#this has sat in my drafts for like three weeks BUT I finally have the writing brain back so— | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

roosterr · 7 months

Text

love you from afar

note: this has been in my drafts since MARCH. can't decide whether i like it or not lol. @wetsocksinbed angsty fic is up next >:)

pairing: john 'soap' mactavish x gn!reader

wc: 9.5k (oops)

summary: you receive a series of mysterious gifts from a mysterious admirer.

warnings: longing, yearning, pining, best friends to lovers trope, idiots in love, heavy on the idiots part, tooth-rotting fluff

ao3

over the last two weeks, you’ve noticed some odd things happening around you; a good kind of odd, the kind that left you thoroughly confused, but was heartwarming nonetheless.

after going back and forth with it in your mind, you've come to the conclusion that you have a secret admirer. it was odd, and a little hard to believe, but it was the only option that made any sense to you. in all honesty, it was probably just your hopeless-romantic heart clouding your mind with optimism, but one can dream.

the first incident was harmless enough, a small inconspicuous gesture that was so subtle, in fact, that you barely paid it any notice at first.

it was the dead of night, and you’d just returned from a particularly gruelling solo mission, uninjured but bone tired and desperate to collapse into your bed and finally sleep. before you could fall into the blankets, however, you noticed through the darkness of your room something strange.

resting neatly on your pillow, illuminated by the dim light of your phone screen, was a single bar of your favourite chocolate. you didn’t remember buying it, and certainly didn’t remember leaving it there, but it was exactly the kind of pick-me-up you needed after the day you’d had. at the time, you’d chalked it up to you simply being forgetful, devoured the chocolate in record time, and promptly knocked out.

over breakfast the next morning, you'd recounted to the others the mysterious appearing chocolate as a funny anecdote; the five of you had laughed about your terrible memory, and you'd moved on. but now you weren’t on the verge of blacking out, you couldn’t help but think of it as weird.

for the life of you, you couldn’t remember buying the chocolate bar, and it didn’t make sense that you would leave it on your pillow like that. what did make sense, however bizarre it may seem, was someone else leaving it for you – but you had no idea who would do that for you, or why. either way, you didn't imagine that anything else would come from it.

the next incident happened three days later.

during training that afternoon, you were in the middle of running laps around base, when you’d – stupidly – tripped over a ditch in the ground and rolled your ankle pretty badly. it hurt too much to put any weight on it, so you’d sat there in shame with no choice but to wait for a few minutes until gaz and soap caught up to you.

as they rounded the corner, you'd reluctantly waved them over with a grimace at how your ankle was throbbing in your boot. johnny was immediately crouching by your side, abandoning the idea of training to focus completely on you.

"christ, what happened?" he fussed, worry creasing his face and making your own heat up under the attention.

"i tripped…" you mumbled, dragging a hand over your embarrassed expression. it was bad enough that you'd made such a simple mistake, but now the man you were crushing on, hard, was lifting your leg so gently and untying your laces and you were certain you were moments away from cardiac arrest.

he'd ushered gaz away to continue his run, telling him he'd accompany you to the infirmary with a tone that left no room for argument. not that gaz would've, the knowing look he sent you as he jogged away told you he knew exactly what you were thinking.

after making sure nothing was broken, soap had pulled you to stand with an arm around your waist, supporting you with his solid frame when you stumbled.

"sure y'don't want me to carry you?" he'd teased, earning a laugh from you as you wobbled in his arms. as you chuckled though, you noticed a hint of what seemed like sincerity in his eyes. you'd felt your face burning again at the implication that he really would carry you, if that's what you'd wanted, and quickly started dragging him along with you in an attempt to hide your flustered state.

he'd kept his arm around your waist the entire way to the medical wing, only releasing you when you were sat in front of the doctor, which did absolutely nothing to calm your racing heart. to your dismay, he couldn't stay with you – you were still in the middle of training, after all.

"you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" he'd asked as he left, and the concern in his eyes almost finished you off. you were almost glad he didn't stick around to see the effect he had on you.

luckily, after a quick inspection, the doctor concluded that you only had a minor sprain, and you'd be good as new in a couple of weeks. she'd sent you on your way with an ice pack, a crutch, and strict instructions to stay off your feet.

you would've gone back outside to watch the boys (mainly soap) finish the rest of their exercises, but honestly, the embarrassment of what happened had you wanting to curl up with a pillow over your face for the rest of the day; so that's exactly what you found yourself doing.

you must've drifted off to sleep at some point, because once you finally sat up again, the sun had painted the horizon a bright orange, and your stomach had begun to rumble.

as you went to walk out into the hall, you heard the crinkle of plastic under your boot, pausing you mid‐step. when you looked down, you were stunned to find a bundle of three beautiful white flowers – gardenias, you'd found out after googling them later. an incredibly warm feeling blossomed in your chest, and despite your best efforts, your eyes had welled up with tears. you couldn't even think of the last time someone bought you flowers. there was no note attached, meaning you had no way of knowing who had left them for you, which sent your mind back to the chocolate bar from a few days ago.

so i'm not going crazy, you'd thought to yourself, someone really did leave it for me. but still, you had no clue who this mystery gift-giver could be.

you'd carefully picked them up, being mindful of your ankle, and turned back around to put them in your room. there wasn't really anywhere to put them, so you just set them on the ledge of your windowsill and made a mental note to find a vase for them at some point.

when you eventually made it to the mess hall, there were very few people left, leaving the room unusually calm. ghost was sat by himself at one of the far tables, so you hobbled over on your crutch to sit with him while you ate.

you sat down opposite him, and he'd looked up, gave you a subtle nod, and gone back to eating with his eyes fixed on the table in front of him. the two of you ate like that for a while, sitting quietly in each others presence.

ghost had been the first to break the silence, asking you, "how's the ankle?" as he pulled his balaclava back down to cover his mouth.

"just sprained," you'd replied, looking up to meet his eyes. another beat of silence fell over you, before you continued, "did you see who left me those flowers?" you'd asked him; it was worth a shot, you figured not much gets past ghost. to your dismay, he simply shook his head, standing and mumbling a goodbye as he left.

you were only more confused now. if ghost didn't know who it was – and, granted, you wouldn't actually be able to tell if he was lying, but you trusted him – then who would know? the next day, you'd asked the other boys, but they'd all said the same thing, even the captain. so you were left with nothing to do but wonder who on earth could be leaving you these gifts.

after that, it was another four days until your secret admirer struck again.

you'd been in and out of briefings and debriefings and meetings all day, your mind was beginning to numb with all the information that had been unloaded. you were tired; not quite the same exhaustion you'd felt coming back from your mission earlier in the week, though, this time you were at the end of your rope mentally. there hadn't been a moments peace since you got out of bed, and once that excruciatingly long day was over and you were relaxing in the common room, you'd had no energy to actually engage with your friends.

you were nestled into one end of the sofa with gaz next to you, ghost on his other side, and soap in the armchair with a small book in his hands. they were all chatting, with you occasionally saying a thing or two, but you were mostly just zoned out with their conversation serving as white noise in the background.

occasionally, you'd look up and catch soap already watching you, but he'd quickly turn his gaze back down to his book. his attention caused you to be equal parts flustered and confused. if you'd been any more awake, you probably would've asked him if something was wrong, but you were already having trouble keeping your head up as it was.

once you felt your eyes slip closed one too many times, you'd decided it was time to turn in for the night. with a quick 'goodnight' to the others, you'd made a beeline straight for your room – but it was more of a hobble, since your ankle still required you to walk with a crutch.

that night you'd slept like a baby, waking up early the next morning feeling well rested, and thankfully your ankle had even started to feel better. though you still couldn't join the team's training sessions, you had other responsibilities to fulfil, so unfortinately you did have to get up at some point.

you'd just finished lacing up your boots when you noticed it; a single sheet of paper on the ground by your door, folded once in half so you can't see what's written on it. from where it lays, you conclude that whoever left it must've slipped it through the gap under your door while you slept. you'd picked it up and sat back on the edge of your bed to unfold it, your curiosity certainly piqued. it make you wonder, though, what reason someone could have for leaving you a note.

except, when you'd lifted the page it wasn't a note at all. on the slightly wrinkled paper were a number of beautiful pencil drawings – drawings of you. the surprise of seeing your own face staring back at you nearly stopped your poor heart.

the jagged edge on one side of the page indicated that it must have been torn out of a sketchbook, which had interested you even more. you couldn't think of anyone you knew who could draw, let alone who would have a sketchbook dedicated to it.

whoever made this, it was clear that art was a passion of theirs – these drawings were really good. your hair, your eyes, the subtle expression on your features, every line was expertly crafted. it was incredibly flattering, and admittedly boosted your ego a little with how good those sketches made you look.

as you sat there smiling to yourself, you'd glanced up to the three flowers blooming on your nightstand. like the gardenias, the drawings were from your secret admirer, there was no other explanation; and an admirer they were, it was abundantly clear from these sketches that this person had an appreciation for you, if only from afar.

the drawings had been your favourite so far, but unfortunately, it was almost a week until your admirer made another move.

it had been long enough for you to start walking properly on your ankle again, and so you'd been slowly easing back into your workout routine, starting with your morning run. you'd taken it slow with lots of breaks to rest your muscles, but still decided to call it early, which had you back at your locker earlier than usual. as you were rounding the corner to the locker room, you'd heard the door slam closed and a set of heavy footsteps racing down the corridor. you'd only caught a glimpse of whoever it was as they dashed around the other corner, quick enough that you weren't able to see who it was.

you'd been concerned at first, whoever it was had been in a terrible rush, but you'd quickly shaken it off – it wasn't uncommon for people to be rushing around base, especially first thing in the morning. with your own meeting to get to, you'd decided not to dwell on the strange almost-encounter, and carried on with grabbing your towel from the bench and showering.

as you opened the door to your locker to fetch your clean clothes, sitting front and centre on top of them was something you definitely hadn't left there; a bag of your favourite hard candy, unopened, in the space that had been empty not half an hour before. how did these get here? you'd asked yourself, and you stood there confused for a moment or two before the answer came to you.

of course, your secret admirer. you'd felt the familiar giddy excitement bubble up in your chest at the revelation. it had been a while since the page of drawings had been slipped under your door, and it pained you how the gardenias had begun to wilt already. honestly, you'd been slightly worried that they'd given up, or something had happened to them. thankfully though, they seemed to be doing just fine, and you were too with such a pleasant start to your day.

it wasn't until you were sat in the meeting room, munching on your sweets and waiting for the others to arrive, that you realised.

the person, the one who'd been in a hurry as you got back from your run, it was them; that person was your secret admirer. they had to be, you'd concluded, the sweets weren't in your locker when you'd been in there earlier, and you did cut your run short, so they probably hadn't expected you to return so soon – that's why they'd been in such a rush to get away.

the revelation had butterflies swarming in your stomach, the idea of being so close to finding out who it was that held such fond affection for you sparking giddy excitement in you; but at the same time, it filled you with a sickly apprehension.

the problem was that you already knew who you wanted it to be – you had from the beginning – and you worried that uncovering their identity would only lead to disappointment; because there was no possible way john mactavish could feel the same way you felt about him.

soap had always been nothing short of kind and respectful of you, never stepping over the unspoken line if being your closest friend. sometimes, you can fool yourself into thinking he treats you differently – when he checks in on you after missions, when he always saves you a seat next to him in meetings, when he'd practically carried you to the infirmary, all of it ignited a warm feeling in your chest. but then you think about it a little more, and remember that all those nice gestures, that's just who he is. he wormed his way into the heart of ghost, for fucks sake, it was almost impossible not to like him.

you'd been so lost in thought, that gaz sitting in the seat next to you had startled you back to reality.

"gonna share with the class?" he'd asked with a teasing smirk, gesturing to the sweets sitting on the table in front of you. he'd reached out to grab one, but you'd pushed his hand away and snatched the bag to your chest.

"no way," you'd said with a playful glare, sending a quick smile to soap who'd taken the seat on your other side, "these are from my secret admirer, get your own."

gaz paused. "...your fucking what?" he had an incredulous look on his face, and you'd forgotten that you never actually told the others about it. "soap, you hearin' this?"

soap looked almost panicked when you'd turned to him, but he didn't have time to respond, as that was the moment price had walked through the door and announced the start of the meeting.

"i'll explain after," you whispered to gaz, who gave you a pointed look that said 'you better' and turned his attention back to price. you'd stifled a chuckle and looked back at soap, expecting him to have a similar expression, but he was already facing forward. you'd frowned at this; you and johnny would always whisper back and forth during meetings – a way to keep eachother entertained, as well as an excuse for you to sit close to him – but today his face had an odd air of seriousness to it. oh well, you'd thought somewhat downtrodden, just have to talk to him after.

and that's what led you to the present, where you'd been explaining to the boys everything that has happened over the last two weeks. well, you were mostly telling soap and gaz, ghost honestly didn't seem that interested, though the captain did have a rather amused expression as he listened.

"so you have no idea who it could be?" gaz had turned sideways in his chair, leaning forward slightly with his eyebrows raised. he looked to be in disbelief, and you were almost inclined to feel the same.

"nope, not a clue." you sighed, turning from gaz to look at the others around the table. price was standing with his arms crossed, giving you a similar disbelieving look, and ghost had that familiar unreadable look in his eyes.

"someone went in your room while you were gone?" ghost's low voice caught your attention, "bit creepy, innit," he grumbled, his gaze darting between you and somewhere next to you. he did have a point, you supposed, it was a bit weird.

"well… maybe a little, yeah…" you trailed off. perhaps he had a point, but you found yourself not wanting to believe it; all of the mystery person's gestures had been so sweet, thoughtful, it was hard to think they had any ill intentions.

that, and your heart has already made up its mind about who it should be.

"don't be like that, lt., whoever it is meant well, didn't they?" gaz chuckled, the grin evident in his voice.

"christ…" ghost mutters, shaking his head in exasperation.

"it may be a slight invasion of privacy…" you begin; and it's true, but after the first incident, it didn't appear that anyone had been inside your room again. "but it was only once. and it was just a chocolate bar, it's harmless. besides, are you really telling me you've never been in anyone's room when they're not there?" you continued, earning only an eye roll from ghost.

"and you haven't tried to figure out who it is?" price asks from his position standing opposite you, across the table.

"no, i wouldn't even know where to start, it could be anyone…" you try to think of anyone to suspect, but your optimistic mind only draws one name; the object of your affection, who happened to be sitting directly next to you. unfortunately, the two of you were strictly friends – no matter how much you longed for something more.

"i think you should investigate," gaz's smile makes you think for a moment that he knows something that you don't, but you brush it off. he didn't even know about your admirer until you told him, how could he? it wasn't like they were leaving any hints. "whoever it is obviously really likes you."

"you think?" you unwrap another sweet and pop it into your mouth as you consider his words.

"yeah! and, we could even help you investigate," gaz gives the others a hopeful, if slightly suspicious, smirk.

"speak for yourself…" ghost leans back in his chair and folds his arms over his chest, the picture of uninterested, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"could be a good bonding exercise," price had the same entertained tone in his voice as he looked between the four of you, "any thoughts, soap?"

you hadn't realised until the captain brought attention to him, but soap had been uncharacteristically quiet during all this; since before the meeting, actually. he hadn't said a word to you yet today, which had you a little worried. usually the two of you couldn't shut up when you were together. you turn to look at him, and find him looking wide-eyed back at price.

"i don't– ah, maybe…" he stuttered, looking between price and the table rather than meeting your concerned eyes, "...they're just shy? don't want to be known yet?"

"oh, y'think, mate?" gaz fully laughed at that, sharing a look with both ghost and price that held something you couldn't understand. now you're thoroughly confused.

"well, maybe he's right," uncertainty laced your voice, their reactions throwing you for a loop. "if they wanted to be known, they probably would've shown themselves by now, right?" you turn to soap, who looks like he'd rather be anywhere else – but he meets your gaze with a tiny smile.

"so you're not going to investigate?" you look back at gaz, who has that incredulous look back on his face, and from the corner of your eye you see price and ghost both shake their heads.

"they can show themselves when they're ready, i don't want to push them." your mind was made up; if your secret admirer wanted to reveal their identity, then they would, it's as simple as that.

"but–" gaz tries to argue, but price quickly interrupts him.

"right, enough, you lot, clear out, you've all got work to be getting on with." he gestures for you all to stand, and after grabbing your sweets, you follow the others out of the room.

for the rest of the day, you endured endless amounts of teasing from gaz, and he even got some of the people from other units in on it. it had your face burning when they cooed over how romantic your 'mystery lover' was. you could only pray that they got over it soon, in the back of your mind you were slightly worried the attention might scare off your admirer, and you certainly didn't want that. but although you told the others you'd wait for them to reveal themselves in their own time, you'd be lying if you said you weren't practically dying to know who it was.

✹✹✹

"hey sarge," a voice sounds from beside you, drowning out the din of the mess hall around you. turning your head, you see it's a private; one you don't really know, but you give her a polite smile anyway. "i've got a message for you." she continues, producing a folded piece of paper from behind her back.

"a message? who from?" you ask, taking the paper from her when she holds it out to you.

she giggles, giving you a sly smile, "a secret someone," and with a suspicious wink, she turned around and left.

with the note in your hand, you look to gaz and soap, a baffled expression on your face. "does she mean my… admirer?" they both shrug at you, sharing an equally perplexed look between themselves.

"go on then," gaz says, "what does it say?"

you unfold it, and scan the neat handwriting of the message. soap and gaz watch as you read it, their curiosity overwhelmingly present in the way they leaned forward to try and see.

your face falls, and you frown. the note was signed – 'your secret admirer' – but you couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in your heart.

"what's up? what does it say?" gaz notices the change in your expression, standing up from his chair and leaning fully over the table to read the note himself. you hand it to him, your good mood from this morning completely soured.

"apparently it is from my admirer," you begin, not bothering to hide the dejection in your voice, "telling me to meet them outside in five minutes."

the pair don't say anything, too stunned to form words as they continue to frown at the words in front of them. this can't be right, it just can't be, your mind laments, if johnny is sitting here, that that means he's not–

"seriously? just like that?" gaz interrupts your thoughts. he sounded annoyed underneath his shock, and you find yourself feeling the same way. "sorry, but i find that hard to believe – they didn't even leave a card with the flowers, did they? it just doesn't feel right to me."

you look to soap, who has yet to say anything on the matter. he doesn't meet your eyes, boring holes into the table with the anger in his gaze. your frown only deepens at his expression, the look on his face so unlike him it almost has you forgetting all about the cause.

"who knows," you sigh, plucking the note back out of gaz's hand. "this probably won't take long, i'll–"

"wait, you're going?" soap interjects, the frown on his face set much deeper than your own. his sudden question caught you off guard, paired with his irritated expression, and you almost thought he was angry with you.

"yeah, i mean, what's the harm, right? might as well just get it over with." you stand as you respond, folding the note back up. even if you were setting yourself up for disappointment, you still wanted to at least hear this person out; even if it wasn't him.

"what's the harm?" johnny scoffs – at you or at very idea of all this you aren't sure – and joins you in standing up, throwing his arms out with such annoyance, it catches you off guard. he gestures sharply at the paper in your hand, "this– whoever that is, it's pure shite! you can't see that?"

now it's you who scoffs at him; where is this hostility coming from? yesterday he seemed as though he couldn't care less when you were telling everyone about it, and now all of a sudden, he thinks he has all the answers?

"how would you know?" you shove the note into your pocket, your earlier sadness quickly morphing into annoyance.

as you move to walk away, johnny looks like he wants to say something more, to stop you, and you hesitate. you want him to; whoever your admirer was, whoever that note was from, none of it meant a thing if it wasn't him. all you wanted was for him to look at you the same way you look at him. gaz is looking at him too, subtly gesturing for him to do something, but he doesn't speak, doesn't meet your eyes as your face drops again.

"exactly, you don't. i'll be back in a minute." you huff, and without another word from either of them, you turn on your heel and make your way out of the mess hall.

it's safe to say your mood had swiftly and effectively been ruined. the disillusionment of realising that your secret admirer was someone other than johnny was one thing, but his sudden attitude towards you was the final straw. your face was decidedly sour as you trudge through the corridors, still with a slight limp which was only fuelling your annoyance for how your day was going.

the cool air of the courtyard makes your skin bristle as you push the door open, taking a moment to survey the area as you stand in the entryway. to the left stands a lone figure, and you recognise his face, but – like the private from earlier, who you assume is his friend – you can't remember ever having spoken to him. with a deep sigh, you blink away bitterness in your expression and make your way over to him.

his grin is wide as he shamelessly checks you out while you approach, and you instinctually cross your arms over your chest. you come to a stop in front of him, frowning in a look that you hope screams uninterested.

"hey, sarge." he has an overly confident air to him as he speaks, shuffling closer under your scrutinising stare. of course he wouldn't take the hint.

"so it's you, then?" you ask, your voice flat and void of any emotion. you just wanted this to be over with, but it seemed luck just wasn't on your side today.

"it's me," he confirms, the blinding grin still plastered to his face as he inches even closer, "you surprised?"

"yeah, actually. i didn't know you were an artist." you reply, voice flat, and you watch him blink once in surprise. you raise a brow at his bewilderment, your patience already wearing painfully thin. he chuckles awkwardly in an attempt to hide how you so obviously caught him off guard.

"ah, yeah i uh–" he stutters, but you cut him off before he can make too much of a fool of himself.

"in fact, i don't actually know you at all. i couldn't recall your name even if you held a gun to my head." the hiss in your voice reveals just how over this whole situation you are. he opens his mouth to spout something else you have no interest in hearing, the sleazy grin falling from his face, but you hold a hand up to silence him. "so i'd really appreciate it if you left me alone."

"but–"

"and stay out of my room, and my locker, too. if it happens again, you're getting reported." you spit the final words at him, and turn on your heel to leave. before you can take another step, he grabs your elbow and spins you back around to face him, causing your ankle to twist awkwardly, which sends a fresh jolt of pain up your leg. you hold back a groan and fix him with a deadly glare instead.

"hey, c'mon, don't be like that!" you wince as he practically demands, getting much closer to you than was necessary, even with you arching backwards to put some space between you. "at least gimme a chance,"

"just leave me alone." you hiss, pulling your arm out of his grip and before he has the chance to do or say anything else, you hurry back the way you came, your limp noticeably more pronounced than earlier. thankfully, the private – jackson, you’d just about been able to read on his jacket – didn’t follow you back to the mess hall, which proves that he has at least half a brain. you hoped that he’d take the hint to stay away from you, but somewhere in the back of your mind you were preparing yourself to be hassled by him in the coming days; he certainly seemed the type.

you were gone less than ten minutes, but in that time most of the lunch crowd had cleared out, leaving the room a lot quieter than it had been. as you shuffle towards soap and gaz, still sitting at the same table, they both turn to look at you, and you can tell by the way both their expressions drop that they sense something is off.

"what happened?" gaz asks as you take your seat across from them, trying to hold back a wince when you put too much strain on your ankle, "your face says it didn't go well."

you sigh, looking between both of them, lingering on soap who’s already watching you with an intensity that has your face heating up. "it didn’t. it was just some private who can’t take no for an answer." you grumble, resting your cheek in the palm of your hand.

"your ankle okay?" soap asks, holding your gaze until you relent and look away first. you want to tell him not to worry, but you find it's impossible to lie to him, not when he's looking at you like you're the only person in the room. "what happened?" he presses, his voice taking on a dangerous tone.

"its nothing, he just– i just twisted it a little." you trip over your words under his stare, looking to gaz for help, but you find that he has a similar – albeit less intense – look of concern on his face. the silence hangs between you for a moment as you wordlessly try to convince them, but they see through you. "alright, fine. when i was leaving, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back, and i pulled my ankle."

if johnny had been pissed before, he was furious now; his eyes were dark underneath his furrowed brow, his lips turned down in a frown that looked more like a snarl. to see someone usually so easygoing with such a threatening look on his face was almost worrying, the only reassurance being that you know it's not directed at you.

"that prick… who was it?" gaz isn't nearly as affected as soap, but he's clearly annoyed by the audacity of the private. you shake your head, urging them to just let it go; he wasn't worth the trouble, after all.

when johnny says your name in that deep, gravelly tone, your heart skips a beat and your eyes snap to meet his. "who was it." he asks, but it's not a question anymore, and every fibre of your being is telling you to just give in to him.

"jackson. i don't know his first name…" you mutter, slightly flustered by the way he's acting. the tension in the silence that follows is nearly suffocating. from where his arms rest on the table, you notice johnny repeatedly clenching his fists, seemingly having some sort of internal battle with himself.

"what a bellend…" gaz grumbles, pausing for a moment to shake the disgust from his face. "so, what about the whole 'secret admirer' thing then?" he leans back in his chair, eyes darting to soap's profile then back to you.

"i don't know…" you sigh, "didn't really seem like something he was capable of, but i guess i don't really know him, so–"

"yeah, he doesn't seem the type, does he?" gaz interjects, with a newfound energy at your words. you narrow you eyes, sensing an ulterior motive, but let him continue. "i mean, buying you flowers, sweets– seems a bit too thoughtful for such a twat."

his jab coaxed a laugh from you, "maybe; i guess i was pretty disappointed when i saw it was him, though."

"oh yeah? expecting someone else, were you?" gaz has a grin on his face, one that has you worried that he's clocked on to your true feelings.

"something like that…" you clear your throat, suddenly feeling a little too seen for your liking. "anyway, i'd better get going, desk duty is no joke," you slowly stand up, making sure to be careful of your newly irritated ankle, and adamantly avoiding eye contact with either of them.

"yeah, me too, cap said he needs my help with something." gaz stands as well, giving soap a pat on the back and a suspicious wink as he walks off, which you willfully choose to ignore.

"you gonna be okay?" johnny comes to your side as you shuffle around the table, his hand brushing over your back to support you. butterflies begin to flutter at the feeling, and you scold yourself for being so easily affected. he seems to have calmed down a lot, the anger from earlier overtaken by his concern.

"yeah, i'll be fine, i think i'll just have to grab my crutch," you smile at him and take a step forward, wincing as you shift your weight from one foot to the other.

"c'mon, lemme help you," he tilts his head to meet your eyes, his worry evident within them. his hand is warm on your back, you have to hold yourself back from leaning into him. "cannae have you hurtin' yourself any more."

"you sure? don't you have work to do too?" you have every intention of taking him up on his offer, but you couldn't help feeling guilty for needing his help like this.

"i'm sure lt. can survive a few extra minutes," johnny gives you a reassuring smile, already ushering you out of the mess hall.

"well, don't blame me when has your head," you grin back at him, relishing in the comfortable feeling of being so close to him. distracted by his proximity, you momentarily forget about your injury and without thinking, you put too much weight on it as you take a step. with a pained gasp, you wobble on your good foot and pause to give your ankle a break.

johnny moves his arm to sit securely around your waist, gently pulling you to lean fully against him. "you sure you don't want me to take you to the infirmary?" he asks, lifting your arm to wrap around his shoulders.

"no, no– they're just gonna tell me to rest, and i'll be sitting down all day anyway," you move to continue on your way to your room, but he stays put.

"you should still get it looked at, might be–"

"johnny." you stop him with a hand on his chest, "i'm okay."

you watch his adams apple bob as he gulps, his eyes flickering to where your hand is touching him and back up to your own, almost too fast to notice.

"right, right. sorry." he dips his head, breaking eye contact. you pull him gently, and the two of you start walking again. "you know jackson well?"

you scoff, frowning as you recall the events of earlier. "what? no, before today i didn't even know his name. he seems like kind of an arsehole, to be honest."

"really? made that bad of an impression, eh?" his lopsided smile feels oddly smug, but you decide not to overthink it.

"like i said, can't take a no." you grumble, pinching the bridge of your nose with your free hand, "i doubt this is the last time i'll have to deal with him…"

"he's not gonna bother you." johnny states, with a finality that is as stunning as it is comforting.

"...if you say so." you don't press any further, wanting to simply move on and forget about the whole thing. you'd gladly never think about that arrogant private again.

before you know it, the two of you are standing in the hall outside your room. his grip around your waist loosens as you push open the door, and you're all too aware of the cold feeling left behind as he lets go.

"thank you, for helping me." you shoot him a grateful smile, grabbing your crutch from where it leant against the wall, propping it under your arm.

"course," johnny pauses, looking past you to something in your room. "you… kept the gardenias?" he asks, his voice quiet, almost disbelieving. you tilt your head, a silent question, but he's still staring at the flowers.

"yeah, they're…" you begin, but his words have you pausing too; he didn't seem like the kind of person to be interested in floristry, you'd certainly never heard him say anything about it before. but somehow, he'd identified the flowers on your end table with no problem. "...they're nice. i like them, even if they do look a little sad now."

when he finally meets your eyes again, there's a distinct redness to his face that wasn't there before, and you feel your heart beginning to race with renewed hope. it could be that he just likes flowers, but if he already knew they were gardenias, maybe he…

"right, i, uh– i should get going, or ghost might actually kill me." johnny's voice had a dazed quality to it when he spoke.

"alright, i'll see you later then," you give him a small smile as you step back into the hall next to him. the two of you look at each other for a moment before you speak again, holding back a laugh, "you gonna go, or just stand there all day?"

your words seem to snap him out of the trance he’d been in, and he shakes his head in an almost comical manner, "right! right, sorry, bye!" he sputters, waving over his shoulder as he jogs away. you chuckle to yourself as he goes, and start walking the opposite direction to get started with your own work.

✹✹✹

you didn't see soap again until the next day, considering that he was strangely absent from mealtimes both last night and today. thankfully the incident from the day before hadn't done any further damage to your ankle, so you were up and about without the need for your crutch after a good night's rest.

you'd just dropped off a folder of paperwork in price's office – which you'd completed in fairly good time, thanks to being stuck behind a desk for nearly two weeks – but as you descend the staircase, you're almost knocked over by someone flying around the corner. you caught yourself with a hand on the railing, blinking away your surprise and glaring at whoever had carelessly bumped into you.

much to your chagrin, it was jackson, and you feel your face naturally falling into a frown at the realisation. you’d been expecting him to try and change your mind about yesterday, but true to johnny’s words, he had yet to bother you about it; actually, you hadn’t seen him at all since then, not even at breakfast or lunch, but it's not as if you were complaining.

though, as you stare down at him from the step above, you notice a deep purple bruise decorating his cheekbone that definitely wasn’t there yesterday. your frown turns from malice to confusion as you wonder how he could have gotten it in the span of less than a day, it looked like he’d taken a serious punch. you couldn’t say you felt bad for him, but it did look painful.

"listen, about yesterday… i- i lied,." jackson mutters, eyes glued to the floor to avoid your own. he was shuffling in place, as if he was preparing to bolt at any second. your eyes narrow as you process his words.

"what?"

he clears his throat. "i lied. it wasn’t me, i just said it was because one of the guys bet me i couldn’t get you to go out with me." he admits. the way he keeps avoiding your eyes, glancing around like he was waiting for someone to jump out at him has you a little suspicious, but your heart still soars when you realise what he means.

jackson wasn't your secret admirer, so your hopeless romantic heart could still dream that it was johnny. the flutter of butterflies even distracts you from the insulting notion that he only wanted to go out with you for a bet.

"seriously?" you ask, your shock evident in your voice as you stare him down. finally his eyes land on your own, an embarrassed grimace overtaking his nervous expression. it's a stark, satisfying difference to his arrogant overconfidence from before.

"yeah. i’m sorry, okay? i don’t want any trouble, it was just–" he cuts himself off, but when you give him a questioning look, he can't tear his eyes from the space behind you, and only mumbles what sounds like a ‘sorry’ before scurrying off back the way he came. you watch him go, thoroughly confused by the whole interaction, but not a moment later a voice from where he was staring brings you out of your thoughts.

"y’alright? little shit wasn’t botherin’ you, was he?" soap's voice cuts through the quiet, and you turn to see him descending the stairs to stand next to you.

you shake your head, "no, no, he just–" you hesitate, your mind going back to yesterday and the gardenias. "he lied, it wasn't him."

"really?" he asks, but his voice doesn't sound surprised at all. you're not sure if you imagined it, but for a moment his expression changes into something like satisfaction.

"yeah, he was about to say something else too, but he just ran off," you sigh, walking down the last few steps. soap follows close behind, a hand hovering near your back. "did you see that bruise on his face? wonder how he got it…"

"looked nasty, eh?" a laugh escapes him, and you admire the way his lips curve, the creases around his eyes as his smile reaches them. "maybe he finally got what was comin' to him."

his face was close to yours, a lot closer than you could reasonably handle without losing your nerve and making a fool of yourself. realising you had yet to respond, you clear your throat and start walking down the corridor, your eyes to the floor and a burning in your cheeks.

"if he never speaks to me again, it'll still be too soon…" you grumble, willing your heart to calm down as he comes up next to you in a few long strides. "anyway, what have you been up to? i haven't seen you all day." with a quick glance, you see the easy smile he has falter slightly.

"i was, ah–" he avoids your eye as he stops himself, a beat of silence passes before he continues "nevermind, i– i was… looking for you." your heart skips a beat, but you scold it for being so eager; the two of you were teammates, friends, he could be looking for you for any number of reasons.

"looking for me? what's up?" you turn your head to face him as you walk, a curious tilt to your brow.

johnny comes to a stop, and so do you a moment after. he looks at you, fidgety and shifting on his feet, with his hands stuffed in his pockets. the look on his face is unsure, uncomfortable, like he was debating running off like jackson had done a minute ago.

he's nervous, that much you can tell. but despite the slightly awkward tension, you you wait for whatever it is he's struggling to say.

"i… uh– y'know what, i actually forgot." johnny hangs his head, pulling his hands from his pockets and scratching the back of his neck.

at his words your heart sinks, and you can't help the disappointed look that takes over your expression. "oh? are you–"

before you can finish, he drops a hand on your shoulder and steps ahead of you, turning around so you're face to face. "listen, ghost is waiting for me, so i gotta run," he smiles again, but it's weaker this time, almost forced as it doesn't quite meet his eyes.

"right… better not keep him waiting."

"right," his reply is short, and the tension between you only grows every moment he avoids your eyes. "i'll see you later though, promise." he flashes you another false smile, gently patting your shoulder, before turning on his heel and swiftly escaping down the corridor.

"bye, johnny." you release a sigh, from longing or exasperation you're not sure, watching his form disappear through the doors.

✹✹✹

despite his promise, once again you don't see soap for the rest of the day. at dinner you'd questioned ghost on his whereabouts, but he only told you that he had no idea either. this time however, you got the strong feeling he was lying to you.

still though, you couldn't find it within yourself to be annoyed with him. you could see clear as day that something was going on with johnny, and if he didn't want to confide in you about whatever it is, then you certainly won't be the one to push him.

having finished today's obligations, you decided to head straight to your room once you'd finished eating. you open your door, a sigh escaping you as you prepare to collapse for the night, and stop dead in your tracks.

a folded sheet of paper lays in front of you, standing out against the emptiness of your floor, crumpled like it had been screwed up and flattened out again. a sense of déjà vù overcomes you, for last week, when you'd received the sketches of yourself in the same way. for a moment all you can do is stand there, staring at the paper, processing.

eventually, you do step into your room, shutting the door quietly behind you and picking the paper up from the floor. you keep it folded until you're sitting on the edge of your mattress, hands shaking ever so slightly with the anticipation.

you're not sure what to think, as you sit burning holes in the paper with your stare. after yesterday, you thought you were done with the idea of your secret admirer; but then again, jackson had admitted to you earlier that he'd lied when he met you yesterday, and the whole reason you weren't as interested after that was because your pipe dream of the mystery person being johnny had been shattered. but now that the identity of your admirer was once again a mystery, you couldn't help but want to dream like that again.

with a defeated groan, you decide to just rip off the bandaid and read the note. you unfold it, immediately noticing the scratchy handwriting – the opposite of the note jackson gave you, so thankfully it couldn't be from him.

you hear your heartbeat in your ears as your eyes scan the words in front of you.

i stayed up all night trying to write this note, but nothing i came up with felt good enough, so i'm just going to say it. i'm your secret admirer. i know you probably won't believe me after that bastard yesterday, but i need you to know anyway. i used to think that love just wasn't my thing, that i'd never find someone i wanted to spend my life with, but that changed when i met you. i didn’t realise it at first, but it's always been you. you're my person, and i can't hide it anymore. i love you. maybe i'm a coward for giving you a note instead of telling you face to face. but if you don't feel the same, you can throw it away, or burn it or something, and i'll never bring it up again. your heart, johnny

the silence in your room borders on deafening as you sit completely still, reeling from what you'd just read. you didn't realise you'd stopped breathing until you release a shaky breath.

all this time, it was johnny.

every longing glance, every touch that lingered just a little too long, the racing pulse every time he says your name; it was all reciprocated.

every time you thought you could never have him as anything more than your best friend, you were wrong.

he cared enough to leave you a pick-me-up after a hard mission, buy you flowers when you got injured, draw you the way he saw you, gift you things he took the time to notice you like.

all this time… he'd felt the exact same way you do.

you set the note down next to you, bringing a shaky hand up to cover your mouth that had fallen open in shock. there was only one thing to do, in your mind, and that was to run into johnny's arms and make up for all the lost time you've spent pining over him.

in seemingly no time at all, you find yourself standing at johnny's door, your fist poised to knock. theres a moment of hesitation, but before your apprehension can cloud your mind, you let your knuckles rap on the wood once, twice, three times, and take a step back as you wait for a response. after a second or two – which felt a lot longer than it actually was – you hear the sounds of footsteps from inside.

another moment passes, and you assume johnny is standing on the other side with his heart in his throat just like you, short-lived before he finally swings the door open.

he looks at you, eyes wide and like a deer caught in headlights, the way he holds himself uncharacteristically shy as you stare each other down.

"the note," you finally murmur, and johnny almost flinches, clearly fighting the urge to look away from you. "tell me you meant it." you continue, taking a miniscule step closer to him. you hear his breath catch in his chest.

"every word." he whispers, gaze flickering down to your lips and back up to your eyes again, and your heart misses a beat.

with no hesitation this time, you hook your arms around his neck and pull him towards you, crushing his mouth against yours in a desperate kiss that's as much teeth as it is lips.

johnny groans into your mouth, his hands flying to your waist as he turns and walks you backwards into his room. the door gets kicked shut behind him once he's got you inside, neither of you breaking apart more than enough to draw a single ragged breath before meeting in the middle again. with another needy whine into you he pushes you up against the wall, caging you in with his broad shoulders and his arms around your waist.

the weight of his arms around you, the feeling of his stubble prickly against your face, the softness of his lips against yours; it's everything you've been waiting for, and now you finally have him, he tastes sweeter than you could've ever imagined.

the two of you stay like that for moments that feel like hours in each other's embrace, only pulling away when your lungs are burning and your lips are swollen. leaning your head back against the wall, his eyes meet yours with such adoration it sends your heart fluttering all over again.

"i'll take that as a good sign," he mumbles, a lopsided grin lifting his features. his joy is so infectious you can't help but mirror his expression as you drop your head to rest on his shoulder.

his chest rumbles with an airy, disbelieving laugh and he tugs you impossibly closer, resting his cheek against the side of your head. standing chest to chest now, you can feel the hammering of his heart against yours and the way his skin burns under your touch.

"you’re my person too," you murmur into him, one of your hands moving up to tangle in the strands of his mohawk, "always have been."

johnny's arms wind tighter around you as he releases a deep, content sigh. he's hugged you countless times before but somehow, this feels different while still staying exactly the same. the heat radiating from him is soothing like it always has been, the knowledge that your feelings are reciprocated only making it that much sweeter.

"why'd it take us so long, eh?" he utters, tender and loving in the way he runs his hands over your back and sides.

"we're just idiots…" you reply, "gaz is gonna have a field day with this."

johnny laughs again, pressing his lips to the side of your head so you can feel his smile. "oh, he clocked us a long time ago, bonnie."

you can't help but groan as you imagine how gaz will tease the both of you for how oblivious you've both been.

he lifts you up by his grip around your waist, carrying you over to his bed and flopping down onto his back with you on his chest. a satisfied groan escapes him as he settles, burying his face into your hair and inhaling a deep breath.

you're enveloped by the scent of him – gunpowder, and the faint smell of something burnt, but it's pleasant and familiar nonetheless.

"yer stayin' with me tonight, non negotiable." he murmurs, running a hand up and down the length of your spine.

"fine by me." you tilt your head up to meet his eyes, and find them already locked on you. "so, about jackson…"

johnny scoffs, lightheartedly frowning in response. "yer gonna bring his name up while yer in my bed?"

"he looked really spooked when he saw you earlier," you begin, smoothing your hand over his chest. his eyes widen at your words, his hand freezing as he looks away from you with a distinctly guilty expression on his face. you narrow your eyes, holding back the amused smirk pulling at your lips. "johnny… did you…"

he clears his throat, and by the way he can't hold your gaze for more than a second you can tell he knows he's been caught. there's no stopping the laugh that bubbles up from your chest at his reaction.

"...i may have, uh– potentially put some fear o'god into the little bawbag…"

"soap!"

#soap x reader #soap mactavish x reader #john soap mactavish x reader #mw2 x reader #cod x reader #141 x reader #call of duty x reader #mw2 #cod mw2 #call of duty #john soap mactavish #soap mactavish #roosterr writes #releasing this into the wild like an injured bird

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delic7te · 5 months

Text

lazy sunday × ( tasm ! ) peter parker

— peter parker x reader

— summary : you and peter wake up from a nap

— A/N: missed writing:) this has been sitting in my drafts and i wrote this cause i'm stressed (regular sunday)

After a long, hard week of constant studying and always being out somewhere in a rush, the weekend finally arrived and you and your boyfriend could spend time together, peacefully in the comfort of each others arms.

There was no pressure as you both finished all your college classes and work and Peter came home after regular patrol over the city. Only gloomy weather outside, a candle and lamp burning on the coffee table and a book in your hands as you drape your legs over Peter's lap, head resting on his shoulder in the living room of his apartment, tangled together on his couch.

Previously, you started explaining him the plot of the interesting book you were currently reading because he knew you loved doing that, and he loved listening to you talk about whatever was on your mind. As you continued reading he tried doing the same but eventually dozed off with his hand over your shoulder, his head above yours. You were too preoccupied by the book to notice, but eventually the calm surroundings had your eyelids start feeling heavy and the words on the pages began merging together. Sleep slowly reached you aswell, as you gave in.

Peter's hair fell over your forehead, leaning into each other comfortably as you slept in peace.

It was already dark outside when you woke up from your nap, confused but still comfortable and half asleep. That was until you saw what time it was on the clock by the television, suddenly snapping back to reality.

Your head rose from Peter's chest abruptly, the movement pulling him to consciousness. His hand searched for you, turning to the side with closed eyes.

"Hmh?" He mumbled your name when he saw you sitting up, visibly dissapointed and stretching your arms.

"We were asleep for three hours" you yawn. "I could've got so much stuff done. Like read this" you pick up the book that fell forgotten during your slumber. "Now I won't have time."

Peter sat up too, smiling despite your complaints. He looked like he just had the best sleep of his life.

"Aww", he cooes, "don't be upset. It's Sunday. What else were we to do?" He kisses your hand, his lips soft on your skin.

You weren't pleased with his excuses. "Not helping", you whine, preparing to crawl out of the cushions and stand up but Peter disapproved. He mumbles something, grabbing you by the wrist and pulling you back on the couch.

"No, not yet, learn to enjoy the moment", he lectures you. "You'll survive, believe me, for Christ sake."

This makes a laugh slip out of you suddenly, although still annoyed. Now that you thought about it, it actually wasn't so bad at all.

Your hand finds its path to his cheek, leaning down to kiss his nose before placing your head on his chest. He looked stunning, messy brown hair and big dark eyes. It was a weakness of yours.

"Sundays are actually stressful", you state with a sigh, burying your face into his sweatshirt.

"I don't think they're so bad." His fingers run through your silky hair.

"Yeah, 'cause you're a lazy ass."

He pretends to be offended by that comment, frowning and dropping his jaw. "That's mean."

"I mean, all you wanna do is snore and sleep all day, dragging me with you and passing your laziness on me", you roll yours eyes jokingly, hugging his waist.

"Guilty as charged, can you blame me?" He looks down on you and as you look up at him with a smile, he swore his heart stopped beating for a moment. You appeared as a godess before his eyes.

"And also", he shakes his head slightly, "since when do I snore ?"

You giggle, putting your hands over your face, causing his cheeks to go burgundy red. He just wanted to kiss you right now and never stop.

"Maybe you got too comfortable, I don't know." You were amused by his slight embarrassment, feeling strong fondness for him in that moment.

"You're mean, I'm not napping with you anymore", he looks away from you, trying to appear nonchalant but still joking around.

"Yes, do me that favor."

That sentence felt like a slap as he glared at you, knowing he should step up his game now, not let you win.

But you seemed to be having a lot of fun now, all the worry from earlier brushed off, laughing and enjoying yourself. After all, that was all he cared about. Just you being happy as you deserve.

"If that's what you really want, I'll manage somehow", he shrugs giving you the fake-sad doe-eyed look. That actually did the trick, unintentionally.

"No, I would never", you let go, taking his hand in yours as you sat up a little. You fiddle with his slender, pale fingers. "I had a good rest."

Peter was satisfied, admiring you under the weak lamp light. "Me too", he confirms, a wide grin on his face, stroking your hair. "And I just guilt-tripped you."

You scoff, lightly punching his shoulder as he laughs. You take a second to observe him. A strange feeling of gratitude flooded over you, feeling lucky to have him as your boyfriend.

You shake your head. "I don't care" You place your hands on each side of his face, bringing your lips to his, capturing them in a loving kiss.

Peter melted instantly, putty in your hands. He let's out a small sound against your mouth. A few moments after, you pull away to catch your breath.

His lips stretch into a smug smile. "I love Sundays."

#tasm peter parker #peter parker x reader #tasm peter x reader #marvel x reader #tasm peter imagines #peter parker imagine #tasm peter x you #peter parker fic #peter parker fluff

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writingmeraki · 8 months

Text

beware of the monsters in the dark !

a park sunghoon drabble !

genre : fluff! just fluffy fluff <3

pairing : sunghoon x gn!reader, established relationship! secret relationship!

warnings : none other than kissing and cussing. let me know if I missed anything though !

author's note : okay so first foremost, hi everyone, it's been AGESS I know i promise I'm alive, just busy with uni that started last week and it's has been tiring but hopefully when I'm adjusted to it morez I'll be able to get more time to write so don't worry I haven't left writing <3 this was a very random drabble idea I got one time when the lights went off at my place hehe, it has been sitting in my drafts for so long so I thought why not finally free it <3 honestly idk I might kinda love this but I hope I don't end up hating it 💀 this one is for you anonnie who requested anything Sunghoon :D I hope you like it and let me know what you think of this !

word count : 2.2k

based on this request !

Your heart felt full as you looked around the room full of your favorite people.

Best friend since you could basically speak, Kim Sunoo had a huge grin on his face. His happiness is visible in his entire form, his eyes forming crescents and hands over his mouth to stifle his giggles.

Three of your other close friends, Heeseung,Jake and Jay. One's you made during your insufferable chemistry class when you were paired up as partners with Jay yet instead of getting one friend, you ended up with three somehow as if coming in like a package.

Then came Niki and Jungwon, your juniors who were also a part of your dance club. They were like your younger brothers who irritated you and you'd basically adopted them.

After everyone, of course you left the best for last, because not only was he your favorite but he was very special to you as well.

Park Sunghoon.

Your boyfriend of around ten months now.

He sat beside you, laughing along at something Niki said, eyes averting from his to yours for a brief moment, making sure not to stare for too long or it'd become suspicious.

Your fingers brushed against his briefly, feeling a sense of want to just interwine your hands but you knew you couldn't.

Not yet at least.

You see,yes the both of you were dating but, it wasn't something that was public.

You were in a secret relationship and Sunghoon definitely played the role of being your best friend who you made when you got lost in the library.

Well technically, it did start out as that, you getting lost in the library and Sunghoon then finding you and guiding you. But let's just say after that day, you both departed with butterflies and something that would soon blossom into what it was now.

Choosing to keep it private was tough. Especially from your actual best friend, Sunoo but you chose to keep it because well it's better to keep these things private isn't it?

"You're zoning out again Y/N come on, you have to pick between truth or dare!"

Exclaimed Jungwon in an enthusiastic voice which made you snap out of your thoughts.

You cleared your throat before you answered,

"Uh…I'll pick dare?"

You immediately regretted your decision, like you mostly do with your life decisions, when you noticed the mischievous expression on Niki's face.

"Well well well we finally caught them now!" He told in a sort of evil like tone as if he was able to trap you in his antics.

Rolling your eyes at his words, you sighed and clicked your tongue,

"Give me the dare already." You said, almost in a tired voice because you knew he'd give something ridiculous.

"Okay so, I dare you to…" Before Niki could finish his sentence, suddenly everything went black.

Not because you fainted though.

But because the lights went off.

"Not again!"

"What the fuck-"

"JAKE THERE'S A CHILD-"

"I'm not a kid though !?"

You could tell who said what which made you snort, so as calmly as you could, you said

"Well it looks like the power went off."

"Oh really? How ever could we have noticed so?" Said the voice beside you in an overexaggerated tone which made you hit his arm.

Sunghoon groaned at your violent behaviour, rubbing his arm,

"Ow! For a tiny human, you definitely know how to hit!"

"Okay wait guys I'll go with Jay and we'll try to figure out why the power went off again,likely because of overload or something like last time." Heeseung spoke up as he turned on his phone flashlight.

The flashlight engulfed a small section which lit up Heeseung's face and for a moment, he looked like a horror movie character.

"Jumpscare!" Niki screamed loudly which made you chuckle again, Jungwon hitting him now because he seemed to have screamed right in his ear.

"Can you turn down your volume or something?! You'll literally burst my ears!"

Jungwon whined at Niki as Heeseung rolled his eyes, already tired of their antics.

Jay got up and moved beside Heeseung carefully, making sure not to trip over anything.

"So we'll be back in a few, hopefully the lights will work, Jake you're responsible for all of them!" Heeseung said as he turned around,pointing his flashlight down the hall, which honestly seemed creepier in the dark.

"We're not kids that need babysitters!" You said as you scoffed at what Heeseung said, which you did feel a little offended by.

"He's not wrong though." Jake coughed out as you glared at him through the dark.

It was dark once again, choosing not to turn on unnecessary flashlights which would then drain your batteries.

"Wait, we'll go look for candles so at least something would be visible, be right back!"

Sunoo and Jake got up and made their way towards the kitchen which was a little further away.

"Hoon you take care of them now!"

"Hey what did I say!-"

"Yeah okay." Sunghoon replied to which you directed your anger towards him, slightly pouting at him for not taking your side.

Sunoo and Niki seemed to be in their own world as they argued on and you could hear them in the dark but chose not to say anything.

"You know, I have an idea." Sunghoon moved closer to you, using the darkness as a benefit and now pulling you into his side.

He spoke in a light tone, making sure to whisper as to not alert the other two who seemed to be in their own world arguing about some show as far as you could remember listening to.

"How about you repay for your forgiveness by kissing me right now?" His low voice sent shivers down your spine as he whispered in your ears.

"Forgiveness? What did I do that I need your forgiveness huh?" You whispered back as you moved your hand up to feel where his face would be.

Poking around before he held your hand that was now holding his cheek, he said,

"Well you did kind of hit me pretty hard back there."

"Oh please, you deserved it." You giggled as you rubbed circles on his cheek with your thumb as you sat before him your legs folded beneath you.

His were sprawled wide open which gave you the space to move between then and closer to him.

One hand resting in his shoulder, you moved your head closer to his,

"But you're lucky I love you."

You pressed your lips against his soft ones and as if it were second nature, he responded without hesitation.

His hands moved to your waist and his thumbs rubbed on the hip bones, as you squeezed his shoulder and moved one hand across his hair.

"Guys, you still awake?" Came a voice across you.

You quickly pulled away in shock, completely forgetting you weren't alone and thanked fate that they weren't able to tell how you'd just have a makeout session with your supposed best friend.

Sunghoon cleared his throat, making sure you didn't accidentally fall before he answered.

"Uh yeah haha, we got tired, I mean I got kinda tired so I dozed off and well Y/N is uh…"

"Oh I was just resting my eyes too! The um dark atmosphere is making me feel sleepy?" You said questionably trying not to sound suspicious.

Lucky for you both, they couldn't see you so they didn't say more and actually got convinced by your stupid excuses.

Being a bit far from you, they also couldn't hear the deep breaths you took when you separated which would give away what you'd been doing.

Suddenly before you could say anything or anyone could say anything, the lights came on.

"Oh wow! That actually feels like hell-"

"Oh my Gosh!! Finally!"

You had to blink to adjust your eyes to the new evasion of the sudden brightness.

Before you could speak, you turned to Sunghoon to see him when you noticed something.

MY LIPSTICK! SHIT!

Even if in the dark, no one would be able to tell whether you kissed him or not, in the light, the proof was quite visible to anyone with great eyes.

The same shade of lipstick now smudged all over his lips as yours was too destroyed. His hair being disheveled being a bonus proof.

Unfortunately for you, you weren't the only ones there and before you could even point it out, someone else did it for you.

"Uh hyung were you trying to apply lipstick in the dark in your sleep or something-"

Niki spoke up innocently which made a confused Jungwon look at what Niki was observing as he was previously looking at the kitchen down the hall to see when Jake and Sunoo would be back now that there was no need for candles.

He blinked once and he blinked twice. His gaze averted to yours who was already looking away while gulping as he zoned in on your lips and once again looked back at his hyung.

Wait.

His eyes widened in realization and his jaw dropped quite literally.

"Niki that's not!" Interruptions were always the worst but they seemed even worse when you saw all four of the ones who had gone walk in at comically the same time.

"Finally we got the lights working again!"

"Yeah right that's because of me hyung who did all the hard work."

"We couldn't find the candles but now we don't even need them!"

"Obviously genius."

Jay rolled his eyes as he looked at Jungwon who seemed to be in a sort of comical expression of shock which made him snort.

He followed his gaze as he now looked at a slightly horrified Sunghoon who was looking at you.

You just blinked back at him, not sure what to say or do because obviously one person was already able to catch on to what was going on, or what had happened in the dark.

Now making that three as Niki who seemed to remain in oblivion until he saw the same shade on your lips.

And the cherry on top of this disastrous sundae was Jay figuring it out, Jay who couldn't for the love of all things beautiful, shut his mouth.

"Did you two fucking kiss?!"

"Language!" Heeseung said before anything and once he realized what Jay had said, he too looked at the both of you now.

Your head snapped towards Jay as you looked at him sheepishly.

Jake and Sunoo, who were once arguing, looked at the both of you and suddenly it felt like everything was already over.

"No! What-"

Sunghoon fake scoffed as he blew a raspberry.

"Uh…yes?"

You gulped as you fiddled with your hands, seeing no point in lying as you looked back at Sunghoon who'd spoken the opposite.

He sighed as he just nodded,

"Yeah we did."

There was a pause after his agreement before Jake loudly exclaimed,

"Alright give me my 100 bucks! Jay and Hee pay up!"

Groaning Jay spoke up,

"I am telling you I won't be giving you a penny because I never bet they were in a relationship or not, it was already obvious they were!'

"Hey now come on, sometimes we make decisions…" Heeseung smiled almost sheepishly.

"Gross the both of you were infront of us!!"

Niki said disgusted as he judged the both of you.

"Oh thank gosh I haven't had to see them kiss or else I'd actually pour bleach in my eyes." Jungwon sighed in relief as he too then agreed with Niki.

Sunghoon and you looked at each other, quite obviously confused as to why no one seemed to be mad about not telling them sooner.

Lucky for you, Sunoo seemed to have read your mind and replied,

"Oh don't worry, we aren't mad or anything if that's what you're worried about, it's your relationship, you can reveal it to us whenever but just saying you were both pretty obvious from the get go! And oh! These three had bet on it too!"

"I never was involved!" Jay exclaimed in between and then went back to arguing his way out of Jake's gaslighting.

"You all knew?" Sunghoon asked, still stunned at how…normal everyone was behaving.

"Please, getting them gifts and flowers, them wearing your clothes and even more gross coupley stuff wasn't obvious enough then call us stupid." Sunoo told him and he sighed,

"Oh these three are giving me a headache, I need something to drink, be right back and of course congratulations on your reveal!" He said happily as he turned around to head back to the kitchen.

You paused and looked back at Sunghoon who seemed to do the same.

"It was that easy huh?" He was stunned and the look on his face only made it more hilarious,so honestly you couldn't help it.

Bursting out in giggles, you felt relieved at how your relationship was revealed, wondering if you should have done it sooner or ever even hid it.

At your giggles, Sunghoon soon seemed to smile as he shook his head, hearing the argument going on in the room with Niki and Jungwon both now poking into the argument.

You didn't just feel your heart being full now, it felt like you had a weight lifted off your shoulders and looking back at Sunghoon, you were more than grateful for whatever that happened.

And wait.

It seemed that the shade of lipstick suited him more now, maybe you should properly apply it on his lips again, of course using your favourite method which was placing your lips on his, like always.

all written works as well as images and edits (unless credited) belong to pri.do not plagiarise, repost, re-edit or claim as yours. pics mostly found on pinterest.

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bumblebeesfromvenus · 7 months

Text

Raindrops falling on my Heart ♡

Leon S. Kennedy x reader

A/N: Well, if that weren't a shitty couple of weeks 🥲 anyway, I am back! The Leon brainrot has been eating at me for months and I finally caved, have some angst! With a happy ending of course, because I have a fragile little heart :) I have some more Leon in my drafts if y'all are interested ;) Enjoy!

~ Fi 🪻

Warnings: talks of alcohol being used as a coping mechanism, badly written fight, potential ooc Leon

Word count: 1.1k

Please don't copy my work! I put a lot of effort and heart into the things I write.

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"You always do this, Leon!" Your voice echoed through your shared apartment. "You know that it's out of my control" He responded, frustrated. You scoffed. "You were gone for three weeks. Three weeks, Leon!" You yelled, tears stinging in your eyes. "I was sat here, for three goddamn weeks wondering whether you were alive or not. One Text. That is all I ask. 'I'm save' or 'I'm okay' that is all I want. I need to know that you're alright." You pleaded.

He was gone for long periods at a time and you were a nervous wreck, tossing and turning at night, hoping, praying that your lover was alive. It was eating away at you, hearing that knock on the door not knowing whether it was Leon finally coming home or his officials to tell you that he didn't make it. It was agonizing, really.

Leon, who previously had his back turned towards you, turned around. "Sure, just let me tell the bad guys to stop shooting at me so I can text you. Also, have a little more faith in me, you know I wouldn't go down that easy." He spat back. He shook his head, scoffing. Making his way to the door, he grabbed his jacket and keys. "Where are you going?" You asked bitterly. "Bar" he replied coldly. "No, Leon! You don't get to walk away from this. You always do and it's solving absolutely nothi-" you were interrupted by the door slamming in your face.

Hot tears were running down your face. You two fought like this almost everytime he came back after weeks of disappearing. It always ended with Leon threatening to leave for the evening but he never did. Until today. He actually left.

Quiet sobs were escaping your mouth. You clutched your heart with both hands to help soothe the pain. Your Relationship was really put to the test with Leon having such a dangerous job. It was obvious he couldn't just stop the whole mission, but there had to be at least 5 minutes between saving the world and kicking ass where he could let you know that he was alive. Why didn't he understand that you loved him? Why wouldn't he let you love him? "Stubborn son of Bitch..." you mumbled, tears drying on your cheeks.

Leon angrily stomped out of your apartment building. Having shoved his hands deep into his pockets, he stepped out into the pouring rain. He'd be soaked by the time he got to the local bar but he couldn't care less at the moment. He hated fighting with you, especially over something like this, something you have been over a million times. He kept his head down, the cold rain trickling down his neck into his shirt.

The stores, restaurants and buisnesses that lined the street, cast a bright light onto his face as he looked up, searching for the sign of the bar. He was a regular at this point. Coming in, sitting down at the very back in a cozy corner, and then quietly leaving when he had drunk his anger, frustration and pain away.

Looking around, Leon spotted happy couples roaming the streets on either side. Laughing, holding hands, smiling. It made him sick. How dare they pretend to be perfect when he knows for a fact that they aren't. Every couple fights. How dare they be happy. He shot them a bitter look and went on to get into the warm and dry embrace of the bar.

Reaching for the the door he stopped in his tracks when he heard his name being called.

"Leon.." you spoke, arms wrapped around yourself to keep you warm. "Can we talk? Please?"

He turned to face you. You were soaked. Your wet hair clinging to your forehead and your neck, the flimsy jacket you had grabbed in a rush doing little to keep the pouring rain and cold out. What are you doing here, you're going to get sick was the first thought that popped into his head as he saw you. But he didn't say that.

"What? You come here to yell at me again?" He asked, coldly. You took a couple of steps towards him. "No, I.." you sighed "I love you, Leon. And I care about you. I worry for you. But you just go on your missions thinking you have nothing to lose and no one that cares about you." Tears were starting to roll down your cheeks.

"But I do! I care. You have something to lose. Us. Everything we've been through. Every fight, every sleepless night, every kiss. I just don't understand why you won't you let me love you. You own my heart and take up my every thought. You're the love of my life, Leon. You're my world, my everything. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if anything happened to you. You are loved. I love you. Isn't that enough for you to not storm into every situation recklessly and put your life on the line for-" you were cut off by Leon pressing your head against his chest. Wrapping your arms around his waist, you let all your emotions spill out. Leon stayed quiet as you sobbed into his shirt, your tears mixing with the rain.

"I'm so sorry, Sweetheart" he whispered, you could hear the tremble in his voice. Pulling away from the embrace, you looked at him, seeing the faintest hint of tears in the corner of his eyes. you reached to his face and cupped his cheek gently.

"You deserve to be loved, Leon. Please understand that. You don't have to earn love or prove yourself worthy of it. Being you is enough. I love you." You sniffled, stroking his cheekbone with your thumb. Leon leaned into your touch, placing his hand on yours and pressing it closer to his face. "I-.. Thank you. I love you too. So much." he sighed, a tear escaping his eye.

You gave him a soft, sad smile and carefully brushed the tear aside. "No more fighting, okay?"

"Okay. Let's go home, baby. I think Bingo's on tonight" he grinned at you, placing a sweet kiss to your lips. You two walked home in the cold rain, your hand clutched tightly in Leons.

After a much needed hot shower you were now both cuddled up on the couch, watching your favorite show but basically talking and laughing through the whole thing. You'd missed nights like these with Leon, the cuddling, the loving, the talking. You'd grown distant the last couple of months due to the frequent arguments. But now, all was well and you later fell asleep in Leons loving arms.

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#bumblebeesfromvenus #leon motherfucking kennedy #leon kennedy fluff #leon kennedy comfort #leon kennedy x reader #resident evil leon #leon kennedy angst #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy x fem!reader #leon s kennedy x reader

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champangekisses · 4 months

Text

Afterglow | R.C. & J.M.

Part One

Word Count: 5.4k

Warnings: swearing, banter, arguing, anger, suggestive, flirting

Summary: Reader’s first day back in the OBX after a year away is one to remember.

A/n: Part one to my first fic. I’m as excited as I am nervous to post this, I hope you enjoy!

All I could hear was the shouting, the constant rustle in the trees, the dogs barking uncontrollably. The flashlights shone through the trees and bushes as the sheriff and fellow deputies tried to desperately catch up to us. The fear set in, the rush of adrenaline still persistent in my body. I started to go numb as the limbs of the trees and bushes consistently smacked me all over. Then finally it happened, right before my eyes—my greatest fear became my living nightmare.

One Month Earlier

“Y/n! Make sure you pack yourself something nice to wear, remember no white!” My mom yelled up to remind me for the one hundredth time from the base of the stairs. I left the OBX a year ago, moved out to the middle of nowhere with my mom and her new husband and started a completely new life with them. Today, I finally get to go home, but unfortunately only for a week.

The Thornton’s eldest daughter is getting married off to some kid who graduated from law school, nothing special other than the groom comes from a wealthy family, and that's all that really matters out there. Keeping the rich - rich. My mom was always obsessed with the idea of me having a lifestyle almost identical to hers but I never was one for the shinier things in life, I just wanted to smoke pot and surf.

I had a plan though, she had always promised me that we would return off of one condition. “You will never see those worthless kids ever again.” Her words replayed in my head like the unmistakable tune of the piano keys I kept tapping ever so faintly as I waited by her bedroom entry, only to retain her opinion of the attire I had picked for the dreadful day to come.

“Y/n? Do you need something?” I quickly zoned back in, collecting all of the vindictive thoughts and stuffing them in a folder labeled drafts. I turned quickly to face her, she was in the middle of packing almost every nonessential item in her bathroom.

I gradually made my way to her bedside, settling down while staring at the ardent red dress in the palm of my hands. “What do you think about this one?” I spoke excitedly, masking the deceitful thoughts I was creating effortlessly in my head.

“I love it! The red dress has always been my favorite.” Her eyes glimmered at the thought of seeing me finally fit in with the kooks or as my step dad would say, the well educated kids. I gave a gentle smile to her before proceeding back through her reimposed bedroom doorway, gliding my fingers ever so delicately over the keys of the piano once more before continuing back up the staircase.

The trip there was awful and boring, outside of the plane windows you saw nothing but the many shades of green, luckily we were there within the matter of a couple hours. We took the latest flight that ultimately landed us at Charleston around eight in the evening. Exhaustedly as I am, I took it into my best interest to sleep during the next three and a half hours of our drive to the Outer Banks.

My body started lightly being pulled in one direction, then the other with every winding turn the old road took. With my eyes closed and slowly waking up, I started imagining the scenery of the old famous hang out at John B's. It was like dreaming in slow motion, watching as the sun kissed the water while we overcame the dying urge for a good time with uncontrollable laughter. Before my imagination concluded the car slowed, turning unhurriedly through massive gates that sat imperishable at the end of the elongated driveway.

Pulling up to the front doors of the old Tanneyhill Estate, I glanced into a dining room window staring at the distinctive profile of well-known Rafe Cameron. Our arrival made the inevitable distraction from the conversation at the dinner table which caused him to turn, concentrating on the moving vehicle on the other side of the very same window. The car stopped and I regained focus, grabbing my hand bag from the floorboard of the SUV before undoing my seatbelt.

Glancing down at my phone to check the time, I rested my hand on the door handle. Before I could put the energy into finally pulling it towards me, Ward swiftly swings the car door open—smiling almost as if he has never seen such a wonderful sight in his life. While demanding he help my stepdad with an argumentative tone, he reaches out for my hand and mildly holds it to help me out of the car.

I mumble a soft thanks before glancing to the front doors, locking eyes with the golden boy. Meanwhile behind me, Ward was continuing to the next car door, assisting with any need my parents had. Rafe never broke eye contact, even when he shifted his posture to lean against the framework, crossing his ankles while his hands stayed in his pockets. His smirk turned into a devilish grin that wreaked nothing but chaos. He sent chills that vibrated my bones, and even once received was not sufficient enough for the goosebumps coming to life on my neck.

I stared at the walkway in front of me, with each step the pit in my stomach grew. I could feel his eyes on me like the force of rain during a downpour. The closer we were, the weight of his stare grew even more burdensome. I felt so compliant around him, so timid. I finally reached the top of the stairs, I swung my arm out to grab the handle but Rafe had already beaten me to it. My hand gently landed on his, my anxiety quickly rising as I ripped mine back to me. His daunting smile let out a faint chuckle that only I could hear.

“If I don't get the door for you, I'm sure I'll hear about it later from my dad.” His tone was so taunting, as if he wanted me to react. I continued through the entry room, following the long narrow hallway to the backside of the home. Sarah was sitting on the love seat that was shared by her younger sister Wheezy. She wasted no time swiftly moving her head to look at the shadowed figure stepping into the light of her living room. Sarah immediately shot up, pushing everything from her lap directly on top of her sister. I prepared my body for the impact of Sarah’s as she pulled me in. We stayed continuously hugging for what felt like forever—neither of us comprehending quite yet that we were in reality. Ward hurried with the luggage, trying to push us in and assign us our rooms. We wasted no time getting ready for bed, I was anxious for what my tomorrow would bring.

I ended up sleeping in for far too long though, waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs way past the time I should be. Shooting myself up off the floor, I scurried into the bathroom across the hall. I shut the door quickly and immediately started the shower water. The only problem was that I forgot the clothes I needed to change into, so I wrapped a towel around me as my hair stayed drenched. Cracking the door open, I checked the hallway making sure nobody was able to witness the embarrassment I was about to endure. I darted across the hall, running through the entry of the bedroom I assumed was mine. I slammed the door a little too hard before turning around to look for my nonexistent clothes on the floor. Rafe, laying down on his bed, props himself up using his forearm and elbow.

“Since when did we share a room?” I jump by the sudden question asked towards me, not prepared to potentially be interrogated. I almost lose my towel in the process while Rafe begins to chuckle at my distress.

“Excuse me?” I questioned as I felt my face starting to warm as his stare intensed.

“You’re excused.” He replied with a smirk as his tone quickly became playful, I started to become flustered before popping off on him.

“You disrespectful brat! All of our interactions have ended with me being uncomfortable. You couldn’t even open the door for me out of courtesy when we first arrived! Now I'm here, sitting in a towel and you won’t even get up and help save me from this embarrassment! You’re such a jackass.” My voice started to raise as the fire within me started to spread.

Rafe shot up out of the bed as if he was being demanded to by a drill sergeant. His mood switched, intimidating was an understatement. He approached me with the same devilish smile he once had just last night, his hand reached out to hold my jaw—gentle yet firm. My breathing stopped, I couldn’t even say a word to him. Rafe brought his mouth to my ear, the closer he got the more submissive I became.

“Do you really want me to leave?” His voice made my skin crawl, my heart started pounding and my breathing came back but in manual.

“Get off of me, you mutt.” I smacked his hand away from my face which caused him to laugh before his tone shifted once again and he turned away from me.

“Get out.” He demanded. I felt even more embarrassed, I glanced at my feet noticing that I still wasn't dressed yet and it was going on late morning. I started to make my way to the door as Rafe seated himself on his bedside, I grabbed the handle and swung open his door. Walking out as if I meant to, I attempted to keep my confidence. I knew all too well that he watched me leave, my mom’s words played in my head as I proceeded down the hall once more. A dog will always remain a dog.

I finished getting dressed before making my way to the kitchen, my mom already had a cup of coffee waiting for me.

“What happened to you? I heard you get out of the shower and then it took you quite some time to get ready.” My face began to burn, Rafe’s words replicating a broken record in my head. My eyes wide open looking down at my feet with the mug full of coffee to my mouth, I sipped at it before placing it back down onto the island where she was sitting.

“I had some trouble with putting my outfit together.” I replied, hoping that was enough to get her off of my back. I couldn’t exactly tell her what happened or she would take it as a connection and mentally start wedding planning.

“Y/n! Come over here!” Sarah yelled from the back patio. My mom shaking her head in approval, I went on my way from the previous conversation and walked into an even more enlightened one. Sarah approached me with a growing smile while pulling what looked to be Topper away from Rafe whom he was actively having a conversation with. Rafe from afar glanced over at them approaching me before sitting down on patio furniture and gluing his face to his phone.

“Y/n, I wanted you to be reintroduced to my now boyfriend, Topper.” Sarah announced as I smiled, knowing that eventually they would connect. Topper has always had something special for Sarah, it was only a matter of time before she noticed.

I stepped aside from the conversation, staring off into the distance, watching the waves ever so lightly wash against the dock and the sailboats glide effortlessly against the water. I missed this, but I missed my friends more than anything. I stood there, with my mug in my hand and the coffee sitting dormant inside soon growing cold. Dreaming of the moment I see them, the Pogues.

Then, as my imagination settled, a figure started walking towards the house from the dock. Taking all of my attention away from my long forgotten wishes, they looked worn from a long day's work. When they grew closer to the back patio we shot each other a curious glance, our eyes locked which then became intense within seconds. I lost my grip, everything going numb before the mug shattered beneath me.

John B.

My lifelong best friend, walking through the yard of my now greatest enemy. Not one soul wasted time to come to my side, except for Rafe. He kept a glare on John B. as he continued down the pathway, you could see in his dark malevolent eyes that he was not welcomed here by him. Meanwhile, Ward ran to us from around the house while my mom and Rose came from the back doors.

“Y/n are you okay!? What happened!?” My mom grabbed my wrists and pulled me to her for a reply.

“N-nothing mom, I'm fine. Please.” I pushed away from her, running inside as Ward cleaned the pieces of porcelain. I went straight to the bathroom, not even sparing a moment to close the door. I turned on the cold water from the sink, staring motionless at the unrecognizable girl in the mirror while my eyes started to burn as the tears formed. I cupped the freezing water before bending over to splash it on my face, hiding any evidence of my emotion.

“I can’t believe I'm asking this but, are you okay?” With both hands gripping the bathroom counter I turned my head sharply to the door, Rafe stared at me with one eyebrow slightly raised while keeping one hand on the doorframe for support as he stood. I gave an angry chuckle before I collected myself.

“Yes, I'm fine. You can go now.” I seethed, Rafe rolled his eyes before making his way back down the hallway, mumbling the entire time before he stepped outside and back to tending to his dad’s needs. I wouldn’t go back outside, solely to prevent myself from becoming even more embarrassed by the scene I left behind. I went into the kitchen, watching my mom and Rose laugh over something that I had absolutely no interest in hearing about. Rose kindly handed me a glass of water before asking if I was okay. I felt myself turn pink, before I could even thank her and reassure her Sarah ran in from outside.

“Y/n! If you’re up for it, Topper wants to take us out for a ride in his new boat?” I turned to my mom waiting for her approval before running away from this nightmare. She sent me a soft smile before returning to her gossip session. I followed Sarah back out to the patio, ignoring the urge to apologize a hundred times for the mess I had created.

The boat wasn’t much to brag about, I don’t even remember the name of it honestly. I did enjoy the scenery though, and being able to let the water hug my fingers as we cruised back toward the dock. As we pulled up to tie off Rafe just couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer

“So Y/n, why did you freak out like that back there at the house?” He questioned with an upward curve forming at the corner of his mouth. It made Sarah and Topper turn their heads to give me their full attention, and I couldn’t help but to glare at Rafe. This made him smile, his sunglasses hiding his eyes that had probably nothing but pure enthusiasm as he taunted me.

“So Rafe, why did you come check on me when I ran inside?” I teased, his smile soon fading while Sarah and Topper turned their heads back forward, hiding the smiles they held from the total humiliation they had just witnessed. Rafe had nothing to say but I felt accomplished knowing I officially put the pretty boy in his place, reminding him that two can play his game.

Once Topper tied the boat off we all hopped out. Rafe was of course the first one while I was last, which I didn’t mind because I wouldn’t want the help out. We all walked back to the house together until I realized I had forgotten my sandals, I turned around not even sparing a second to tell anybody. I hopped back into the boat and within seconds had found them, once I stepped out a familiar voice chimed in my ears.

“Hey there, stranger.”

My heart skipped a beat as I instinctively turned my head to look on the second level of the yacht that sat beside me. We made eye contact before I cracked a smile.

“I'll be damned; John B. Routledge.” I replied, he already had a glowing smile on his face, the same one as when we first met in school.

“Why don’t you come down here so we can be on the same level?” I tried to convince him, but luckily for me he had the same idea. John B hurried down, grabbing onto the side of the boat for him to throw himself over. While running to me to trap me in a hug, the strongest one I've been in so far. He pulled away from me but not letting go just yet.

“Y/n, you have to come to the bonfire tomorrow night. Everybody will be there and I know Kie, Pope and JJ would love to see you.” He encouraged me as I froze, not knowing how to explain that my parents absolutely despised him and the Pogues.

“I’m sure we will see each other. I know Topper and Sarah have been talking about going while we were out today.” I replied warily. John B had a concerned look on his face that had a splash of frustration before popping the one question I wished he hadn’t.

“So, you’re hanging out with the Kooks now?” I pushed him away from me.

“It's not as easy as you think it is to go back to how I once was; I have strict rules to follow and if I want to stay here for as long as I intend to do so, I have to play along.” I retorted as he stared at me wide-eyed. I knew he was confused and probably a little hurt by my reaction but that was the easiest way to tell him. I was suffocating myself staying in that home but I had another six days to try to prove to my parents that we should come back.

“I’m sorry John B., but my parents told me the only way I could come back is if I stay away from you. But -” I bit my lip, staring off into the horizon as the sun started to trinkle its way down to the water. John B grew impatient while I questioned myself to tell him my plan.

“But what Y/n?” He whined, making me snap out of my trance.

“But—if they just think I am a Kook, then they should get convinced quickly. Making it easier to hang out with you, since you know…they won’t be keeping a close eye on me.” John B sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand as he kept a stare down at the boards of the dock.

“I mean, I don’t think we have any other choice.” He replied looking back up to me, a soft smile formed once more on his face.

“Look at it this way; we finally got the Pogues back.” I smiled in response, it felt refreshing talking to John B. His voice reminded me of the soft waves as they caress the sand on the shore, the crackle of a fire that's burning at night to devour the darkness around you.

“I will see you tomorrow John.'' I smiled as I turned away from him.

“Don’t keep me waiting Y/L/N.” he replied as I started my way back to the house, blushing with a smile as I continued down the dock.

John B. was my best friend. I would be lying if I said he wasn't cute, but my eyes were on somebody else—precisely from a year ago. I stepped in through the doors that welcomed me back into the kitchen. Ward had taken Rose and my parents out for a nice dinner on the water for a warm welcome home. Sarah, Topper and Wheezy got dressed in time for the remaining two hours to be filled with laughter in the pool out back. I rounded the corner into the hallway before I was stopped by none other than Rafe, he was leaning against the wall with a look of disappointment growing on his face.

“So what was that all about?” He questioned, I stood there making awkward eye contact. Was he watching me?

“Hello?” Rafe poked once more, I furrowed my eyebrows before sending him an attitude.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.” I pushed myself past him as he turned to watch me leave.

“It could be mine or it could be your parents’.” He barked back to me. I stopped walking as he slowly progressed towards me. I stood in fear of what my parents would do if they ever knew. I could feel his presence behind me, the goosebumps rising on my back and arms like a mountain range protruding through my skin. I turned around, finally gaining the courage to face him.

“Excuse me?” The anger spilling through my teeth.

“You heard me.” Rafe shot back at me, as if he planned out exactly what I would say to him. He lived for this, the mess he creates in my head and the endless ways he taunts me just to get me to react. He was a soulless, mediocre bastard of a person. The devil was such an understatement at this point, I only wanted to hit him but I wouldn't hear the end of it from my parents.

“Leave them at the cut, Y/n. You’re on figure eight now. You need to start acting like it.” I scoffed at him before ditching the conversation by walking away and into the guest bedroom I was staying in. Rafe followed, but stayed at the door.

“Don’t think that I don’t know how bad you want to come home, if I was you I would hang with us.” He suggested, I sit on the bedside before looking over to Rafe, one eyebrow raised before laughing at him.

“You really think I want to be friends with you? Sarah is the only kook I actually enjoy being around, but you? You are a plague that walks the earth, you only want to cause harm and enjoy watching as everything falls apart. I would never want to be associated with you, ever.” I felt my rage start to rummage through me as Rafe rolled his eyes before shutting the door, mumbling some more as he made his way back down the hallway towards the kitchen.

I put myself to bed, anxious that Rafe now has something to control me with, but how did he know that I wanted to come home? I’ve only told Sarah, and I know she wouldn’t ever tell Rafe anything, so was he eavesdropping? I brushed it off ultimately, it doesn’t matter how he found out. What matters now is that he knows.

After my cup of coffee with my mom the next morning, I wasn’t too excited to be having to go to the bonfire with the Kooks, but I don’t really have a choice right now. I tagged along with Sarah for the afternoon while Topper and Rafe did. I don’t know, Topper and Rafe things?

“So Y/n, what made you change your mind about the bonfire? When Topper and I brought it up, you seemed super uninterested.” Sarah didn’t hold back her question as she was incredibly suspicious. It caught me off guard so I took a minute to think about my response.

“Honestly, I just needed to get out and enjoy myself since I'm not promised more than this week.” I lied while the pit in my stomach grew. What if I don't stay? What if I go back? I couldn’t stand the thought of it, but I had to prepare myself for the worst. Sarah didn’t seem too convinced with my answer, giving me a raised eyebrow with a smirk following really gave it away.

“Okay, well we need outfits for tonight. Almost everybody in the OBX will be there, sometimes school aged visitors show up too if they’re looking to get away from their family.” Sarah continued on about the bonfire, while I searched through the never ending clothes racks. We finally finished our shopping spree and made it back in enough time to get ready for the fire. I was a tad anxious not knowing if I looked good in what I picked. Honestly though, every woman out here has the same fashion sense unless you're a visitor. As Sarah was finishing up I gradually made my way to the kitchen, lazily pouring myself a glass of water before becoming interrupted with an unwanted guest. Leaning against the counter’s edge closest to me, Rafe rested his chin in the palm of one of his hands while sneakily trying to reach under the cabinet for his father’s whiskey with the other.

“Can I help you?” I mucked up the courage to speak while avoiding any eye contact, back facing the glare I knew he was giving me.

“Your shorts, pull them down some.” He spoke as if he was agitated, I immediately felt the rage take over my body once more as if I was becoming a wildfire that couldn’t be put out.

“How dare you comment on my shorts! You don't own me nor my body nor my mind, and I will never and I mean absolutely never do a single thing you tell me to do!” I screamed at Rafe in a tone as if I was scolding a troubled teen, but he wasted no time to crack a smile before chuckling a bit, switching positions so his back can rest on the wall behind him and tucking his hands back into his front pockets before closing his eyes and pulling his head down towards the floor beneath him.

“I never said to take them off, but when your shorts are riding so high that it looks as if your ass is suffocating it just looks…I don't know, it's funny.” He replied with a soft attitude, the embarrassment raced across my face as if it was in a marathon going for first place. Swiftly yet unsuspiciously, I grabbed the bottom of one side of my shorts as I tightened the grip I had on the glass with my other, tugging the god forsaken things down as much as I could. Rafe had a steady grin while keeping his eyes closed, knowing only too well what I was doing. I gulped down the cold water before flipping the glass upside down in the kitchen sink, then without a second thought started my way back to Sarah’s room. Leaving Rafe with his new found bottle of whiskey, and the satisfied smirk he continued to hold onto that only made the night jealous with how dark its intentions were.

I quickly stepped into Sarah’s room, shutting the door with my back before elegantly sliding down until my bottom touched the freshly installed carpet. I shut my eyes before exhaling the breath I held in for what felt like eternity.

God, I hate him.

My mind was full of anger while my body said otherwise, I couldn’t ignore the fact I desired him. Everything he does, he knows it’s working as if he needs me to want him. As if he wants me to need him.

“How does this look?” Sarah’s voice intruded my thoughts. Luckily, she didn’t seem concerned for my growing silence moments after following the slight blush spreading across my cheeks.

“I think you look great. Are you finally ready?” I quickly spoke, before jumping to my feet with a mask of excitement that only hid pure anxiety. We made our way down the spiral staircase, following Sarah’s lead as we made it to the last step. My fingers effortlessly slid down the white handrail as every imperfection of the wood protruded from the thick sealant, so well that I was forced to acknowledge the splinter left behind from it. I winced at the pain as Sarah bolted to Topper, jumping into a hug which resulted in the air being filled with laughter.

I realized a little too late that I should’ve brought a jacket to the bonfire. The ocean left little kisses on my cheeks as the breeze picked up, which carried the slightest bit of mist from the crashing waves in the distance.

“Y/n?” Topper spoke out softly, my concentration returning to him as I snapped out of the trance that the water had on me.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” I asked, ignoring the worrisome look on his face as he continued.

“Why exactly do you wear that ring all the time? You’re not like, engaged are you?” You shared a quick chuckle with the blond as you mindlessly played with the tiny band with your thumb, examining the delicate piece of silver that carried a microscopic engraved heart. Your mother requested it to be on there, she said it would add character or something like that.

“Oh, this little thing? It’s a purity ring, gifted to me by my parents for my birthday last year.” I answered, glancing back up to Topper who was taking another swig of his beer before lowering the bottle with a soft sigh and pink cheeks.

“Oh, interesting. Uh, do you see Sarah anywhere? She said she was grabbing herself another drink but she never came back.” He asked as the air thickened with tension, his eyes frantically scanning the faces of the individuals in front of us.

“I just want to make sure she’s o…” I turned to face him, curious yet concerned about what had made him lose his train of thought. His eyes darkened while his knuckles turned white from gripping the now empty bottle in his hand, I couldn’t get a word out before he made his way forcefully through the hoard of people in between us and his target.

I scan the crowd ahead of him before my eyes land on Sarah talking to John B. My heart started racing as I prepared myself for the conflict about to happen. Looking at my surroundings frantically, I feel a hand snake around my waist.

“Now, how has the Kook life been treating you?” A familiar voice spoke out while leaning towards my ear, the music so loud it was almost impossible to think.

My heart fluttered as every butterfly made its way to my stomach as I turned to face him, JJ’s smile matching mine as we sat in silence for what felt like eternity. I would leave this Kook life within a blink of an eye if it meant I could stay here in this moment with him forever, and surely by the looks of it, he felt the same. I glanced down at my beer, a soft pink grew on my cheeks but luckily the dim light of the fire hid my embarrassment quite extensively.

“Terrible.” I whispered, looking back into his eyes with only inches of separation between us. His breath reeked of bourbon and cigarettes while his eyes searched mine, as if trying to find the life they once emitted. Sadness soon filled the space between us as the memories washed over him and I. We stood in complete silence as if we were waiting for the other to speak, sharing the suffocating tension we had created. I stepped towards him, never breaking the gaze we held as I wrapped one arm around his neck and closed the space between us with a hug.

“I just want to come home J.” I whimpered in his ear while trying my best not to shed a tear, especially not at a party full of Kooks.

“Then come home, baby.” JJ hummed before hugging me tightly. Before I could process what I had just done, a scream echoed through the area and I remembered.

Topper.

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joekeeryswife · 1 year

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Bad Day - E.M

hi my loves! i’ve had this in my drafts for a while but i think now is the perfect time for my first dad!Eddie fanfiction. i really hope you guys enjoy! has a few mistakes but don’t forget to like and reblog and comment <3

Eddie hated going to work. he absolutely hated it. it meant that he wouldn't be able to see his two girls all day. Tommy, your four year old daughter, had started nursery three weeks ago and it had been going okay so far. every day Eddie came home from work and see Tommy with a huge smile on her face as she waited for Eddie so she could tell him all about his day.

seeing her smiling face after a long day at work made his heart melt and it would make him forget about his shitty customers in the shop. it was 6:30pm and Eddie had just finished his shift and to say he was knackered was an understatement. he has worked on nine different cars all with horrible drivers but what could he do, it was his job to deal with the customers and finish the jobs on the cars that were brought in.

he got into his car which was parked around the back of the mechanic shop, sighing to himself as he finally sat down after a 12 hour shift. he was always rushed off of his feet and felt like he had no time to see his girls. on the drive home, Eddie wondered what Tommy would speak about today. he didn't like that his baby girl was growing up so quickly, it was like one minute you'd woken him up in the middle of the night saying your water had broken and now she was going to be turning five.

Tommy could be waiting at the door with two dolls in her hand. she could tell him about her friends Amanda and Joanne and how they learned about numbers up to 20 or how they played chefs in the nursery toy section but he honestly couldn't wait to hear about her day. he finally arrived home after 20 minutes, seeing the main lights in the trailer off but the lamp and tv were on. he hoped that Tommy wasn't in bed already, he needed to see her before she went to sleep.

he locked the car up and quietly walked toward the trailer incase Tommy was actually asleep, he did not want to wake her. he knew how cranky she was if she was woken up early and he did not want to deal with her being mad at him. he opened the trailer door and saw you and Tommy both on the sofa, the TV playing reruns of Pingu.

Tommy was on your lap, her head on you chest with her hand slightly covering her face. your left hand was on her back, rubbing small circles on the pyjama top gently whilst your right hand was running through her hair. Eddie watched intently as he heard his little girl sniffle with every breath, obviously trying to calm herself down.

"it's okay baby" he heard you whisper as you kissed the top of her head. she cuddled into you more, both of her arms now wrapped around your waist. Eddie walked over, anxiety filling his body as his eyes never left his Tommy.

he carefully sat down next to you, putting an arm around your shoulders, bringing the two of you close to him. "hi sweetheart" he whispered, kissing your forehead gently and he got comfortable on the sofa. you turned your attention away from Tommy to look at him, lips pouted as you waited for him to kiss you properly for the first time that day. Eddie reciprocated the kiss before you both turned your attention to the little girl cuddled into you.

"what's the matter with her" Tommy didn't stir out of the position she was in on your lap making Eddie frown. usually as soon as she heard him come in she would always gravitate toward him, but not tonight. she stayed in that same position just taking everything in. something really bad must have happened.

"she just had a bad day, a few of the kids at school were picking on her. the teacher called me saying she was asking to come home so i went to pick her up and she was sobbing. i have no idea what was said or who said it because she won't tell me. all she wanted me to do was cuddle her so that's what i did" Eddie's heart sank. his baby girl was being picked on and he had no idea why.

it was silent for a few minutes in the trailer, the only noises that could be heard were Tommys sniffling and Pingu on the TV. both you and Eddie wanted to know what was said and what made her upset but you didn't want to pressure her. pressuring a child to tell you what was wrong didn't teach them patients and that's the one trait you wanted Tommy to have.

after you all sat there contently for a while, you needed the toilet. it was obviously going to ruin the family cuddle time but after you had Tommy your bladder, like many women, was not what it used to be and when you needed to pee you had to go immediately. you slowly passed Tommy to Eddie, kissing her forehead gently before running off to the bathroom down the hall, leaving Eddie and Tommy alone for the first time that night.

Tommy groaned as she was passed over to Eddie but settled down quickly on his lap, head pressed against his chest. Eddie was not a patient person. he wanted to get straight to the point and find out who upset Tommy. "sweetheart" he whispered, stroking his hand up and down Tommys back.

she looked up from his chest and for the first time that night she looked in Eddie's eyes. he could see the sadness and worry in them and he just wished he could take away her bad emotions and just give it to himself. he looked at her with a sympathetic look, making her face almost crumple as she tried to keep her tears in. "you wanna tell me what's the matter? why you had a bad day?"

she looked at him with her chocolate brown eyes which matched Eddie's completely. she sighed before turning away from him, making them lose eye contact. "they said mean things" she whispered, looking down at her pyjama covered lap. Eddie frowned slightly, not really understanding who she was talking about. he tucked a piece of her slightly curled hair behind her ear before he stroked her cheek.

"what do you mean princess?" he questioned, his hand never leaving her face as he tried to calm her down, making sure she didn't cry anymore then she did before. "David called me a freak. they said because you are my dad it also makes me a freak but you aren't one daddy. and everyone laughed at me" she said, rubbing her right eye as more tears formed. Eddie sighed. so many years later and he's still being called a freak and now it was happening to his daughter.

Eddie needed to know who's David's dad because he felt his anger boiling up inside his body for some little shit making his daughter upset but he couldn't let her know that he was angry, she may think it's her that he's angry when it's not. it's the parents. the parents are allowing their children to become evil and bullies.

no one else really calls him a freak except from the old jocks he went to high school with and they were now teaching their kids to say it to his own daughter. “do you think you could tell me David’s last name?” she thought for a moment. her little forehead frowning as the went deep into thought. you’d come out of the bathroom ages ago but heard Tommy finally opening up to Eddie. you didn’t want her to go all shy again so you left them to it, going into Tommys bedroom to put away the clean washing you’d done earlier.

“i think carter or carder. something like that” she whispered, the frown on her face still apparent as she kept trying to think of David’s last name. Eddie had a light bulb moment. the name that he didn’t think he’d have to remember ever again was here, causing problems like usual. “Carver?” he questioned and her frown dropped as she nodded. “you got it daddy, it’s Carver” she clapped but her excited persona was quickly changed when she remembered what David had said.

his anger grew as he realised his enemy from high school was getting his child to pick on his own and he wasn’t going to tolerate that. he took it in high school but if anyone was rude to his baby girl they immediately had an issue and they did not want to mess with Eddie when he was mad. “motherfucker” he whispered angrily, Tommy could just about make out what he said.

he couldn’t believe that this child was going out of his was to upset Tommy and he knew how it felt. his face softened when she saw the scared look on Tommys face, she thought he was angry at her but he could never. never in her four years old living did Eddie or you raise your voices at her. you felt that soft parenting was the perfect solution for any problem when she was upset and it had worked.

“i’m sorry daddy” she whispered, twiddling her hands together as her nerves grew. what if Eddie was angry at her and she should of stuck up for herself. “don’t say sorry sweetheart. it isn’t your fault. i just know David’s dad is all. please don’t apologise baby” he said, bringing her into his chest before leaving a small peck on her forehead. he knew he shouldn’t of let his anger show on his face but he did.

he was so angry that Jason could carry on victimising his family for just existing. he wanted to drive to Jason’s house and beat the shit out of him, but he couldn’t, there was one thing Eddie needed to do right now and that was comfort his daughter, he knew he would deal with Jason another day but right now his baby girl needed him and he wasn’t going anywhere.

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a-lanterninthenight · 6 months

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Shrike - Part 1

Hi there! This story has been sitting in my Google Docs for quite a bit, and I had honestly forgotten about it until I found it in when I was going through them. I really hope you like it. I feel like there aren't enough Danny fics out there, so hopefully this one will be able to aid all my fellow Danny laners out there. The title was inspired by the gorgeous song Shrike by Hozier, which I'll link here: Hozier - Shrike (Official Audio) - YouTube I'd greatly appreciate any feedback you have, so don't be afraid to drop something in the comments or message me. My deepest thanks to @kaedepo for helping make the moodboard and reading the draft as I wrote it. Now, without further ado, let's get started...

Reader x Danny

TW: none

Word Count: ~2.7k

Sunlight streamed through your gauzy white curtains as you opened your eyes. As they adjusted to the bright summer sunshine, you sat up, taking in the view of your small but cozy bedroom. You had just moved to Nashville last week, and this small apartment was your first real place of your own. It had taken several years of waitressing, pet sitting, and other odd jobs to pay your way through school, but you had finally done it. Nashville was your dream home ever since you were little, and to your elation, a small bookstore in town had offered you a position as a marketing manager. Graduation was three weeks ago, and after a short but much needed vacation, you had packed your things and moved in.

The soft meows of your cat Stevie greeted you as you walked down the hall from your room into the kitchen. Stevie rubbed up against your legs, purring loudly and leaving some of her ginger colored fur on the pant legs of your black sweatpants. “Good morning, Stevie girl, today’s a big day,” you said to her. Today you started working, and you were eagerly but also a little nervously looking forward to it. “Let’s hope that everything goes ok.” After feeding Stevie, you went back into your room to get dressed and ready for the day. Opting for a comfy but dressy enough pair of jeans and a flowy blouse, you applied a light dusting of makeup and curled your hair in loose waves. Right as you were putting away your curling iron, your phone buzzed. Looking at it, you saw a text from your best friend from school, Stella. “Hey! Big day today, but you’ve got this! Good luck and let me know how it goes.”

You and Stella had been best friends since your freshman year of college, where you had been in the same freshman seminar. She was heading off to medical school to become a cardiologist in the fall, and despite the big difference in majors, you had been inseparable since you first met. “Thanks, I really appreciate it. I have to be in at 9, so I’m going to be leaving soon. I’ll keep you posted.” Once you clicked send, you slipped into your comfy white Vans, grabbed your keys and small purse, and walked to the front door. “Bye Stevie,” you said to the cat as you walked out the door and down the stairs to your car. The drive to work was only 15 minutes, and after a quick stop at a local Starbucks to buy your usual iced latte and a croissant, you were pulling into the parking lot behind the bookstore.

The bells on the door rang as you stepped foot inside. You took in the rows of bookshelves and the comfy reading nook in the back corner. You could definitely get used to working in a place like this.

“Hello! You must be y/n,” a cheery voice called from behind the cash register. A woman with beautiful auburn curls smiled at you, and you immediately recognized her as your new boss, Rosalind. “Hi, you’ve got that right,” you said as you walked and shook hands with her. “We’re so happy to have you here with us! I promise I’m not the only other person working here right now, the others are back in the breakroom.” She led you to a small door in the back that said employees only, which opened onto a tiny but nicely furnished room with three people in it. Rosalind introduced them as Emma, Owen, and Allie. Emma was the store’s resident children’s book expert, while Owen and Allie handled the other genres. Along with being a marketing manager in charge of publicity for the store, you had accepted a part time role as a salesperson, which you were more than happy to do. Sharing your love of books with others was a passion of yours, and you were excited to interact with the customers. Rosalind gave you a quick crash course in how to deal with certain situations, and soon you were out amongst the shelves in the store. Today was going to be entirely about selling books, and you were going to meet and discuss marketing tomorrow.

The store was fairly busy throughout the morning, and you patrolled the floors of the store, ready to be of assistance to any customer who needed it. Around noon, you had stopped to look at the back cover of a new book when you glanced up and saw a young woman with light brown hair staring at a bookshelf. Sensing that this was your cue to sweep in, you strolled over and asked if she needed any help. “Actually, I would love that. I came here for some new books to get while I’m here on vacation and I’ve read pretty much every book on my tbr list,” the young woman said to you. “Well, I can definitely help with that. What genres do you enjoy reading?” you prompted. She listed off several ones, and you immediately got a few ideas. Walking over to the fantasy section, you grabbed a few that you thought she might enjoy. “I think these should be perfect for you. They’re quite popular right now.”

“These sound great! Thank you so much for the recommendations.” She smiled at you, and you walked over to the cash register to ring up her purchases. While you scanned barcodes and completed the transaction, you made small talk. “So, you’re here for vacation?” you asked. “Yes! I usually come here a few times a year, but mostly for weekend trips. I’m staying for two weeks this time though.” “Wow, you must really love Nashville.” The girl laughed, “You could say that. My brother lives here, so I’ve learned to love the city. How about you?”

“Oh, I’m brand new to this place. I just moved here last week. This is my first place post-grad,” you explained. “I’ve wanted to live here since I was very little though.” The girl smiled, and she explained that she had just graduated college too. She had come down from Michigan to stay with her brother as a vacation to celebrate her graduation, and after her visit she would be heading back home to work as a real estate agent outside of Detroit. The more you two chatted, the more you realized how much you had in common. You were both younger siblings, and reading had been one of your favorite hobbies since you were little. Your birthdays were only a week apart, and you both had pet cats that you loved dearly. You were amazed at how in a few short minutes, a complete stranger had become as close to you as a friend you’d had since grade school.

“My name’s Josie by the way,” the girl smiled as she put her credit card back in her wallet and slung her purse over her shoulder. “Unfortunately, I should really let you get back to work, so how would you like to meet me for dinner tonight? I’d love to chat more with you.” You enthusiastically agreed, and she gave you the name of a bar within a short distance from the heart of the city and your apartment. She headed toward the door, and waved goodbye as she walked out. The bells jingled, and you smiled to yourself. It felt good to make a new friend.

…

The bright lights of the neon signs on the wall and the familiar smell of alcohol greeted you as you walked into the bar that Josie had suggested. The place was the perfect mix of old and new, and the vibes matched yours to a T. Josie was sitting on a stool at the bar and she waved as you headed towards her. “Hey there! So glad to see you again.” She gave you a hug before you sat down next to her. The bartender turned to face you, asking for your order, to which you responded with your old faithful, Jack and coke. The drink was quickly placed in front of you, and you sipped it as Josie began to speak. “Since you’re new to Nashville, I had an idea. Why don’t I introduce you to my brother? You can never have too many friends in a new city.” “That does sound nice. To be honest I don’t really know anyone else here besides people from work, and you,” you replied. “Perfect, I’ll text him now,” Josie pulled out her phone and began typing. Shortly after she hit send and put the phone down, her lock screen lit up with a notification from a contact named Danny. “Ah, that was fast,” she exclaimed as she read the message. “I’ve got even better news. Danny said he’s actually in the neighborhood right now and he’d be more than happy to swing by and say hello. This is great!” You weren’t sure what to think about this news, as you could be a bit shy when meeting new people, but you happily responded with “Wonderful, I can’t wait!”

About fifteen minutes had passed by, and suddenly you were broken out of your conversation by Josie calling someone’s name. You turned around, and realized someone was walking through the door of the bar. Not someone, it was a group of 4 men. The first one to walk in was short, with hair that could only be described as a cross between a mullet and a mohawk. He was wearing a brown linen jumpsuit and white sneakers, and he had a big grin on his mustached face. Following right behind him was another man who looked very similar, though he had wavy brown hair cut in a bob and no facial hair. His outfit reminded you of a rockstar, as he was wearing sunglasses and a shirt with only the bottom few buttons done. He oozed confidence, and you found yourself wondering just who he was. Next to walk in was a man who looked like he could be related to the first two, except for the fact that he had a few inches on them. This one was tall and lanky, with long brown hair and facial hair in a look that was very George Harrison-esque. He wore a button-down shirt in a blue paisley pattern, and he had navy pants with a shoestring belt. Finishing out the group was a man who you could only describe as looking like a Greek god. He was tall, taller than even the long haired one, with dark curly hair with a few faded blonde highlights. He had an angular face and tanned skin, and he was wearing a blue and white striped shirt with the top buttons undone. The tiniest bit of chest hair peeked out, and you had to quickly stop yourself from staring. Given that the other three men looked like they were siblings and Josie had only ever mentioned having one brother, you deduced that this man must be her brother.

“Hey guys!” Josie exclaimed as the four men approached you. The lanky one wrapped Josie in a hug as the mustached man greeted her with a “Hello sunshine!” Hugs were shared all around as each of the other men gave Josie a hug. “Hello there!” the mustached man said to you. “Y/n, right? Danny said his sister would be introducing us to you. My name is Josh.” He flashed you a smile as you confirmed your name. Josie leaned in, saying “Y/n, meet the Kiszkas and my brother, Danny.” You quickly learned that the other short man was named Jake, while the taller brunette was Sam. Your hunch proved correct, and the curly haired one was identified as Josie’s brother, Danny.

The six of you moved from the bar to a big table towards the back, and the boys ordered their drinks while you and Josie chit chatted. Once they returned, they took their seats and conversation resumed. “So, how are you liking Nashville so far?” Sam asked you as you finished your drink. “I love it! I’ve wanted to live here my whole life, and it’s everything I could have wanted it to be. Granted, I’ve only been here for a week, but I’m very happy with it.”

“That’s great! It’s honestly kind of impossible to not fall in love with the city. I know it was love at first sight for me.” Sam confessed. “Well, anything beats Frankenmuth.” Jacob joked, and Sam shrugged in acknowledgement. “Frankenmuth? I’m assuming that’s your hometown?”

Josh nodded, and Danny quipped “It’s not exactly the most… cosmopolitan place. Don’t get me wrong, it was a wonderful place to grow up, but you can only live in a tiny town for so long before the walls close in on you.” Josie raised her glass in agreement. You pondered this, agreeing with their points. You had grown up in a small town in upstate New York, and you were all too familiar with the remote, rural life. Escape was necessary, and college had provided that for you. Like them, you loved your home, but you knew how stifling it was to be in a town where everyone knew everything about you. You had yearned for your independence, and Nashville was the place where you could finally strike out on your own.

The rest of the evening was spent playing darts, pool, and taking shots with the boys and Josie. You learned that Danny was VERY good at darts, and Sam was a sore loser when it came to it. He complained that “Daniel’s hand-eye coordination is unfairly good because he’s a drummer,” to which Danny retorted that Sam should have just as good coordination from playing the keys. Sam was silenced by this remark, and he returned to the booth where Josh was sitting and sulked for a short while before Jake was able to drag him and Josh over to play pool. The dynamic between the four men was very entertaining, and you eventually learned that Josh and Jake were twins, while Sam was their younger brother. Danny and Josie were unrelated to them, but they were equally family, with Jake emphasizing that Danny was just as much a brother to him as Sam and Josh were. You smiled at this. You could clearly see the bond they had, and it warmed your heart.

Once the clock struck 12:00, you all agreed that it was time to start going your separate ways. You hadn’t been able to figure out what the guys did for a living, though they did mention instruments, so you wondered if they were involved in Nashville’s vibrant music scene. You tucked that question away in your mind, hoping to ask Josie in the future. Without a doubt, you knew you’d be seeing her again before she returned to Michigan. The June air was warm as you stepped outside the bar to wait for the Uber you had called. Soon after a car pulled up, and you gave Josie a hug and waved goodbye to the boys before climbing in.

As you got into your Uber, you couldn’t stop seeing Danny’s face in your mind. Though he hadn’t spoken much, you were drawn to him. It wasn’t just his good looks though. He had an energy that oozed comfort. You felt like you had known him forever, and you found yourself wondering how you might see him again.

The front door creaked as you let yourself into your apartment, and you smiled as you heard the soft tinkle of Stevie’s bell. You went into your room and put on your pajamas, taking off your makeup shortly after. Once you were all ready for bed, you climbed under the blankets, and you decided to put on a playlist of quiet music to help you drift off to sleep. The last thing you heard before you succumbed to sleep was the gentle acoustic guitar and quiet tenor of Hozier singing “Remember me, love, when I’m reborn, as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn…”

#danny wagner #danny gvf #gvf #greta van fleet #gvf fluff #daniel wagner

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mooodyblue · 1 year

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baby's first christmas | little!austin x cg!reader

summary: you decide to make you and austin's first christmas together a little more special.

requested: sorta!

warnings: agere, little space

wc: 806

a/n: this has been in my drafts since february. FEBRUARY. this was requested by an anon ages ago and im sooo sorry for just now posting it. like this was right when i started writing little!austin.....anyway. posting this because i havent posted in three days and i feel BAD !! writers block is kicking my butt. enjoy.

masterlist

not only was christmas your favorite holiday, but it was austin's too. what made it more special was that this christmas would be your first together. having moved in with austin several months ago, that meant you got to help decorate for christmas which was truly one of your favorite parts of the holiday. of course, there were some arguments here and there. one about wanting an inflatable snowman out in the front yard but austin wanting santa claus. you wanted white lights and austin wanted multicolored lights. at least you both decorated the tree with no arguments.

to top everything off, you learned about a new side of austin a few weeks before christmas after catching austin baby talking to a stuffie he had tucked away in his closet. he didn't know that you knew about that side of him. however, you wanted him to know that it was okay to open up to you about it whenever he was ready and by doing that, you decided you were going to spoil him for your first christmas together.

you could tell austin was really trying to hold it in on christmas morning. he was visibly excited, bouncing his leg up and down during breakfast and tapping his fingers on the table to fight off that feeling in his head. you just hoped austin didn't get upset at your choice in gifts today.

"i don't think i've ever seen you so excited." you chuckled, sipping from your christmas mug.

austin laughed awkwardly, "i just really like christmas, i guess." he toyed with his own mug, running his hands around it, feeling the smooth, warm texture of the glass. "it's our first christmas together, y'know?"

"mhm," you nodded. "first of many, hopefully." you joked, cringing slightly at your poor joke.

he looked at you with a straight face, squinting his eyes. "what's that supposed to mean?"

"bad joke. let's go open presents." you quickly said, leaving the kitchen.

austin shook his head and followed you, eyes widening at the amount of gifts under the tree. he'd gotten you a few things, but when he checked the tree last night, there definitely wasn't that many gifts there last night.

you sat down in front of the tree, grinning. "looks like santa stopped by."

austin looked at you confused, sitting down in a criss-crossed position. seeing the gifts, the idea of santa actually coming and bringing him gifts all mixed with the excitement of christmas was almost overwhelming for him. but he needed to hold it together, hoping he could find time to slip by himself later today. his thoughts were interrupted once you placed a small gift in his lap, smiling wide.

you noticed how off he was and decided to rip it off like a bandaid, having the first gift he opens be one for his little self.

he unwrapped the tiny box, careful of not ripping up the bow and setting the tinsel aside. panic arose once he opened it, revealing a small, glow in the dark paci with little stars on it. "i-what-" he stuttered, looking at you with concerned eyes.

"you don't have to tell me now. you can explain things to me when you're more comfortable, but i just-i don't know. gotta be better than just using your thumb, 's got germs and everything."

austin just wanted to cry. not sad tears, but happy tears. he just stared at the paci in awe, the feelings in his head finally coming together, as if it a switch were flicked on in his brain. his glassy eyes met yours, unsure of what to say. "'s not weird?" he finally asked, still in denial of how accepting you were of him.

letting out a gasp, "weird? of course not! i love my little baby boy, i would never think he's weird."

his lips perked up at you saying the words, pointing at himself.

"yes that's right! you're my baby boy and i love you so so much." you smiled. "in fact, how about another gift? hm?" you dug through the gifts and handed him another one, a slightly bigger box wrapped in santa themed paper. he opened it excitedly, gasping and pulling out his new plushed friend, a puppy with brown flappy ears. "did santa bring you a new friend?"

too far gone in his headspace to reply, he hugged the stuffed, plush puppy close to his chest as bounced happily, babbling tiny little 'thank you's. you'd never seen austin so happy and so comfortable around you. although you had gifts for big austin as well, seeing little austin enjoy every single plushie, toy, and sippy cups that you had gifted him as a way to show you cared was all you needed to make this christmas the best one you've ever had.

#austin x reader #austin butler x reader

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dracoxsworld · 1 year

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The Boy at the Bar - Draco Malfoy x Reader.

A/N: Hey friends here is another Draco Fic, I have one in my drafts but I am lowkey convinced it'll flop. Idek, haha. Enjoy this one. :)

Warnings/Summary: No warnings in this one! Slight innuendos, but nothin' serious. <3

You enter the Three Broomsticks with Pansy. "Alright, y/n. Scope out the guys, who's your next victim?" She teased, playfully shoving you. You laugh at her joke. "Nobody tonight, I am getting drunk for me only." You say, and point towards yourself. Pansy nodded, however you couldn't tell if it was from her being shocked or impressed. Probably both.

You and Pansy went out every weekend, scoped out guys from your school, got drunk with them and well.. Had fun with them. It was just what you both bonded over. A strange topic some would argue, but hey; you're both young. No strings attached is the way to go.

"Hey, Potter is over there." Pansy motioned to the boy with the messy black hair and circle glasses. "Ugh, never in a million years." You shudder. "I'm sure he's.. good. But he's not my type." You add. "I am not sure he would lie with a Slytherin anyway." Pansy admitted. You nodded in agreeance. Pansy saw Blaise, and her face immediately turned red. You noticed and nudged her in his direction. "I think I found my pick of the night." Pansy said, biting her lip. You laugh, "Have fun, Pansy."

You sat at the bar, alone, mindlessly scrolling on your phone, when all of the sudden you feel a presence sit next to you, you looked and was shocked at who it was. Draco Malfoy. "Draco," You greeted. He looked down at you and smirked. "Well if it isn't y/l/n." You feel your ears get hot. He always calls you by your last name, even in school. To tell the truth, you've always had a fascination with the blonde boy. But he always seemed so busy with the other Slytherin girls. "Better believe it." You respond. "Snarky, as always." He huffs, sitting down next to you, but then slightly moves to get up again, as if he changes his mind. "Do you have a boy with you tonight, y/l/n?" he asks. You shake your head, motioning with your hand to tell him he can sit back down.

"Surprising." He leered. You do a double take. "Excuse me?" You stammered. "I am in this bar every weekend, too, y/n. Plus, Pansy always tells me your stories. I'm not stupid." Draco remarked. You stare at him for a moment. "Don't pretend you're all innocent, you have a new chick on your arm every week." You said bluntly. Draco laughed. "Are you upset about that?" He teased. "No!" You barked. He put up his hands defensively. You turn towards your watered down butter beer. "I have a theory, that's all." He admitted. You whip your head in his direction. "A theory?" You question. "Yes, a theory," Draco concurred. "Well? Let's hear it." You demanded.

"Impatient, are we? Well, I think you get all these guys' attention to replace the one who's you really want." He speculated. "Are you talking about yourself?" You said, raising an eyebrow. "I never said that, but if this is your confession-"

"You are ridiculous. I mean, actually insane." You sigh, starting to leave your seat. "Hey! You never confirmed my theory." Draco said, his hand flying to your waist. You freeze. His hands are cold, you look at him. You cautiously think about your next move. "Darling, you should be with somebody who will love you in the correct way." Your ears get hot again. "I notice the way your face gets red when I say your last name." He implored. You sit down again. "Good girl, now, let's speak- shall we?"

"Draco, I have had a crush on you since I met you. Is that what you wanted to hear?" You finally spit out, after a moment of putting the sentence together carefully in your now overwhelmed brain. "But every time I thought I had your attention for more than a second, like magic, another girl appeared on your arm. Like.. some trophy." Draco's expression changed, it was originally very ornery, but has changed to empathy. "I never thought you'd think of me like you think of them."

"Y/N." Draco started. "You don't even compare. You're so much better than them,"

"Then why didn't you like, ask me out?" You implored.

"That's a good question." Draco sighed, "I am a bit of an idiot sometimes." He said truthfully but you couldn't help but laugh.

"You're not an idiot. I get it. Neither of us knew really how the other felt." You said, Draco nodded. He then looked around, then at you. "Y/N? Can you follow me somewhere, do you mind?" He asked, holding out his hand, smiling at you. "Sure, where we goin'?"

Draco led you to the Black Lake, the moonlight shining on the water, you both sat on the ground, looking out on the water. Draco's pale face was perfectly illuminated in the moonlight, looking handsome as ever. There was a slight, warm breeze in the night.

Draco looks over at you, tucks your hair behind your ear. "You're so beautiful." He half whispers. You struggle to make eye contact without blushing to an embarrassing amount. "I mean, hell, y/n. You're breath taking."

"You're incredibly handsome, Malfoy." You finally got the courage to say. "Sorry I'm not good at flirting, usually I'm drunk." You confessed. Draco laughed in response. "You're adorable, I'm handsome, we make a good fit." he grinned. He stood up, holding his hand out to you again, you take it and he pulls you to your feet. His cold hand rests on the side of your face, he looks into your eyes.

"Draco.." You whisper out. "Yes, y/l/n?" You lean in and kiss him, he hums in the kiss. His other arm wraps around your waist. You feel his thumb on your face softly rubbing back and fourth. The kiss breaks. "Be my girlfriend y/n, please." Draco proposes. You nod softly, your face nuzzling into his neck. He embraces you, wrapping you in his arms. You feel warmth in your chest, and your ears go hot.

"I never fail to make you blush."

"Oh shut it."

#draco lucius malfoy #draco fanfiction #draco fic #draco malfoy x reader fluff #harry potter fandom #draco malfoy

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cariantha · 1 year

Text

Bad Dream

Book: Open Heart, Book 2 Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Sawyer Brooks) Rating: General Category: Fluff Word count: 1.2K Summary: Sawyer has a nightmare while Ethan is out of town and despite the distance he is able to bring her comfort in the sweetest way.

A/N: To the anon who sent this ask, I’m sorry for taking so long to follow up. I had promised “Coming Soon” content, but the original idea for this fic was not working. So, I scrapped it and ended up going another direction, inspired by the song Bracelet by Lauv. Hope you like it!

Almost three months had passed since the attempted attack on the senator and Sawyer was doing fairly well. Finally back to work full-time, going to counseling, and taking medication as needed. Despite the positive prognosis, Ethan knew there could still be setbacks. Nor was he over his own fear of losing her. So he continued to keep a watchful eye. And being this far away caused stress and constant worry.

It was supposed to be a quick turnaround trip. The plan was to fly to Cleveland with Baz, consult on a case, and return home as quickly as possible. But nothing had gone according to plan. A diverted flight, lab work delays, and a challenging diagnosis kept him in Ohio three days longer than originally anticipated.

2:00 P.M.

8:30 P.M.

“You were right, Ethan,” Baz announced as he returned to the conference room with updated lab results. “It’s POEMS syndrome.”

A couple hours later, Ethan and Baz had drafted a detailed treatment plan to present to the patient's physician of record.

“Baz, we’ve been in Ohio much longer than I anticipated. I need to get back to Boston. Do you think you can wrap up this consultation on your own? There’s a flight back to Boston leaving at 5 a.m. that I’d like to catch.”

“I got this, Boss.”

“Thank you.”

1:00 A.M.

After booking the flight and packing his things, Ethan laid on the hotel bed intending to catch a nap before his ride to the airport arrived. Eyes closed but far from sleep, his phone buzzed and vibrated on the nightstand, Sawyer’s name flashing on the screen.

“Rookie?”

“E-Ethan.”

He sat up and turned on the lamp when he heard his whimpered name. “Hey,” he said delicately, “what’s wrong?” His heart started to beat faster and harder, mind suddenly racing with all of the possible reasons for the broken voice on the other end of the line.

Trying to stop herself from crying, Sawyer snuffled, “I just needed to hear your voice. Will you talk with me for a little bit?”

“I’m here,” he assured her, “whatever you need.”

With that specific request he understood the cause of her distress. Though not as frequent several weeks later, Sawyer continued to have nightmares about the poison attack. This one likely the result of whatever triggered her anxiety earlier in the day. “Was it another nightmare?”

“Yeah, it was a bad one,” her voice was still shaking.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“No need to be sorry. I wasn’t asleep. I was actually lying awake thinking of you.”

“You were? What were you thinking about?”

One night after a particularly upsetting dream, Ethan brought comfort by revealing one of the moments when he started to realize he had feelings for her. Since then, whenever they were together and Sawyer woke up from a bad dream, he soothed her back to sleep with another endearing memory.

“Do you remember the leather wrist band you bought for me at the farmer’s market last year?” he recalled.

“You mean the friendship bracelet I gave you? Because you were being stubborn and wouldn’t admit that we were friends?” she wise-offed.

“Can you hear my eyes rolling?” he came back with, earning a light chuckle from the other end of the line. “Yes, that’s the one.” His voice now gentle, “I don’t remember if I ever told you, but I took it with me when I left for the Amazon. You know that I convinced myself that it would be best for us to try and move on… but that didn’t mean I was ready to let you go right away. With a foot already out the door, I realized that I needed to take a piece of you with me, so I went back for it. I figured I’d wear it until enough time passed that I didn’t need to anymore. I was so busy and distracted when I was working that I sometimes fooled myself into thinking I was finally getting over you... but at night when I was alone with my thoughts…” he exhaled softly, “well, they always drifted to you and I’d wake up missing you even more.” Sawyer sniffed back sentimental tears as he continued. “The day that I didn’t need it anymore never came. I wore that leather band every day until I came home.”

“Thank you for telling me that,” she whispered. “Want to know something?”

“What’s that?”

“When you first told me about the W.H.O. mission, I started following their Pictagram account. After you had been gone for a few weeks, they posted a picture of you and you were wearing the bracelet. And the night you came back, when we were talking in the beer garden, I saw it around your wrist. Just under the sleeve of your jacket,” she explained. “It’s the reason I kissed you that night. You’d never wear something like that unless it meant something important to you.”

“I see you’ve mastered the art of observation,” he joked before getting serious again. “And it did. It still does.”

Sawyer’s phone vibrated in her hand as a notification alerted her to a new text message.

“Ethannnnn, you’re wearing it now?” touched by the gesture.

“This time it was the first thing I grabbed when packing for this trip. I wanted a piece of you with me while I was away.”

“I love…” she caught herself. It’s not that she didn’t want to say it, she just didn’t want to pressure Ethan to say it back if he wasn’t ready. “I love that. It’s so sweet.”

“And far less creepy than pocketing a pair of your panties,” trying and successfully making her laugh.

“Well, I should probably confess that I’ve raided your closet and will be spooning your pillow so I can feel close to you too.”

He laughed heartily at the mental image. “Are you feeling better?”

“Much.”

“I’m glad. Go have a cup of tea and try to get back to sleep,” he encouraged.

“Any chance I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.

“We’ll see, but I think the odds are looking good,” he replied knowing full well he’d be boarding a plane and on his way home to her in just a couple of hours.

“Well, fingers crossed. And Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you,” she said most sincerely.

“Only good dreams now, okay? Goodnight, Rookie.”

“Bye, babe.”

9:00 A.M.

Ethan entered the still apartment, leaving his coat and suitcase in the entryway. Seeing no sign of life yet, he quietly made his way to the master bedroom. Head just barely poking out from under the comforter, he found her just as she said, spooning his king size pillow.

He carefully toed off his shoes and parted with his shirt and pants. He removed his watch, placing it on the top of the dresser, but left his other accessory on.

Lifting the comforter, Ethan climbed into bed scooting up against her backside and wrapped his arm tightly around her. Though jarring her from sleep, the familiar touch and scent instantly quieted her alarm.

“Surprise,” he breathed into her ear before kissing her cheek and trailing down her neck.

With a raspy morning voice she uttered “Hiiiii” while her hands hugged his arm, the feel of braided leather under one of her palms.

“Did you have better dreams after we talked?” he mumbled against the skin of her exposed shoulder.

Rolling over, she nudged him flat onto his back and slowly straddled his hips. “Mhmmm, the best. And it looks like they’re about to become reality,” she smirked before leaning down and kissing him deeply.

Tag List: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @potionsprefect @jamespotterthefirst @annfg8 @peonierose @socalwriterbee @tessa-liam @jerzwriter @quixoticdreamer16 @mysticalgalaxysstuff @inlocusmads @txemrn @trappedinfanfiction @mvalentine @takemyopenheart @ofmischiefandmedicine @openheartforeverinmyheart @doriopenheart @coffeeheartaddict2 @genevievemd @starrystarrytrouble

#open heart #open heart choices #open heart fanfic #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #ethan x sawyer #choices stories you play #choices open heart #playchoices #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week

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maddiebiscuits · 4 months

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i don't know how to phrase this any other way so i hope you don't find this rude or anything: you are (imo) a very skilled, very prolific art toaster. it's great quality artwork obviously, but your turnaround is wicked crazy fast to me. what does burnout look like for you? how do you manage to toast so many arts? what dark magics must you employ??

The hard truth is I worked in journalism for two years between 2010-2012 and customer service/hospitality starting at 16 years old in 2007 all throughout my life until 2022 and I don't want to go back to any of it now that I'm almost 33 - that's the main motivator to keep my freelance gig career doing art commissions going as long as possible. Fear and loathing of going back to that work environment keeps me focused.

In action...I'm not quite sure if I ever experience 'burn out'? I do experience art 'block' in that I can't think of anything to draw on my own or feel really unsatisfied with my work...so I just goof off with my canvas or do studies, but this doesn't interfere with doing commissions where I am told what to draw.

I just enjoy the physical act of drawing. Sometimes when I'm bored and restless and going for a walk doesn't help, I just draw more. When I was a kid I would just come home from school and draw crap between playing Gameboy/N64/Gamecube or browsing Elfwood/Newgrounds/DeviantART/Gaia Online, so it's literally just a habit now. If I don't draw for a long time I feel anxious and unwell. Somehow I just programmed my brain to think that art = leisure fun time, even if it's for work. I also tend to get into a "zone" sometimes and just put on video essays or music and a few hours later I'll have worked through some commission stuff.

I have three 'task lists' for my workflow:

A public trello board organized by work order types (N/SFW link)

A personal trello board organized by type/date in chronological order

A coloured tagging and folder system in my emails where I can just see the actual dates/timestamps of my last correspondence with a client so I know exactly who in my taskboard needs to be prioritized for their next WIP update

I hold myself to a standard of sending a client a WIP in stages:

rough draft (1-14 business days)

revisions (1-5 business days)

line art (1-14 business days)

revisions (1-5 business days)

final render (1-14 business days)

tweaks (1-2 business days)

So ideally, the client gets a finished commission in 3-6 weeks, so about 1-2 months. For larger projects I send more WIPs and the process is obviously longer. For simpler stuff like chibis, it's rarely a full six weeks. Over holidays I add an extra two weeks to my noted turn-around to account for IRL time off. On all my terms of service I have a maximum four months turn-around, essentially doubling the time I know my work flow is just in case there's some sort of medical or equipment emergency in my life that I need to account for that gives me a buffer (I also notify all clients)

Monday to Friday I wake up usually...late morning/early afternoon? I do anywhere from four to eight hours of artwork, broken up by walks, stretching, eating, cleaning, cooking, hanging out with my partner, etc. I look at my personal trello taskboard and emails to see what must be done and what can wait. I try to get at least 1-2 things done in a day though, be that sketches/line art/renders/revisions.

Right now I am looking at my email and task board, and the client with the highest wait time chronologically is someone who is waiting for their final render (sketch and line art already revised and done for them). Last email correspondence with them on the email says 9 days ago (so 7 business days, I'm supposed to take Sat-Sun off). Their order was paid in full and confirmed by me on November 9 and it is currently December 13, so I'm at about the 5 week mark (not accounting for delays in clients getting back to me of course) and I am very much On Course for my work load, no one has been without contact from me for 14 days or more so I'm pretty ahead of my game right now! I could take tomorrow off if I wanted, or only do 3-4 hours of work if I feel like it.

However the more work you finish and post, the more you show prospective clients your ability to finish orders and show your audience more art for engagement, so ideally I always like posting stuff when I can, it just creates a cycle of positive production and income.

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ruleofexception · 7 months

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People you'd like to know better!

Tagged by @ccprovolomies

1. Three ships

Obi/Shirayuki (AnS), Hunter/Willow (TOH), Charlie/Nik (Heartstopper). Honourable mention goes out to my OC's that have completely and utterly consumed my life.

2. First ship

Ahhh, honestly, could probably be any of the following: Dimitri/Anastasia (Anastasia), Mrs Brisby/Justin (Secret of NIMH), Usagi/Mamoru (Sailor Moon), or Crysta/Zak (Ferngully).

3. Last song

I've been finding a lot of inspiration lately in rock/metalcore music, so that's pretty much been the only genre I've been listening to lol. So, last song before posting was Don't Say Anything - Sleeping with Sirens.

4. Last movie

Well, after the house got hit by lightning, the TV has decided to give into a slow death (first my HDMI ports died, and then it decided that any and all videos should be played with flickering white lines across the entirety of the screen lol), so I haven't been watching a whole lot (hoping to get a replacement in the next couple of weeks). But I want to say the last one I watched was The Conjuring? Last one I saw in theatres was probably Guardians of the Galaxy 3?

5. Currently reading

Haven't been reading too much lately, so my tbr pile is a tad intimidating. That said, I did just pick up Fractal Noise; and I've been reading some manga series on and off when I feel like I can focus on it.

6. Currently watching

Again, TV being fried has significantly decreased my watching (also, I've just been in one of those moods where I'm happier doing other things), but I've been doing okay at keeping up with JJK and Sacrificial Princess.

7. Last thing I wrote

Last thing I actively sat down to add actual word-count to would probably be the next chapter of A moment apart; however, the past couple of weeks I've been completely absorbed in finally plotting out the original fiction series I've been humming and hawing about for years (and one that many of you have encouraged me to write as an actual series *wink wink*).

As of right now, I've got a handful of my characters written up, locations mapped out, and I've drafted a rough plot-line for books one and two, and am starting on laying out book three. My goal is to use NaNoWriMo to try and get a first draft done for book one which means that from now until Nov 1, I'm doing as much prep and planning as I humanly (lol) can.

Let's see about tagging @meefy, @kpslp, and @jj-carstairs!

#tag meme #about me #anyone else planning to nano this year?#this is the first time i've officially signed up for it (though definitely not the first year I've tried to keep up with it lol)#gonna see how this goes #but i am excite

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heathtrash · 1 year

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Amelia Cackle has employed an artist to paint Constance’s portrait as a 40th birthday present. Constance is flattered until she meets the artist, Lynne Lamplighter, to whom she takes an instant dislike.

As she studied the angles of Miss Hardbroom’s face, Lynne felt as though there was a surface she had not yet managed to broach with her. Underneath were glimmers of something, like brush strokes you suddenly catch sight of in a painting; one is compelled to peer closer to see the beauty of them, where the artist’s hand and the subject’s soul were in brief union. That was what Lynne longed to find in all her portraits, and hoped she could capture that exact harmony in the final piece—if only Miss Hardbroom would let her.

Constance knew she resisted being understood at the best of times, even if part of her always hoped she would meet someone who would be willing to fight through her defences to uncover her very soul. Now her natural penchant for keeping everyone at arm’s length was to be her armour—it was vital that she maintained a façade for the sanctity of magic. Not even the softest brush stroke could tempt her to open up in any way. It would be an easy enough task with this gaudily-clad artist who offended every fibre of her being—but still, she would have to ensure Miss Lamplighter saw not a single glimmer of what she was concealing within, even as she sat under her scrutiny for the portrait.

LAMPBROOM??? In MY 2023? it's more likely than you think.

so i began this a few years ago, inspired loosely by Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and picked it up in the weeks before top surgery as a distraction. much of this was even written during my ongoing recovery!

THREE CHAPTERS are here for your perusal with a few first drafts in advance and the last couple in progress

it took a lot for me to post this (lost all my confidence; can i get a woop woop) so it would mean everything to me if you could comment!!

#constance hardbroom #lynne lamplighter #lampbroom #the worst witch #the worst witch 1998 #tww98 #heathtrash writes #tww

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linklethehistorian · 2 months

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So I very rarely get super personal on this blog just for the sake of it, but given there was already a much…darker version of this post sitting in drafts until just a short while ago, and maybe someone here might need to hear an uplifting real-life story tonight, I figured I’d go ahead and draft up and post this anyway.

See, I’m sure all of y’all here have noticed my relative lack of activity with any large project over the past five months, but what y’all don’t know is that this has largely been due to some pretty serious health issues — not the least of all being that…over the past…three-ish months of those five, I have had to stare down the very real possibility that I might have a pretty serious form of Leukemia. I was bounced from doctor to doctor about this, test after test, and not much of it looked good, if I’m being perfectly honest.

During all of that time up to today, I had been sitting around contemplating much of my existence, and how, at last, when the most difficult news of all came, I would break that news to everyone — what I would do, say, etc. I must’ve run through all the scenarios a million times, drafted up at least ten different letters for different people in my life, even recorded a cover of a song through which I wanted to say goodbye to everyone here, if it came to it (and which still sits in my video gallery currently, as though still waiting to be used).

Needless to say, although they had their moments as life always does, these past months have been overall a living Hell, and it only got progressively worse with every new piece of concerning news, up until today — the day I finally was able to go see the oncologist. (Doctors are often booked out for months around here rn — weeks at best.)

Prior to the visit, I had been informed by my GP that the oncologist would overlook all of my results ahead of time, and call to cancel the visit with me herself if she found/determined there was nothing worth being concerned over.

Well, the cancel call never came, so I think you can understand when I say that I went in full expectation of the worst case scenario; I mean, clearly she had thought it critical enough to keep the appointment, so that kind of spoke volumes for itself even without having seen her.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget the long time spent alone in the doctor’s office, waiting for her to arrive: there was some of the most gorgeous, peaceful instrumental music you could imagine playing softly, and as I was sitting there, forms in hand, staring down the room around me, I was just thinking to myself how that music clearly said exactly what this place was: it’s a place where people go to get basically the worst news of their lives imaginable, and try their best to cope with and struggle against their mortal illnesses. And this music was so pretty and peaceful because the patients needed it.

And here I was. Today I was one of those patients.

I sat there contemplating over my life and realizing that this was going to be the last moment that anything was even somewhat normal again for me. The last moments before life changing news.

I can’t begin to explain how that feels.

…And then the doctor came in and she was immediately telling me, like, more or less, “Oh honey, why are you here? lol We tried to call you to tell you not to come in — you don’t need all this stress for no reason, go on home, there’s nothing to worry about, you’re fine.”

Apparently she had, in fact, made an attempt to contact me because she wanted to spare me the stress of coming after reviewing the results and deciding I was fine, just like my GP said, but the call just hadn’t gone through.

The relief that I have inside of me today knowing that I am okay is beyond anything I could ever put into words. I cried the entire several hour drive home, and even now, as I type this up, I find myself tearing up just a little again in sheer gratitude and amazement and comfort.

Even if things had gone badly, I wouldn’t have had any regrets, but truly nothing makes me happier to know that I will be around for a long, long while here still — with the people and things that I love, with the strangers, with the haters, and everyone else in between.

Please never take life for granted. Live in the present and try to be as grateful for every moment as you possibly can. Life really is beautiful and precious and so, so worth living, so live it to the fullest and always remember that there can be hope.

No matter how bad things seem, there’s always a chance for hope to shine through.

It did for me. It can for you too.

I love you all so much.

#linklethehistorian #thoughts #my thoughts #non fandom #nonfandom #advice #…kinda? Not exactly tho #life has been rough and I plan to take a little while to finally just breathe #do things as they come #I’m just so thankful to be alive

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thefuckinsandes · 2 years

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Time Lapse

Pairing: Javi Gutierrez x Photographer f!reader Warnings: slight mention of sex, food mention Summary: Being apart from Javi is beginning to become unbearable. Especially when it has been over a month. Trying to stay afloat as you count down the days before Javi comes back home, you reflect on your feelings towards the sweet man. A/N: Hi, it's me. This fic has been in my drafts for so long that I finally had the chance to finish it. This could be read as a solo fic, but it is in continuation of my fic, Candid. Please enjoy some more soft Javi.

Part 1

Facetime had to be one of the greatest inventions ever created. Yes there was Zoom and Duo. Yes, Skype did and still exists and made a statement when it first came around. But the ease to simply press a button and Facetime someone was really a blessing. Especially when you miss someone and they are miles, miles away.

“Have you seen the movie I recommended to you?” Javi’s voice flowed through your phone as you adjusted yourself on the bed.

“The Calligari one? No not yet,” You giggled at the expression that quickly appeared as soon as the words escaped your lips.

“How have you not seen it? It’s a masterpiece!”

“Well, I was thinking of watching it with you. That way I can be able to enjoy something you love with you.”

“You’re perfect, do you know that?” Javi’s sweet praises will never not bring a blush to your cheeks.

You turned over your pillow and gripped onto the edge as you adjusted the phone in your hand. With a soft sigh you told him how you missed him. You missed the warmth that radiated from him. You missed everything about him.

“I miss you too, querida.”

Javi Gutierrez was roughly two thousand, eight hundred and fourteen miles away from where you currently resided. You in the West Coast of California and him in the East Coast of New York. He was working with the director and producers of a new film that he had written. When you asked him to summarize it in three words, he responded with, “Action. Spectacle. Surprises.”

“That could be anything!” You laughed when you heard those words.

“Exactly!”

You missed him so much. His hair had grown a bit since you last had seen him a month ago. Those sweet curls you adored so much were making an appearance as you watched him move around the bed he currently was on.

“How’s New York? Did you make any new friends?”

He quickly sat up and the biggest smile appeared on his face. You mimicked his moves and leaned against the headboard of your bed, ready to listen to his newest tale.

“I did! His name is Isaac. He is an actor who is going to be one of the producers of the film. He is extremely funny!”

“Is this a new best friend I am sensing? Is Nick going to get jealous?” You teased him.

“Nick would love Isaac!” He spoke with such offense. “We would become an iconic trio like Luke, Han, and Chewbacca or Charlie’s Angels.”

“Does that mean I would be able to see you in a tight spy suit? Or better yet in Han’s outfit?”

“Only if you wear Leia’s outfit.”

“I promise. Space buns and all!” You both laugh.

“Oh! He also introduced me to his wife who is a director and screenwriter as well! She has done some amazing films! Some that they both even have worked on together! They want to meet you, too.”

“Me?” You asked surprised.

“I told them about my beautiful partner who is a photographer and creates beautiful pieces of art with a simple click of her camera.”

“Javi,” You smiled at him.

He shifted so that you can see all his beautiful features perfectly lit by the lamp beside him. His eyes, those beautiful expressive shades of brown, that are staring directly into the camera but seem as if they were staring straight into your own, showed nothing but adoration.

“I wish I was there with you,” You whisper to him, as if it was a secret you were sharing.

“Me too. Only one more week to go,” he whispers back.

You both had officially begun dating ten months ago. After the photoshoot, you met up with him a few days later with the plan of watching a movie and having dinner. As well with the intention of returning the jacket that he kindly lent you on the day you met. In the end, the jacket became forgotten as the date continued.

On your third date and third attempt to return his jacket, Javi walked you to your door and as you pulled the blue jacket off your shoulders, he stopped you.

“Keep it. It suits you better,” Javi whispered before pressing his forehead against your own.

After that night more of his sweaters and shirts made a new home within your closet. Even now as you laid on your bed, one of his t-shirts was being worn as a sleep shirt. It still held the scent that could only be described as Javi.

“The day that you come home, I will be sure to have all of your favorite movie snacks ready. And we are going to have a Paddington movie marathon and cuddle on the couch,” You tell him. “It’s gonna be you, me, and Mr. Bunny. How is he, by the way?”

Javi laughs and puts his phone down for a second as he reaches over for the stuffed rabbit you insisted that he take with him. It was another duplicate of the bunny plush that was used in “Con Air”. Javi had given it to you on your fifth date. The date in which you both declared that you were official. He was yours and you were his.

Mr. Bunny came to view as Javi was back on the screen, “He has been enjoying the scenery. But he misses his mother.”

“I miss him too,” You tell him with a yawn. “The both of you.”

“Tiempo para dormir, querida. I’ve kept you up for too long.”

“Me? You’re the one that is three hours ahead of me. How are you still awake?”

A smile appears on his face, “Nothing in this world would stop me from being able to see you. I could stay awake for hours if it means being able to see your beautiful face and hear your lovely voice.”

“Come home soon, Javi.”

Javi smiled at the word home. You were becoming his home.

“As you wish.”

And as you both laid in your beds, laying on the side that you both declared as your own, you both reached over and touched the pillows that were beside your own. Wishing that it was the person that you desired the most that was many miles away. The same thoughts lingered through both your minds as you whispered goodnight to the empty room with nothing but the sounds of the outside world.

The second thought on your mind when you awoke the following morning was that you were a day closer to seeing Javi. The first was how annoying your alarm was. As you got ready for the day, you noticed how Javi’s presence was always around you. The cup that he used for his morning coffee was placed next to the coffee machine as you poured yourself your first brew of the day. The blanket throw you leaned against on your couch that he helped pick out the one time you had gone on a Target trip and lost yourselves amongst the many ailes. The many DVDs that he left on your coffee table the day you got sick. He had insisted that they brought nothing but pure joy and would quickly make you feel better.

There were so many little things that reminded you how much you loved him. A smile appeared on your face before sipping on your coffee. Love. In your mind you thought that the possibility of even experiencing that romantically was out of the picture. And here you are, ten months later admitting the notion as you smelled the coffee that Javi had picked out a few days before he had left.

You sighed at the thought of him and soon remembered that perhaps you should go to his apartment to check how things are. Javi has a housekeeper that comes once a week, but before he left he had asked if you could also check on the plants that he kept in the apartment. The same plants that you had in yours. His reasoning was so that his home had a piece of you in it. After quickly getting dressed, one of his sweaters being thrown on, you locked the door behind you and began your journey to your favorite place.

Javi’s apartment had such a beautiful view of the city. At first you thought that his art pieces and movie memorabilia would capture your attention. But the moment you saw the rays of light enter from the large balcony, you were enamored. As Javi joined you on the balcony, you told him that this might be the most beautiful view of the city as the setting sun made its appearance. In Javi’s eyes, you were the most beautiful view. You glowed even more so than you already did.

Greeting his neighbors, an elderly couple who always gave you both a knowing smile, you entered his apartment. The aroma that could only be described as Javi hit your senses and it brought you such comfort. Leaving your bag on his couch, you made your way to the balcony and began your task of watering the plants that were both in and outdoors. As you walked around, you noticed that there were many things of yours that lingered in his apartment.

Your favorite blanket was folded on the couch, the one that you used when you both cuddled under when watching films. Your favorite snacks are organized in his pantry as well as your own mug for the coffee that he brewed for you. His bathroom held your skincare products and your toothbrush in your favorite color. When he presented it to you the first time you stayed over, he had the cutest smile and was so proud to have the little piece of knowledge memorized.

In his room, your favorite pajamas were in the cabinet that he declared your own and the vanity he had purchased just for you so you can get ready for the day as he watched with admiration. And lastly, a portrait of the two of you at the beach as the sun set behind you. It sat on the drawer underneath the television in his room. It was a gift that you had given him and one that he would always cherish.

“Only one week to go,” You told yourself as you stepped out of his apartment, locking the door behind you.

The next day, you were dragged out of your apartment because according to Arlene, your moping behavior had to end.

“He’s only been gone for how long?”

“34 days,” You tell her with a longing voice.

“That’s forever!” Leah yells as she takes a bite of her brownie.

“I completely agree with you, Leah! I owe you another brownie,” You ruffle the child’s hair as she giggles.

Arlene looks bewildered as she states, “She’s only seven!”

You and Leah look at each other before giggling, “She is wise for her age.”

“But seriously, I’ve never seen you like this over a guy.”

You take a sip of your coffee before saying, “Well I love him. So of course I miss him like crazy.”

The look that appeared on not only Arlene’s but Leah’s face was the most priceless moment ever. Arlene with her wide eyes and Leah with her mouth open and full of brownie bits.

“You love him!”

“Is he going to be my tío now?”

The two spoke together, blurring their words as you just smiled.

“I do and we can ask him when he comes back.”

“Tía,” Leah leans close to you as if she is ready to tell you a secret.

“What’s up?”

She pulls you close, whispering in your ear, “I really want Javi to be my tío. Do you think he would buy me that Baby Yoda toy I want?”

“He would definitely buy it for you. Now, ready for that next brownie?”

The days soon began to blur as you got busy with work. Photos needed to be edited, shoots needed to be scheduled, and meetings kept you on your toes. You would get home tired, wishing that Javi was there to cheer you up. Even though he wasn’t, the phone calls and text messages that Javi sent you made it better. You were ready for the weekend. For Javi.

On Friday the whole company was given a half day and you attempted to retreat back to your home, ready to clean up the apartment since Javi was due to be home Saturday afternoon. But your attempts to go home were stopped.

“Let’s go eat!” Arlene walked beside you as you exited the building.

“But Javi is-”

“Coming tomorrow, I know. But, can we please have lunch? Michael offered to pick up Leah from school and I really wanna have a nice lunch with my best friend.”

It was a rare opportunity so you agreed. Arlene gave you the biggest smile and dragged you along for some light shopping before having lunch. Ever since you told her that you loved Javi, she began to ask questions about Javi and the possible future.

What’s your favorite feature of his? His eyes because it shines so bright.

What is one thing you would change about him? Nothing really. But if you had to pick one, it would be his self-doubt. He was amazing and worked so hard on his scripts and needed to realize that.

How’s the sex? None of your business, but it’s magical.

Would you ever move in with him? Yes, of course!

Is he really the one?

“I can’t imagine my life without him in it. He’s it for me. I love him.”

With that answer, Arlene knew that you were in deep. And she knew that he was too.

As you headed home, you were glad that you had that lunch with her. It made you think about what you wanted and now that you are more certain of it, you were hopeful for your future with Javi.

“Only one day to go,” You smiled before entering your apartment.

Golden hour peaked through the windows and it provided the light for you to see the scene before you. Movie snacks were placed on your coffee table. Paddington was on your tv screen, ready to be played. As you entered deeper into your apartment, Mr. Bunny was sitting on the couch along with Javi’s favorite blanket that was on your bed.

“Welcome home, querida,” Javi’s voice pulled you towards the direction of your kitchen as Javi stood there with a loving smile.

A gasp escaped your lips as you practically jumped on him, pulling him into the tightest of hugs, kissing him all over his face. Javi held onto you tightly, refusing to part from you as he took you in. He missed the feeling of your arms around him, your scent washing over him as he placed his head on the crook of your neck. This is where he was meant to be, in your arms as you whispered to him how much you missed him. Javi knew that there would be no other for him as he held you. You, his one true love.

“You’re home! I missed you so much,” You told him before kissing his lips.

“I missed you more,” Javi nuzzled your nose with his own. “Next time I have to travel anywhere, I am taking you with me.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I want the woman I love to be with me, always.”

He loved you. Javi loved you. Javi Gutierrez, the sweetest and most wonderful man to ever exist in this lifetime, loved you.

“I love you,” You whispered to him as you pressed your forehead against his.

Javi’s eyes widened before they quickly darkened, quickly taking hold of your lips with his own as he felt the love you were giving him in the kiss. Nothing but pure passion and love was felt and you both finally felt as if you were now complete. Life was complete. Well almost.

Javi pulled away, placing light kisses, “I love you with my whole being. I want to build a home for you. For us. And I knew since the moment I took your hand that you would be the only one for me.”

“I want us to have a home too. I want to be able to wake up to your arms around me every morning. I want everything with you.”

His smile only widened more as he pulled you towards the couch and as you both took a seat, he pulled out a small box from his pocket. He gently handed you the wide velvet box.

Your heart pounded in anticipation and a gasp escaped your lips. Inside there were two small items. Well, one smaller than the other. A single key rested next to a beautiful ring that was already bringing tears into your eyes.

“Javi.”

“You are my home. You brighten my day in so many ways. You provide the warmth that I didn’t know I was missing. And even though we haven’t been together for long, I know in my heart that there is no one else I’d rather be with than with you. I bought us a home that I want to fill with you. I want to start a life with you and who knows maybe have children or pets. Whatever you want.”

You laugh as the tears freely fall from your eyes. Javi grabs the ring and slowly descends down onto one knee. His eyes filled with love and hope that showed brightly thanks to the golden hour.

“Will you marry me, mi amor?”

You nodded your head profusely as you quickly reached for Javi, “Yes, Javi, yes!”

Javi held you close as you kissed him. After everything he’s gone through in his life, his hopeful, romantic heart finally found what made it whole. This time apart showed the two of you that you carried each other’s hearts.

“I can’t wait to start our new life together.”

“We already have. On that first date, our new life began. We have a long beautiful journey ahead of us, mi amor,” Javi tells you as he slips the ring on your finger.

“You and your beautiful words,” You lean against his chest as he kisses the top of your head.

“Only for you,” he tells you as he watches how the ring glows in the golden light. He starts the film as a thought appears in his head, “Can we have little Leah be our flower girl?”

“She’d probably have one condition,” You laugh, remembering what she told you.

“What’s that?”

“She wants her tío to buy her a Baby Yoda toy.”

A laugh escapes his lips, “Of course. Do you want one too?”

“Yes please. I love you.”

“I love you, querida.”

Tags: @evyiione , @lovesbiggerthanpride

#javi gutierrez x reader #javi gutierrez #the unbearable weight of massive talent #tuwomt #tuwomt fanfic #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal #javi gutierrez fanfiction #javi gutierrez x you

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