed, or convincing the teachers why he doesn't deserve detention for injecting random fluids from the chem department into the school's resident pet frog.

All in all, by becoming an expert in the field of negotiations, Childe is nothing if not a master, tongue silver and smooth as he takes on a new opponent.

Which is why he dutifully negotiates with you on this Monday morning in front of the History classroom, getting down on one knee and pulling out a—

"I hope to Barbatos you aren't proposing Childe," You hiss, panicked eyes landing on the velvet box he's pulling out. "Considering that we're sixteen and still in highschool."

As if remembering those meagre details, Childe gulps and shoves the box back into his pocket. "Uhhh yeah, I was just, tying my shoelaces?" It comes out as a question.

You let out a sigh of relief, overlooking how he undoes his shoe laces just to do them all over again.

The ring burns in his pocket as he gets back up.

"Why did you call me here?" You ask, hand on your hip, foot impatiently tapping. The tap tap tap isn't because of impatience though, it's because you need something to cover the nervous palpitations of your heart.

He gives you a vicious smile, sinister enough to shake the bones of anyone who's observing, opens his daring mouth to show the imaginary sharpness of his teeth. Then with the confidence of about a hundred shirtless tiktok boys, he finally demands:

"If you don't become my girlfriend, I will kill—"

"Yeah sure thing." You answer before he can finish, soft smile growing.

Childe chuckles evilly, "I knew you'd say that, but I've come prep—wait a minute." He snaps out of his villain origin phase, stumbles back a bit, then his eyebrows are furrowing in confusion. "Did you just say yes?"

You nod, cheeks flaring up. "Don't make me repeat it." Then you look away, too embarrassed to see his reaction.

For a second, Childe's internal conflict following the chain of this event causes him to temporarily malfunction, and all he can do it stare at you in amazement.

It's only when you tell him to stop staring and jump off the school roof is when he snaps out of his daze, a grin festering on his face.

He lunges straight at you, giving you no time to deflect him as he wraps his bone crushing arms around you, then lands a soft smooch on your forehead.

"Let go of me you idiot!" You barely wheeze out, light headed not only because of your lungs being squeezed like oranges, but also because of the sloppy kiss he's delivered so ungracefully.

He does so reluctantly, and you're unamused, wiping the stickiness off your forehead with a sleeve as he steps back.

"Ew what the fuck?" You say, glaring at him. "What's wrong with you?"

He completely ignores you, giddy with excitement. "Ah girly, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that. I can't wait to introduce you to my parents and eat lunch together and kiss each other during break—"

"Slow down." You tell him, as red as a tomato towards all his suggestions. "We've barely started dating."

"Oh," Childe stops momentarily, then nods in agreement. "You're right. We should start small. How about I walk you to class?"

"We're already in front of class." You nudge your head towards the classroom, and catch Zhongli and Venti peeking from the side of the door, trying not to be obvious.

You narrow your eyes at them threateningly.

Childe tugs your arm, lovingly looking you up and down. "Let's walk to class together anyways. In a circle."

A complete waste of time, yet it's impossible to say no to the face he's making.

Before you guys depart he suddenly stops, gasping loudly, remembers something important. "I have to make a quick phone call."

Childe speed dials Scaramouche, and the latter picks up annoyed, answers the phone with muffled sounds in the back. Something that sounds a bit like pleading and whimpering.

He then mutters something that forces dread into your system. "You can release the hostages."

You hear Scaramouche groan on the other end, muttering a "such a pain in my ass", but choose not to question it immediately.

As soon as the phone call is done and you're back by his side, you point at his phone questioningly. "What hostages Childe?"

He gives you a close eyed smile, taking the fifth.

"What hostages Childe?" You repeat again weakly.

—

First period goes by smoothly for the most part. Lisa, your so called best friend, once again is bought off like a corrupted politician by your new boyfriend. She sits far away from you, leaving you without any defences against the menace that dotes on you a bit too much.

Throughout class, all Childe does is score Venti's colourful pens, and then writes you annoying little love notes, using the expert origami skills he's learnt from Anthon to deliver them to you.

Despite the threat of distraction these notes pose, the corners of your lips can't help but tug upwards at his enthusiasm and attempt at poetry.

Zhongli makes sure not to ask you two any questions the entire class, leaving you to your own accord.

Lunch comes around soon enough, and your usual table of Diluc, Jean, Kazuha, and Lisa is disturbed by the torpedo that is Childe, and he brings collateral with him.

Kaeya whole-heartedly ceases the opportunity to sit near his stoic statue of a brother purely with the intention to annoy the premature crap out of him, but one look from the redhead sends the chicken-shit right back where he came from.

When Childe forcefu—lovingly feeds you the smiley fries and dinosaur nuggets his stunning mom packed him, Diluc looks just about ready to hurl.

Lisa winks at you two, Kazuha doesn't even bother looking, and Jean tries with upmost effort to keep Diluc from launching himself at the whipped fatui boy basking in your attention.

"Quit embarrassing me." You whisper-exclaim sharply, noticing how Jean passes Diluc—all green in the face, a puke bag discreetly. "Shouldn't you be doing something illegal right now? Or vaping in the stalls?"

"I quit vaping for you girlie." Childe boops your nose with his finger. "Well, at least full time. I still need a puff when I'm around Signora, to like, get rid of her awful vibes."

While it is endearing how he quit vaping for you, it doesn't lessen the need for you to bury yourself alive right here and now.

Then you sigh, pick up a Dino nuggie, and shove it in his mouth, the tip of his tongue flicking your finger. You die inside.

"There, you happy?" The action of feeding him is so...intimate, it sets your heart aflame.

Childe's a lovesick puppy when he chews, imaginary tail wagging a hundred times a second. "Can I have a kiss too?"

Diluc slams his hands on the table and stands up, hurriedly picks up his grape juice and makes a break for it. You don't blame him.

"I'll kill you." You smack him with a napkin, blazing red. "I'll end your pathetic little life right here and now."

By the end of lunch, Lisa and Jean have to restrain you so you don't break the world record for the maximum amount of mutilations that can be done on a single body.

Fourth period is a break. A break from Childe you mean. It's expected of the school's resident bad boy aka menace to skip classes in order to skip over the bodies of his victims.

You bask in the momentary peace, until it's disrupted by a tap on the window. Reckon it's nothing, maybe a bird flew into it, because intentional taps are impossible from the third floor. Except your conviction is hindered yet again by another tap.

What a nuisance.

You finally turn to look outside the window, face down, and spot Childe waving incessantly, rocks in hand, oozing with excitement that can't be concealed and a grin that nearly takes you into cardiac arrest. Without meaning to, you send him a small smile, waving back as Baal drones on about quantum superposition.

Successful in gaining your attention, he moves aside to reveal the hefty corpse of a stonehide lawachurl with a destructive path in its wake. The ridges and bumps of its hide are enough to do a number on the road, ruining the school's playing field.

Your smile drops down into a horrified frown in the span of a few seconds.

"Wow." Albedo, your lab partner whispers from next to you, for the first time distracted in class.

"Yeah," Kaeya whistles from behind you two, one hand supporting his head. "What a gesture."

"Y/N, I'd be grateful if you could possibly obtain a black crystal horn for me from the specimen." The blonde asks, entranced by the corpse that your boyfriend is flaunting off to you with pride.

"Aren't those things endangered cutie?" Lisa makes sure to butt in, as per usual.

Yes. Your boyfriend with several issues and an affinity for chaos brought you the corpse of an endangered geo-infused creature that's five times the size of him. During school hours too, the fiend. Like a cat dragging the corpse of a dead mouse to its owner.

You groan into your hands, heart racing while the fire is coursing through your veins.

That idiot.

—

Childe is exceptional at a lot of things, like the switch and making weapons out of seemingly harmless things (e.g shiv out of a toothbrush), but what he prides in the most is physical education. With washboard abs, uber tall height, and a dickish smile to top it all, he has everything it takes to showcase his top tier athletic abilities.

He pounces at the opportunity to show off in front of you, wanting nothing more than to have you fawn over his strength. He's sure it'll be enough to have you all over him, wrapping your cute little arms around his muscled ones, passing him his water bottle and dabbing away at the sweat on his forehead. Most of all, he daydreams you planting your soft lips on his to congratulate him after a big game.

Physical education, for you, is a pain. You may be good with your brain, but games exert more energy than necessary, and coordination that lacks logic entirely. You're just here for the credit. The over-achiever part of you walks the extra mile to ensure a grade in the high nineties.

Although witnessing Childe clad in the school shorts and matching polo shirt is enough to make this worth your while, you'll die before admitting it. Especially when he gawks at you as if it's the first time you're wearing the sports uniform yourself. It has you fidgeting with your fingers and tugging your shorts down nervously.

You try not to flip him off like you usually do, especially since it's not even been twenty four hours since he's asked you out.

Mr.Zhongli blows a whistle, calling all the students over to surround him. It's odd that he teaches most of the subjects at this school, seemingly the only adult present, but no one questions it in fear of genshin logic. Moving on, he explains that you have a dodge ball game today.

Lisa groans beside you. She hates anything that requires the exertion of energy, oftentimes bringing a book to read while everyone else screams in the background.

You're relieved, mainly because Childe and Tohma are usually captains, and Childe always picks you to be on his team as a means to flex his skills. For you, it means sitting back and watching him carry your team towards a straight A.

However, all your dreams are crushed when Zhongli announces the team leaders.

"Y/N, I trust that you'll lead the blue team to the upmost of your ability. Childe, prepare to lead the opposing red team."

Your knees shake as you stare at him in disbelief. "But Sir—"

"No buts Y/N." He scolds you lightly, checking off your names on the clip board. "I'd like to witness your exceptional leadership skills."

In reality, Zhongli just wants to reenact a lovers-on-opposing sides trope, wanting to see how the two of you crack under the pressure. In a way, it is an exercise of leadership.

Instead of picking teams, Zhongli assigns teams for the both of you according to his own judgement, trying to make it as fair as possible.

Lisa pats your back after your teammates are assigned, trying to cheer you up. "It's going to be okay. You guys are dating now, so he'll go easy on you."

You look up to meet Childe's eyes from across the court. He gives you a charming smile, which turns downright barbaric as he lifts up a thumb and motions to slash his neck with it. Then he wickedly mouths "I'm going to destroy you."

You blink and turn away as fast as you can in fear. "We're fucked."

Lisa, witnessing the entire ordeal nods alongside you, doing nothing to reassure you because she herself has given up.

Suddenly a hand lands on your shoulder gripping you tightly. "Let's wipe the floor with that g*nger." The voice is ice cold, threatening enough to send a shiver down your bones.

You turn to meet Rosaria, who frowns at you. Most of the time she doesn't really put an effort in dodgeball, but she must've seen your crestfallen expression, trying to comfort you in her own detached way.

Rosaria is the other school nurse in training, alongside Barbara, but somehow her patients end up more injured, sick, or mentally defiled than before they entered the room. She also spends after hours beating up Chads in the school parking lot. Also runs a blog with her booby co-author Kaeya that emphasizes mostly on the dark knight hero.

Spotting the rest of your team behind her, you begin to criticize them one by one.

Standing against the wall is Kaeya, pushing both his biddies up with his crossed arms like an absolute whore. He's breaking about several dress code rules right now. Venti is next to him, drunk off his butt as he beat boxes with Tohma.

Eula mutters under her breath, on and on about seeking revenge on Zhongli for putting her beloved Amber on the opposing team, promising him an unfortunate fate. Xiao is miserably squatting on the floor, sharp eyes observing everyone in the gym, scowl not ready to dissipate anytime soon.

Then you look over at Childe's team in the distance. Jean with a determined look on her face as she listens to Childe's game plan, and Diluc crossing his arms with his brows furrowed in concentration. Even Amber, the best baller in the school, is stretching out her arms, assisted by the gifted princess of the school, Ayaka.

Not only that, but Childe has the king of dodging on his team—Kaedehara goddamn Kazuha. Beidou shoots you a wicked smirk, winking at you until she's disrupted by Ningguang's shove.

"Oh my god." You cry out when the realization hits you, falling to your knees in despair. "We're completely fucked!"

"No we aren't." Rosaria mutters lowly. "You're only fucked if you want to be. Don't you dare throw in the towel before the fight has even begun."

"But I—"

"Stop it." She grumbles again, rolling her eyes. "You're being annoying now. If you lose the game, that makes him the dom. Don't you want to be the dom?"

She's right. You do want to be the dom.

Her words of encouragement, and not at all veiled insults somehow allow you to find motivation deep within yourself. You get up and stomp towards the rest of your team, calling their attention with your newfound confidence.

"Listen here soldiers!" You shout out, determination clear as day. "I know I am not capable of leading. I know that I barely have the physical capabilities needed to defeat the opposite team."

You take a deep breath, pointing at your cutie patootie boyfriend across the gym as you seethe. "But that man, that harbinger of chaos, that instrument of war, is nothing but a tyrant. And I cannot let such a tyrant be a victor in this battle. Not when innocent lives are at stake."

Tohma speaks up, sending you a bewildered look. "What lives—"

"Shut the fuck up soldier!"

"Yessir!" He immediately stiffens, saluting you.

"Are you ready soldiers?" Your voice booms, and everyone reinforces their priorities, except for Kaeya though. He just lazily smirks.

After Zhongli places the balls in the middle, everyone prepares for the battle of the century.

'Gods, please let us win this war' you pray to the archons above, closing your eyes in concentration.

'Give me the strength to flex my superior skills' Childe wishes, then adds on quickly 'also I want to dominate this world.'

'Give me the strength to make it to Friday.' Rosaria prays for nobody but herself, rolls her eyes at all the unnecessary dramatics of this dodgeball game.

"3..." "2..." "1..."

Zhongli ends the countdown by blowing hard into a whistle, signaling the beginning of the game.

Not even two seconds later a ball whooshes past a few of you at the speed of light, followed by a tail of fire. The ball of death kisses Kaeya square in the nose, sending him reeling back into a wall with enough sheer force to cause an indent.

Everyone winces.

Before you all can reel in from the initial shock and make sense out of wherever the hell that asteroid came from, Zhongli's voice booms throughout the gymnasium.

"Mr. Ragnvindr, headshots are strictly forbidden. You are out!"

With a scoff, Diluc, satisfied with his work, leaves the court with no apparent qualms. He accepts his defeat with the upturned corners of his lips.

Rosaria pokes Kaeya's body with the tip of her heels, then cringes when he shakes awake, up from his short lived knockout and sends a wink her way.

"Getting handsy when I'm unconscious? I didn't think you'd be one to partake in such vulgar activities." His eye twinkles in mischief, and if his momentary defeat at the hands of brother has him fuming, he doesn't show it one bit.

The only thing that keeps Rosaria from knocking him out for real is the blood that trails down onto his lip. She doesn't want to clean blood off her shoes, especially since it's a pain in the ass to get off.

You're about to tell them to get up and take this seriously, but a softball does your job for you when it darts straight at Rosaria. With pristine accuracy, the girl manages to pitch herself away last minute.

You swivel in Childe's direction, who wears a remorseless grin, which only grows wider once you pick up a blue softball next to your feet.

The glare that he receives has him shaking in exhilaration. More so than the elation he'd felt when he took down that Stonehide Lawachurl for you, as a gift of promise.

You begin to bark out orders. "Eula, Xiao, and Rosaria cover the front and act as decoys."

They nod immediately, but Xiao still clicks his tongue in distaste as he starts following orders.

Then you offer Kaeya a hand. "Get up princess. You're on sniper duty."

With Diluc out of commission, the battle is fair and square now considering both sides have the same amount of people. Ergo, no one's at a disadvantage.

That is—until Lisa fake trips over pure air, landing on the floor in a dramatic slow motion.

You roll your eyes.

"Oh dear! I think I've twisted something." She cries out, crawling away from the battle field, acting as if she's paralyzed completely. "Don't worry about me. I'll cheer you on from afar. The battle has begun, and it seems as if I've become the first casualty."

You don't let the countless amount of Lisa's betrayals get to you, even this one. It's just her personality to flake out on anything and everything that requires her to do more than below the bare minimum.

Focusing on the match, your eyes are only on Childe, just as his are on you.

You aim the ball straight at his ribs, step back a bit, then propel the ball in the air with as much energy as you can, using your entire body as a power outlet. The ball spins in the air, reaching the awaiting victim.

Childe, unbothered, dodges the ball with perfect precision, the ball not even grazing his clothes at the least.

Your jaw drops open, and you're about to move for another ball until he grabs the same ball you threw at him. With the sharpness of a predator locking in on its pray, he focuses on you like a missile locks on its target, launching the ball in the air for power that has you trembling, second to the powerful ball that was thrown by Diluc.

With your pupils dilated at your impeding doom, it's Xiao that grabs you and thrusts away.

The ball lands on the floor, smoke rising.

"Holy shit!" You shriek over everyone else's grunts and shuffles. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Isn't it poetic?" Childe shouts back while he slides away from the balls being thrown. "Lover against lover. Either you're by my side, or in my way. And right now, you're in my way." He narrows his eyes dangerously. "Albeit reluctantly, I will take the victory babe. Even if we are on opposing sides."

"There was zero reluctance in that throw asshole!"

You thank Xiao, who wipes his hands on his pants in disgust. "Filthy humans. So pathetic and weak."

Mildly offended, you roll your sleeves up and begin to fight with everything you've got as soon as he walks away.

The dodgeball game goes as expected for the most part, Eula carrying for most of it with the flow of her skills.

Tohma actually tries like the presumptuous asshole he is, aims straight for his girlfriend Ayaka, and takes her out completely. His only justification for that is "I ain't no simp!"

He shelves his cocky attitude when facing Childe with a sense of dignity and prestige you didn't think he had in him.

The two one of a kind fuckbois puff out their chests so that they look more hefty than they are, having some kind of an Alpha match. The 'me stronger than you. me dominant. me get all the women' type beat.

Unfortunately, Childe manages to fence him with his throws, and lo and behold, the square off ends with a dejected Tohma dragging his feet to the nearest bench.

Eula oversees that Ningguang and Beidou meet a quick end, taking their slower dodging to her advantage. You're actually rooting for her, tasting a sliver of victory that you haven't reached yet. So close, yet so far.

Amber trips on herself in the middle of throwing a what should've been coordinated ball, and it loses most of its momentum. Xiao is directly in front of it, and will probably be able to catch it with ease.

Ah, another short victory.

If Childe loses his expert baller, he's only left with Kazuha and Jean, whom's lack in the art of throwing is made up by their ability to dodge most of the fastballs.

However, all your plans and hopes are crushed when Eula slides in front of Xiao last minute, sticks out her foot, and let's the pathetic product of Amber's would-be downfall hit her on the leg with the total force of about 0.0000001 newtons.

Your chances of winning have just went down by a staggering 60%.

"Eula!" You cry out, collapsing on the ground. "How could you?"

Tohma cups his mouth and bellows obnoxiously from the bench. "SIMP!"

"I cannot avenge my clan if I win a false victory." Eula crosses her arms, casting her gaze down in visible uncomfortableness. "Amber will pay her dues in two business days. Mark my words."

It all a load of cap. She's sleeping with the enemy and you know it.

You grit your teeth. Fuming with an abundance of rage, you pick up three balls and throw them all back to back, taking out Amber and Kazuha simultaneously.

Childe's heart flutters in another kind of delight when you pluck out his team members one by one with no hints of remorse.

In retaliation, Jean and Childe work in sync to swiftly take care of a distracted Rosaria.

"Shit." You hiss underneath your breath.

It's Venti, Kaeya, Xiao, and you who are the only remainders of your short-lived team. It's still two more people than Childe and Jean, giving you the upper hand briefly.

It's a mystery to everyone how Venti is still standing. You reckoned you would've lost him as collateral during the beginning of the match, but it seems he's able to hold his own.

When you squint hard enough, you realize that Xiao has been t-posing in front of the nonchalant SoundCloud rapper that's about as high as a kite. He must've been defending him throughout the entire round.

His defenses are all in vain once Childe correlates another attack with Jean, sharp-shooting four rapid balls that are secured on their targets.

Xiao swerves to the side, avoiding most of them, until one is about to reach a nonchalant as shit Venti.

You scream at him, eyes widening as you run towards them in slow motion. "NOoOoOOOo-"

The yaksha doesn't waste a moment, shifting so that he's covering Venti's body with his own, which to be honest is a pretty heartwarming sight.

The ball hits his lean back, a sharp thud following when it hits the floor.

Xiao is out. But his sacrifice is so inspiring that it brings tears to Zhongli's eyes, makes everyone in the gym go silent in awe.

Even the sadistic Childe melts, cerulean eyes gaining back their light, halting his fire.

When Xiao finally uncovers Venti's body, he speaks from the bottom of his dead heart. "I'd do anything for you..."

Venti shakes out of his baked state, blinking at him stupidly with a nervous chuckle. "Ehe~? I don't even know who you are."

The entire class sweat drops. Whatever slip of compassion on Childe's face earlier has become nothing but a memory. Even your eyes dim.

The next time Childe aims and locks at Venti, it's not with malicious intent. It's a favour, for you. In a way it adds dimension to who he is and the lengths he's willing to go for you, even at war.

Venti steps away with a bounce in his gait, hands behind his head.

Kaeya and you are the only ones left standing now, and the game becomes too tight knit to tell which side's going to win. It becomes utter chaos, balls being launched every second, stamina slowly decreasing as everyone lurches away from their demise.

As laid-back and charming as the boy presents himself to be in front of the ladies, he's not very patient when it comes to facing circumstances like these. He's side lined for most of the match, finding it boring. And when Kaeya gets bored, the intensity of the tide changes, and everyone knows they're going to get a run for their money.

Kaeya coasts a hand around your hips, pulls you real close, purposefully leaning his bust into the side your innocent arm.

When Childe's smile drops, and the glint in his eyes reads 'DANGER' in full caps, you know it's time to be properly scared.

Your blood runs cold, mouth opening briefly and then clamping shut immediately.

"I'm so glad to be on your team Y/N. Maybe this'll give us the chance to become...closer." His hot breath fans against your ear, voice loud enough to be heard by onlookers.

Suddenly everything stops, falling into an unsettling silence.

You attempt glance at Childe, being met with a glare that's directed at the Captain of the Skating team. The ball in the orange-haired boy's hand deflates from the sheer intensity of the squeeze.

The tension becomes unreadable. Even Zhongli is caught mid-sip with his tea.

Quickly, you shrug off Kaeya's arm. "Childe, he's just fucking with you—"

Childe cuts you off by hurling a ball with nothing but the objective of cold blooded murder.

Kaeya whizzes past you, successfully ducking to avoid the hit, and his amused laugh rings through your ears. He rolls away from the following attacks, chucking his own series of colourful balls.

The events that unfold are blood-curdling enough to make even Satan boil his pants with diarrhea.

You take the clear opportunity presented by their concurrent dumbassery to take out Jean, the ace of the other team.

Childe's rage blows over when Kaeya eventually loses interest and takes the L, playfully winking at you while walking backwards to the rest of your team.

Now that all the distractions are dealt with, Childe's eyes flicker to you, and you share a murderous glance.

"Finally," He slaps the softball with a free hand, lips thinning into a homicidal smile. "I've been waiting for this. You better not disappoint me."

While Childe may be a violent anarchist who's only aspiration in life is to become a government contracted killer, he's also supposed to be your sweet boyfriend.

Slowly, you inch towards the front. "We don't have to do this Childe. We can coexist peacefully."

"Peace was never an option Y/N." He sighs, cracking his neck. "Besides—how else can I prove myself in your eyes? You may be my greatest weakness, but you are also my greatest adversary."

"I don't know, maybe start with not trying to obliterate me?"

"I'm obliterating you out of respect." He counters with a playful pout.

"Well I'll be paying my respects to your grave!" You lurch ahead into a sudden assault, yeeting as many balls as you can his way.

"That's my girl!" Childe whistles, grin widening psychotically when he goes all out, leaving you with an absence in favorable openings.

Out of nowhere, the fire alarms start going haywire, along with a beep in the PA system, which stops you two in your tracks.

A panicked voice of who you assume to be Yanfei shrieks through the comms. "CODE ORANGE! CODE ORANGE! EVACUATE THE BUILDING, THERE'S A STONEHIDE LAWACHURL ON THE PREMISES."

As if on cue, the ground starts rumbling and a Stonehide Lawachurl bursts through the halls and into the gym, looking around for something. Or rather, someone. It's sharp bumps and ridges make an indent on the floor, cracking it in.

Everyone falls into a state of panic, Zhongli trying his best to evacuate the class from the emergency back door as quickly as possible. "Settle down class, we have to follow protocol."

You, devoid of any emotion or sense of fear, turn to your boyfriend in such a calm manner it strikes an ominous dread in his stomach.

You stare.

Childe stares harder.

“I thought you killed it."

"I did." He retorts slowly, switching to gaze at the raging beast in amazement.

"Then why is it in the school!" You seethe, glaring daggers at his side profile.

Childe chuckles sheepishly, scratches the back of his neck. "I may or may not have stuffed the body in the boys washroom. Y'know, for safe keeping?"

The Lawachurl locks it's gaze on you, the prey, and then roars furiously. Turning into its geo-enhanced state, it begins charging at you with all its might, the target being solely Childe.

Leave it to your boyfriend to get on the hit list of an endangered beast.

"Fear not my vibrant girlfriend. Our first date can be surviving this." Childe cheekily kisses the top of your trembling hand before grasping it tightly and making a run for it.

#childe #childe x reader #genshin x reader #genshin xiao #genshin childe #genshin albedo #genshin #tartaglia #childe tartaglia #zhongli #xiao #tohma #diluc ragnvindr #genshin fanfic #genshin impact #genshin tartagalia #tartagalia genshin impact #eula x amber #venti x xiao

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roseworth · 3 years

Text

'cause i know you won't

word count: 6.8k

description: “As much as I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family…" the King said. "We can’t have a criminal living in the castle. Even a reformed criminal.”

Eugene and Rapunzel are separated by circumstance, and they need to learn how to live their new lives without each other.

(title inspired by One More Weekend by Maude Latour)

AO3

“Mr… Fitzherbert,” King Frederic said, his face stoic. “My daughter has told me you played a substantial role in her return home.”

“Oh, well, she did most of the work,” Eugene responded, nervously fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “I, uh, I just wanted to keep her safe.”

The King hummed in approval, scanning his face. “She certainly cares a lot about you.”

“And I care about her, too.”

“I see,” he said simply, then cast his gaze away. “As much as I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family… we can’t have a criminal living in the castle. Even a reformed criminal.”

Eugene nodded. “I understand, Your Majesty.” He kept his eyes glued to the floor in front of him. He wasn’t sure he could trust his own face if he looked up at the King.

“However, I have pardoned all your previous crimes in Corona. As of now, you are a free man in the kingdom,” he said as he handed Eugene a small stack of papers. Records that he had been pardoned. “And as promised, you will receive a reward for the return of the Princess.”

He didn’t want a reward.

“Thank you, Sir.”

The King examined him for a moment, then sighed. “I understand that you and Rapunzel are… close. But there’s no room for you in her new life, and I hope you can both accept that.”

Eugene forced a smile. “Yes, I understand, Your Majesty. Trust me, this pardon is more than I could ever ask for.”

Frederic nodded curtly, then extended his hand for Eugene to shake. Eugene shook it quickly and stood up, praying his legs wouldn’t collapse under him. He quietly walked out of the room before the King could change his mind and throw him in a prison cell.

He was a free man for the first time in… he didn’t know how long. He was running from guards for as long as he could remember. It felt wrong to walk past them now without fear of being arrested.

What would he do now? He honestly didn’t think he was going to make it this far. He was half-expecting to be strung up as soon as Rapunzel was safe. Yet he had still let himself hope that he could stay with her. That was his mistake.

As he walked down the hall of the castle on his way out, he glanced over at the door leading to Rapunzel’s new room. Her mother had brought her there to show her around and spend more time with her as the King talked to Eugene. She was probably still in there if he wanted to say goodbye.

He stopped in his tracks and stared at the door for a long time. Should he say goodbye? He wasn’t sure when he would see her again, and he did care about her. He wanted to make sure she was okay.

But maybe it would be better if he didn’t. It would be easier for her to let him go if he just left. It was like the King said, there was no room for him in her new life. She had her parents now, and a whole kingdom. She didn’t need him to cause problems when she’s finally happy.

Then again, maybe it would be better for closure if he said goodbye. So she could see that she didn’t need him, and she could easily transition into life without him. But that was selfish, wasn’t it? He just wanted to see her one last time even though it would hurt worse to see her again knowing that he could never be with her.

In the end, anything he could say to her would make it worse. He wanted to see her, but it would be better in the long run if he would just leave now without causing problems. That was what she needed, right? A life without problems. A life without people that would care more about themselves than about her. A life without him.

He took a deep breath and turned around, walking away from her room and out of the castle.

With the reward he received for rescuing the Lost Princess, he was able to buy himself a place to live in the kingdom. It certainly felt weird; having his own house and his own bed was all new to him. This life of not-crime was going to take some getting used to.

He had started talking to himself to cover the silence pretty quickly. Silence didn’t sit right with him now that he wasn’t hiding from anyone.

“Alright, straight-and-narrow day one!” he said cheerily, clapping his hands together. “Step one: make amends.” He figured if he was going to be living among the people of Corona, he couldn’t have them thinking of him as Flynn Rider anymore. He wanted them to know him as Eugene, and that started with fixing the mistakes Flynn Rider made.

Besides, making amends would be easy! Or it would be the hardest thing he’s ever done, he still wasn’t sure. Could go either way.

He opened the door and walked into the street, taking a deep breath and looking around. He would have to take it one by one, finding a way to make amends individually with everyone he had stolen from. That might take a while.

He didn’t steal anything too big from citizens. Most of his heists were taking from royalty and the elite, but he would often steal money or other essentials from normal people. It was enough to disrupt their lives, and they deserved some kind of restitution for that.

His first stop on his apology tour was the local shoemaker. Eugene had stolen a crate of boots from him a few years back, so he figured that was a good place to start. It wasn’t big enough that it was unforgivable, but it still might be memorable.

When he walked into the shop, he saw a familiar-looking mousy man with red hair standing behind the counter. The man looked up at him as he entered. “How can I help you?”

“Hi, I don’t know if you recognize me but-”

“You’re Flynn Rider!” the man interrupted, his eyes widening.

Eugene laughed uncomfortably. “Yes, but I recently had my crimes pardoned and I’m trying to turn over a new leaf, starting with making amends for the things I’ve done wrong.”

The man eyed him suspiciously. “I heard you saved the Princess, is that right?”

“Well, kind of. I didn’t really do much to save her, just happened to climb a tower where the Princess happened to be,” he admitted. The cobbler chuckled.

“Well, Flynn, what can I do for you?”

“Actually, it’s more what I can do for you,” he said. “I stole some shoes from here a few years ago, and while I can’t un-steal them, I’d like to make it up to you somehow.”

The man paused in thought, looking Eugene up and down to try to distinguish whether or not he was lying. “Alright then, how much do you know about making shoes?”

Eugene grinned. “I’ve actually been repairing my own shoes for years!” he said proudly. He lifted his foot and pointed to his boot. “This shoe has fallen apart more times than I can count, but look at it now! Perfectly intact!”

The shoemaker inspected the shoe and hummed his approval. “Impressive cobblering!” he said. “How would you like to do some work to repay me for the shoes, Flynn?”

“That sounds perfect,” he replied with a grin. “And my real name is actually Eugene, not Flynn.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I get why you went by Flynn for so long,” he said with a shrug. “I’m Feldspar.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Feldspar,” he said. “And I’m sorry for stealing from you all those years ago.”

Feldspar waved a hand dismissively. “Well, Eugene , if you’ve really changed like you say you have, it’s glue under the sole,” he said. “That’s a cobbler phrase. It’s like ‘water under the bridge,’ but better, because it’s about shoes.”

Eugene laughed. “Got it.”

Over the next few days, Eugene learned more about shoes than he ever thought he would know. He learned that the things he had been calling “that thingy” and “that other thingy” for years actually had their own names (it was the “welt” and the “outsole,” Who knew?).

He had made more shoes than he had stolen, and he was honestly pretty proud of himself. He had done a job and not a “job.” Honest labor was a new concept to him, but it was very welcome.

“I think you’ve more than paid off your debts,” Feldspar said at the end of the day, polishing his equipment. “But if you ever wanted to work here permanently, I’d be more than happy to hire you.”

“Really?”

“Of course! You’ve got some real skill here.”

Eugene grinned proudly, looking at the shoes he made. “I would love to. I just need to finish making amends to everyone else first,” he said. “But if the offer still stands once I do that, that would be great.”

“You’re a good kid, Eugene,” Feldspar said, patting his shoulder. “I can put in a good word with the rest of the town. I’m sure they’d all love to hear you out.”

“I sure hope so,” he said. His tone was lighthearted, but they both knew he wasn’t really kidding. He truly did want the rest of the kingdom to realize that he had moved past his old life, and he wanted to make it up to them.

He arrived back at his house later that night and breathed a small sigh of relief. “One forgiveness down, a thousand more to go,” he said to himself. “But that wasn’t so bad! I could have done this years ago!”

And maybe if I had done this years ago, the King wouldn’t have seen me as just a thief, and I could-

He closed his eyes and waved his arms in front of himself as if he could swat away the thought. He couldn’t dwell on Rapunzel. He had to move on. Even if she had changed his life for the better and brightened his entire outlook on life, and she was maybe the only person he had ever truly cared about.

Yeah, he had to forget about what he had lost, and stay focused on what was ahead of him. He sighed, running his hands over his face. He wondered if she was doing okay. She had been home for over a week now, and he hoped she was adapting alright.

He wished he could be there. He wanted to help her as best he could and make sure she was okay. She had other people now, a real family that loved her. He couldn’t provide her with anything.

But he missed her. He was constantly thinking about what it would be like if he didn’t have to leave her. He could be with the love of his life, and they would be happy. Maybe that was selfish. She deserved better than him, and he knew that. He was trying to move past the selfishness that he had held onto in his past.

He took another deep breath, trying to stop drowning himself in thoughts that would just hurt him. Instead, he chose to think about his forgiveness mission again. He still had a long way to go before he repaid all the debts he could, but he was proud of the small amount he had accomplished.

He knew he changed; he wasn’t who he was just a couple weeks ago. Himself from a month ago wouldn’t even recognize him now. He wanted to believe he really could be a better person than he was before. Abandoning the “Flynn Rider” persona might be the best thing he ever did.

He spent a lot of time the coming weeks meeting Coronans and doing what he could to make amends. Most of them just asked that he work to repay what he had stolen, which he was more than happy to do. Even though he wasn’t exactly the best at many of the jobs (apparently you can’t speed up baking by turning the oven to 600 degrees), he did his best to help out where he could.

His next stop was the blacksmith. He had been told that the blacksmith was kind, so hopefully, it wouldn’t be hard to get on his good side.

He approached the shop carefully, then waved to the man standing there. He looked tall and intimidating (especially since he was holding a huge hammer), so Eugene hoped the rumors about him being a gentle giant were true.

“Hi, uh, Xavier, right? My name is Eugene, but I used to go by Flynn Rider, and I stole some stuff from you. And I want to make amends for what I did,” he said. He had tried to get his opening statement down over time, but he never knew how to phrase the words ‘I stole from you and I can’t get your stuff back but I would really like it if you forgave me!’

Xavier smiled at him. “I appreciate the gesture, Eugene, but I do not believe you ever stole anything from me. So you don’t need to make up for anything!”

Eugene grimaced. “See, you don’t think I stole from you, but I know I did. Whenever weapons or gold would randomly disappear from here, that was usually me.”

“Oh,” the blacksmith said simply. He paused for what seemed like forever (but was really only a couple seconds), then chuckled. “I don’t know what you could do to make it up, but I do not mind that you took from me. I am sure you needed it.”

Eugene chewed on his lip. True, he definitely wouldn’t have survived without the weapons he stole, but that didn’t make it okay that he stole them. “Is there any work that you would need me to do? Or anything to just make your life a little easier? I want to make it up to you somehow.”

Xavier smiled. “You know what, I do have something. You’re an adventurer, right? Give me a good story, and I’ll consider your debts paid.”

He was taken aback, but smiled back anyway. “A story? Like what?”

“You saved the Lost Princess, right? How did that go?”

Eugene paused. He wasn’t sure how to tell a story like that. In all honesty, he was still grappling with everything that had happened, and he was pretty sure the story was going to sound insane. But the man asked for a story, and so as weird as it was, he was going to tell it as best he could.

“This is the story of how I died,” he said dramatically, then smiled. “Though, it’s not really my story. It’s Rapunzel’s.”

He launched into the story of the girl in the tower who only dreamed of seeing the lanterns, and the guy who only had a crown on his mind. There were quite a few holes in his story where he had no clue what happened. He had never figured out why her hair was magical in the first place, much less how Gothel found out about it.

Throughout the whole story, Xavier looked intrigued. He wasn’t sure how the man wasn’t at all phased by talk of magic healing hair and swordfighting horses, but he didn’t bother dwelling on it.

“And so, once I was brought back to life and she told me she was the Lost Princess, we went back to the kingdom. Now she’s with her family, and it’s the happy ending everyone wanted,” he finished. He looked at Xavier, trying to decipher what he was thinking.

“Wow,” he said. “That must have been quite a lot to go through.”

Eugene chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I know it sounds a little crazy, with all the magic and whatnot-”

“Trust me, I have heard all about that magic. The story of the magic healing flower has been passed down through generations.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, there have been myths about the Sundrop for millennia. It’s impressive that you got to see it in action.”

Eugene pressed his thumb into the palm of his left hand, rubbing it thoughtfully. The Sundrop’s powers were nothing compared to the way Rapunzel made him feel like his heart was bursting whenever she smiled, but that was neither here nor there.

“So, you are in love with the Princess, right?”

Eugene choked on his breath, then let out a shaky laugh. “Th-the Princess? Who? In love? Pfft, I don’t- I wouldn’t- I’ve never even met- I mean, I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered, his hands fidgeting uncomfortably. Nice one, Fitzherbert, that was really convincing . Apparently, he completely lost his ability to lie when he stopped thieving. Fantastic .

Xavier simply smiled lightly. “The way you talk about her, it is easy to tell.”

Eugene sighed and shrugged halfheartedly. “It doesn’t matter, she’s with her family now. I couldn’t come in the way of her happiness.”

“Maybe her happiness is you, too.”

“Even then, a princess can’t be with a criminal. That’s just… that’s how it is.”

“Would a ‘criminal’ go around to everyone in town just to atone for every crime he once committed?”

Eugene’s gaze fell to the ground. He was trying to fix his past mistakes, but that doesn’t mean his mistakes didn’t happen. No matter how much he wanted to be a better person, he couldn’t undo what he had done.

After a brief silence, Xavier rested his hand on Eugene’s shoulder. “Well, Eugene, I’m glad you’re focusing on doing the right thing these days. And thank you for the story.”

Eugene had gone to all the townspeople and made amends within 3 months. Everyone was surprisingly receptive to his apologies, which made it easier. He still got the occasional glare as he walked down the street, but he did his best to ignore it. He had done what he could. He didn’t need everyone to like him, he just wanted to right his wrongs.

After he finished making his amends, he went back to the cobbler shop and took the job that Feldspar had offered him. He never would have guessed it, but he had a knack for making shoes. Having an honest job was new to him, but it was a welcome change.

6 months after he and Rapunzel had first returned to Corona and his crimes were pardoned, he had a steady job and was getting along the best he could with the others in the kingdom. Life was going pretty well for him, all things considered.

He was walking to work one day when a group of kids ran up to him with excited smiles on their faces. “Eugene!” Seth called out, waving his arm as he ran up to the man.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

“Can you tell them the story you told me last week?” the boy asked, gesturing to the other kids following him. “They don’t believe me.”

He smiled and sat down on the edge of the fountain in the street. He had a little bit of time before he had to get to work, right? “Alright, just a quick story,” he said. “This is the story of how I died,” he recited, sweeping an arm in front of himself. He stuck with that introduction whenever he told the story; he liked the way people reacted to the line. The kids’ eyes widened, and they sat on the ground in front of him, already completely engaged in what he was saying. “Well, don’t worry, it’s actually a very fun story, and the truth is it’s not even mine. This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel, and it starts with the sun…”

The kids hung onto his every word as he recounted the tale of the weirdest and best days of his life. He chose his words carefully, though, and made sure to keep out the part where he fell in love with Rapunzel. That small detail made the story seem more like a tale of lost love than the fun and rousing adventure that it was.

When he finished the story, his audience of children (and a few adults nearby that were pretending not to listen) looked stunned. “Whoa,” one kid said. “What happened to the chameleon?”

Eugene couldn’t help but smile at how the frog was the kid’s most important takeaway from the story. “Well, that little guy is still with the Princess,” he said. “And he’s living it up in the castle, blending into things just like he loves to do.”

Seth smiled excitedly. “You know, the Princess is coming into town today! Maybe you two can reunite now!”

“She— what?”

“Yeah! They announced that she’ll have a day in town before her coronation celebration!”

Eugene plastered on a smile but felt his stomach plummet. He didn’t know if he could see her without becoming a complete mess. He had been avoiding his feelings for months, but he was positive his resolve would break the second he saw her.

Besides, she wouldn’t want to see him. She had a whole new life, she must have moved on. He wasn’t going to hold her back, that wouldn’t be fair to her. She’d been living outside her tower for months, she probably didn’t think about him the way he constantly thought about her.

“Well, I should get to work, but it was great talking to you guys,” he said, standing up. The kids bid him goodbye, and he made his way to the cobbler shop. Making shoes would help distract him from thinking about Rapunzel. He just needed to focus on his work, everything would be fine.

“Did you hear the Princess is supposed to be in town today?” Feldspar said later that day. “I’ve heard you used to be friends with her,” he added with an eyebrow wiggle.

Eugene did his best to grin casually. “I heard, but I think I’m going to stay back. I’ve got a lot of shoes to finish.”

“Good on you! You know what we say in the shoe business: stitches before bi-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, you really shouldn’t call a princess that. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“I’m not just saying it about the Princess, it’s just an expression. All I’m saying is that in general, shoes should come first!”

Eugene didn’t bother arguing. He turned his attention back to the shoe he was working on. He didn’t have any interest in romance right now, given that he was still deeply in love with a girl he could never be with. That put a bit of a damper on his romantic life.

Later that day, a crowd gathered near the shop as it was announced that the Princess would be passing by. “Are you sure you don’t want to see her?” Feldspar asked. Eugene shook his head.

“I’m alright here,” he insisted.

Feldspar shrugged. “Well, I’m going. I’ve got to see what kind of shoes the Princess likes so I can make plenty of them.” He walked confidently out the door, and Eugene didn’t have the heart to tell him that the Princess didn’t wear shoes at all.

He immersed himself back into the work he was doing, shoving away the thoughts of Rapunzel clouding his head. That wouldn’t help anyone.

And still, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing out the window in the front of the store to see if he could spot her. As much as he tried not to care, his heart stopped when he caught a glimpse of her in the street. She was surrounded by guards, and she looked… sad. She had a smile on her face, but something about it seemed distant.

When they had been in town on her birthday, she had found so much joy in talking to everyone around town. Now, with guards on every side of her, all she could do was smile and wave at the citizens. No wonder she seemed so sad.

He noticed something in her expression change, and he couldn’t figure out why until he realized what she saw. She was looking directly at him through the window. Oh.

His heart quickened. He wasn’t sure what to do now. Should he wave? Should he pretend he didn’t see her? They both stared at each other through the window for a moment, neither of them moving, until she was pulled away by the guards.

When she was out of his line of vision, he sighed heavily and leaned against the table in front of him, trying to steady his breath. He wouldn’t let one moment of eye contact ruin him.

“You’re never going to believe this,” Feldspar yelled as he threw open the door of the shop. “She doesn’t even wear shoes!”

As it turns out, just a moment of seeing her was, in fact, all he needed to be completely wrecked. He didn’t think about how much he missed her until he saw her in person again.

Eugene was lying awake in bed that night, unable to stop thoughts of her from infiltrating his head. He couldn’t fall asleep just because he had seen her for maybe 10 seconds that day. He couldn’t even be surprised, he had always known this was exactly what would happen when he let himself think about her.

What hurt most was how unhappy she looked. Before, he was able to convince himself that she was happy in the castle, so he couldn’t keep her from that happiness. But she wasn’t happy. She was trapped again. She was being kept from what made her happy, and to make matters worse, there was nothing he could do about it.

A soft knock at the door momentarily pulled him out of his hole of wallowing in self-pity. He furrowed his brow and sat up. Who would be at his house this late? It was the middle of the night, who could possibly need him right now?

He got up and walked to the door, grabbing his sword on the way (he wasn’t sure why, it’s not like an intruder was going to knock on the door first). When he opened the door, his eyes widened as he saw who was waiting there. “Rapunzel?”

“Hi,” she greeted softly.

“What are you doing here? Are you okay?” Instinctively, he reached out to touch her face, tossing his sword to the side. She smiled softly and leaned into his hand.

“My friend Cass helped me sneak out,” she said. That didn’t answer either of his questions, but he moved on anyway.

“Why did you sneak out?”

“Being a princess is… great , but it- it’s just a lot. And I needed time away from the castle.”

Eugene paused, his eyebrows creasing with concern. He wished he had been there to help her. He had been afraid she was going to struggle assimilating into the life of a princess, and he should have been there.

And now she’s standing in front of him, looking scared and tired and excited all at the same time. She had a dark hood over her head, covering her face in shadows. He knew the King would have him killed if he found out that Rapunzel had run away to his house in the middle of the night, but at that moment he couldn’t even pretend to care. “Do you want to come in?”

She smiled and nodded, and he stepped aside to let her in. She looked around as she walked in, taking in every detail of the room. “This is a nice place,” she remarked.

Eugene shrugged. “It’s not very exciting, but it’s much nicer than anywhere I’ve lived before,” he said with a grin, then added, “I’m sure the castle is much fancier than this, though. And probably complete with lots of beautiful paintings by Princess Rapunzel herself.”

Rapunzel blushed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I’ve had a lot of new space to paint in my room,” she said. “I could probably paint a little in here if you’d like!”

“As much as I’d love that, I don’t think you want to spend your one night out of the castle painting my house,” he responded with a slight chuckle.

Her eyes fell to the floor as she rocked back and forth on her feet. “Oh, yeah,” she said under her breath.

“So, speaking of that,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “Where are you going now that you’ve run away?”

She paused for a moment, then let out a small laugh. “I don’t know,” she said. “I just knew I had to come here, I didn’t think of what I’d do after that.”

“Well, if you don’t have any plans,” Eugene said with a grin. “How about I take you on a quick trip out of the kingdom?”

Her eyes widened. “Out of the kingdom? Like, past the wall?”

The King would absolutely kill him for this. And yet, he still could not care less. “Yeah, we can get out for tonight, then back in before anyone notices. What do you say?”

The bright smile he got in return could rival the sun itself. “I would love to.”

Eugene quickly pulled his boots on, and they headed out the door. Once they were out in the open, a familiar horse came into view. Maximus snorted as he met Eugene’s eye. “Hey, Max! Didja miss me?”

Max closed his eyes and shook his head aggressively. Eugene patted his head. “I missed you, too.”

“Max helped me leave the castle without being seen,” Rapunzel said, scratching the horse’s chin. “And he agreed to bring me here.”

“So then where’s the frog?”

“Pascal and Cass are both at the castle making sure no one knows I’m gone.”

“Wow, Blondie, you’ve got quite a network for your scheme,” he teased lightly. She giggled softly, her eyes lighting up at his nickname for her. “Well, we can’t have that all be for nothing! Let’s get going,” he said, sticking his arm out for her.

She grabbed it happily, and they climbed onto Max’s back to quickly and quietly make their way to the border wall. Max stayed ducked in shadows and trotted carefully to make sure his hooves didn’t make too much noise when guards would pass nearby.

They climbed over the wall, collectively heaving a sigh of relief once they made it out of Corona. They were past the guards and the wall, and now they had the rest of the night to explore the world outside of Corona.

Rapunzel’s smile grew with every step she took, looking around at the forest around her. The stars were hanging in the sky, shining down on her. Fireflies dotted the trees around them. The river next to her was flowing smoothly, the rushing adding peaceful background noise to the scene. “Wow,” she whispered, completely enamored by her surroundings. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”

“Yes, I have,” Eugene answered without thinking, staring at the girl in front of him. Her green eyes were full of the same joy they had when she first left her tower. He could feel his heart doing cartwheels in his chest every time she smiled. The gentle breeze was hitting her face and letting her short hair wave back and forth.

She turned back to him and beamed at him. “Come on, we have so much more to see!” She grabbed his hand and rushed forward, and he was more than happy to be dragged along in her journey.

She stopped to study every new plant or tree she saw, and she made sure to greet every animal that came into her path. She skipped excitedly through the forest, constantly making note of things that she would need to paint next time she got the chance.

After a few hours, she found a soft section of grass and sat down, her legs stretched out as she leaned back on her arms so she could get a good view of the stars in the sky. She patted the ground next to her, gesturing for Eugene to lie down next to her. He did, but he was paying more attention to Rapunzel than he was to the stars.

“There are so many of them,” she whispered. “I learned the other day that they’re all distant piles of gas, far away from here. I guess it puts everything into perspective, thinking about how on that star, no one even knows who we are.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. From the perspective of a star millions of lightyears away, they were just specks. Not a princess and a criminal, but just… people. People that were sharing one moment together, just like millions of other people in the world.

She looked over at him and grabbed his hand. He smiled and leaned in closer to her. Her eyes fell shut as they drew closer to each other.

Then without warning, her eyes shot open and she moved away. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said quickly, standing up and wrapping her arms around herself.

Eugene took a quick breath in, standing up and taking a step backward to give her a distance. “I- I’m so sorry, Rapunzel, I shouldn’t have tried to-”

“You left,” she interrupted quickly, her eyes gradually filling with tears.

“What?” His eyes flitted over her face, trying to decipher how she was feeling. She didn’t seem scared or mad, just... hurt. He felt a pang in his chest knowing that he was the reason she was feeling like that.

“You left, and you didn’t say goodbye. And they told me you were gone, and I didn’t believe them because I was sure that you would tell me when you left. But you didn’t,” she said quietly, her voice breaking with every word.

He didn’t answer for a moment, trying to remember how to speak. He should have known that she would have felt abandoned when he left without a word. He had been so sure he had made the right choice when he left, but looking at her now, he realized he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Looking back on it, his choice to not tell her when he was leaving the castle was entirely selfish. He couldn’t handle seeing her again, couldn’t trust himself to not run to her. So he had slipped away, hoping that he wouldn’t have to deal with his own heartbreak seeing her face one last time before he went.

And here she was. He had left her behind without a word, yet she still came to him. After he abandoned her and completely cut himself off from her, she came back. That was what hurt most. He knew she deserved better than him. She deserved someone that would have the guts to see her one last time despite the world pushing them apart. It hurt that she was willing to come back to him after he hurt her.

And still, he loved her. He wanted to go back and fix all his mistakes and find a way to be with her. Ever since he had left months ago, there was not a day that went by where he didn’t think of her. It killed him that he had hurt her when all he wanted to do was sweep her up in his arms and hold her so nothing could ever hurt her again.

She was looking at him with wide eyes as his throat dried up. His mind was swirling with all the thoughts and feelings he had tried to keep buried for months. He loved her. He wouldn’t blame her if she hated him and never felt the same way about him, but he loved her with his entire being. And he had no idea how to tell her that.

“Rapunzel, I’m so sorry I never said goodbye when I left. I had to leave to let you start your new life, but I thought it would be easier for both of us if I could just leave-”

“It wasn’t,” she said. “It wasn’t easier. I had no idea what I was doing, and all I did was wish you were there beside me.”

He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Trust me, Blondie, I felt the same way. I wanted to be by your side, and it hurt that I couldn’t be there with you.”

“It hurt me, too.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“It’s… it’s not your fault that you had to leave,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. She stepped towards him and grabbed his hand hesitantly. “But I missed you so much.” She took another step closer, and he could almost feel her breath on his face. She was just inches away, and he tried to ignore his heart pounding out of his chest.

“I missed you, too,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “But we should-”

The rest of his sentence was completely lost as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. His eyes widened, then immediately fell shut as he let his composure completely fall away. He pulled her closer, wishing he could live in this moment for the rest of his life.

He knew they shouldn’t be doing this. The King had tried to keep them apart for a reason, and they would have to leave each other behind again after tonight. But at that moment, he didn’t care about any logic. All he cared about was trying to communicate everything he felt about her through one kiss. Feeling her lips pressed against his was all that mattered to him. They had both been wishing they could be just like this for months, and being able to hold her felt like a dream.

They softly broke apart from the kiss, but their faces remained close together as they tried to catch their breath. She smiled at him, and he rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything when I left, and I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there with you.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay,” she whispered, casting her eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I had to be the princess and separate us-”

“No, hey, don’t apologize for finding a new life, your real life,” he said, putting his fingers under her chin and softly tilting her head up to look into her eyes. “All that matters to me is that you’re safe and happy with your family.”

“But you’re part of my family. I’m happy with you,” she said, her eyes starting to water. He reached up to wipe a stray tear off her face.

“And I’ll always be here for you, Blondie. Princess or not, I’m always supporting you, even if it’s from afar.”

She sighed and leaned her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. They stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying each other’s presence while they could. They were acutely aware that the night would end sooner than they wanted it to, and they would have to go their separate ways yet again. It would be the same as before, but it hurt even worse now that they had gotten a taste of what they were missing.

But he would still love her no matter what. Even if they were apart for the rest of their lives, he still loved her more than he ever thought possible.

The night would end soon, and so would their time together. She would go back to the castle, he would go back to his house. He couldn’t do anything to change their situation, all he could do was hold her tighter and hope that the memories of her would keep him grounded.

Rapunzel looked up at the sky, her brow crinkling when she realized how soon the sun would rise. “We still have time tonight,” she said quietly. She didn’t know what would happen to them when the night ended, but she could only hope this wasn’t the end.

“Then let’s make the most of it,” Eugene replied, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently.

Their eyes met, and he smiled at her. Every glance at her twisted his heart more, but he wouldn’t dare look away.

Despite everything, she was the love of his life, and he was hers. And even if he couldn’t be by her side, he wouldn’t trade that love for anything.

#tangled #new dream #fanfic #my writing #tangled the series #i was originally going to post this for eugene appreciation week like. 2 months ago.#clearly that did not happen #but here it is now :^)

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arvinsescape · 3 years

Note

hellooou can you write some angst with mob!tom but pls with fluff at the end :)

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get back. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: Swearing.

W/C: 1.7K

You were filled with rage as you approached his mansion. One of the men who were stood outside his door looked somewhat shocked to see you. As you went to open the door he stopped you by gently putting his hand on your arm.

“Do not test me today.” You warned through gritted teeth.

“He’s in a meeting and asked not to be disturbed.” He said as he smiled sadly.

“Oh, did he now?” You laughed at the irony.

“Miss L/N, please. He’s been quick to snap as it is, he’ll have my head if I let you go in and disrupt him.” He was somewhat pleading with you. You had a good relationship with some of the men that worked for Tom.

“And what will he say if you don’t let me in?” You challenged. You knew it was cruel to put him in this position, he was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t but you were so angry with Tom at the minute it took over the rational part of your brain.

“Fair point.” He sighed reluctantly as he let go of your arm and you stormed into the mansion. It hadn’t changed much since you’d last been in here.

“Y/N/N?” You heard Harrison as he was coming down the staircase. “What are you doing here?”

“Which meeting room is he in?” You asked him. Your tone took him aback, he’d only seen you truly angry on a handful of occasions.

“Why? What’s happened?” He asked concern in his tone.

“As if you don’t know.” You seethed as you made your up the staircase and past him, you’d just have to check all his rooms.

“I don’t I’m afraid. Look, maybe you should calm down and let me make you a cuppa, then you can talk to him when he’s finished.” Harrison tried to reason, hot on your heels.

“No, I want to talk to him now.” You seethed.

“That’s not a good idea. He’s meeting with Jameson Y/N, you know how dangerous he is.” Harrison said as you approached one of his many meeting rooms practically banging the door open. It was empty.

“Then why aren’t you in there with him?” You snapped as you made your way towards the next room.

“It’s just the two of them. Y/N, please, will you calm down. You’re gonna cause a scene.”

“I don’t really give a shit Harrison.” You challenged as you turned to face him.

“Just please calm down. Tom wouldn’t forgive me if I let you into that room with that man.” Harrison said, he was pleading now, something he rarely did. You looked into the blue of his eyes and your anger subsided a little, he was still someone you considered a best friend.

“Fine.” You mumbled as you followed him back downstairs and into the large kitchen. All of Tom’s staff throwing glances your way, probably wondering what had brought you back here after so many months. You chatted with Harrison for a while and it was as if he was trying to make you forget your anger and it was working.

“Hello darling.” You heard that voice and the anger returned faster than it had disappeared. You turned to look at him. He was leaning against the door frame, arms folded across his strong chest. He didn’t have a tie or blazer on and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone, sleeves rolled up and shirt tucked into those goddam black dress pants that you loved so much on him. Three months ago you’d have jumped on him.

“How fucking dare you.” You shouted at him as you stood. Harrison could sense the tension and practically bolted out of the room, ushering the staff with him.

“How dare I what?” He challenged and he looked so smug with himself.

“I told you to leave me alone.” You seethed.

“I have, I don’t recall coming anywhere near you as per your request.” He answered and it sounded like he was talking to one of his ‘business’ associates and your anger flared higher than you thought possible.

“Don’t you speak to me like that.” You challenged him as you took a step towards him, god he looked good.

“Like what my love? You’re the one in here shouting.” He smirked; he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Fuck you Tom!” You suddenly screamed at him and he held somewhat of an amused glare in his eyes. “How dare you have me followed.” You pointed your finger at him and his face fell for a second before he recovered.

“Darling, that was only to make sure you were safe.” He replied and his voice faltered slightly, only something you would have picked up on.

“I asked you to leave me alone.” You snapped at him.

“I promise it was only to make sure you were safe.” He said again, he’d recovered fully now. Amused glint in his eye as he pushed himself from the doorframe to take a step towards you.

“I didn’t ask for or want your protection. I left for a reason Tom.” You lowered your voice but your tone still held so much anger towards him.

“I wasn’t going to have you followed forever, just until you’d been away long enough that people wouldn’t target you.” He reasoned.

“I am not one of your possessions Tom, I could have you arrested for stalking.” You were so angry and having him here in front of you after months was making your head spin.

“You won’t do that sweetheart.” He said and his tone was so sure.

“What makes you think that?” You challenged him and his amusement was back. He took a few steps closer to you and now you were chest to chest. He leant down to your ear as he spoke.

“I know you wouldn’t do that because you still love me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, I hate you.” You snapped; his scent was making your head spin again.

“It’s okay, I still love you too. I know you tried to move on, went on dates but they just couldn’t get it right could they? They couldn’t make you feel the things I do.” He spoke into your ear and your breath hitched at having him so close, you gripped his shirt in your fists. “You can come home you know? Stop being so stubborn and come home.” He whispered into your ear. Your anger flared again and before you could stop yourself you wanted to slap that smug grin off his face and just as you were about to make contact his hand grips your wrist.

“Most people wouldn’t get away with that darling.” His tone amused as he slowly lowered your hand. He was purposely trying to rile you up and you knew it but fuck he looked and smelt so good.

You couldn’t stop yourself as you smashed your lips onto his, pulling him closer by his shirt. His hands instantly went to your hair as he kissed you back. It was hungry, full of desire and lust. He backed you up into the kitchen counter as you got lost in his kiss and his hands in your hair. He carefully lifted you onto the worktop and your legs wrapped around his waist as his kisses trailed down your neck.

You were so lost in the moment, not thinking about why you were here in the first place. It felt good to feel his lips on you again, to feel his hands roaming your body again. Just as you were about to get completely lost he stopped with a sigh.

“I know you’re not a possession. That’s never how I looked at it.” He admitted as he pulled away from you slightly and you instantly missed his touch.

“Tom, just, talk about this later.” You tried to pull him back to you, your mind was now completely clouded with lust but he stood his ground.

“Y/N. I had you followed to make sure you were safe because I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you. It wasn’t so I could keep tabs on you like I do with my rivals; it was so nothing happened to you. You asked me to leave you alone when you left and I did, I just had to make sure you were safe. I didn’t stop loving you.” He admitted as he took your face into his hands and you sighed as your emotions calmed down.

“I know you don’t like that I did that but it wasn’t gonna go on forever. Once I new you weren’t gonna be targeted anymore, I would have stopped, I promise.” He admitted as he kissed your forehead and you sighed again.

“I don’t even really know why I left in the first place.” You sighed.

“Because you needed space and that’s okay my love, I understand why you left.”

“You were right, I tried to have other men take me out but it wasn’t the same. I missed you, all the time. I regretted leaving as soon as I did. I think I used my anger as an excuse to come here today, deep down I just wanted to see you.” You admitted softly and he laughed.

“So I was going to get a slap in the face because deep down you wanted to see me?” He was amused again.

“I still think you would have deserved it.” You teased.

“You know, I’ve killed men for less.” He teased back.

“Good job I’m a woman then.” You fired back. He hummed at that, he wasn’t a threat to women in any way and you both knew that. You missed the banter and you missed him. “Can I come home Tom?” You asked as you sighed.

“Of course you can darling. I love you.” He said and he was grinning.

“I love you Tom. Now can you please kiss me again.” You asked as you pulled him closer to you again.

“Gladly.”

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #tom holland one shot #tom holland x y/n #tom holland angst #mob!tom

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kpop-zone · 4 years

Text

Only Fools Rush In | Chaeyoung

Coffee shop AU | Strangers to lovers | “I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

Wordcount: 1,347

Years. For years, you were already living in Seoul, but you had still left the house without an umbrella this morning like a fool. It was like you were challenging the gods to show you how a beautiful summer day in Seoul could look like. And they delivered. As soon as you stepped out of the bus to walk the rest of the way home the downpour of the decade flooded the streets, causing you to start running like a maniac. You couldn’t hear your own footsteps because of the loud roaring of the rain, but you could feel the water splashing up your legs every time your feet hit the ground. The jacket that you held over your head in hopes that it could shield you, was soaked in a matter of seconds, causing you to curse annoyed. There was no way that you could reach your apartment in time before being dripping wet. Therefore, the little café a few houses in front of you was a very pleasant sight. You had never really taken notice of it, but right now it was a gift sent from heaven.

After a few more steps you reached the door and dramatically teared it open as if your life depended on it. Once you were inside, you gasped for air, feeling your lungs rebelling against this sudden, long- overdue workout.

“Oh my god! Are you alright?”

A concerned voice caused you to flinch in surprise and you looked around the café to see that the barista behind the counter was staring at you with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for barging in like that, but I forgot an umbrella.”

You pointed at your soaked clothes while chuckling embarrassed.

“Oh no, you’re completely soaked! Ugh rain is the worst, isn’t it?”

The barista huffed while rounding the counter to walk up to you. The closer she came, the more you realized how beautiful she was until she stood directly in front of you and you decided that you had actually never seen someone more stunning than her.

“I-it is. Sorry again for coming in here so rudely. I’ll be gone as soon as the downpour dies down a bit. And of course, I’ll buy something.”

You stuttered sheepishly, but the barista immediately shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it! Stay as long as you need to, and the drink is on the house. Please sit down, I’ll make you a hot drink to warm you up. Coffee or tea?”

She smiled, managing to give you a cardiac arrest.

“Coffee would be great.”

You uttered without thinking, because your brain was pretty much only revolving around her right now.

“Ok! I’ll be right back.”

With that she turned around and rushed back to the counter.

Still feeling a bit hazy, you stumbled to the next table and sat down, using the barista’s absence to recollect yourself. For the first time, you took notice of your surroundings, making you wonder why you had never been here before. The café was fairly small, but that made it look even more cozy. There were cute decorations everywhere and not a single dark color disrupted the warm and happy aura of this place. Everything seemed to perfectly fit in; even the adorable barista who neared you with a steaming cup in her hand and a wide smile on her face.

“Here you go!”

She said chipperly before placing the cup in front of you.

“Thank you so much! This place is really amazing, I can’t believe, I’ve never been here before.”

You responded, while scanning all the thoughtfully placed details in the room in awe.

“I’m glad that you like it! I’m actually really proud of this place, everything turned out exactly like I wanted it to.”

The barista looked around with pride reflecting in her face and your eyes widened in surprise.

“This is your place?”

You asked, not having expected a young woman like her to own a café.

“Yes, it’s my whole pride! I’m Chaeyoung by the way.”

She grinned and you couldn’t help but think how even her name sounded beautiful.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Y/N. And you really can be proud of this place, it’s one of the nicest cafés that I’ve seen in Seoul so far.”

Your praise caused Chaeyoung to blush and she thanked you sheepishly before starting to ramble about how she came to open this café. But you didn’t mind one bit. You loved to listen to her talk so passionately about her work and before you knew it, your third cup of coffee was empty, several customers had come and gone already, and your clothes were completely dry again. You hadn’t noticed any of that though while being completely focused on the dreamy voice of Chaeyoung until she gasped in shock eventually.

“Oh my, is it starting to get dark already?? How long have I been talking? I hope I didn’t bore you?”

Only then you realized how much time had passed already, but you didn’t regret a single second.

“Don’t worry about it. I really loved listening to your story.”

You replied reassuringly, but you could still see the embarrassment in Chaeyoung’s face.

“If any, I should probably apologize. I have totally kept you off work! I used my customer privilege and shamelessly used your excellent service to seize you all for myself.”

Your comment caused Chaeyoung to giggle, making you grin proudly because you had managed to make her feel less embarrassed.

“That is true. But this job teaches you to tolerate rude customers.”

She replied with a smirk, causing you to gasp jokingly before both of you started laughing.

“Well thank you for your tolerance and very professional service. I think, I’ll better get going now though.”

Reluctantly, you got up from your chair, although you would have preferred to talk with Chaeyoung a little longer. But you knew that she probably had to clean up the café before closing and you didn’t want to be the reason for her to stay late.

“You’re very welcome.”

Chaeyoung smiled softly and you lingered for a moment, lost in her beautiful eyes once more before shaking your trance and walking towards the exit. Just before you slipped out the door, however, you stopped and turned around, seeing that Chaeyoung had followed you.

“Well, I hope you don’t have it far to your apartment, it’s still looking a lot like rain. Oh and pack an umbrella from now on!”

Chaeyoung giggled and you scratched the back of your neck sheepishly.

“Yeah, I’ve learned that lesson today.”

You chuckled while stepping outside. But before you let the door close, you blocked it with your foot and turned around one more time, feeling the need to let her know how much you had enjoyed this evening with her.

“But maybe I should just forget my umbrella again next time. You know I really enjoyed where that has led me today.”

Shyly you looked at Chaeyoung, hoping that she had gotten the hidden meaning of your statement. But judging by the wide grin on her face, she seemed to agree with you.

“Yeah that would be great!!”

She replied happily before her expression suddenly became serious.

“I mean not that I enjoyed seeing you getting caught in a downpour. That really sucked. And it was also really dangerous. Who knows maybe you’ll end up with a fever now. You should probably take some vitamins the next days to prevent getting sick. I know a lot of people who get a cold in summer, because they underestimate the weather.”

Amused, you looked at Chaeyoung who frowned deep-in-thought as she digressed further and further until she fell quiet eventually and looked at you in embarrassment.

“I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

Her cheeks turned bright pink, causing you to laugh.

“I’ll make sure to buy some vitamins tomorrow. I’ll see you soon?”

You stated and asked at the same time and Chaeyoung nodded her head vigorously in response, causing your heart to flutter.

Sometimes you really loved being a fool.

#drabble game #blackpink drabble #rose drabble #chaeyoung drabble #blackpink #chaeyoung #rose #chaeyoung scenario #blackpink scenario #girl group drabble #girl group scenario #girl group #kpop drabble #kpop scenario #kpop

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thecheesiestcheese23 · 3 years

Text

a place that feels like home.

Trust was not so easily given, and Philza Minceraft knew this.

Hell, he raised four children that held their own trust issues. He spent years cracking away at them for them to finally feel safe enough to sleep in the same room with him and to turn their backs to him.

So why did he throw away the bond with two, kill the other, but live with the fourth? He knew very well why he did, he played favorites. He didn’t try to of course, but there was just something about Techno that drew Phil to be with him more than the others. Maybe it was the saying that 'Technoblade Never Dies' that he could relate to as ‘The Angel of Death’. Perhaps it was how their childhoods were so similar, where they were taken away from their families and thrown into The Pit, an illegal fight club that wanted to watch blood spill. The most likely thing though, was that they were both fighters.

Wilbur was never a fighter while he lived under Phil's roof, always wanting to hold a pen to write stories than to pick up a sword to spill blood. He was a lovely singer too and could spin melodies from simply plucking the strings of a guitar. Even when he left to make a country and was thrust into an unjust war, he refused to raise his bow unless it was dire.

It was only when his sanity started to deteriorate did he start to raise his sword instead of his guitar. And when Phil heard the words of "Kill me Phil -" after he blew up his own country that he shredded blood, sweat, and tears for, did he know his son was truly gone, replaced with this shell of a human.

Tubbo was like a bluebird; innocent and a hard-worker.

Like Wilbur, he never wanted to harm anyone, which was different from his birth father, Schlatt. He would rather spend his time with the bees in the backyard and play with his bee plushie that he was left with in the box. He loved to spend time in the garden and nurture the flowers that grew alongside the food.

Tommy was a different case from the other two. While yes, he was a fighter, and a feisty one, he wasn’t the best. He was always so brash and loud, letting the enemy know he was coming from miles away. Techno was much more reserved and quiet and was deadly and to the point in his attacks. Phil saw him at the wars though, and he saw how much his youngest grew in his fighting.

Phil knew that he was too young to be thrust into these wars, too young to have met the face of Death multiple times by now, and too young to have been betrayed by nearly everyone he knew.

But, Phil sighed, there was nothing he could do about it now. The bonds he once had were shattered beyond repair and the three probably hated him by now. The only thing he could do now was to ask Ranboo if he needed a place to stay.

He had given Ranboo one of his feathers days after Techno’s execution, a way of communication that wasn’t able to be tracked by Dream. Phil had seen how the boy had been unwilling to pull the lever and was even hesitant to place Phil under house arrest.

He quickly searched through his satchel looking for the feather that was the main cell. Once he did, he quickly double-tapped the circle that rested at the top and scrolled through the contacts list. There were people from the Antarctic Empire, Ranboo, and then there was his family, Tubbo, Tommy, Fundy, Wilbur, and Techno.

Phil could only hope that Ranboo hadn’t left the feather in his house as the explosions fell down into what once was L’manburg.

With tense shoulders, he pressed the call button.

---

The dripping of water was the only thing that could be heard within the obsidian room beside the shaky breaths of a curled figure who was in one of the back corners.

A cat, Enderchest, meowed, disrupting the silence and rubbing against the leg of their owner in an attempt of comfort. Ranboo could only stare at his memory book as the feather in his hand hovered over the names of the people who were once his friends.

“I . . . I don’t have anyone left . . .” The book was shut with a slam, the title shinning against the lighting that the crying obsidian gave off.

“But,” a shaky sigh escaped through his lips. “I can’t forget them, otherwise I’m just giving up, and if I give up. . .” He stood abruptly which only succeeded in him collapsing down once more due to his unsteady legs.

“Then I’m just weak.”

The feather in his hand crackled to life, startling him before a familiar voice could be heard echoing around the small room. “Hey, Ranboo!”

“Hi, Phil.” The unshed tears in his eyes shone brighter as his voice wavered.

“Did you make it out okay?” Phil sounded concerned for him, for some reason that Ranboo could not fathom.

“Yeah, I’m still alive.” The smell of smoke was strong, even when he was far away from L’manburg. Some part of Ranboo’s mind wondered how long it would last.

“Good, good, where are you right now?”

“Uhm, I’m gonna be in L’manburg soon.” All Ranboo needed to do now was to pull himself out of this funk.

“Okay, good.” The rustling of a wing could be heard. “Do you need a place to stay or are you good?” Ranboo was caught off-guard by this question as images of his destroyed home flashed through his head.

“I- I think I do need a place to stay.” Ranboo sheepishly admitted, pulling himself up from the floor and balancing himself.

“Yeah? What’s been going on with you, by the way? ‘Cause like, we haven’t spoken in a bit, and I- I know that book was very precious to you, but I- I didn’t know exactly why.”

“Oh, it uh, keeps who my friends are in it, so I don’t forget, cause you know I have very bad memory issues.” His armor was put back on in a couple of seconds and he traveled back outside. “So, uh, I keep all of my friendships in the book, which is - has, changed quite a bit from today so I might need to update it.” The Panic Room was covered up once more. “I’ll be in L’manburg in a second- or what used to be. I’ll be in the big hole in a second.”

“I can get there, I can get there. Give me time, give me time.”

Silence fell between the two as they both traveled to the same destination and Ranboo wondered who was going to be the one to break it.

“So where did you go? Were you still around? ‘Cause it was hectic.”

“Yeah, I had a wither chasing me the entire time, so I kinda couldn’t just leave.”

A sharp intake of breath. “Yeah, sorry about that-”

“Oh, it’s okay-” Laughter could be heard from the two males.

“Are you in L’manburg now, by the way?” Phil asked.

Ranboo looked around, confirming his whereabouts. “Oh, uh, yeah, I’m next to the staircase that leads up to the Prime Path.”

“Alright, let me see if I can aim this. It might be off though.” A whoosh of the trident, ad Phil was standing right in front of him, his damaged wing tucked safely against his back. Ranboo hadn’t heard the full story, but from the information he gathered, one of his wings was singed beyond repair and was just dead weight on his back from protecting Wilbur from the heat of the blast. “Oh, this staircase has seen better days.”

That elicited a chuckle out of the taller male. “A lot of this place has seen better days, in case you didn’t realize.” They traversed up the pathway, twisting and turning through the multitude of wooden slabs beneath their feet.

“It’s fine, we needed a change. It had to be done.” Phil waved it off.

“Yeah, actually. I kind of understand why.”

“You got everything you need?” Ranboo skimmed through his inventory.

“Yeah, actually. I had all of my mending books in a secret barrel in my house but I guess I’m not getting those.” Ranboo grimaced at the thought.

They conversed for a while longer, traveling through the Nether before arriving at and entering into Techno’s and Phil’s home.

“Yeah, so you can stay here until we can start working on your house.” Phil gestured to the couch. “I was thinking of building it next to the mountain that’s behind the house, so it would be somewhat ingrained into the mountain but not fully.”

Ranboo could only just nod, not able to fully express his gratitude besides a simple “Thank you.”

Phil smiled at Ranboo. “It’s not a problem mate. It’s the least I could do after destroying your only house. Get some rest, yeah? I should also tell Techno you’re here so he won’t immediately kill you as soon as he sees you.”

Ranboo chuckled nervously. “Oh yeah, that sounds good.”

“Yeah, I’ve got to get going, you’ll be okay on your own, right?” Phil stopped his shuffling to look at Ranboo, and to his relief, avoided eye contact. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thank you, again.” Ranboo shited where he stood, opting to stare at the floor.

“As I’ve said before, it’s not a problem mate. I’ll be out for a while, and Techno should be back before I will, bye Ranboo!”

“Bye Phil!”

---

Techno trudged into his house, closing the door behind him before he collapsed against it, the roughed up edges of his armor digging into the wood. His sword rested limply in his hand as he let his body relax. He would definitely have to wash his sword from the blood that stained it.

He pushed away from the door with a groan. The satchels of potions landed on the floors and counters with a thump. He looked around before he spotted a lump laying down on the couch. Techno immediately tensed up, the grip on his blade tightening.

He swiftly but silently went over, his guard never slipping. His sword was raised, ready to be brought down on the intruder, but Techno then saw his face.

It was Ranboo, the kid that Phil had a soft spot for. He blinked a few times before he checked the feather that was clasped to a gold chain and that hung around his neck. He scrolled through a couple of messages, seeing some from Ghostbur, spam from Tommy, and one from both Fundy and Phil.

He clicked on the notification and read what laid before him.

Techno huffed in response, but put down his sword and slid it back into it’s seath. The feather was then nestled back to where it once was before, and as he was doing that, Techno saw that Ranboo was shivering.

The couch could barely hold him and the blankets he had didn’t seem to be doing much for him. Techno grumbled as he made up his decision. He swiftly picked Ranboo up and brought him up the ladder, careful not to awaken him or disturb him as they made the trip upstairs.

Ranboo was softly placed on the older’s bed, the red cloak that once rested upon Techno’s shoulders was instead acting as a makesift blanket for the taller.

Technosoft!

/rainbowchat

Caringblade

Technosoft

mic muted!

Technosoft

“Shut up Chat, I am not going soft for this kid.” Techno grumbled.

Throw him out! He’s only gonna hurt us like Tommy did!

Tsundereblade!

Blood!

Techno only sighed in response before he went back downstairs, ignoring Chat as he headed over to the couch and placed his sword next to him.

“Goodnight Chat.”

Night!

Gnight!

goodnight !

Techno shut his eyes, and let his body rest.

#philza #technoblade #ranbooo #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #tubbo #fundy #sleepy bois inc #dreamsmp #minecraft #mcyt

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the-silentium · 4 years

Text

The Lost Future Pt.1

Masterlist Part 2

Pairing: soulmate!Five Hargreeves x Reader

Summary: Soulmate AU where the soulmates share their wounds. || Along with your brother, you are transported into the 1960's with a bunch of kids you don't know. Turns out they are trying to stop the 2019 apocalypse and you are playing a key part of it.

Words: 4590 words

Warnings: Violence, blood, swears, racism.

A/N: Hi readers! This fic' was too long to be posted in one part, so I divided it in three distinct part. The next part will come out pretty quickly, seeing as it it already written but not proof read yet. Please, let me some comebacks in the comments or send me a request!

Groans erupted from your throat, a clear indication that your peaceful slumber has been disrupted by some unknown pull. Your heavy eyelids fluttered open with difficulty, the need to sleep omnipresent in your system. A bright blue light forced you to squint while tears formed slowly thanks to its harsh brightness. Before your foggy brain could comprehend what was happening, the glow intensified in a blinding flash and the sudden feeling of free-falling gave you nausea.

The fall was brutal, your whole body crashed on the ground like an inanimate puppet. Your hands flew to your face with a pained cry, covering the painful spot that was your nose in an attempt to soothe the suffering nerves. To say that you were confused was an understatement. One moment, you were peacefully asleep and the next you were… where? You removed your hands from your face, a pounding sensation still beating under your skin and shrieked as your eyes landed on a disgustingly big spider weaving its web between two oversized blades of grass. You jumped aside, eager to put distance between yourself and the arachnid, when your eyes met the magnificent blue sky, as clear as ever, with the sun nearing its peak. The warmth of its rays touched delicately your cheeks achieving to bring a smile to your lips. It has been a really long time since you last sunbathed and today would have been a perfect day to do it if it weren’t for the strange situation you just found yourself in.

At the foot of a nearby tree laid a brown-haired boy cursing under his breath. He must have scratched his knee somewhere, looking as he was slouched over himself trying to alleviate the pain as you did moments ago. Your eyes traveled up, analyzing the familiar form. His outfit resembled yours, his tousled hair the same shade as yours… You jumped to your feet in a hurry when his green gaze met yours.

"Roo!" You exclaimed, running toward your twin. The teenager only had a second to prepare himself before his body was tackled to the ground by an incredible force. His yelp made you laugh before he pushed you aside, adding another fall on the list of today's activities. Once he got a good look at you, Andrew’s eyes widen. Some tears formed in his eyes, but before they could escape and run freely down his cheeks, he threw himself at your neck, hugging you with all his might.

"Y/N!" His strangled voice was muffled by your neck. Your arms wrapped around his body, mirroring his grip. "I missed you too, Roo," You whispered in his neck. Finally, you reunited with the only person in the whole world that understood you more than yourself.

Pushing you at arm length, Andrew’s eyes scanned you like an awk. "How is that possible?" He mumbled, eyebrows furrowing. "You-" Your laugh made him jump and clearly, he was beginning to think that you came back missing some brain cells. Patting his shoulder, a smirk stretched your lips.

"Don't sound so disappointed." You flicked his forehead, just like you used to do when you were kids and you were teasing him. "I might think that you don't like me."

Andrew groaned and pushed you off. Getting up snickering, you brushed off the dirt on your clothes. You had missed it, this perpetual teasing. You both could bicker and argue all you wanted, but you would always recover in no time, never holding a grudge against the other without having to talk about it.

"What the fuck!" Andrew's yell made you look up. He pulled his clothes forward, examining and patting his body like he never saw it before. "No, no, no… Why am I thirteen again?" His head shot up, his green gaze back on you showing his confusion. "What did you do?"

Taking a step back, you put a hand on your chest. "What did I do?" You replied in a defensive tone. "I didn't do shit! Four minutes ago I was-" Your sentence died as your eyes caught on your surroundings. Old cars you’ve had only seen in movies rolled on the streets, ladies walked by wearing old fashioned dresses of various flashy colors and various patterns, different stores displayed proudly their retro signs for all to see. Were you in one of the small American towns that were stuck in time?

"What the…" You heard your brother mutter in sync with yourself. The thought to pinch yourself passed your mind, after all, you did have some really weird dreams recently with all the stuff that happened in your life. Or maybe you watched too much Supernatural in the last months.

Turning around to try and make sense of the scenery, you noticed high buildings beyond the line of trees. If they were anything to go by, you would say that you ended up in a urban park in some random city. The transportation method was still unknown, but that was something you could figure out later.

Women in colorful dresses walked slowly talking to each other on a stone walkway. Some of them pushed baby carriers around while others looked in the twins direction, a hand flying to their mouth, eyes growing as wide as saucers. Looking down, you felt your heart accelerate. You were wearing a pair of black basketball shorts along with a light grey tank top that said: "If I was a bird, I know who I'd shit on". Clearly, you didn’t have the proper attire for this period of time. Andrew was in the same predicament as yourself, with his basketball shorts and his "I play hockey because punching people for no reason is frowned upon" shirt.

Getting a hold of Andrew's wrist, you started to walk away from the outraged women who seemed to be harshly whispering between them, their manicured fingers pointed at them. Would it have been your own modern age town, you would have assumed entirely your choice of clothing, but here, where you didn’t know jack shit about how the people would react? You kept it in and walked away.

"Hey! You two from the 21st century!" Shocked, you stopped in your tracks and turned to meet a brown-haired boy running in your direction. His school uniform was vaguely familiar, although you couldn’t put your finger on where you knew it from. "You guys got transported too!" The boy finally reached them. He was all smile and his bubbly presence made you relax immediately. You noticed six other kids wearing the same uniform walking after their comrade. It reassure you that the majority of the group seemed as lost as your brother and yourself. Maybe you could stick with them for a while. You noticed that they had an unconscious girl with them. You wondered if her state was caused by a fall or by another unknown reason.

"Transported? What are you talking about?" Andrew stepped closer, positioning himself right beside you. He was three inches taller than you and surpassed the new boy by a good one inch.

Bubbly guy turned around, pointing vaguely at one of his approaching friend. "Five time-traveled us here. In the past! So we could stop the a-," a hand on Bubbly's mouth prevented him from saying more.

Before you had time to question the sanity of Five's parents for choosing such a name or ask how one could time-travel back in time, cold blue eyes glared holes in Bubbly's head while maintaining pressure on his mouth. "Shut it. We already have enough attention on us like that." True to his words, people were watching their little group intently, some of them stopping in their tracks to openly stare at them.

The steady rhythm in your ribcage was quickly disturbed by the harsh blue gaze falling on you. A beat or two were skipped, your body too entranced to remember that this muscle was indeed vital to your survival. "We can't talk here." A smirk stretched his lips when his eyes trailed down to your tank top. For a completely unknown reason your body answered to his apparent approval by creating some butterflies in your belly. Swiftly, he removed his jacket and handed it to you.

Eyebrows furrowed, you stared at him, then the jacket and back at him. "I'm not cold thank you." You said confused. Rolling his eyes, Smug Face kept handing you the piece of clothing. "If you walk around looking like that, you might get arrested. People in this decade aren't that open yet." He clarified in an impatient tone.

You didn’t know much about "this decade", but you can feel that he was definitely right. The people around seemed extremely judgemental and unappreciative of your appearance. Sighing, you uncrossed your arms and took the jacket, making sure to not touch the boy's finger in the process. The last thing you needed was your heart stopping indefinitely because it short-circuited at his contact.

"Fine." The black jacket was surprisingly comfortable and light on your shoulders. The coffee scent that lingered on it was quite enjoyable and you found yourself gripping the slightly too long sleeves. Looking down, it seemed like you were wearing a weird looking black dress. If you kept your legs close to each other, that is. Smug Face looked satisfied of your appearance and nodded. His mouth opened to speak again, only to be cut by another.

"Wait. How do we know we can trust you?" Oh, Andrew. Always there to protect you from any harm. Speaking of which, his right arm found its place on your shoulders while his query gaze was fixed to the unconscious girl in one of the boys’ arms.

At that, Smug Face stared at him, seemingly getting colder. "Really?" He rolled his eyes once again and scoffed, turning around. He took off toward a street, muttering to the others to follow him. Some of his companions followed right behind him after sending them curious and apologetic glances. Bubbly and a girl stayed behind, waiting for the newcomers.

The girl sighed and offered her hand to shake. "I'm Allison. Sorry about Five, he's a bit rude." Bubbly scoffed at that, muttering something about a grouchy old man. "The girl is our sister, Vania. She fell unconscious before we time-traveled. Look, I know you don't have to, but you can trust us." Deep inside you, you knew that they were trustworthy. Anyway, if you were proven to be wrong, all you had to do was use your power and get the hell out of there with Andrew. Smiling, you shook Allison's hand before pointing to your brother.

"That's Andrew, I'm Y/N. And don't worry," You pointed at the nosey people still watching their little group, "between the old-timers and you guys, I choose you guys."

Allison chuckled while Bubbly, who presented himself as Klaus, cheered and led the way to catch up with their siblings.

The walk to a small isolated house took a good 20 minutes. In this time, you talked with the rest of the group, getting to know them a bit.

You learned that the familiarity you found in their uniform was caused by their worldwide superheroes reputation. You remember watching the news one day, 6 of them displaying in front of a crowd, proud faces daring someone or something to come at them and try and beat them. You remember feeling proud of being born on the same day as them. You were all special after all.

However, they weren't as invincible as you once thought in your young innocence. Apparently, they failed in preventing an apocalypse in 2019 and ended up travelling through time to survive, which failed once again because you all were back in your early teen age. The idea of being stuck in the past for your whole life was weird to say the least and you hoped that you would find a way to get back home.

Most importantly though, you learned that Klaus was your favorite out of the group. He was carefree, almost too much sometimes, and was not afraid to be himself. You laughed along with him during a big part of the walk, the both of you mocking the outraged faces of the 1963 grown-ups when they got a good look of Andrew's shirt or Allison's too short skirt for their time.

Luther clearly didn't trust the two addition to their little group. He shot some glances your and Andrew's way from time to time, clearly trying to judge if you were a threat or not. At one point, he asked Allison to walk with him. It may have sound innocent but you knew he wanted to protect her from you. You didn't need a power to find out, his eyes were talkative enough.

Diego was at least approachable. He didn't talk much, but didn't reject you either. He seemed funny on first glance and you hoped that you would have a chance to talk to him more.

Finally, there was Five. For you, he was a total mystery. He didn't turned around once, too concentrated to get to his destination and not once did he answer his siblings when they asked where he was leading them. He totally ignored the people watching him like he had two heads, sometimes glaring at those who were too close to him, but mainly kept his eyes right ahead.

You reached a cute little yellow house with rows of beautiful purple flowers framing the door. Pansies you think they are named. You were sure that there would be a lovely old lady greeting you at the door with a nice smell of cookies floating in the air, but to your disappointment, a musty smell gripped you at the throat instead, along with dust entering your lungs.

You coughed a bit just like everyone who entered before you minus Five. He seemed immune to his environment, still walking like he hadn't reached his destination yet.

"Five, the hell are we doing here?" Diego's voice echoed through the silent rooms. You wandered into the little living room, barely dodging Klaus who just threw himself on the first couch he saw. A cloud of dust erupted of the old cushion, like an explosion suffocating the brunette who quickly got back on his feet. You laughed at his antics when a hand got a hold of your arm and pulled you toward a door.

"Come on Panda. They went this way." Andrew released you when you followed after him. The door lead to a basement, where everyone was gathered around Five.

"Thank you for finally joining us." The sarcasm caught your attention, your eyes travelling to the source only to find his gaze on you, reanimating the flutters in your belly. Damn butterflies, you'll need to find a fly swatter soon. "Now we can concentrate on stopping the apocalypse." You froze. The what now?

"The hell?" "Did you just say a-" both yours and Andrew's voice died in your throat when Five lifted the corner of a carpet, throwing it at your feet and gripped two wood planks. If he hadn't lifted the two planks like he did, you would never have thought that they were movable.

"Holy shit! You have your own batcave?" Klaus jumped before Five in the hole in the ground. Five followed suit, threatening Klaus of mutilation if he touched anything. Luther moved his unconscious sister in his arms and entered the hole. Your curiosity to see what was down there got the best of you, so you did one step toward the hole before you were stopped in your tracks.

"Woa. We can't go down there. We don't know them." Roo's uneasiness was clear. He didn't trusted them and being stuck underground wasn't helping. "No offense," he watched Allison and Diego, who stayed behind waiting for them, "but you guys might be killers for all we know!"

A blur passed in your field of vision, passing under your brother's chin and hitting the wall.

"Don't you fucking dare call us killers. We save people." With each words, Diego got closer to Andrew, growing the tension in the room as he went.

"And you think that they'll trust us when you throw knives at them?" Allison grabbed her sibling's arm and pulled him back, away from Andrew's face.

"They have to if they want to come back from here." Five's voice coming from behind you made you jump. You hasn't seen him exit the hole nor did you hear his steps. "And we don't have time to waste. The clock is ticking." His tone let no place to negotiate. He was losing patience. And fast.

"To stop the apocalypse?" The hope of returning home, to your family and friends was relieving. If you could do something to save them in 2019, you would definitely do everything to make sure that happened.

"Yes and if we want to have a chance to do it, we must start to plan. Now." A sigh on your left made you relax. Andrew finally admitted defeat, allowing you to follow Five who disappeared under the ground again.

You stopped in awe at the underground living room. A bunker. The perfect hideout to plan to stop an apocalypse.

…………………………….

Your brain felt like it was going to explode at any second. After Five had thrown spare clothes to everyone, the Hargreeves had taken an hour or so to explain what happened in 2019 and you were now trying to elaborate a plan against an organisation named the Commission. Sadly, every ideas were quickly rejected by an impatient and highly irritated Five.

Klaus' whines about his empty stomach was getting on the boy's nerves for the last half hour, but you couldn't stop yourself before finally agreeing and proposing to go get some take out. Thinking with an empty stomach was too much to ask for and by the looks of it, Five would never be satisfied by anyone's idea.

Cheers resonated in the room making you chuckles while Five rolled his eyes.

"I'm coming with!" Klaus cheerfully tapped your shoulder and lead the way out of the bunker.

"Me too! You'll need someone to "pay" for the food." Allison chuckled along with you. You shot a questioning glance at your brother, only to be answered with a shake of his head. You knew he would probably use this time to snoop around the bunker and get to know who he was plotting with. Just as you were about to exit the house with your 2 new friends, a blue flash on your right caught your attention.

"I'm coming." Every damn time! The second you hear that damn melodious voice, your heartbeat accelerates! Were you ill? Was your body trying to tell you something? Warn you against him?

"Believe me, old brother dear! We really don't want to know!" Hands moving in the air like a lunatic, Klaus turned on himself to face you, walking backwards. You barely had time to slap a hand on your mouth to stop yourself from laughing at the boy. "You just want coffee, say it." He added on a more serious tone.

"I'm here to make sure that you newbies don't alter the timeline more than it already is." Allison ignored Five's irritated comment and nudged your arm.

"Hey, sorry about Diego earlier. He really takes his vigilante work seriously." You shrugged it off, it wasn't a big deal to you. You were a bit carefree but not careless. You had good instincts and you knew that you could trust your guts telling you that they were good allies.

"It's fine. Sorry for my brother, Roo really crossed a line, calling you killers like that." You paused, trying to find the right words to describe your situation. "He's just really confused. One minute we are relaxing at home and the next we are back in our teenage body in an old american city." You frown, looking at the ground. A delicate hand found your shoulder and squeezed softly.

"I forgot to ask!" You jumped at Klaus' sudden exclamation. "Where are you guys from? I can't place your accent!"

You scratched your neck, an embarrassed smile forming on your face. "Sorry for the accent." A nervous laugh escaped your lips. "My brother and I are French Canadian. We grew up learning French and English, but I'm way more fluent in French as it's my mother tongue." You were not embarrassed of your country in the slightest. You loved Canada, it was just that a certain piercing blue pair of eyes was glued to you ever since you left the house and they started making you nervous.

Klaus gasped before reaching your side to throw an arm around your shoulder and pull your smaller form into his side. "Our polite neighbors! You don't have to worry, your English is impéccable so far!" You giggled, happy to know that your nationality won't be an issue.

"So you were in Canada and you still time-travelled?" Five's sudden question surprised you. During the whole way to the nearest diner, he had remained silent, listening and analysing. His incredulous tone made you perplexed. Was it wrong? You opened the door to the others before answering the question.

"Looks like i-" A fist hit the counter in front of you, making you jump. Your heartbeat accelerated for a second, the silence in the diner deafening to your ears and rising your nervosity. Every pair of eyes in the room was directed at you, more so at Allison. You perceived her anxiety and immediately, your hand found hers in a weak attempt to appease her. The way her fingers tightly interlaced with yours despite her keeping a strong exterior alerted you that she was shrinking inside.

The looks on the patrons faces made you sick. You recognized those looks. Disgust. Anger. Superiority. For a moment, you had forgotten that a lot of people in these years hated the people of color and that they suffered great injustices.

The clerk behind the counter with his haughty air, pointed a sign behind him. The sight made you gnash. Whites only. Oh how you wanted to show him how colourful he could get if you hit him hard enough. You opened your mouth at the same moment as Klaus, but the both of you were interrupted by none other than Five.

"We're leaving." Your eyes went wide, quickly turning to him to yell at him instead, but were cut off by his hand pulling you out harshly along with Allison. The second you were outside, you pulled your hand back as hard as you could, nearly elbowing Klaus in the stomach when Five let you go.

"Why are you letting them win?" You spat. Some patrons were still eyeing you through the front window, contentment dripping from their features. You nearly decided to get back inside and speak your mind.

"There's nothing we can do about that. Drop it." Your blood was still boiling in your veins. You wanted justice. You wanted to punch the clerk's and patron's smug faces until their thick skull understood that people of color or not, everyone had the same rights. You were all humans. You were all sentient beings.

"It's fine. Let's go." Allison's weak smile didn't even reached her eyes. As much as you hated to, you dropped it nevertheless. Pushing the matter wouldn't do anyone any good so you followed Five towards another diner, your morale at its lowest. He and Klaus went inside to get the food while you waited with Allison outside. You two settled on a bench near the diner so the boys would find you easily and started softly passing rocks at each other with your feet.

"You must miss them." You frowned at the affirmation.

"Who?"

"Your soulmate and your family." Her sad eyes met yours. It was at this moment that you realised that she looked utterly tired. It pulled at your heart to see her in this state.

"I never met my soulmate. But I do miss my family a lot." You recalled your mom who stroked your hair when your weren't feeling good, your dad who would always figure out a way to cheer you up and your dog who would always be a sunshine and sleep over your covers to keep you warm whenever you felt cold. Lowering your head because of the tears forming in your eyes, you blinked several times to subtly kept them at bay. Years of hiding your tears caused you to improve your own technique and become an expert.

"You'll meet him, one day." You slowly nod your head, keeping your gaze low. "You say "never" like it was definitive, but when we get back in 2019, there's still a chance that you'll find him." She pat your shoulder, smiling softly. You returned her smile. You were about to ask about her own soulmate when something shiny caught your eyes. The sun reflected off a metallic surface, which you quickly attributed to a knife.

Before you could register what happened, your brain forced your hand to move and grab the knife in a strong grip. The pain was excruciating. The feeling of a thousand paper cuts all happening at once, cutting through your flesh and leaving a burning feeling in your palms and fingers made you grunt. As much as you wanted to drop the knife, you couldn't. Because if you were to release your grip on the weapon, the moron who tried to stab your friend would get what he wanted.

Only when he pulled back on the knife, cutting deeper into your flesh, did you screamed and fell on your knees. You heard your name but you were too focussed trying to keep the pain at bay, squeezing your wrist in vain. The burning intensified, along with your heartbeat resonating into your hand. A soft touch on your back brought you back to reality. The moron had apparently took out, leaving you with Allison, Klaus and a disheveled Five.

"Wait, you're cut too?"

You couldn't concentrate. Your head along with your hand were pounding, blood pooling between your fingers and tainting your newly acquired old pants. For a moment, all you could see was the deep red of your blood, slowly oozing from the deep gashes in your palm and phalanges. It was mesmerizing and terrifying. You haven't been hurt to the point of bleeding in… years? It wasn't something you missed in the slightest.

Then your world became blue. The most beautiful and calming shade of blue you've ever seen. It happened in a flash and suddenly you were back in the bunker under the yellow house. No more calming blue, no more street, no more cars. No more bubble.

"What the hell happened!?" Andrew's body filled your vision while his beaming voice filled your ears.

"Stop screaming. That's unnecessary." You were certain that if Five hadn't knelt on your side and showed you his hand, Andrew would have definitely jumped at his throat and strangled him. Your eyes widened when you noticed the blood on his hand. Both your cuts were 100% identical. "That explain why you got teleported from Canada." The tiniest of smile graced his features. "Hey soulmate."

You didn't know how you two being soulmates allowed you to time-travel, but you knew two things: you were screwed and the butterflies will keep dancing in your stomach for the rest of your life.

Part 2

#five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #my fic #the umbrella academy #tua s1 #klaus hargreeves #allison hargreeves #diego hargreeves #luther hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #soulmate

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zigtheeortega · 3 years

Text

if we meet again

[part one of the again series]

pairing | bryce x mc

word count | 10k

warnings | mentions of sex, innuendos, drinking.

tags | @raleighcarrera, @pixeljazzy, @dakotawinchester, @writinghereandthere, @pixelsandkink, @masquerade-reimagined, @choicesarehard, @nerdferatum, @bobbymckenzie, @agentdumortain, @bryceslahela, @lahellacute, @violinet, @zigsnose, @adamdusmortain, @drsobemoji, @choeries, @houserosario, @plasticdodecagon, @noimarocketman (tagged sideblogs instead of main blogs!)

author’s note | so i recently finished the before trilogy of films, and i really wanted to write something based off of it but in a way that would better encapsulate bryce and my mc spencer! part one consists of years 1 - 4, taking place through their undergrad years at university. this is gonna be a bit of a journey so buckle up!

read on ao3! [disclaimer: ao3 version has smut included, not separate.]

•─────────────────•

year one

The ride from the airport to her parents’ home was long and grueling, the slushy ice pelting the windshield barely passing for snow.

It was practically sub-zero outside, a stark difference between the mid seventies weather she’d just left.

Boarding a plane wearing a tank top and layering as she stepped off was a weird experience to say the least. It was like stepping into another world.

The cookie cutter suburbs were nauseatingly bland. Was this really what her parents wanted?

Sure, they were the typical awestruck immigrant family who were obsessed with the American experience, but to be wholly consumed by it? God she never wanted a roundtrip date to come so fast in her life.

They’d closed on the house faster than she could complain about it, but she couldn’t have done much anyways. They’d packed the house up right before she left for her freshman year of college, so the decision didn’t affect her too much.

The slush came down harder, sounding nearly like hail on the roof of her taxi.

She glanced down at her dirty tennis shoes and grimaced – she dreaded having to lug her suitcase from the taxi to her front door.

When it screeched to a stop, she handed the driver a couple bills (leaving a hefty tip, because hey, it was the holidays) and retrieved her things from the trunk.

Backpack slung over one shoulder, suitcase gripped in her right hand, she braced the freezing wet rain.

The walk from the mailbox to the front door was way longer than she remembered. About halfway up the short stairs, she made a crucial mistake. The ball of her foot caught a patch of ice and she tumbled to the ground.

“Ah, fuck,” she grumbled, twisting her body so she was sitting on the stairs. The rain seeped through her jeans, freezing her ass and thighs.

“Hey, miss, you okay?” A voice called from across the lawn.

Her loose hoodie obstructed her vision, so she couldn’t see the man, but she heard his shoes squelch across the grass as he jogged towards her.

“Here, lemme take that,” he said, grabbing her backpack and suitcase before helping her up with his free hand.

She tossed her hood back to catch a glimpse of the kind stranger, and her breath hitched in her throat at the sight of the handsome boy in front of her.

A single dimple appeared on one of his flushed cheeks as he flashed a grin at her, his hair damp from the falling rain. “You good?” He asked again, brown eyes searching hers.

“Uh, yeah, I’m alright. Thanks for coming to help me up,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips.

“I’ll help you to the front door. This is your house, right? I’m not aiding and abetting a burglar?” He teased, turning to walk towards her door.

“No, no. My parents live here,” she said, pointing at the house.

“And you don’t?”

“Technically yeah, in between semesters,” she said, shrugging. “Just took my last final this morning.”

“Oh, cool, me too. I made it in a couple hours ago,” he said, gesturing to the house to the left of theirs.

“So, our parents are neighbors?”

He grinned. “You sound disappointed.”

She shook her head, shoving her hands in her pockets. “No, it’s nice to know someone my age around here. They moved into this house right as I was moving into my dorm, so I didn’t get a chance to get to know anyone.”

“I guarantee my parents were the one to sell you this house,” he said, handing her the backpack and rolling her the suitcase.

“Your parents are realtors? That’s cool,” she said, nodding. “They must be great at their jobs if they convinced them to buy the house so fast.”

He laughed, eyes crinkling at the edges, his irresistible dimple popping up again. “I don’t know shit about the housing market, stranger.”

She couldn’t hold her giggle back. His laugh was infectious. “I’m the stranger? You ran up to me first.”

“Yeah, but I landed first, so I deem you the stranger,” he said, gently poking her arm. “So, stranger, do you have a name?”

“Spencer Matsuzaki,” she said, holding a hand out, half of her palm covered with the damp wrist of her hoodie.

“Bryce Lahela. Nice to meet you, stranger.”

––––

The first night home wasn’t terrible. She was practically interrogated, though.

She zoned out, slipping into the same routine she always did when she was bombarded with questions about school.

She had to stay neutral and cordial while explaining aspects of her life in grave detail on top of leaving out tons of information for her parents' health. Her parents would go into cardiac arrest if they knew how much she’d drank that semester.

After dinner, she retreated into her room for the night, grimacing at the catalogue-esque decor. Her parents really leaned into the middle class american aesthetic, and she wasn’t fond of it.

She missed living in the city. Their apartment overlooked her favorite movie theater, favorite coffee shop, and the playground of her old elementary school a couple streets over.

She missed being within walking distance of places that harbored her favorite memories. And from her new window, her view was nothing more than the house across the street and a few scattered bare trees.

The only thing she enjoyed about her new house was the balcony in front of her window, just large enough for her to sit comfortably with another person. Not like that was happening anytime soon, though.

She tugged the blanket around her shoulders, trying to fight off the biting cold. She tightened the drawstrings of her hoodie, shielding her headphones from the wind so she could hear her music clearly.

Her thoughts wandered to the boy next door.

Bryce Lahela. Beautiful face, beautiful name.

She couldn’t really put a finger on it, but something about him was so familiar. Like she’d known him for lifetimes already.

God, she admired people with that quality – being able to make someone so comfortable the minute you meet them that they just slip into whatever void you’d needed filling.

Potentially a dangerous quality, but Spencer didn’t let herself think about that possibility.

The snow had let up, the freezing temperature preserving what’d already fallen. She allowed herself a glance over at the Lahela residence, half hoping she’d find him outside.

Thankfully enough, he was exiting the front door with a wide shovel in hand, bundled up properly, unlike when they’d met a couple hours before.

She watched him as he easily shoveled the muddy sludge off of the walkways. It was just quiet enough that she could hear his soft grunts with effort at the initial plunge of the shovel into the snow.

She didn’t mean to stare. But what else was there to watch? The road was quiet, bare, like a car passing by too loudly would break the suburbian immersion.

After he’d shoveled the first pathway leading up to the house, he moved to the driveway – not before he ripped the beanie off of his head, shaking out his golden strands.

She watched unabashedly, trying to figure out how the hell a gorgeous surfer bro straight out of a Hollister ad was living next door.

He squinted in her general direction, throwing up a gloved hand to cover his eyes. A grin spread quickly, and he tossed the shovel to the ground with the other hand, using it to wave.

“Hey, stranger!” He called.

She ducked down, trying to hide her blushing cheeks as his laugh rang out, disrupting the silence.

–––

Ten pages from the end of her crime novel, right before they revealed the killer, a heavy handed knock caused Spencer to jolt nearly a foot into the air from her sitting position on the couch.

She picked up the book that morning, trying to do something productive that’d double as an excuse to get out of conversing with her parents. Eight hours later, give or take, and they’d barely bugged her for meals, let alone awkward small talk.

Shuffling to the door in her pajama pants, she yawned as she yanked the door open, expecting to see a mailman or something of that nature.

Bryce stood there instead, flirty smile and all, dimple pronounced like the cherry on top of his overwhelming attractiveness.

“Am I boring you already? Sheesh,” he teased, shoving his hands in his pockets.

She cut her yawn off, squeezing her eyes shut. “Sorry, I –” She cut herself off with yet another yawn, shaking her head. “Uh, sorry. I know that was probably super ugly.”

He shrugged. “I thought it was cute.”

She tugged her arms around herself, the tank top doing virtually nothing to shield her from the cold. “So… What’s up?”

He grinned, digging in his pocket. “I’m glad you asked.”

He whipped out two tickets, handing them to her. “Light show. You and me. Now.”

“Now?” She asked, eyebrows shooting up to her hairline.

“Yeah, now. What about it?”

She gestured to her outfit. “I’m not dressed.”

“So? Get dressed,” he shrugged again.

She rolled her eyes. “You really think my parents will let me out this late? I came back to a curfew, you know.”

“Oh. We can work around that.”

“How?” She was genuinely baffled by this guy’s confidence.

“Sneak out.”

“Did you… Did you just skip over the part where I hinted at how strict my parents are?”

He shrugged, again. “Worst case scenario, they ground you for the rest of the break. Then you go back to college in a couple weeks, and they can’t boss you around there, so what are you really risking?”

She chewed her lip, contemplating. “I mean, I can’t argue with you on that one.”

“So you’ll come?”

“Yeah. You’re lucky my parents aren’t home right now,” she said, jabbing an accusatory finger at him.

“Like they could resist this face.”

––––

Downtown – or what she presumed was downtown – was overtaken by lights, the edges of the area blocked off, vendors lined up in parking spaces, nets of overhead lights illuminating the huge displays below.

They’d been walking in silence for a while, just soaking it in and basking in the holiday spirit.

Despite her disdain for the town, Spencer loved the way they celebrated the holidays.

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Bryce said a bit suddenly, running off before she had a chance to respond.

“Oh… kay,” Spencer murmured, watching him disappear into the crowd. She tugged at her beanie, raking shaky fingers through her hair.

Bryce was… unwavering. He had such a strong personality and a knack for flirting without meaning to.

To put it in its simplest terms, he made her nervous. Really nervous.

It was like the minute he left her immersion was broken and she realized just how hot he was and that she should be nervous.

Her eyes wandered, trying to alleviate some of her apprehension. She hadn’t been to a community-unifying event like that one before, so watching the families and children prance through the snow was enough to fulfill the soft spot in her heart only classic Christmas movies could fill.

“Here,” Bryce huffed from behind her, breaking her concentration.

She turned at the sound of his voice, flinching when she realized how close he was to her, disposable coffee cup in hand, steam slithering out of the small hole in the lid.

“What’s that?”

“Hot chocolate. I figured you’d want something to warm you up,” he smiled, lifting one shoulder in a lazy shrug.

“Oh, this is perfect,” she said graciously, taking the cup from his hands, warming both by the way their fingers brushed each others’ and the heat from the drink. “Thank you.”

“Ah, no need to thank me. It’s the least I could do after dragging you out here,” he said a bit sheepishly, kicking the toe of his boot into the snow.

“You didn’t drag me out anywhere. You were convincing,” she laughed, taking a small sip of the hot chocolate, revelling in the way it warmed her from the inside out. “Maybe a bit too convincing.”

“I don’t need to know how powerful I am or I’ll let it go to my head,” he winked. “How is it?”

“Delicious.”

He nodded. “Perfect.”

She sipped on her drink in silence for a while, racking her brain to come up with conversation topics.

They’d really only spoken in passing, so what the fuck were they supposed to talk about?

“So… you want to ride the train?” He asked, pointing at the train riding through the town square.

Within minutes they were seated on the train in the caboose – the very last seat. Families were spread out through the first couple cars, then onto couples.

They probably didn’t want toddlers watching high school aged kids swapping spit, so they sent them to the back.

That notion made Spencer nervous. Was she on a date? He hadn’t really specified – hell, he was barely giving her details about where they were going before dragging her out of her house.

The train began to move, slowly riding through the square, the families in the front chatting and the children giggling and waving at the passing patrons.

She chatted with Bryce about nothing in particular, just kind of getting to know each other. She found out he loved baseball, hated night classes, and was a huge fan of pineapple – he could smell it in her shampoo.

She’d just begun to relax before noticing the young couple in front of her lean in for a kiss that turned a bit heated. Her hands were clasped in her lap to keep them from trembling, her breath just as shaky.

A warm arm grazed her shoulders, his arm resting on the top of the seat. There wasn’t any pressure for her to do anything with him. But she kind of wanted to.

She mustered up the courage to flick her gaze in his direction, settling on his soft, pleasant smile, seemingly permanent on Bryce’s features.

“Is this a date?” She blurted, cursing herself immediately.

He didn’t seem phased.

“If you want it to be.”

She definitely did.

––––

The walk to her front door was long, even longer than when she was on her own lugging her belongings through the icy slush.

“I had a really nice time, Bryce,” she said, ambling up the last couple steps.

“Me, too. I’m glad I bought an extra ticket yesterday,” he grinned.

She raised a brow at him, prompting him to continue.

“After I helped you inside I immediately left to go get tickets,” he said bashfully. His cheeks were flushed – from the cold or the admission, she had no idea.

“So you’d had this date planned for a whole day?” She asked, a bit taken aback. He’d definitely painted it out to be a spur of the moment thing, no premeditation in sight.

“So it was a date,” he teased, dimple even more prominent as he spoke.

She scrunched her lips to the side to hide her own smile. “Yeah, I think it was.”

“Can I kiss you?”

She made the grave mistake of breaking eye contact, her gaze darting from his mouth back to his eyes. He closed the gap between them in one step.

“I can’t kiss you in front of my house. My parents could see,” she whispered as his gloved hand flicked her messy strands away from her cheeks.

“You wanna save this for another time?” Her heart couldn’t help but race at his playful tone.

She nodded.

“How long are you gonna be here for break?” He asked. “I wanna see you again.”

“I’ll be here through the week.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He pulled her into a hug, warm and enveloping despite the cold. “Goodnight, Spencer. Sweet dreams.”

She was so comfortable, so safe in his grip that when she felt him loosen it, she squeezed him tighter without really meaning to.

It was scary how quickly she’d grown attached to a complete stranger.

“‘Night,” she waved, eyes still trained on him as she closed the door.

––––

It took her way too long to fall asleep that night.

His last question and her agreeance to the terms ran through her head on loop.

She was anticipating what he was going to do next. Excited to see how the rest of her break would look like.

After a restless night, she awoke pretty early, lounging around in bed for way too long, aimlessly scrolling through social media.

A day ago, she’d have been jealous of her friends vacationing at the beach, but… she wasn’t as upset at the idea of being home for break.

She stood up, stretching and popping her limbs, grabbing a hoodie from her luggage to throw on.

As she did, something caught her attention, just at the edge of her peripheral – a folded slip of paper in her window sill.

She grabbed it, unravelling the damp paper, trying to decipher the bleeding ink.

“Had to leave earlier than I thought. Sorry. Not sure when I’ll see you again, so here’s my number.”

The paper had been covered in water for a long while, so long that the number at the bottom was smudged, the hardest to read out of the whole message. She could barely make out the area code, let alone the rest of it.

She crumpled it up and threw it in the trash, deciding she could just head over and ask his parents for his number instead if he’d left for school.

After trudging across the lawn through the snow, she noticed something was a bit off, but decided to push the feeling down and ring the doorbell.

She peered through the glass of their front door, realizing that the lights were off, clothes and boxes and bags strewn across the foyer.

No one was home.

––––

year two

The moment the taxi pulled to a stop in front of her house, her eyes searched the front lawn of the house next door.

The familiar sensation of disappointment lingered, despite her constant chastising to not get her hopes up.

She sat on her balcony for a couple hours a day, the space heater on full blast at her feet, trying not to look desperate as her eyes flickered to and from Bryce’s house.

But no one entered or exited the house all break.

––––

year three

He stared down the bottom of the glass, eyes trained on the milky film the eggnog left behind, the spiced rum shots he’d taken warming his limbs.

The trial had been grueling.

No one could’ve prepared him for the way the legal system chewed him up and spat him out each time he entered the courtroom and sat on the opposite side of the room, avoiding his parents’ cold glares.

He shouldn’t have had to testify against them in the first place, but who else were they going to call to the stand? Keiki? She could barely write her own name, let alone understand her rights.

And she shouldn’t have to see her parents – hell, her whole family – being scrutinized and ripped apart, televised for anyone within a thousand mile radius.

He didn’t know that this town was their escape.

If someone would’ve told him two years ago that his first Christmas in college would’ve left him in shambles, his entire world upturned, he wouldn’t have believed them.

Thank god it was one of the only properties they owned that was untouched by their blood money.

Word had spread to his university students, causing him to have to go into hiding. Did all his work from home, got special permission from the chancellor to move his courses online.

He was forced to stay in Hawaii, juggling court and school on top of the press and the general stress of life – he’d been on autopilot since his parents woke him up in the middle of the night to fly back home.

The moment he finished his finals that semester, he boarded the plane without a second thought.

He needed an escape.

Despite the whirlwind, she was on the back of his mind through it all.

Anytime his life got a little too difficult, his mind roamed to the last time he felt normal – the last 48 hours before everything went to shit.

When he’d touched down he’d entered the empty, dusty house, throwing his things down and trudging next door.

The heavy raps of his knuckles against the wooden door were the only display of confidence he could muster.

Is Spencer here? He asked.

She’s in Europe for break.

Europe.

Of all the places she had to be during the holidays, it had to be across the world.

So he found himself at the bar, a newly 21 year old downing holiday drinks as fast as the bartender could make them.

She’d probably forgotten about him. It’s best he moved on anyways.

––––

year four

Graduation was so close she could taste it.

Yeah, she was drowning in med school applications and coming down from her post MCAT high, but her degree was peeking over the horizon, just within her reach.

She could only afford to visit home for a couple days before she had to roadtrip to a couple med schools to tour and interview.

She’d grown into herself the past three years, gaining confidence she didn’t know she had in her. Countless haircuts, style changes, shifts in interest – anytime she was uncomfortable she reinvented herself. It was freeing as hell.

So… going home was weird. Like she was regressing. She knew she wasn’t, but it didn’t stop the itching feeling that she didn’t belong there.

Her parents convinced her to visit for the holidays since it was her last year before she was truly on her own. The car ride was anxiety inducing – she tried to shove the thoughts to the back of her brain.

It’d been three years. She couldn’t dwell on it anymore. It was just a fun weekend, a spontaneous date, a gorgeous guy. Nothing more than that.

She’d moved on for sure – lots of dates, sloppy bar makeouts, and one night stands – but she couldn’t completely forget about the stranger.

It wasn’t like anything super memorable happened – it was a classic crush because of how confident he was.

Now that she’d started to emulate that same confidence herself, the allure was mostly gone, but she just couldn’t let him go no matter how hard she tried.

This time her eyes flickered to the house next door, gaze lingering a bit longer than she wanted to allow herself to look.

At least on paper she was growing.

–––––

Her first dinner at home was the same as always. She spent most of the time dodging intrusive questions and diplomatically answering as well as she could.

Maybe she should’ve thanked her parents for pressuring her to come home – it was perfect interview preparation and she didn’t have to lift a finger.

Her room was untouched as usual, the decor nauseatingly basic – if she hated it before, she hated it more now.

The suburban life was even farther away from what she’d wanted three years ago. Fast paced city life and a job in a world renowned hospital were her only two goals as far as she was concerned. Anything else could wait.

As she unpacked her toiletries, she found herself glancing at the door to her balcony.

She shook it off, choosing to settle in bed with a warm blanket with her laptop and planner, trying to focus on her diploma application.

––––

She jolted awake, scrubbing the sleeve of her jacket across her cheek, grimacing when she saw streaks of drool on the fabric.

She shuddered a bit, realizing she fell asleep on top of the covers, the room’s temperature absolutely freezing.

The space heater was close by, luckily, so she didn’t have to shuffle far to plug it in, crouching down next to it to rub her hands in front of it.

The window to her balcony was cracked just slightly – it’d probably blown open bc of the wind or something. She pushed herself to her feet again, closing and locking the door, but not before catching a glimpse of a light. It wasn’t a streetlight. It was a porch light.

She flung the door open and stepped onto the balcony, ignoring the snow seeping through her fuzzy socks, numbing her toes.

Bryce’s lights were on, and fresh tire tracks trailed up the driveway to the garage.

––––

She tossed and turned that night, a little glad that she’d gotten at least some sleep in the form of a nap.

She gave up after a while, brewing coffee and sitting in the kitchen with her laptop for a couple of hours before her parents awoke.

When they finally woke up, she practically jumped at the chance to ask them about him.

“No one’s lived next door for years. Someone comes and checks up on it once or twice a year, but other than that, it’s vacant,” her mother said, elbows deep in a sink full of dirty plates.

She was thankful her mom was preoccupied so she wouldn’t see her deflate.

––––

Spencer allowed herself approximately thirty minutes of sulking before she made a to-do list of everything she needed to get done before noon.

She’d been home for less than a day and she was already itching to get out.

The drive from her parents’ house to the tiny coffee shop was short, the handful of tables inside bare. She guessed it was because most people were at home enjoying spending time with family – she was the odd one out for having her planner and laptop splayed across the table.

She was neck deep in a chem textbook when she saw him.

He was more chiseled. Taller, too.

The beanie was tugged tight around his head, cheeks flushed. The quarter zip up fit him like a glove, hugging every single muscle.

He slipped his gloves off, tucking them into his pocket, squinting – probably trying to decipher the inane pun names for each drink.

“Can I get a, uh, latte with a couple espresso shots?” She heard him ask, peeking over the top of her textbook, trying to get a good look at him.

He chuckled pretty suddenly, pointing at the clear display of pastries. “Add one of those little things onto it.”

“You mean the ‘Rudolph Red Velvet’ cake pop or the ‘Dasher & Dancer Dark Chocolate’, sir?” The teen said.

His grin stretched even wider, hunching over to read the labels. “Can you tell me the rest of the flavors?”

“Well, we’ve got the full setup of reindeers. It gets pretty confusing at times – ’Dasher & Dancer Dark Chocolate’, ‘Prancer & Vixen Vanilla’, ‘Comet & Cupid Cheesecake’, ‘Donner & Blitzen Berry’, and ‘Rudolph Red Velvet’,” the teen listed off, pointing at the nearly identical cake pops.

He laughed, booming throughout the small room, ringing out even over the blenders.

Yeah, that was Bryce. No doubt about it.

“Give me one of each,” he said, handing the teen a couple bills. While they counted the change, Bryce tossed a $20 bill onto the counter. “This is compensation for having to read those god awful names.”

They mirrored his expression, pocketing the bill.

Spencer was nearly frozen with fear – she didn’t think she was going to run into him. She looked frumpy and felt exhausted, and was a little frustrated at how little she understood from the passages she’d tried deciphering.

She stood up, then sat down immediately. She stood up again, conflicted.

But before she could decide what to do, he turned, coffee in hand, bag of cake pops in the other – one cake pop tucked deep into his cheek.

She saw him.

He saw her.

Time slowed.

She was grateful that he was the first to move towards her, eyes bright, gaze soft like he’d seen an old friend – God, that reaction alone was enough to make Spencer float above the clouds.

He chewed his cake pop on the way over, setting down his bag and coffee near the edge of the table out of the way of her mess.

“Hey,” he mumbled through a mouthful of food, chewing vigorously.

“Bryce, oh my god, I – I thought I’d never see you again – you just disappeared and –”

He held up a hand, swallowing. “What’d you say?”

“Oh, I said that I thought I’d never see you again –”

“Wait, wait,” he flipped the side of his beanie up, revealing wireless headphones, which he tugged out and immediately pocketed.

Christ. Embarrassing. Her cheeks burned, inwardly cringing. This is going so swimmingly, Spencer.

He shook his head incredulously, mouth moving like he wanted to say something, but no words came.

“I… didn’t think I’d see you again,” he said, eyes slowly raking over her features.

“Oh my god, I didn’t think I’d see you, Bryce,” she said, nervously adjusting her glasses. Good thing he didn’t notice her recycling sentiments.

“So… how have you been?” He smiled, taking a sip of his latte.

He was playing this way cooler than she was. How was he not freaking the fuck out?

“I’ve been good. Uh, good and kinda busy I guess. I’m waiting to hear back from a couple of med schools and I’m graduating this spring, so I’m excited about that,” she said, trying and failing to figure out how to condense three years worth of personal growth into a couple sentences without boring him to tears. “What about you?”

He nodded, tipping back the steaming latte again. “I’ve been pretty good. Got into my dream med school and it’s, like, across the country from where I am now, so that’ll be good for me. Fresh start, you know?”

She gave him a slight smile, closing her textbook and stacking her planner on top of it.

“Oh, I was just picking this stuff up, so I can let you get back to studying,” he said, unsure, jabbing his thumb towards the door.

“No, no, I was closing it so I can give you my full attention,” she explained, shaking her head. “Just getting some random stuff done. I’m fine.”

He relaxed a bit more at that, settling into his seat like he was at home. “So… what are you working on?”

“I’m getting some last stuff done before I leave this weekend. Just some basic housekeeping. Ironing out details, you know,” she nodded, fiddling with the frayed hole on the hem of her hoodie.

He was trying to jump back in like everything was… normal. This wasn’t normal.

“Oh you’re leaving?” He seemed disappointed, a wrinkle forming between his brows where he pushed them together.

“Yeah, I’m using part of my break to fit in some last minute tours and interviews.”

“Oh… Well if you’re leaving soon, do you wanna do dinner at my place tonight?” He asked. “I feel like we’d be more comfortable catching up there.”

A… date? After all these years? And he still knows literally nothing about me?

––––

She chewed her lip, trying to hold back a smile.

His pulse raced, wondering if she’d reject him. He should’ve thought it through before blurting out a question like that. He’d spoken to her for all of five minutes and he was already asking her to go back to his place.

“So… is this a date?”

The mischievous look on her face was contagious – just a hint of flirtatious teasing like the first time they met.

“Yeah, but only if you want it to be,” he answered, tossing the drink back again, the liquid warming his insides (his morning run was long, and the wind was biting).

“And if I don’t?” She adjusted her glasses again, the only sign of tension amidst her otherwise calm demeanor.

And if he hadn’t ran through the memories of that night over and over, fixating on every little detail he managed to retain, he might’ve not caught it.

Her nervousness was a comfort – It meant she still liked him enough to be on edge around him.

“Then we’re just two neighbors catching up while eating food,” he shrugged, popping another cake pop in his mouth.

He held the bag out to her. “Want one?”

She peered over into the bag, lashes gently brushing her under eyes. “Will you get mad if I take Rudolph?”

God, she was so fucking pretty. He couldn’t get over it. All these years and she only managed to get hotter.

“Why would that bother me?” He mumbled through his mouth full of cake.

“He’s supposed to be special, right? I just thought you’d want him,” she said, crossing her arms on the table and leaning in more.

He sat up, leaning an elbow on the table, tipping forward to close the gap between them – he plucked the cake pop from the bag by its stick, waving it in front of her face.

She didn’t retreat. The only reaction was the color rising to her cheeks, a hint of rouge beneath the spatter of light freckles on her face – the ones that no one could see unless they were this close.

“You’re special, too, y’know,” he said, pushing the limits even more, bringing it to her lips. “Take it.”

He was egging her on, testing whatever change she’d clearly been through – underneath the confidence lurked something sultry that he desperately wanted to bring out of her.

She leaned forward and lowered her mouth around the pop, sinking her teeth into the stick, her lips grazing the tips of Bryce’s fingers.

She pulled back, chewing through a smile. “Yum.”

His stomach flipped, but he kept his poker face even.

It was odd, having this girl in front of him that he’d thought about for years when he’d convinced himself it was a fluke or a dream or a little bit of both.

They both chewed in silence, eyes still firmly locked on each other.

There was so much he needed to say but it just wasn’t the right time.

“What time should I come over?” She asked after swallowing.

“When do you usually eat dinner?”

She rolled her eyes at him, still trying to hold back a smile even though she clearly found him mildly entertaining if not infuriating as hell (which was an attitude he thrived off of).

“I don’t care, Spence. Whenever you want.”

––––

Bryce tapped his foot, adjusting the napkins and cutlery for the hundredth time before pacing towards the monitor that showed him the front door’s security cam.

He should not have told her to come over whenever. The delivery guy was stuck in traffic, so his whole plan of pretending like he cooked was thwarted by the icy roads.

He checked the delivery app for the millionth time, the time remaining still stuck on “14 minutes”.

Was a button up with slacks too much for dinner? Christ, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually been nervous before a date.

He wasn’t sure if it ever had happened before, because it didn’t happen.

He wasn’t afraid of shooting his shot with anyone. That cute guy at the gym? No hesitation. His bio lab partner sophomore year? Of course. The ex-girlfriend of the one fraternity brother he didn’t like? Yup. That one fraternity brother he really liked? Hell yeah.

There wasn’t a time that he he actually had to try to get someone to like him – his conquests weren’t really conquests. They’d always just kind of… fallen into his lap, for lack of a better phrase.

But he also couldn’t name a single person he’d “pined” for, whatever that meant. Spencer was the first girl that had slipped through his fingers – maybe this date would be closure. If she was down to fuck, maybe they’d get the weird three-year-long outstanding “what if?” question answered.

He filled the bucket with ice, neatly digging the champagne bottle’s base into it, even grabbing a rag to wipe the perspiration off the metal to buy some time.

A few more minutes passed. When he checked the app again, it’d changed to “13 minutes”, and Spencer was walking down his driveway.

Even on the grainy screen he could tell that whatever she had on was gonna drive him wild.

He strode towards the door, flinging it open to greet her.

“Hey, Spencer,” he grinned, opening his arms wide for a hug.

She matched his expression with a sweet smile of her own, slipping into his grip and molding herself against his body like she belonged there.

Fuck, she smelled delicious. Her hair, her lip gloss, her perfume – everything about her was delectable and made holding back all the more harder.

“Hey, Bryce,” she murmured, squeezing him. “It’s cold. Can we move inside?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Sorry about that,” he apologized, pulling back but keeping his palm on her lower back, shutting and locking the door behind him.

She walked into the main corridor, just kind of… observing. Taking everything in.

“Huh.”

“What do you mean, ‘huh’?” He asked, glancing down at her discreetly.

“It’s… nice. I can tell it’s your parents’ house.”

He chuckled, surprised. “Yeah, but what is that supposed to mean?”

“None of your personality is in this house. I figured it’d be brighter. Less marble, too,” she said, gesturing towards the decorations straight from a catalogue sprinkled throughout the house.

He couldn’t help that his parents insisted on flying out their personal interior designer to every house they owned. But it didn’t make it any less cringe worthy.

“No, you’re right,” he nodded, shrugging. “Can’t argue with that.”

He gently steered them towards the kitchen, his eyes flitting towards her as she scanned the house, a pleasant enough look on her face.

“What would you change about this house?” She asked, sliding onto one of the never-been-used barstools.

“Well, for one, I wouldn’t even have it in the first place,” he said, opening the cabinet next to the fridge, retrieving the champagne glasses.

“Really?”

“Really. If I had it my way, we would’ve never left Maui.”

She nodded, teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

Setting the glasses down in front of her, he stood on the other side of the counter, grabbing the bottle by its neck, unravelling the wrapping on the outside. “Hope this is alright. I just picked a bottle that looked expensive.”

“Expensive doesn’t mean better,” she said, eyes trained on the bottle, probably trying to read the label.

“You’re right, again. Two for two,” he joked, sliding the cork from the opening with a loud “pop”, the sound ricocheting off the walls and flooring.

After pouring it, he cocked his head her way, encouraging her to take the first sip.

She tipped the glass back, her nose scrunching after taking a deep swallow. “Mmmm. I would’ve settled for the shitty boxed wine I drank in college over this.”

He took a sip and shook his head, sticking his tongue out with a grimace. “Yeah, this tastes like ass.”

She snorted, covering her mouth as she laughed, making a breathy choking sound that he found oddly endearing.

“To answer your question, I’d probably paint the walls yellow. Hang up my grandpa’s old surfboard my dad passed down to me, if I can even find it. Maybe some movie posters,” he continued, gesturing towards the deadspace on the walls in the kitchen.

“Yeah, that’s kinda what I pictured, too,” she hummed, shivering after downing the rest of the glass.

“You don’t have to drink anymore. We agreed it tastes like shit,” he walked over to the cabinet, browsing the bottles, nearly empty. “I only have… a little bit of tequila and some rum.”

“I’ll take a rum and coke then,” she smiled gratefully, pushing the empty glass to the side.

While making the drinks, he checked his phone, hoping that the driver was close by. No luck – the time hadn’t shifted.

“So… when’s the delivery guy getting here?”

He could sense her behind him. When he turned to offer her a glass, he realized just how close she was.

She accepted the glass, craning her neck around him to look at his phone’s screen. “I knew it.”

“What? What’d you know?” He asked, unable to look anywhere but her plush lips, curved upwards into a grin.

She was life-ruiningly pretty. It was like God himself scanned Bryce’s brain and 3D copied his fantasies into the form of Spencer Matsuzaki, who was quite literally the girl of his dreams.

“I knew you weren’t a cooking type. I figured you were gonna get takeout, and I was right,” she pointed at his screen, the delivery app still open.

“Yeah, I was gonna try to impress you and pretend that I’d cooked everything but clearly that didn’t pan out,” he chuckled, peering down at her.

“That’s the oldest trick in the book, Bryce. I would’ve easily clocked that,” she shook her head, taking a quick sip of her drink, still standing close enough to him that he could feel her breath on him each time she laughed.

Before he dropped everything and propositioned her right there to take it to the living room, she turned on her heel and walked back towards her stool.

They sipped their drinks in silence, an air of awkwardness settling into the atmosphere – for the first time in, well, years they were completely and utterly alone.

She chewed her lip, swiping her thumb across the perspiration on the cup. “So…”

“So?”

“I feel like we have a lot of ground to cover.”

He nodded. “I guess the question now is ‘where do we start?’”

“We could just ask each other stuff and see how that goes.”

“I’ll go first – are you still single?”

A laugh ripped from her chest, bounding off the walls and floor, filling up the space with sound (one that was quickly becoming his favorite).

“That’s the first thing you ask me? After all these years?” She asked incredulously, shaking her head in awe.

He grinned. “Sounds like you’re avoiding the question.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Avoiding the question? Or you’re single?” He teased.

“I’m not seeing anyone at the moment, no.”

“Oh, at the moment. Seems like I’ve got some competition.”

Laughing, she tipped her head back to take a deep gulp. He watched as she did, a bit envious of the glass wrapped between her fingers and the rim caught between her lips.

She was a bit more timid when she drank the hot chocolate he offered her years before, cupping it with both hands and taking soft sips, smiling shyly, like being offered a drink on a date was something she should be grateful for.

The way she held herself was different. Before, it was like she was apologetic for taking up too much space, but this version of Spencer took the world by storm – like when she walked into the room, she claimed the space as her own before anyone else could tell her differently.

Whatever miniscule reservations he had about sleeping with her were out the window before she set her glass back down.

“I’m assuming you don’t have anyone at home waiting for you if you asked me that first,” she said, bluntly, chewing on a piece of ice.

“What makes you say that?” “Well you’re obviously gauging whether or not you want to fuck me tonight so I might as well be as upfront as you,” she shrugged, a teasing smile tugging at her lips.

“Is that so?” He quirked a brow at her. “Would you count frequent hookups?”

“Nope. I’ve got those, too, but I don’t count ‘em.”

“So you turned out to be pretty wild, huh?”

She laughed. “I hope you realize how weird you sound. I’m not who I was at 18. Shit, and you barely even knew me then!”

He held his hands up in protest. “My bad.”

She tapped her nails on the counter, looking a bit conflicted. “No, it’s okay. Just a bit of a sensitive topic, I guess.”

“Parents, huh?”

“Yep. Don’t quite approve of who I am, even though I’m literally going to be studying to be a doctor,” she rolled her eyes. “I did get pretty wild, though. I mean, I had to get it out of my system before med school, you know?”

He shrugged. “Totally understandable.”

“Speaking of, why aren’t yours here? I figured I was going to accidentally run into them or something,” she mused, crunching on another ice cube.

He tried hiding his reaction, but he couldn’t help the way he tensed up at the mere mention of them. The thought of her bringing them up crossed his mind before, so thankfully he was able to keep it moving.

“Oh, they moved back to Hawaii a while ago. Been waiting to put this house on the market but it just didn’t seem like the right time.”

“So why aren’t you with them for the holidays?”

He stiffened, racking his brain for a believable lie. There was no fucking way he was baring his soul to the girl that just stepped back into his life.

She was the last good memory he had before everything went to shit, so he couldn’t break the illusion. Spencer was too good for this – maybe too good for him.

Court baggage was a heavy load to bear. Criminal baggage was even heavier. Lying to save face was the only way he could protect them both.

“Oh, it was just cheaper for me to stay here than fly back to Hawaii.”

She nodded, seemingly in agreeance, swirling the last bit of ice around her glass before tipping it back again. “S’good you get a little peace and quiet between semesters.”

“You have no idea,” he breathed, practically sighing in relief, thankful the crisis was averted.

“I do have a question, though,” she said, setting the glass down and pushing it away from her. “Why did you leave your number on my window sill?”

He leaned over the counter, bracing his arms against it. “So you did see it.”

“You’re lucky I found it! You could not have chosen a worse place to put it.”

“Well, you used to always walk out on your balcony so I thought it’d be safe.”

She pursed her lips, seemingly holding back a smile. “You remember that?”

“Yeah, of course. Why didn’t you, you know, use the number, though?” He asked, teasing.

Her mouth popped open, looking almost offended by his words. “Oh my god, you think if I had your number we still wouldn’t have talked for three years?”

“When you put it that way, I guess it doesn’t make sense,” he laughed, taking a swig of his drink.

“No, but I can’t get over that – you thought this entire time that I just didn’t try to contact you? Bryce, you offered to kiss me before literally disappearing into the night – you thought I wouldn’t have at least, you know, tried following up on that?” Spencer was giggling in between her words, barely able to get it out of her system.

“Yeah, well, you think I didn’t want to follow up on the kiss either? I’m the one who offered!”

They were cutting up, both leaning over the counter, folded over in laughter. They’d shifted closer as they got more comfortable with each other, their arms nearly grazing each others’ over the cold granite.

God, she was so beautiful. Everything he felt when he met her three years ago was pretty much amplified. He had it bad for her.

When she noticed how close they were, her eyes flitted to his lips, tongue darting out to wet her own.

“You wanna cash in on that now? I heard that ‘Bryce Lahela Kiss Coupons’ never expire,” he said, voice low, reaching out to swipe the pad of his thumb over her chin.

“Bryce…” she said, closing her eyes, before leaning back to put some distance between them. “We have to lay some ground rules first.”

He sighed, standing up at his full height. “Okay, shoot.”

“I’m not trying to go all analytical on you, but we have to get this out of the way first. Tell me where your top three med schools are.”

A snort escaped him before he could stop himself. “What, do you only fuck guys that go to –”

“– And girls –”

“And girls – that go to John Hopkins?” He asked, teasing. “Me, too, by the way.”

She shook her head, ignoring his joke. “Nope. Just tell me.”

“Well, I’m looking at California, New York, and Chicago. What about you?”

“Ohio, Virginia, and Washington.”

The pieces fell into place for him. “Damn, you were playing chess and I was playing checkers, huh?”

She laughed. “No, no, I was just curious. I didn’t think we’d get as far as relationship talk, but I figured after everything we’d been through, we might as well discuss it, you know?”

“So that means this is a one-and-done type deal.”

“I guess so,” she said, scratching at her neck. “I’ve made out with plenty of people before and forgotten it, so if you want to just see how we feel, I’m down.”

“Oh, I think you’ll remember this for a while,” he said, stretching across the counter to gently cup her face in both hands, pressing a deep kiss to her lips.

Their first kiss was unlike no other. What’d started out as an offhanded joke to relieve three years worth of tension quickly morphed into desperate grabbing of clothes, heavy pants, and even heavier tension crackling like a fire between them.

She fisted his collar, dragging him to her over the counter, kneeling on her bar stool and pushing herself closer and closer to him.

Bryce had his share of sloppy bar makeouts, passionate kisses amidst sex – even sweet domestic kisses during mundane tasks. But this kiss? Somehow it was a bit of everything rolled into one.

They parted pretty abruptly when he elbowed her empty champagne glass and it clattered against the counter.

“Shit,” he cursed, pulling back just a hair to check the damage.

When he turned back, she was still holding him, staring at him, a look on her face that he hadn’t seen before.

“That was…” her lids fluttered, tongue darting out to lick her lips – like she was savoring his taste.

“Really good.”

She nodded. “Insanely good.”

“So?”

“So what?”

“Is it what you were dreaming of?” He teased, but there was a hint of sincerity to it.

She nodded again, her grip tightening on his collar. “I’m a little scared at how much I enjoyed it.”

“Scared? Why?” He murmured, stroking his thumb against her cheek in comfort.

“Well… this can’t happen,” she gestured between them.

“It doesn’t have to happen. We can pretend like the kiss never did, just like you said. I don’t mind,” he shrugged.

“But… what if I want it to?”

He couldn’t conceal the smirk tugging at his lips. “You wanna take this upstairs?”

She tried holding back a smile. “Maybe.”

“Well, you can think about it over dinner, whenever that gets here.”

The driver took about twenty minutes, and eating took them twenty more. Small talk was managed, jokes were cracked, but there was an unmistakable feeling in the air that both of them could sense.

Bryce was no stranger to sexual tension. Hell, he thrived on it.

Making a cute girl blush? Exhilarating. Getting a guy at the bar fund his hangover? Incredible. Those few minutes between knowing you’re going to fuck someone and actually fucking them? Couldn’t get enough.

The minute their plates were cleared, she took his hand and led him upstairs, throwing glances back at him like if she let go for a second he’d disappear.

As much as he just wanted to fool around, he couldn’t help but pocket the small details for later, just in case he decided it was alright to get emotionally invested. Despite feeling like he had a hold on the situation, he definitely didn’t.

He was a bit delusional in thinking he wasn’t already falling for her the way she was for him.

––––

[part 1.5 coming soon]

____

They’d been curled up in bed for nearly an hour and a half, just talking, every once in a while pulling the other in for another kiss that led to roaming hands.

In another life, if they’d both lived in that town and grew up there, there was no doubt they’d be best friends. High school sweethearts, even.

But she knew that whatever daydreams she’d conjured up could never be reality.

This was a one-time thing. They both knew that.

After a lull in conversation she slipped out of bed, gathering her clothes and tossing them onto the bed.

“You leaving?” He asked, sitting up.

“Uh, yeah. I think I need to get going. I’ve still got a curfew,” she shrugged, making a hand motion like she was pulling the trigger.

“Still have one? Damn, that sucks. Am I gonna get to see you tomorrow?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

He remembered her curfew?

She snapped her bra back in place, avoiding his eye as she slid on her straps. “I, um, have to leave.”

“I thought you were staying through the weekend?” He sounded taken aback, like he thought he had more time.

She slipped her underwear and pants on fast. “I have a long drive ahead of me and I kinda wanted a night to breathe before I tour and interview, you know?”

He was silent. She threw her sweater on before daring a glance at him. His eyes were trained on the mattress, refusing to look at her.

“Bryce,” she called, but he shook his head.

She sat on the mattress, tipping his chin up with her finger. “What’s wrong?”

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, sighing. “It’s stupid.”

“C’mon, it’s not stupid. Tell me.”

“I’m kinda regretting this being a one-time thing.”

She raked his hair back, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. “I am, too.”

He met her eyes again, brows furrowed. “You are?”

She nodded. “I like you. A lot.”

“So what’s stopping us? We can make it work if we try –”

She sank her teeth into her bottom lip, looking at the ground. “I don’t know if we can.”

“Why not?”

“The distance, first of all. And we’re going to be in different programs in different states, so there’s no way we can fully commit to school and our future if we’re trying to start a relationship and maintain it –”

“Spencer, you think I’m gonna give up that easily after all this time? I just got you back,” he said, lifting a hand to cup her cheek.

“This isn’t giving up, Bryce… this is… practical. Rational,” she added, leaning into his touch. “The right thing to do.”

“It doesn’t feel right.”

“I know, but… I think it’s easier to move on now rather than later when we’re in too deep,” she gulped, trying to soothe the lump forming in her throat.

She knew this wasn’t gonna be easy, but she figured it’d be easier than falling for him over phone calls and video chats and sweet good morning texts and the inevitable breakup that came after.

“You sure we’re not already in it?” He asked, underneath his breath, gaze flitting to her lips.

She rolled her lips, shaking her head, trying to mask her wobbling chin.

“If you don’t want to get hurt, I get it, but I need you to know that I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I met you,” he said, cupping her cheeks with both hands. “And – and I never thought I’d see you again, so I don’t want to let you go without at least, you know, trying to fight for you.”

He brought her in for a deep kiss, seemingly trying to plead his case with his touch.

“Maybe we should just go our separate ways and pretend tonight didn’t happen. It might be less difficult,” she murmured after he pulled away.

“None of this will be easy for us, Spence,” he pressed their foreheads together, both of them closing their eyes.

“Honestly, I want nothing more than to be with you. I want you so badly, but I’ve got so many commitments and my career and I can’t just throw my responsibilities out the window, because I know I would – that’s what scares me,” she whispered, voice cracking.

“You’re right. I hate that you’re right.”

––––

When she slipped back into her room after saying a quick goodnight to her parents, she curled up in her bed and cried.

She didn’t want to cry – it was like her body wouldn’t let her hold it in any longer. The sobs wracked her body as if personified guilt had grabbed her by the shoulders, dug its fingers into her skin, and shook her the tears from her.

Hours later, she woke up in the middle of the night, face still puffy and irritated. As she stood up to go throw cool water on her face, she noticed something taped to her window.

His number and socials were listed in a neat bulleted list, and below it, he’d scrawled a simple note:

“If we meet again.”

––––

#playchoices #bryce lahela #bryce lahela x mc #bryce x mc #my fic #jade writes choices fics

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chasing-classics · 4 years

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It Takes A Man- Ray Diaz (Smut)

Image is not mine, full credit to whoever it belongs to! I had a hard time choosing between writing for Spooky/Oscar or his daddy, ultimately I decided there weren’t nearly enough fics/imagines on Ray and that made up my mind. Please enjoy!

On My Block Imagine

Ray Diaz X Reader

Summary: You’ve had enough of your long-term boyfriend’s (Oscar) cheating. After catching you waiting up for him one night, Ray gives you some words of advice. What happens next is pure, erotic sin.

Warnings: smut (of course) mentions of cheating, unprotected sex, age difference (legal)

Part 2

A scoff of pure disbelief escaped your lips, rereading the text your boyfriend as if you could will the words to change.

What you want me to say y/n? I’m human, I have needs too

You had enough at this point. Over the past five years, you lost count how many times you cried, how many times Oscar hurt you, how many nights you stayed up waiting for him only for him to return the next morning or afternoon smelling of a perfume that was not your own or hickies that you sure as hell hadn’t given him. Given your long history with Oscar, having dated your junior year of high school, you were very reluctant to give up on the relationship.

You held down the Diaz house while he was incarcerated. You practically raised Cesar and as much as you tried to hold it all together, it was hard taking care of a kid and balancing online college courses. You did it because you loved Cesar like he was your own sibling, but mostly you did it for Oscar, you’d do anything for Oscar. Naively, you believed things could go back to the way they used to be prior to his arrest and prior to him joining the Santos. You figured he would change for the better once he got.

Evidently you were wrong.

You sat at the dinner table in the Diaz household, the delicious food you worked hard all afternoon to make now cold and pitiful looking. Hell, you looked pitiful yourself. The new revealing dress you had bought last week in hopes that it would regain your boyfriend’s interest in you sexually. Your makeup was gorgeous, had it not been for the tears that threatened to fall at any second and the heartbroken expression on your face, you would’ve looked like a goddess. And where was your supposed boyfriend? Currently with another hyna probably blowing her back out in the back of his impala. Your five-year anniversary the last thing on his mind.

‘’Fuck this, fuck him, fuck everything,’’ you sighed, trying your best not to break down in a puddle of tears. You were grateful Cesar was out with his friends and not present to witness this. As much as you hated Oscar right now you never once allowed your relationship issues to come between the brothers. Cesar was extremely protective of you and on more than one occasion he shouted at Oscar to get his head out of his ass and make the relationship work. Your heart broke, not knowing how you’d explain this and looming split to Cesar.

‘’I’m so fucking stupid,’’ you whimpered, head in your hands as you leaned onto the dinner table.

‘’That why you have a degree in business?’’ a voice made you jump out of your skin.

Ray.

When the Diaz patriarch reappeared in Oscar and Cesar’s lives, you initially stayed out of it. The issues between them were their own and you would support whatever Oscar chose to do. You knew the history between Ray and Oscar, how badly it stung Oscar whenever someone mentioned him, and how much anger and pain he carried after all these years stemming from his father’s absence. That’s why it shocked you that Oscar allowed Ray to sleep on the couch. As weeks turned into months, you slowly made small talk with the eldest Diaz. You didn’t condone what he had done to his sons, to Oscar, but he seemed like he really wanted to reconnect with them and right his wrongs. And now here he was, standing less than five feet away from you, leaning against the entry way of the kitchen. His eyes looked at you up and down as if he were engraving you to his memory.

‘’Que pasa?’’ his low voice sent chills down your back, which was still exposed given the dress.

‘’Nothing, it’s nothing,’’ the floor scraped against the floor as you stood up, suddenly feeling more exposed.

‘’Would that ‘nothing’ have a shaved head and drive a red impala?’’ Ray asked, eyes trying very hard to meet yours rather than your long legs.

You couldn’t stop the shaky sigh this time. You could feel the tears build in your e/c eyes and it embarrassed you to be so vulnerable in front of Ray. To be crying in front of him over his own son, who you remained loyal to through all of these years only for him to constantly cheat and lie to you. Ray offered a small smile, not out of pity, but as a way to comfort you. You quickly wiped at your eyes, refusing to let another Diaz see you cry.

‘’It’s over. Who am I kidding, it’s been over for a while. I’m just upset it took me this long to realize it,’’ you sniffled and attempted to walk past Ray to exit the side door of the house, only to feel a strong hand wrap around your lower arm in a firm but not harmful way. You looked up at him, brows furrowed in question. His eyes were gentle, but the lust was looming in them. It was right then that you noticed the height difference between the two of you even with your heels on. You liked it.

‘’I love my son, very much. But he’s an idiot if he can’t see a good woman when she’s been in front of him all these years,’’ he whispered in your ear, his warm breath causing you to involuntarily shutter. Your cheeks were warm as you met his eyes again.

‘’And are you an idiot?’’ you whispered back, your bodies mere inches apart.

Sinful. The smirk Ray was giving you was absolutely sinful.

‘’I’ve done idiotic things, but one thing I know without question is that it takes a man to know how to treat a woman like you,’’ he all but purred, lips grazing your ear.

‘’Are you a man?’’ a burst of courage along with the liquor you consumed earlier gave you the boost of confidence you needed, your lips dangerously close to the skin of Ray’s collarbone. Your hands trailed down his torso, inching closer to the noticeable tent forming in his pants. One of his large hands encircled yours’ and he led you to his crotch, your hand cupping his clothed dick.

‘’Feel and find out,’’ he moaned lowly.

All judgement and reservations went out the window. You leaned up and your lips crashed against his, Ray returning the kiss tenfold. His hands tangled themselves your hair as he flipped the two of you to where your back was pressed against the wall and his erection pressed against your lower stomach. The way his muscles flexed as his arms trapped you drove you wild, your arousal becoming more and more apparent with every second that passed. Your dress was bunched up, revealing your lack of underwear much to Ray’s delight.

‘’You’re going to feel me for weeks,’’ he grunted, rolling his hips against yours to convey his desire and need to fuck the absolute shit out of you. You mouth dropped at his words, little moans escaping your plump lips when you felt his bulge grind into your drenched core. Ray raised his hand, his thumb swiping across your bottom lip and gently pulling it down, his eyes analyzing every detail. You didn’t break eye contact as you took his thumb into your mouth, gently nipping it before sucking.

‘’Fuuuck mamacita,’’ he groaned as you continued sucking on his digit. Your eyes looked downwards, trying to get your point across.

Ray took the hint, carefully setting you down and you sunk to your knees. He unzipped his pants, taking out his aching cock. You now saw where Oscar got it from. Ray was well above average; his length and girth were a force to be reckoned with and you now believed him when he said you’d be feeling him for weeks. Your mouth watered when you saw the bead of precum drip down his entire length.

‘’Take your tits out nena,’’ he grunted.

You did as he asked, shaking from both excitement and the cool air coming in contact with your breasts. Ray began stroking his dick faster, his eyes nearly black from lust. ‘’You’re so fucking beautiful,’’ Ray whispered. And you were, despite being several years younger than him, you were the most beautiful thing he had seen in a very long time. You said nothing as your hands pressed against his muscular thighs and lapped at the swollen head of his dick. You held his gaze as you licked his length top to bottom and slowly began to take him into your velvet mouth. The sounds of your slight gagging led his cock to pulse, his hands fisting your hair so that nothing disrupted his view of your face sucking him off.

He began thrusting into your mouth, tears escaping your eyes as you worked on taking his thrusts. You began moaning as his thickness constantly invaded your mouth, the sounds of his grunts spurring you on and encouraged you to take what he was giving you. You focused on the feeling of the veins along his dick and the sounds of his moaning. You brought a hand to your pussy and began fingering yourself, the thrusts of your fingers attempting to match Ray’s rhythm as he fucked your mouth. The sounds of your slickness as you worked your tight pussy was not lost on Ray’s ears.

‘’Bad little hyna, all wet just from sucking me off?’’ he let out a breathy moan.

You let out a long moan in response, whimpering when you felt his cock pulse. Suddenly, Ray pulled back, your gasps filling the room as you struggled to catch your breath. Your efforts were cut sure when you felt yourself being lifted in Ray’s strong arms and once again pinned against the wall. Ray took his time as he burned you into his memory. Your lips were plump from the forcefulness of his thrusts, you looked like an absolute goddess, something out of his best fantasies. His lips met yours in a surprisingly gentle kiss.

‘’You on the pill or anything?’’ he asked as he slid his dick against your folds, your wetness lubing him up to ease the guaranteed stretch.

You nodded, body shaking in pure and primal desire. He smiled, and for a split second you were looking at Oscar.

‘’I’m going to fill you up,’’ he promised, then drug his hips back before forcing his entire length into your needy cunt.

‘’Ray! Fuck!’’ you cried out, ails digging into his back as you wrapped your legs around his hips.

He didn’t pause or wait for you to adjust before he began pounding into you. You held onto him for dear life as the initial burn of his dick subsided and melted into pure pleasure. Your tits bounced as he fucked into you like an animal. Ray moved his head so that he was able to take one of your nipples into his greedy mouth and suckled as your tight walls squeezed his eager dick with every thrust. The feeling of complete fullness encompassed you, your hands alternating between clawing at his back or stoking his head as he sucked on your breast.

You threw your head back as you cried Ray’s name over and over, chanting it like a prayer. For now, it was. He was your god and your body was his temple. He released your tender nipple with a carnal moan, crashing his lips against yours as his length hammered into you.

‘’Your pussy is like velvet around me,’’ he groaned before biting your lower lip.

His filthy words were what brought you closer to your impending release. You held him closer, wanting to be completely full of him. He made you feel everything you yearned for, for the past five years and then some. You screamed his name as your walls clamped around him, your orgasm completely coating his dick as your vision blurred.

‘’Fuck y/n,’’ he whispered. His thrusts were erratic and his whole body tensed as he emptied himself into you. He gave one last aggressive thrust, ensuring that his entire load was emptied into you and that your insides were painted white. You shook against him, the tremors of your orgasm leaving you feeling sated and completely spent. Your pussy still throbbed as you milked his cock. Ray held you close to his chest, kissing you softly on the lips. Your hands cradled the back of his head, the two of you in your own little world.

‘’I’m sorry if I hurt you,’’ his voice was sincere as he looked you over for any signs of discomfort.

‘’No, you were right. I needed a man to show me what I needed,’’ a sly smirk graced your lips ad Ray let out a low chuckle before gripping your chin and bringing you in for another passionate kiss. Soon you felt him harden again from inside of you. You knew you’d feel it for weeks, every time you’d sit down you’d be reminded of him, of this night. A pang of guilt throbbed in your chest when your mind crossed to Cesar and Oscar. You fucked their father. The sight of the abandoned dinner and melted candles replaced your shame with flickers of anger. As far as you were concerned, Oscar and you were finished. If he could mess with other women, you were free to do the same. You hungrily kissed Ray as boh of your arousal reignited.

‘’Round two already mamas?’’ Ray grinned, kissing your neck and working down to your sensitive breasts.

‘’Only if I get to ride you on the couch.’’

No other words were necessary as Ray picked you up and carried you over. You immediately sunk onto him, both of you moaning each other’s names. Neither of you heard the front door open, too lost in your desire. Ray’s hands pressed against your lower back as you rode him like you hadn’t had dick all your life.

‘’Y/n.’’

You gasped when you stared into Oscar’s angry eyes, the bouquet of roses that were in his hands dropped to the floor as the sounds of your skin against Ray’s echoed in the otherwise empty house.

Maybe you were a bitch. No, you knew you were a bitch. But five years of pain and suffering gathered together when you responded with:

‘’Dinner’s on the table.’’

#ray diaz #omb #on my block #oscar diaz #spooky diaz #ray diaz x reader #smut #oscar diaz x reader #on my block smut

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