#today last year i was celebrating my ex's birthday with her | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

imfinereallyy · 10 months

Text

celebrate softly

it my birthday today so here’s a lil gift from me to you (yes I know that’s not how this works haha) I made a bunch of little things is celebration, i probably won’t post these till later in the day so sorry if you get a bunch at once.

Steve wanted to like his birthday.

No, really, he truly did. He knew that birthdays were the one time of year you get to be a little selfish. The people you loved gathered around you to celebrate another year of you.

It was just that Steve was also used to disappointment.

Over the years, his birthday has consisted of either his parents parading him around at business dinners or the empty silence of a house that wasn’t ever a home.

His old friends were never around. It was a holiday weekend; he didn’t expect them to stick around. Even if they had, Steve was almost sure they would have made him throw a party, where they would have pressured him to get drunk and sleep with someone, and…

Yea, Steve wasn’t interested.

The one birthday he spent with Nancy had been okay. She had to go on a family trip, her parents attempt at getting their kids to cheer up over the loss of their friends, and she was going to leave the morning of his birthday. But at midnight of July 2nd, she had snuck into his window even though she could have walked through the front door. Nancy had brought him a cupcake, a small present, and a soft smile. Steve had wanted to kiss her, but he knew it wasn’t what she wanted then. He wanted to be respectful, so he held her hand instead.

Nancy hadn’t brought a candle, said she didn’t want to risk burning the Harrington Household down. Steve had laughed, saying that would be the best birthday present ever, but she hadn’t laughed back.

The present had been a book. Which wasn’t a terrible gift per se, Steve liked reading it was just he had difficulty doing it. He couldn’t focus long enough, or he would have to reread sentences over and over again.

It just didn’t feel worth the frustration.

But it was sweet of her to get him something, so he tried reading it. It took him months to finish it, even though it was small. It was boring, and Steve had found the main character whiny, and Steve had begun to wonder if Nancy was trying to tell him something.

Then the Upside Down round two had happened, Steve got his ass kicked again and learned that Catcher in the Rye was Jonathan’s favorite book.

Steve had thrown out the book amongst his bloody bandages.

Steve was only slightly hopeful to have a good birthday last year. He had good friends (sure, one was his ex, and the other were children, but he still counted them); Dustin would be home from camp, and even though he had work, he got to spend the whole day bothering Robin, which brought him a special kind of joy.

But then they were cracking Russian code, getting tortured, and watching Max’s Stepbrother die, all within the days of his birthday.

So Steve didn’t have high expectations this year. Sure, people knew it was his birthday, it was hard to hide when he was friends with the nosiest people, but most of them were spending the entire weekend staying with Max, and he would have been too if Max hadn’t thrown a remote at him when he suggested it.

So Steve had conceded to having a quiet but lonely July 2nd.

But then at 7 am there was a knock on his front door.

A knock was putting it lightly, there was pounding echoing in the Harrington Household.

When Steve walked up to the door, he was prepared to drive away some bigots who had been trying to “repent Hawkins.” They had been going around the richer neighborhoods recently, saying we needed to clean up the streets of the sinners and the queers.

Yea, they were knocking on the wrong door.

Steve hadn’t expect Eddie Munson, notorious night owl, to be crowding his doorway at 7 am.

“Harrington, have I ever told you how absolutely ugly your house is? Like for how wealthy your parents are, they chose an absolute nightmare of a layout! It makes no sense.” Eddie budged his way past Steve with his arms full of bags.

“I’ve been telling him that for a year, Eddie, and every time he just shrugs!” Steve turned to find Robin bullying her way through him as well. She had a handful of videos in her hands.

“Sure, come in, I guess,” Steve mumbled. He shut the door and turned toward his intruders. “Not that I don’t love a surprise appearance at—“ Steve checked his watch “—7:03 am, but is there a reason why you are awake before the birds are even chirping?”

Eddie snorted and just gave him a look instead of answering. Robin shook her head, “What doofus hear is trying to convey with a noise, Jesus Eds, I know you’re not a morning, but words please, is that we are obviously here for your birthday. You, Steven Alison Harrington—“

“Not my middle name.”

“—we’re born at exactly 7:07 am on July 2nd. So we had to be here to say happy birthday officially!”

“How do you even know the time? I don’t even know that.”

“She snuck a look at your file last time Owen’s was in town.” Eddie smirked.

Robin hit him upside the head, “Don’t tell him that asshole, he already thinks I’m crazy enough. And don’t act like this wasn’t your idea!”

Eddie rubbed the back his head in dramatic fashion then yelled, “Snitch!” through hissed teeth.

Steve felt himself unthaw at the idea that these two weirdos woke up this early for him. “Ah, well, thanks, guys.” A blush rose on his cheeks, “Well, thanks for stopping by; you guys can go home and sleep if you want.”

“Stevie, did you think we brought all this to just leave? On your birthday. Oh no, no, no. We are having a whole movie and snack day! I brought weed, and chips, and we can order a pizza later in the day. And just be lazy weirdos in your fancy living room.” Eddie hopped up on his coffee table, startling a laugh from Steve.

“That sounds like a typically Friday for us, what’s so special about it?” Steve teased.

“Well we brought all of your favorite movies! Grease, Top Gun, Karate Kid, Indiana Jones...wait I think I'm noticing a theme here—“

“Robin!” Steve screeched, his blush coming back with vengeance. He didn’t want her to reveal there very obvious, and embarrassing pattern to his favorite films.

“And!” Eddie said from atop his place on the coffee table, unfazed by the two of them, “We are paying for the pizza.” His voice oozed with pride at that. Steve was sure he had come up with the idea.

“Wow I’m a spoiled prince. Maybe ever think I wanted to stay in bed?” Steve raised a single eyebrow.

“Oh but my sweet prince, we know you rather spend this glorious day with us.” Eddie was confident, with confidence came the damn nicknames, and Jesus Christ—this blush of his was never going away. “Besides what else could you wish for!”

A kiss from you. Steve thought quickly.

Steve sighed deeply before saying, “Alright. Get down.”

Eddie seemed taken aback, like he hadn’t expected the rejection. “Oh yea man, of course. We will get out of your hair.” He scrambled off the table.

Steve giggled, “No Eds. I’m moving the coffee table. This couch is a pullout. We can all just lay on it while we watch movies.”

Eddie’s face lit up while Robin yelled, “Oh thank god, I’m exhausted.”

An hour later, when the sun was still barely risen and Grease blared in the background, Robin was bundled up in the blankets they dragged from his room, out like a light.

Eddie and Steve huddled close, but didn’t touch. The anticipation and want sat between them. “I actually have something for you.” Eddie whispered.

Robin snored beside them; Steve looked at her fondly. “You don’t have to whisper; she’s a heavy sleeper. Learned that the hard way.”

“Ah well, I have a present for you.”

Steve knows he should say that Eddie shouldn’t have, or insist he returns it. He knew it was the polite thing to do. He couldn’t find it in himself to do it, though. The idea that Eddie even thought to get him something beyond the amazing day they had planned (truly Steve couldn’t ask for a better day), but Eddie had spent his time to get something for Steve.

It was nice to have someone who would do something nice for you just because they can, not because they should. So, Steve waited patiently as Eddie reached into his bag beside the couch.

“Here.” Eddie spoke, placing the roughly wrapped package in his lap.

There was a tiny notecard with Eddie’s chicken scratch on it; Steve decided to read that first.

Stevie,

No adventure is the same without you, and this is the only one I have taken without you by my side. Thought it was about time we changed that. Hopefully we are not forever partners in crime (we’ve had enough of that) but instead, adventurers taking on then great unknown.

Together.

Yours,

Eddie Munson ッ

Steve smoothed over the card and tried not to cry. The poorly drawn smiley face stared up at him from the piece of parchment. Steve tucked it into his pocket for safe keeping; he might even frame it.

Eddie looked at Steve eagerly as he tried to open the package. He does it slowly to tease Eddie; his frustrated little growl made butterflies in Steve’s stomach.

Inside the package is a worn-out book, one he would recognize anywhere, considering he saw it every day on Eddie’s bookshelf. “Eds, this is your copy of Lord of the Rings. I can’t take this.”

Eddie put his hair in front of his mouth, suddenly shy, “Well, it wouldn’t be exactly yours. It’s just I thought it would be fun to, ya know, read it together? Like we take turns reading to each other. I know the kids always bug you to read it, and I noticed that it’s hard for you to focus sometimes, and I get that, so it might be easier if we like make it a thing? I know it’s probably not your interest; it’s my favorite book, not yours, so you know what? This is stupid—“

Steve cut him off by pulling him into a hug. Steve buried himself into Eddie’s neck before saying, “Thank you. It’s the best birthday present.”

“Really?” Eddie pulled back to look at Steve’s face. Whatever he found there must settle him, because he relaxed his shoulders. “I know it’s silly, but I guess I wanted to share this piece of myself with you…and maybe spend some more time together.”

Steve didn’t mention how they spent almost every day together, didn’t think he had to either. They both knew.

Steve decided to be bold instead. He pushed Eddie back into the couch and settled his back into Eddie’s chest. He snuggled into the warmth of his arms.

Steve put the book in Eddie’s hand. “Okay, you read first.”

Eddie laughed; Steve could feel the vibrations from under his skin. It was delightful; it was delicious. “Oh, you want to start now?”

Steve made an indignant noise while Eddie laughed again at him. His hands settled at the back of Steve’s neck as he played with hair that brushed it.

“When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventyifirst birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was …”

And once again, hours later, when Steve woke up, after drifting to Eddie’s soft, deep voice, Steve felt something settle in him. He felt Eddie lightly snoring beneath him, one hand still tangled in his hair. He felt Robin’s hand wrapped around his ankle, grounding the both of them. And there, between all of them, was the fallen book with no bookmark, signaling they would have to start again.

Maybe, sometimes. Steve thinks, birthdays could be good.

***

projecting. projecting. projecting. that’s me.

I hope you guys liked this one :) I did use my own bday for him, but the time he was born at is different than mine lol. I had a lot of fun writing it, it was just the softness I needed.

1K notes · View notes

mismatched-sockss · 2 months

Text

» Pairing: Emily Prentiss x Reader » Warnings: just a little fluffy something for valentines day, readers first relationship with a woman (short mention of prior relationships, therefore implied bisexuality; but no gender for exes mentioned), anxious and nervous reader, mentions of alcohol and alcohol consumption, pet names (reader is called my love), » A/N: written with fem!reader in mind but I left out any mentions of gender for the reader, as well as skin-color

You felt sick. So incredibly sick. The heavy stone that had formed in your stomach for the last couple of hours just wouldn't go away and on top, your heart beat so hard and fast that it made you feel dizzy.

A glance at the clock told you that it was almost time for Emily to arrive. "Oh god, oh god, ohh my god...", was all you could mumble to yourself as you ran around your apartment like a headless chicken, to make sure everything was ready. That everything was perfect. You needed it to be perfect.

To be honest, you felt like you had no idea what you were doing. Not a single clue. None of your exes were big on celebrating valentine's day in any kind of way, and for the last few years you had been single. So not only had you never really celebrated valentine's day before, but more importantly: it was your first relationship with a woman.

It had only been about a month since you started dating Emily. After a couple too many shots of tequila on new years eve, the liquid courage had made you bolder than you could have imagined. So, when the countdown to midnight reached zero and the both of you hugged and exchanged a "happy new year!", you had cupped her cheeks and kissed her. You were so overwhelmed at the moment, that you left the party without another word to anyone and ran home. Literally ran home. The next day Emily stood in front of your door, fresh coffee and croissants from your favorite bakery in her hand and you talked about your feelings for each other.

A part of you wished, all of this would have happened on another day. Don't get me wrong, you loved every second you were able to spend with her. But it was all so new to you, and today seemed like such a big day for some reason. Maybe you wouldn't be as nervous if you would have been dating for longer than a month. Then, if you would have gotten more used to being with her romantically, you wouldn't freak out as much as you were right now.

I mean, this wasn't your first date with each other, nor was it the first time Emily came to your place and / or stayed the night. But there was something about days like this - birthdays, valentine's day, or other holidays like christmas for example - that felt even more special when you are in love and spend them with your partner. And even though the both of you had been friends for years beforehand, it just was different now. Especially so early on in the relationship.

You nervously gnawed on your bottom lip as you let your gaze wander around the place. The food - a recipe by the courtesy of one David Rossi - was in the oven and would soon be done; so, check. Plates and cutlery out on the table; check. Emily had said, that she would bring some wine; therefore, check. The dozens of candles you had placed all around the apartment were lit; check. Nice outfit; check. The bouquet of flowers you got for Emily; che-

The door bell rang so sudden it startled you and it was a surprise you didn't scream. Your heart threatened to jump out of its confinement as you walked to the door. Taking a deep breath you reached for the door handle, your hands trembling.

The first thing you saw was a big, beautiful bouquet of your favorite flowers. Emily exhaled as if she had held her breath and fleshed you a big smile, her eyes shining and full of love as she took you in. "Hello, my love. Happy valentine's day."

"Hi", you breathed, your own lips stretching into a wide smile, "happy valentine's day." You took a step aside to let her in. After you closed the door behind her, you took the bouquet from her and buried your nose in the flowers, taking a deep breath. "Thank you, they are beautiful."

"I'm glad you like them." Emily smiled as you placed a kiss on her lips.

You hurried to put the flowers in a vase and placed them on the table in your living room, while Emily took off her coat. You were speechless for a moment when you saw her. The fabric of the red dress she wore hugged her body like a second skin, knee-length, with a slit on the right side that ended just centimetres under her hip.

Emily did little to mask her amusement when she saw you staring at her. But her amusement was quickly erased by awe when her gaze wandered around the room. Now, it was her time to be speechless, as she took in the scenery. The candles you had placed on almost every possible - and safe - surface, the rose petals that you had placed everywhere, the dimmed lights and the soft music that played in the background.

"Wow... That's...", she started, her brows furrowing as she looked for the right word. You grew nervous. Was it too much? Should you maybe had stopped at music and candles and leave the rose petals?

But before the little voice in the back of you head had any chance to get louder, Emily closed the space between you, reached up to cup your cheek with one hand and run her thumb over your cheekbone. The other found its place on your hip. "Beautiful. It's.." Again, she tried tried to find the right words, but not one came close to describe what she felt.

"So, you like it?", you asked shyly. Emily's gaze flickered between your lips and your eyes as she nodded. "Yeah", she breathed and kissed you.

You pulled her closer and melted into her kiss, into her touch. It didn't take long for Emily to softly nibble at your bottom lip and swiping the tip of her tongue over it. Your lips parted and a soft moan left your throat when your tongues met.

When the alarm clock you had set for when you had to get the food out of the oven rang, neither of you moved. All you did was whisper "Food's ready" in between kisses, but instead of pulling away you pressed your body closer to Emily's.

She smiled into the kiss. "Mmh, I think, I want some dessert first."

#emily prentiss #emily prentiss x reader #emily prentiss x fem!reader #emily prentiss x female reader #emily prentiss x gn!reader #emily x reader #emily prentiss fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #ghosts can write #❤️ e.p.#--- mismatched🧦

146 notes · View notes

arlana-likes-to-write · 3 months

Text

You're Such A by Hailee Steinfeld

Summary: After years of being in an abusive relationship, you met Kate and Lucky and learned your worth. But when gifts start appearing at your work and apartment with no name, you start to wonder if you are truly safe.

Note: There are themes in this story that may be triggering please read all the warnings. There will be spoilers in the warnings. As always my inbox is open if you ever need someone to talk to!

Warning: stalking and stalking behavior, rape/non-con, gun violence, kidnapping, reader's ex is abusive, drinking, protective Kate Bishop and Avengers, nightmares, Gaslighting, injuries, ex family is rich but corrupt, implied sex

Word count: 4.7k

Strong arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you flush to her front. It was impossible not to melt against your girlfriend. Her face buried into the crook of your neck, warm breath tickling your skin. “Coffee is almost ready,” you spoke softly, not wanting to ruin the morning’s tranquility. “And I ordered your favorite; it should be here soon.”

“‘M sleepy,” she grumbled. You smiled and turned around in her arms. Kate returned late last night from a mission. Normally, she would spend the next day in bed or lodging around her apartment with you. However, today was Yelena’s birthday, which meant dinner at the tower and bar hopping tonight to celebrate the blonde.

“I know, baby,” you ran your hands through her hair and massaged her scalp. A smile graced your lips as Kate hummed happily. “Once you have breakfast, coffee, and a shower, you’ll feel better,” Kate smirked.

“Are you going to join me in the shower?” You couldn’t say no to that smile and her incredible blue eyes.

“Yes, sweetheart,” she kissed you quickly.

“Go sit on the couch. I’ll make your coffee and wait for the food,” you wanted to protest since Kate needed her rest, but you preferred how she made your coffee. Stealing another kiss, you walked over to the couch and sat down. Immediately, Lucky jumped next to you and rested his head on your lap. You had to thank this little guy for introducing Kate into your life. You were a veterinarian technician and walked the one-eyed golden retriever’s first check-up. It was a little embarrassing how quickly you fell for the archer; her energy matched Luck. The duo came into your life exactly when you needed them to. You found out your girlfriend of 4 years was cheating on you. Kate was everything Ryan wasn’t. Ryan was controlling, manipulative, and easy to anger.

Your phone buzzed, and you groaned, picking it up. You heard your girlfriend chuckling from the kitchen. Knowing it was Yelena’s birthday celebration, you took today and tomorrow off, but they could call you in if they were short-staffed. However, it didn’t work. It was a text from a number you still need to save. A simple hi with a smiley face. Odd. “Is it work?” Kate asked, managing to carry two mugs of coffee and the breakfast. Quickly, you stood up to help her and pushed Lucky off the couch. She gave you an amused smile at your pointed look when she knew you were annoyed she didn’t ask for help.

“No,” you sipped your coffee, moaning at the taste. You loved teasing your girlfriend that she could make an excellent barista if the whole Avenger gig didn’t work. “It’s a wrong number. I’m going to ignore it.”

You were a disgusting, sweaty mess. A mob of bodies surrounded you, and Kate’s arms were around your waist, holding you close as you danced against her. After a few rounds of shots, Kate pulled you to the club’s dance floor. This was the group’s third bar of the night, and you were feeling the effects of the drinks. There was a buzz flowing through your veins. It was a mixture of the alcohol and Kate’s lips on your neck. You moaned, her lips attacking a sensitive spot underneath your ear. “Fuck,” she groaned. “I’m so close to ditching everyone and taking you back to my apartment.” You were surprised you heard her over the song’s bass and the voices of the other people in the club. Giggling, you turned around to face her. Your arms moved behind her neck.

“I don’t think Yelena would be pleased,” you yelled over the music. “She may kill you.”

“Worth it,” she kissed your cheek. “You’ve been killing me all night in this outfit.” It was why you wore it. Teasing your girlfriend was your favorite pastime. You pulled her closer, placing your lips against hers, and she quickly depended on it. No one else mattered. She consumed all of your senses; the fruity drink she just finished was on her lips, and the faint scent of her perfume and the callouses on her fingers gripped the skin underneath your shirt. It was over too soon as a hand-pulled you away from Kate.

“I have to pee,” America whined, dragging you towards the bathroom. You laughed at the defeated look on Kate’s face. There was no one in the bathroom and no line. America stumbled into the stall and let out a sigh. “You and Kate look good out there,” she yelled as if she was still on the dance floor. You rolled your eyes and pulled out your phone. A few messages were in the group chat, and a picture was sent to you. It was you and Kate dancing together. The picture was a little blurry, but you could see your smile, and how Kate looked at you made your stomach flip. You quickly saved the photo and made it your lock screen. America left the stall, cleaned her hands, and dragged you back out. You had enough time to put your phone in your pocket.

“Someone is popular,” you entered the veterinary clinic with your bag over your shoulder and two iced coffees; one was for you, and the other was for Ashley, your best friend and the receptionist at the clinic. “You got some gifts over there.” You handed her the coffee and walked to the table with boxes, flowers, and stuffed animals. A majority had your name on it, while others had the names of your colleagues. It wasn’t rare that patients sent gifts in the form of gift cards and chocolates to show their appreciation. You preferred the chocolates over everything. Carefully, you picked up the stuffed animal resembling Lucky, even missing an eye.

“Can you divide it up between all of us?” You asked Ashley. “I don’t need all of this.” She nodded, wrapping her hands around the coffee mug, and took a sip.

“Are you keeping Lucky 2.0?” She teased. You nodded your head excitedly.

“It’s so cute!” You cooed, squishing its face against yours. “It has no name. I wonder who sent it. I don’t know who to thank.”

“Probably went with one of these gifts,” she shrugged. “Just ask the patients you see. Someone will take credit for it.”

“Honey, I’m home!” Kate’s sing-song voice rang throughout the apartment. It made you smile. Usually, it would put you in a good mood, but not today.

“I’m upstairs,” you called out to her. You heard her take the stairs two at a time to reach you quickly. When the door opened, you refused to move from the cocoon of blankets with Lucky at the foot of the bed. You found yourself spending more and more time at Kate’s apartment than your own: an extra bathroom toothbrush, clothes in her closet, and your shoes by the door. Her apartment was your safe space, so after a brutal day at work, you made your way to her bed and waited for her to come home. Her scent in the blankets tricked your mind into thinking her arms were around you. You were sure Ashley texted Kate to inform her of the day you had. A life-saving surgery went wrong, and you had to consult a grieving family that quickly turned to anger directed at you.

“Hi, baby,” you felt the bed dip under her weight. “What can I do?” You merely shrugged. She sighed, carefully putting her arm around your waist and pulling you into her chest. There was no energy in your body to fight her, and you allowed her to maneuver you until your face was pressed against her chest. Her hair was damp; she must have showered at the tower before rushing over here. “I got you, baby girl. Let go.” You weren’t used to this soft treatment. Kate was always there to pull you into her arms and allow you to fall apart. “I’m so proud of you. You did everything you could,” she praised. You shook your head. The praise felt bitter. You were undeserving of it. “None of that,” she kissed your head. “I know you, sweetheart, you did your best. We can’t save everyone no matter how hard we try.” The tears escaped your eyes, staining the fabric of Kate’s shirt. But she held you tight.

When you arrived at work the next day, a beautiful bouquet of flowers was at your desk with a note. ‘I’ll be thinking about you today.’ There was a heart at the end. You smiled, slipping the note into your wallet. You weren’t sure how Kate had enough time to set this up, but you were grateful. Texting your girlfriend to thank her for the flowers you got to work. It was during lunch that you learned Kate wasn’t the one to send you flowers. Who was it?

Something was happening. More gifts were being sent to the clinic and even your apartment. The notes that were attached had a tone of possessiveness to it. They wanted you; to them, no one else could have you. It was scary. At first, you kept it from your girlfriend, not wanting to worry her, but she found out when gifts were being sent to her apartment. All addressed to you. She arranged her Avenger duties to walk you to work and pick you up once your shift was done. During lunch, she delivered food to you, so you didn’t have to leave. It was a little suffocating and restricting, but you knew she was doing all this to keep you safe until the Avengers could figure out who was behind it.

Ashley was on her lunch, so you were asked to watch the front desk. It was a relatively slow day. Therefore, it was a no-brainier for you to help your friend get ahead on administrative tasks, reaching out to patients to confirm appointments, answering emails, and reminding them about billing issues. You were on the phone when the door opened. “I’ll be right with you.” You said, not taking your eyes away from the screen.

“Take your time,” your stomach dropped at the voice. Ryan. You glanced over the counter and saw your ex. She looked like she hadn’t slept in a few weeks, her clothes a little messy, and dark circles under her eyes. “Finish the call, sweet cheeks,” she smiled, leaning against the counter. Now you saw it, the pistol in her hand. “Go on.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” you went back to booking the appointment. “Yes, we have availability at 2 PM on Thursday.” Could they hear how your voice shook? Ryan was flipping through a calendar the clinic had set up on the counter. “Right, of course. We’ll see you then. Have a great day.” You hung up, saved the appointment on the computer, and wrote on a sticky note letting Ashley know about the call. You added Ryan’s name to it.

“What do you want?” You asked and faced her.

“I’m disappointed, sugar,” she closed the calendar and looked at you. Her smile once caused butterflies in your stomach, and now it scared you. “Everything I’ve given you and not a single thank you.”

“What-?” It hit you suddenly. The gifts. The random text messages. Was the photo her, too? You reassured Kate that it couldn’t have been Ryan. You changed your phone number, address, and even the place you worked when you ended it with her.

“You’ve always been so smart,” she smiled. “Come with me, or I’ll start lighting this place up.” You had no choice but to follow her out of the clinic. To the average eye, you and Ryan looked like a loving couple. Her arm wrapped around your shoulders, bringing you closer to her, but those who walked the streets couldn’t see the gun pushed into your side. Ryan opened the passenger door, helped you in, and kissed your hand before closing it. It took a lot of self-control to keep yourself seated. The fear of the unknown of that pistol she had. Would she use it on you? Soon, she got in the driver’s seat and let out a sigh. “Baby,” the pet names were making your stomach twist. It was sickening how much you graved them from her at one point. “Safety first,” she reached over you to buckle your seat belt. You felt paralyzed.

“Where are you taking me?” You finally found your voice to ask.

“I’m taking you home.”

Ashley was surprised to walk back into the clinic to find the waiting room filled with patients. Victoria, the other vet tech, was trying to soothe angry humans with equally emotional pets. “What happened?” Ashley asked, walking behind her desk. “Where is Y/n?” She dropped her bag to the floor instead of hanging it up.

“I don’t know,” Victoria said. “But it’s not like her to just leave without letting one of us know.” Ashley frowned but focused her attention on a woman with a very yappy Pomeranian. She smiled, apologized with her best customer service voice, and tried to put out fire after fire.

“Yes,” she said on the phone. “We can reschedule your appointment.” Ashley looked at her calendar and saw the sticky note with your handwriting. It explained that you added another appointment to her online schedule, but Ryan was written at the end of it. Why would you write her name? Unless. “Yes, sorry, I’m here.”

Ryan’s hand rested on your thigh, nails digging into the scrubs. The radio was on, filling the empty silence, but you weren’t able to listen to whatever song was playing. Your skin was on fire, and all of your nerve endings were fixated on her hand on you. “Are you excited to go back?” She asked. “It’s been a while since you’ve been.” You were watching the mileage signs, and the exists she was taking. She was driving towards Cape May, New Jersey. It was a 2-hour drive from the city, and her family owned a few properties out there. During the warmer months, you would take the drive and stay at one of the vacation homes. “Come on, sweetheart, why are you so quiet? You love this drive.” You did. Ryan always drove, so it forced her to spend time with you. You cleared your throat.

“How - how have you been?” You asked. “How’s the business?” Ryan’s family was wealthy. Her family owned resorts in a few tropical islands built long before Ryan was born. High-profile guests and celebrities frequented the resorts due to their impeccable service, stunning locations, and commitment to creating unforgettable experiences. But when Ryan’s grandparents inherited Heritage Luxury Resorts, the business began to take a darker turn. They were too focused on maintaining their luxury lifestyle and took advantage of the indigenous population and the land the resorts were built on. Ryan sighed, tightening her hold on you, and winced from the pain.

“Complicated. Mother and father are being difficult.” Before you broke up with Ryan, you overheard a rumor from the staff working in her house that her parents would kick her out of the will. The business would go to her younger brother.

“I’m sorry,” you placed your hand on top of hers. “I know how hard it is to please them.” You had to keep her happy and please her whenever you could.

“See, I knew you would understand,” she picked up your hand and kissed the back of it. “I missed you so much.”

“Missed you too, Ry Ry,” you had to be strong and wait until Kate came to save you.

Kate’s blood was boiling. It had been since she received the call from Ashley, and Yelena drove her and America to your work. She watched the security footage of your ex threatening you with a pistol, and you left with her. Her anger was simmering in her stomach, and all she saw was red, but there was lingering guilt. She should have pressed harder for you to take time off, but you loved your job. America placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “She must want to know she is responsible,” Yelena said. “With her money and resources, she could have hired someone to do it for her.”

“I’ll have FRIDAY flag her and Y/n’s passport,” America added. “Keeping them in the states limits the number of properties Ryan could take her.” Kate nodded.

“We have to find her,” Kate said. “Ryan is deeply unhinged.” You spent one night explaining every awful thing she did to you. “I don’t know what she’ll do to her.”

Ryan opened the front door to the house for you to walk inside. You could hear the sound of the ocean and smell the salt. It was once senses that provided you comfort. “Go sit, and I’ll make you something to eat.” She kissed your forehead and laced her hand with yours. She led you to the kitchen island and helped you sit on the bar stool. Round the corner, she began to cook. The pistol was on her back. “I can make your favorite. Shrimp scampi.”

“Sounds great,” you forced a smile. It wasn’t your favorite, but it was the only meal she could cook halfway decently. You looked around the house. It has mostly stayed the same since the last time you were there. “Is this where you’ve been staying?” You asked. Ryan nodded.

“I left for here after you broke up with me,” she flashed you a smile. It scared you. “Which was partly my fault that we broke up, but you also allowed your emotions to get in the way.” Was that her half-ass attempt at an apology? Gaslighting you to believe you acted irrationally. Once upon a time, you would have compromised and taken the blame to keep the peace. But that was before you met Kate, the other Avengers, and learned your worth.

“You’re right,” set a bowl in front of you filled with pasta and shrimp that looked like heated-up leftovers. “I should have stayed and not run.”

“See, like I said, so smart. Now enjoy!” you are as you listen to Ryan droning on and on about the legal battles her family was facing. Never stopped to ask how you were doing. It wasn’t always like this - she showed a loving and caring side for the first year and a half. When you were robed in, trapped, she showed her true colors. She made it impossible for you to leave and broke you down, believing no one could ever love you except her. Once you were both done, you washed the dishes and put the leftover food in the fridge. “I have a surprise for you.” She put her arm around you and brought you upstairs to the master bedroom. She gestured at you to open the closed door, but you hesitated. “Open the door, sweetie.” You wanted to refuse, to be stronger than her, but you needed to keep her calm. You had to make her believe you were on her side. Opening the door, you felt sick. The food you ate turned in your stomach; bile moved up your throat. The windows were covered with blackout curtains; the light bulbs were replaced, so the room glowed red. But the walls were covered with pictures. Most were solo pictures of you going to work, walking Lucky, or shopping. The other photos were of you and Kate. However, Ryan photoshopped her face over Kate’s—the dates Kate took you on, Ryan or someone she hired was there. The worst photos were the ones she somehow got you and Kate in bed. You turned to face her. “Do you like it?”

“How? Why?”

“Oh, sweet girl,” she cupped your cheek. “I told you. You are mine. No one can take you from me. I love you, and I know deep down you love me.” No. No. No. At one point, you did. You loved her so much, but now you hated her. You resented everything she did to you that broke you down.

“No,” you mumbled. Ryan hummed in question. “I don’t love you.” You pushed on her chest and ran for the door. She was quick to react and grab your waist. You fought against her, but she was still stronger than you.

“Pretty girl, please, I don’t want to hurt you,” she threw you on the bed and covered your body with hers, pinning your hands above your head. “Stop struggling.” You kept fighting. You couldn’t give up when you had people waiting for you.

“Please let me go, Ryan, please,” you whimpered, tears forming in the corner of your eyes. “I wanna go home.”

“You are home,” Her voice was sickly sweet, and she kissed your cheek dangerously close to your mouth. “You are mine. Now and forever.”

“They cross into New Jersey by the Vincent R. Bridge, and that is where FRIDAY loses them,” Sam explained. Kate found it hard to believe anyone could avoid detection from Tony Stark’s AI. They had footage of you being forced into Ryan’s car and then driving to the bridge. After that, the trail goes dark.

“The Heritages have a few properties in New Jersey,” Maria said. “A few in Newark, Secaucus, and Cape May.”

“Why do you need that many properties in New Jersey?” America mumbled. It was a far point, but Kate was stuck on Cape May. She remembered you telling her stories about a vacation home they owned there. Ryan would take you there after a fight.

“Maria, can you pull up the properties they own in Cape May?” Kate asked.

“If we limit apartment buildings and restaurants,” Jesus, Kate thought, were they trying to create a monopoly? “That leads us to four rental properties.” The front of each house was pulled up on the screen. “Satellite imagining shows vehicles at all 4 of them,” Ryan was brilliant but dangerous, and if they chose the wrong house, she should get tipped off.

“What’s going through your mind, Kate?” Yelena asked.

“She told me that Ryan would bring her to one of these houses after a fight,” Kate explained and stood up. “I just have to think. Give me a second,” she stared at the images, racking her brain for any detail.

‘I know I should hate that place,’ you told her. Your head rested on Kate’s lap with your eyes closed as you told her about your time at Cape May. ‘It was a band-aide that was placed on a serious wound. But I loved being able to walk right on the beach.’

“Remove any of them that don’t have direct access to the beach,” one house was removed. Good. It was a start. Think. Think.

‘There was a pool too. I found myself there when she was off doing god knows what.’

“Do any of them have a pool?” All three pictures remained. “Shit,” she rubbed her hands across her face and crossed her fingers behind her head. It had to be something unique.

‘My favorite part was when we would stay in the master suite, there was a fireplace. I’d love to start a fire and read by it.’

“What house has a fireplace in the master bedroom?” She saw Maria smile, and only one house remained. “That’s where Ryan took her.”

“Are you sure?” Sam asked. Yes. No. Maybe.

“Yes, she’s there.” You had to be.

Your body ached as the door opened to Ryan with a glass of water and a wet cloth. She had your arms bonded above your head. Your legs were chained, but she undone them before she had her way with you. Ryan whipped the tears off your face and cleaned between your legs. With even more care, she put on a pair of sleep shorts. “Here,” she held the glass to your lips. “Drink,” you refused to even though you desperately wanted to soothe your throat. Your ex sighed and placed the glass on the nightstand where the pistol was. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Are you not enjoying our time together?” You closed your eyes, lips quivering. “Hey,” she slapped you on the cheek, and your eyes shut open. “I asked you a question, and I expect an answer.”

“No,” you answered honestly. “I want to leave.” She stood up and rolled her sleeves to her elbows.

“I gave you everything,” she said. “You are nothing without me. You left me,” she banged her fist against her chest. “For a wannabe Avenger. For a washed-up aristocratic.”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” you said. “She is everything you aren’t. You are a -” You let out a shaky breath. “You had your chance, and you blew it. You ripped it up, chewed it, and the more talk you prove it.” Ryan straddled your chest, hand gripping your throat.

“Keep talking. I fucking dare you.” Something snapped inside you. There was so much rage in your stomach.

“You’re such a.” She grabbed the pistol and put it to your temple. “Did you think I would let you crawl back into my life after everything we’ve been through? I’m finally doing better without you.” You spit in her face. A sheering pain rippled through your head. The face before you became unfocused, and it was getting harder to keep your eyes open—a ringing formed in your ears. You couldn’t tell if it was the concussion or if you heard the door was forced open. Suddenly, Ryan’s body was ripped off of you, and different hands grabbed onto you. You knew these hands. Warm, calloused hands. She was saying your name, and your arms were freed.

“Kate?” You whispered.

“Yeah, baby, it’s me,” you choked out a sob and put your arms around her neck, pulling her closer. “I know. I know.” Her voice shook. “You’re safe. Let’s get you home.”

For the first time in the Heritage family’s history, their money and power couldn’t protect them. Ryan was sentenced to prison, and you helped the prosecutors bring down the Heritage family and gave the land back to the ingenious people they stole it from.

Recovery was slow. The injury on your head from Ryan hitting you with the pistol healed, but you would flinch at every loud noise whenever someone touched you, and your nightmares made you believe Ryan was coming back for you. Work allowed you as much time off as needed, so you spent your days locked away in Kate’s apartment.

You were sitting on the window ledge, head resting on the glass. Your hand was running through Lucky’s fur. “Hi,” Kate said, sitting down in front of you. The archer put her Avenger duties on hold until you were better. You felt a little guilty for it.

“Hi,” you whispered, grabbing her hand and interlocking your fingers with hers.

“How’s today going?” She never asked how you were doing. You grew tired of everyone asking you, so she changed the wording but meant the same thing.

“Today is good,” you answered honestly. It was good. There was no nightmare last night that woke you up. You joined Kate on her walk with Lucky. “Katie,” you hummed in question. “You are,” you paused. Was there a singular word to describe her? “Everything. I don’t think I could get through this without you.” The archer smiled.

“Of course you would have,” she said. “You are so much stronger than you think you are. So much more than whatever lies she told you. You are my beautiful, wonderful, brilliant, and strong girlfriend.” You whipped away a few tears that escaped your eyes. “And I will remind you every single day.”

“Yeah?” You smiled. “Every single day?” She giggled, kissing the back of your hand.

“You are stuck with me, baby. I sincerely apologize,” her eyes widened slightly. “Unless you want to get rid of me, then I would understand, but I would be sad.” You giggled. With a roll of your eyes, you moved to sit between her legs. She rested her head on your shoulder.

“I love you,” you whispered. She squeaked but covered the surprise noise with kisses on your neck.

“I love you too,” she softly spoke. In your apartment or hers or at the Avenger tower, with Kate’s arms around you, you were home.

#kate bishop x reader #kate bishop x you #kate bishop x y/n #hawkeye imagine #hawkeye one shot #kate bishop imagine #kate bishop #hawkeye x reader

291 notes · View notes

elvenbeard · 11 months

Text

Maybe the biggest gift is the friends we made along the way 🎂

Happy Birthday, V!

Was staying up way too late and getting way too emotional over these fictional gonks last night, but yes... I've wanted to do a bigger scene like this for so long, and what better occasion than male V's canon birthday today!

These aren't all my favourites from the game (the sofa wouldn't be big enough for it xD), but the people Vince would like to invite over for the occasion for sure, let it be a year or two down the line when they all actually are in the same area at the right time and come together like this (and uuuhhh... obvious problems with one certain ex-bodyguard set aside and solved because I said so!). It would really be a special thing to have everyone there that's been with him during one of the worst times of his life. Thanks to them (amongst many others) he even gets the chance to celebrate another birthday.

Some more ramblings about some of the interactions I'm picturing here and why I placed everyone the way I did under the cut xD And some more pics to come in a separate post later :3

Front and center obviously Vince and Kerry and Judy, my faves, my loves <3 I think this would probably be one of only a handful of times Kerry ever meets Judy in person. He only ever hears her over the holo and knows her from what V told him, because she left Night City before they got a chance to meet prior to the game's endings. I think they would go along so well though, and besides Kerry, Judy is the person Vince feels closest to out of the group pictured here, and he'd be so excited to know Kerry and her get along as well.

Then Judy and Panam... I lowkey ship it so hard, and I mean, they would make one power couple, but at the very least I think they'd become good friends, maybe Judy even travels with the Aldecaldos for a while or joins them, like in the Star ending when she's romanced.

I put River in the back and center cause he's the biggest of the bunch and I think he'd love being there, watching over everyone in a way (and keeping an eye on Takemura, cause he doesn't trust him xD). I'd like to think him and Viktor get talking about boxing, workouts, maybe make plans for a friendly sparring match. Maybe they've even met before on some occasion, only just realizing it now. Viktor is btw out of the whole bunch the person Vince has know the longest, almost as long as he knew Jackie in my background story for him.

Goro keeps himself in the back because he definitely is the odd one out of the bunch (probably didn't wanna come in the first place), but maybe he's starting to realize this moment that a life without Arasaka is not the end of the world after all. That there's always room for new beginnings, no matter how unlikely it seems (but he's still gonna give V shit, and V is gonna give him shit, obviously XD they're bickering like an old couple probably, much to Judy's and Panam's amusement who previously were rather wary of Goro).

Then a pair I only really got thinking about when I set this up were Misty and Kerry because... It does kinda make sense, and I think they'd get along really well? Like, Vince and Misty have known each other for a few years, and he likes her a lot, but he's not as close to her as he was to Jackie for example. She was definitely a positive guidance throughout the whole mess in 2077, and he really appreciates her for always seeing the good in everything. And I think Kerry would be a bit confused about her in the beginning, but since he also has spiritual leanings I think they'd find a lot of common ground. I also think Misty would just treat him as Vince's partner, some guy, not be all in awe about him being famous - aware of it, but ignoring it, because it does not matter in the grand scheme of things how rich and famous you are but whether or not you're a decent human being.

And Nibbles is there because she lives there, obviously, this is her penthouse, her sofa xD Needs to make sure everyone behaves!

I had been thinking about including Rogue in the scene, but then I also thought... she probably wouldn't come xD Be like "nah kid, thanks, but you do you", and she's not that close with Vince on a personal level. Same goes for Claire, I love her so much, and while I think she and Vince get along very well, they're not as close (or maybe she just didn't have time).

I was pondering also if I wanted to include Jackie and Johnny in some way, because they can't be there physically for known reasons (and even though Vince wouldn't have invited Johnny just to annoy him, Johny would have come anyway to annoy him back, so there's that XD). Decided against it in the end because the ideas I had would have meant more editing than what I was ready to do just now, but I have some more ideas with Vince and Jackie and Johnny that work better in a different setting anyway.

if you've read this far, here's a piece of birthday cake 🍰

227 notes · View notes

alonetimelover · 1 year

Text

Pairings: Joseph Quinn x Director!Reader (ex!Harry Styles)

Warnings: dilf - talk (is this worth a warning?)

Summary: Years of YN celebrating Joseph's birthday. From social media posts to their one special moment during a rather hot January.

A/N: celebrating Joseph's birthday a little something from me to you.

——————————————————————————————

2020

yourinstagram

♥️ 💬 ➤

liked by harrystyles, joekeery, florencepugh, ynupdates, hArryshoe and 5 292 294 others

yourinstagram two amazing people share today's date as their birthday, the legend - Eddie Van Halen, and another legend that you don't need to know about... just yet. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, J!

view all 391 292 comments

joekeery 🧑🏻‍🎤🎸thank you, thank you

⤷ yourinstagram you love spotlight, don't you?

⤷ joekeery you know it

⤷ harryshands WHAT DOES IT MEAN??????

ynsmybestie who is J, and since when YN listens to Eddie Van Halen????? another reason to love her

harrysmoustache yn loving another rockstar??? so true

⤷ yourinstagram who's the first one?

⤷ harrystyles thank you, my love

⤷ yourinstagram someone needs to take care of your ego

⤷ harrysmoustache please don't look at my profile, im a different person today

⤷ harrysbtch babes, your last post about harry's thighs??? yn probably agrees 🤭

——————————————————————————————

2021

yourinstagram

♥️ 💬 ➤

liked by josephquinn, tchalamet, florencepugh, taylorswift, ynupdates, ynshands and 9 103 394 others

yourinstagram this is his year. this is his day. happy birthday, you metal head!!!

view all 502 204 comments

josephquinn thank you, yn. 🩷

ynupdates happy birthday joseph!

ynsmybestie did she return to instagram to post about her bestfriends birthday?

⤷ ynsmybestie best friend that you toxic fans accuse her of cheating on harry with????

⤷ ynsmybestie i love her more each day. QUEEN.

⤷ user202 you're appreciating her for cheating on her long time boyfriend?

⤷ ynsmybestie no, im applauding her courage to post something that people would take the wrong way just to meet their agenda and beliefs

ynshands hello you sexy woman. welcome back!

florencepugh are you giving private concerts, joseph?

⤷ josephquinn only for special friends

⤷ tchalamet would you give one if yn was with us?

deleted

⤷ ynsmymama please tell me you'll saw that too!!!!

⤷ ynsmybestie I did!!!!! Joseph has a crush on yn ...

⤷ harrysbtch who doesn't?

——————————————————————————————

2022

yourinstagram

♥️ 💬 ➤

liked by josephquinn, tchalamet, joekeery, taylorswift, annetwist, jcbower and 14 292 303 others

yourinstagram wherever you are, you little human behind the screen, wish this man a happy birthday. he deserves the world and more. happy birthday, i love you, j

view all 492 294 comments

josephquinn don't make me cry, lovie. i love you and thank you, for everything.

florencepugh best man's birthday 🎂

tchalamet the one who took her away...

⤷ yourinstagram jesus, timmy... behave yourself!

⤷ ynshands i love how in love timothee is with yn and she treats him like a brother 💀

harrysmoustache and H is spending today in his and YN's favourite park in Coney Island...

⤷ ynsmybestie let's not mention him under the post about her actual boyfriend

annetwist Happy birthday, Joseph. 🎂

——————————————————————————————

2023

ynshands

♥️ 💬 ➤

liked by ynupdates, harryshoee, harryupdates, ynsmybestie and 18 294 others

ynshands WTFIWJBDKS DO YOU GUYS SEE WHAT I SEE???? yn and joe spotted near the coast celebrating his birthday. THE YAHT???? it's giving war flashbacks...

view all 2 304 comments

ynsmybestie they called me single in every language... fuck you guys. im happy for you, but like... leave something for me

ynsmymama well... they're this touchy feely couple, huh?

joeandynfann so happy they're celebrating together!

harrysmoustache harry's punching some bag after seeing it 💀 this man can't find happiness after her

——————————————————————————————

ynsmybestie

♥️ 💬 ➤

liked by ynupdates, harryshoee, harryupdates, harrysmoustache, josephmyman and 20 201 others

ynsmybestie yn and joe spotted at the resort...

i can't do this anymore, guys. i can't.

view all 5 201 comments

ynshands the backmuscles????? i didn't know this man was this packed 🤤 sorry, i drooled a little

ynshands yn's 🍑??? girl...

harrysmoustache im wondering how much joseph just wanted to untie it completely. i wouldn't have a willpower...

joemyman a very happy birthday for joe 🍑

——————————————————————————————

"I'm absolutely exhausted. I forgot how much heat is wearing me out," Joseph sighed after falling onto their hotel room bed.

"You tell me. We're too British for this climate." YN laughed, sitting next to Joseph, caressing his thigh.

"Mhmmm. What do you say about taking a nap, now? Then we'll shower, go to some nice restaurant, drink wine and see where it brings us?" He wiggled his eyebrows, smirking.

"We'll see. Gimme a minute."

YN stood up from the bed and moved towards her bag. Joseph immediately opened his tired eyes and searched for her, not liking losing her touch from his body. Call him cuddly, clingy or too feely - he didn't care. There was nothing as good as his girlfriend's loving touch. Maybe her words. Or passion. Love. There was nothing as good as her presence next to him.

YN was fishing around in her bag, trying to remember where had she put it. It was small, but not hard to find.

"What are you looking for, lovie?"

"Your present."

"My present. You mean this trip, this morning when you-"

"Joseph," she almost screeched, as if there was anyone that could hear his dilatation about their shenanigans.

"What?" Teasing smile on his sun-kissed skin. "Okay. You know you don't need to give me anything, yeah? You are my present, every single day."

"It's not a material one. And stop it, I'm going to cry. I'm too emotional today." She pouted and moved from the floor, having found what she had been looking for.

"Oh, it's a little one. Is it what I think it is?" Joseph questioned hopefully.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Maybe a new keychain. The old one's got all greasy from the last week's oil change. It just won't clean. Oh! Or maybe that crocheted book cover we saw on the Internet? It was so nice," Joe wondered aloud, putting a nervous smile on YN's face.

"Well, let's just open it."

Joseph sat straighter and put his hands out to take the box from YN's hands. It wasn't heavy. Almost feather-like. He untied the bow, perfectly made by YN, and peaked inside.

"Is it a card?"

"Open it fully, love."

He did as YN said and widened his eyes.

A card with just three stick figures. Two big ones and a smaller one.

"YN -," Joseph tried saying something, but words died in his mouth.

"Take your time," YN encouraged, stroking his left hand.

"Oh my God," Joe whispered, shocked by the message. "Is it, is it real?"

She nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Oh my God, " he repeated, just louder. "Oh God. My love, my sweet love."

Joseph put the open card on the bed and scooped YN to place her on his lap, squeezing her into a loving hug. Tears landed on her naked shoulder, making her pull away to look him in the eyes.

"Happy birthday, Joseph," she breathed, making the tears disappear by kissing them away. Her soft fingers massaging his scalp and neck.

"Couldn't ask for a better one. I love you." He kissed her lips sweetly. "And you, too," he added, placing a hand on her stomach. "I love you both so much."

"I love you."

——————————————————————————————

2024

yourinstagram

♥️ 💬 ➤

liked by josephquinn, taylorswift, florencepugh, tchalamet and 21 291 394 others

yourinstagram best dad, best friend, best husband. happy birthday to you, my love.

view all 692 493 comments

josephquinn i love you more and more with every day passing, lovie

taylorswift the haze was strong. almost lavender 💜

florencepugh happy birthday to Mae's father!

tchalamet happy birthday, man. take care of my goddaughter, i love her more than i love you

⤷ josephquinn thanks, tim. can always count on you.

ynshands little Mae!!!!!! happy birthday Joseph!

ynsmybestie happy birthday daddy!

⤷ ynsmymama girl-

⤷ ynsmybestie ups...

joemyman a true dilf. happy birthday!!

ynupdates have the best day, joseph and yn ❤️

——————————————————————————————

@hesvoid34

@tiaamberxx

#action!universe #director!reader #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x y/n #joseph quinn fic #joseph quinn

186 notes · View notes

iamcalmdammit · 1 year

Text

Trust issues || [David "Section" Mason x reader x Phillip Graves]

Summary: As Russell Adler's daughter, you were used to your father's scheming. But when he interferes with your relationship with your boss to help your ex get you back, you begin to lose track of what you want.

Length: 7.7k words

Characters: David "Section" Mason, Phillip Graves, Russell Adler, Frank Woods

Note: I've been working on this for a while, but something always came up. Now here you go. What do you think? I love all of these guys. All of them. // Me? Proof-reading? Never. I'll die on that hill (one day.)

The private conference where Phillip was giving a keynote speech was about to begin shortly, but he was still standing outside in the hallway, going through some stats with his most trusted employee. You watched him out of the corner of your eye as you tried to finish the conversation you were having with your sales contact from the organizers.

Once he finally apologized and left you there, you quickly made your way to your boss who was now on his own, his blue eyes fixed on you in a way that made your skin burn. You nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear and tried to think of anything but that look he had in his eyes.

"How's my tie?" he asked when you got there.

"Perfect."

"Hair?"

You couldn't help but laugh at this. When did he become so vain? "Everything's good, don't worry," you assured him.

"I'm not worried."

You pursed your lips and raised your eyebrows upon hearing his statement. It came a little too fast and he sounded suspiciously sure of himself.

"What was that look?" he asked the moment he saw your expression.

At first you wanted to ignore his question. He was giving good speeches, he never had a problem with that, but today he seemed a little fallen apart, as if his mind was somewhere else. You were sure there would be no problem, but it still made you worried about him. Something was wrong, you just didn't know what.

"Sweetheart."

Someone placed a hand on your shoulder and you almost jumped out of your skin. When you turned to look at who it was, your lips curled into a smile. "Dad, hi," you told him as you quickly hugged him. "I didn't know you would be here."

"It was a last minute change of my plans," he replied then looked over at your boss.

"Oh, right. Dad, this is Phillip Graves, the CEO of Shadow Company. Phil, meet my dad, Russell Adler."

Phillip shook your father's hand and said, "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Likewise." Something was off, you could feel it. He was about to say something you wouldn't like and soon you were proven right by him. "This must mean you're the one who makes my girl work so much," he pointed out.

But Phillip didn't seem to pick up on that because he sounded pretty chill when he replied. "Quite the opposite, I'm usually the one telling her to go home," he pointed out.

"Is that so?"

"Dad, can you not?" you tried, putting a hand on his arm to make sure he wouldn't ask any more questions.

"I see you're working for the government," Phillip spoke up, pointing at the text on the badge in your father's neck.

He nodded. "As an advisor, yes."

"That's great."

But he didn't seem interested in keeping up a conversation with Phillip because he quickly turned to you and asked, "Can we talk?"

"Sure. Will you be okay?" you asked, turning to your boss.

"Don't worry about me."

"I'm not worried," you told him, maybe a little too quickly.

"Okay, I get that look now," he said with a laugh. "I'll go find my PA to check my schedule for the day."

"Good luck." Once he disappeared with his phone in hand, you turned back to your father. "What did you want to talk about?"

"My birthday's coming up."

"I know."

"You'll come over this year, right?" This again. Great. You'd been missing out on his birthdays in the past few years, but it's not like it was intentional. You usually went there, only a few weeks later. "Y/N, I'm getting older, who knows how many more birthdays I'm gonna have. You've been working on my birthdays in the past years, let's celebrate together this time."

He was right and you knew it. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. I promise," you added.

"Thank you. Now, tell me how you are. You look tired."

"I work a lot, it's been crazy in the office."

"Do you want me to talk to your boss?" he asked with a laugh.

"Thanks, but I can handle it."

"Sure?"

"Sure."

Your father fell silent and it made you uneasy. Whenever he gave you the look he had in his eyes now, you knew he was about to tell you something you wouldn't like to hear. "There's something about this boy that I don't like," he finally said.

The last time you had heard him say this was back when you were dating a guy from college and decided to introduce them to each other. It was a bad idea. "What would that be?" you asked anyway, by now curious to hear what he had against Phillip.

"I can't really tell," he said with a shrug. "It's just a hunch."

"He's not that bad," you tried.

"If you say so."

Oh, no, you knew this tone. "Wait, it's not just a hunch, you know something."

"Just be careful, that's all I'm saying," he said, holding up his hands. "And I still like David more than any other candidate."

"Dad, David and I broke up last year. Get over it."

"But you still talk quite a lot." Before you could respond, a chiming sound could be heard. "Oh, I believe it's time for the section your boss is in. Let's sit down."

As you were walking towards the chairs in front of the podium, you tried to get some answers out of him. "Do you and David talk about me behind my back often?" you demanded.

He looked at you then sat down, patting the chair next to him so you would do the same. "Your name comes up sometimes," he replied in the end.

"You're scheming and I don't like it," you told him in a whisper.

"Let's pay attention, okay?"

You hated this so much. He had worked for the CIA for a long time--hell, you were quite sure he was still working for them and this government advisor position was bullshit--and he often acted like raising you was one of his missions. He wanted to know every detail, every person you kept in touch with, where you went and what you were doing.

He always did a background check on your boyfriends and so far the only one who managed to pass his test was David. But you knew it wasn't only because of him as a person, but his background as well. He was the son of Alex Mason, someone your dad had worked with back during the Cold War, and he was raised by Frank Woods, another man your father closely worked with in the past.

Soon you were snapped out of your thoughts by a delicate applause from the crowd as Phillip stepped on the podium. He looked around, but then his eyes landed on you and he watched you as he began his speech. You couldn't hide your smile and you lost track of his words after a while. But every time he looked at you for a brief second, your breath caught in your throat.

Later you said goodbye to your father, promising him you would have dinner with him, then went to look for Phillip's PA so the two of you could talk to some people together, hopefully booking interview appointments.

'I'm at the bar. Come down and join me.'

That was all your boss' message said late at night. You weren't sleeping yet so you thought you could just as well go down for a drink and see what he wanted. While you looked into the mirror in the elevator, you suddenly realized that you were like a dog answering its owner's whistle.

Pathetic.

But at the same time you didn't really mind. You liked his sense of humor, the excited way he could talk about work, and how he always made time for conversations with you. He was nice to all of his employees, but you weren't sure if there were more than a handful he talked to outside of work as well.

He was sitting by the bar with a glass of bourbon in front of him. "I was beginning to think that I lost you," he said with a smile.

"I had dinner with Dad," you explained as you sat on the barstool next to him.

"I hoped we could eat together."

You let out a quiet laugh. "Maybe some other time."

"It's hard to make it happen if you always say no." There was something about his tone of voice that immediately made you look at him. You hoped he would tell you what he meant by that, but he didn't elaborate and changed the topic instead. "Anyway. I was wondering, how old is your dad?"

"Almost eighty-two," you told him.

"And he's still working as an advisor?"

Nodding, you took the cocktail you had ordered from the bartender then turned back to him. "Retirement isn't for him, especially since my mom died."

Phillip looked down at his glass. "What did he do when he was younger?"

"He worked for the CIA."

"For real?" Once again, you nodded and waited for him to explain why he looked like he had just had an epiphany. "That explains the way he looked at me."

Oh, fuck, he picked up on that. But you decided to play dumb for now. "What way?"

"He was suspicious."

"I'm sure he wasn't."

"He was, trust me. But I'm an open book, I have nothing to hide," he stated before finishing his drink and looking at you.

There it was again, the look that burned your skin. "If you say so," you said after clearing your throat and tearing your gaze away.

Phillip ordered another round of bourbon then took a sip with his eyes still on you. "Did you get any feedback about my speech?"

"It was good," you began, happy to talk about work instead of your private life. "Jeff and I already scheduled a few of the interviews we had talked about."

"Why aren't you talking to me about that?"

"Because that's why you have a PA?"

He suddenly reached out to put a hand on top of yours. "Oh, no, I want us to talk directly to each other about these things, okay?"

"You mean you want to schedule them yourself?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, yes."

"As you wish," you told him as you pulled away your hand and stood up. "Well, I only came down because of your message, but I'm tired so I'm off to sleep. See you tomorrow, I guess."

"Come on, stay a little longer. You can't leave me here alone," he asked, almost begging you.

"Pick up some woman. I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard," you let the first thought slip out of your mouth.

Shaking his head, Phillip stood up as well and took both your hands. "Please, don't do this. I can't be any more obvious."

"You're my boss."

"And? I'll talk to HR if that's what you want."

"I can't do this. Just think about how it would affect our work relationship."

A smile suddenly appeared on his lips. "I think things have been better since that kiss in Zürich," he noted.

"That was a mistake," you told him, although in reality you often thought about that kiss and wished you could repeat it.

"Are you sure? Because I'm not." He let go of your hand and cupped your face with his hands instead. "One chance, that's all I'm asking for."

Your eyes were locked with his blue ones, and you were slowly getting lost in their depths. "Why is it so hard to say no to you?" you whispered more to yourself than him.

"It must be my boyish charm," he replied with a laugh. "You wouldn't be the first one to complain about it."

"Is this how you sweep women off their feet?"

Letting out a sigh, he shook his head. "No, actually it was my mom who always said that."

Giggling like some stupid schoolgirl, you said, "I imagine you always got what you wanted."

"I worked hard for everything." His lips were suddenly close to yours, getting slowly closer as he carefully examined your reaction. But you couldn't resist, you wanted him to kiss you so you closed the gap and took the lead. "Why don't we go up to my room? I'll prove you made the right choice," he said with a wide grin.

•••••••

Two months after you officially started dating, you were sitting between his legs on the floor, leaning your back against his chest as you sipped your wine. You were watching some overrated indie movie neither of you had been paying much attention to lately.

Phillip had one hand around your waist, and another under your unbuttoned jeans, teasing you despite your constant begging for more than that. At one point he admitted that he wasn't planning to do anything serious just yet, at first he wanted to see how you reacted to him teasing you while the movie lasted.

It was a stupid experiment, but you knew that once it was over, he would satisfy you over and over again for sure. He was an overachiever in bed, you knew that, and when you had pointed that out, he didn't even try to deny it.

Then your doorbell rang, bringing you back to reality. "Don't open it," he whispered in your ear when you tried to stand up.

"Our cars are outside and the lights are on. It would be rude to ignore whoever it is," you pointed out with a laugh.

"You're ruining our fun." You turned your head to look at him and once your eyes locked, he let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, I'll let you go for a short while, baby, but make it quick," he told you before he licked his fingers clean.

You turned around to be on all fours in front of him and gave him a soft kiss before you stood up and said, "I'll be right back."

You looked out of the window on the way to the door and noticed the silhouette of a familiar car in the dark. When you opened the door and saw your guest, you immediately knew why it was familiar.

"David, hi," you greeted him with a surprised look. "What are you doing here?"

He took a deep breath and thought about where to begin, but until he spoke up, his hazel eyes gave away that whatever it was, it really bothered him. "I need to vent and I don't know who else to go to," he finally admitted.

Before you could ask him what the problem was, he simply walked inside, leaving you standing there. "Sure, come in," you said quietly.

You followed him to the kitchen where Phillip was busy pouring another glass of wine for himself. "That was quick," he noted without looking up. But once he turned to you with a seductive smile, it all disappeared and he watched David cautiously. "Oh. Hello?"

David turned to you. "I'm interrupting something, aren't I?" he asked.

"Yes," Phillip replied impatiently.

"No," you said at the exact same time.

Your ex shook his head. "I should go."

"Wait, why don't you just tell me what's wrong?"

"Frank," was all he said in response.

You began to laugh at this. "Ooooh."

"Don't laugh, he's getting on the nurses' nerves and I'm the one getting the calls. I have to talk to him about it, but I need reinforcement. He adores you, Y/N. Come with me."

There was something about the way he said it that made you think. Could it be that Frank didn't know the truth? "You did tell him we broke up, didn't you?" you asked with a questioning look.

David groaned and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Look, he's old, I didn't want to shock him."

"David!"

"Okay, what if we tell him together? I'm sure he will have questions and it would be better if I didn't have to answer on your behalf," he tried.

"My dad isn't young either and I managed to tell him alone. When it happened, not a year later," you added.

"Come on, Frank would be happy to see you again. Please."

"Ugh, fine."

"Thank you," he said as he reached out to quickly squeeze your hand.

That was the moment Phillip cleared his throat and looked at David expectantly. "We don't know each other, do we?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm David Mason," he introduced himself as he extended a hand.

"Phillip Graves." He shook your ex's hand then pointed at the bottle on the kitchen island. "Can I get you a glass of wine?"

"Thank you, but it's time for me to go. Sorry for disturbing you."

Phillip laughed. "No worries. Have a good night."

You walked David to the front door and watched as he sat in his car and drove off. So Frank was causing trouble again. You laughed while you closed the door and returned to your boyfriend in the kitchen. When you got there, you saw him looking at you with an upset look on his face. Was he jealous?

"What?" he suddenly asked.

"You're jealous."

He let out a laugh. "Me? Of this guy? Don't be ridiculous."

"Then what was this all about?" you asked him.

"I just offered him a drink since he was your guest." Tilting your head to the side, you gave him a disapproving look. He had been playing some stupid power game with David, it was obvious. "You don't believe me?"

"No."

Phillip walked over to you and put his hands on your hips as he examined your face. Then his hands began to move up your side, gently stroking your skin under the shirt you were wearing. "Too bad. But I have nothing to worry about, right? I mean, you're mine after all. I own every inch of this gorgeous body of yours," he said once he took off your shirt and began to place kisses all over your chest. "I love you," he murmured against the hollow of your throat.

The way he ruled your mind and body was nothing new, but even now you were surprised by the power he had over you. You already forgot that you had a visitor that night, all you could think about was him. And how despite all this you could never get yourself to say that you loved him.

•••••••

The Vault was a strange place. You didn't really know why, but you never really felt safe there, this is why you had always visited it with David by your side. You never had to tell him about this weird fear of yours, he instinctively knew and paid more attention to you while you were there.

Now that you had to go back there to see Frank, this probably irrational fear returned. But even though you weren't together anymore, David still stayed close to you, and took your hand to guide you away from an unruly patient outside in the garden. And after that, he didn't let go, he just wrapped his fingers tightly around yours and walked towards Frank's room as if you were in last year.

Then you finally reached your destination and you couldn't hold back a smile when you saw the old sergeant. "Frank," you greeted the man.

He turned the wheelchair around and let out a heartfelt laugh. "Y/N, it's been so long. Where the hell have you been?" he asked as he reached out to take your hand in his.

"I'm sorry, something always came up."

"David's right, you work too much," he stated once he rolled back to take a better look at the two of you.

With an annoyed groan leaving your lips, you folded your arms over your chest and gave him a sharp look. "Not you too."

"Your old man?" Frank asked with a laugh.

"He always tells me that too, yeah."

Next to you David huffed loudly enough for you to hear it. "And we're right," he noted.

Before you could say anything in your defense, Frank cleared his throat to stop the upcoming fight. "How are you, kids? I'm sure there's a reason why you both came here after such a long time. Here to announce your engagement finally?"

"No, we're not. Quite the opposite."

"We broke up last year, we--well, I just didn't know how to tell you the truth," David admitted. He sounded sad and you couldn't decide if he was trying to guilt trip you or really felt like that.

Frank closed his eyes and nodded. "Too bad, you were sickeningly cute together. What happened?"

"It just didn't work out," you replied.

"Because you work way too much." You turned to David, ready to defend yourself, but he changed the topic before you could say anything. "Anyway, we're also here to talk to you about your behavior," he said, turning to the very man who had helped raise him after his father's death.

He remained silent for a short while, as if he was having trouble remembering things. "What are you talking about?" he asked innocently.

David dropped on one knee to get on eye level with him. "The staff called me. Poker parties? For real?"

"Do you have any idea how boring it is here?"

"And you call one of the nurses Nurse Batshit?" David asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, because she goes batshit crazy whenever I want to smoke," Frank explained.

"You shouldn't do that."

"Don't tell me what to do, I'm old enough to decide on my own."

You couldn't do it anymore, you couldn't keep a straight face. So you finally let all of your emotions out and started laughing, even getting a tissue out of your bag to dry a few stray teardrops.

David let out a sigh and turned to look at you. "Why are you laughing?" he asked seriously.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I know this is serious, but," you began before losing it again. "Nurse Batshit? I can imagine you wheeling around in your chair screaming that nickname."

"She never listens," Frank noted.

"Because it's rude."

This time David gave you a confused look. "Then why are you laughing?"

"Because it's also hilarious."

"Thanks for the help, Y/N."

"I'm so sorry." After breathing in and breathing out a few times, you could finally calm yourself enough to speak seriously. "Okay, but for real, you should be nice to the staff. And don't organize poker parties, if you need money--"

"I don't need money, I want to have some fun," the old man interrupted you angrily.

"Frank, there are rules here, okay? Please, try to adapt to them," David tried.

"I'm too old for that, I won't change, son."

You put up your hands. "We tried."

"You give up that easily?"

"Look, he did a lot for our country, he deserves to have a peaceful and… fun retirement," you tried to reason with him.

Frank's lips curled into a satisfied smirk as he looked at David and pointed at you. "Listen to her," was all he said in the end.

The three of you chatted some more but things became weird when Frank began to ask both you and David if you were seeing anyone now. David explained that he was focusing on work and his girls, while you… Well, you lied and said you were also alone at the moment. You didn't know why you said that, it just came out like that.

Once you left the building, David stopped you by a bench in the garden and motioned you to sit down with him. "You weren't too much help, but thank you for coming," he said after watching you for a few minutes in silence.

"I'm sorry, but Nurse Batshit," you said, although your voice faded as you started laughing again.

"Okay, you're right, that's funny." David was now laughing too, finally appreciating Frank's sense of humor. Just as suddenly as he started laughing, though, he fell silent again then said, "I miss you."

"David…"

"I'm serious. But tell me this--why him?"

"You mean Phil?" you asked the obvious.

He nodded and you could tell he was furious by now. "Yes, your goddamn boss of all people," he pointed out. "Can't you see that he's using his position to get what he wants from you?"

But you only shook your head and ignored his anger. "It didn't happen from one day to another," you said, keeping your voice down to calm him down a bit.

"Oh, trust me, I know. It all began when we were still together."

"It's not true."

"I remember what it was like. I remember his fucking voice from my nightmares because you always put him on speaker when he called," he finally snapped. "It didn't matter if it was late night or the weekend, or if we were out on a date. You always answered his call. Always."

It was true, you couldn't argue with him, but there was something that you knew he didn't want to say out loud. "I never cheated on you," you informed him, hoping you answered whatever theory or question he had in his mind.

"I'm sure you didn't, at least not physically. But emotionally? That I'm not so sure about." Could he be right about this? So much had happened since then that you didn't even remember the details. "Tell me, is he treating you right? Or does he talk to you in private as if you were any other of his employees?"

"Don't do this," you said weakly.

"Answer me." He watched you intently, probably trying to read your face in case you didn't answer. And you didn't answer. You didn't know what to say because a part of you knew he was right. "You can't even answer this simple question. Leave him. Do yourself a favor and throw him out."

"And go back to you?"

"I wouldn't mind. I tried to be friends with you but that's not enough."

Letting out a sigh, you looked into his hazel eyes and wondered why he suddenly said these things. For months you only had casual conversations, you never suspected that he still had feelings for you. If you had known, you would've kept your distance for his sake.

Before you realized what was happening, he reached out and pulled you into a kiss. A hungry and passionate kiss you knew all too well, one he usually reserved for post-mission meetings. You were so surprised that you instinctively returned the kiss, something you definitely wouldn't have done if you could think straight.

But as terrible as it was to admit, you enjoyed it, and memories you had forcefully pushed into the back of your mind in the past months now returned--date nights, lazy mornings in bed together, trips to the zoo with his daughters. It had been so good to be with him, it was definitely more domestic than the relationship you were currently in.

Then your phone began to ring and when you looked at your watch, you freaked out. "Shit, it's Phil," you said in panic.

"Leave it," David told you before he kissed you again.

It didn't last long this time because the call brought you to your senses and you pushed him away. "No, wait, what the fuck am I even doing?"

He watched you jump up and take a few steps away from him then flashed a cheeky smile at you. "Following your heart."

"How poetic."

"You wanted this."

"You're confusing me."

"I couldn't confuse you if you really loved him."

You did love Phil, you knew that deep down, but you couldn't deny that you wanted this. A part of you still missed David, still regretted having those fights back in the day. But there was something else you needed to remind him of. "You threw me out to begin with!" you snapped at him.

David stood up and walked over to you. "Because of him! Because of whatever the fuck was happening between you."

"I need to answer this," you suddenly remembered your ringing phone.

"Go ahead, I won't stop you."

"Stay quiet."

"Why?" he asked with a laugh. "He knows we're visiting Frank together, doesn't he?"

You gave him an angry look. Not because he was wrong, Phil knew you didn't come alone, but he made it sound like it would be fun for him to piss your boyfriend off by talking in the background. It wouldn't be beyond him to do something like this.

"Hey, Phil," you said into the phone after you answered the call.

"Babe, it took you so long to answer. Is everything okay?" he asked almost worriedly.

"Yeah, I was just looking for a quiet place to talk to you," you lied, earning a disapproving look from David.

"Are you still there?"

"Yeah, we just finished."

"How did it go?"

"Not well, but we kinda knew he wouldn't change."

"And your ex?"

Shit. "What about him?" you asked as if you didn't know what he was talking about.

"Did he behave?"

"Jealous?" You laughed, although it wasn't a happy, but more like a nervous laugh.

"Like I already told you, I have no reason to be," Phil replied confidently and you could imagine the smirk on his lips now. "See you tonight?"

"Yeah. I'll be waiting."

Once you put the phone away, you took a deep breath then turned around to face David. He was watching you with his arms folded over his chest, burning a hole inside you with that glare. "He knows that you shouldn't be with him, that's why he's so worried about you coming here with me," he suddenly said.

You gulped loudly while you thought about what he said. "He's not worried."

"I heard you asking him if he was jealous. So what would be the better word then? Insecure?" he asked with a laugh.

"I won't stay here and listen to you talking shit about my boyfriend," you told him angrily before turning around and walking away.

•••••••

Russell had been through a lot throughout his career, but despite not acting like the best father in the world most of the time, you were one of the things about his life that he was truly proud of. Not saving the world or getting rid of bad guys. No. You.

So when your boyfriend called him to say he had plans for your birthday, that he would throw a party to celebrate you, he knew he had no choice but to play nice. He didn't like Phillip, but you loved him and that was enough for now.

At the party you looked truly happy and chatted with every single guest eventually. You were talking to one of your neighbors when he found you again, although he only watched you from afar, appreciating the sight of you having David by your side again. Russell remembered that old lady, David had sometimes helped her around the house while you were together.

"They are adorable together," he noted happily when he noticed Phillip standing next to him out of the corner of his eye.

"I beg to differ, sir," was all he said with a surprising level of confidence, although Russell was able to tell it was just an act and he was probably nervous under this calm surface.

"Of course you do."

Phillip let out a sigh and licked his lips as he turned to him. "I have a question for you. Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you, son, I just don't trust you. I want my daughter to be safe in a relationship," he explained.

"So you think I can't protect her?"

It was clear from his reaction that he wasn't a parent yet, especially not the father of a girl. "I'm sure you could protect her from physical harm, but I'm talking about emotional safety. I doubt you could give her that."

"But you think he could," Phillip said, pointing at David.

Russell nodded. "I know he can. She has known him for many years, she was by his side after the divorce, she went through hell to get his eldest daughter to at least like her, and they spent four years together," he listed.

"And despite all this they still broke up."

"All because of you."

Upon hearing this answer, Phillip raised an eyebrow and turned to him. "What does it have to do with me?"

"The two of you have been close for a while now, haven't you? Maybe a little too close for David's liking. Late night calls, weekend calls, business lunches and dinners, business trips--you knew exactly what you were doing."

The younger man laughed. "You think I'm that calculating?"

"You might as well be."

"Well, I think your daughter knows best who's the better choice for her, so I suggest you step back and let her decide on her own," Phillip told him coldly.

Who would have thought. This kid could still surprise him. "Is that a threat?" he asked calmly.

"No, sir, just an advice," your boyfriend replied with a smile before walking away, going straight to you.

You greeted him with a smile when Phillip put an arm around your waist and handed you another cocktail. He gave David a cold look, who in return excused himself and left the group. A smile crept on his lips. Good, he knew his place.

He kissed your temple, hoping this gentle gesture could get your attention. When you gave him a questioning look, he asked, "Baby, do you have a minute? I have another surprise for you."

"Another?" you asked in a surprised tone.

"It's not a big deal." Once you reached an area that was less crowded, Phillip reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box that he then handed to you. When you saw what was inside, you looked up at him, expecting answers. "Keys to my house. Move in," he explained.

While he thought you would be happy to see it, in reality you were unsure of the whole thing. "Isn't it soon?"

"Why would we waste our time?" asked Phillip as he took your hand. "Come on, things are great, this is the next step."

"Can I think about it?"

He was confused, he didn't understand why you weren't glad to hear he was ready to move forward with your relationship. But he didn't want to push you so he had to be patient this time. "Sure. I'm not trying to force you here, it's just an option," he replied with a smile.

You finally smiled at him and wrapped your arms around his neck. "Thank you," you whispered against his skin.

"I love you more than anything, Y/N. You know that, right?"

"I love you too." Then you let go of him and stepped back a little to look at him. "So how was working with Dad on this little party?

It was a nightmare, he wanted to say. "We had our differences about the guest list," he began, intentionally not mentioning David's invite, "but other than that it went well."

"I'm glad to hear that. I know how difficult he can be."

"No, it was okay. If things go that well we might be friends one day," he lied.

With a warm smile you fiddled with the collar of his shirt. "Look how confident you are."

"I would say optimistic."

•••••••

You didn't know what you were doing in front of that door, but something led you there. It was a thought in the back of your mind, telling you to come and see him again. You knocked and waited, hoping he would open the door soon.

"Y/N? What are you doing here?" asked David in surprise.

Looking down at your hands, you thought about how to answer this. Really, what the hell were you doing? "I don't really know."

He flashed a small smile at you as he stepped aside and fully opened the door. "Do you wanna come in?"

"Only if it's okay."

"You're always welcome here, you know that."

The two of you walked inside to the kitchen, briefly passing by the living room. "Oh, yeah, Savannah and Jessica are with me this weekend," he explained when you noticed the tops of the girls' heads.

Without thinking, you said, "Hello, girls."

They didn't respond, just kept on watching some animated movie. Once you reached the kitchen, you leaned against the kitchen island and watched David with a sad look on your face.

"Is everything okay with you?" He put a finger under your chin and made you look at him "Come on, you can tell me."

"Phil asked me to move in with him," you admitted after some thinking.

"Will you?"

"I don't know yet."

"Do you want this?"

"I'm not sure."

"Why?"

It was a tough question. Sure, you loved Phillip and things were great, but something was missing. And there was another thing too. "I can't get you out of my head since that kiss," you admitted with a guilty expression.

David's lips turned up into a smile. "Is that so?"

"Don't look that smug," you said with a laugh.

"I told you he's not good enough for you," he pointed out quietly.

But just saying this wasn't enough for him. David swept a strand of hair out of your face and slowly leaned closer and closer to kiss you. You should have resisted the temptation, you should have pushed him away, but you couldn't.

"I wish I didn't want you this much," you admitted after he kissed you.

David put his hand under your shirt that began to move up your spine. "Let's do something about that," he whispered into your ear.

You looked back into the living room and saw the two girls still sitting on the couch without paying attention to them. "Your daughters are here in the living room."

"They just started that movie, they won't leave the room until it's over. We'll be quiet. Come with me," he said as he took your hand and began to lead you to his bedroom.

You didn't resist, you let him do whatever he wanted to do. It was a mistake and you were aware of it, but you had trouble thinking straight in his presence. Everything came back from the time you'd spent together and you began to wonder if being with Phillip was a good idea.

In the end you stayed until the morning and performed the walk of shame on the way to your car. You were an idiot. How could you do something like this? And things got worse when you got a message from your boyfriend, asking to meet you in his home.

"What the fuck does this supposed to mean?!" he snapped at you the moment you entered his study where he was waiting for you.

You glanced at the laptop screen he was pointing at and noticed a video of you and David from the night before. "Where did you get this?" you asked worriedly.

"What does it matter?"

"You sent someone to follow me around?"

Phillip took a deep breath as he turned the laptop back to himself and stopped the video. "You've been acting weird, what else was I supposed to do?" he asked.

Laughing, you raised up your hands. "So that's how much you trust me."

"That's rich coming from you. You cheated on me!"

"Look, it only happened once--"

"I don't give a fuck about your excuses or how many times this happened," he told you angrily. "This is a video from yesterday night, when you canceled our date because you weren't feeling well. And he's been bombing you with messages for months now--to what you always answer. I read them, I know exactly what you're talking about."

He crossed a line with this. "You what? Those are private conversations," you pointed out. This is what you got for being with someone who was good at this stuff.

"I don't give a fuck! What matters is that you lied to me. You told me you loved me while you were screwing your ex."

"Phil, let's calm down and have a normal conversation."

"Sure. Then let me tell you about your dad's little scheming. I checked his call records and messages from the past year and he has been communicating with your ex a lot more since we got together. He didn't even try to hide it whenever we talked that he prefers him over me, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to convince him to try to get close to you again."

"You're seeing too much into this."

"Oh, I don't think so. Here, let me show you something," he said as he pushed a few buttons on the laptop then turned it to you.

Based on the logs, these were chats between your father and David. The snippets Phillip collected for you were all about your father trying to convince David that your current boyfriend didn't deserve you, that he was a bad guy for ruining your relationship, and that maybe you should be together again.

Fuck. Why couldn't he stay out of your life?

"Believe me now?" Phillip asked as he put a hand on your cheek to make you focus on him. "Listen, baby, I love you despite all this shit. If you are willing to go no contact with Mason, I might even forgive you. But you need to make up your mind for good," he said, leaning so close that he almost kissed you.

Prying his hands off of you, you took several steps back and buried your hand into your hair as you thought about what to do or say now. You cheated, it was obvious why Phillip was mad at you and you couldn't blame him. But what he had showed you, the truth about your father and David…

"It's too much, isn't it?" he asked, as if he could read your mind.

You were almost crying by the time you got to answering his question with a nod. "I know why you're so angry and I'm so sorry."

"Hey, they manipulated you," Phillip cautiously said as he took your hand. "This asshole got close to you again so he could break us up. But I have faith in us, okay? We can get through this."

"I'll talk to him."

"Setting clear boundaries, I believe." When he saw you look down at your shoes instead of answering, he got worried. "To set clear boundaries, right?"

"I just want to know what he was planning all along first. But," you began upon seeing the look on his face, "maybe I'll visit Dad instead. Yeah, that's what I'll do."

"Good girl," he said before placing a soft kiss on your temple.

•••••••

A few days later you were sitting in your father's living room with a warm cup of tea in front of you. He was sitting in the armchair next to you and watched you with an expectant look on his face, after all the two of you had been sitting there in silence for over five minutes now.

"You've been scheming again, Dad," you finally said. He raised an eyebrow, as if he had no idea what you were talking about. "Come on, I saw the messages you sent David in the past months."

"Look at my little girl, snooping around in other people's business," he told you with a proud smile.

You shook your head at this. "No, I got the messages from Phillip, he's the one who got his hands on them. What were you thinking? That I would go back to David after everything that happened recently?"

Rolling his eyes, Russell took a sip of his coffee. "Your relationship with your boss can't last long. He's using you, I know that."

"You hate him since the moment you met."

"That's not true. I already hated him before that," he admitted with a shrug. "You and David broke up because of that guy. You threw away a relationship that worked so well and what you worked so hard for."

Breathing in then breathing out, you tried to calm yourself. "David was the one who sent me away, don't forget this," you warned your father.

"Because of him. All of this happened because of him. If you and David gave your relationship another shot, you could be happy again. You could quit your job and look for something that comes with less stress, something far from Graves and his manipulation," he tried.

"Why can't you just accept that I'm happy with him?" you tried with your face buried in your hands. "Phil loves me, he even asked me to move in with him."

"Yet you kissed David when you visited Woods," your father pointed out.

You looked up with a shocked expression on your face. "How do you know about that?"

"Woods. Someone saw the two of you and told him about it," he explained.

Damn it, not him as well. Pushing the thought of your father not only scheming with David, but with Frank as well aside, you tried to figure out how to convince him to stay out of your love life without getting into a fight. It was a tough one.

Then he cleared his throat and said, "Okay, I can see you don't like me pushing this… David propaganda. Fine, I'll stop. But answer me this. When you think of getting married and spending the rest of your life with someone, who would you really like to see there with you? David or Graves?"

*******************

Note 2: What? It's over like this? The answer is yes, it's over like this. I couldn't pick one, I love them both. The readers need to make the final decision.

#call of duty #david section mason x reader #david section mason #david mason x reader #phillip graves x reader #phillip graves #david mason #modern warfare #black ops #russell adler #frank woods

189 notes · View notes

my-castles-crumbling · 6 months

Text

Tw: abusive relationships, self harm, but a happy ending

Okay so normally I post things because like…I want other people to see them and like vibe with them and maybe make connections but this is just something I want to put out into the universe because it’s been rolling around in my brain so feel free to skip.

Yesterday marked seven years since I last saw my extremely abusive ex girlfriend. Halloween is her birthday and I left her shortly after that (please don’t judge me, the circumstances were dangerous and I made the choice that ensured my safety both mentally and physically). That was a time in my life that I’ve worked extremely hard to process and it’s taken a lot out of me, especially since she chose to harass me for almost two years after we broke up. I left that relationship extremely broken and low and it’s taken me years to get back to a version of myself that I’m proud of.

I’d been looking forward to yesterday for a few reasons- first because even though I know it’s not completely accurate, I loved hearing the idea that your skin completely renews itself every seven years. It was super empowering to know that starting today, not a single cell on my body had been touched by her.

Also, with Taylor Swift’s re-record of 1989 coming out a few days ago, it felt like it was far past a coincidence- the song Clean means so much to me in regards to leaving that relationship, and it is so cool that Taylor’s Version came out around the same time of this anniversary.

On top of this, this day marks seven years free of self-harm, which is something I am super proud of.

But then yesterday it took me until ten PM to even remember all of those things.

Why?

Because I was too busy living. I spent time with my wife and celebrated Halloween with people who enjoy it. I forgot.

Halloween is no longer connected to my ex in my mind, even subconsciously.

And it was super cool to realize that because this person consumed my mind for so long and now she just doesn’t.

So I guess if you’ve read this far just remember that if you have a bad thing consuming your mind now and it feels like your life is over and nothing can ever get better, just know that it can. Because seven years ago I literally thought I would either die or be stuck in that relationship forever and now I’m here…alive and in a better relationship than I ever could have imagined.

#story #story time #tw abuse #tw abusive relationship #clean tv

35 notes · View notes

sh0ek0 · 7 months

Text

it's supposed to be fun, turning twenty-one (part 3.5)

please find the other parts via my masterlist or the #sh0ek0 tag, I'm having some trouble with my posts not showing up in the tags and I think the links are messing this up

genre: little bit of angst, dk if this counts even as a hint of fluff given the overall storyline?? just a small drabble content warning: hints of abuse, hints of toxic relationship, emotional dependency, nothing too explicit I guess, aged up characters, college au pairing: Megumi x reader word count: 2.8k A/N: Part III was quite long and almost a year too late and I realized that I don’t love it as much as I thought I would. This one's shorter as I’m not sure if I should continue with the series, the last part didn’t perform as good as the first two and I'm unsure where the story is going from here. Anyways, I hope you’ll enjoy this summary: after the party two weeks ago, the encounter with your ex has left you distraught. You feel re-traumatised and have barely slept or eaten since. Your friends are doing their best to distract you on your birthday, but even after everything he did to you, all you can think about is him.

"Happy birthday!!!" your friends chant in unison.

"Blow out the candles," Nobara squeals as she places the huge cake she and Yuji carried in in front of you.

Tears start to form in the corners of your eyes and a smile spreads across your face as you look at your friends. 'Don't forget to wish for something,' Toge signs to you, and you shake your head, telling him that you could really use a wish right now, before taking a deep breath and blowing out all the candles at once.

"Guys, I don't even know what to say," you croak, obviously touched by the successful surprise.

"You don't have to say anything," Maki says as she leans over to you, "in fact, don't say anything and don't tell us what you wished for, otherwise it won't come true."

You look around you and feel how warm and fuzzy your heart is starting to feel. You had spent your birthday on the couch with Maki today, watching a whole series of Halloween movies in anticipation of next week and eating so many snacks that you already felt sick by the time it was evening. Still, she had managed to convince you to go out for a few drinks to celebrate, so you ended up in your favourite bar.

And now you were sitting here at your favourite table by the big window in the front, surrounded by your friends who hadn't texted or called you all day to keep up the illusion that they had forgotten your birthday. Maki, Nobara, Yuji, Toge, Yuta and Choso were all gathered around the table, with you in the middle.

Even some of the seniors had shown up, Gojo and Getou and even Hakari and Kirara had stopped by to wish you a happy birthday. Gojo was far too enthusiastic as he hugged you, lifting you off the ground a little as he did.

"You’re officially allowed to drink now, congratulations!" Gojo grins as he sets you back down and Getou just shakes your hand, scratching the back of his head with his other hand as he gives you an apologetic look for his boyfriend. "Happy birthday, y/n, I hope all your wishes come true," he says, squeezing your hand before pulling you into a gentle hug.

"Thank you," you chuckle, but you're quickly distracted by Kirara and Hakari shoving a huge bouquet of flowers into your hands.

"Wow, thank you guys, they’re beautiful." Don’t tear up again, what’s up with you tonight?

"I picked them out, Maki told me which ones were your favourites." You squeal a little as Shoko squeezes in between them. She had just come in and her clothes were still wet, but she hugged you anyway. She was so busy with med school that you hardly ever got to see her. Even though she was two years older than you, you got along really well with her and you loved spending time with her, even though you had far too little of it.

You chat with the others for a moment, listening to Shoko's stories about her day at the university hospital, or Getou's tale of how Gojo drank alcohol for the first time on his twenty-first birthday, and how he was so drunk at the end of the night that Getou had to carry him back to campus, walking for almost half an hour with him slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, I never drank again after that, so you really can't complain," Gojo protested and you saw how Getou squeezed his side, pulling him into his arms.

After a while, the small group decides to move on to the bar, and you thank them again, giving each of them a quick hug before returning to your table to sit with your friends.

As happy as you were at the surprise, and you were so happy, the grin seemed to stay on your face as Nobara handed you the knife to cut the cake, you still noticed how that feeling of emptiness came over you.

Your cheeks were flushed with excitement, and as the knife slid through the cake and you lifted the first piece out, delighted to see a pink colour under the icing, strawberry being your favourite flavour, you couldn't help but think of Taylor's words.

It’s supposed to be fun, turning twenty-one

But it was only for a split second that you allowed yourself to think of him. Megumi, who wasn't here with you to celebrate your birthday. Your first birthday in two years without him. And yet, for the past two weeks, every time you looked in the mirror, you couldn't help but think of him, because you had to get up two hours earlier to cover the bruises he left on your neck with make-up.

Your skin was now only a pale green, it would heal soon. But the many wounds he had left on your soul didn't want to heal so quickly - almost every night you woke up from your sleep, the first week you had spent in Maki's bed again because you couldn't sleep alone. By now, the situations in which he had left you behind, traumatised and alone… they had piled up.

Of your friends, only Maki had seen the extent of his actions the morning after the house party, she had spent an hour trying to talk you into reporting him—to no avail. And if the others had noticed how meticulously you'd been covering your neck for the past two weeks, they didn't seem to let it show. Well, except for Choso and Yuji at least, the two brothers were even more protective than they already were before, taking turns in walking you home from your classes.

A few days after your argument, Yuji even came to you and apologised, especially for what he had said to you in the end.

"What he did to you isn't your fault."

How badly you needed to hear those words, even if you had trouble believing them.

"You always think of the others first, don’t you?", Nobara mumbles as she takes the knife out of your hands, puts a huge piece of cake on your plate and brings you back to the present, "Even on your birthday."

"I was raised to be polite," you say, chuckling as she nudges your side.

"Being polite and considering yourself not important enough are two different things," she hums, and you knew she was right. You were also aware that she was not only referring to the cake here.

It had been raining all day, next week was already Halloween, and soon after that it would start snowing. You weren't ready for the dark season, at least not now, not in your state of mind. You should probably really start talking to someone, maybe even someone whose job it was to talk. You might be able to get some therapy sessions through the college administration and you decide to ask Shoko about it when you have the chance.

You zone out as you overhear your friends gleefully chatting, and you listen in silence as Maki tells the story of how you sulked half the day, between movie marathons and getting ready, because no one had wished you a happy birthday yet. You eat your piece of cake, concentrating so hard on not letting your facade crumble, until...

Ding!

Ding! Ding!

Almost hesitantly, you reach for your phone, but none of your friends had even noticed it. It was far too noisy in here for that, and anyway - it was your birthday. Probably someone who just remembered you and wanted to reach out before the day was over.

If only your eyes hadn't already fallen on the name that popped up on the screen.

Your heart starts beating faster.

You couldn't just walk out now, could you?

It would be utterly foolish of you, after your last encounter, to go out there alone. It was dark and it was raining, and if you told your friends who just messaged you, they wouldn't let...

"Guys, my mum's been trying to call me, but I've got no signal in here," you announce, already rising from the table, though not without first reaching for your jacket, "I'll try to call her back."

"Say hello to her from me," Yuji says and couldn’t help but grin, "and tell her that, despite her doubts, you loved the surprise."

You look at him, a little confused, but then decide to just smile and nod. Great, it really didn't even take you two seconds to feel guilty about lying to your friends.

As nervous as you already were, you did your best not to trip over your own legs as you made your way through the people scattered all around the bar, laughing and chatting.

Three short messages and you had already forgotten all the nights you woke up next to Maki, drenched in your own sweat. You had forgotten how many meals you had skipped and how many cigarettes you had smoked at your kitchen window. The only thing your brain could focus on at the moment was Megumi waiting for you outside.

You step out into the cool night air, goosebumps creeping up your spine as you pull your jacket tighter. The rain was beating down on the awning attached to the wall above the entrance to the bar, and as you waited, staring at your phone, a few cars drove by, but otherwise the streets were empty. Unlike the many bars and restaurants in the street, from here you could look into their brightly lit interiors and see couples or whole groups of people sitting around the tables, talking and laughing.

After a few minutes of waiting, you rummage in your purse for a cigarette and a lighter, but when you hear a familiar voice behind you, you flinch and drop it, straight into a puddle.

"Hey." You turn to see Megumi coming towards you in the dim light of a street lamp. You feel your heart pounding in your throat and your palms starting to sweat. He was completely drenched, the hood pulled down over his face, but the rain was dripping from the strands of hair that were sticking out and falling in his face.

"Hey," you reply, barely audible. You felt the anxiety creep up to you for a moment, but you tried to pull yourself together. Still, it seemed to show on your face when your eyes met his, and you weren't surprised at how worried he looked. Worried and tired and somehow — guilty.

For a brief moment you just stared at each other without saying anything. It was so strange, but what was the right thing to do in such a situation? You were confused, your body was sending you so many signals to escape the scene, to go back inside and leave him standing, and at the same time you were longing so much to feel his warmth and to forget everything that had happened.

Then, out of nowhere, Megumi takes a step towards you and pulls you into a tight embrace. You inhaled his scent, completely ignoring how soaked he was. He rested his chin on your head and you felt him take a deep breath before he planted a kiss on your hair. "I know this doesn't mean shit," he murmured into your hair, "but I'm so sorry, baby." You freeze. "I’m so sorry for hurting you."

He sounded like a broken record. He was sorry every time he hurt you and then he did it again.

"It’s okay," you promise, sounding so heartbroken "it’s okay 'Gumi."

Was it okay? It wasn't like he broke your favourite CD, or stepped on your foot, or forgot about your date. When you looked in the mirror after showering, you could still see the marks of his fingers on your neck.

One,

two,

three,

four.

And a fifth where his thumb had pressed down, keeping you from taking another breath.

You stand there like that for quite a while, motionless, while he just holds you in his arms. You listen to the rain while tears ran down your cheeks, so overwhelmed by your own feelings. You didn't want this moment to end. You didn't want to deal with reality, and you certainly didn't want to deal with what would happen after this. "I missed you," you mumble into his chest, and it was the truth.

He doesn't answer.

He’s quiet, as usual. You always had a hard time reading him, you never knew for sure what was going on inside of him. But right now you could hear his heart beating faster and you feel his hand trembling as he stroked your back soothingly.

"'Told you I’ve got something for you," he mutters, drawing one arm away and fumbling in the pocket of his hoodie.

You pulled back and dared to look at him for real this time. He didn't just look tired, he looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes, his cheeks were sunken and his lean, muscular frame seemed to have lost a little bit of weight.

"Turn around," he whispers as you just stare up at him through big doe eyes. You think about it for a moment, but then you do as you are told. You weren't sure what was going to happen, and as his arms wrap around your body and you feel his fingers first on your collarbone and then on your neck, for a split second you feel panic rising up again.

Until you realize that he is brushing your long hair aside and you feel cold metal and a delicate necklace against your skin.

With skilful hands he closes the clasp at the nape of your neck and your fingers immediately run to the spot on your collarbone to feel for the silvery heart-shaped pendant.

"Happy birthday," he whispers into your ear, sending goosebumps down your spine for the second time tonight. Without a word, you turn around, searching his face for any sign of rejection, but finding none. Your eyes glisten as they meet his and a smile tugs at your lips, before you finally kiss him.

He seems surprised by your reaction, but after a moment's hesitation he returns the kiss, his hand gently moving upwards to the back of your head, pulling you in even closer.

"Thank you," you mumble against his lips, still smiling, "I love it, it’s so pretty."

You were not ready to let him go. You were afraid he would leave and you didn't know when you would see him again. Not only had you not heard from him for two weeks, you hadn't seen him on campus either.

"You should really go back inside." You heard Megumi say.

"Please don't go yet," you beg, looking up at him, "I want to see you again."

"You've been out here too long, they'll wonder where you are." He was right. You looked down at the ground, upset that he had managed to get you so completely hooked again in such a short time. How were you going to pretend that everything was all right for the rest of the night?

He looks down at you, trying to read the expression on your face, before pulling you back in, gently brushing a strand of hair from your face. "Text me when you're ready to leave, OK? We'll work something out." Your face lit up immediately upon hearing his words.

He lets go of you, leaving you unsure if you should kiss him again or not, and before you can even decide, he moves away from you. You take a step back too, hurt that he would just leave you like that. But instead of frowning, you just smile at him, without it ever reaching your eyes.

"I'll text you," you say, turning around just as he takes your hand and pulls you back, hugging you tightly and planting another kiss on the top of your head. He holds you for a moment and you can almost feel how hard it is for him to let go of you too, you could sense how bad he was feeling at the moment and how he tried to memorize as much of you as possible. Your scent, the way your body moulded just perfectly into his own, how your soft hair felt against the palm of his hand.

"I love you," he breathed against your hair, almost too quiet for you to hear.

But you heard him.

For the first time in months, you heard him say it without you saying it first.

For the first time in months, it felt like he meant it.

#posting again because the og post didn't show up #megumi angst #megumi fushiguro #megumi x reader #megumi fic #Jjk angst #megumi fushiguro x reader #megumi fushiguro angst #sh0ek0

51 notes · View notes

lily-drake · 1 year

Note

[Bio!dad Dick] when Dick had amnesia and became 'Ric Grayson' He hooked up with a traveling Sabine. He later discovers when looking into his old things when he was Ric he had been contacted by Sabine who told him he has a daughter named Marinette (maybe 5 years old now?idk), during his time as Batman (with Bruce 'dead', Tim missing, and Damian being well Damian) Dick makes the hard choice to stay out of his daughter's life to keep her safe from the world he lives in, but watches from a distance when he can. Before he knows it more years pass and he wants nothing more than to meet her but feels like it's to late. However everything changes when he goes down for patrol and finds one of his brothers at the batcom with a file of Marinette open, and the words 'Master Fu, ex-guardian' 'Mutlimouse, Known' 'New Guardian?'. And files on a Ladybug hero who bares a striking resemblance of his daughter.

Ric Rolled

Note, Ric/Dick is 21 at the beginning of the story while Sabine is 23.

Ric Grayson liked his job as a taxi driver. He learned a lot about the people in his city and even people from outside of it. But he always felt like he could be doing, or rather was meant for something more. Ever since he had left the hospital once the bullet wound was healed, he felt like he was missing something important from his life. It was his 21st birthday, and he decided to celebrate it at one of the nicer bars in his city.

“Hello, is this seat taken?”

A gentle voice spoke from beside him. Ric slowly turned his head and saw a beautiful woman with charcoal black hair, silver eyes, her makeup was done naturally, and her dress was a beautiful red and gold knee length qipao.

“No, you can sit here.”

He replied, gesturing toward the seat on his right side.

“My name is Sabine.”

She spoke as she gestured for the bartender. He didn’t respond, just took a sip from his glass.

“So what’s brought you here tonight?”

Sabine asked in a honeyed voice. Ric thought about whether or not he should answer that question, his already addled brain found nothing wrong with it though.

“It’s my birthday.”

“I see. You celebrating with anyone else?”

“Afraid not ma’am.”

“I see.”

Her voice was like that of a siren. Enchanting and full of life.

“Let me buy you a drink, whatever you want.”

Ric smiled at the lady and nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Of course. No one should spend their birthday by themselves.”

One drink led to another, which led to another, which led to a night that Ric hadn’t imagined he would have. When he awoke, he was alone, only a note.

Thanks for last night. Hope we can meet again one day, Ric.

~Sabine

Ric let out a groan, his head pounding up a storm. He wasn’t going to be able to work today.

_________

3 years later

Dick Grayson stared at the screen in front of him in shock. He remembered bits and pieces of his time as Ric Grayson, but he liked to pretend that those three years of his life never existed. But as he stared at the information in front of him, he wasn’t so sure he could ignore it for much longer. Turns out he had a daughter, and it had to be his because “Ric Grayson” was listed as the father on the copy of the birth certificate that he had been sent and the girl–his daughter– was just barely 2 years old.

Sabine had sent him a letter, but he had never seen it before as he had moved on from being Ric by that time. It was pure luck he even stumbled upon the letter in the first place when he was cleaning up the rundown apartment that he had stayed in. The overwhelming feeling of need that he felt at the thought of meeting the little girl, Marinette, was so overwhelming he couldn't think of anything else. Even breathing felt like a chore. He imagined being a real father, teaching her to read, watching her color, listening to her stories, he could even teach her gymnastics. It was a wonderful fantasy. But that was it, a fantasy. One that came crashing down with the sound of a katana slicing through a training dummy.

He shook his head as reality came crashing in around him. Bruce was dead, Tim was missing and probably hated him, Jason left the city, and he needed to make sure that Damian was being taken care of, he needed to be Batman and protect Gotham. He took a single minute to mourn what could have been before he stole himself and closed the files. She would be safer and happier without him. From what he saw Sabine was in a relationship with another man in Paris. He could watch after her from a distance, but it would be better if he was as far away from her as possible. It seemed everyone he loved got hurt in some way, and he would make sure that nothing would happen to her by keeping his distance.

_________

8 years later

Dick stared at his phone. There was a picture of a young girl at a sewing machine with the brightest smile. She had hair as black as Sabine’s and his eyes. She was growing up so fast and now that everything was working out he desperately wanted to meet her. But it has already been so long, it was probably too late now. She had Tom as her dad now. He had another daughter now, he and Kori had finally tied the knot, and now they had little Mari’. It wasn’t intentional, in fact it was Starfire that had named her that. It made his heart hurt when he thought of his other daughter. He often wondered if his girls would get along with each other if they ever met.

He sighed as he set down his phone and looked around the cave. He was in Gotham for the weekend just visiting his family—which was finally happy (well, as happy as they could be) together— with his wife and daughter. Star would be down soon, she was just putting Mari’ to bed. Star knew about Marinette and often encouraged him to reach out, and though he was thankful for her support, he was still too scared to approach her.

He could hear the fast click clacking of the Batcomputer’s keyboard, and as Bruce was upstairs he knew that it had to be Tim. Slowly he walked down the stairs to make sure that his brother hadn’t been down here for a consecutive 56 hours again. He had been getting a bit better at taking care of himself, but he knew Tim and which meant that if Tim found something overly important all of Tim’s own needs would be put aside until he was sure that he had finished everything.

“Tim, how long have you been down here?”

He asked as he carefully approached his baby brother from behind. Tim didn’t answer, he just kept clicking and moving things around on the screen. There was strike one, Tim may not always answer, but his shoulders would often either scrunch up or relax. And as neither of those reactions happened he may not have heard him showing how tired he was as Tim was one of the most aware and attentive one out of all of them.

Dick got closer to the screen and looked up to see what was so important to Tim. There files upon files of absolute chaos and destruction filling the screen. It looked horrifying and Dick couldn’t believe that it was real as if this was anywhere on Earth or even in space they would have heard about it by now. On the top and bottom right monitors there were files of three different people open at the moment. On the top there was an image of a girl with strikingly familiar blue eyes, dark raven hair, and a face he was staring at only a few minutes before.

Marinette Lenoire Dupain-Cheng

Identity (Known): Multi-Mouse (First)

New Guardian?

Pupil of ex-Grand Guardian: Wang Fu

Age: 11

Ethnicity: Asian-American

Location: Paris, France

Mother: Sabine Cheng

Birth Father: Ric Grayson

Step-father: Tom Dupain

Dick gulped as he read through the data. He hadn’t told his family about Marinette, but now they would know. He had told Starfire before they had gotten Married, and he was so relieved when she still accepted him, still loved him despite his mistake and cowardness. But he kept reading. He would have to process that his daughter was a hero, a hero at the same age he was. That his efforts to keep her out of this type of life were all in vain and that it didn’t matter now. That he was a failure. He started reading again.

Wang Fu

Identity (Known): Ex-Grand Guardian

Belonged to “The Order of the Guardians”1

Age: Unknown

Ethnicity: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Father: Unknown

Needs to be further investigated

Then there was the final one.

Ladybug

Identity: Unknown

Age: Unknown

Origin: Unknown

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Relatives: Unknown

Source of power: Earrings

Power: Creation and restoration

Danger level, high. Need more data.

Tim studied the girl before him. He didn’t like what he saw. He looked at the picture of Ladybug, then the picture of his daughter, then the picture of his daughter in a mouse themed suit, then back to Ladybug. Dick was going to be sick, he was going to pass out, he was going to have a panic attack. He should have just been part of her life. Maybe if he had been in it she wouldn’t have had to become a hero. Maybe it was because he stayed out of her life that she unintentionally followed in his footsteps. He was a terrible father, how would he tell them, how would he tell her? What was he going to do now?

“Dick! Dick, you need to breathe! Come on Dick, please breathe with me.”

There was a distant voice talking to him, but it was so hard to hear over the raging voices in his head. What was he supposed to do now? It was too late for him to just insert himself in her life.

“No it’s not Dick. It’ll be okay. I won’t tell anyone, it’s your news to share.”

That was a nice thought, but there was no way that the others wouldn’t figure it out now.

“That may be true, but they’ll respect your boundaries and wait until you feel comfortable enough to talk about it.”

The voice said. Dick tried to breathe, he could feel his hand against something hard yet soft, and he clutched onto it. He could feel a gentle beating against his hand and slowly he began to even out his breathing all while the voice seemed to rattle on, saying things that he couldn’t seem to process as he focussed all of his efforts into simply breathing. How pathetic, he couldn’t even breathe right.

“You’re doing so go. That’s right, deep breath in, then a slow long breath out.”

Dick leaned forward until his forehead was resting against Tim’s shoulder, silent tears that he hadn’t even realized were falling leaking onto the boy's shirt. He could feel Tim’s arms slowly wrap around him as they both sat on the floor, silent except for the chittering of the bats and the light drip of water from the ceiling.

“What am I supposed to do? It’s too late to meet her, and now she’s in danger, she’s like us. I stayed away to keep her away from this life and it was all useless. It didn’t matter, I could have been in her life all this time but I didn’t and now-”

Dick let out a shuddering sob, unable to finish the sentence. Tim was frozen; he didn't know what to do. He could count on one hand how many times he had actually seen Dick cry. It was always so strange and foreign and he never really knew what to do. So he held Dick even tighter, rubbing his older brother’s back as he cried. He could feel someone’s gaze on them from above and slowly looked up to see Jason and Bruce, eyes wide in shock at the scene. Bruce snapped out of it first, racing down the stairs until he was at Dick’s side only a few moments later.

“Report.”

He barked panickedly, unsure of exactly what to do to help his oldest son.

“Dick found something out and he’s in distress. I’m not allowed to say what about as it’s his business to tell.”

Tim replied automatically, but he never let go of his brother though he glanced over to the Batcomputer.

Bruce looked over the data on the screen and nearly short circuited when he stumbled across the name of the father for Marinette/Multi-Mouse before he glanced down at his son. He understood the distress of his son when he had just discovered that he in fact had a child. Not knowing about Damian until he was ten because Talia had hidden his existence from him had been heartbreaking. He could only imagine what it felt like for Dick who loved those he was close with and trusted with all of his being.

Slowly Bruce bent down glancing at Tim who slowly nodded and backed away a little, but Dick only held on tighter with a slight whimper. Tim looked like he was in pain himself.

“It’s okay Dick, Bruce wants to give you a hug too.”

But Dick didn’t let go of his little brother. The little brother he nearly lost to Ra’s, to The Widower, to Lady Shiva, to the Joker, to so many people. He clung onto the boy even tighter, he didn’t want to lose anyone else.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stay here with you.”

Tim whispered softly, pulling Dick closer.

“You’re going to have to pick both of us up B, he’s not letting go, and I think bad things will happen if I try to move away again.”

Bruce grunted in his ‘I understand and I’m really worried’ way and carefully picked up both of his sons, moving them towards the upstairs family den. Jason had already left to get Alfred, worried about his big brother, but unwilling to admit it.

“We’ll figure everything out, you’ll get to meet her. I think that she’d love to meet you. You could just take Star with you, we could watch Mari’ for you. I’m sure everything will work out, don’t give up. It’s never too late Dick.”

Dick didn’t know how much he believed those words, but Tim was right. He needed to go visit her, he needed to make things right. But until then, he would hold onto the family he had now, because they loved him and he loved them. He loved the daughter that probably didn’t even know existed, and he protected the people he loved. So he would need to protect her, and in order to do that, he would need to finally meet her. He would never give her up, he would never let her down, and never again would he desert her.

Taglist:

@aespades @adrestar @astrynyx @doll246 @queenz-z @toodaloo-kangaroo @crazylittlemunchkin @seraphichana @miraculous-ninja @dorkus-minimus @mysticsoulgirl @ritacrow-blog @snow-leopard-777 @fidget-eep @sometandomstuff333 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @shreeing @achaoticmess1 @miraculous-ninjabird @liquid-luck-00 @buginetye @stainedglassm @prettylittlebutterflie @laurcad123 @iloontjeboontje @heartsong18 @raeuberprinzessin @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @jennifer-rose123 @moon5608 @corporeal-terrestrial @skitarii-alpha-c6-555 @saltysugarysembei @phantom120 @kking13 @depressed-bitchy-demon @a-slytherinish-gryffindor

90 notes · View notes

capricornwriter5 · 1 year

Text

OUR SEESAW - Chapter 15

Pairing: Min Yoongi x female OC

Genre: idol au, Suga X female OC, smut, fluff, angst, college romance, friends to lovers, exes to lovers, happy ending. ⚠️Warning: mentions of mental health affections, drugs, explicit sex

Words: 6k

➳ Prev. Chapter

Chapter 15 - Burning Up

Woosung and Hobi's birthday came, and the singer had offered his house for a pre-celebration with his closest circle. It wasn't supposed to be a huge party, just drinking some cocktails and eating some snacks.

Woosung had barely finished bathing and was walking around the house shirtless with his hair still soaked when Emmy knocked on his door.

“Hi! You came ear...” Unable to finish his sentence, Woosung gawked at his friend, his drool practically spilling out. She looked breathtaking in a tiny black dress. "Damn, Emm!"

The girl didn't reply, as she was very busy picking up a box of champagne bottles. "Directly from France to you, happy birthday!" She congratulated smiling from ear to ear and handing them to him.

“Wow… looks like someone's feeling better."

"Has anyone else arrived yet?"

"No, it's still too early, they'll be here in an hour, maybe an hour and a half."

"So... do we have time?"

Woosung was placing the champagne on a table, but upon hearing his friend's words, he turned around with a leering look. "I haven't heard those words in a long time. I thought you didn't want..."

"That I didn't want? Woo, you've known me for YEARS, how do you say something like that? But tell me, what can you offer today?"

"Whatever you want, as always..." He answered in an alluring manner.

"Are you sure we have enough time?"

The eyes, the smile, the way she held Woosung's hands to make him hurry, everything, absolutely all of Emmy's body language showed the excitement she felt.

“That's not a problem, time has never been. And if you're worried about that, it's nothing a phone call can't fix.”

As if that apartment were her home, Emmy walked to Woosung's room with him, and that's when the singer understood what his friend meant. Emm wasn't looking to sleep with him like in the old days, she wanted the drug that Woosung kept.

The singer laughed at himself and was about to try to convince her to have fun together, but seeing what Emmy was pulling out, his eyes widened exaggeratedly.

“Are you planning to mix those two?”

"It's not the first time, why are you surprised?"

"I thought you didn't want something so wild for today."

"Hey! It's your birthday and Hobi's, my two best friends! How can I not celebrate it as it deserves?"

"Sure..." Silently, he watched as Emm used two different types of drugs, and although it was not common for him, he got a little anxious about it. "Emm, you haven't been okay and that's a bit strong, don't you think you should tone it down a bit?"

"This is nothing."

For a few minutes, Woosung did nothing but pay attention to her, dismayed that she would lose control too quickly; however, the minutes passed, and Emmy looked fine.

"What's up with you? When did you start to be the serious and responsible friend?”

"At least she's not yelling at me for not helping Yoongi..." he thought while taking a little of what Emmy had consumed.

Thus, a while passed in which both talked and laughed remembering their last birthdays.

"I had forgotten how wild turned out to be last year's party."

“Do you actually remember anything from that day, Woo? You were so wasted.”

"What I still don't quite understand is how we got to the beach so fast. I mean… we were in the heart of the city and suddenly the sea was in front of me.”

"You say that like you haven't done the same thing countless times." Woosung laughed, and after smoking from the joint he held in his fingers, he remained silent. "What's going on?"

“Nothing, I was just remembering that night. You looked gorgeous, like today… ” Woosung was about to caress Emmy's leg, but the girl didn't allow him, and standing up, she cleared her throat. “Come on, Emm, what's up with you lately, huh? It had never been so long since we last fucked. How much longer will I need to wait?"

Thinking it was a joke, the girl couldn't help but laugh; yet, Woosung looked at her from head to toe, making his intentions more than clear.

"You're joking, right?"

“When have I ever joked about this? I've always taken sex very seriously, mainly if it's with you because it's amazing.” He simply explained.

"Woosung, I have a boyfriend."

"So what? I have had them too, but that has never been an impediment. We're the perfect match, no strings attached, no…”

“I told you that my relationship with Yoongi is serious.”

“I know, I'm not telling you to break up with him. Besides, you told me that nothing would change between us. And look at us now, talking like two average friends when we could be fucking as we’ve done for years.”

“I'm not single anymore, and there's no way I'm gonna risk my relationship."

Emmy called it quits, but for the musician it was not over. It was the first time Emmy had rejected him and she didn't seem to want to change her mind.

"Emm, what the fuck? Are you serious? It's been MONTHS since we were last together. What's different that you're dating Yoongi now? It's just sex."

Ironically, that came out from the only person in that room for whom those words made no sense. He had wanted to convince himself that it was just sex, but it never really was. Knowing that he wasn't going to have anything serious with Emmy, he had settled for sleeping with her. At least for a few nights, he could feel that they were more than friends. If he had managed to be “chill” with the whole Yoongi situation, it was only because he could swear that he and Emmy would continue to have their casual sexual encounters.

“Woo, I truly care about Yoongi.”

"Are you telling me that you went to Capri and didn't sleep with anyone?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. Yoongi means too much to me to play with him. I had never thought that I could have something like that with someone, but I have it with him."

“So, you and I don't…?”

"No, Woo. But you have so many beautiful girls waiting for you!”

Emmy winked at him, having no idea what her best friend really felt. Woosung had always been so open with all his relationships and so casual in referring to his sexual encounters, that Emmy could never imagine that he might feel something else. Added to the musician's true feelings, Woosung's pride was hurt that night. It was the first time he heard a no coming from someone’s lips, even worse, from his best friend’s lips, the person with whom he had started his sexual life, with whom he had lived endless experiences and with whom, deep down, he always thought he would have a future.

At that time Woosung couldn't understand two basic things. The first, how much Emmy loved Yoongi, and the second, how dysfunctional he and Emmy would be together. There was no way in which a serious relationship between the two of them could work, they had many issues to resolve. His blindness and pride were about to lead him to make a whole scene of jealousy saying how absurd monogamy seemed to him; however, Woosung was speechless when he saw his friend consuming again.

"Emmy, what…?"

"I think they're knocking on the door. While you open, I'll clean this and go to the bathroom."

************

Since Yoongi had to work late that night, he could only make it to the celebration quite late into the night. He would not miss it just because he had promised Emmy that he would accompany her and because he had given his word to Hobi that he would go; yet something about that party gave him a bad feeling. Jin and Namjoon's messages only confirmed what he believed. They both told him to hurry up because he was missing the best party of his life. And no wonder, Hobi was the life of the party, and as such, he planned quite a lively celebration. Moreover, Woosung had the money and friends to make it an unforgettable night.

Once at the party, Yoongi didn't even have time to suffer from his social anxiety, for the first thing he ran into was his girlfriend, who left him in total shock. Firstly, the girl looked gorgeous, and secondly, Yoongi had never seen her play the popular girl role better than she did that night. She spoke with everyone, laughed with everyone, toasted with many people, and did everything with such naturalness that anyone would buy it. In fact, she seemed to have no trace of the quiet, serious, vulnerable, and even melancholy girl who would come out in front of the piano or when she was alone with Yoongi.

The musician couldn't understand how that was the same person who hadn't eaten in days and who looked overly exhausted. How the hell did she manage to compose herself like that overnight?

A big hug was not enough to greet the musician, who inevitably blushed due to the kiss that Emmy stole from him. The girl grabbed his hand and took him with her to where Jin, Namjoon, Nara, and Hobi were. Sitting next to each other, Yoongi smiled tenderly at Emmy and leaned closer to speak in her ear.

“You look gorgeous, freckles. Are you feeling better now?"

"I'm great!" She responded with a beautiful smile.

Hobi's joy that Yoongi had gone to his birthday led him to distract the musician more than once. Countless times the dancer would take Yoongi along with Namjoon and Jin. They all wanted him to enjoy that night like they did, so they didn't stop buying shots; also, taking advantage that the bar they were in had so many floors with different music, they took the musician on tours that ended with Jin and Namjoon talking to girls, Hobi dancing with strangers, and Yoongi laughing with new drinks in his hand. Due to this, Yoongi couldn't see the number of times Emmy “went to the bathroom” and come back with more energy. Yet, Woosung noticed it and tried to warn Emmy, but he failed caused of how euphoric she was.

Getting to escape from his friends, Yoongi came back to look for his girlfriend and found her with a new group of people. One glance was enough for Yoongi to get an idea of them. Dressed in garments from the most exclusive and luxurious brands, this entire group exuded wealth; undoubtedly, they had been born with silver spoons in their mouths. However, that didn't catch Yoongi's attention, after all, he had gotten used to that by Emmy's side. What captured his attention was the air of debauchery that surrounded them.

Their leering eyes and evil smirks made it clear that they had lived and experienced more than anyone else at that party. Still, none of them looked like a young rookie who would lose control that simple.

Paying closer attention, Yoongi noticed that one of the girls who was talking to his girlfriend, and actually going with her to the bathroom, was the same one he had seen a while ago on another of the floors of the place. The girl tried to approach him to invite him to have a drink; however, Yoongi turned her down. She kept insisting, and even though Yoongi was patient, she annoyed him to the point that he had to tell her to leave him alone, which caused him to earn some rather nasty comments.

He decided to sit down and wait for Emmy to come back.

"Yoongs, there you are! The boys have hogged you all night." She joked sitting next to him. "How did you escape?"

"Namjoon insisted on Hobi drinking more shots and Jin was talking to Nara."

"Do you think they'll get back together?"

"I hope so, he doesn't stop talking about her. But who am I to judge? He says I'm always talking about you, and I think he's right." Emmy giggled as Yoongi interlaced his fingers with hers.

Next to her diamond watch was a hand-braided man's bracelet Emmy had stolen from Yoongi since one of their first piano lessons. She never took it off and Yoongi couldn't help but find that cute. Yet, he could not comment on it, because thanks to the lights he was able to see Emmy's hand better and noticed how pale it was. He instantly raised his gaze to his girl's face and not even with the blush she was using she couldn't hide her paleness. Besides, he sensed how cold her hand was. What had happened? She wasn't like that before he went with the guys for the last time.

"Freckles you're freezing, do you want my jacket?"

"Freezing? That's weird, I don't feel any cold."

"Is that Emmy's boyfriend?" Jiyu, the girl who tried to hit on Yoongi, asked Woosung. She was the granddaughter of the directors of the most important broadcasting network in Korea.

“Hmhm…” The musician replied without wanting to go into much detail.

“Well, he's very handsome, but… who is he? His clothes are pretty basic, luckily he is hot." She commented laughing.

"Why do you want to know, Jiyu? Leave them alone, Emm's happy." The singer responded.

"I wanted to ask the same thing." Said another of the girls, who didn't hesitate to check Yoongi from head to toe. "I mean, I can see why she's dating him, but her boyfriend?" The young woman, heiress to an entire fashion empire, agreed with her friend's comment.

"Who are his parents?" This time was a man the one talking. He came from an important family whose political influence would intimidate anyone.

"I don't know," Woosung replied. “What a lame topic.”

"Lame?" The second girl asked ruining yet another attempt by Woosung to divert the conversation. “We're talking about Emm with a boyfriend, that's anything but boring. Come on, tell us a little more, you are closer to her."

"There's nothing to tell, just that she's happy with him."

"Are you telling me that SHE is gonna settle for a nobody?" The boy asked letting out a wry laugh.

"Hey! Don't be a jerk."

“Woosung, we say this for her own good! You're her friend, you should warn her what will happen if she goes out with someone like that. Emmy's beautiful and popular, but that doesn't exempt her from having to take care of her image. Can you imagine what everyone will say? While Seri's dating who will easily be the next prime minister, Emm's dating someone no one knows who he is." Jiyu wasn't that nasty, but she couldn't bear the idea that Yoongi had rejected her.

“Let her date whoever she wants. Why are we talking about something so serious TODAY? It's enough!" Woosung said, brushing the comments away with his hands and making them laugh. "Look, here comes Nara!" Woosung had never been more grateful to see his friend there.

Meanwhile, Emmy was introducing Yoongi to Woosung's band members. At first, she thought that her boyfriend would treat them with the same seriousness and coldness that he used the first time he met Woosung. Yet, it was rather the opposite, and soon the four of them were comfortably talking, they even made several jokes, for they would never imagine that that boy who looked so serious could be so nice.

After a while, the original group regathered, it was about midnight, and they wanted to toast all together. However, Emmy was not even able to bring the glass to her lips, her pulse trembled uncontrollably from so much drug, so she ended up throwing the champagne at her and Yoongi, who tried to help her.

"Yoongi, I'm sorry!" Emmy's voice had risen unnecessarily as she tried to clean her boyfriend's shirt, but she cleaned everything except where Yoongi's shirt was OBVIOUSLY wet.

"It's okay, baby. It will dry up."

"I'm so sorry!" Emmy stood on her toes to hug him; however, she only got Yoongi to accidentally throw his glass while trying to push it away from her. "Oh, not again! Why am I this clumsy today?”

Namjoon, Jin, Hobi, and Nara thought that their friend had drunk too much, and they joked about it. On the other hand, something really strange happened. Yoongi and Woosung exchanged worried glances. They both knew that Emmy was not okay.

“Emm…” Yoongi whispered taking her hands before she bent down to pick up what was left of the cup. “My love, it's okay, you're not going to pick anything up, it's dangerous. Let's sit down for a while, okay?"

"Just let me go to the bathroom for a moment."

Before Nara could offer to accompany her, Emmy took her bag where she kept what was left of her drug. On the way to the bathroom, several people greeted her, but she did not pay attention to anyone, in her mind there was only being alone in the bathroom to be able to consume a little more.

However, shortly before reaching the bathroom, someone took her wrist, it was Woosung, who got close enough for her to hear him well. "Stop it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about, you've been consuming for hours."

“Oh! Come on, Woosung! Drop it, this role doesn't fit you."

“Emmy, don't be an idiot! Precisely because I’m the one telling you this you should listen and stop.”

"Why don't you get off my back?"

"Because you're stoned as fuck!"

From where he was sitting, Yoongi could see Woosung and Emmy talking. At first, he wanted to ignore the situation and not be bothered by his jealousy; but he couldn't and kept watching. After all, it seemed strange to him to see Woosung's face so serious.

"Move, Woosung."

"Honey, you're shaking, look at your hands."

"That's nothing."

"Emmy, go sit down, you're gonna make a fool of yourself if you continue… Emm!" He tried to call, but the girl had left him talking to himself.

Woosung's warning should have been taken seriously, but Emmy was too stubborn and drugged to accept it. However, the pressure she felt on her chest after consuming that last time in the bathroom made her stop for a moment. She looked at the mirror and started to feel repulsed at herself. Yet, the drugs didn't let her think clearly, she couldn't even see well, her senses were so sharpened that the lights that surrounded the mirror began to make her dizzy.

“Shit…” she whispered, holding on to the sink and taking a deep breath.

She already knew what was happening to her, she had consumed too much, and her body was demanding her to stop. She tried to regulate her breathing, even wetting her face a little to react. She was scared, but it wasn't the first time it had happened to her, she knew she could handle it. What she didn't count on was someone else walking into the bathroom right during her breakdown.

Emmy's gasp wasn't enough expression for the shock it had on her to see a girl identical to her sister. According to Emm, the girl was the same height, the same platinum hair, and the same cold gaze. Emmy was convinced that she was her sister and that she had found her drugged in a bathroom. In other circumstances, Emm would have been able to see the HUGE difference between that girl and Seri. They looked a bit alike, but not enough to send her into that state of panic.

"Emm, are you alright?" The girl knew who Emmy was, as she was one of Woosung's many friends. She tried to get closer, but Emmy jerked away from her and ran out of the bathroom.

This time not only Woosung was near the bathroom, Yoongi was also there. The interaction between his girlfriend and the singer had made him uneasy; besides, Woosung gave him a look in which he was clearly asking the musician for help.

Emmy came out of the bathroom so hysterical that she was practically running. She walked fast enough that Woosung couldn't stop her, and he was the one closest to her. She violently collided with a waiter who was carrying a huge box full of beer bottles on his shoulder. As expected, both Emmy and the waiter fell over. But that was not all, the box landed right on Jiyu's table, where she was talking with the rest of her group. Everything that happened next was chaotic, as the girl got her dress soaked in beer and she was madly making a whole scandal. The rest of the people were also enraged with the waiter, since the beers not only wet Jiyu's dress, but also their cellphones, wallets, and other belongings.

Woosung quickly walked over to the table to calm down his friends while Yoongi picked up his girlfriend off the floor. Yet, the screams of Jiyu were out of control. The waiter could not do more than lower his head and accept all her humiliations, something that deeply annoyed Emmy and led her to let go of Yoongi's arms.

"Jiyu, stop yelling at him, it wasn't his fault."

"Emmy, stay out! You have no idea what this idiot just did! This dress is haute couture!”

“I already told you it wasn't his fault! I'll pay you back, but stop yelling at him. Can't you be less rude?"

"I don't need your charity, save it for your boyfriend." Jiyu replied.

Yoongi could swear that he had never seen a look like Emmy's at that moment, it was even worse than the one she had when she found out what had happened to Yoongi's songs.

Woosung's jaw dropped upon hearing that comment. He didn't like Yoongi, but he would never dare to say something like that; nonetheless, what impressed him even more was the musician's reaction. The first thing Yoongi did was to stand in front of Emmy and try to calm her down, if he let her, he knew that she was capable of making an even worse scene. Even with his pride hurt, Yoongi didn't think of him for a second.

"What did you say?!" Emmy asked Jiyu trying to move Yoongi.

"Freckles, listen to me! Calm down."

“I said save your charity work for people who need it. Who do you think you're dealing with, Emmy? How dare you offer money TO ME?”

"Don't you dare, Jiyu!" Emmy warned completely losing her temper and after fleeing from Yoongi, she slapped Jiyu with such rage that her hand was printed on Jiyu's cheek.

"Emmy!" Yoongi said a little louder as he grabbed her by the wrist.

Things began to escalate quickly, soon Jiyu's friends had also gotten into the discussion, as well as Nara, who arrived in seconds to defend her friend.

Yoongi didn't want to hurt Emmy, so he tried to get her away from everything by gently pushing her, but Emmy got to slip away every time. On the other hand, Woosung walked away from Jiyu's friends, whom he was also trying to calm down, and totally unlike Yoongi, he pushed Emmy enough to make her stop.

"HEY!" Yoongi said, also changing his manner, but Woosung didn't let him say anything, for he spoke first.

“Get her out of here, if this becomes public, she'll be fucked up. Jiyu's family controls all the damn media, this is gonna be in the papers tomorrow if you don't get her out fast.” Woosung's concern was valid, but he had been late, for it was a fact that that drama would be out the next morning.

On any other day, and possibly on any other occasion, Yoongi wouldn't have listened to Woosung, and Woosung would definitely never have advised him, but that night was not the case. That night they both had the same purpose, so, as a tacit agreement, they worked together.

********

Finally at Yoongi's apartment...

“Why did you take me out like that?! Yoongi, unlock the door!”

“Emmy, you can try all night, I don't have a problem with it, but you're not gonna get it open. You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you walk out of here and beat someone up AGAIN."

“Didn't you hear how they talked about you? Let me out, Yoongi!"

Yoongi was going to let his girlfriend continue fighting with the door, until a sob made him approach again. This time, the musician wrapped his arms around her and tried to make her forget what had happened.

"I'll never forget it, Yoongs, I won't forgive anyone who hurts you." As soon as she turned around, Yoongi smiled at her tenderly and wiped her tears with the back of his hand.

“Baby, it's okay, I don't care what they say. I'm not going to waste my time with people who need to offend others to feel superior. Do you think it's the first time? It won't be the last either, and you can't react like that. It's dangerous."

"Yes, I will, I'll fight any idiot who badmouths you."

"Freckles, please."

"Yoongi shut up, you're not going to change my mind."

“There are things that aren't worth it, like arguing with people like that. Are you actually going to make a scene every time we go out together and run into jerks? Baby, you must think about what will happen when your family…”

"You WON'T be in front of them ever."

The blunt way in which she responded made it abundantly clear to Yoongi where Emmy stood on the matter. Although the musician was very patient and willing to wait for their relationship to evolve at its pace, receiving that response was somewhat uncomfortable and even painful. He was normally very self-assured, but he couldn't help but think that maybe Emmy didn't want him mixed up with her family because of his socioeconomic status.

“Fine, it's good to know.”

"Wait... what are you thinking?" Yoongi not only kept silent, but he also walked away from his girlfriend and walked to his room. "Yoongs?"

"I'm gonna take a bath."

Sitting on the bed, Emmy waited until the musician got out of the shower. Yoongi's coldness when speaking to her was enough for the girl to beg him to listen to her and let her explain what she had meant.

“I just want to protect you from them, that's all. I don't want you to expose yourself to Seri's hostile comments or Dad's stares."

Yoongi remained silent, waiting for Emmy to elaborate a little more for a change, but the girl was still under the influence of drugs and the only image that her brain kept reproducing was that of the girl just like Seri in the bathroom. Maybe if she consumed a little more… maybe just a little more would help her see things more clearly and be able to converse with Yoongi. But deep down, she knew that consuming a little more would mean she was one step away from overdosing. Had it been a mistake to return to Korea? Should she have stayed on Capri and spared Yoongi all that confusion and distress? How was she going to defend him from her family when she hadn't even been able to defend herself?

And there it was… again the migraine, but this time stronger.

"What do you have?" Yoongi asked as he noticed how she winced while digging her nails into her bedcover. "Emm?"

"My head"

“Wait, I have some pills that…”

"No, no, no pills." Emmy was afraid that mixing one more substance would cause her to lose what little control she had left. "I'll go home and rest."

"No!" Yoongi stopped her even before she was on her feet. "You're not leaving like this, look at you!"

Her heart was beating dangerously fast, she had not noticed it before due to the rush of adrenaline resulting from her meeting with "Seri" and the discussion at the bar. But now that she was in a calmer place and she was more aware of her body, she noticed that her heart rate had increased.

"My love, what do you have, what do you feel?" Yoongi asked seriously worried and remembering Woosung's concerned look when the girl entered the bathroom for the last time. "Talk to me."

The pain in her head was joined by some difficulty in breathing. That couldn't be happening, not in front of Yoongi, she couldn't put him through something like that, she had to calm down no matter what.

“Emmy” Yoongi called a little louder and trying to figure out what she needed him to do. That's how he glimpsed that she was trying to pull down her zipper dress, something he helped her with. "Better?" he asked after helping her into one of his t-shirts and laying her down.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Yoongi was carefully taking care of her; however, it was also impossible for her to fall asleep, because no matter how bad she felt, she wanted to clarify something first.

“Letting you have contact with my family is… it'd be safer to enter into a crocodile pit. I'd love things to be different, nothing would make me happier than taking you home, and introducing you to my parents as my boyfriend, but it's not possible, I'm not gonna do something like that to you."

Since the last discussion, Emmy had been gathering enough courage to tell Yoongi everything from her family problems to her addictions. Maybe that's why she had succumbed to drugs with such intensity in recent days. She was more than aware of how risky it would be to say all that to Yoongi, but despite wanting to do it, fear kept silencing her and it was not a good time to fight it.

She couldn't force herself like that, talking about these topics was equivalent to a very intense effort and impressions that her body definitely couldn't bear that night. In fact, she wasn't even able to continue talking to her boyfriend when she had already fallen asleep.

The next morning, Emmy woke up first, it was barely dawn when her anxiety made her get out of bed. She still did not feel fully recovered, but the crisis had passed.

She stealthily left Yoongi's room and found that Jin's door was open, apparently, the actor hadn't come to sleep. The living room continued as she and Yoongi had left it the night before, and sitting down on a couch, Emmy thought about what she would do next.

No matter how much she thought about it, she kept coming to the same two conclusions. Her first option would be to face her reality, share her secrets with Yoongi, and pray that the musician didn't hate her. The second option was to stop fighting and return to Capri. There, everything would be easier, she would be away from her family, away from the people she could hurt with her actions. Maybe it was the right time to leave before she hurt Yoongi more.

But was she capable of doing something like that?

“Did the headache come back?” a voice asked. Emmy hadn't realized that no matter how stealthy she tried to be, Yoongi woke up and after a few seconds, he went after her. "We need to do something about it, freckles." He took a blanket from the other couch and placed it over Emmy's shoulders. Next, he approached her and kissed her forehead.

She had no more doubts, no matter how painful and difficult it was, she had already made her decision. "Yoongs, we need to talk." Staring her eyes at the musician's, Emmy wanted to record that image forever, if that was going to be the last time they talked, the last time Yoongi saw her with that love, she never wanted to forget it.

Until that moment, Yoongi hadn't felt a few seconds as devilishly long as those in which he looked anxiously at his girl, waiting for her to start talking. But if he was having a hard time waiting, she felt that her world was falling apart. But she had made her decision, she had to stick to it.

➳ Next Chapter: soon 🐱

27 notes · View notes

chaotic-nick · 1 year

Text

Collector's item || Miche Zacharias x reader

Here's another fic for my 400 follower milestone fic specials with the theme '[Un]learning' where my favourite life lessons are used for in fics.

Plot: eleven years ago you confessed your heart out to Miche in a poem. Eleven years later, he's reminded of how valuable it is to him.

Lesson learnt: the puppy love you show someone sticks with them in a different way and van mean something bigger.

+ note: This is how I told my ex I liked him. I wonder where all the stuff I wrote for him went. So it's a very personal fic 🥲

++ did you know that Miche's English dub actor is the same as Kishibe's [I just had to add this in the fic]

+++ what do we think about the pictures in the stories 😗👉👈

— 11th Grade

The winter’s harsh winds hitting their faces and her eyes that she refused to blinked wasn’t the reason why (Y/n) looked like she was about to cry. Staring up at Miche as the weight of her bag dug both her shoulders and the tote bag heavy with economics textbooks while she waited for Miche to finish her confession poem brought on a screen of tears.

He lowered the ruled papers she tore out from her notebook, the one where she wrote all of her fanfiction in during class, with a grin tugging at the corners of his lips, “Really?” Miche’s bushy eyebrows rose and his hand combed his hair back.

“Wow,” he breathed when she nodded. “No one ever told me this way.”

Feeling everyone’s eyes who waited for the bus on her, (Y/n) was reminded that Miche had too many confessions throughout the start of High school. Pride fueled her to reach her arm up at him, crumpling the paper in the middle as she snatched it away.

“That’s my bus!” She yelled, hoisting her bag up as she ran away, a stray tear from embarrassment falling. “That was so stupid, what the fuck, (Y/n)?”

— Eleven Years later

“Paper,” was what his niece said she needed when he peaked his head into her room to ask what she wanted from his grocery run. Being the guest in his brother’s house— and wanting to compensate for the time he didn’t spend with his nieces, Miche spoiled them with snacks. Teenagers always wanted snacks.

And, “Paper?” He asked that to Marielle who was crouched over the textbooks that guaranteed a passing score in the country’s top universities.

“Just paper.” She mumbled. “Thank you uncle, Miche.”

“No problem,” he took in one last look at her before he crouched down to his brother’s last addition. Three year old Sylvia who’s had him thinking of settling down to start a family. “I can’t take you with me today, I’m buying many, many things.”

She was a smart kid like her sisters that’s why her eyes watered at Miche’s gentle tone, and turned around calling for her,“Mama!”

It was those little moments in the household when his mind began to dream of what it’d be like settling down in Paradis with a house across hsi brothers. Followed by the many what if’s of (Y/n)— whose heart loved him so much that she wrote him a confession in class. A memory that made him chuckle now.

And bring in rage and the want to punch his younger self for thinking that she’d beg for him to look her way.

A hand deep in his pocket and the other pulling the basket with his groceries, Miche stood at the end of the stationery aisle. As he waited for the woman crouched in front of the packed papers to stand up before he made his way to it, when his phone buzzed.

A senior who only began the year and she’s already preparing herself for college entrance exams for next year. He still remembers being told not to carry her too much on the night she celebrated her fifth birthday . . . right. Miche carried her to distract himself from the confession letter (Y/n) tore out his hands that afternoon.

“You have a senior in high school, too, miss?” He started when he joined her in looking at the variety of packed papers. “My niece wants—”

Turning to him, her hair swayed to the side and eyes without a thought stared straight up at him, “I’m sorry, what?”

Again, Miche towered over (Y/n). This time he really felt his heart swelled with a sense of familiarity and the memories that came to his mind all at once.

— That night

His heart had never beat too fast when he talked to a girl, sending messages were easy. Especially when he knew what type of effect he had on them. Though this time while Allie’s fifth birthday party continued outside, and the possibility of being walked in on during a what would be heartfelt call made Miche nervous.

Heart beating at a new pace where he felt it in his fingertips. It sped up after every ring. “Hello?” Came a younger voice. Probably one of her brother’s, who she calle dher dogs.

He picked up the cord, twirling his fingers to take away. “Can I talk to your sister?”

“She’s napping.”

“Uhm,” he swallowed, “Can you tell her that Miche Zacharias called?”

“Are you a boy?”

“Yes?”

“I’ll tell her that.”

“Thank you. . . I think. And tell her I need the paper, too.”

“Okay, bye.”

— Present Day

Looking down at her made him wonder if she still wrote with so much love in her heart. Or if the heart that he broke found someone else to write for. Miche’s throat dried at his mind wanting to tell her that the poem was safe in his wallet.

That it’s always been with him. It was a reminder that love— no, someone had loved him that way. Instead he only said, “(Y/n)! Long time no see, how . . .” his eyes trailed down to the wrist brace she wore as he stepped back.

“Life’s definitely life still.” She nodded. “Mhm, it’s definitely life. I’m alive.”

He pointed at the paper packs she tried to balance against her hip, “Do you need help with that? Not really in the best shape.”

“I’d actually appreciate that, thank you, Miche.”

“Ey, you still remember my name.” Of course she does. She wrote him poems. One after another and gave it to him at the end of the day.

She only smiled. Careful not to bump against the other shoppers, she looked up at him, “So what . . . happened— no, what do you do?”

“Continued engineering,” he replied with a shrug. “I just got back from Hizuru.”

“Ah, so you were based there like everyone?”

“Yep! I was there for five years. I was the first batch actually.”

“That sounds nice.”

His next question brought the idea of asking her out to coffee, “And you? Still writing?”

“Sort of—” She turned to the display screen with her card in hand, ”how much?”

Turning to Miche who handed the bag of papers, she almost laughed as she waved her arm up. “I write for shows these days, that’s why this happened.”

“Sounds serious.” His basket still at the starting point of the cashier, he was pressured to ask, “Will I see you around?”

“With my fiancee.” She smiled, pointing at the man who had just entered the store with a phone pressed up to his ear, “we’re filming around the area. Maybe you’ve heard of the show?

Chainsaw man?”

“No,” His hope was washed away. Still, Miche looked at her smile longer despite it being for someone she loved. He’d look at it when he went to sleep with a broken heart later. “Welcome back. Or welcome home?”

“He’s home,” hshe controlled her grin and turned to him one last time, ”my home. But, welcome home to you too, Miche. Thank you so much for helping.”

“Mhm.” He nodded, lips pressing into a thin line.

“Sir, do you have a bag of your own or?”

— That evening—

“Where’s the paper?” Asked Allie after she rummaged through the bags Miche set down on the table.

His older brother busy with cleaning the meat froze. “Miche,” slowly turning to him.

“My ex . . .”

“Allie, we’ll get you paper.”

“Nah, you can listen kid.” He sighed, pressing on to the news channel. “I saw her at the paper aisle and,” pinching the bridge of his nose, Miche exhaled hard. “She was our school’s writer and she used to write me stories.”

“Is it (Y/n)? She’s on the alumni wall.”

“Hah,” his brother recalled, “You used to laugh at them. Your uncle led the poor girl on.”

“WHAT?”

“And she’s engaged now.” Miche sighed, “I just felt stupid there.”

“Because you thought you could ask her out again?”

“Technically she dod that first, but,” he slumped further into his chair when the TV showed her picture on the screen.

Scriptwriters of your favourite shows are cooking forward and selling their first drafts to raise funds for the Hizuru Disaster. One of it going for as low as eight hundred thousand.

“You still have some of her poems with you?” Joel joined him at the table. “Those are collector's items now.”

“And it’s all mine.”

Calling all Miche lovers: @ririthu @1252291 @mightshad0w @bouquetoutlaw-blog @nathalunalune @shrekisshrimpthesimp @barbossa2319 @cocobird09 @aizenhours

Picrew used here

#nick writes fics #miche aot #snk miche #miche zacharias x reader #mike zacharias x reader #aot fanfiction #aot x reader #mike zakarius x reader

42 notes · View notes

trollprincess · 8 months

Text

Woke up after a bit still enraged at my mom.

I told her, “I’ve been thinking about killing myself and your son just got out of an abusive relationship,” and she was still like, “I know you’ve both have it hard, but …” about a celebration of life party for a relative we’ve only seen once a year if that in the past seven years or so. (Granted, if it were just the pandemic, that’d be one thing, but in the past five years I’ve barely seen any of them at a time other than Christmas. And the last time I saw his one daughter was at a family garage sale a couple of months ago where she was selling a bunch of his stuff and was bragging about selling a copy of “Gone With The Wind” and a record album with blackface on the sleeve because “those people want those things banned.”)

I’m just … how is your reaction to your kid telling you they’ve been thinking about taking their own life not, “Oh, shit, yeah, whatever you need to do not to do that, you do that, and I’ll just tell everybody else to get stuffed”? I’m not saying she should tell them to fuck off, but I have *never* been someone to keep silent when my mental health is shit, and I’m not against her telling them the whole and brutal truth. Go ahead. Tell them I feel suicidal. I actually want people to know. I am literally looking for attention specifically so people in my life will know to keep me from NOT getting to this point.

And as for my brother … to say he doesn’t need to be around a bunch of people who are most definitely going to be judging him behind his back is an understatement. He’s been spending a lot of time with a female friend of his (they’re going to the beach today) and still talking with the ex, if only because all his stuff’s still there. But he just went with the ex to go see Aerosmith a couple of days ago - they had the tickets, it was too late to sell them, so he went anyway - and from the sound of things he borrowed ahead on spoons to get through the whole thing. I told my therapist the other day I’m sure he’s avoiding people because he doesn’t want to deal with “I told you so,” and I think that’s why he was like, “I just can NOT,” about today.

I don’t actually feel bad about telling my mom not to talk to me for a few days. I’ve been feeling like she doesn’t seem to get just how bad everything is with me even though, again, I’m not hiding any of it. But then she’ll say, “Oh, I wish we could help out, your dad works hard and I’m retired and we don’t have a lot, and we’re so grateful you take care of the cats on the weekends you work 12-hour shifts and barely sleep so we can go to the campsite we spend all our money on.” (Not like that, obviously, but if she could hear herself …)

I’m just … tired. Tired and broke, and I’ve been working three jobs for almost five years straight during a pandemic, and it’s just me and my dog, and all of my friends are in the computer, and my parents are boomers with that “Working all the time is good, actually” mentality which makes me want to hammer nails into my eyes.

I think that’s part of the reason I posted that wishlist the other day for birthday and gotcha day stuff for me and the dog. Like, I have packages coming in the mail and tracking them is at some moments the only thing keeping me from harming myself. I wish I was blowing it out of proportion, but I’m really not. My brain decided to latch onto of the few reliably happy things in my life and is like, “The mail’s coming! The mail’s coming!” I got a wooden frame for stretching canvas over on Saturday and that was the happiest I was all day. For a few sticks in a plastic bag. That’s all it took for my brain to dial it down a notch for the rest of the day.

… anyway. *sigh*

#tw suicide mention

8 notes · View notes

moral-terpitude · 1 year

Text

All We Have Is Now

I wrote this for @runnning-outof-time for their 2.5K celebration! What an awesome milestone to have achieved, and very well deserved!

I was trying for a double bingo! Fluff/ Tradition/ Modern AU/ Proposal crossed with secret/ domestic/ modern au/ Christmas Eve

The title is in reference to the song “All We Have is Now” by Royal Blood. I highly recommend giving it a listen, because I’ve skipped it so many times in the last week, and finally listened to it today, and it had me absolutely shocked and also sprinting to finish writing this after listening. I think this part will end up being part of my main storyline with these two for Misadventures now that I’ve started posting the rest of their story.

A/N: For some context, this was inspired by one of my own family traditions: Bronners’s is the largest Christmas store in the world, located in Frankenmuth, Michigan. They sell everything Christmas. They also offer customization of certain ornaments on site, with one of the items being plain colored bulbs. You can make them say anything, but everyone in my family has one with their name on it. I also have it in my head that Tommy’s birthday is Dec 25th so, that’s relevant. Yeah.

Pairing: modern!Tommy Shelby x oc Quinn Meyer

Two years.

Well, not quite two years, not even really two Christmases spent together, with Tommy having Charlie and Ruby the previous year, Quinn noted, as she turned the rental car from the paved road on to the gravel that would lead to her family’s cabin.

Technically, it was her cabin. Each of her sisters had received some sort of property for camping or building houses on after getting married and settling down, and they had all been in an uproar when Quinn’s parents had given her the cabin.

It had been her hideaway, the only escape she had after things had went south with Gerard, her ex-whatever-you-wanted to-call-him, (fiancé if you were specific, boyfriend if you weren’t, and asshole for all she cared).

“John, I already told you me service isn’t going to be good here, eh?” Tommy sounded exasperated, his promise of not working already not being held up as John and Johnny both had been blowing up his phone since they had both feet on solid ground. “I’ll call you back once the holiday is over.”

Quinn smiled. He hadn’t specified to John which holiday, and with the small amount of luck they had, both of their schedules were able to be cleared through the first week of January.

Two solid weeks of no contact with the outside world.

Snow was falling all across the Grand Traverse Bay as she killed the engine, headlights disappearing as their shoes crunched in the untouched snow.

“It’s fucking freezing.” Tommy hissed, retrieving their bags from the cargo hatch of the Jeep as Quinn punched in the numbers on the keypad, the old batteries barely powering the groaning lock before they both tracked the snow inside.

Despite his faux frustration, Tommy wasn’t, couldn’t, be mad about being here, he realized. This would be the most time he would be away from work in an uncountable amount of years, and it seemed as if everything would go according to plan.

Someone, presumably Madelyn and Patti, had came and decorated, everything from a tree down to Christmas lights outside, all of which now were twinkling and leaving a warm glow along the wooden walls of the large A-Frame cabin.

The result of their hard work had Quinn beaming through the layer of snowflakes melting in her lavender hair and down her face as she toed off her shoes and hung her jacket on the back of the door.

Tommy had already shed his layers, digging through pockets for a lighter and retrieving an outdated bundle of newspaper from the magazine rack once he noticed the dried bundle of wood already in the fireplace.

Please tell me you remembered to leave it here???

“No phone,” he teased, the tapping of her acrylic nails on the glass screen a dead giveaway that she was messaging someone.

“I’m just letting mom know we made it.” Sliding her phone in her back pocket, she ruffled her hair and Quinn made her way through the small kitchen to the pantry, retrieving the hot chocolate before filling the kettle and placing it on the stove to boil.

She smiled, closing her eyes and leaning against the counter, as she heard the unmistakable crackle of a fire coming to life in the living room.

“You’re making hot chocolate with water?”

He hadn’t gave Quinn much room to move, and the unfortunate consequence was cold hands pressed against her lower back that elicited a yelp loud enough that people across the water probably heard.

“Thomas Shelby, get your cold hands off of me!” There was no escape other than up, the result leaving her sitting on the kitchen counter as his hands roamed her thighs.

“Oh, come on, babe,” the teasing kisses pressed to her throat threatened her resolve, “you sleep with your cold feet on me legs every night.”

Quinn smiled, her forehead coming to rest against his as the kettle whistled, staring with some difficulty into his bright blue eyes at the closeness.

“Well if you weren’t a furnace when you sleep, I wouldn’t have to tuck my cold toes in the back of your knees to cool you down.”

Tommy’s response was a mixture between a hum and a chuckle, pecking her quickly on the lips before killing the heat to the burner and pouring the water into the cups.

“I was thinking,” Quinn sat the steaming mug aside as he returned to stand between her legs, his back against her chest as she ran her nails through the shaved short sides of his hair before resting her chin on his shoulder, hands clasped together across his chest, “if we went to bed around 10,” she checked her watch to see it was 8pm, the digital screen coming to life as she shook her wrist, “we could set an alarm for three and be up to FaceTime the kids while they open their presents.”

He did the quick math, 3 would make it 8 in the morning there. “I don’t think they’ll be up that soon, darling.”

“I talked to Lizzie the other day, that’s when she said they’d be up because they have to be to Polly’s by 11.” Quinn’s phone vibrated in her pocket. “I also thought, maybe, we could exchange gifts tonight so that way I can give you your other gifts tomorrow. Keep everything separate.”

He sighed, leaning his head back against her shoulder. “Tomorrow is Christmas.”

“And…”

“And?” He shook his head.

“Tommy.”

“What?”

“I know when your birthday is.”

He closed his eyes, resigned to the fact that she wasn’t going to let it go. No one had ever gone to such an effort to make him feel like it was an important day for only him. Tommy had learned at a young age to not whine about it being overshadowed by a holiday, and once the kids were in the picture, the focus shifted to making sure each holiday was magic for them.

“Let me get down,” two pats on his shoulders had him moving out of her way so she could slide off the counter, bare feet patting across the wooden floor to the bedroom.

Yes, in the hall closet with the towels. Maddy grabbed you some of the flavored popcorn you like and put it in the pantry. There’s dinner in the fridge, didn’t figure you would feel like cooking.

Quinn smiled as she read her mothers words on the screen, opened her bag to retrieve the wrapped box, before doubling back to the closet in the hall to lift the white box from the shelf.

“Okay,” she declared, opening the pantry for the popcorn from the taffy shop, not sure how she didn’t see it before, as Tommy looked at her wide eyed, phone in hand, before setting it down on the counter. “No phone, Tommy!”

The pile of items in her arms carefully found a home on the counter as she opened the cookie canister, a porcelain cat that had been her Oma’s, to see it empty.

“In.” The headless cat was held out, her nails drumming along the body.

Tommy blinked, rubbing his hand across his forehead before relinquishing his phone to the cookie jar. “What about you, eh?”

Quinn beamed with a fake smile, he knew she hated being told what to do, and of course if it was her idea she would do the same.

With both their phones hidden away, Quinn settled herself on the floor in front of the fireplace, bubbling with excitement, although trying to hide the fact that, in trying to figure out what to get Tommy, she had discovered her own gift.

A rose gold filigree ring, diamonds hidden in the leaves, had been nestled in the top drawer of the dresser when she had been trying to figure out what Rolex watch he didn’t have. It wasn’t just laying there. She peeked. Of course she peeked, because there was a ring box in Tommy’s dresser that she wasn’t aware of.

She knew it wasn’t for anyone else, but trying it on her fingers confirmed herself as the recipient. It didn’t fit any ring but her ring finger, and she knew if that was the question being asked that she wasn’t fucking ready for that.

She had also discovered, on the same day, that all the watches had never been worn, probably because they weren’t fucking cheap, and ended up getting him the matte black Fossil one with all the gold gears in the middle that had made her think about getting him a watch in the first place.

“Do we have to sit on the floor?” Tommy asked, as Quinn got up, retrieving a blanket and turned on the Bose sound system on the fireplace.

“Yes. You can be old tomorrow. Lean against the couch.”

He rolled his eyes, as she sat back down, patting the floor next to her, “C’mon, I’ll be an old person to and sit against the couch with you.”

“You make it sound like I’m turning fourty,” Tommy crossed his legs in front of him as she covered the both of them with the fleece blanket adorned with snowflakes.

“Sometimes you act like it.” She smiled, placing one hand on his chest before leaning to capture his lips with hers.

Pulling away, she opened the cellophane bag, offering him a shockingly blue piece of popcorn.

“Why is it blue?”

“It’s blueberry. Or blue raspberry. I don’t remember.” She tossed the piece in her mouth, chewing speculatively, before declaring, “Blue raspberry.”

“Green?” He questioned, brows furrowed, as he analyzed the piece in the same way as the previous, waiting for a response.

“Green Apple. I’m not going to tell you what every flavor is. Just eat it.”

Quinn picked up the white box, holding it gently between her hands before peeking at Tommy who was watching her intently. The sticker on the top proclaimed, “Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland, Since 1945”.

“So, this is and isn’t part of your present, because I think that giving someone a Christmas bulb for Christmas is fucking stupid, but,” she took a deep breath before handing him the white box, “I didn’t want to have it shipped and have it get crushed in the mail.” she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, feeling so stupid, “Everyone in my family has one, it’s just a thing we do.”

He opened the box gently, sifting through the white tissue paper before retrieving the light blue bulb, holding it by the silver cap, so he could examine it fully.

White script was carefully placed in the center of the bulb, and for a second, he almost didn’t recognize his own name.

“I…if you want…” Tommy hadn’t said anything, and Quinn couldn’t gauge from his reaction, reflected in the ornament, whether that was good or bad, “Mines on the tree, mom brought it up, otherwise I figured it wouldn’t make sense.”

Everyone in my family has one. Her words echoed in his head as he tried to find the words to express himself, the gratitude, after a rough start, of being included.

“Does that mean I’m part of your family then?”

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief, nodding as he stood, and crossed the room to place the bulb on the tree next to hers. Of course it was purple.

Silhouetted by the lights, she watched as he relaxed slightly, observing the two ornaments hanging next to each other on their own branches.

“Thank you, Quinn.”

She noted he still looked a tad confused as he sat back down next to her, but the look evaporated as he pulled her close, a gentle kiss pressed to her temple as she handed him the wrapped box.

“You first.” he said, setting the box aside and pulling two boxes, wrapped in the same purple striped paper from his pocket. “This one,” he held out the narrower and taller of the two boxes, “you can say no to.”

Her brow furrowed, trying to imagine what could be in the box, as she took it, gently peeling the paper off to reveal a black box.

She was surprised to see Tommy watching her intently, his blue eyes just as bright as they sat in only the light of the fireplace and tree, wild shadows being cast upon the wall.

He nodded, and Quinn pulled the lid off the box to see a key on a purple keychain tucked in the box.

She blinked, picking it up and turning it over, before looking to Tommy for some clarification as her mind went blank.

“You can say no.” He reminded her, heart hammering in his chest, taking a breath to prepare for the chance that she would decline. He wouldn’t be mad. Maybe it was too soon?

“What is it for, Tommy?” She smiled, and he could see the truth of the question in her expression.

“I want you to move in with me.”

“Serious?” Her eyes sparkled as she asked, pupils dilated as all the feel good chemicals rushed through her veins, a fuzzy feeling rippling through her as she clamored astride his lap.

“Yeah, serious.”

“Fuck,” she was now very aware of how his hands felt on her hips, thumbs rubbing soothing circles as she grasped the key tight in her palm, before tucking it in her back pocket, “yeah, okay. I want to. Let’s do it.”

Her lips felt sore by the time they broke apart, fingers entwined in the longest part of Tommy’s hair, which she noted was due for a cut compared to his regular standards, but she didn’t mind it.

“This doesn’t come with any questions,” Tommy clarified as he offered her the other, much squarer box, and Quinn felt the anxieties in her stomach settle at the thought that thankfully the ring wasn’t tied to a proposal.

She smiled, unwrapping the other gift, and hesitating before opening the velvet box, eyes flicking to meet his, the look of guilt mistook by Tommy for distaste.

“What? You always wear jewelry, I wanted a beautiful gift for a beautiful girl.”

Her eyes watered as she shook her head, trying to hide from the complement as she opened the box to see the same ring that had stared back at her weeks before.

“I love it, Tommy,” she slipped the ring on the appropriate finger before taking his face between her hands, the warmth radiating off of her a welcome comfort that he leaned in to, “thank you. Now open yours, I want to put on the matching pajamas and have another cup of hot chocolate before bed.”

“This is the first in hearing anything about matching pajamas.”

“I know, it’s because I packed them. Don’t worry, they’re just plaid.” She yawned, stretching as she let her hips roll, receiving the wonderful friction she hadn’t realized she was seeking out at the point where their bodies met.

Tommy realized that opening the gift was the last thing he wanted to do now, but he focused on it diligently, surprised and relieved that it was a gift he would actually use.

She fiddled with the ring in her nose absentmindedly as he sat the box aside.

“Thank you, darling, I’ll put it on first thing in the morning.” A quick peck on the lips had a contented hum coming from somewhere in his chest as his mouth traveled to her throat, “Now, up with you, love. I’ve got plans for you before you put those pajamas on.”

#misadventures #tommy shelby #peaky blinders #peaky fucking blinders #peaky fookin blinders #tommy shelby x oc #quinn meyer #modern tommy shelby #modern!tommy #modern!tommy shelby #k’s 2.5k holiday bingo challenge

30 notes · View notes