#POTS reader

[npookie0]

HUEHHEE HELLO DEAR MOOTIEEEE I've come for the saja boys x chronically Ill reader!! Orrr a poc reader if ya want! (≡^∇^≡) lowkey self indulgent but your writing is so yummy 💔

Demonic Care

A lover boy has to take care of his chronically ill partner and cheer them up. Which Saja Boy will be the most helpful?

contains: reader with pots, very headcanony personalities for the saja boys, these are going to be drabbles </3

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Heads up, I'll say the short version of what kind of people are the saja boys to me

Romance - hopeless romantic, easily smitten with people, flirt, that man is a total fool when he's in love I fear </3

Abby - high ego, very (almost over) confident, kind of stupid but a lil sweet (and cocky) jock type of guy

Mystery - quiet, but expresses himself through body language and in music, closed off and very short social battery

Baby - cunning, cocky, chill unbothered king, childlish

Jinu - a leader by nature, silly dude (please that man made a choice when running and giggling like that...), you know that he means it when he's not doing something for his own benefit, understanding, but also a liar </3

Jinu

words [ 412 ]

The Saja Boys concert was close to wrapping up, the boys had to sing the fan favourite song, say their goodbye and leave. The atmosphere was warm, energetic. Fans were shouting, singing along, waving their light sticks and recording the stage.

You stood between the fans, in the first row, holding the railings with your hands. Your body grown tired over time, you stood for far too long, you were close to passing out. But you had to be there, had to see the concert from the stands.

You couldn't just sit on backstage and watch the boys perform in front of the whole crowd when you had the chance to watch Jinu's face in full view from where you stood now.

The concert came to an end and the Saja's manager came up to you to help you get backstage. You told them that you don't need a whole escort, but their response was "Jinu asked me to do it, I couldn't say no." You sighed and nodded in understanding.

"Hey aegiya!" Suddenly someone hugged you from behind once you were in the boys band's lounge area .

"Ugh, Jinu~! You started me." You replied and turned around, freeing yourself from your boyfriend's embrace.

"Haha sorry, sorry." He replied, scratching the back of his neck and laughing awkwardly. "Oh jeez, you look pale. You should sit down."

You couldn't protest, because soon your darling boyfriend sat you down on the sofa and told one of the other boys to go grab you some water.

"Jinu, I'm okay, I promise." You said, but he clearly wasn't buying it and maybe he was in the right this time. Your vision went black for a second and it take a bit to go back to normal.

He crossed his arms. "Mmm, no, I'm not buying that. I saw you in the crowd, you looked like you would faint in any moment." He exhaled and crouched in front of you. "Listen, I know that you want to be everything to support you, but please don't just throw yourself into a potentially dangerous situation for you."

You looked away. "Sorry Jinu, you''re right... I guess." You looked back at him. "I didn't mean to stress you more."

He chuckled and brushed a strand of hair away from your face. "It's okay, just be careful, yeah?" He ruffled your hair and stood up. "Let's go home, Abby found some movie he wants to watch and you're invited too."

Romance

words [ 446 ]

The last thing you remember before fainting was Romance's panicked face when he caught you, then you lost consciousness. You didn't know how much time exactly passed between your collapsing and Romance getting you back to your apartament, but after regained consciousness saw Romance holding your hand to his forehead and murmuring to himself.

"Hey, no need to summon anything for me to wake up, stupid."

When you said these words Romance immediately looked up and practically crushed you with his body when he hugged you. "Jagiya! I'm glad that you're okay. You were out for so long." He said and before you could answer, he suddenly pulled away. "Do you need anything? Water, food, medicine?"

You looked at him a little stunned and then you started giggling, Romance titled his head, confused, but relieved that you felt well enough to laugh.

"What's so funny, jagiya?" He asked, leaning closer to you.

You took a while to answer, your laughter made it impossible. "You remind me of a puppy Romy." You giggled when you imagined him with dog ears.

"A puppy, huh? Well, maybe I'm a lovesick puppy for you, baby." He kissed you, but before you could kiss him back, he stood up, a smirk spread across his face when he saw your pout. "Ah, we can kiss later, now we need to take care of you. I was really scared when you waited so suddenly in the store."

"Boohoo, I want kisses now." You stood up from the bed very slowly, leaning on the wall in front of you when the black spots started showing in your vision.

Romance noticed it and was quick to your side, holding you by back and hand in case you fainted again. "Okay, let's go slowly. No need to rush." He said and slowly guided you to the kitchen.

You sat down on a chair in your kitchen and watch as Romance poured you water. "Drink up, you need it." He said, placing the glass in front of you.

You picked it up. "Thank you mr. specialist of human health." You said teasingly, looking at the patterns on his arm and drank the whole glass at once, you were really thirsty.

"Maybe I'm a demon, but I was a human before if you forgot." He huffed. "You're lucky I love you, you silly human."

"I think it's the other way around, but let it be your way." You stuck out your tongue at him.

"Oh, look who's feeling like a little tease after their fainted at my dance practice."

"Oh, shut up and give me more water."

He smirked proudly. "See? I told you that you'd need water."

Abby

words [ 552 ]

You were in the dance practice room, dancing to Soda Pop all alone. You knew that you shouldn't do it, not with the danger of fainting because you're straining your body. You should at least wait for Abby to wake up and watch over you. But you had to dance, this was one of your biggest passions in the past. It wasn't just a hobby, it was your career, your everything.

And now?

You could barely stand for longer than ten minutes without people fussing over you collapsing, you had to stand up slowly or you'll feel dizzy, your heart hurt from how fast it beat.

You hated this, hated this turn your life took. Hated how sad and colorless it became. But then, you heard that annoyingly catchy song one day and bumped into an extremely egoistical boys band member. You met your current boyfriend, Abby.

He was the most self confident person you've ever met, but you had to admit that in all his self love he was right. Fortunately, there was more to him than his muscles, voice and high ego. Abby proved himself to be most devoted, loving and a tiny bit stupid, boyfriend ever.

He didn't make a big fuss out of your pots, when you were feeling particularly weak he would give you piggy back rides and say "I'm jus' showing off my strength, it's not cause you feel bad or anything." And you were thankful for it.

Though he still wasn't so fond of you dancing. He tried his best not to show it so you wouldn't feel like even he sees you just for your illness.

That's why you were dancing in secret, trying to go back to normal in any way, maybe your career was over, but you could still try to do it as your hobby from time to time.

"Take a big bite, want another bite, yeah"

You froze when you heard Abby's singing right next to you. You turned you head to the side and there he was, wearing nothing but his pyjama sweatpants and slippers, he was dancing to the choreography.

"Why'd ya stop? It's not like we're doing anything bad." He said with a wink.

You paused the song and looked at him in confusion. "You won't stop me?"

"Nah, there's no point in stopping you now, aein. You've been sneaking out to dance for a while and you would do it again if I tried."

So he knew...

You felt embarrassed after being found out, you never wished for him to know that.

"Hey." He titled your head up and looked into your eyes. "It's okay if you want to dance, I would never stop you, not like you would let me anyway." He chuckled. "You're feisty, like a tiger. I love that about you, but please just tell me that you want to dance and I'd dance with you." He caressed your cheek with his thumb. "I may not be super great about this comfort thing or taking care of someone, but I know that you're ill and I don't want something to happen to you while I'm asleep." His serious expression was soon replaced by a cheerful beam.

"Now, let's continue. It's not every day that you have a one-on-one dance session with Abby Saja."

Mystery

words [ 495 ]

You were looking through the lipsticks that Olive Young had in its offer, you had to find cosmetics for the Saja Boys to use now that they had their rebrand from cute songs to more darker ones.

Ever since performing Your Idol after the Idol Awards, they decided that it was the vibe they want to go into and you, as their biggest supporter, stylist and almost a manager, said that it may be a good idea.

So now, you were on make up supplies duty, guarded by your boyfriend, Mystery, in case your illness was triggered and you would feel worse because of walking and standing for too long.

Though you mostly agreed on Myst going with you because you needed someone to carry your bags.

"Hmm, Myst~, come here." You quietly called out for him to get to your side.

"What is it?" He replied, but instead of giving him an answer you gently grabbed him by his chin with one hand and with the other you applied black lipstick to his lips.

"Hm. Yeah I guess this one will work." You murmured to yourself. "We'll grab five of these and then we'll look at the eyeshadows here." You announced, though it was still mostly a note to yourself. You put the five lipsticks to the basket and turned around to go to the alley with eyeshadows.

You didn't notice that your body grew weaker after a few hours of walking, not until you turned around way too fast and almost fell on a shelf because you started to feel dizzy, if it wasn't for mystery catching you it would be over for you.

"Nae sarang, be careful." He said, keeping you steady with his arm wrapped around your waist.

You looked up at him and blinked a few times until your vision was back to normal. "Ah, sorry Mysty, I think I overdid myself today haha." You leaned your forehead against his shoulder.

Your exhaustion gotten back to you, your legs felt unsteady and your mind was still dizzy from all that walking.

"Oh, come with me." Mystery said suddenly.

"Hm?"

He didn't answer, which wasn't that surprising, he had a tendency to speak only in short sentences or not speak at all unless he had to. That's why he got the name he has, you supposed.

"Here." He said and guided you to sit down on a fluffy seat in the corner of the store.

"But what about our shopping? I can't do it if I sit here." You said and tugged on the fabric of his blazer.

"You said that you wanted all of us to have dark purple eye shadow right?" He asked and you nodded in answer. "I will get you dark purple eye shadow, so just rest. Please."

You sighed. You couldn't fight him when his voice was so soft and calming. "Okay, just mind the prices." You replied after pondering on the idea for a second.

Baby

words [ 493 ]

"Baby I told you that I'm fine." You groaned when your beloved demonic boyfriend sat you down on the sofa.

You just came back from the aquarium and even with how fun it was, it involved a lot of walking and standing and with your condition it was a very challenging activity to go through.

So now, after returning home, your boyfriend who just a moment ago was chasing fish and begging you to let him feed one, now was forcing you to sit down.

"Nuh uh, we've been walking for two hours." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, well I won't always end up fainting."

"You felt dizzy, idiot." He poked your forehead and sat down on the sofa next to you. "And besides, you promised me that you'd watch a movie with me."

"Ugh, I did?"

"Yup, you said that you would if I did a solo cover os Soda Pop and upload it, I did." He said with a grimace of his face at the mention of singing Soda Pop alone.

You chuckled. "Ah right, that. Alright. Let me go grab something to snack on then and we can-" You couldn't even stand up because Baby pushed you back down onto the sofa.

"No, no, no. You sit, I grab snacks."

And like that he went to the kitchen, you rolled your eyes and only shouted to him to bring you your favourite snack and grabbed the remote.

While you were scrolling through the streaming service, Baby came back with a tray of snacks and drinks. Most of them were sweets.

"Will you at least be so gracious to share some with me?" You asked, raising an eyebrow, amused by the sight of Baby having to stop himself from eating everything at once.

He turned to look at you. "I guess I can share some, I heard that sugar is good for giving energy or something."

"It is and isn't, but thanks for the thought." You smiled and moved closer to him.

"So what are we watching?' You asked after a while of scrolling through the animation and cartoons category.

"Something about fish." He said and opened a pack of gummy bears.

You giggled. "Oh god, you really are obsessed with fish. Okay then, Finding Nemo it is." You picked the movie and clicked play.

You two watched the movie in silence, until you broke it.

"Hey, Baby?"

"Hm? What's up Yeobo?" He asked, his eyes not moving from the TV screen.

"Thanks for looking out for me. it means a lot, even if I'm not the best at showing it." You said, fidgeting with your soda can.

He turned away from the screen, looking at you with slightly parted lips. "Oh, um, yeah no problem. I'm just trying to stop ya from fainting, y'know." He mumbled and looked back at the TV, though you saw that blush on his cheeks even if he tried to hide it.

Second Kpop Demon Hunters work done!

Wahh these stupid guys excite me >w< but I would love some Huntr/x asks too ;)

See you soon my KDH readers I gotta feed my other readers too <3

(play Killer Chat!, gluttony gods or seraphim slum if you're interested in the other stories I post here <3)

Nathan

[marbl3z]

Watch your step.

1 CHAPTER / ?

High school AU, based on a dream I had reader x alhaitham

Um. So, reader is chronically ill (POTS), BUT still attends in person school part time, Alhaitham is in the other group of students (the grade is split in two, college classes and then normal AP classes)

He's a little bit stuck up. Kaveh is there too. He's nice

i feel like this is will be multiple chapters ngl, this is semi based on what I experienced when I was in highschool before COVID hit.

(Cᴀɴ I ᴀʟsᴏ ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ I'ᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʟғ ɪɴᴅᴜʟɢᴇɴᴛ ғɪᴄs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄʜʀᴏɴɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ɪʟʟ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ, ᴀɴᴅ sᴘᴇᴄɪғɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴛʜɪs ᴏɴᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ POTS,, I ғᴇᴇʟ ʙᴀᴅ ʙᴜᴛ I ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ sᴇᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ʜᴀᴠɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ɪʟʟɴᴇssᴇs)

You tap your pencil impatiently, glancing at the clock in your free period, you had a project you had to do with your group next period. Required your group to go outside, which... isn't bad, but you dreaded going outside and being watched like a hawk from teachers and... stared at from the boys... you aren't around much in school, you only come when you know you can make it / it's important.

"excuse me.." you hear a voice tap your shoulder. You look up and see one of the teacher's assistants from the B students.

"oh, hi" you study his features unsure whether he looks familiar, or you've just never seen him before.

"hi, so.. uh, I have paperwork I need you to fill out for the student council... this is your name right?" He points at the paper, you nod your head.

"yeah, that's me..."

"great! Okay, um. Come with me, the student council room is booked right now with a meeting so we're going to have to use one of the classrooms, all of them are in session minus one, which is in a free period." He neatly stacks the papers, turning for you to follow him. Red clips pin back his blonde hair, you grab what little stuff you brought to this class and follow him out of the door.

"we could've just used my classroom, y'know?" You ask, He gives you a tired smile.

"I asked your teacher ahead of time if I could use it to help get paperwork finished and she told me that since I'm on the different block of students to just use one of there's," he sighs. "She was really nice about it!"

"oohh" you hum as he opens the heavy metal doors for you, taking the shortest way to the block. The cold chill makes you shiver slightly.

"Mhm.. don't worry! This classroom has a study group in it but we'll be quiet so it's okay."

"I've never been in this part of the school, I bet everyone looks like nerds," you joke, he laughs before opening the other metal door and whispering.

"oh! My name is Kaveh, sorry I didn't introduce myself before... I already know your name, also we need to be kind of quiet.." he leans towards you, you glance into the other classrooms with classes going on and it seems brutal, at least.. you don't think you could comprehend it... to many numbers.

You nod at his statement, reading the board next to the door before accidentally tripping over the heavy mat in front of the metal doors. Kaveh is quick to make sure you don't fall, grasping your arm gently and helping you up.

"sorry!" You whisper, laughing a bit. Your heart hammers in your chest from the sudden burst of adrenaline.

"it's okay! I trip over them all the time!" He smiles laughing a little as you regain your balance. "It's this classroom ahead." He ghosts an arm over your back guiding you to the open classroom.

You glance around the room, there's so many books. A schedule is written on the whiteboard and there's eight students total in the room, ten if you count you and kaveh. As you walk past you glance at their notebook and your brain struggles to understand any of what you saw.

"right here," he whispers, pulling a chair out for you. You thank him and sit down as he hands you one sheet of paperwork. "Oh! I forgot to get you a pencil.. sorry, there should be one at the desk."

You glance at the desk in the front of the room, you smile at kaveh before carefully getting up. Standing still for a few minutes to regulate your blood pressure, he stares at you worryingly as you carefully maneuver throughout the room, accidentally bumping into a chair.

"oh I'm so sorry!" You whisper, the guy sitting there just stares up at you. You can't tell if he's mad or tired, probably both.

He slides his headphones down, setting his pencil down. "It's fine." He mutters, his deep voice catches you off guard.

You avoid eye contact but feel many eyes watching you as you quickly grab a pencil from the teacher's desk and hurriedly make it back to the table kaveh and you shared.

"you alright?" Kaveh mumbles, red eyes meeting your mildly scared ones.

"y-yeah.. just wondering if I already made an enemy here," you whisper, jokingly slightly as the eyes you felt before disappear.

"oh, him? Don't worry about it, he thinks he's better than everyone else, that's all. Did he say anything to you?" Kaveh's expression has changed four times after mentioning the guy you bumped into.

"well, besides after I apologized he said it was fine but he looked so angry." You sigh, sitting down. Everyone in the room, including kaveh looked so... professional.. while you were wearing sweatpants, a sweater that was far too big for you, compression socks, and slides.

'To be fair, anyone could assume you were homeless' you recall one of your friends commenting about your outfit the class prior to this. But who cares? You're comfy, and not even meant to be doing anything "professional" for a highschool student anyway, it must be a sort of dress code or something for B students.

you sigh, glancing behind you, the guy you bumped into went back to work, those headphones back on his head. you squint, as if judging him a bit. Kaveh smiles as he shifts through his own work. you turn back to the paper you have to fill out, probably for classes next semester - you look through it and yeah, that's exactly what it is.

you bounce your leg as you fill the paper out, glancing at the time every now and then. You finish the paperwork and sit there balancing the pencil on the bridge of your nose, the bell rings and everyone starts packing up, you slide back on your slide on shoes handing kaveh the finished paperwork. Kaveh smiles handing you a folded piece of paper in return.

"I'll walk you back to your next class," he offers, you accept the offer, smiling as you stuff the paper in your pocket. You'll look at it later.

"so, do you know everyone who was in that class?" You mumble, stuffing your hands in your pockets as he walks you the long way to your next class.

"I know of them, but I really know only one of them. He's.. well. Ugh." He groans, you smile at Kaveh's reaction to your question.

"you two friends?" You grin teasing as he rolls his eyes.

"I don't know what you call that." He brushes his blonde hair out of his eyes. Pulling his pullover closed to his body the cold breeze coming in through the heavy door being opened. "Why is it so cold.. gah." You snicker before wincing slightly.

"give me a second," you mumble, wobbling to the wall. You slide your sandal off pulling your sweatpant leg up to fix your compression sock.

students who pass you seem to point and laugh or glare down at you as you fix the aching pain from the tightened fabric. "You shouldn't do that here." A deep voice rumbles above you, you look up at the guy in front of you. It was him, from before.

You look up at him your eyes widen, feeling very small compared to him now. "Uh, sorry.. it just hurts sometimes—"

"Al haitham! Don't bully them, they were just fixing their sock." Kaveh walks up to you and him, glaring at the taller male in front of you.

You set your foot down, the coldness of the tiles make you shiver which makes both of the men look at you. You smile awkwardly as you quickly slide back on your thin shoes.

"I was merely telling them to not draw attention to themselves, Kaveh." He mutters, rolling his eyes as Kaveh helps you stabilize from looking down for so long. He glares at the other students who were laughing at you.

"I'm fine.." you mumble to Kaveh as he holds your arm up from your dizzy spell. Alhaitham scoffs. "Sorry, for taking up room in the hall." You apologize sarcastically.

Kaveh glances at you in shock, not expecting that response from you. He snickers slightly, "seems like you two are best of friends friends," Alhaitham scoffs, the 5 minute bell rings. "Remember we have a project today Kaveh." He walks away.

"is he normally like that?" You mutter, walking with Kaveh to your next class.

"yeah, that's Alhaitham for you." He sighs, "sorry, you might be late for class.."

"oh nono, don't worry, I have extra time.. if it wasn't obvious before, I was fixing my compression socks, I have a condition— don't worry! It's not contagious!" Kaveh looks at you confused, "people have assumed that before..."

"oh, is that why you got dizzy?" You nod, shrugging a bit.

"I'm only here for three days of the week, well... most times I am." You sigh, "I have it written in my 504 plan, accomodations and such." He nods.

"oohh, I understand, do people not always know?" You shake your head.

"not always, my class knows obviously and my teachers know but other students don't," you roll your eyes, "the days I don't come, someone from my class who lives nearby will drop off my work so I'm still in the.. uh, what's the word— like zone?" Kaveh nods.

"so you don't fall behind!"

"yeah!"

"That's smart, well I'm glad you're still able to do your schoolwork and take care of yourself at the same time," he gives you a friendly smile. you nod, smiling at kaveh.

The rest of the walk is in comfortable silence, eventually you two make it to your classroom, luckily students were still coming in so you weren't terribly late. Kaveh waves as you enter the classroom, you wave back and sit down. Leaning back in the chair as you try not to gasp for air, you don't want to cause a scene or anything.

"You okay?" The teacher places her hand on your desk, you nod your head as you look at the ceiling breathing deeply through your nose.

"walked a lot, student council needed me last period.." you huff, leaning over and placing your cheek on your hand.

"take your time to get situated." She smiles motherly at you, you nod as the rest of the students come in. She walks to the door.

You close your eyes waiting for the class to start, you remember the slip of paper kaveh gave you when you handed him the sheet back. You slip it out of your pocket, unfolding it carefully to see what it was.

"oh" you look at it in surprise, it was his number. You pull out your phone and quickly type it into it with a quick message. "hi"

You didn't expect a response but when your phone vibrated it was him, he sent back a "hi?". You quickly tell him who it was and his texting behavior changed to a more casual one.

"alright, is everyone here?" The teacher starts and you put your phone back in your pocket with the slip of paper. You nod slightly as everyone else responds. "Great, okay so we're going outside for today's class. It's nothing serious just write down what you see and what you think about what you see, that's really it, everyone has a partner so start pairing up,"

You look at the board, seeing who was your partner, it was the same person who came by to drop off your work. She was nice so it wasn't a total waste.

"alright, once you have your partners, grab a notebook or clipboard and a pencil, and start heading outside. Be mindful of other classes who may be outside. You may use your phones, but nothing inappropriate!" The teacher grabs a chair and leads the students out of the classroom, making sure they were quiet as the group passed other classrooms that were in session.

She props open the heavy metal door with the chair as everyone files out in the courtyard, it had rained a few days prior and the ground was soft. Probably one of the worst days to wear slides honestly.

You walk silently behind the rest of the group, the cold air of the October morning sends chills down your spine, it was partly cloudy too, it wasn't horrible weather it was nice. You look around for something of note as your partner went by the courtyard fence. You notice a tall male with grey hair and other students you don't recognize. Your eyes widen as you scoffed as you realized it was Alhaitham.

You speed walk towards your partner hoping he didn't see you, you sit down on the bar noticing the creek behind you two.

"oh, we could write about that..." you point, tapping the girl's arm.

"we could, but also... eh? What would we write about?" She tilts her head.

You shrug. she goes on her phone and you notice Alhaitham was looking in your direction, you make eye contact with him, which made him immediately turn the other direction. You scrunch your face as you notice a bug crawling on the bar. You scream and then start laughing as you scoot down the fences bar. You and your lab partner laugh and giggle as other kids come by to watch the slug.

You attempt to get up but end up getting your foot stuck which makes you fall. "Ow!—" you hiss, hitting your back on the metal part of the fence, twisting your ankle in the process.

"here wait let me help you-" your friend helps you out of the weird position you were in. Your eyes stung with tears as your foot throbs.

"I think I hurt my ankle," you mutter, your heart skips a beat and knocks the wind out of you. She helps you to your feet, you limp over the ditch, nearly falling again. "I'm fine.." you give your friend a painful smile as you attempt to walk back inside the building to get an ice pack. Realizing the door had been closed, probably moved by someone else, the teacher was so far away you couldn't possibly make it back without fainting.

You sigh, sitting down on the concrete next to the heavy metal door. You were next to the B student's lab work. You bury your head in your arms as the pain throbs through your entire leg.

Alhaitham sighs as he walks over to you, "I can take you inside. Are you able to walk?" He looks down at you, you quickly wipe the tears off your cheeks.

"... I'll be fine." You wince as you bring your leg closer to your chest. He sighs again.

"come on," he crouches down to your height, holding his hand out for you to take, you really just wanted to go inside. You take his hand and he helps you up, scooping you up and carrying you, bridal style, inside through the B door. You wrap your arms around his neck as students stare at you and guys snicker among themselves you want to to disappear.

"Alhaitham! What are you doing?" A teacher growls, glaring at you and him.

"taking them to the nurse, what else?" He responds so casually.

"Have you finished your assignment?" The teacher scoffs crossing his arms.

"hey wait— I'm sorry, I hurt myself outside and I couldn't get inside any other way, I can't walk either—" you gasp, the teacher scowls as he lets you and him past.

"minus the sprained ankle, what's the other reason?" Alhaitham questions, raising an eyebrow at you as you two past the teacher.

"I have a posture problem, which my symptoms are flaring up because I overdid it... again," you mutter bitterly. "It's not some sort of disease that'll spread. It's a nervous system— autonomic nervous system to be exact, defect." He nods as if he was completely understanding.

One of the jocks of the B team teased you and him, "oh lookit! He finally found someone!" They joke, he holds you closer to his chest. "If he doesn't want them I'll gladly swoop them off their feet," Disgusting. He glares at them, the hallway seems to go on forever.

"how do you normally deal with it?" He mumbles, glancing down at you.

"pushing through it— oh, do you mean like, when I have an episode? I just lay down until I feel like I can function again, if I can't then I'll just call home and go home." He makes a grunt noise as if he was listening.

You shiver slightly, the hallways are so cold. He took notice of your shiver and walks a little faster. You notice a certain blonde from the corner of your eye, "Kaveh!" You wave, he turns and sees Alhaitham carrying you. His expressions goes from excited to confused.

"hey!— what happened?" Kaveh runs up to you and Alhaitham.

"sprained their foot. I'm taking them to the nurse." Alhaitham cuts him off slightly.

"I would've never expected that from you.. are you okay?" Kaveh turns to you, worry covering his face.

"I'm okay for the most part, just my foot hurts a lot and I don't feel well, because of ykno.." Kaveh nods, Alhaitham glances down at your features, noticing how pale you've gotten.

"we should hurry.." he mumbles under his breath, it was so loud you couldn't hear what he said. "Kaveh, can you tell the teacher I will be late," kaveh nods, rolling his eyes dramatically.

"yeah yeah, hey, let me know if there's anything I can do," he lowers his voice, before going back into the classroom.

"are you and him friends?" You look up at Alhaitham, he's looking ahead to make sure he doesn't run into anyone or drop you.

"sort of, we're roommates." That answer catches you off guard, you think for a second.

"so... he's 18?" You mumble as if doing math in your head.

"yeah, I'm younger than him." That surprises you even more, your mouth drops open and your eyes widen. "...is it really that surprising?" He mumbles.

"I mean, yes?" You look at him as if he was crazy. "You're much taller and more mature looking than Kaveh— no offense to Kaveh, he is much more approachable than you," he laughs a bit.

The sound of him laughing catches you off guard, it wasn't a mocking laugh it was a good laugh, it sounded nice. When he smiles dimples are visible on his cheeks, he looks so much more different. "I've heard that before, I just never thought people thought kaveh was younger than me though,"

You smile as his small chuckle, before hearing commotion ahead of you. Two jocks throwing a football around and have a tussel in the hallway. You gulp anxiously, worried you're gonna get hit.

"Hey! Catch!" One of them yells at the other who ran behind you two, as the further one throws the ball Alhaitham carefully moves out of the way which makes the ball hit the other Jock in the stomach.

You smirk as the further jock laughs at the other's pain. Alhaitham turns the corner, walking a bit more and knocking on the nurses door, "come in," she responds.

"oh, it's you!" She directs her gaze to your face, "and Alhaitham, well good morning. What happened?" She tilts her head as he gently sets you down, helping you wobbling to the chair.

"they fell, and started breathing harshly. I don't think it would've been a good idea to let them walk by themselves and they hurt their ankle so I just carried them." He says swiftly, checking the clock. Sure enough, he was late. He sighs.

"I'll write a pass for you Alhaitham, don't worry. Could you elaborate on breathing harshly? Did the wind get knocked out of you?" She pulls up a chair to you checking your face. You seemed a lot paler than usual, your breathing was wobbly but you tried not to make it a big deal.

"I fell and hit the ground hard, which made me get my foot caught on the fence... my class was outside during a lab report, and yeah.." you huff, every other word you had to take a deep breath in. "..i dont know if i can make it the rest of the day," you sigh, disappointment written on your expression.

She puts an oxygen meter on your finger watching your heart's bpm and oxygen level, it wasn't reliable but it was better than nothing. She hums, quickly writing a note for alhaitham.

"Mr alhaitham, could you get their stuff from the classroom, I think I'm going to have to call home." She grabs a small baggie and fills it with ice and places it on top of your compression sock to stop the swelling. He nods, turning to you.

"what classroom were you in?" He asks still in the same monotone voice from before.

"um, 23A, the teacher probably heard what happened.." you mumble, sighing. Wincing as you hold the ice pack to your foot.

he nods, "is there anything else?" his gaze held yours a bit longer than it should've.

"that's all, thank you Alhaitham." she smiles as she reaches for her phone to call your parents, Alhaitham gives you a weird glance before exiting the nurses office.

You sigh, feeling even more dizzy. Pulling your knees to your chest, cringing at the pain in your foot. You closed your eyes as the teacher called your parents, Alhaitham stopped by again to see your head buried in your knees. Stopping yourself from crying, he doesn't say anything but leaves your things in the chair next to yours. A sticky note on top of it. Once he closes the door you look up and read the note, "sorry you don't feel well." That was all it said, his handwriting was neat and pretty, delicate cursive in a green pen.

---

., ok so this is definitely more than one chapter, Its roughly 3.5k words, I hope you enjoy :]

[anythingneverythingnstuffs]

neighbor!reader x simon 'ghost' riley pt 3

masterlist

It had been a few days since Ghost had gotten home from deployment. By random happenstance, you hadn't delivered any food to his door in those days, nor had he seen you hardly at all.

Not that it bothered him...

But when you did show up to his door with a large Tupperware container, he was thankful that his mask hid his smile. But his eyes probably couldn't.

"What's this?" he asked you.

"I made too much pot roast," you tell him sheepishly. The Tupperware in your hands is still warm from the food being freshly cooked. "It's on a bed of mashed potatoes, and there are some carrots in there, too."

First cookies, now pot roast and mashed potatoes?

Where has this soul been all his life?

"I like pot roast," was his reply.

You handed him the still-warm container with a soft giggle. "Good. There's plenty. I hope you like it!"

It took a few seconds for the transfer to register in his brain. Damn, his mind was usually so sharp, what was happening??

By the time you were already back in your apartment, Ghost was still standing there, in his open doorway, mask on, eyes wide, and his hands holding the large warm Tupperware of pot roast, mashed potatoes, and carrots. Dumbfounded.

What just happened?

It wasn't five minutes later, and if you listened closely, you could hear Simon 'Ghost' Riley audibly moaning as he devours the meal you gave him. It was the best meal he'd had in a long time. And now he wondered how he was going to thank you.

first

previous

next

[chronosdawn]

Another LaDS isekai fic idea I think would be fun is one where you wake up as MC during the chronorift catastrophe and, after working out that you have in fact ended up in LaDS as the MC, come to the conclusion that you must have replaced MC in this timeline alone. As a result of this, you then go on to develop an imposter complex, along with some fairly insane levels of guilt that you are not the same person who the LIs fell in love with in their myths, and thus are robbing your favourite characters of the chance to be with the love of their life.

This culminates in you feeling like you need to do something good with this life you've effectively stolen from someone else, which you do by participating in heroic acts while having little thought for your own safety (your antics have nearly given Caleb a heart attack on five separate occasions, and he has seriously contemplated just locking you up for your own good at least twice). Your behaviour only gets worse when the other LIs show up, with a clear interest in you, thus causing you to spiral into even more guilt. And you know what's a good distraction from guilt? "Oh hey look there's a small child who needs saving from a dangerous wanderer I definitely shouldn't attempt to fight alone. Off I go!"

What you are unaware of, however, is that you have not just replaced MC in this timeline, but every timeline, and you simply don't remember for the same reasons MC doesn't remember all the different timelines in canon. You have also managed to come to the exact same wrong conclusion in every single timeline, which means the myth timelines play out a little different compared to canon (as in you've found a way to sacrifice yourself to spare the LIs in almost every single one).

You could go in a couple of different directions with this. If you wanted to take things in a darker direction, you could probably lean into the yandere tendencies that might arise in someone whose love interest seems determined to get themselves killed.

However, I think the much funnier version of this is where the other LIs clock each other's existences (their current game timelines have ended up merged because I said so) and decide to put aside their differences over their unified goal of making sure you don't die.

And that's how you acquire five overprotective boyfriends, none of whom really like each other but will put up with whatever it takes to make sure you remain alive and well.

[witchbitchlovesdilfs]

Pain Relief Pt. 1

Jack Abbot x chronically ill f!reader

series master list, part 2

synopsis: reader with pots isn't taken seriously by a student doctor. jack steps in.

warnings: language, student doctor is an asshole (original character), drugs

words: 850

notes: as a chronically ill girly, i need me some self indulgent the pitt fics

You couldn’t believe it. Well, actually, you could. By this point, you were used to doctors underestimating your disabilities, but it still hurt none-the-less. Your chronic illness was identified five years ago, thank God, but still no one took it seriously. Especially not the male doctors. And of course that’s exactly who you were stuck with: a male student doctor. Student, you scoff. He outta learn some goddamn manners.

“Trust me,” you say. “I wouldn’t be here unless I absolutely had to.” You shift on the bed and wince at the pain it brings. “I��m in a lot of pain,” you continue. “My pulse is higher than usual, which says a lot, and last time I came here they gave me fluids and morphine. I just…” you flinch at a sharp pain in your chest. “I need some help here.”

The doctor - Student Doctor Howards - crosses his arms. “Look, lady. I know a faker when I see one. I’ve been trained to look.” He moves his hand to his eyes to mirror binoculars. “I’m gonna write you a note and send you home to whatever alleyway you crawled out of.” He squints at you. “Go buy some cocaine like a normal person.”

“Are you serious right now?” You scoff in disbelief. No way in hell were you gonna let some kid talk to you like this. “I’m not a drug addict, but I do have dozens of prescribed pills at home for a serious medical condition. Ever heard of POTS?” The kid laughs and shakes his head at you. “You’re on some pot, alright.”

You open your mouth to retaliate when the curtain to the room rips open. Towering behind the asshole in front of you stands a silver fox. Screw a knight in shiny armor; you’ve got a silver fox in scrubs. His arms are crossed, flexing his biceps, and he has a scowl on his face as he fixes an icy glare on Student Doctor Howards. “Out,” he barks.

“She-” the kid starts, but the attending cuts him off. “If you looked at her chart,” he says with a collected cruelty, “you would have seen the list of medically confirmed health conditions. And if you read her notes, you would have realized that she fainted in chairs - which is why she got back here sooner than the standard weight time.”

Your mouth drops. “I think I’m in love,” you say aloud. 

Your savior shifts his eyes to meet yours, and if you weren’t already lightheaded from the pain and fatigue, you would be now. “Out,” he orders again. You barely notice the student doctor leave.

“Asshole.” The doctor slides the curtain shut and sits in the sliding chair across from your bed.

My thoughts exactly. You wiggle into a more comfortable position for your aching limbs. “How long was I out for?”

He checks his watch. “Fifteen minutes. It wasn’t serious.”

You sigh in relief. 

“I’m Dr. Abbot,” he introduces, and you smile, giving your name back although he probably already knows it.

“I didn’t want to come,” you explain. “I’m used to it at this point.”

He tilts his head. “Used to what?”

“My body shutting down on me.”

Dr. Abbot nods solemnly as you continue. “The pain got really bad yesterday, but I just pushed through. But then I started passing out, and that only happens when things are really bad. My roommate Keira drove me here; she panics easily.”

“Is she in the waiting room?” he asks. 

You shake your head. “She had work. I wasn’t going to get her fired because of a little fatigue.”

He nods in thought. “I’ll push some fluids. Where does it hurt?”

You let out a dry laugh. “Everywhere.”

He nods again. “Did you take any pain relievers?”

“Like eight hours ago. I don’t really like taking that many pills.”

“‘I’ll go get some morphine.”

When he gets back and gives you your fluids, you relax in relief. “Thank you. This is the worst flare I’ve had in a while.”

Dr. Abbot offers a small smile of understanding. “I know what it’s like.” He pulls up his pants leg, revealing a metal leg. 

“I’m sorry,” you offer. “I’m sure it hurts…in more ways than one.”

He lets the pants fall back down. “I’m sorry too. Especially about Dr. Howards. Trust me, he’ll be restricted to surface wounds from now on.”

You quirk an eyebrow. “Is that a punishment?”

He grins. “Totally. He’ll be bored within an hour.”

You grin back. You didn’t want him to leave. Just as he starts to go, you speak up. “If you ever want to give your leg a breather,” you say, and he turns back to face you, “maybe we could go sit for a coffee sometime?” 

He takes a moment to respond, and you’re terrified you’ve made a mistake. Just as you’re about to apologize, a lazy grin spreads across his face. “I’ll go, but only if I’m the only one who has any coffee. Caffeine isn’t good for inflammation.”

You beam at him. “Bossy. I like it.”

[devilfic]

you know what. I think battinson is such an enthusiastic kisser

both his kisses with selina were kind of this dreamy, almost out-of-body experience where selina had him under her spell and he was just sort of helplessly in love with her so he could do naught but follow her lead,,, but I like imagining what it'd be like if HE initiated kissing his partner

like there's the more confident bruce, a few more years into being batman bruce, where he leans in during a lull of good conversation and he's smiling and suave and controlled but like. bruce in year 2? bruce fresh off selina and realizing he could maybe make time for a relationship? realizing how much he missed being touched? somebody call animal control cause this bat is in heat

before he leans in, he watches you like you'll disappear. his eyes are wide open!! he doesn't want to miss a thing!!! I think he's more likely to grab for your waist instead of going for your face or something.... I think he bubbles with the desire to touch you so bad and he just wants to feel you against all of him, and I think he can't help being a manhandler,,, he needs to move you just so because like he cannot let you slip from his fingers when he's aching to kiss you so bad

he doesn't make a lot of noise when he kisses but he breathes Heavy. I think once he's kind of really winded that's when he starts whimpering really low in his throat... nothing too crazy... little grunts and whines but they're so quiet. if he's kissing you and gets disturbed tho I do think he will full on groan and groan LOUD and it's both funny and super attractive because his face screws up in this petulant little scowl like. can't you see he's busy

he 100% leans fully into it which is a lot because he's a BIG man. he's going to have to push you up against something every single time because he is chasing you every time you part for air, almost mindless and eyes half-lidded as he mouths at you. he's so into it that I can guarantee it's gotten you two kicked out of a gala or two when people inevitably find him devouring you in a dark corner or a hallway you both assumed to be empty

if you wear lipstick/gloss he is not wiping that shit off either oh my goooood. don't let me think about you leaving marks all over his face and him proudly walking out into a swarm of paparazzi just. cheeky

it's really hard to just give this man a quick, chaste kiss. everything has to last at least a minute with him. it's why he literally cannot kiss you when he's busy because it'll be a minute and then five and then he's behind on work (oh no..... so sad.... anyway) because he's got you laid on the nearest surface sucking bruises into your neck

bruce will kiss any part of you but I think he's just so obsessed with your lips that it's where he inevitably fixates each time. it is so so hard to kiss him anywhere else because he will be like wow nice. kiss from my lovely partner. not on my lips tho.... and when he turns around for a kiss on the lips you can't just refuse! he's got such kissable lips and oh this is a time loop that never ends isn't it

[huunni]

☆ connie who's had the worst day ever and seriously needs to unwind !!

☆ connie who comes into the bedroom to you, his unsuspecting pretty girlfriend reading a book and listening to music. bless your poor, poor soul.

☆ connie who just gives you that look. and you put down your book bc if you don't its getting ripped from you and you know it.

☆ connie who wastes no time roughly removing his work clothes and your hoodie but leaving your panties just because he wanted to rip them to shreds and watch your face drop.

☆ connie who doesn't even bother eating you out, he can do it after he's got his nut off. (nut eater connie fic cumming soon)

☆ connie who grabs the nape of your neck, leaning forward with his cock just touching your hole to ask you,

☆ "you know i love you, right?"

☆ you nod.

☆ "good, remember that. because im about to fuck you like i don't, mama."

[thesillyestwilly]

just like a silly little rant bc I feel gaslighted sometimes

I seriously hate how like there will be the most bbgist, jaw dropping, toe curling, making me scream without the s, making me giggle and kick my legs in bed as I watch the screen, making me think I'm having a fever because I get so excited to see them on screen character just to go on Tumblr and search up the character x reader to see like almost no posts and the two posts I don't even like because the reader is so y/n coded... Like it makes me so mad bro 😭

[nonranghaes]

changbin's voice is soft and muffled against the back of your shoulder. "this is going to sound silly, but..."

you raise your head with a soft hum, looking away from your book for just a moment. "you can sound silly with me, silly," you tease, just a little, because he's yours. the growing smile on his face tells you that more than anything else in this moment.

"i'm trying to be sappy," he complains, just a little, because he's yours and that's also his job just as much as it is to be silly with you. "your soup always tastes a lot better than mine does."

"better than your mom's?"

he doesn't say anything. he just squeezes you tight around your middle, face warm from what you can feel. you think it's him admitting that, yes, your soup tastes better than what his mom makes... but he lifts his head up, just enough that his voice is clearer. "you're equal."

you'll take that. it's honestly a great honor. "i won't tell her you said that."

"she knows," he says quietly. "because i talk about you a lot. it doesn't bother her." she knows i'm in love with you. that's why she's not offended, even playfully. "just don't brag."

you just smile a little. "noted. if it means anything... i think food tastes better when you cook it, too."

he just kisses the back of your shoulder, smiling against it. it's a lazy afternoon with him, the smell of spices hang in the air from the soup that's slow-cooking now, and you wouldn't want it any other way.

[yuwuta]

roommate katsuki lore time: 

your job isn’t as physically demanding as that of a pro-hero, but it is equally, if not more time intensive. your friends often comment you seem dead on your feet way more often than they do, and you have to agree. so when you decide to scrounge up some extra money and hire a private chef, you think it’s the best decision you’ve made in a while. 

your friends would seem to agree—and some tease that maybe you should ask your guy if he can cater to izuku, too. except for katsuki, who seems appalled, betrayed, and disgruntled. it takes all but one week about you gushing over the meals your chef has prepped for you for katsuki to show up to your apartment in the middle of the day, while you’re at work, and the chef is in your kitchen, kindly ask him to leave forever, and get to work himself. when you come home, you’re confused and pissed when you realize katsuki has fired your saving grace, but the anger falls flat on your tongue when you’re interrupted by the blonde spoon-feeding you the most delicious bite of steak that you’ve ever had in your entire life. he’s way too smug watching you physically melt about the food, and ordering you to sit down and have a proper meal. 

he tries not to be endeared by your stuffed cheeks, but there’s a satisfaction brewing in him that he can’t quite place. all he knows is it won’t be taken away from him again; that’s why he flicks your forehead, throws a dish towel over his shoulder, and says, “make room for my shit here by the end of the week. and don’t complain when i put all your spoons together in one drawer,” before heading over to the sink to wash up. 

you don’t even get until the end of the week before katsuki is barreling into your apartment with boxes and clothes and, “this is what we call a stainless steel pan in the wild. ever seen one before?” prompting you to reach up and pinch his ear even as he cackles all the way to the kitchen. you suppose, in the end you can’t complain. you get to live with your best friend, you get free catering, free cleaning, and it takes you two months of living together to find out katsuki’s paid off your rent for the rest of the year, too. you know, what friends are for. 

[one-sunny]

HI I SAW U OPENED UR REQUESTS AND I LOVE YOUR WRITING SMMM <333

I’ve always thought Ace would be the type to yearn and pine but not make a move bc he thinks he doesn’t deserve love. That with an oblivious/awkward/reciprocating reader would be the perfect mashup of tropes 🤭

Undeserving

Portgas D. Ace x reader

Summary: Yearning, pining, and feeling undeserving. These were all far too familiar for Portgas D Ace, when all he wanted was the love just within his reach. sad Ace behaviors and desc. of anxiety.

thank you so much!!! and you’re absolutely right this is the perfect trope mashup for Ace i’m obsessed

Fire Fist Ace was known as a feared presence by many. A combination of his power, haki, and the respect he earned led to him being a commander to some. He was brother and son of the White Beard pirates.

But above all else, he was just a man.

The first time this reality came crashing down was during one of the many celebrations on the Moby Dick. There was a celebration for the first divisions successful mission, music boomed, booze flowed, and a grand feast was being devoured by hungry pirates.

Among this all, you sat by Ace’s side with a grin. At some point, during the height of conversation and an even heftier bridge, you turned to say something to him. Not wanting to fight the noise, you had grabbed his arm to pull him to you so you could speak in his ear. Ace felt himself short circuit in that moment and he never truly recovered since then.

Every moment, every touch, every time he met your eyes it sent his heart fluttering in his chest. He had allowed himself a brief time to feel. To let the strong emotion wash over him. To give himself the illusion that maybe, just maybe, he could give in to his feelings.

But the one thing Ace’s unconscious mind liked to remind him, he is the son of a monster. A bloodline to squash. The one person most undeserving of such feelings. Sure, he had Pops and the crew, but he couldn’t let himself continue thinking about having you.

Despite how well Ace believed himself to hide it, it was very well known among the commanders just where you stood in his heart. They saw the longing stares, the way Ace would smile wistfully at the sound of your laughter, how easily he would crack under your gaze. You always seemed to be within his line of sight during battles and he always ensured you had adequate medical care whenever you were injured. And, anytime you were called to a mission, Ace was on edge until your safe return.

The current time was a perfect example of this. Ace paces the deck with a deep frown, eyes tracking the sun, annoyance building inside of him as the day goes on without your return. He lets out a deep sigh as he slumps back against the railings.

“Worrying not gonna make them come back faster, you know?” Marco calls to him from the lower deck. Ace whips around, mouth gaping for a moment, before he nervously scratches the back of his neck.

“What? I’m not-“

“Don’t start, Ace.” Thatch chuckles a deep and hearty laugh. “You can’t fool any of us.”

“Except for Y/N, they’re pretty oblivious it seems.”Marco shakes his head. Ace begins to ramble out an excuse, that he’s got a lot on his mind, and how he had a chore on the upper deck. None of it had any meaning. Marco and Thatch share a look and mischief sparks in their eyes. “Hey, is that their boat?”

Ace’s hat nearly flies off of his head at the speed in which he whips around and a chorus of laughter fills the air. “Funny.” He mutters, tipping the brim of his hat lower to hide his flushed face from the other commanders. Ace turns to leave the deck for a moment of quiet, when Thatch calls him back.

“Ace, there they are.” Thatch calls out.

“Yeah, you guys already got me. Very funny-“

“No, you idiot, they’re actually here now.”

Despite all of the teasing, Ace turns, and energy fills his very being at the sight of your small boat in the distance. A bright smile lights up his face and he launches himself down to the lower deck. He lands before his crew mates, effectively ignoring their teasing grins, and calls the crew to aid in your mission return.

Ace ensures he is the first to greet you as you board the Moby Dick, offering his hand out to you in your final steps, and taking the backpack slung over your shoulder. “‘Bout time you got back.” He offers a sweet smile and you are quick to return it.

“I can only sail so fast, ya know.” You chuckle at him. “Not all of us have fancy devil fruit powers we can power a boat with.”

“Yeah, that must suck.” He tips his head, taking you in fully and attempting to detect any possible injuries. “Think I just missed having you around.” Your brows shoot up in shock at his blunt words and Ace instantly scrambles. “Uh, because ya know, no one else helps out with my pranks like you. Got, ya know, got boring around here.” Ace clears his throat and adjusts the hat on his head.

“Right.” You nod slowly, feeling a heat settling inside of you.

“Right.” He purses his lips. “You, uh, you should probably debrief with Pops. I’m sure there’s plenty to talk about.” You nod in agreement, moving to head that way, before you stop in your tracks. You turn back around and his breath catches in his throat.

“My bag.” You point to it at the dumbfounded look.

“Oh, uh, I can drop it by your room if you want?” He offers with a smile. As you look back at him, he notes the tired glaze in your eyes and the way your shoulders droop.

A smile pulls to your lips, “Yeah, that’d be great actually. Thanks, Ace.”

As you wander off, Ace turns to watch you go, and his eyes fall on the two commanders that were watching the interaction closely. He bristles when he meets their eyes and quickly runs off to drop off your bag.

And the next hour is grueling and Ace could no longer deny to himself that he was waiting for you. So he could see you and finally talk to you.

When he hears you call out his name, his heart rate leaps. “What are you doin’ out here?” You offer him a sweet smile and he finds himself easily mirroring the expression.

“Uh, nothing, just,” He shrugs in an attempt to seem nonchalant. “Waiting around.” Ace crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall, calm and causal.

“For me?” There’s a sickeningly hopeful tone to your voice.

“Uh,” Ace balks.

And that seemed to strike something in you, “Just, uh, just messing with you, Ace.” There’s a tension that seems to rise in the air and Ace feels as if his throat is thick as he swallows hard. He hated this. The awkwardness. The uncomfortable feelings trying, and failing, to be pushed to the side so you can both be normal again. “Do you know if dinners ready yet?” You prompt, rocking on your heels. “I’m starving.”

“Oh, i’m not sure actually.” Ace inwardly cringes at himself. “Let’s go check.”

When you enter the kitchen, you are called to the large group of crew members for the tales of your travels over dinner. Ace watches you go for a long moment with a fluttering in his stomach. It grew in motion until the fluttering was violent, knocking into his rib cage and gripping at his throat. To see you blending with the crew with that smile on your face- a gathering of people that he knew deep down that he didn’t even deserve.

It made his body run cold despite the living inferno that he was.

He offers a final, lingering stare as your hands move animatedly along with your story, before he disappears from the room. He was almost certain that you wouldn’t even notice. That no one would notice. The anxiety grips his throat with a power that he was more used to than he would like to admit.

The rest of the day is a blur as he makes himself scarce to the crew. All the way until the sun has set and the sea turns into a black void.

And he sits in that void instead of sleeping like he should be. He was certain that he would pass out in the middle of breakfast tomorrow but who was he to care. Many called him narcoleptic and Marco has tried to fuss over him many times regarding this, but Fire Fist was well aware that it was the insomnia that struck in the late hours of the night. He needed to take any chance he had for sleep during the day because the moon came with heavy taunts.

Ace can hear the light footsteps moving across the deck and he internally kicks himself for so easily recognizing them as your footsteps. Then, you’re dropping down to sit beside of him and propping your elbows against the railing. He spares a glance to see a tired daze about your eyes.

You meet his eye with a tired pout, “Are we okay?”

He bristles at your words, muscles tense, before he clears his throat. “‘Course we are.” His voice is a pitch higher than what he intended to. And there was no way you were missing that, eyes narrowing at him. “I don’t know, I’m just off today.”

Your finger absently runs along the railing with shoulders dropped. “Did I- Did I do something?” Your voice is low and distant. Ace feels his heart squeeze at this.

“You didn’t do a thing, okay?”

“Then,” You groan and drop your head back. “Will you talk to me? I know i’ve been gone for a little while but I feel like the two of us could always talk to each other before and-“ You wave a hand and purse your lips. “Things were just ugh earlier!”

“Ugh?” He can’t help but smile at this.

“You heard me.” You bump his shoulder but continue to avoid his eye.

Ace lets out a low sigh, tapping his fingers repeatedly, before casting his eyes out to the dark sea. Silence lingers for a long moment as he attempts to gather his thoughts into something rational. “Do you ever, just, feel like you’re cursed?” He can’t bring himself to meet your eye or even glance in your direction. “Like everything you want is right within your reach, but it’s somehow still out of grasp?” You hum in thought but allow Ace to continue rambling on instead of answering. “There’s so much more that I want, but it’s like I don’t deserve any of it.” He huffs. “At all.”

“What kind of things do you feel you don’t deserve?” Your voice is light and as delicate as the situation.

“Everything.” The answer is simple and straight to the point. “Pops.” His eyebrows furrow at the thought of his father figure. Because his real, biological father, was the root of many of his issues. He didn’t deserve Whitebeard and the man that he is. “The crew.” His brother’s in arms that would die for him, just as he would for them. “My brother.” His frown deepens at the idea of Luffy. Of the unconditional love that he provided while growing up. “You.” His words were barely above a whisper. Because above all, he felt like he was the most undeserving of your presence in his life.

You’re quiet for a long moment and Ace almost regrets his words. Then you finally speak up, “You don’t even realize how loved you are, do you?” There’s a sadness about your voice.

Ace can’t even form the words for a reply, a sound breaking in the back of his throat.

“I don’t even know how much my words mean to you, but I can’t think of anyone more deserving of what he has.” You shake your head as if annoyed with the thought. “You’re so, so good, Ace.” A huff. “So many people would put their lives on the line for you because you are worthy of love.”

“I don’t feel,” He swallows the thick lump in his throat. “Like I deserve love.”

“But you do.” You try to stress to him, leaning in a little bit closer and attempting to meet his eye. Ace pointedly stares into the void of the sea instead. You sigh lowly, “Look at me.” You urge to him, desperate to have him meet your eye for your next words. “Ace, please.”

His eyes flutter shut for a moment and he takes a deep breath, but ultimately meets your gaze.

You take a deep breath, “Ace, I love you.”

For a moment, he doesn’t react. His expression doesn’t change and instead he just looks back at you. You almost second guess if he even heard you until he shakes his head. “Don’t,” His head snaps back to look at the dark sea. “Don’t do that.” He lets out a shaky breath. “Please don’t.”

“But I- I- I do.” You stutter out, stamping down the nervous energy trying to creep up on you. Because he needed to hear this. To know what he means to you. “Not like I love the rest of them, either. The crew. You’re,” You gulp. “You’re different.”

“What?” His words edge on being harsh.

Your entire body tenses at the sound, but you push forwards despite this. “I’m in love with you.”

Ace drops his head into his hands, pressing his palms against his cheekbones and attempting to piece together the swirling thoughts in his mind. He had to be dreaming. Had to be witnessing a manifestation of his own delusions right before his eyes. The void of the sea playing tricks on him.

But your hand places on his bicep and pulls him back to the deck he was sitting on. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have just dropped that on you when you’re feeling like this but-“

“You can’t love me.” He blurts out. “You’re too…” He waves a hand as he tries and fails to find the right words. You watch as the gears visibly turn in his mind, unsure if you were even breathing for a moment. “Too good.”

“Too good.” You chuckle nervously.

“You,” He begins, leaning in a little bit closer so your faces were inches apart. “You’re exactly the person I don’t deserve.” His breath is almost burning hot on your face. “You can’t love me because I would ruin you.”

“I’m stronger than you think.”

“But i’m not.” The words rush out of him before he can even process them.

You hold his gaze, unwavering. “Then it sounds like we need each other, huh?” You raise a hesitant hand, gauging his reaction, before ever so gently cupping his cheek. His skin is hot and you’re almost certain you catch a flicker of light start and quickly extinguish on his shoulder. “Because I know that I need you.” You lean in to rest your forehead against his.

Ace swallows back the tears that want to fall and stamps down the conflicting anger that is trying to bubble up inside of him. Instead, he allows himself to feel. To embrace you and pull you even closer to him. Your words heavily combatted the brutal thoughts he has held for years, but you were one heck of a fighter.

“I need you.” Ace chokes out, strong arms locked around your body. “I- I- uh.” He tries to force the words out but they keep getting stuck in his throat. You pull back only slightly to look him in the eyes, the absolute adoration and vulnerability he exudes in that simple look, and suddenly you catch onto something that has been manifesting for years.

“I love you too, Ace.” You mumble.

And when words fail, actions prevail. Ace closes the small gap between you in a searing kiss, allowing the emotions to pour out in droves to relay what he couldn’t bring himself to say. He feels you smile against his lips and that only makes him cling to you more desperately.

Ace reluctantly pulls back when his lungs start to burn, panting, but happy.

[witchbitchlovesdilfs]

Pain Relief Pt. 3

Jack Abbot x chronically ill f!reader

series masterlist, pt 4

synopsis: jack immediately regrets asking you to paint him when you leave him a blushing, stuttering mess

warnings: fluff! some angst? reader has chronic illness, jack lost his leg in the war, suggestive

words: 1.2k

a/c: i was going to write this tomorrow but got too excited. let me know what you'd like to see next!

“Nice place.”

You blush as you step aside so Jack can enter. “Thanks.”

“I’m serious,” he says, taking off his shoes as you lock the apartment door. “It’s a nice area.”

Nodding, you take his jacket and hang it on the coat rack. When you turn, you take in Jack’s appearance. “No scrubs today, huh?”

He shrugs, looking down at the white t-shirt and loose pair of jeans. “It’s my day off.”

“Oh,” you realize that of course it is - he usually works at this hour. “Well, thanks for choosing me to spend it with.”

“Anytime,” he smiles, studying the way you squirm under his gaze and taking in the pale blue button-down you’re wearing, the way it falls over your shorts, spotlighting your legs. When he tilts his head back up, slowly, you’re smiling so brightly it lights up your eyes.

“What?” he asks, crossing his arms self consciously.

You bite your lips to hinder the smile. “Nothing.”

A door further in the apartment shuts, and a woman about your age with light brunette hair struts out. “So you’re the famous Jack,” she says, stuffing her phone into her purse and plucking her car keys from the key bowl. 

“Keira?” Jack guesses.

She nods and slips on her shoes. “I gotta go out, but we have to invite you over for dinner sometime to chat. I’ve heard lots of good things.”

You blush, and Jack grins. “I sure hope so.”

“I’ll make lasagna,” Keira decides, scooting between the two of you and heading out the door, but not before telling you to “Have fun, Lovebirds” and winking goodbye.

You lock the door behind her, bracing your back against it like you’re fortifying a wall.

“She seems nice,” Jack says, still grinning.

You chuckle, pushing yourself from the door and past him. “She’s a terrible cook. I’ll order a pizza or something.”

Jack chuckles, following as you give a tour of what you call home. The living room is spacious despite the massive couch taking up space across from the tv, and the kitchen, while small, is pristine and homey. “You’ve caught me on a good day,” you tell him. “I did the dishes and everything. Very productive.”

When you lead Jack to your room, he gulps with anticipation as you push the door open.

It’s very you, and Jack means that as the biggest compliment. Your room is welcoming, artsy, and decorated by various posters and figures representing your interests. 

“Welcome to my humble abode,” you say nervously, holding your arms out like you’re Tony Stark. “This is where the lovemaking happens.”

Jack startles, and you bend over with laughter. “I’m just joking,” you assure him, wiping tears from your eyes and moving to riffle through the art materials at your desk. “Where are you most comfortable?”

“What?” he chokes, looking up from the floor.

You nudge your chin in the direction of his leg. “Where do you want to sit? My bed’s got a super fluffy mattress, so maybe the chair out in the living room? It’s a lot sturdier. But my desk chair is higher and stiffer if you want the support.”

Jack blinks. He’s not used to being accommodated like this. “I should be fine in the living room,” he decides, watching in awe as you collect your tools, oblivious to his staring. 

“Alright,” you say, dropping your stuff onto one of the chairs beside the couch before heading back to your room for an easel. Jack takes the seat across from you as you come back.

“Full body or just head?” you ask, and Jack chokes. You’re setting up your canvas, watching him expectantly. 

Oh, to draw. “What’s easier?”

“Do you want to take your leg off?” You’re very to the point with your questions, and Jack feels like you see directly through him.

“Is it okay?” he asks shyly.

You nod like it’s obvious. “I want you to be comfortable.”

He softens at this, and then he’s leaning down to pull up his pants leg and take off the prosthetic. You watch silently as he sets it to the side, massaging the skin it was once attached to. 

Jack looks up at you, scared of what expression you’ll have on your face. Pity? Disgust? But he is met with nothing but love and understanding. “Full body or just head?” you ask again, and Jack understands the deeper meaning. Is he ready to accept that this is who he is and let you paint all of him in his vulnerability? Meeting your soft gaze, Jack makes his decision. “Full body.”

You smile at him, almost proudly, and pluck a paintbrush from your pile. “Sit however you want. But remember you can’t move.” Your eyes flicker mischievously. “Or I’ll have to tie you down.”

Jack blushes, looking down at your hands as you take out several paints, waiting patiently. He moves into a position that feels right and nods that you can start.

You’re quiet as you paint, the brushstrokes against paper lulling him into a daze. Jack watches your face as you concentrate, noting every time you scrunch your nose or squint your eyes. When you meet his gaze to study him back, he blushes. This repeats several times before you’re speaking up.

“If you keep blushing, I’ll have to add more contrast,” you note. Your voice is monotone, but you’re grinning.

Jack can only nod.

You call for a break after forty minutes. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Water will do just fine,” he says, adjusting in the seat and pulling out his phone to see a text from Robby.

How’s the date going? Is she painting you like one of her French girls?

Shaking his head in exasperation, Jack puts the phone back down just as you come back in. You hand him a glass of cold water, and he drinks it gratefully before setting it on the coffee table. “Can I see it so far?”

“Not until it’s finished! Don’t rush perfection.”

Jack huffs, but there’s a smile on his face. He settles back into position and lets you do your magic.

Twenty five minutes later, you proudly set your brush aside and step back to check for any errors. “I guess it’ll do,” you decide, standing to approach him. “It doesn’t capture all of that handsome ruggedness you’ve got going on, but it might just be one of my best works.”

Jack takes the canvas from you, and his jaw drops when he slides his reading glasses on so he can see your painting. You’ve detailed him and the chair with such care and precision, blurring the backdrop like Jack’s all that matters. As he stares in silence and awe, Jack realizes that this is how you see him. And he looks good. When Jack lifts the canvas closer to his face, he sees the worshipping way in which he looks back at you.

Jack’s falling for you, fast. And he doesn’t want to ever stop. 

Taglist:

@miraclesabound @qardasngan @mads198-9 emma8895eb @celiacallsitcausal @interestellarprincess @kmc1989 @wisps-writes-fic

[stardust-and-snickerdoodles]

tired and i'm awake

fandom: Chicago Med

pairing: Connor Rhodes x Reader

summary: You've kept your chronic pain a secret from Connor since you started dating. But fate has other plans for you, and an untimely accident leads to him finding out about your condition.

tags/warnings: angst, injury, burns, hurt/comfort, chronic pain/illness

word count: 3024

a/n: this one's for all my EDS/POTS combo girlies

When you were young, the doctors said it was “growing pains.” That eventually it would go away, that it was only temporary, take an Advil.

Then you got older, and it was your period. Even though the pain was constant and all over, somehow every doctor put it down to your cycle. Sure, it was worse when you were menstruating, but it didn’t disappear when you weren’t.

Sometimes, you were “making it up” or “drug seeking.” ER visits, annual physicals, all proved fruitless. Eventually, it was all just too much to handle. The constant doctors’ visits, the unending questions with no answers. You’re tired.

Even when you lay on the bathroom floor, curled around yourself and sobbing, you refuse to go to the doctor. You know it won’t amount to anything, just another bill and insurance paperwork. You manage on your own with 3 extra strength Tylenol or a heating pad or just laying in bed until it mostly subsides. Then you can get up and pretend to be okay again.

So, it was a bit of a surprise to everyone who knows of your issues when you started dating a surgeon. Hell, you even surprised yourself. But Connor is… different. He’s kind and understanding and patient. Still, your previous negative experiences prevent you from telling him about the chronic pain you experience, or any of the other problems that come along with it.

You’ve been dating now for about six months and you couldn’t be happier. Connor’s hours are busy and long, but you look forward to the end of every day when you can see him. Even if it means putting on a brave face when your joints ache. You moved in together about a month ago, and it’s a little harder to hide the pain now, but you manage. You don’t want to be just another patient for him to deal with.

Today, you have a feeling it’s going to be a little more difficult to put on your façade. Your knees and hips have been acting up lately. Everything feels… a bit looser than usual, like the tissues between your joints are made of thin string, ready to break at any movement. Each movement feels as though you’re going to rip yourself apart, limb from limb. It’s all you can do not to cry out when you finally pry yourself out of bed in the morning. Connor is already gone, having left sometime in the middle of the night, off to work his shift at the ED. You hope beyond hope that the pain will have subsided by the time he gets home tonight.

You hope that maybe a warm bath with some Epsom salts will help, and take short, shuffling steps to the bathroom, walking near the wall just in case. Each footfall sends shooting pain up your legs. You grit your teeth and manage to make it to the toilet, sitting down and reaching to turn the tap on the bath. Breathing in and out slowly, you remind yourself that you have this under control. You will survive this, it’s just pain. It’s just pain.

You stare as the tub fills with water, trying your best to compartmentalize and clear the pain away. Mind over matter, that’s what your mother always says. Easy for her, when she’s not the one in pain.

Feeling as though you might break with any sudden moves, you lower yourself into the warm bath, closing your eyes as the water surrounds you. It’s calming and smells like eucalyptus.

You linger until the water is cooled and your joints begin to protest from staying in one position too long. You wrap a fluffy robe around yourself, a gift from Connor after he saw the old ratty one you’d been using for years. It’s luxurious and soft, and probably cost him the equivalent of an entire week’s salary for you. Perks of dating a surgeon, you suppose.

Just standing has you feeling lightheaded, and you can feel your heart beating in your ears. For a moment the room darkens as spots fill your vision, but you just breathe in deeply until it subsides. Then you continue to take small steps back out to the bedroom, before placing yourself gingerly on the comforter.

Once you’re still and laying down, the pain begins to creep back in with force. It just reminds you that as much as you want to, you can’t ignore it. You can compartmentalize and convince yourself all you want, but you’re stuck with this.

Now, along with your hips and knees, your back and neck have begun to ache from sitting upright in the tub. You sigh and curl onto your side, your wet hair clinging to your neck. Five minutes, you tell yourself. Then I’ll get up and get dressed and dry my hair and… God, it’s all so much. How are you ever supposed to get all of that done when you feel like this? Still, you reprimand yourself and promise only five minutes of rest. Just until the aching diminishes somewhat.

You wake to the sound of the door unlocking. Night has fallen outside the window, leaving the apartment bathed in darkness.

So much for five minutes.

Connor walks in, looking tired and worn out, but still wearing a smile when he spots you curled up on the bed. You smile back, still groggy from your extended nap.

“Hey sweetheart,” he murmurs, setting his bag down before taking a seat next to you. “How was your day?”

“Good,” you lie easily. “How was work?”

Connor smooths some errant hairs away from your forehead before placing a soft kiss there. “Busy. But good. Did you shower? Your hair’s still wet.”

A fierce blush makes its way up your cheeks as you avoid his eyes. “Took a bath. I guess I just passed out after. Baths always take it out of me,” you half-joke.

Connor’s brow furrows and you can immediately sense the switch into “doctor mode.” He places the back of his hand on your forehead again. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine,” you reassure, pulling his hand down to your lips to plant a gentle kiss on his knuckles. “Do you want dinner? I can make something.” The ache in your joints begins to make itself known again, but you want to do something nice for Connor. You know how tired he is after his shifts.

“Sure,” Connor replies, but he’s still looking at you with concern.

You slowly sit up, trying to school your expression as something pinches in your hip. “Spaghetti? I think we have some noodles leftover from the other night; I can just make a quick sauce.”

Connor nods and stands with you. “I’m gonna go shower,” he states while pulling you into a loose hug. “Do you need anything before I go?”

You shake your head and breathe him in. He smells like the hospital, but underneath that is the gentle scent of his cologne that always relaxes you. “No, you go. I can handle it.”

Connor releases you and makes his way to the bathroom while you head to the kitchen. You feel incrementally better than this morning, the pain in your back and neck thankfully lessened. Your hips are the worst now, and the right one especially feels tenuous. Each step is shaky, but you push through it.

You’re grateful for the distraction of cooking as you work on dinner, but it’s not enough to totally take away the pain. As you stand over the stove you can still feel the pulsing in your knees, the unsteadiness in your hips, and the ache in your back is returning. You barely suppress a groan as your right hip nearly gives out.

Seconds later, the door to the bathroom opens, and Connor exits with just a pair of jeans slung low on his hips. For a moment you’re tempted to stop cooking altogether and take him right back to bed. But then your right hip protests yet again, and the thought quickly flees. You shoot Connor a smile as he comes up behind you to wrap his arms around your waist. His chin rests on your shoulder and you tense imperceptibly. Illogical as it may seem, you’re worried maybe he’ll… feel your pain or something, if he gets too close.

“Smells good,” Connor murmurs, kissing the side of your neck.

“Grab some plates,” you reply, stirring the spaghetti sauce one more time before turning off the heat.

Connor’s arms leave you and you let out a breath. You grab some potholders from a nearby cabinet and pull the sauce off the stove.

As you make your way over to the table, your hip begins to feel even more unsteady than before. Each step is agony as you grip the saucepot, praying that your leg doesn’t give out now. Connor’s back is to you when suddenly you step wrong. Instantly, you feel a popping sensation in your hip and you stumble.

The pot goes flying, splattering sauce all over you and the kitchen. You crumble to the floor, a short cry leaving your lips. The sauce burns your thighs, uncovered thanks to the robe you still wear, but all you can feel is the burning pain in your hip. It feels… wrong.

It’s not exactly a new experience. A few years ago – with no help from your doctors – you finally realized that this type of pain means something is dislocated. In this case, your hip. It’s one of the worst to dislocate, since you have trouble getting it back in place on your own.

Connor immediately rushes toward you, calling your name in panic. “Are you okay? Oh god, what happened?”

You grit your teeth to stop from crying out again as you right yourself with your leg out in front of you. Your hand grips your right thigh, the pain from your dislocated hip shooting down your leg and making your toes numb.

Connor’s already pulling out his phone to call 911, obviously only seeing the burns on your legs from the hot sauce.

You reach out to grab his wrist to stop him from dialing. “I’m fine,” you insist, tears brimming in your eyes.

Connor levels you with a glare that would make anyone give in. “You just spilled scalding sauce all over yourself. You’re at least getting checked out at the ED.”

“Okay, okay, but… Can’t you just drive me?”

He must hear the pleading tone in your voice because he sets his phone down with a sigh. “Fine,” he surrenders. “Let’s get you cleaned up first so I can take a look.”

You nod as he stands to retrieve towels. Once his back is turned, you take mental stock of your hip. It doesn’t feel too badly dislocated, but it certainly needs to be put back sooner rather than later. Before you get a chance to do it yourself, Connor returns with wet towels. He immediately gets to work gingerly cleaning your skin. You can tell that you’ve at least got first-degree burns, maybe even second in some places. But you can’t get past the pain in your hip. If you could just get a moment alone so you could reset it…

You notice that Connor’s movements have stopped and you look to see what he’s doing. His brows are furrowed as he looks at your right leg, now clean of the sauce. “Doesn’t look too bad, but I still want to go to Med just to be sure. And…” Suddenly his eyes widen and his hands rest delicately on either side of your leg. You can’t help but flinch at the touch. “It looks like your hip is dislocated… God, that must hurt. Did you hit it on the ground when you fell?”

You bite your lip and shake your head. “It’s nothing,” you insist.

“Y/N,” Connor’s voice is firm. “We need to get this reduced. I’m calling an ambulance,” he says, pulling out his phone once more.

“No!” you cry. “I can take care of it!” Before he can stop you, you bend your knee outward, making a half-butterfly shape with your legs, then push down on it with your hands. Your hip pops back into place with an audible click and the relief is instant.

Connor is silent for a long moment as he stares at you, mouth agape.

You speak before he can, blabbering without much sense. “It’s fine, it happens a lot. I’m okay, I promise.”

Your boyfriend’s eyes are wide with concern and empathy. “What do you mean?” he whispers.

You shrug and take the wet towel from his hand, continuing to wipe off the sauce from your other thigh. This one’s not as bad as your right, but it’s still painful. “Nothing, Connor. I just… It happens sometimes, okay? Dislocating things, it’s not new to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Connor’s voice is so full of hurt that you immediately regret keeping this from him.

“I don’t know,” you murmur, meeting his eyes. The tears in your own begin to fall down your cheeks. “I just… I’ve always dealt with it on my own. I didn’t want you to have to deal with it too. And I didn’t know if you’d believe me, no one ever believes me, and I didn’t want to lose you because of my broken body…” You’re rambling now, the adrenaline and pain making your words come out jumbled.

Connor scoots over to sit next to you, uncaring of the sauce that’s getting on his jeans. His arm wraps around you gently, and already you can feel that he’s treating you differently. Touching you like you’re… fragile. “Y/N… I would never not believe you about something like this. Have you gone to the doctor about it?”

A sob leaves your lips and you smile sarcastically. “Of course, I have, Connor. I’ve been to so many doctors and none of them have any answers. It’s always growing pains, or my period, or I’m faking it. Eventually I just gave up because, like I said, I can deal with it on my own.”

Connor is silent for a long while. Finally, he lifts your chin with his finger so you’re forced to meet his eyes. “You don’t have to deal with it on your own now. We’re together, and that means we tell each other these things. I won’t leave you because of something you can’t control, sweetheart. And I want you to find answers. We can find them together. Okay?”

You nod and Connor goes to dial 911 again. As he’s on the phone with the operator, you let the tears fall. The pain of the burns is finally hitting you, only adding to the existing pain you already feel. Connor’s words mean everything to you, but right now that’s all they are – words. How can you know he’ll stay with you after he finds out what this really is like? The constant pain, the days spent in bed, the agony of it all? How could anyone – how could Connor – ever want someone like you?

You don’t realize that Connor is done on the phone until his hand lands on your shoulder. “Babe?” his voice is a little louder than necessary, which tells you that he’s been trying to get your attention for a while.

“Sorry,” you mutter, using the back of your hand to wipe away errant tears.

Connor takes a deep breath, and you worry about what he’s going to say. “You can talk to me, you know?”

You nod, avoiding his eyes. “I know. But this… I don’t want to be just another person you have to take care of.” The sound of sirens grows loud outside the apartment building.

“Honey. Look at me,” Connor urges, lifting your chin again. “You are not just another patient to me. You never will be. Okay?”

“You don’t know,” you whisper, your voice suddenly hoarse. “Once you know what it’s like, how much help I’ll need… I don’t know what my life will be like in 10 years, hell, even in a year. I’m in pain all the time, and I don’t know if it will get worse, and I don’t want you to be burdened with that.”

Before Connor can answer, the intercom buzzes as the paramedics request entrance. Connor stands to let them in, and you bring your sore legs up so you can bury your head in your knees. The embarrassment of it all is starting to hit you as you realize that soon you’ll be at Med, surrounded by Connor’s colleagues. No doubt he’ll want to run a myriad of tests to figure out your underlying condition, and you’re not sure you have the energy for that right now.

You hear the door opening, followed by a couple pairs of footsteps and Connor’s voice getting closer. “Female, 27, post-fall and contact with hot liquid. Superficial partial thickness burns on the thighs. Right hip dislocated but already reduced.” You hold in a snort at his medical jargon describing your silly accident.

The paramedics aren’t anyone you know, but they’re nice enough as they examine the burns and apply saline-soaked gauze. You’re embarrassed by your lack of proper clothing, but they don’t seem to mind. You’re sure they’ve seen worse than a nearly-naked woman anyway.

They ask various questions while Connor watches nearby, eyes slightly narrowed as if to make sure they don’t hurt you further. Once you’re finally loaded up onto a stretcher, he returns to your side and holds your hand in a crushing grip.

“This is really unnecessary,” you mutter at him, squeezing his hand.

Connor looks down at you with a soft smile. “Doctor knows best, sweetheart.” He plants a gentle kiss on your forehead. “Don’t worry, we won’t stay if you don’t want. As long as you get that hip x-rayed and those burns checked, I’ll be satisfied. We can figure out the rest later.”

You smile back, tears pricking your eyes again. “Thank you, Connor. For being here.”

He snorts out a laugh. “You really have to raise your standards, baby.”

[swordsandholly]

Across the Way

Chapter 4: New and Old Problems Alike

Retired!Ghoap x Fem!Fat!Reader

Ao3 | Previous - Next | Masterlist

MDNI | cw: fainting, some medical inaccuracies

Word Count: 5.8k

Summary: You go to Scotland with high hopes for your future. After all, you have the bakery you always dreamed of and a whole new life to live. Plus, the men who own the butcher’s shop across the street seem nice.

You haven’t texted them, even three days later. That little sticky note haunts the surface of your kitchen counter. It taunts you - tells you that you should text them and at least give them your number. That you’re being a terrible neighbor. They might need you too, after all. Even though you can’t figure out why they might for the life of you. On the other hand, you can’t help but feel wary about it. Men don’t take an interest in you - people in general rarely take interest. It’s hard not to feel suspicious, as pure as you’re sure their intentions probably are.

More so than any of that, you don’t know what to say. If it had been day one you could have just put your name, but now you feel like you need to explain. Or at least be funny or something. Tossing and turning on your designated rest day about what the hell you should do.

You’re overthinking it. You know that. You can’t stop, either.

They just seem so cool - so put together. So unlike you. You want to impress them. You don’t want to ruin the first possibility of friends in this new life you’re building for yourself.

Eventually you work up the courage to send off an initial text to each of them. Just to give them your name to save if they so choose - plus an extra thank you to Simon for giving you their numbers in the first place. Something simple and borderline cold. Too cold, maybe? Maybe you sound irritated. You hope not. You just want them to like you. Friends in new places are hard and to have someone around you who gets how it feels to need accommodations would just feel so… lovely. Your phone may or may not go flying onto your bed while you bury your face in your hands out of sheer nervousness.

You don’t expect it to chime about a minute later. Right as you’re staring to calm down, of course. It sends your heart violently pounding all over again.

J >> Bonnie lass!

J >> So glad u texted!!

>> Sorry it took so long lol

Oh, you could just slap yourself. You don’t have anything better than that? At all? Christ.

J >> Nah Nah

J >> No worries

J >> Actually I was wondering if u would mind if I came by tomorrow

J >> Just to chat

J >> need an excuse to get out of the house

“How the hell does he type that fast?” You scoff to yourself.

>> Yeah, come by anytime.

>> totally

>> yea sounds cool

>> rad, man

A message from Simon pops up mid your internal battle with how to respond, replying with a simple thumbs up. Very in character, you think. He knows how to be nonchalant. What would Simon say? Something casual, maybe a little formal.

>> If you like. You’re always welcome.

Okay maybe that was too much like Simon. You sigh heavily m before adding,

>> I’m trying out a new blueberry loaf

>> If you want to test for me :)

Better. That’s a little better. With another heavy sigh you decide to drop your phone into your nightstand for the rest of the day. Your heart really cannot handle this much emotional pressure.

~~~

You sort of end up just forgetting about the texts. With your phone out of sight and out of mind upstairs in your apartment it almost catches you off guard when Johnny comes striding through the door just before close. He’s dressed more casually than the last couple of times you saw him - having broken out the summer shorts and a graphic tee for some band you don’t recognize. It suits him, though.

“Hey, bon.” He grins.

“Hey.” You smile back, finishing with putting up your stocking baskets before dusting off your hands and turning around. “Simon closing up?”

“Aye.”

You hum. “Come on back, I’ll get you a slice of that loaf I mentioned.”

Johnny follows you quietly. Uncharacteristically quietly. That’s okay - you don’t have a problem with hanging out in silence. It doesn’t feel tense, surprisingly enough. He leaves Riley out front again. Should you get her a dog bed? Maybe if he comes by consistently. That would be nice. Maybe that’s wishful thinking.

“It’s sort of a pound cake but fluffier. I might make an icing for it but I don’t know if that would be too sweet…” You trail off, focusing on plating up the piece. You’re not sure what compels you to try and make it pretty for him. Probably something you could blame on your grandmother. She did have an obsession with presentation.

Johnny hums loudly after taking a bite, talking around the mouthful. “Y’should totally make an icing.” He swallows roughly. “Si would go crazy fer this.”

“Oh?” You smile. “I’ll send some home with you.”

There’s a lapse of silence while Johnny chews on his slice of bread and you pack up some in a paper bag for him to take home. The only sounds in the room comprised of your cutting and folding and the hum of the cooling oven.

“You’re being weirdly quiet.” You blurt, immediately covering your mouth with your hand. “I, uh, I mean that isn’t a bad thing! I don’t mind… I just, uh, was… sorry, never mind…”

“Well I did come wit’ a bit of an ulterior motive…” Johnny admits, glancing off to the side shyly. It’s a show, you think. Johnny doesn’t seem the type of man to have felt shy a day in his life.

You tilt your head. “Oh?”

He dusts off his hands and grins. “Let us take ye out! In celebration of yer first full month.”

Has it been a month already? “Oh - no, no you don’t have to-“

“C’mon! It’s a big accomplishment.” His smile is so bright that you almost believe his idea that you’ve done something great.

“…alright.” You give a tentative smile. It’s hard to believe they like you enough to want to hang out casually in the evening. Hard to imagine anyone liking you that much but you’re not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“There’s a pub down the street - the one on the corner. Want tae meet us there around six?” Johnny gives you that lovely smile. How could you ever say no to a smile like that?

“Okay.”

You spend far too long changing in and out of clothes and fussing with your hair. Up-do’s and buns and braids. A tank top then a sweater then a t-shirt. There’s no reason to feel this stressed over it. It’s not a date or anything. Besides, it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Either way you look like a frumpy dumpling. Eventually you land on jeans and one of your designated ‘going out tops.’ At least it’s a good excuse to wear something other than work clothes or loungewear.

Excitement and anxiety thrum under your skin like electricity as you make your way down the street. You feel painfully nauseous - stopping once or twice just to make sure you aren’t about to throw up for real.

The pub is surprisingly quiet when you enter. Obviously somewhere only real locals hang out - there’s no theme or really any decor in general. Just a bar, some booths and a couple pool tables. You scan the floor a few times, not seeing either Johnny or Simon (not that they would be hard to miss). Eventually you just grab a soda from the bar and slide into one of the booths closer to the back. A quiet spot facing the door where you can easily watch for them.

As time ticks on you begin to grow increasingly nervous. Did you get the time wrong? No, no you triple checked. You even wrote it down in your planner. Your leg begins to bounce furiously, heart nearly beating out of your chest. Did they decide to ditch? You wouldn’t really blame them. They’re way out of your league when it comes to friends. Maybe Johnny had an emergency? Should you call Simon? If he had an emergency it would make sense that they would forget to notice you. What if something really bad happened? What if-

The front door opens and Simon’s wide frame strides through, holding the door for Johnny and Riley to come in behind him. You let out a quiet sigh of relief, willing your leg to stop bouncing with a pinch to your thigh. Why are you always so damn dramatic?

Johnny lights up with an ear to ear grin when he spots you, bee-lining for the booth while Simon casually walks up to the bar. It’s almost comedic, the way he dwarfs the counter. Johnny leans on the side of the booth, waiting for Simon, you think.

“Glad ye could come out.” He looks you over, eyes flicking from your plain top to the very practical, not at all stylish up do that you landed on for the evening.

You do your best not to squirm under his gaze. “Me too…”

Simon comes back with two beers in hand and slides them onto the table. He scoots into the inner booth to give Johnny the outer edge. Riley happily sits beside his leg and practically grins at you in a near mirror image of Johnny’s. You’d never do it while she’s on the job, of course, but part of you wants to give her a pat on the head and coo at her for being so polite.

Johnny gives you an apologetic smile. “Sorry we were a bit late-”

“Johnny redid his hair about five times.” Simon butts in, not reacting at all to Johnny’s sputtering protest. He glances at your half-drunk soda. “Want me t’ grab you a beer?”

“Oh, no, I’ll just stick to coke.”

They blink at you. Simon cocks his head slightly. “You sure?”

You chew your lip. “Uh, alcohol tends to aggravate my symptoms is all...”

“Then why’d ye agree to drinks? We coulda gone somewhere else.” Johnny frowns.

You shrug. “I don’t mind. I… maybe this is over sharing but I’d rather go out and be kind of normal than just… not ever. Y’know?”

His expression softens. For having such icy blue eyes they are so, so warm. “I get it.”

“How’d you two meet anyway?” You blurt, taking a left turn to get the conversation off of you. It’s the first question that comes to mind. Maybe it’s rude - maybe you’re prying too much already.

“Military.” Simon grunts. “SAS.”

“Si retired wit’ me after I was discharged.” Johnny points to his scar the same way he did when you first met. “Russians scrambled my egg a bit.”

“Couldn’t do the time apart…” Simon murmurs, eyes locked on Johnny’s face. It’s vulnerable. More than he’s used to - you can see it in the way he tenses after saying it.

Something passes between them that a deep, wounded part of you desperately wishes to understand.

You can’t help but start giggling to yourself. They both give you an incredulous look. “Sorry, sorry - it’s just, that’s like… totally a romance book premise. It’s sweet. Really.”

“Och, aye. Wouldn’t know it t’ look at him but Si’s a real romantic.” Johnny bats his eyes at the other man, who just rolls his in response. The corner of his scarred mouth quirks up subtly.

“SAS…” You repeat, staring at your drink. “That’s like Navy Seal shit, right?”

“We worked with them a few times, yes.” Simon nods. There’s an air of ‘do not ask anything more specific’ in his voice.

“Huh.” You take that for what it is and sit back, squinting at them. “You don’t look it, honestly.”

Johnny laughs. “Tha’s just cause ye havennae seen Simon with his gear on. The Ghost.” He wiggles his fingers along as he makes a stupid, spooky sound effect. “I domesticated him.”

Simon scoffs but doesn’t deny it, just takes a quiet sip of his beer.

“Riley’s a vet, too.” Johnny pats her head. “Got too skittish around loud noises but she transitioned into a service dog nicely.”

“Now she’s just spoiled.” Simon rolls his eyes in faux annoyance. You get the strong feeling that he’s the one doing the spoiling.

You find yourself relaxing as the night goes on. Slouching in your seat rather than sitting ramrod straight and nervously twiddling your thumbs. They never press you to drink, never insist that you’ll be fine with just one. They take your statement as fact and it isn’t brought up again. That shouldn’t be as significant as it is, now that you think about it.

Johnny’s words begin to slur a little bit on his fourth, no maybe fifth, beer. You aren’t sure. It’s very cute, the little blush that forms across his cheeks. Simon loosens up, too. He slings an arm around the back of the booth and Johnny readily tucks himself into the open spot. You find yourself wondering about their military career again. You can’t picture either of them committing violence - especially Simon. Sure, he’s big and gruff but he looks at Johnny so, so softly.

Simon is the one to call it a night - though you have a feeling its because you nodded off a couple times. Not out of boredom, you try really, really hard to pay attention to Johnny rambling about the chemistry of different explosives. He makes it interesting, somehow. Really it’s just that you’ve been awake for… holy shit almost twenty hours!

“D’you need a ride?” Simon asks as you exit the pub, hands firmly shoved into his pockets.

“No, I’ll be fine.” You don’t know how to interpret the look he’s giving you. It’s intense, but not annoyed or displeased. He has such a weird knack for unreadable but distinct expressions. You wonder if you’ll ever get close enough to get good at deciphering them.

You jump when Johnny takes both your hands in, kissing the backs of them with a sloppy, drunk smile. “Thank ye fer comin’ out. “

Somehow your face feels hotter than a damn oven. You tuck your hands to your chest, kicking shyly at the sidewalk. “Th-thanks for the invite. We, uh, we could do it again sometime?”

You glance up hopefully, praying that you didn’t misread the situation. You’ve done that before - thought people liked you more than they did. Johnny just grins wider somehow and nods excitedly.

You watch them walk off in the other direction, hand in hand. Johnny giggles about something loudly and you can see Simon’s shoulders shake with a far more silent laugh. All the way until they disappear down the street.

The sheer amount that the image hurts your heart makes you feel evil.

~~~

The pub changed something. What, you don’t know. Either way, you fall into an easy pattern with Johnny and Simon over the next couple weeks. Exchanges of food, leftovers or morsels about to turn, little visits back and forth between your shops. Johnny continues to stop by after close, just hanging around with you while Simon closes up shop.

You can’t deny how much you look forward to hearing that door chime followed by a too-loud greeting from Johnny. How your heart flips in your chest when those bright blue eyes peek around the corner into the back room or light up while trying a new recipes you’ve been testing. You’re still a bit awkward - unsure how to react when he throws an arm around your shoulders or listens oh so intently while you talk about nothing important.

Things can’t ever be all sunshine and rainbows, though. Not for you. A new problem has arisen as summer truly sets in - the comfortable spring breezes giving way to nothing but bright, unfiltered sun. One you didn’t expect to impact you this much living this far north.

Heat.

It’s hard to breathe in the back room while you’re baking. Hard to keep your water and salt intake high enough to compensate for how fast you lose them. You might as well get a permanent saline drip attached to you at this point. You definitely didn’t google if that was physically possible. Your budget for liquid IVs and other supplements nearly doubles. Standing over the massive oven in the back room has your head swimming a few times. You end up resting longer on your weekends, unable to keep up like you could in cooler weather.

It’s okay, you tell yourself, the summer here isn’t like back home. It will pass quicker. Plus, you at least have methods of dealing with it now other than crossing your fingers and praying.

“Bonnie!” Johnny suddenly appears in your doorway - that charming smile splitting his face from ear to ear. “Ye made it up Main Street yet?”

“No?” You tilt your head and try to ignore the way your vision spots momentarily at the motion. “Why?”

“Ye dinnae hear about the summer festival?” He leans on your counter. You shake your head. “It’s a yearly thing. Not that big a deal but they have some fun games an’ it’s nice tae see everyone out an’ about. Si an’ I are about tae head down. Come wit’?”

You hesitate. The exhaustion in your body tugs at your spine. Your limbs feel heavy. This morning really got to you - out of towners who must have come for the festival flooded your shop the moment it opened on top of your Saturday regulars. Not that you’re complaining, really. It’s easily your best day so far. You want to go with them, though, despite the ache in your back and the sting in your joints. It sounds so fun and it’s never a bad idea to take part in your new community’s festivities.

“Yeah. That sounds nice.” You smile. You can tough it out for an hour, then come back home. Yeah, just an hour. You’ll be fine.

You hadn’t noticed Simon leaned up at the entrance to your shop. Your eyes lock on his arms. This is the first time you’ve actually seen him in short sleeves. You can’t help but stare at his half-sleeve tattoo - all skulls and bombs and other military motifs. Faded and sun worn. Yeah, if you’d seen that sooner you definitely would have picked up on the whole military thing. You bite your lip to keep from snickering about it.

You can hear the music drifting from the speakers down the street. A few kids run by with balloons and cheap carnival prizes. It almost reminds you of the Spring Fling back home, just missing the extreme American flag theming across every booth and vendor front. Now that you’re looking around, you can actually see several booths that have been sponsored by various businesses in the area. Even the post office has a snow cone stand. The deeper you get into the event, the more flamboyant the decor becomes. Multicolored streamers and pennet flags connect stands, creating an almost canopy effect.

Simon stops rather abruptly at a booth, waiting behind a few teenagers tossing rings onto bottles. You stop with Johnny about two feet away. What’s he thinking? Simon doesn’t seem like the type who would be too entertained by basic carnival games. Even so, he steps forward and passes over a couple bills to the vendor as soon as the teenagers leave.

“Si’s really good at these. Watch.” Johnny grins beside you.

“Aren’t they rigged?” You raise an eyebrow.

Johnny doesn’t answer, eyes locked on his husband as he lines up one of the rings. You have to lean slightly to see around the breadth of the man - the multicolor rings almost cartoonishly small in his hands. Cute. Your eyes get impossibly wide with each toss, every single one landing comfortably on the bottle necks as if it’s the easiest thing in the world. As if this isn’t one of the most commonly rigged carnival games.

“Holy shit…” You mutter, still staring.

“Aye, tha’s a SAS sniper for ye.” Johnny laughs. “Glad tae see it still comes in handy.”

Simon huffs out a quiet laugh at that. Almost more of a sigh if it weren’t for the shaking of his shoulders. You love it - their little dynamic. The bond between them that’s so strong it’s almost visible.

“‘ere.” Simon turns to you suddenly, holding out a cheap little carnival prize. You can’t even begin to decipher what it’s supposed to be - some sort of furry puff ball with big, embroidered anime eyes and two felt antennae sticking up out of it’s purple head… body… thing…

Your face heats. “F-, uh, me?”

He shrugs. “Suits you. Riley will just chew it up if we take it home.”

“Aye. She’s so good with everythin’ but cheap plushies.” Johnny snickers.

You glance down at the dog in question - her dark eyes glued to the toy in Simon’s hand. Her tail thumps against the ground where she sists dutifully, but you can see the desire to snatch the thing away in her twitchy ears and pleading eyes. You snort, taking the stupid thing and tucking it under your arm with the prayer that they don’t notice the heat now spreading from your cheeks to your ears.

“Thanks…” you murmur, already mentally deciding where to add it to the mess of stuffies covering your bed already.

Somehow you end up walking between them down the street - Simon on your left and Johnny on your right with Riley in tow. You stop at a few other games here and there. All pretty basic. Johnny absolutely kills at the dunk booth.

Simon tires his hardest to help you with your terrible aim, “Just visualize it. Y’have t’ account for the arc.”

You get to the point of sticking your tongue out in concentration. Even so you only manage to knock down a couple of the wooden ducks at the ‘Dunk-A-Duck’ stand. You do, however, win one of those rock candy sticks at the guessing booth. You just hand it off to Johnny. It’s probably not best to load up on sugar in your current state.

Johnny excitedly points to different buildings giving you a rundown of the history of his hometown as you walk. Simon seems to barely be listening. He’s probably heard this a thousand times. Prattling on about the old town square, the church bell that a bunch of teenagers spray painted one time (Johnny was not involved, how could you accuse him of that?)

You find yourself focusing on your feet - keeping each step even and fast enough to remain on pace with them. One, two, one, two, one, two. The air begins to thicken. Muggy and heavy on your skin. Your breaths become shallow and fast. You can’t catch it, the air seeming to get stuck in your throat rather than reaching your lungs. Spots begin to dance across your vision. You stumble over nothing.

Not now! Come on! You’ve been doing so well!

Riley presses against your leg acting as a counter weight. Your body moves on instinct to grab whatever you can - hands wrapping around something strong and covered with cloth. An arm solid as rebar. Hopefully it’s someone you know. All you can see are colorless shapes.

“Gonna pass out - don’t freak!” You gasp before your legs give out.

It’s not that you go entirely out - it’s rare that you fully black out. It’s more like being stuck. Limp and fuzzy and confused. Almost like sleep paralysis. There’s voices and people moving around you. Someone has picked you up, you think, based on the swaying motion and the passing shapes around you. Maybe that’s just vertigo. A door bell chimes.

You finally begin to really come to when something icy is pressed to your forehead. It couldn’t have been more than a handful of seconds that you were gone, but it takes much longer for the world around you to come back into focus.

“I’m sorry…” You murmur, eyes stinging. Even after all these years it’s so damn embarrassing. You blink, the distinct mural that decorates the ceiling of the post office slowly coming into view. Johnny said a big time traveling artist painted it back in the nineties.

“Ye alright?” Johnny murmurs, crouched down beside you. Riley sniffs at your hand, seeming satisfied when you finally move it on your own.

You nod slowly. “Overheated…”

“Give her this.” Someone says. An event medic, you think. The boys must have flagged them down. Fingers press to your pulse point, a light shines in your eyes and you follow it. A quick check of vitals. Johnny shoves a water bottle in your hand as soon as the medic decides you’re fine to move - the contents distinctly murky from some sort of electrolyte pack that’s been shaken into it.

“Up y’get. Slowly does it.” Simon helps you sit up with a hand on your back. It’s so gentle. You don’t miss how he cages in your body the way only someone intimately familiar with caretaking might. Fully ready to catch you if you go limp again.

You sip slow, eyes glued to the ground. You feel so fucking stupid. Can’t even walk down a street without creating some sort of scene. They’re never going to want to hang out with you again, are they? You can’t go out drinking, can’t walk around a festival for longer than a couple hours. You distracted Riley. What if something happened to Johnny while you were having your spell? She might not have alerted correctly because of you. She might have gotten confused and then he could have gotten hurt. He might have-

“Ye really should drink tha’ instead of glarin’ at it.” Johnny pulls you from your thoughts. He’s now sat with his legs crossed beside you. Riley’s head rests in his lap. She seems calm. Content now that the emergency is over and happily lying on a cool floor.

You hum, chugging the last bit of it quickly. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be.” Simon says curtly. “Does this ‘appen often?”

You shrug. “Not as much anymore… usually my medication keeps me stable.”

“Do ye need a doctor?” Johnny tilts his head slightly. There’s no judgment in his tone - in either of their tones. Just calm concern. It probably shouldn’t make you want to cry as much as it does.

You shake your head. “I’ve got liquid IV at home. Just need to sleep it off.”

Hopefully. In reality, a pain flare up is inevitable now. You just won’t know how bad until you’re fully in it.

“Let’s get ye home.” Johnny says, knees popping as he stands.

“I-I’m fine!” You insist, mentally preparing to get yourself up off the floor. “I can get home on my own - I don’t want to ruin your time.”

Johnny levels his gaze onto you, so serious it almost looks angry. It doesn’t match his face. “We’re not leavin’ ye tae get home alone like this.”

You’re caught off guard when an arm slides under your back and another under knees - lifting you like you weigh half of what you do in reality. Like you’re a paperweight instead of a boulder. You blink up at Simon, far too surprised to be embarrassed. At least at first. You splutter out a poor attempt at convincing him to put you down. Excuse and reason after reason and excuse. They roll off him like water off a ducks back. Your face burns as he steps out of the post office with you neatly tucked against his chest - Johnny and Riley in tow.

If you allow yourself to be honest, to give into that weaker part of you (or, at least, the part you consider to be weak) you could possibly admit that this feels nice. Being cared for feels nice. Having your body up against someone else feels nice. It’s been a long time since anyone touched you outside of a polite handshake or accidental bump. You sink into it despite yourself - relaxing against Simon’s chest. They were right, you wouldn’t have made it back. Your head is too fuzzy and there’s that telltale pain in your shoulders radiating up to your neck that signifies an oncoming Bed Day.

It doesn’t take long with Simon’s lengthy strides to get back to your building. You probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up to that running. Well, you can’t really run much at all so you definitely wouldn’t. A stupid, muddled train of thought that melts into the hazy bog of your current mental state. Even Johnny trails a few feet behind. Neither of them speak, marching in determined silence. You attempt to subtly check their faces for any anger. You’d understand if they were angry. Most people would get angry. You interrupted their day out with your useless drama. All you get is a wide, bright grin from Johnny when your eyes eventually meet his.

Simon puts you down with all the care in the world. As if you’re made of fine china. His hand stays on your upper back - planted firmly between your shoulder blades and ready to catch you if need be. Your vision swims a bit, your joints feel like jelly but you manage to dig your keys out of your pocket and unlock the door.

“Here.” Johnny plops the puff ball back into your hands just as you turn to say goodbye. To say thank you - to apologize profusely.

Your brows raise. You completely forgot about it while swimming around in a sea of embarrassment - he must have picked it up for you. You hug it to your chest with a quiet, “Thanks.”

You shift your weight side to side, psyching yourself up for the crawl up the stairs. Probably literally. You don’t think you could stay upright if you tried to walk them like a regular day, or even with an aid. Like a regular or semi-regular person. Fuck.

Johnny follows your eyes up at the staircase. He must sense some hesitation in you. “Do ye need help up?”

You bite your lip, staring at the ground. Standing in one place seems alright, but the thought of climbing is so daunting, even with the cane you have stationed at the bottom of the steps for that exact purpose. It’s embarrassing. You’re young, you should be able to walk up some damn stairs. It isn’t even that many. It’s barely a full flight. Just one story of stairs for fuck’s sake.

“Hey.” Simon touches your cheek, the action snapping your eyes to his in surprise. “It’s okay. C’mere.”

He picks you up again in the same fashion with barely a grunt, taking his time up the steps so as not to jostle you. How many times has he done this with Johnny? you wonder. That’s the only explanation for how good he is at keeping your equilibrium so even. You wonder if he practiced - if he took caretaking classes. He probably did. Does he keep up at the gym just so he can take care of his husband? Simon might be quiet and a little formal, but he exudes dedication.

“Sorry it’s messy…” You murmur when they reach the top of the steps. Glancing behind you, you see Riley sitting patiently at the bottom. Johnny must have told her to stay. “Haven’t gotten to fully unpack…”

You’ve been spending too much time in bed on the weekends. Fucking lazy.

Johnny just laughs. “Ye shoulda seen the first place Simon an’ I had.”

“Wasn’t that bad.” Simon argues, carefully setting you down on the couch. His hands hold your waist to steady you. They’re so warm… It feels wrong to be disappointed when he lets go.

“We hadnae figured out a system yet.” Johnny huffs, hands on his hips. “We ended up hirin’ a specialized maid service the dishes got so backed up.”

You scoff, laying back against the couch with that stupid carnival prize still in your arms. Like it’s the only thing grounding you to reality. The tears that have been stinging your eyes this entire time continue to threaten to spill - a myriad of blinks and careful breaths the only thing keeping them back.

Johnny sits beside you slowly. You can’t meet his eyes. “Do… do ye want tae tell us what it is? Ye donnae have tae - it’s up tae ye. Just if somethin’ happens again…”

“We’d like to be prepared.” Simon jumps in where Johnny trails off.

You chew your lip, still staring up at the ceiling. It splits and that coppery taste coats your tongue for a moment. “I, uh, it’s called POTS. There’s different types but basically my body can’t regulate blood flow and pressure right…” You shrug. “Like I said my medication usually keeps me mostly okay.”

It’s the pain that really gets to you usually, but you don’t need to start dumping on them about that. There’s no reason to spill your guts about things they can’t fix.

“Thanks fer tellin’ us.” Johnny smiles. You stiffen slightly when he reaches out to tuck some hair behind your ear. You tilt your head, still resting on the back of the couch, to meet his eye. “Get some rest, yeah? We’ll lock the knob behind us. Call if ye need anythin’.”

“Okay.” You nod, keeping your eyes down and picking at your nails. “Sorry… about all this… I didn’t - I don’t… I’m sorry.”

“Donnae apologize.” He says softly as he stands. “Never apologize. We’re your friends, aye? Friends help friends. Tha’s all there is to it.”

Simon gives you a discerning nod behind him, expression both soft and deeply serious.

Friends? They consider you real life proper friends? Really? You can’t help but beam up at him. “Yeah.”

A/N: I’ve re-read this chapter so many times that it’s total mush in my brain which tells me it’s time to be done with it.

Bonus: I made a Pinterest board for this fic

[huunni]

breaking simon into calling you mommy.

no fucking way, princess. he laughs and shakes his head like you just told him the funniest joke on Earth. no chance, never.

simon can't even believe you would ask him such a thing. him call you mommy? have you gone mad? why in the world would he ever do that? simon had a hard enough time submitting to you as is. now you throw this into play? you must want him to tie you up and show you who runs shit around here. (it's you.)

c'mon, babyyy. you lament, leaning in and letting your dark brown nipples rub against his. up and down, still wet from simon sucking on them earlier. just one time, c'mon. say it.

simon was coming up on his third nut in the last thirty minutes, and he was starting to lose himself. your hips were moving the same pace they were when you started, maybe faster since your pussy was creaming like a faucet. no, no..im not gonna-- fuck me.. not gonna say it.

he's not. nothing can crack that wall down. he won't. his mind is made up. you clench around him in retaliation, but the tightness adds to his overstimulating pleasure and makes him drop his hands to the sheets, gripping them with a force that would have stopped you in your tracks, must be why he moved.

fuck, mm-mommy. it comes out completely unplanned, unrecognized and unintentionally. simon can't look you in the eye, just gripping your hips again and watching you grind back and forth just a bit.

what's that, si? he shakes his head, closing his eyes and throwing his his head against the headboard. simon bites his lip and whimpers, simon riley, the 6 foot 200 something pound tank of a man whimpers at the feeling of your pussy gripping him.

mommy. i said-- i called you mommy. he reiterates, moving you up and down on his cock and watching it like it would disappear if he looked away. fuck you. fucking hate you-- fuck! simon's cum started spurting up into you and he was seeing white. his balls felt like they were cramping, tightening and releasing too quickly, too harshly, he swears for a second he's gonna pass out.

before you can quip, his fingers are wrapped around your throat and squeezing. not a word. he damn near whines. he's trying to sound all manly and deep voiced, you can tell, but his voice nearly cracked at how tight you are around him, and how fucking sensitive he is. not a fucking word, i swear.

maybe not now, but this will definitely be brought back up (especially when he starts to get a thing for fucking you while you're knocked up.)

[suckerforblondeathletes]

Dizzy Reassurances - Leah Williamson

Leah Williamson x Fem!POTS!Reader

Summary: While attending a wedding with your girlfriend you get dizzy and end up fainting. But Leah know exactly what to do.

Warnings: Fainting!

Authors Note: Hey guys so im very sorry if I did something wrong in this I don't know much about POTS! so if its wrong forgive me!

You and your girlfriend were sat at a wedding reception attending one of your high school friends wedding.

You and Leah were matching, her in a grey suit and you in a grey dress.

Earlier in the wedding ceremony you started to feel dizzy, but it went away when the crowd was sat and vows were spoken.

"You alright?" Leah whispered to you when you both were sat and the bride walked up.

You turn to look to Leah and give her a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Looking into Leahs eyes I can tell she doesn't believe me but nods and looks forward to the ceremony.

-

"Do you want something to eat, love?" Leah turns to you when the first dance is over and grabs your hand.

"Babe?" She asks when she doesn't get an answer from you, looking at the gazed over expression on your face she knows what's happening.

She looks around before grabbing your shoulders and pulling you into her chest, turning your face away from the crowd and into her neck, holding you tightly against her.

When she feels your dead weight on her she starts rubbing circles on your back to coax you back to consciousness.

The bride walks over and sees you on her chest and gets concerned.

"Hey Leah! So glad you and her could make it, is everything okay?" The bride asks, looking at you in concern.

Leah looks down of you and nods. "Yeah, is there by chance a couch or private room somewhere?" Leah keeps her voice low to not make a scene.

The woman nods and points to the bridal suite and gives them permission so go in there and lay you down.

-

"What happened?" You wake up confused of where you are, Leah is on the couch next to you because she gave you the entire couch to lay on, good thing there were 3.

"You just passed out babe, its okay were laying down for a moment okay?" She grabs your hand from her seat.

"I'm sorry." You apologize and Leah is quick to stop you.

"Hey no, you could control it its okay love." She leans over to kiss your forehead and then your lips. You both lay there for a few minutes discussing the decorations and the dresses before leaving and joining the reception once again.

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