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copperpieceharlot · 4 years ago

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Bud I’m sorry to swing into your inbox uninvited like this but my soul is having an OOTS renaissance thanks to your content in the tag and did you say Leverage AU

haha holy SHIT this got Long. but yes. i’ve been. Thinking. (also literally Never feel like you have to apologize for sending me messages. i was Hoping someone would ask me about this. now i have an Excuse to share EVERYTHING ive written abt it :3)

Obviously, Roy is the leader/brains of the outfit. He grew up having some Strong Opinions abt what’s Legal versus what’s Right due to tragic backstory involving the death of his little brother which was definitely SOMEONE’S fault for negligence but since there technically wasn’t any illegal behavior, there were no consequences for it. Also he’s still angry at his dad bc he thinks his dad is also partly culpable (and also also just a dick). He’s the Moral Backbone of the team (alongside Durkon, more on that later) in basically the same way Nate was in og Leverage. He’s actually not the best at figuring out what people want (that’s Haley and, shockingly, occasionally Elan), but once he has that info, he is the absolute best at figuring out the ideal plan of attack to use in any given case.

Haley is still a thief. I mean she maps to Parker almost PERFECTLY. Her dad was a thief & a conman, her mom wasn’t but knew about it and mostly accepted it, but she died tragically in a mugging gone wrong or smth, which made Ian crank the paranoia WAY up and taught Haley to do the same in the name of “safety”. Let’s keep the “Ian is in Trouble and Haley needs money, Fast” which is why she signs on to the first job in the first place. She’s less acrobatic than Parker, tending towards finding (or making) weak spots in security, but she can still make a tumble check when she needs to.

Elan is the grifter who is somehow an Idiot but also not???? It baffles everyone. When he’s playing a part for a con, he’s FLAWLESS, but then the rest of the time he’s just. No Thoughts Head Empty. He probably gets lured in initially because he’s decided to try his hand at being part of a full team, rather than the two-man cons he’s been running that invariably end w his partner conning him as well and stealing half of his take. Also he likes the idea of being Crime Friends. He’s that tweet where it’s like, Roy: “after the heist is over, we split up and never communicate again” / Elan: [about to unveil his Crime Buddies Forever Friendship Quilt Puppets]: “never?”

Vaarsuvius is the hacker/gadget person. They have a Vaguely Snobby Yet Unidentifiable accent, dyed(?) purple hair (nobody has ever seen their roots) and nobody knows who they “really” are or where they came from, but they’re good at what they do so everyone just accepts the mystery. They probably got suckered into the team by their initial employer (who I’ll get to Eventually, lol) framing it as a challenge to their intellect, like, “oh, I see, you’re not smart enough to make this team work for you...” to which they were like Fucking Watch Me and also melted his computer. Anyways. They are joined (digitally) by their Intrepid Friend And Co-Conspirator (his words, not theirs), a fellow hacker known only as Blackwing, or, on certain forums, Blackwing_Bird. (In the first season, V only occasionally references him when saying they’re “calling in extra help” or smth for a particularly complex hack job. He starts showing up a little more in s2 and eventually by the start of s4 is a regular & established presence, but only appears as actions in a computer interface or output.) Elan is convinced he’s an AI, Belkar doesn’t think he actually exists, Haley pretends she doesn’t think he exists, and Durkon and Roy try not to think about it too hard, as long as B and V still get the job done.

Belkar is the hitter. He is on the team bc their initial employer got him out of jail for it. He doesn’t have a tragic backstory, he just likes doing violent crimes. As the series progresses, he grows some empathy & stuff, but really only for people who actually deserve it. Assholes still get decked. It’s all very touching. (Also he has dwarfism caused by achondroplasia. It doesn’t actually bother him and is useful in fights bc his opponents frequently have no fucking clue how to approach him, but he likes Pretending to take offense at stupid things just to see how far he can go with it.)

Aaaand last but not least, Durkon is the least involved member of the team. He’s actually a career criminal and Roy’s mentor, and wasn’t a member of the initial team that [redacted, I’ll tell you later, PROMISE] put together for a couple of reasons, the main one being that he’s Officially retired in order to spend more time with his family, which consists of his mom, his friend (not girlfriend) Hilgya, baby Kudzu, and a truly stunning number of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Roy frequently calls or visits him for advice and he Occasionally shows up to help out on local jobs, but generally he avoids doing crime if he can (as part of a deal with Hilgya, who is also a career criminal; basically, they’ve both cut back on the crime in order to provide a more stable home environment for Kudzu. But sometimes, you gotta do a little crime, and in those cases, Sigdi enjoys spending time w her grandson.)

NOW. THE BIG REVEAL YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. Who got the team together in the first place?!

The answer: Lord Shojo (or whatever Normal Person Name you want to assign him). Now this is where it gets tricky: he had them do a thing that they thought was good, THEN they thought it was BAD, but then when they confronted him he revealed that it Appearing to be bad was actually a test of character and would they consider working as basically internal investigators for him? But then he had a heart attack, so, rip. But THEN it turned out that he’d left them a bunch of money anyway and they were all feeling kind of Inspired so they formed the Order of the Stick, LLC (which, no, i am not coming up with a new name, actually, because I just don’t care. someone else can come up w a justification for that name, tho, i’m sure it’s possible). Also Miko was there and was unhappy abt their actions, and also their general existence.

Moving on. Villains!

Redcloak is the Sterling replacement, because that DEEPLY amuses me.

Xykon is a season-long main villain, probably one that Redcloak finds himself working for but then “teams up with” (read: blackmails) the Order to bring him down bc even Redcloak finds Xykon distasteful. That’s season 3, let’s say.

Tarquin is another season villain, say season 2. Nale probably shows up pretty early in s1, actually, as another recurring antagonist like Sterling but uh. Less good at it. Anyways the s2 final 3 eps deal with them (accidentally) discovering that Tarquin runs some Evil Empire Company, then trying to outplay him and take him down. Idk if Nale still dies in this version tbh.

Tsukiko is a one-off s1 villain who returns briefly in s4 alongside Miko, who has gone well and truly off the rails.

Season 1 finale has to do w Roy finally getting Vengeance for his little brother.

The vampire squad is the s4 finale villain who do smth terrible to Durkon and then get the Mother Of All Revenge served up to them by the Order.

I envision the show as being 5 seasons (like og Leverage) but I’m not going to sketch out s5 because I think it should be based off whatever happens in the current story arc, possibly involving some legacy of the OotSquiggle.

Other stuff!

The Order of the Squiggle is a legendary criminal team from the 60s who stole a BUNCH of famous shit & then proceeded to legendarily implode. This has no bearing on the plot I’ve sketched out, I just think it’s fun.

The Sapphire Guard members should probably be reworked as FBI. I don’t care about most of them but I do think that Lien and O-Chul could be like, FBI agents who Choose to look the other way while the Order does their very-much-not-legal-but-still-fair Justice Crime, and maybe even help them out on occasion.

So, the Final season-by-season outline, based on everything I’ve written so far:

s1 e1: getting the team together, doing a con for Shojo, then at the end he dies and the gang is like “dang what now?" and intend to split up except then they Don’t.

mid-s1: Nale shows up and tries to trick the Order, but then gets beat like a drum.

late s1: Tsukiko is an underling of the Villain Of The Week, winds up in police custody. But She’ll Be Back.

s1 finale: Roy’s Vengeance: The Vengeaning. also we meet Redcloak as an antagonist.

s2 e1: the truth abt Haley’s father comes out

early s2: The Two Live Crews Job but it’s the Order vs the Linear Guild and the Linear Guild ARE all bad guys.

mid-s2: Redcloak returns. ugh.

late s2: the sapphire guard FBI makes its first appearance, hello O-Chul and Lien.

s2 pre-finale: once again they’re in conflict w Nale over smth, he spends the whole episodes making Cryptic Remarks, they basically beat him (like a drum!) but then the stinger at the end is that Tarquin reveals himself and Elan is like “Dad?!”, roll credits.

s2 finale, part 1: Elan is hanging out w Tarquin bc he’s DEEP in Denial, the Rest of the team tries to take Tarquin down, but it doesn’t work.

s2 finale, part 2: Elan finally gets a clue and they manage to beat Tarquin. still haven’t decided if Nale dies or not, but I’m leaning towards yes. also they rescue Haley’s dad.

s3 e1: fuck dude idk.

early s3: Redcloak shows up, AGAIN, everyone groans. he has blackmail on them, he wants them to take Xykon down.

mid s3: The Rashomon Job but it’s about stealing the Talisman of Dorukan and it turns out that Nale was there too (“oh!” Elan says. “I was wondering why I looked so weird in all those mirrors! But it wasn’t my reflection, it was Nale’s!” “Sweetie, that wasn’t Nale’s reflection,” says Haley. “Huh,” says Elan, “so the mirrors were broken?”, cue eye rolling from everyone else.), and the Successful thief was Hilgya, who’d nabbed it from the owner before it even went on display.

s3 finale: they beat Xykon, actually factually, because he deserves to get his ass Thoroughly kicked, even if only in AU form. Lien and O-Chul are there, so are some other less helpful FBI people. There’s a bit where O-Chul Exact Wordses his way out of telling his superiors about the Order’s less legal activities without technically lying. King shit.

s4 e1: doesn’t really matter. maybe smth to do w some legacy of Tarquin’s company to set up the drama w Malack & Durkon later.

early s4: Durkon gets SENT TO PRISON. Malack approaches the Order abt this because sure they have Different Ethics but they’re still Friends. (Roy is surprised and a little hurt that he’s never heard of Malack, but he ignores that in favor of Let’s Get Whatever Fuckers Did This To Our Friend.)

immediately after that: Miko and Tsukiko return as a Team, preventing the Order from working on the Durkon situation

mid s4: Redcloak makes another unexpected & unwelcome appearance but he’s maybe a little less of a dick? the Order collaborates with Malack & his Crime Buddies (hello, Vector Legion) to pull one over on him tho, because “less of a dick” does not mean “a pleasant or decent person”, and also he was mean abt Durkon being in jail, so he totally deserved it. he still gets whatever he wanted tho, just takes a blow to his pride. also prevents the Order from helping Durkon. they’re having a LOT of setbacks wonder why that could be, not to make sure the season fills its whole length or anything, no sirree

s4 finale: something something taking down the organization, headed by Hel (yes that’s her real name), which framed Durkon for their Big Crime. Durkon goes free and Extra Firmly retires, For Good, He Swears, but says he “met someone new” who might be an asset.

s5 e1: minrah joins the team! and the episode is set in like, somewhere really snowy. that’s all i got.

the rest of s5: don’t know, don’t care, it’s open-ended until the comic finishes up.

#mine #ask #corvidcorgi #order of the stick #oots #leverage #leverage au #oots au #au #outline #haha this thing clocks in at 1.9k words because i am LITERALLY incapable of shutting up #hope u enjoy it bc i spent Way Too Much Mental Effort mapping out how the OotS plotlines might play out in a leverage setting #and then promptly ignored Most of that in favor of making it funnier & dumber & more villain-of-the-week #(bc lbr the comic is Good but it's got an overarching plot form that the Leverage story style does Not jive with)#i'm not tagging all these characters lol

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smalltowndetective · 5 years ago

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31 for A x detective please 🧡

Hi! Thank you for the request!

31- “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you”

So, this one does need a little explaining. As much as I love this prompt, my main A detective is just as much as an emotionally repressed dumbass as they are (but she is starting to get slightly better haha) and the other detective that I have been writing A with is way too sweet, and one, would never deal with her feelings this way, and two, would never say anything to intently hurt them. So, of course, I borrowed a detective from @lividlyinlove, who fits this prompt much better.

This is my longest request yet, and I hope you like it! And thank you Liv for letting me use your detective! You’re amazing!

Ao3 Link

Title: Give me Something

Pairing: Adam and Kira (lividlyinlove’s detective)

Words: 3k

Summary: Kira has tried to move on from whatever her and Adam are supposed to be, just to come to the realization- she can’t.

Tags: @lilyoffandoms

She had never met someone who infuriated her so much.

But she also had never met someone who drew her in like he did.

Kira had long given up ever figuring Adam out. She had grown tired of the constant back and forth that he took her on, and she wanted to move on from whatever it was. The fleeting attraction that she had, act like it had never happened. Like she knew he would do.

And goddammit she had tried. Finally accept that he was never going to thaw his icy shell that had formed over the past 900 years, and she was not going to be one to do so for him, even if she wanted to. Only he could so, and he seemed hardly interested in that, preferring to continue to hide whatever was stirring inside of him for the rest of his immortal life.

Does that drive you crazy Adam? Having to try and figure out what the hell this is for eternity?

I know it would if it were me

She had gone on a few dates, a desperate attempt to move on, keeping them a secret from the rest of the team, and while she had internally rationalized that she was doing so in order to keep Felix or even Nate from asking her questions about them, but it was really about Adam. Kira wondered just how he would react if he knew, and while part of her wanted him to feel the confliction from all and maybe just actually say something, but she was not going to push it. At least not yet.

It’s just some fun, a nice night out. There is nothing serious about them.

But she was starting to fear that there never would be. Nothing about them made her want to go back on another, as if it was missing something, but what that was, she had no idea.

All of them have been nice, and most of them are much more open then Adam is, not like that is particularly hard to be.

What possibly more could you want?

This is all came into a head after one particular date with a guy from the big city who was staying in Wayhaven for a couple of days.

She ran into him on her walk to work, and he was nice. He seemed genuinely happy to talk to her, an easy smile never leaving his face, and was not trying to push her away the whole time, doing anything to avoid even seeing her.

Like a certain someone I know.

But one thing that drew him to her immediately were his eyes.

They were a gorgeous green, but unlike Adam’s cold icy eyes, they were dark, as the color of the darkest evergreen forest, the kind that was still just as vibrant even under snow in the bitterest of winters. They were almost soothing to look into, never becoming fraught with hardness, just openness. Kindness. All the things she was not used to.

He asked her out on a date, laughing as he did so, and told her it was on a complete whim that he did so, but she graciously accepted, already finding him intriguing, so different then what she was used to, almost a night and day difference.

They went out together the next night, and everything about it was magical. As if was a scene in a movie, sweet and easy, smiles shared between them that she hoped would never die, drinking in all of the things that he told about himself, but she noticed there was some hesitance when talking about herself, but she was not sure why.

He’s fine talking about himself, why aren’t you?

It hit her like a slap across her face when she realized that she never had this trouble with Adam, stubborn and annoying as he could be, even with her own fears of vulnerability. He drew things from her anyway, and she could never understand why. It was not like he seemed to care anyway, nor would he ever.

You are not going to think about him tonight.

It’s not about him.

Though she knew that he noticed her suddenly get quieter, he did not say anything about it, but she did the slightest tinge of confusion in his eyes, and Kira focused on keeping a smile on her face to drown it all out. Tonight, was not to mope about a guy who pushed her away whenever they got close. She was going to enjoy herself, make the most of tonight, with a new guy where maybe there could be something more, even if it was too early to tell just yet.

The date ended with him dropping her off at her apartment, the sun having long set in the horizon, and she noticed that from the bright lights outside the door, his eyes looked paler than they did earlier, and it only reminded her of the person that she was trying so desperately to forget.

She almost pushed him away at the sight, being confronted with the sudden rush of guilt, though she was not sure why.

You’re not his girlfriend, it’s not like you’re cheating on him.

Then why does it feel like I am?

But she put that out of her mind, and as the pair continued to gaze at each other, as if they were the only two people in the world, she felt herself move forward, and their lips met in a kiss.

It was not a long kiss, but there was sweet feeling there all the same, but then she could see Adam’s green eyes in her mind, and just for a second, she allowed herself to imagine if it had been him, and felt her pulse race at the thought, and she pulled him closer to her, forgetting all about who it actually was and allowing herself to imagine.

And for a few precious seconds, it almost seemed true, her wildest dreams that she had longed pushed away.

But that illusion could not last forever.

When Kira opened her eyes back up, and as she stared into her date’s eyes, his eyes still as gentle and open as they had been all night, horror started to fill her, and she could feel her stomach drop in dread.

What are you doing?

This isn’t fair to him.

It’s not his fault he’s not the one you want him to be

She pulled back from his touch immediately, freaking herself out over everything that was happening, his hands starting to shake.

“Kira, are you alright?”, she heard him say, worry filling his features, “Did I- “

“No”, she stated firmly, “You did nothing wrong. This is all my doing”

He opened his mouth to say something else, but she cut him off, “I’m sorry”

She entered her apartment after that, guilt filling her stomach, and as soon as she closed the door behind her, she sank to the ground, burying her face in her hands, trying hard not to let the frustrated tears spill down her cheeks.

Why can’t he leave my head?

I want to move on, finally accept that he’s never going to admit anything for the rest of his immortal life.

But I can’t.

She was tired of all of this, this confusing mess of feelings. Kira wanted it all to end, stop pining after someone who would never give in to what she knew they both wanted deep down. For everything that he did that had just hurt the both in the end, even if he would never admit that.

Damn it, she had even kissed Bobby. Her absolute scumbag of an ex, because she had been hurt. She knew that she should have not have, but when he leaned in closer to kiss her, she kissed him back, needing anything to get off her mind off eavesdropping on Adam and Nate’s conversation after the carnival. Him admitting that he felt nothing, when her own mind was such a mine field on confused emotions affected her more then she expected it to.

“But you do have those feelings?”

"No, I do not."

Kira had been trying to avoid crying the whole ride home back to her apartment, and when she finally got home, she was far too drained and hurt to even refuse Bobby’s offer to come in, even if about every rational part of her told herself it was a horrible idea for a countless number of reasons.

It was a definite moment of weakness from her, and one that she knew that he would shove back in her face more likely sooner then later, and as much as she regretted, she was not sure if that she could go back, she would be able to do anything different then what she had done.

Maybe that spoke to her own maturity, but she could hardly care.

How else was I supposed to react?

She could not just keep finding other people to put her heartbreak on, trying to make them into someone they were not, since molding someone into you want them to be, breaking apart what made them special in the first place was the last thing she wanted to do.

How long is this going on?

Will months, even years, past, and I’ll still feel like this?

A painful thought entered her brain, of her meeting someone, it all seeming to be working out, but sometimes, there would be times when all she would see was someone that she was trying so hard to get over.

They say moving on is the hardest part.

But will I ever actually ever be able to?

Or will I be stuck in this never-ending limbo forever?

There was no way she was going to have another night like this again, as tempting as it might be. It was not fair to the other person, to have someone who was pinning for someone else, and no matter who it was, they deserved better then that. Her date tonight deserved better than that.

Should I apologize?

Should I explain the situation?

What would I even say?

Kira resigned herself to the fact that there was nothing that she could say that would even make sense at all to anyone except herself, and she knew that it was best to part ways before anything became too out of hand.

I suppose for him, it’s lucky that it happened tonight

It’s a lot less of dragging him along with my own hurt feelings, while I try to desperately find some semblance of a person that he is not.

Shaking the night out of her brain, she got up from off the guard, and she walked through her apartment to go ahead and head to bed, even though she knew she was going to be awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, hoping this would all go away.

She heard the soft padding of footsteps and the light clicks of a collar, and she barely made out her miniature schnauzer Wolfgang in the dark, his already black coat besides the small white patch on his chest making him almost invisible in the dark. He normally would have been asleep at this time of night, so she was surprised to see him still awake.

“Hey bud”, she said as he padded the side of her bed as I plea to get up, and she reached over to pick him up and set her on top of the bed with her, “Everything’s kind of a mess right now, isn’t it?”

Kira ran her hands down his thick coat, scratching behind his ears as he settled into a crook in her bed, the motion soothing her brain slightly, “At least you’re still here. You don’t make things complicated”

She could swear she almost saw him a slight of a nod of his head on the dark, and she chuckled at the sight of it, and she settled back down on her bed, and even though sleep never called her, her mind still too overactive to even try and figure out anything, it was calming none the less, even if she still had no idea at what to do.

I feel like if I do fall asleep, I’ll dream, and I don’t think I want to.

Before she knew it, she could hear her alarm go off on her phone, and she had not gotten a wink of sleep the whole time. She was tired, her eyelids feeling heavy but she would still not allow herself to sleep, and knowing that she would have to start her day regardless, she dragged herself out of bed, realizing she needed to go by the warehouse this morning.

But there was a pit of dread in her stomach as she realized she was going to have to see Adam today.

Why are you so worried about this?

It’s not like he’s not avoiding you right now anyway.

Sighing, she got up to get ready for today, trying hard to ignore the dark circles that had formed around her eyes.

I look like an absolute wreck.

Congrats, me.

She pulled her clothes on, filling Wolfgang’s dog bowl before leaving, making sure he had everything he needed before she had to leave. She normally would eat breakfast, but she was still not feeling normal after last night, so she ended up leaving anyway.

This is all such a mess.

It did not take her long to make her way to the warehouse, and the first thing that Kira noticed was that Adam was standing outside, staring at the horizon as she drove up the warehouse.

What is he doing out here?

I know well enough he’s not waiting for me

“Detective Eveli”, he remarked as she walked up to him.

She fought hard to suppress the growl in her throat. It was not fair how at the second they were seeming to be getting closer, he would just push her away again, and this forced formality he had insisted on using was starting to grate on her, almost making her skin crawl.

It was strange to her why she was getting so upset now, but after last night, she was a shell of repressed emotions, and they were threatening to overspill on any person that dared talk to her today.

Shame (or perhaps not) that had to be the person that all of this was about in the first place.

“It’s Kira, Adam”, she spat out, her blue eyes holding his eyes in a glare, “You might as well have the decently to use it”

“I find that rather unnecessary”, he replied, the faint echoes of a scowl filling his face.

“After everything that has happened, I think it’s quite necessary actually”, she said back, “It’s the least you could do”

“I fail to see what you mean”, he almost whispered, almost hesitant, turning his head to face away from her, and she could not tell if he was truly ignorant or was feigning it.

“You’re still going to act like this?”, she demanded, “Like nothing was going on between us?”

She was not sure why she asked such a question, or what had even compelled her to ask it, but she hardly cared at the moment. After everything that was going through her brain, he had to at least share all of this in her head. She refused to think she was the only one struggling with this.

“There was nothing”, he growled, but the sudden hesitance in his eyes that he worked hard to bury said otherwise.

“I can’t believe you, you know that”, she huffed out, crossing her arms almost subconsciously, “We hold hands once and then you act like you can’t be around me anymore”

Frustration just rose in her voice as he refused to answer, instead noticing that he swallowed hard, “I don’t understand any of this more then you do, you know that? I should have done what you told me to do and save Sanja, but goddammit, Adam, I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave you when you needed me”

Kira felt the sting of tears at the edge of her eyes, and she fought hard to keep them from streaming down her face, as much as they begged her to, “I’m sick of all of this. I can’t take it anymore. You can’t keep drawing me in and then pushing me back out. It’s not fair”

She took a shuddering breath, and she finally dared herself to look back at Adam, who was unsurprisingly, looking away from her, his shoulders tighter than she had ever seen them before. He looked more like a statue then he normally did.

“I’ve tried to move on, you know”, she whispered, and his head snapped back to look at her, and the sudden intense gaze almost made her forget what she wanted to say, “Finally accept you’re never going to let your walls down. But it keeps me coming back to the ugly truth, a truth that I’ve been hiding from myself for so long”

“I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you”

“Kira…”, Adam breathlessly whispered, and she could feel her hands clench, and she looked back into his eyes, narrowing her own.

“You’re going to use my name now, huh?”, she scoffed, “Or are you just coming to go back after this? Speak now, or forever hold your peace”

When he did not deign to reply, she could feel her shoulders slump, but she tried to hide it, “Of course. See you later I guess”

She then walked to the door of the warehouse, the tears in her eyes starting to break through as she turned away from Adam and walked inside, wondering what can compelled her to say what she did in the first place.

But it doesn’t matter now, and it never mattered

Nothing is ever going to change.

No matter what you say, no matter how much you beg.

Nothing is ever going to change.

#the wayhaven chronicles #wayhaven chronicles #twc #kira eveli #lividlyinlove #request #adam du mortain #adam du mortain x detective

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barnesandco · 6 years ago

Text

Little Hands (2)

Bucky is woken one morning by a small girl hammering on his door and crying her eyes out. He takes her to Child Protective Services only to be called back and informed that he is in fact, the father, and the mother a murder victim from the night before. What happens when he now finds himself a father, and the daughter in question becomes inexplicably, irrevocably attached to his neighbor who lives across the hall?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of murder, war injuries.

A/N: Thank you for the tremendous response on this series! I’m so excited that so many people are enjoying it. Tags are open, let me know if you want to be added. I’d love to hear what you think!

“I'm glad you came, Buck. Everyone's been trying to get to know you better, and hopefully this will help. You need to get out of your apartment more.” Steve murmurs across the table to Bucky, leaving the boisterous collective conversation momentarily. Bucky doesn't know how he got roped into team lunch at the Barton farm, but here he is. Eating apple pie at the table that is meant to fit half the people it's currently accommodating, as some Christmas musical rerun plays in the background. If it weren't for Nate dancing in front of the TV and singing at the top of his little lungs, someone would have asked to turn it down or off already - it's not even Thanksgiving yet.

Grateful that Steve has stopped the mother-henning for now, Bucky turns back to the pie, and then to the other Avengers. Some of them, at least. Clint looks immeasurably happy as Nat discusses target practice with his daughter, Lila. On his other side, Laura and Sam are engaged in a fierce debate on the best sides for Thanksgiving meals. The Avengers with families of their own - Scott and Tony - are notably absent, spending free time with their children, making it seem as though Clint has taken in a collection of strays.

He looks past the table and out the window, where the remaining few leaves are falling down in an early winter breeze. It's grey, but then, everything feels grey compared to Wakanda. Ironic coming from a man raised in the smog and fog of Brooklyn, he knows, but his life is just one color after the other. Phases passing like the seasons.

After Brooklyn, it was the trenches of the war, where Bucky knew nothing but brown for months on end. Then the sterile silver of Zola's equipment, followed by the consuming black of his cell. When he finally got out, the most dominant color was white. Agent Carter's perfect teeth, his cold knuckles around a rifle, the snow-clad mountains he fell between during that awful train-ride. Red followed - the bloody stump where his left arm used to be, the gunshot wounds that blossomed wherever he went, the star on his shoulder. His stupid fucking Henley, even the robe in green, green Wakanda. He's sick of red, longs for blue, now.

That's the crux of his problem, at present. Those blue eyes from yesterday, glittering like the moon, distant, but ever present. And oh, so familiar. Unrecognizable, whenever he tries, and he doesn't think any of his memory lapses have frustrated him like this one. He should know where he's seen Nina's eyes before. He doesn't, though, cannot. Pressing his brain has yielded no answer, not as he saw her staring at him from the rearview mirror on the way to drop her off. Not when she started tearing up again when it was time to leave, not when she watched you as you reassured as she clung on to you. Not when she almost glared at him, as if for a betrayal, over the shoulder of a social worker that carried her way. He thanks God that childcare workers have weekend shifts, because he wouldn't have known what to do with Nina for a second longer, with or without your help.

He had dropped you at your intended grocery store with too many thank-you's and awkward blushes and red stutters. Almost smacked himself in the forehead after you left the car for his total and utter inability to be coherent around you. He knows he isn't who he used to be, doesn't expect to be the ladies' man Steve tells him about, but he wishes he could at least put on a facade. At least appear sane and capable of basic human interaction. You never seem to mind, though, always offering a friendly giggle and gentle patience as he stumbles over his words. He wonders if that's a facade, too. If you're not as willing to put up with him as you appear to be, the way you were with Nina yesterday.

He could tell you were out of your depth, but you handled it like a champ. Handled her, rather. All his thought processes are circling back to Nina, and he doesn't understand it. One child, left alone on his doorstep in the dead of night. The mystery of it is most inconvenient. Bucky shakes all thought of it out, and decides to participate in the conversation at the table, and jumps, to find Wanda staring at him.

She smiles as if it's not an issue, as if she hasn't been watching him for who knows how long, and reaches for another piece of pie.

"Are you okay, Mr. Barnes?" She asks when he doesn't stop looking at her and Steve looks over. Bucky resists the urge to roll his eyes at the concern that immediately overtakes his features.

"Yeah, Buck, you look a little out of it. Everything alright?" Steve leans on his forearms, ready to do whatever is required to put Bucky at ease. The others start to get up as lunch is now over. Bucky begins to answer Steve as he makes his way past him with a plate to put away.

"I'm fine, Stevie. Don't wor-" Ring. Saved by the bell. Bucky puts the plate down and pulls his phone out of his pocket and looks at the caller ID; it's an unsaved number. His teammates are bustling about, getting ready to settle down in the living room, and he mutters a generic excuse me and answers the call. While holding the phone to his ear, he accidentally presses the speaker button.

"Hello?" He says gruffly, standing in the foyer.

"Is this Sergeant Barnes?" A woman asks from the other end. The TV has been turned off, Nate's attention diverted. The four-year-old runs out of the room, barely missing Bucky's legs, and rushes up the stairs.

"Yeah, who's askin' ?" Everyone in the next room has gone quiet, and he - super senses and all - does not know it yet, back to the door, eyes on his socks scuffing against the worn floorboards, and ears on the professional, straight-cut voice on the phone.

"It's about the girl you brought in to our Brooklyn office yesterday morning. Nina?" Bucky holds his breath. He had given the CPS office his number to let him know when they found her parents. Something in him, maybe the forgotten big brother part that still holds on to Becca, feels a responsibility towards the girl. And he can't get rid of the niggling question that asks: why would someone go to all that trouble to leave her on his doorstep?

"Yeah? What about her?" He shifts his weight, tucks a hand in his pocket, clenches and opens his fist. "Have you found her parents?"

"Sir, you're the father." Bucky's heart stops. He freezes, blood turning to stone and muscles to glass. The anger floods his cheeks red. Steve stands, cup of coffee neglected on the table.

"Is this some kinda joke? 'Cause I don't find it funny. That's impossible." He fumes, now pacing, assassin-silent stalk abandoned in favor of heavy treading across the planks. His hair curtains his face and he pushes it back as he listens closely to her response.

"Sir, we conducted a DNA test to see if there was a match in the system, and you are the father." Bucky ceases pacing when he meets Steve's eyes through the doorway, tunnel vision excluding the others' stares.

"Did you find the mother?" He asks, hand no longer raking through his hair, but pulling at the strands.

"That's the second cause of concern, Sergeant Barnes. The mother was found murdered in Bushwick on Saturday morning." She replies, apology now saturating her tone. Bucky can taste the sympathy through the phone, and he doesn't know whether to swallow it up or vomit.

"What's her name?" He manages.

"Irene Petrov."

"What's going to happen to Nina?" Bucky asks, not accepting this result, but retaining some semblance of pragmatism. He doesn't have a daughter. He can't have a daughter. The name Irene rings no bells, and there's no way, even with his bruised, battered memory, that he would forget making a child with someone. The idea that she's dead sends a jolt to his gut, and he staggers. The nausea that comes with the gut feeling that something is not right tastes like metal and bile in his throat, and he heaves in deep breaths of clean country air in order to listen to the woman answer his question.

"You have custody, unless you decide to give it up, in which case she'll enter the foster system." Clint is now on his feet, too; Wanda's taken to biting her nails.

"Okay. Okay, alright. Can you send me the results? I'll pick her up soon." Bucky wrings his free hand, asking for some sort of verification. He needs proof. Evidence. Something to hold onto as the world swims around him, buzzing ears barely perceiving the woman's promise to send him the documents, and subsequent good-bye. A headache builds between his eyes as he turns back to Steve, holding his phone like he doesn't know what it is, or what it does.

"Buck? What was that all about?" Steve speaks first, walking up to him, audience forgotten. Bucky looks over his shoulder to realize they heard the entire conversation, but finds that he doesn't fully care. He told them about finding Nina earlier, and now they know everything. Just as well, he would have had to tell them anyway.

"You heard everything, Steve. Don't know what more there is to say." He chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief at the phone in his hand. The phone buzzes, signaling an email.

"These are the DNA test results. Got no idea how that's possible, but there you go." He shows Steve the phone screen, still shaking his head, unsure whether to laugh or scream. A daughter.

An hour later sees him standing inside the reception he dropped Nina off at yesterday, not knowing that her mother was dead in a proverbial ditch a stone's throw away. Irene Petrov. The name means nothing to him, but he can't trust his mind, based on the events of late.

Sam is standing on his right, and Steve to his left, both silent and in wait. After verification of the results through a quick phone call with F.R.I.D.A.Y., they had left Clint's house together in Sam's car. Both men had insisted on joining him, noticing his evident despair, and wanted to be by his side. A social worker holding Nina’s hand emerges from a hallway, and Bucky moves forward. It’s the same woman who coaxed Nina away yesterday when he dropped her off.

“Sergeant Barnes. Nice to see you again.” She says, smiling, but Bucky suspects she’s disgusted. Suspects that he tried to abandon his daughter - his daughter? - and was found out. He forces a stiff nod in response.

“Hi.” He says, then looks at Nina, whose gaze is defiant, chin turned up. She’s angry, as angry as a child can be, anyhow.

Before he can address her, however, the social worker gestures for him to follow her to a seating area nearby, still holding Nina’s hand. They sit, and she opens a slim manila folder, showing him the documents within. Rather, the alarming lack thereof.

“Nina has no record, Sergeant Barnes. No birth certificate, in the US or otherwise, as far as we can see. No passport, medical records, any official documents of registration. We’ve just registered her here, though, and it’s on the basis of that registration that we’ve made the papers assigning you to have her full custody. Please sign here.” She hands him a pen, turns the page towards him, and he reads through it. Lifts the paper to see copies of the DNA report underneath. After mere moments of deliberation - wasted moments, it’s not like he has a choice - he signs the fateful paper. Wipes his palms on his thighs anxiously, looks at Nina but talks to the social worker.

“Can we go now?” He asks, like a teenager excusing themselves from the dinner table. Nina’s watching him, curious, piercing blue eyes fixated on him. Perhaps he recognizes them because they’re her mother’s, who he doesn’t recall meeting, but his subconscious does. Is that why they’re so startingly familiar? He shakes the query out of his head, once again, and stands when the woman does. She nods, wishes him well, and hands Nina over, points out the car seat and backpack that has now been brought out. She waves goodbye, and Nina watches her go, patiently, unmoving. Bucky bends down, rests one knee on the beige carpet, and looks at her.

“Hey, Nina, remember me? I’m-”

“Bucky.” She blurts out, and he is taken aback. Didn’t expect her to remember his name, and he knows she only does because of the conversation between you and him on the way here. You had introduced him. This is my friend, Bucky. He’s nice. He smiles at Nina, nods, and holds out his hand out to shake hers. Almost withdraws it when her eyes widen, and he prays she doesn’t cry again. Calmer than yesterday, having had time to come to terms with this horrible predicament, she doesn’t cry. Instead she shakes his hand, and he releases the breath he was holding hostage in his chest, pressure from his lungs relieved but the pressure on his hand remains. She has a firm handshake.

“Yeah, I’m gonna be taking care of you. Is that okay?” He asks, fully aware of Steve and Sam’s stares burning into him. He can see a smirk and a dropped jaw from his peripherals, and feels like pumping a fist in the air just for Sam’s awestruck gaze. Internally thanks Steve for having more faith in him than he does himself. He’s not the only one, because it seems that Nina is starting to trust him, too.

“Yes.” She says, voice a whisper, gliding around him. He stands, and holds out his hand. The feeling of her small fingers wrapping around his large, calloused ones is indescribable. Soft, warm, they fit in his perfectly, and unbelievably, inexplicably, Bucky’s heart soars. His stomach is still in knots, the thought of Irene Petrov doing somersaults in his abdomen, but for the first time since yesterday morning, he thinks something feels right. Her hand in his is comfortable, and he doesn’t want to let go. Stifling the smile, he finally gets to where Steve and Sam are.

“Nina, these are my friends.” She doesn’t respond, looks up at the men unimpressed, and he smiles again. “This is Steve, and this is Sam.” He says as each man kneels down to say hello.

“Where is the lady?” She asks, her r and l pronounced as w’s, and Bucky blanches. Thinks of you, doing more than you should have, kind mind and sound heart, helping him drop Nina off with your shy smile and glinting eyes. Wonders if you’ll understand his situation, even though he knows he has bigger fish to fry than worry about his chances at taking you on a date when he now has a girl, a whole person, to take care of. So he tells that girl the only thing that comes to mind.

“She was busy, honey, I’m sorry. Hey, do you want to get ice-cream on the way home?” He says, and changes the subject before she can react. She frowns, then perks up slightly, nods for ice-cream. Unfortunately-

“Ice-cream in November, Buck? She’ll get sick before you’ve even brought her home” Steve points out, and she glares at him. Bucky very nearly laughs at the look on her face, and Sam grins.

“Okay, okay, ice-cream in November.” Steve actually laughs, holding his hands up in surrender, waving away the distrust on Nina’s tiny, chubby face. Bucky’s gaze goes to her little hands unclenching from the fists they were in.

“Alright, man, let’s go.” Sam says, picking up the car seat and patting Bucky on the shoulder as he leads them out. Bucky grins, if only for a moment, watches the beginnings of a smile on Nina’s face as they leave the building.

---

Kamenev holds two empty glass vials up to the flickering lightbulb suspended from the ceiling. One used to contain hairs belonging to the Fist of Hydra, proof of DNA just in case. The other held a fingerprint mold of the same man - biometric identity. He smashes the vials in a tissue, flushes it all down the toilet of another dirty motel bathroom.

He’s sick of these dingy, disgusting places, knows he deserves better. He deserves the world at his feet, after his scientific accomplishment, the only evidence of which is the child itself. The child that has been slipping out of his grasp like sand through his fingers. She manages to evade him, even when her mother could not. However, he is sure he will find her soon. He must.

Taglist: @suz-123 @mermaidxatxheart @buckyreaderrecs @shield-agent78 @corneliabarnes @readerandcinephileingeneral @stevieboyharrington @captainchrisstan @mickmoon @notsomellowmushroom @alyxkbrl @mcueveryday @jennmurawski13 @hailqueenconquer @luckyfiction17 @veganfangirl5

#ayesha writes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fluff #dad!bucky #bucky x reader angst #bucky x reader fluff

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odogarons · 5 years ago

Text

OTP Question Meme

I was tagged by @honesthearts (thank you Dani!!!)

I’m going to tag @toreadours, @mybiworld, and @rhetoricalrogue no pressure of course!

Also I did all three of my Wayhaven Chronicles ships so this post is RIDICULOUSLY LONG, so I’m gonna apologize in advance for that. PxN= Pax and Nate, PxM = Poloma and Mason, RxF = Reese and Felix

Also no cute otp edits because this post is long enough

DISAGREEMENTS.

Who is more likely to raise their voice?

PxN: Pax but that has only happened once or twice when he felt like he wasn't being heard

PxM: Neither, Poloma goes scary calm when she gets angry and Mason just tends to get growly

RxF: Reese but even that's incredibly rare

Who threatens to leave but never actually does?

Neither for all of them. Threatening to leave is a big deal that none of them take lightly

Who actually keeps their word and leaves?

Neither for all of them.

Who trashes the house?

PxN: Neither

PxM: Neither

RxF: Neither in fact Reese tends to start cleaning to ease their frustration

Do either of them get physical?

Absolutely not for all of them

How often do they argue/disagree?

PxN: Rarely, when they do it's about Pax's safety

PxM: Again rarely, usually when they have to decide how to deal with people

RxF: Even more rarely since both are pretty good about coming to an understanding or a solution pretty quickly

Who is the first to apologize?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Poloma

RxF: Felix

SEX.

Who is on top?

PxN: Nate more often but only by a smidge

PxM: Mostly likely Mason

RxF: Reese

Who is on bottom?

PxN: Pax more often but again only by a smidge

PxM: Most likely Poloma

RxF: Felix

Any kinks?

PxN: Not really?

PxM: Definitely

RxF: Yep

Who has the strangest desires?

Eh I don't like this question but Mason and Reese are more open to different ideas just because they have that experience but I wouldn't say their desires are strange. I think both Nate and Pax are pretty open too but they're happy with...keeping things simple I'll say

Who’s dominant in bed?

PxN: Pax, I guess if I had to pick one

PxM: Mason, but oh boy does he love when Poloma takes the reigns

RxF: Reese a little more often but they tend to switch it up

Is head ever in the equation?

Hell yeah for all of them

If so, who is better at performing it?

PxN: Nate, with the time he's been around, he's had more opportunists to perfect his technique but Pax isn't a slouch okay

PxM: Mason, again with the time he's been around, and that he's been involved with more people he's Really Good but Poloma knows how to drive him Wild too.

RxF: Reese (SURPRISE ITS NOT THE VAMPIRE THIS TIME) They just have more experience but again that doesn't mean that Felix doesn't know how to take care of them

Ever had sex in public?

PxN: Nope

PxM: Once or twice. It's not something that Poloma is into but there have been a few times that she can't wait to get somewhere secluded

RxF: Nope

Who moans the most?

PxN: Pax is surprisingly loud, not that Nate is complaining

PxM: Both, which is something each of them enjoys

RxF: Felix and Reese loves it

Who leaves the most marks?

PxN: Neither

PxM: Poloma leaves the most visible marks

RxF: Both

Who is the more experienced of the two?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Mason

RxF: Reese

Do they ‘fuck’ or ‘make love’?

PxN: Make love more often

PxM: Both

RxF: Make love way more often

How long do they usually last?

PxN: Only about as long as the other

PxM: Mason likes to take things slow and draw them out while making sure Poloma gets a couple of o's in so A WHILE

RxF: Felix lasts a little longer, something Reese blames on him being a vampire

Rough or soft?

PxN: Soft all the way

PxM: Both, depends on the day and their mood

RxF: Soft more often

Is protection used?

Yes for all of them

Does it ever get boring?

PxN: Nope

PxM: Absolutely not

RxF: No but then I don't think many things can be boring with Felix and Reese around

Where is the strangest place they’d have sex?

PxN: In front of the fireplace in the common room in the warehouse

PxM: The back of Poloma's car

RxF: The library in the warehouse

FAMILY.

Do they plan on having children/or have children?

PxN: They plan on adopting eventually

PxM: Nope, Poloma has never wanted to be a mother and with how dangerous both of their jobs are, that's more reason not to and Mason has never been fond of kids to start with.

RxF: Possibly but they would go the adoption route as well

If so, how many children do they want/have?

PxN: Two maybe three

PxM: Zero

RxF: One or two

AFFECTION.

Who likes to cuddle?

All of them are huge cuddlers, though Mason would never admit it

Who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places?

PxN: Both

PxM: Mason to no one's surprise

RxF: Felix likes to start shit but Reese is usually quick to retaliate

Who struggles to keep their hands to themself?

PxN: Pax

PxM: Both

RxF: Felix

How long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable?

PxN: They could cuddle forever

PxM: They could also cuddle forever

RxF: Reese can last for an hour or so before they have to move like switch positions or where they're at.

What is their favourite non-sexual activity?

PxN: Reading together

PxM: Napping together, sitting on the roof and stargazing

RxF: Going for walks, usually through the center of town or a mall

Where is their favourite place to cuddle?

PxN: Couch

PxM: Bed

RxF: Wherever they're both at tbh

SLEEPING.

Who snores?

PxN: Pax

PxM: Neither

RxF: Felix, but very lightly

If both do, who snores the loudest?

Do they share a bed or sleep separately?

Each couple shares a bed after they get together

If they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart?

PxN: Both of them apart since they like to stretch out but they're usually touching

PxM: Start off cozied up together but drift apart as they sleep

RxF: Cozied up together

What do they wear to bed?

PxN: Both of them wear pajama bottoms

PxM: Nothing if Mason has a say Poloma wears a tank top and her underwear, Mason wears just his underwear

RxF: Reese usually wears a long tshirt and a pair of shorts, Felix wears pajama bottoms

Are either of them insomniacs?

PxN: Nope

PxM: Poloma struggles to turn her brain off sometimes to fall asleep but Mason is happy to help with that

RxF: Reese has a hard time staying asleep some nights because of nightmares or just general tossing and turning but having Felix there helps

Can sleeping pills be found by the bedside?

PxN: No

PxM: There are some old ones in Poloma's apartment but she hasn't used them in a long time because she hates the side effects

RxF: No though Reese has considered trying them

Do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side?

PxN: Side by side

PxM: Both

RxF: All the wrapped limbs

Who wakes up with bed hair?

PxN: Pax

PxM: Both though Poloma's is usually worse

RxF: Both

Who wakes up first?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Mason, he doesn’t need as much sleep

RxF: Reese

Who prepares breakfast in bed for the other?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Neither, though Mason will pour a cup of coffee for Poloma while she's getting ready

RxF: Felix is allowed to make toast and that is IT

What is their favourite sleeping position?

PxN: Usually laying on their sides facing each other

PxM: With Poloma laying her head on Mason's chest or spooning

RxF: However lets them be wrapped up in each other tbh

Do they set an alarm each night?

With the twins and Reese being detectives and having to go into work every morning, yeah (much to Mason's extreme annoyance, stupid loud alarms)

Who has nightmares?

PxN: Nate is more likely to

PxM: Poloma, usually about Murphy

RxF: Both

Can a television be found in their bedroom?

PxN: Nope, its probably some miracle that they have their phones in their bedroom tbh

PxM: Nope

RxF: Nope though Felix has brought it up once or twice, Reese just see the point

Who has ridiculous dreams?

PxN: Neither

PxM: Poloma

RxF: Felix

Who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed?

PxN: Nate just because he's taller

PxM: Mason

RxF: Reese

Who makes the bed?

PxN: Whoever has the chance to in the morning

PxM: Neither, both of them think it's a waste of time

RxF: Reese

What time is bed time?

PxN: Pax's usual schedule is to be in bed between 10 and 11 pm

PxM: Whenever they both get there, though Mason has been known to drag Poloma to bed if she’s working too late

RxF: Reese usually tries to be in bed no later than midnight but there are nights that Felix has to coax them to bed

Any routines/rituals before bed?

Nothing unusual for any of them outside of brushing teeth, changing, etc. Just usual bedtime stuff

Who’s the grumpiest when they wake up?

PxN: Neither

PxM: Both, neither of them are morning people

RxF: Felix, takes a little bit for him to wake up

WORK.

Who is the busiest?

I think it's fair to say that the twins and Reese are the busiest since they all pull double duty as detectives and agents for the Agency.

Who rakes in the highest income?

I think all the vampires make more

Are any of them unemployed?

Nope

Who takes the most sick days?

The vampires don't get sick but Pax is the least likely of the detectives to take a sick day much to everyone's great worry

What are their jobs?

Pax, Poloma, and Reese are detectives for Wayhaven and liaisons between the Agency and the town while Nate, Mason, and Felix are members of Unit Bravo, with Nate being the second in command and research expert, Mason being the interrogations expert, and Felix being reconnaissance and infiltration expert.

Who sucks up to their boss?

None of them really suck up to their bosses but Pax, Nate, and Reese are much more likely to try and stay on their good sides

Who is more likely to turn up late to work?

PxN: Neither

PxM: Poloma, both because she loses track of time easily and Mason likes to be a distraction

RxF: Felix

Who stresses the most?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Poloma, though Mason stresses more inwardly

RxF: Felix

Do they enjoy or despise their careers/occupations?

All six of them love their jobs actually!

Are they financially stable?

Yep all of them are!

HOME.

Who does the washing?

PxN: Both, depends on who was cooking, if one cooks the other cleans up

PxM: Poloma usually

RxF: Reese usually but Felix dries

Who takes out the trash?

PxN: Both

PxM: Both

RxF: Felix, it’s a game for them. Reese times him to see how fast he can get out to the dumpster and back

Who does the ironing?

PxN: Pax

PxM: In the very, very rare instance that they need to actually iron it's Poloma because it's her clothes that need ironed

RxF: Reese

Who does the cooking?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Poloma, though Mason likes to "help"

RxF: Reese, Felix gets to sit on the counter and not touch anything

Who is more likely to burn the house down just trying?

PxN: Neither they're both pretty good cooks

PxM: Neither

RxF: F E L I X

Who is messier?

PxN: Hmm, Pax maybe by a smidge, they're both pretty clean

PxM: Poloma but it's more of an...organized chaos. Everything has a place, it just maybe could find a better place

RxF: Felix

Who leaves the toilet roll empty?

PxN: Neither

PxM: Neither

RxF: Felix when they first got together but he's doing better now

Who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor?

PxN: Neither, that's what the hamper is for

PxM: Both, look sometimes the clothes just gotta live on the floor for a night, it always ends up picked up though

RxF: Felix but he eventually picks them up

Who forgets to flush the toilet?

None of them

Who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere?

PxN: Neither, Pax leaves his with his wallet in one specific spot on his bedside table and Nate doesn't drive

PxM: Poloma because Mason has hidden them

RxF: Neither, Reese always keeps their in a little bowl by the door and Felix doesn't drive

Who answers the telephone?

All of them have their own phones and no home phones but

PxN: Pax more willing to answer both of their phones

PxM: Literally either of them will answer whichever phone is ringing just to get it to stop

RxF: It's a race to answer Reese's phone, Felix likes to mess with whoever is on the other end

Who mows the lawn?

PxN: Pax when they actually have a house

PxM: They live in an apartment or the warehouse so neither have to worry about it

RxF: Same as Poloma and Mason

Who does the vacuuming?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Mason

RxF: Reese

Who does the groceries?

PxN: Both

PxM: Poloma since she's the one eating it

RxF: Felix with heavy supervision from Reese so they don't end up with just junk food

Who takes the longest to shower?

PxN: Pax

PxM: They shower together so

RxF: Reese, and Felix is more than happy to join them if they take too long

Who spends the most time in the bathroom?

PxN: I think it's pretty equal

PxM: Poloma, she's got more hair to deal with

RxF: I think this is pretty equal too

MISCELLANEOUS.

Is money a problem?

PxN: Nate is more likely to spend money than save but they always have enough to pay bills

PxM: Nope

RxF: Nope

How many cars do they own?

PxN: Just Pax's motorcycle

PxM: Poloma's little silver car and one Agency suv

RxF: Just Reese's little yellow bug

What’s their song?

PxN: Can't Help Fallin in Love by Haley Reinhart

PxM: The Only Exception by Paramore or Uh-Huh by Julia Michaels

RxF: Bright by Echosmith

Do they live in the city or in the country?

All of them live in the small town of Wayhaven

Do they own their home or do they rent?

PxN: Own their own home

PxM: Rent

RxF: Rent

Do they enjoy their surroundings?

All six of them do yep!

What do they do when they’re away from each other?

PxN: Work, research

PxM: Work

RxF: Work

Where did they first meet?

Technically they all met outside the warehouse that night that Pax/Reese pepper sprayed Adam, but introductions were made the next day when they met at the station

Who spends the most money when out shopping?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Poloma by a little bit

RxF: Both

Who’s more likely to flash their assets?

PxN: Pax, he enjoys some technology so he’s more likely to show off a new phone or tablet

PxM: Neither

RxF: Reese

Any mental issues?

PxN: Nope

PxM: Poloma’s got adhd

RxF: Nope though Felix reads as adhd to me but

Who finds it amusing when the other trips over?

PxN: Neither they both instantly go into worry mode and check in on each other

PxM: Both. Mason very rarely trips damn vampires so Poloma gets a kick out of it when it does happen and Mason occasionally makes Poloma stumble on purpose just so he can catch her and make some flirty joke to make her blush

RxF: Both! After they make sure the other is okay of course they both have a little laugh

Who’s terrified of bugs?

PxN: Pax isn’t terrified but he sure doesn’t like them

PxM: Poloma would be okay with them if they were outside

RxF: Both

Who kills the spiders around the house?

PxN: Nate catches them and lets loose outside

PxM: Mason, after teasing Poloma and asking what he gets out of it (to be fair Poloma has been bitten a few times and isn’t looking to have that happen again)

RxF: Both, usually one spots it and the other kills it

Do they have any fears for their future?

I think for all of them their biggest fears involve the life spans of the humans, all of the vampires are going to outlive them and that’s scary. The only solution though is to turn the humans into vampires as well but that comes with its own set of equally scary outcomes. Poloma, Mason, Reese, and Felix tend to not think about any of that at all, mostly because they have a lot on their plates already while Pax and Nate acknowledge the problem they tend to skirt around the issue.

Their favourite place?

PxN: The library

PxM: Bed The rooftop

RxF: The bakery

Who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner?

PxN: Nate

PxM: Neither

RxF: Reese

Who pays the bills?

PxN: Both

PxM: Poloma since she’s had all her bills set on autopay for forever

RxF: Reese

Who’s the tallest?

PxN: Nate by three inches (Pax is 6′1, Nate is 6′4)

PxM: Mason by nine inches (Poloma is 5′4, Mason is 6′1)

RxF: Felix by seven inches (Reese is 5′0, Felix is 5′7 but Reese’s attitude is 6′1)

Who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other?

PxN: Pax

PxM: Assuming they aren’t already in there together, Mason by a little bit

RxF: Felix

Who wanders around in their underwear?

PxN: Pax is more likely to

PxM: Mason, though Poloma will too occassionally

RxF: Felix

Who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio?

PxN: Pax

PxM: Poloma

RxF: Both

What do they tease each other about?

PxN: Pax teases Nate about how bad he is with technology

PxM: Mason teases Poloma about her height, Poloma teases him about him being a grouch

RxF: Felix teases about Reese’s bright choice of color in their wardrobe and their apartment but it’s always done in this big over dramatic way that always makes Reese laugh

Who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times?

PxN: Neither, both think the other has a great sense of style tbh

PxM: Mason, Poloma is a lot more willing to wear colors and patterns than he is

RxF: Neither, Reese has a fun, colorful sense of style that Felix loves

Who crushed first?

PxN: Pax probably? By like...five seconds

PxM: Poloma for sure though she wasn’t willing to admit it

RxF: Felix definitely but Reese was crushing not long after

Any alcohol or substance related problems?

PxN: Nope, both enjoy a drink occasionally but it’s not a problem

PxM: Poloma is addicted to caffeine but both of them used to have a smoking problem

RxF: Nope

Who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am?

PxN: Neither

PxM: Poloma but that would be such a once in a lifetime occurrence that I almost don’t want to say that

RxF: Neither

Who swears the most?

PxN: Pax

PxM: Both, sometimes its a competition to see who can swear the most

RxF: Reese though it’s usually under their breath

#tag games #oc tag #pax jones #poloma jones #reese thorne #otp: with your hand in mine #otp: home in your heartbeat #otp: always thinking of you #JESUS THIS POST IS SO LONG I'M SO SORRY #if you read through the whole thing I owe you one (1) life debt

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wisepuma23 · 7 years ago

Text

The Butterfly’s Shelter Chapter 3

First Chapter - Previous Chapter

Notes:

puma - okay okay this is late! I know >.< But gosh darn it I made it longer so it’s worth the wait!! And a big round of applause for Tashi to draw two wonderful illustrations for this chapter. And her writing helped <33 So much!! Also, shout out to @my-happy-little-bean and @sher-soc-the-famder for being my betas for this chapter!! Love them. Also, I’m not going to make promises for the next chapter, but I do think it’s gonna be around the end of November. Hopefully! Also, I’m trying out a taglist so let me know if you want to be on it!

Tashi - I had so much fun working on this chapter and doing the illustrations for it! Thank you to the betas and for you followers who have been so patient! Also shout out to Puma cause they're always reminding me when my illustrations are inconsistent to what's in the fic so I can fix them! I appreciate it so much!

Warnings: Language, Minor Injury

Read on AO3

Logan opened his eyes to a wide blue sky. Grass waved in his vision as blurry confusion took hold of him. Where was he? Logan groaned as he sat up, clutching his head. Any knowledge he had slipped through his fingers. He rubbed his eyes as the wind whistled through the yellow grass in all directions.

He was in the middle of nowhere.

Fear clutched his heart as he stood up. Grass stretched to the horizon, no matter how much he spun around, the sight of fields in all directions. This...this wasn’t right! Logan’s mind raced as he took in the idyllic scenery. It was something straight out of one of Roman’s storybooks. But there were no houses. No cars. Nothing but the faint buzz of insects and the flowers.

‘Where...where was home?’

I want to go home.

Logan stumbled from the wave of homesickness that almost overtook him. This wasn’t home, but where was home? He...he didn’t remember.

God, I can’t be lost.

Logan patted his pockets but he had no phone, no compass, and certainly no money. The sun! Yes, the sun was important.

Logan blinked up at the wide open blue skies again. Birds flew up so high that they were nothing more than black dots. His world tilted as he saw himself from a bird’s eye. Small, unassuming, and a black dot in a yellow field that stretched to infinity. Nausea made his legs weak and with a thud, he fell down to the grass. The wind whipped through his hair as existential dread crawled up his spine and whispered in his ear.

You’re inconsequential.

Tiny in the grand design.

How can you ever be a good parent to--

Logan blinked. To who? He racked his brain. A name on the tip of his tongue. A knot of anger twisted in his chest as the name slipped through his fingers. Failed memory retrieval.

Logan pulled on his hair, an old habit from his formative years; pain pain pain. Who?! He almost yanked a fistful out when--

The sky shook.

Logan looked up to see a bright light streaking across the sky. Distant rumbling disturbed the quiet peace of the fields. A star! Logan walked forward as he followed the trails of dust scattered in the atmosphere. In one blink to the next, the sky went dark. Then, thousands of stars lit up the sky; but Logan only had eyes for one.

A star was falling.

Logan broke out into a run. Leaves and twigs broke under his shoes as the wind’s whistling grew louder. The rumbling in his ears marched like a heartbeat. He had to catch it! Logan held out his arms as he chased the star streaking far overhead. Questions wracked his brain as his breaths grew short.

All stars had names.

Logan looked up at the glittering constellations, vainly hoping to see an empty spot; was it Sirius? A or B? Canopus, Vega, Rigel?

‘No’, his gut answered, ‘that isn’t his name’. Polaris, Pollux, or even Alpha Centauri?

No, no, what was his name?! Think, think, think!! Remember.

The tip of his tongue burned with the word! If only he could find the empty space it left behind. Yet all the stars in Orion’s Belt, both Ursas, and in the Zodiacs were still there, offering him no clues to the star’s identity.

A wolf’s cry split the night. Invisible teeth nipped at his heels as the grass rustled with more wolves. The star grew brighter until it outshone all the others as it careened down further to the horizon in front of him. A hill rose up in the distance. Logan ran but he couldn’t outrun the wolves. They licked their chops as they stared up at the falling star.

No, no, he’s mine.

Logan snarled as he pushed ahead. Run, run, run! His thoughts were racing faster than him; if he jumped from the hill, he could catch him. Before wolves could ensnare the little celestial in their wide smiles and bury him in a place where no star could shine.

The hill rose up before him; so close! He outstretched his hands upwards.

Suddenly, he felt teeth tearing into his shins. He let out a scream as he crumpled to the ground. Jagged rocks bit into his arms as his shins burned with sparks.

Logan craned his head upwards towards the glittering star, the light refracting in his broken glasses. A heavy breath panted down the back of his neck. A stench of animal permeated the air as saliva dripped down his collar.

Logan raised a shaking hand up to the star as three wolves rushed past him. There was no time. Run, run, run away!

“Virgil!” Logan screamed before sharp teeth clamped around his throat.

His eyes snapped open as he clutched his throat. Confusion roiled through his mind as he felt smooth skin under his fingers instead.

A nightmare…

Logan drew in a shuddering breath as he leaned forward on the couch as he rubbed his temple. He’d never had one so vivid before. Logan didn’t take much stock in dreams; they were nothing more than hogwash and subconscious mutterings.

Logan took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He breathed in through his nose until his chest loosened.

The sound of the floorboards creaking echoed in his ears, and his head snapped up at the sound.

Standing in front of him was his sheepish best friend, frozen in place. His sunglasses almost slipping off his nose.

Logan glanced up at the clock; was it really Thursday already? Logan shook his head as Nate came closer and handed him a piping hot cup of green tea.

“How long have you been waiting?” Logan said as he took the cup. “I didn’t mean to sleep in so late.”

“.....Ten minutes,” Nate said, looking over his sunglasses with soulful brown eyes. “And you look like hell for a guy who slept till noon.”

“Five hours,” Logan murmured to himself. “A new record…”

Nate’s eyes narrowed as he pushed his sunglasses over his head.

“Please tell me you aren’t sleeping less than the recommended six to eight hours of sleep. Insomnia can be fatal.”

Logan quirked a smile.

“Perhaps in your shows, but you know I don’t have a history of chronic insomnia. It’s a rare disorder after all,” Logan took a sip of his tea, his shoulders relaxing as it settled in his stomach. “Virgil is the cause, and the only treatment is time. I’ll be fine.”

Nate raised an eyebrow at him.

Logan let out an exhausted exhale as he held his teacup tighter. Scrutiny always made his skin itch and led to him feeling a few sizes too small.

He pushed the memory of his father’s disappointed glare out of his mind. Nate wasn’t his father. Even if his observance skills were off the charts, his eyes held more kindness than his parents ever did. They weren’t awful by any stretch of the imagination, but they weren’t paradigms of greatness either.

“So, Daddio–” Logan snapped out of his thoughts as Nate sat next to him with a soft smile– “when will I see my godson, huh?”

Logan coughed on his gulp of scalding tea. “Oh, excuse me. Yes, we can go see him. His name is Virgil.”

“Yeah, I know,” Nate said as he helped Logan up from the couch. “You don’t shut up about him. His name was the first thing you said to me two days ago and it took you five minutes to stop gushing to tell me who Virgil was. Also you send blurry pictures of your son at 3 AM. And at 9 am. And at--”

Logan adjusted his half-made tie. “I may have gone overboard. Apologies.”

Nate threw off his leather coat onto a table to reveal a loose muscle shirt with dog tags clinking around his perpetually tanned neck. He waved away Logan’s apology like he never minded it at all in the first place. Logan pushed opened Virgil’s bedroom door a crack and then held up a finger to Nate. Quiet.

Logan padded over to Virgil’s bassinet and the exhaustion in his bones ebbed at the peaceful expression on Virgil’s face. His hair stuck up in all directions like a dark halo. His little fingers twitching in his sleep and the tiny little puffs from his tiny lungs paff paff paff in perfect rhythm...

Logan gently picked him up and almost sighed in relief that he hadn’t woken up. Nate watched him with wide eyes as Logan walked over to him.

“Here,” Logan whispered, and held back a laugh of dark amusement at Nate’s sudden anxiety. “Support his head with the crook of your arm and hold him close.”

“Okay, oKAY!” Nate said as he held Virgil in the crook of his defined arms. “Shit, I didn’t mean to be loud. Sorry, I should stop cursing around a baby. He’s just so fudging cute.”

Logan smirked. “Fuck.”

He muffled his laugh at Nate’s face.

“He won’t talk so soon,” he added, almost reassuringly.

“I don’t know,” Nate whispered as he ran a finger over Virgil’s face. “He’ll be as smart as his daddy. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he talks early.”

The tips of Logan’s ears burned at the praise, "We aren't biologically related."

Nate turned around with a smirk. "Like biological parents make any sort of difference. How they raise you– that makes a difference."

Logan held out his arms to take Virgil again, and Nate readily set Virgil back into Logan's waiting arms once more. Virgil sniffled in his sleep. Logan let out a breath, thankful that Virgil hadn't woken up. Logan set Virgil back onto his bassinet and pushed aside his wispy hair to kiss his head.

"Sweet dreams, son."

Virgil gurgled out a sleepy giggle.

These two minutes of pure bliss made up for the rest of the day's hard work of cleaning, changing, and feeding Virgil. Having a baby was no easy task. There were no allocated break times and sleep was inconsistent at best. Logan ran a hand through his greasy hair as he gestured to Nate to leave. Logan left the bedroom door open a crack in case Virgil cried. Even if he had the baby monitor, Logan preferred to be cautious.

Logan crossed his arms as they came to a stop. Nate rested a hand on Logan's arm, gentle and heartfelt. He looked away from Nate's all too piercing eyes. His best friend's remarkable intellect is how they became friends in the first place. However, it made him too perceptive when it came to things like this.

Nate knew Logan was in love before he even knew himself.

"Something is bothering you," Nate said, not even phrased as a question in the slightest of ways. "Spit it out."

Logan shifted in place and then craned upwards to meet Nate's eyes. He rubbed his neck as he sighed. No use dragging it out.

"I had a nightmare," Logan explained. "But it was nothing. Dreams are nonsensical mutterings and it would bore you and--"

"Logan."

Logan huffed out a breath, "Fine."

Nate guided Logan to the couch as Logan told him everything. Nate winced as his dear friend described the teeth at the end. Logan rubbed his arms; he didn't believe in hidden messages in dreams, but Nate had a way of interpreting them into meaningful advice. But it always started with…

"Did you drink water today?" Nate asked with one arm on the back of the couch.

"...No."

"And you haven't been sleeping right," Nate tsked. "Babe, you need to eat and sleep right. Wait, when was the last time you ate?"

"...I can’t remember."

"Sonova--" Nate clasped his hands in front of his face and then dropped it. "LOGAN!" He pulled out a lollipop from a pocket and popped it into Logan's mouth.

"Suck on this. It's cherry, your favorite, and I'll whip up some breakfast."

Logan's eyes widened then took the lollipop out to say. "It's noon."

Nate pushed his wrist to put the lollipop back in. "Time isn't real. But your bad eating habits are."

The sweet flavor of chemical cherry burst on his tongue. Logan sucked on it and immediately his hunger pangs ebbed away. It wouldn't be enough, but judging by Nate's march to the kitchen, he knew that he wouldn't need to wait much longer for real food.

A soft smile grew despite his own attempt to stamp it down. No one told him a side effect of having a son would be smiling much more.

His own mother certainly didn't exhibit the same symptoms.

Logan's smile disappeared. So much for smiling more.

Nate came back with a platter of buttered toast and milk. Logan took the tray with a grateful nod.

"Stress," Nate said as he took a bite from Logan's toast. "That's what your dream meant."

"But what about--"

"It's stress, baby!"

"The wolves---"

Nate shook his head with a cocky grin. "Stress wolves. Come on, when I ever been wrong?"

Logan shook his head, "You need to work on your cockiness."

"And you with your pride."

"Touche." Logan conceded with a nod. He took a bite of his toast, slathered with a heavy helping of Crofters jam, and the taste possessed him. Logan dug into his breakfast like a madman. One bite after another until nothing left but crumbs littered his plate. Nate laughed at the sticky jam around Logan’s face. He raised a napkin and wiped the jam off as Logan grumbled at his manhandling.

“Mmmph!” Logan glared at him, “You need to know the definition of boundaries. I am not an infant.”

Nate laughed a hearty sound from the depths of his stomach, and pulled Logan in for a hug, despite Logan’s incessant squirming. Logan giggled out protests as Nate’s strong arms encircled him; unfortunately, there was nothing to stop Nate’s affections. Logan laid breathless on Nate’s chest as he let a fuzzy feeling overtake him.

He’s never felt happier with a son sleeping in another room, his best friend hugging the daylights out of him, and as he snuggled deeper, the dread of Playdate Saturday faded away.

Logan sat in the driveway, fiddling with the keys, unable to turn them in the ignition. Virgil gurgled around a blue pacifier as he kicked in his car seat. Logan wondered what dreams went through his son's head. No, incorrect, dreams were illogical and nonsensical. However, he did wonder if Virgil had nightmares. Logan's insides froze, what if he had nightmares from the fire?

Logan shook his head, no; he spent every waking moment with him and he would've noticed if Virgil had distressing dreams. And he couldn't escape the feeling that his worry over this simple detail was nothing more than a distraction from what truly ate him up.

Patton's bakery was only a ten-minute drive at the edges of the market district. Yet Logan sat in his car and waited for any burst of courage to go face his best friend.

He watched his fingers glide along the wheel of the car, hyper-focused on the grounding texture. Logan bit back a sigh of frustration at his own cowardice. He knew Patton; he knew his kind smile, his eagerness, his excitability, and his deeply soulful eyes. He knew Patton like his own mind. Perhaps it was those very eyes he feared. Seeing his deep and bright blue eyes staring at him with, what? Shock? Confusion? Anger?

Patton’s kindness swelled from him with no end and tended to be very open-minded. He never hurt a soul in his life. So why did Logan’s palms sweat at the idea of telling him about Virgil? He could just get them both back into the house and call him first but what would he even say?

Why did this have to be so hard?

Then again, Logan did miss seeing Roman and his toothy grin. The kid was adorable too. However, the cardboard sword Roman made himself less so. He carried it everywhere, even to kindergarten, and Logan suffered many 'defeats' at the end of it. Five years of existence had done nothing to extinguish his bundle of energy. Perhaps in ten years, Roman would be less... dramatic.

The click of his seatbelt surprised him; he hadn't even realized that while lost in thoughts, the ice in his bones disappeared.

Logan looked up in the rearview mirror one last time to see Virgil properly strapped in. He looked far too tiny in the red car seat. The belts were fine but were they? Logan's fingers thrummed the wheel and with an exasperated sigh he clicked off his seatbelt again. He turned around and leaned into the backseat to check Virgil's straps for what must have been the umpteenth time. Luck favored the cautious after all.

Logan smiled at the outfit he had picked out for Virgil. It was a striped white and green onesie with a hoodie with two horns sewn on it. Daddy's Little Monster was written across it in a dark cursive script. There weren't many choices in the clearance aisle, but most were for upcoming holidays such as Halloween. Objectively, Logan had to say it looked cute on him. Positively adorable.

Logan pulled on the straps and breathed out as it didn't give. Good. That was good… Logan kissed Virgil's forehead and then settled himself back in the front. He clicked his belt back on. Now to turn the ignition on.

Now, to turn it on.

His thoughts drifted back to the memory of Roman's bright grin as he made grabby hands for Logan to pick him up.

The engine growled to life. Logan winced at the sound and resisted the urge to turn it back off. It would damage the ignition over time if he frivolously turned it off and on to his every nervous whim. Logan changed gears and reversed out of his parking spot. He pulled out of the parking lot and well on his way to Patton’s bakery.

Ten minutes later, Logan pulled into the parking lot of Patton’s bakery. Bright pink and blue umbrellas glowed against the backdrop of the grey sky. Logan turned the knob down to quiet the weather report on how it’d rain tomorrow. And the day after that. Logan turned the ignition off and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding at the sudden silence.

Logan looked up at the neon shine of a pink cupcake with rainbow sprinkles adorned over the bakery. Milena’s Treats, it read in purple cursive below. Pink light spilled onto the dash of his car from the sign, soft rays catching on the bumps of his knuckles. A corner of his lip curled at the sight, if it were any brighter, Logan wouldn’t be surprised if the ungodly glow could be seen from space.

Logan craned his head over his shoulder to glance at Virgil one last time. He hadn’t woken up yet. He looked down at the car clock, three in the afternoon, a time when Virgil commonly fell asleep. His old routine had gone up in flames, and died screaming, so it stood to reason to create a new one around Virgil’s. He found that he didn’t mind the thought at all.

“We’re going to go see your...uncle,” Logan said as he unclicked his belt, “I’m sure you’ll love him. All the kids do, or at least, more than me.”

Logan stepped out of his car with a brown tote bag on one shoulder full of the usual supplies. He shut the door with a gentle click. Then opened the door to the back and picked up Virgil gingerly from his car seat and into his arms. Virgil’s little hands twitched against his dark purple sweater vest and his pacifier cool against his collarbone. Unable to resist, he pulled the hoodie up over Virgil’s head against the slight chill of the fall day.

Logan locked the door with a jingle of his keys. Once. Twice. Then three times to ensure the memory of his car being locked secured in his head. Logan rubbed Virgil’s back in circles as he walked toward the bakery doors. He stopped dead as he saw himself reflected in the windows. God, what even was his hair?

Logan wore a rumpled white dress shirt under his vest and he had rolled up his sleeves. Better to test milk bottles that way. Dark bags under his eyes was a new permanent fixation, no matter how many times Nate texted him the past week about better sleeping habits. Logan looked down and let out a sigh at the new spot of drool as Virgil slept against his chest. Another shirt to throw in the wash when he got home.

Logan didn’t look his best. A vast understatement on his part, no doubt. It mattered not, Logan needed to introduce Patton to his new son, Virgil Crofters.

A burst of giddiness bloomed at the back of his mind, far more subdued than the first time he held Virgil, but no doubt the shock will settle in eventually.

Surely so.

Logan took in a breath and opened the door. A bell ringed his arrival and the sound was enough for Virgil to grumble in his sleep. He knew babies slept deeply but he hadn’t realized they slept like the dead. He certainly didn’t get that impression when Roman at this age woke at every jolt and jingle and certainly had trouble believing it when Virgil spent half the night crying for Logan to feed him, change him and fetch his dropped pacifier. Logan shook his head, better not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he should count himself lucky he slept for four hours straight today.

The chatter of customers were quiet. Logan came after the lunch rush so he didn’t distract Patton from his job more than necessary. His eyes scanned around the bakery: more empty tables than taken, but no sight of his best friend. Kitchen, then.

Logan drifted to the counter as he rang the bell, “Patton?”

The back of his neck burned with the weight of heavy stares. Babies often garnered attention but he couldn’t help but shift in place. The chatter slipped into furtive whispers.

“Patton?” Logan called out again, “Are you there?”

The kitchen doors whooshed open as Patton walked backward out with his hands full of a fresh batch of sugar cookies. The frosting was an eye-searing orange that Logan squinted at. Patton had a sweet tooth even if it killed him someday. Patton opened the glass counter with his hips and pushed it in under the soft golden lights.

“One second Lolo!” Patton said, his pink tongue sticking out in concentration, “I didn’t realize the Spooky Sugar cookies would sell out so fast.”

“It’s September.”

Patton stood up, his smile wide.

“It’s never too early for Hallowe--whOA!” Patton paused in what he was doing and took off his oven mitts, placing them on the counter. His lips curled into a smile and he leaned over the display case, reaching his hand forward.

“Babysitting today?” Patton cooed. Logan took an instinctive step back from him. Patton glanced up at him, crestfallen, but moved back down to finish the display of cookies in the case. He wiped a few bat-shaped sprinkles off the plate to make it neater and popped them into his mouth, but he turned to pop one of the leftover cookies into a cute little bag and handed it to a woman who had been standing nearby waiting patiently for her order.

“Have a wonderfully spooky day!” Patton called after her and then wiped his hands on his apron and looked back at Logan. His crestfallen expression gone like it was never there. Patton turned to Logan with a smile bright enough that Logan almost believed it was real.

“Sorry about that,” he chuckled lightly, “so Logan, who’s this little fellow here?”

Logan faltered, “Uh, uhm. This is…”

Patton’s smile faded a little as he looked between Virgil and up at Logan, and it struck Logan that he might be perplexed at his continuing hesitation. He reached out a hand over the counter again; Logan leaned back on his heels. Hurt crossed Patton’s features before a new smile stretched over it, not quite reaching his eyes. Guilt and shame twisted Logan's stomach at knots. Here it comes.

He… he never meant to hurt him. Especially for a lie that had lasted for the past two years. Logan swallowed past the thickness in his throat.

“Patton, this….” It was now or never. Logan had to face this reality and Patton deserved to know. If he held back now they'd never truly be friends. He had to do this.

“This–” He let out a steadying breath– “is Virgil Crofters.” Logan didn’t even attempt to hide his smile as he said the words. “I adopted him last Sunday. He’s my son.”

Patton's face grew ashen as his jaw dropped. A strange sort of croaking fell out from his lips. It was a good thing he'd set the trays down already because he looked like he would have dropped them flat on the floor.

Patton shook his head as if he didn't believe it. He came around the counter and sat onto a stool and ran flour-covered hands through his brown curls. Logan grimaced at the action, no doubt he had to wash his hair later after that….

"What?" Patton whispered, and the sound broke Logan's heart with how much hurt there seemed to be beneath it. "Logan, what?"

Logan opened his mouth to try and speak when a loud sniffle broke his train of thought. Awake and sniffling, Virgil dug his face into his collarbone. He seemed to detect the tense atmosphere. Another thing that Logan had observed over their first week together: when frightened, Virgil clung onto him for dear life. Logan bounced him gently and rubbed his back.

"Shush, it's okay," Logan said, his voice neutral and serious in his low drawl, "Daddy is here. I got you."

Virgil blinked up at him with those grey eyes. Logan smiled as Virgil's hoodie fell down from the action. His cheeks looked rosier than the sickly color he first saw. Perhaps Virgil was recovering from Colic faster than he thought? He had read papers, articles, and even doctors’ case files on the illness and it was rare but not impossible. He rather hoped Virgil had a faster recovery than most because he wouldn’t be in constant pain anymore.

"Oh my goodness gracious." Patton had his hands over his mouth. "You aren't pulling my leg."

"Uh, no…?" Logan said, "And why would I pull your leg? What goal does that achieve? Would that not hurt?"

Logan covered Virgil's ears in time to shield Patton's high pitch squeal that made every dog bark in a ten block radius. Patton bounced in place as he threw around a million questions too quick for Logan to process. Virgil looked up at him and Logan rolled his eyes in return. Truly, why did he love this man?

Virgil giggled, a sort of laugh that tinkled like bells and was as light as a feather. He couldn't look away from the sight. His son's first laugh; among the thousands of the words in the English language, only one was enough. Wow...

"Oh my gosh!"

The two of them flinched. "Inside voices, Patton."

Logan looked up and he froze at the expression on Patton's face. His eyes sparkled alight as his hands were held up in his patented too cute, I'm going to die pose. If Patton sparkled any brighter, he would outshine his garish sign outside. Logan never felt so much like an exposed wire and wished he wore a tie or even a binder labeled "Taxes". He floundered as he gathered up Virgil closer as a shield.

"CUTE CUTE CUTE!!!" Patton hopped around Logan; he already had his phone out and the shutter went off every second. "God, Virgil is such a cutie pie!! Aren't you?" Patton cooed as he snapped another. "Yes you areeee, yes you are!! So handsome like his father."

Patton looked down at his phone, "Oh wow, you sure he's adopted?"

"What do you mean?"

Patton held up his phone to show him, "Both of you got the same look of utter contempt. Boy, he doesn't like the camera either. Like father like son!" His grinning was terribly insufferable.

Virgil squinted in the photo, his grey eyes held a piercing glare. While Logan squinted in much the same way. He never did like candid photos. Much more stressful than a scheduled photo like for his driver's license. Patton tapped at his phone and within a few moments later, Logan heard a buzz from his back pocket.

He mentally noted to save it as his new lock screen later.

Patton came closer and held out a finger to Virgil, "Awww, he's such a cute little bean!"

Virgil burst into tears and wailed. The customers flinched and some Logan could see were covering their ears. Patton winced and gestured for Logan to come behind the counter and into the kitchens. Logan bounced Virgil and shushed him quietly as they followed Patton inside.

Patton brushed his fingers against the small of Logan's back as he led them to a soft chair at the far back next to a spiral staircase upstairs. The touch burned in its wake. His face heated up as he took the seat with a grateful nod. Patton had a habit of giving Logan heart palpitations without him ever realizing he did so. Curse him.

Virgil wept against Logan's shoulder. "It will be alright, little starlight. Daddy's here," Logan rubbed his back in the hopes he relieved some of his boy's pain, "It's just Patton."

Logan squinted into Virgil's shiny eyes for any cloudiness of pain. Perhaps it was his Colic acting up, even if he's been recovering steadily. Logan bounced him on his knee as he talked to him. Patton went upstairs for a few minutes then came back down with something hidden behind his back.

"Hey there, Virgil." Patton cooed as he kneeled in between Logan's legs, Logan refused to acknowledge it even as he seared the image in his brain for later, "Look what I got you!"

Patton waved a stuffed lion in front of Virgil. The surprise was enough to startle Virgil out of crying. Logan pulled out a tissue from his pocket and wiped Virgil of snot and tears. His son scrunched his face up at the action. He would have to deal with it; cleanliness and hygiene were paramount to healthy living.

Virgil cooed as he reached out to grab the lion. His little fingers outstretched and had total faith in his dad's strong grip to hold him steady. Patton held it out to him as Virgil grabbed an ear of the lion. It promptly fell to the floor and out of his frankly uncoordinated handhold. He glared down at the lion as he pouted at his failure and made audible whimpering noises. If they weren’t careful he might burst into tears again.

"You'll figure it out, kiddo!" Patton beamed as he picked it up again, then looked up at Logan, "Yeah, Cow here used to be Roman's favorite until he learned about dragons and white horses." Patton slipped into one of his more fond smiles, "But you can have him."

"Cow?" Logan said as he took the lion, Virgil's eyes brightened as he grasped for it, "Are you quite sure, Patton? I quite remember Roman throwing a tantrum about him when he was three when it went 'missing'."

"He dragged the poor thing through the mud! I had to wash it!" Patton said, then blushed at his outburst, "All I'm saying is that I know you well enough to know that you might need some toys–" Logan opened his mouth but Patton pushed on– "that are not puzzles."

"It's never too early..." Logan mumbled.

Virgil giggled around his pacifier as Logan shook the lion in front of him. Fascinating. Patton held out his finger again but much more slowly than last time. Logan looked between them and hoped Virgil didn't hate him. Well, hate was a strong word, or if babies were even capable of hatred. Most likely they did but Logan didn't want to test that hypothesis out.

Virgil unsteadily reached out his hand and then gripped Patton's finger. He clung onto Logan's sweater for dear life with the other. Patton's face at that exact moment of acceptance went through several expressions that Logan couldn't describe. His wonderfully blue eyes went wide with surprise then grew shiny with stars. And tears, definitely tears. Logan now didn't feel so ashamed about crying profusely for the past week anymore.

Virgil simply had that effect on people it seemed.

Patton stood up and took off his glasses to look up at the ceiling. He blinked and Logan froze at the quiet sniffle. Patton easily cried, but unfortunately, when he cried, Logan soon followed. This cause and effect phenomenon made it hard for them to watch even remotely sad movies together.

Patton set his glasses back on with a rare expression of fragility. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He couldn’t seem to look up just then and that gnawed at Logan’s heartstrings but it was only fair as Logan couldn't meet his eyes. "I...I had expressed my desires in the past about fatherhood. But you told me to wait for a partner, romantic or not, to raise a child with."

The leaden weight of Patton's gaze shifting to look pointedly at him made his skin burn at the contact. Not in the pleasant yet stomach-flop kind of way. The sort that made him want to fling himself into the sun to repent for his sins. If Logan didn’t know embarrassed guilt before he sure knew it now. Love was funny like that.

Virgil's cooing echoed in his ears but it wasn't enough to drown out his own insecurities.

"Logan, I--"

"I couldn't find a partner, Patton." Logan said as his shoulders slumped, "Haven't you said it yourself once? Love has failed me." Patton flinched. "I don't need to fulfill societal milestones to the letter. I can’t simply wait for the one–" For you – "anymore! I...I need to do whatever in my control to live a happy and fulfilled life. And I simply thought you didn't support me in that endeavor..."

"I'm so sorry!!" Patton cried, and here came the waterworks; damn it all. "I was thinking about myself and how hard it was to raise Roman on my own. I didn't want the same thing to happen to you! Because it was hard Logan, it was really hard and it’s going to be really hard!"

Logan twisted his nose in his best attempt to stem the tears at the back of his throat, "But....you made it seem so easy."

Patton barked out a laugh, "It's not. It's really not..."

Logan huffed out a laugh. "I suppose you were right. I'm sorry too. I should've called you earlier." Logan looked up and finally met Patton's eyes head on as his voice wobbled. "I was a mess. I have no idea what I'm doing, I puked. Several times. Oh god, I never puked before and--"

Patton bent over at the waist and engulfed Logan into a hug, careful so he wouldn’t crush Virgil. Logan dropped Cow in shock. A few moments passed then Logan sank into the touch with a sigh and brought a free hand to grasp at the space between Patton's shoulder blades. His fingers shook like pool noodles in a storm. Patton shushed and rocked them gently. Virgil grumbled below the hug. Logan let out a wet giggle and couldn’t fight a smile off his face at imagining Virgil’s little pout.

The tangled mess of his thoughts and anxieties smoothed out as Patton hummed a lullaby in his ear. Every inch of contact they shared made Logan experience what he called "Heart Pat-pilations" and symptoms he had noted over time often included extensive blushing, processing errors, and a reluctance to let go. Such as now. He clutched Patton's shirt, hoping against hope it would never end.

Just for a few seconds longer. Please.

Patton pulled away, with a cheeky smile, "Hey, you can make it up to me by letting me see this goofball more often, huh?"

Logan released his white-knuckled grip of Patton’s shirt as he raised an eyebrow, "Consider it done."

The emptiness between his fingers from the lack of contact wailed. Logan picked up Cow off the floor again and hoped the stuffed lion would abate the feeling. However, nothing could replace the burning of Patton’s touch. That delectable taste of madness at the edge of his awareness. Tortured love life aside, Virgil seemed to enjoy the appearance of Cow again as his giggles filled the air.

Patton held out his arms with a shy smile. Logan hesitated then let Patton take Virgil from his arms at last. Patton beamed as he rubbed an absent thumb against Virgil's cheek. Logan stood up and clutched the stuffed lion in a death grip against his chest. Virgil tried to grab Patton's glasses but the baker saw it coming a mile already and leaned out of his reach.

Patton moved Virgil to rest in the crook of his arms despite his squirming, "Golly, I've missed Roman when he was this age. Full of wiggles and loud as can be. It's been so long."

"If I recall, both you and your ex-wife–" Patton winced as Logan cleared his throat– "didn't get a wink of sleep and went through living hell for the first year of Roman's life."

Patton leaned down to press his forehead against Virgil, "God, I missed that smell. You don't forget it."

"Patton?"

Patton wrenched his head up, his face beet red with embarrassment. Virgil's pacifier threatened to fall out from how much he giggled. Logan resisted the urge to palm Patton's cheek to feel the heat from his blush as he walked closer. Such a gorgeous flush against his unrequited love's freckles.

"Sorry," Patton said, his blush fading, "It's weird. I know it's weird. You can't just sniff people's babies without permission. No wait, I meant like--"

"Patton." Logan smiled as Patton's babbling came to a stop. "There isn't much I don't understand, and if or when there comes a day where I do, I'm sure I will respect it."

Patton broke out into a sunny smile, "Oh golly, you say the sweetest things! I'm the luckiest man alive to have you as my best friend!"

Logan's smile grew a little sadder. "I feel the same way."

A few beats of silence passed as the two of them shuffled in place. Logan squeezed Cow tighter; the stuffed lion was the same size as his son, but smelled too much like old pizza and spilled hot chocolate stains to be an exact replica of Virgil. Logan buried his face into Cow's head and hoped the ground would swallow him whole. Just end his suffering already.

Logan peeked over Cow to glance at Patton and Virgil. Logan couldn't decipher Patton's expression as he baby-talked down at Virgil. A mix of thoughtfulness and sadness, Logan could tell from the slight pinch at the corner of his eyes.

"What's his story?" Patton said, at last, his voice quiet. "He's so tiny, but why choose him? I don't understand how could anyone could give this little treasure up."

Logan squeezed Cow even tighter as he snarled, "No one did. His family-" He swallowed past the anger at the back of his throat.

"His family died in a fire. But his extended family believed Virgil to be a bad omen and–” He couldn’t help but let out a bitter huff at the word– “ abandoned him at the hospital." Logan took a breath as his voice grew more unsteady. "They...they didn't visit him even once when he could've been dying from the smoke. He could've passed away among strangers, all alone in a room with beeping machinery, scared and crying....”

The thought made Logan’s gut twist like he’d been stabbed and the knife twisted in circles. “But he didn't."

Logan looked up and balked at the sheer fire alit behind Patton's eyes. He wondered whether Patton still kept his shotgun hidden under the counter. He never had bullets since he never actually wanted to hurt anyone, but at this moment, Logan wouldn't be surprised if he did. Patton looked ready to march out and punch Virgil's old family's lights out.

Logan cleared his throat.

"As for why I chose him? Because he needed me. As simple as that." He brushed a hand over Virgil's head, "He was so small and he was the only one in that room that was going to be looked over because he was sick." His heart squeezed with a sting of pain. "How could I say no to eyes this big?”

Patton’s fire softened into embers. “...You’re a good man, Lo. And I think you made the right choice.”

Logan looked up into Patton’s eyes, that wonderful shade of blue that haunted his dreams. He...he said he made the right choice. Logan preened at the praise as the top of his ears burned. Logan’s palms grew sweaty against Cow’s knotted fur. Patton’s approval made his heart soar. His worries were for naught.

“Ah, that is ki-kind of you to say.” Logan started to say, his voice faltering in this rare moment between them, Patton’s soft look tangling his tongue. Then a loud slam echoed from the bakery. Patton looked away, their tender moment lost to life’s innumerable surprises, and his heart shriveled a little more.

“Daaaadd!!!” a voice shrieked, “You were late! I had to walk home!”

Patton glanced up at the clock. “Oh, shoot! I had to be there to walk Roman home five minutes ago. I better go see him.”

Logan gestured to the door, after you; Patton stuck out his tongue. Virgil’s little grey eyes shone with ire as they made their way back out to the front. Logan held the door open for Patton and they were greeted by the sight of Roman pressing his face against the glass of Patton’s display counter. Patton cleared his throat. Roman shot up and leveled a glare at his father as he crossed his arms petulantly. Logan set Cow aside on the counter.

“Where were you?!” Roman stomped his foot, his little Mickey Mouse backpack jingled on his back, “I can’t believe you forgot me!”

Logan pushed past Patton and kneeled down to Roman’s level and put his hands on Roman’s shoulder. “Did you walk home, Roman? You’re far too young to be doing that.”

Patton adjusted Virgil to lay against his chest to put a hand on his hip. “Who let you walk away? You should’ve waited for me.”

Roman glared up at Patton with tears stinging at the corner of his eyes. “You should’ve been there!”

“Roman,” Logan said sharply. “It’s far too dangerous for a child your age to be walking alone in the city. Next time wait patiently until your father picks you up.” Roman pouted and kicked his feet. “Even if he’s only a block away.”

A hand landed on Logan’s shoulder, “I’m his dad, but thank you.”

Logan jolted and then stood up.

“Excuse me, you’re right: it isn’t my place, I am sorry.” He let Patton walk past him as he rubbed his arms. Patton was more of a father than he could ever be, no matter how many books he read.

“Roman, it’s okay,” --It’s not, “Tell me who was the teacher on watch? You’re not in trouble.”

Logan raised an eyebrow but kept silent.

Roman rolled his eyes, “Mr. Trumpbull was. He sucked on a weird lollipop that glowed and smelled funny. Like winter. But bitter and gross.” Roman scrunched up his nose, “Didn’t like it so I walked home.”

Patton bounced Virgil gently as he ran a hand through Roman’s curls. “Well, I’m glad you made it home safely. I’ll call the school and see what I can do about it.”

Roman’s eyes sparkled. “You’re glad I walked home?!”

“Uh, no,” Logan said, his voice cold as ice. “You need to move schools, that teacher is incompetent and exposing children to secondhand smoke. Not only that–” Logan adjusted his glasses– “no one should’ve let you walk away at all. You could’ve been kidnapped or worse.” He squinted down at Roman over his glasses, “So incorrect, I personally am not glad you walked alone home.”

Roman let out a frustrated yell, “What! Dad, tell him he’s wrong!”

Patton coughed uncomfortably.

“Well, he’s right, kiddo. Even if I could have phrased it better.” Logan’s fuzzy feeling of pride drained away, Patton didn’t approve of his methods or his words. “But it was dangerous what you did. Go grab a cookie, okay?”

“A cookie?” Logan said aghast at Patton’s coddling, but then rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Very well.”

It wasn’t Logan’s place to do or say anything more. Patton’s glare over his glasses shut him up on the matter anyhow. Just because Logan was a father now too didn’t give him the right to chide Roman. Logan knew that. He shouldn’t have spoken up at all, but he couldn’t help speaking up on an important matter such as Roman’s safety.

However, Patton did spoil Roman far too much. It made the boy grow up into bit of a brat if he said so himself. Roman’s face lit up and opened up the counter to pluck up a Spooky Surprise cookie and bit into it. Black crumbs fell to the floor unceremoniously as Roman groaned at the sheer amount of sugar. Logan’s mouth twitched with a smile while Patton looked at his son with open fondness at Roman’s unabashed love for his dad’s cookies.

Roman turned around and finally zeroed in on Virgil. “What is that?"

“Oh! This is Virgil,” Patton said as Virgil gurgled, “He’s Logan’s son, so say hello to him! He’s just the cutest little thing ever.”

“Ew.” Roman wrinkled his nose as he looked up at Virgil in Patton’s arms, “Why do you have it?”

Logan raised an eyebrow, “Are you asking why I have Virgil? I adopted him.”

“Oh…” Roman took a bite out of his cookie thoughtfully, “When do you give him back? I know Ms. Applebee gave her hamster back after a few weeks.”

Patton giggled, “No, kiddo. This kind of adoption is forever I think.”

“It is forever.” Logan said firmly, no hint of hesitance in his voice.

“Do you want to hold him, Roman?” Patton said, “Oh, I almost forgot to ask, Logan, how old is he?”

“Three and a half months old,” Logan said, then picked up Roman as he squealed. “Up you go.�� Logan set Roman on top of a stool and fought back a smile at the resulting giggles from the kindergartner, “Be very careful when holding Virgil, okay?”

Roman crossed his arms, “Okay, okay. I will, Lo! Geez, I’m not a baby.”

Patton walked over and bounced Virgil to soothe him. Logan’s hands twitched to take him back, but Patton was the more experienced father here. He had to concede to him. Logan instead focused on coaching Roman on how to hold Virgil properly. Within a few heartstopping moments, Virgil settled into Roman’s arms.

Virgil squirmed as he sniffled, Roman stuck out his tongue at him. “Are all babies this gross? Why is he crying?”

“He has Colic,” Logan said, both adults kneeling close to Roman in case anything were to go wrong, “It means his tummy is sensitive and he can be in great pain sometimes.”

“Aw, poor little guy.” Patton frowned.

Roman’s fingers were sticky with crumbs and frosting, staining his cute little onesie. Logan wished he had the foresight to wipe Roman’s fingers ahead of time. Then grimaced as he remembered how infectious playgrounds could be, he hoped Roman didn’t catch anything. Roman looked between the two of them, wheels turning behind his beautiful green eyes, then shouted, “Are you even looking at me?”

“What? Of course, sweetheart.” Patton said, but he kept glancing down at the squirming baby, “Virgil is just so small. Gah, he’s so adorable…”

"He is," Logan said, brushing a finger down his cheek. "I can hardly look away."

Roman huffed, "Is this why you haven't seen me in like fifty years?"

Patton and Logan glanced at each other. Virgil kicked his feet and squirmed in Roman's arms but Roman held him steadfast and true. Patton raised an eyebrow, Logan's shoulders dropped in response, fine, he needed to tell the truth.

"It’s only been two weeks. And yes, I had to baby proof my apartment. I wanted it to be a surprise," Logan said, "Which meant I had to decline our usual game nights at my place and visit county offices in my free time instead of coming here."

"Well, it was certainly a surprise," Patton muttered under his breath, "Hold his head a little higher, yes, that's it."

Logan couldn't read Roman's expression as he whispered, "So...you picked him over me?"

"Kiddo!"

"Preparing for an arrival of a baby takes extensive work and perhaps I should've warned ahead of time." Logan cleared his throat while Roman stared down at the baby in his arms. "Virgil will require a lot of my attention to make sure he's happy and cared for. And he'll come to our game nights too, regardless."

"What?!" Roman shouted, "But that's our thing! Not Vergil's!"

"Virgil."

"Whatever!" Roman's eyes shone, Logan bit back a sigh, children's emotions were so incredibly volatile and unpredictable that Logan didn't know what to say in response, "What about my happiness?! Do you even care?! You love this ugly little thing more than me!!" Then quieter, "Am I not good enough?"

"Roman," Patton cut in, "We talked about this. Sometimes Uncle Lolo might be busy but it's not because of you. Okay?"

"Yes, your father is right," Logan said, "Virgil is harmless. He doesn't have any teeth nor any capacity to replace you. I love him and I love you. Very much."

Roman glared down at Virgil, his jade eyes full of fire. Virgil kicked his feet and squealed in Roman’s arms. Then his cute little blue pacifier fell out his mouth. Oh no, that wouldn’t do! Logan dropped his eyes down to the floor and looked for it. It rolled under the chair. He reached a hand to grab it when Patton’s hand bumped against his.

“Oh--”

“Apologies--”

Patton pulled his hand back like it been burned. Logan ignored the slight sting of hurt at the action, his friend was simply being courteous. Logan picked up the pacifier gently and looked up at Patton’s soft smile. See? He was just being polite, he told his anxieties. Logan met Patton’s eyes and let a smile escape. Not for the first time he wondered if they could be together in another and more kinder life.

Roman screamed, “Ow! You little jerk!”

Patton’s eyes widened as the two of them realized they hadn’t looked at their sons in all this time. A whole minute unsupervised. They whipped up their heads back up to witness Roman’s index finger in Virgil’s mouth, and it looked like Virgil wasn’t letting go any time soon. Tears sprung at the edge of Roman’s eyes. Meanwhile, Virgil practically glowered.

Ah, it appeared like Logan was right after all. Like always. Babies were capable of hatred then. Logan grimaced, but he hadn’t expected it to be at the expense of Roman. In different circumstances, Logan would’ve laughed.

“Virgil!”--”Roman!!” the fathers said in unison.

Virgil let go of Roman’s finger with a slimy pop. Logan reached out to pick Virgil out of Roman’s arms. Patton brought Roman’s fingers closer to inspect. Both of them knew Virgil was far too young to have any teeth to bite but babies’ jaws were quite strong. Patton let out a sigh at the lack of blood on the tip of Roman’s finger. However, before Logan could carefully extract Virgil away from the unruly kindergartner--

“I’ll show you a real bite!” Roman shouted, then bit down on Virgil’s squirming arm, Virgil shrieked.

“ROMAN ALEXANDER MILENA!” Patton and Logan screeched in horror, then Roman released Virgil’s arm in shock. Virgil sobbed as blood welled up from two dark lines of teeth marks on his pink arm. He wailed, pain clouding his grey eyes, and his two small fists hit Roman’s stomach in his flailing. Roman held him tighter to stop him from falling onto the tiles below but it only made Virgil scream to such unholy pitches that the windows rattled.

“Roman, you are in so much trouble!” Patton said sternly, “Give him back to Logan,” Roman hesitated, “Now!”

Logan’s ears rang as he picked up his screaming son from Roman’s uncouth hold.

Blood. Roman bit down hard enough to make his son bleed. Virgil’s red face of total anger and fright already filed away for nightmare fuel for the next few weeks. Logan shushed him as Virgil clung to his sweater for dear life. Logan rubbed Virgil’s back and hoped against hope that his son’s Colic wouldn’t act up at the same time. Stomach pain and a laceration for a baby must be like absolute torture for him.

“What were you thinking?” Patton said aghast, “You can’t just bite a baby!”

Roman broke out into sobs; he never dealt with scoldings well. Patton never did it often enough since he preferred to give him cookies and make him feel all better. He wanted to see his son smile more often than cry. Logan picked up some tissues from the counter and cleaned up Virgil’s wound of Roman’s spit. Meanwhile, his own shoulder grew wet with snot and tears so much so that Logan considered just throwing the sweater out when he got home.

Patton turned around on his heel to face Logan, his eyes wide.

“Oh my god, Logan I’m so sorry!” Patton said, his voice high and frantic. “Roman, go find the medkit upstairs. It’s under the cabinet, you know where.”

Roman ran away with his jingling backpack growing distant with him. The customers in the bakery whispered among themselves even more. His son’s shrieks and cries made them uncomfortable. Logan abruptly stood up and walked into the back room. Away from the attention and from their stares.

Logan sat back down in the chair next to the stairs. Patton stayed up front to check up customers and to pretend everything was under control. Or more likely, to give Virgil some space to calm down with his Dad. Red and blotchy, his son’s face looked like a tomato, and his shrieks made Logan’s ears ring. Logan couldn’t help but feel like an absolute failure.

If only he wasn’t a lovesick fool and paid more attention! Why couldn’t he just be more attentive like an actual father should be?

“I’m sorry,” Logan said as he shushed Virgil’s cries and rocked him, “It was my fault. One week in and I already failed you.”

Virgil’s cries softened, not so shrill anymore, but he didn’t look like the giggly carefree baby from earlier either. Logan bounced him on his lap and talked to him. He was halfway through his rant about Galileo’s unfair treatment by the Church when Patton came to check on them. Virgil sniffled and his little lungs shuddered but his eyes fluttered with exhaustion. Almost lulled to sleep by Logan’s passionate lecture.

“I found it!” Roman shouted in triumph as he tettertottered down the spiral stairs with a medkit in hand, “I thought it was in the other cabinets but I found it!”

Patton tousled Roman’s hair and then opened it up. Logan held out Virgil’s arm and Patton bandaged and cleaned it up as gently he could. Best to protect it from any infections and germs. Virgil actively fought sleepiness against Logan’s chest at this point. Logan sighed, he needed to call Dr. Picani when he got home for an emergency appointment tomorrow. Or today. Maybe even a hospital. He didn't know.

“Roman…” Patton said as he pushed his son closer to them, “Now what do you say?”

“I’m sorry.” Roman kicked his feet, “That was really mean of me to do. But Virgil bit me first!” Patton glared, “But I’m still really sorry.”

Logan let out a pained sigh, “You’re forgiven, Roman. But don’t do it again. You understand? He’s incredibly delicate.”

“Sorry.” Roman pouted.

Logan stood up and held his sleeping son against his chest, “I have to get going. I’ll call you later, Patton.”

“Oh, of course!” Patton said, his smile a tad too wide, “I’m so sorry! I don’t know what got into him.” Roman huffed. “But you bet I’m going to have a very long talk with Roman.”

Logan adjusted his tote bag as he walked back out into the bakery. “I’ll see you both next time. It’s just...been a long week.”

He glanced at the forgotten stuffed lion, Cow, left on the counter. Logan slowed to a stop, Patton did offer it to him, but did he really mean it? Patton made the decision for him as he grabbed the lion and stuffed it into Logan’s bag for him. Logan’s bone-deep exhaustion dropped a little bit off his shoulders at the action.

“Hey!” Roman protested, “That’s mine!”

“It’s Virgil’s now,” Patton said, “He needs it, and you hardly ever play with Cow anymore. You have more than enough dragons in your room.”

“But-”

“No buts, Roman. That’s when you get older and you want him to be able to have something nice to play with right?”

“No…” Roman crossed his little arms and huffed but his shoulders sagged as a guilty expression crossed his soft features, “Yeah…. Okay…”

Logan tousled Roman’s curls, “Thank you. And I’ll see you next week, little minotaur.”

“HEY!”

Patton giggled, “Drive home safe!”

Logan waved goodbye and left the bakery without glancing back. He drove through the busy city streets as he went through various scenarios on how that first meeting could’ve gone better, or more commonly, much worse. At a stoplight, Logan dropped his head down to the wheel, his heart nearly stopped in his chest when he heard Virgil’s shriek of pain and fear.

He hoped to never hear it again in his life.

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#sanders sides #sanders sides fluff #logicality #platonic prinxiety #sanders sides fanfic #tbs #the butterfly's shelter #tashi #myfics

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fnnhuds · 8 years ago

Text

After The Storm

Tagging: Finn, Rachel & Nathan Location: The Apartment Notes: As Finn and Rachel are winding down after a long day, the two of them get an unexpected visitor at their door.

Finn smiled as he looked around the nursery that was more or less finally complete. After Rachel's baby shower the day before, the two of them had so many things to sort through and put away that he had been nervous they wouldn't get it done in time. However, they had spent his day off going through everything and making it perfect and he knew that they were ready for this baby. Sure, they still had time but the fact that they were ready for everything took a lot of pressure off both of their shoulders. "Babe, how long until the food gets here? I'm starving," Finn called out to Rachel as he headed into the living room, a small smile on his face as he saw her seated on the couch. "How're you feeling?" he asked her as he knelt down in front of her, moving his hands to her baby bump before he kissed it softly. God, he loved his little family. "Is he being good in there? I know you said he was kicking like crazy the other day." Finn rubbed her stomach soothingly and only moved when there was a soft knock at the door, his own stomach rumbling in anticipation. However, when he opened the door and saw Nathan on the other side, his eyes widened slightly in shock. "Nate?" he said softly, looking at his friend in surprise. The last time he had talked to Nathan was when he had been moving the last of his and Rachel's things out of the old place. His friend had gotten fired and Finn had agreed to pay his rent until he got a job and got clean. From the looks of it, Nathan was sober and Finn hoped desperately that he was staying that way. "Can I come in?" Nathan asked, causing Finn to nod before he stepped aside. "Wow, this place is really nice. I - um... I brought you guys some mail from the old apartment. Kurt told me where you guys were," he said softly as he handed Finn a small pile of mail before he looked over at Rachel. "Wow - your stomach got huge. I - I mean that in a good way not a bad way." Nathan's babbling caused Finn to laugh slightly especially because he knew Nathan was nervous about talking to Rachel. The two of them still weren't on good terms as far as he knew.

Rachel couldn't believe how close they were. It felt like just yesterday, she wasn't showing, and here she was, having Finn help her get off of couches and the bed half of the time. It was adorable, really. And she loved being able to walk around with Finn and actually look incredibly pregnant. People actually noticed and congratulated her and it was weird to actually be so close to the end and be worrying about a hospital bag. She actually had everything she needed to be ready for the baby, and it was just scary and thrilling all at the same time. "The food should be here soon," Rachel said, smiling slightly at him. "I'm okay. Just a little tired. My back hurts, but I mean, your kid is like five million pounds, so I expect it." Rachel spoke teasingly, smiling at Finn. "But he's not too crazy today. Still kicking a lot, though. It's just getting a little cramped in there for him, I think." When Rachel heard Finn open the door, she rubbed her hand over her bump, sighing gently. "Is that the food?" She quickly realized it wasn't when she saw Nathan walk into the apartment, her furrowing her brows for a moment before she looked to Finn. "Yeah, I really popped." Rachel said as she looked to Nathan before looking away and moving her hand to the edge of the couch, supporting herself as she moved to stand up. "I did gain weight, but it's for the baby. So I guess that's all that matters." Rachel rubbed her bump for a moment as she took a deep breath. "I don't want to seem rude, but uhm... why are you here? Did you just come here to hand us some mail?" Rachel brought her hand to the small of her back as she walked over to him, her gaze anything but friendly as she looked at him. "You could have called too, you know. That's usually what people do when they show up at people's houses."

Finn hurried over to Rachel when he saw her getting up from the couch, quickly attempting to help her so she didn't put too much strain on herself. While he knew that she was fine, he couldn't help but just want to do as much for her as he could the closer she got to having their baby. As she spoke to Nathan, Finn looked at her worriedly, not wanting her to get too upset. After the fight that had all had, her and Nathan had not worked anything out and while he had made some kind of peace with his friend, he knew that him and Rachel had to talk it out themselves. "No, I - I didn't just come because of the mail," Nathan said nervously as he looked at Rachel. "I came here to talk to you. To both of you, really. But mostly you, Rachel. I just - I wanted to apologize for everything I said to you. I was such a dick and I... I really fucked up my life and I just - I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Nathan's eyes filled with tears as he looked at Rachel and Finn sighed softly before he placed a hand on his wife's back. "Rach, why don't we sit down?" Finn suggested as he rubbed her back gently. While he wanted Nathan and Rachel to work things out, he also wanted to make sure that his wife was okay. He wanted to make sure that she didn't get too stressed out because of this situation. "I haven't seen Ellie in a couple months. I... I lost my job a-and if it wasn't for Finn, I wouldn't even be in the apartment anymore. I just - I want to fix my life and I've been clean for the last month and a half. I just need to fix things with you, Rachel. You're like my little sister and I want you back in my life. I want the three of us to be the way we were again." Finn's eyes widened slightly as Nathan spoke about him helping him out. He hadn't talked to Rachel about Nathan at all for fear of stressing her out and he really didn't want it brought up like this. "Come on, let's all sit down and talk, okay?" Finn said as he tried to guide Rachel back towards the couch.

Rachel kept her eyes on Nathan as he spoke, not wanting to immediately be nice because she had spent so much time apart from him. She just didn't want to give him the satisfaction. He had tore her apart and he was so incredibly rude and while he had hurt her, he also hurt Finn and said horrible stuff. Rachel didn't speak as he spoke, watching as she saw his eyes started to fill with tears. "I don't need to sit." Rachel said as she shook her head, just continuing to look at Nathan. She was proud of him for at least trying to make an effort to see her and apologize, especially after how long it had been. He had been through a lot -- she understood that -- but she couldn't believe that it had taken this long. "Wait, what?" She said as Finn started to try and lead her back to the couch, her pushing his hands off of her before she turned back to Nathan, her hand on her bump. "I'm proud of you for being clean and for getting your life back in order. I am. Even if things still aren't amazing, I'm proud of you. But I'm sorry, what was this about Finn helping you? What did you do?" She asked, looking over at Finn for a moment. Rachel was under the impression that Finn wanted nothing to do with Nathan in the slightest and that he wasn't talking to Nathan so he didn't upset her. Of course, he could do what he wanted, but the way it seemed, he did a lot more than just a little bit of talking. "I don't remember talking about you helping him. And you know, my pregnancy brain really helps me remember a lot more." Rachel obviously was hormonal -- she had been pretty bad the entire pregnancy with her mood swings, but she was at least trying to control herself and not start snapping at both him and Nathan. Especially because she was already tired and she didn't want to make herself even more upset than she already was. "And stop trying to make me sit, I'm fine. We don't need to sit down. I'm a big girl. I can stand up for a little bit. I've been sitting all day. I need to stretch my legs."

Finn sighed when Rachel pushed him away from her, wishing that she wouldn't be so stubborn and just sit down so she could relax a bit. "You didn't tell her?" Nathan asked as he looked at him in surprise. All Finn managed to do was shrug as he looked from his friend to Rachel, not really knowing what to say. "I - it really wasn't a big deal. I went back to the apartment to get a few things that we had left there and Nathan was home. So we talked and I helped him get back on his feet, that's all." The last thing Finn wanted to do was upset Rachel, especially when he knew that getting her overwhelmed in any way at this stage of the pregnancy wasn't good for her or the baby. "I thought you told Rachel everything," Nathan said, clearly annoyed that Finn hadn't shared this news with her. He had been planning on talking to her about the whole Nathan situation, he had. It was just that he knew it upset her and his whole job in the whole pregnancy had been to help her de-stress and relax, not bring up things that he knew would make her angry. "I do tell Rachel everything. I just didn't tell her this because you piss her off and I'm sorry that I don't want to piss off my pregnant wife," Finn said as he narrowed his eyes at Nathan who immediately held his hands up, not wanting to fight with him. As he turned his gaze back to Rachel, he sighed softly. "When I ran into Nathan at the apartment he told me that he was going to lose the place because he had gotten fired from his job. So I... I offered to pick up the rent for a little while until he got clean and got a job." Finn knew that his offer was crazy, especially since paying for one apartment in New York City was a lot and yet he was paying for two. "But it's not a big deal, like I said. I just picked up more hours at work, you know that. And everything's fine. Nathan will get a job soon and then once he has enough money he can go back to paying rent and pay me back eventually too." After he finished speaking, he could see Nathan looking at Rachel nervously, clearly not wanting to upset her even more because of his situation.

Rachel raised her eyebrow as Finn spoke, clearly leaving out a lot of details about everything. "I thought you told me everything, too." He had obviously left a lot out and nothing about Nathan had even been a discussion recently. He hadn't spoken about helping him at all. And that was the part that was most frustrating. Rachel watched as Nathan held his hands up before looking back to Finn, furrowing her eyebrows. "So you don't want to piss off your pregnant wife but you thought it would be a better idea to not tell me anything? I thought we said that we told each other everything. I mean, picking up rent is something that I'd like to know about. You were so worried about spending too much money on our apartment and on clothes for the baby or little gadgets, but you were willing to pick up the rent for the entire place? We're in a good place but we're not rich, Finn." Rachel sighed for a moment, bringing her hand to her forehead as she went to take in a deep breath. "You know what? I- It's fine. It's fine. Whatever. I'm sick and tired of fighting with you, Nathan. I appreciate you coming here to apologize. I do. But I will never forget what you said to me. Or to him. And I'll never forget seeing you acting like you did in the apartment while you were too incoherent to stop yourself. I just- I'm not going to forget, alright? What you said really hurt. I know you were trying to hurt me and I- you did. But I don't want you thinking that just because you apologized that I'm going to magically be your best friend again, okay? I don't want the drama anymore with the baby almost here and I just don't need the stress right now. If I even raise my voice I'm pretty sure Finn would force me to sit down so I don't start going into labor." Rachel paused for a moment before sighing. "I forgive you, Nathan. But like I said, I'm not going to magically start acting like nothing ever happened. After everything Finn and I had went through, you knew how much that would have hurt me. And you said all of it anyway. You were practically asking for me to act the way I was towards you."

Finn looked down sadly as Rachel spoke, knowing that him picking up Nathan's rent was probably a bad idea. But he couldn't just let Nathan's life fall apart, he couldn't do that to someone who he still felt was practically his brother despite everything that had happened. Nathan had said horrible things to him and Rachel and Finn didn't think he would ever be able to forget that. But Nathan was the only person he had that had been through the experiences in the army that he had been through and that made it difficult for him to just drop him out of his life completely. "I - I'm sorry, Rachel. I told you I picked up more hours at work. I just didn't know how to tell you. I didn't know how to talk about it and I didn't want you to be upset," he said as he looked at his wife. Him and Rachel hadn't fought or had any issues between them since she had been sick and he didn't want to bring that back now, he couldn't have things get difficult now. As she spoke to Nathan, Finn could tell that he wasn't getting the reaction that he had wanted for apologizing and he could see that it was beginning to upset him. "So I just - I lose my best friends because of that fight? I - I was the best man at your wedding and I - I bought your wedding dress. I was there for you that whole time Finn was away and it all just disappears because of stupid things I said when I was high?" Nathan looked between them with sadness in his eyes, clearly not knowing what to do. "You guys are all I have. My family wants nothing to do with me. Molly wants nothing to do with me a-and she won't let me see Ellie. I - I can't do this without you guys too. I can't do it anymore," Nathan said before tears began falling down his face. Finn looked at Nathan in surprise as he broke down. He had never seen Nathan cry other than Kyle's funeral and he truly didn't know what to do to help him. "Nate, we're still here," he said softly. "And Ellie, she's still here. You'll get to see her again, you will. We can - we can talk to Molly and figure things out," Finn said, determined to help Nathan even if he knew he had way too much in his own life going on that he had to focus on as well.

Rachel shook her head as Nathan spoke, sighing gently. She didn't want him to feel like that way -- not at all. She still loved him and cared about him and she didn't want him to feel as if they were both against him. "Please don't feel like that." Rachel breathed out, feeling a knot of emotion build in her throat as she saw him start to cry. She hated seeing anyone cry and seeing Nathan cry after all of this really just made her feel even worse. "Please don't cry." Rachel whispered, her feeling her own tears rise in her eyes. "You can't cry in front of a pregnant woman. They're gonna just cry too," She said with a weak voice before she moved over to him. Rachel wrapped her arms around him for a moment, trying to pull him in for a hug even though her bump was post definitely in the way. "You were there for me in some of the darkest points in my life and in Finn's life and I can't thank you enough for that, do you hear me?" She murmured softly, hugging him tightly before pulling away and looking into his eyes as she took a step away to rub her hand along her bump. "I appreciate everything that you've ever done for me. All those days Finn was away and all of those days where you helped me when I was sick. I'll never forget. And I- I'm not happy about what was said. At all. But I don't want to hold a grudge for the rest of my life. And I..." She paused, offering him a small smile. "I want my baby to have one of the best guy's I've known as his Uncle." Rachel looked to Finn for a moment before looking down for a long moment before looking back to Nathan. "Like I said before, Nathan. I'm not going to magically want you to move in and I'm not going to act like you're my best friend again in a matter of minutes. Obviously, I mean, this little one proved everything you said wrong. But you hurt me and you hurt Finn and I just- I'm not going to forget it. But I don't want to lose you, okay? You're Finn's best friend and you were one of mine. And I don't want one fight ruining that for everyone. But it's just going to take me a little. I'm just tired of the drama."

Finn didn't know how to help Nathan but he knew that he couldn't just give up on him. As tears formed in Rachel's eyes, he smiled sadly at his wife as she moved to hug Nathan to the best of her ability. "I'm sorry," Nathan breathed out, a soft laugh escaping his lips from Rachel's words as he hugged her back tightly. While Finn and Nathan had fixed things for the most part, he knew that the two of them had to fix things as well. The second that Rachel said the word Uncle, Finn smiled softly and he could tell that it meant the world to Nathan too. "I want to be his Uncle. I - I want to be in his life. I want to be in your lives," Nathan said softly as he moved his hand up to wipe away at the tears that were still silently falling down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Rachel. I'm sorry what I said to both of you. I - I didn't mean it. I said the worst things I could possibly say and I hate myself for it. I - I'll never forgive myself for it. I just... I wanted to push you two away because you two were already better parents than me and you didn't even have a baby yet. And I promise I'm going to get a job a-and you won't have to worry about paying for me or me needing a place to stay. I don't want to burden you guys when I know I did that enough." Finn sighed softly as Nathan finished speaking before he offered his friend a small smile. "Nate, the things you said were really horrible but that doesn't mean we want anything bad to happen to you. You're like my brother and... even though you said some really horrible things it didn't make me not worry about you. I want you to be in our son's life but I also want you to be in your daughters life. Ellie should get the chance to know her little cousin, right?" Finn offered Nathan a small smile and before he knew it, Nathan was pulling both him and Rachel into a tight hug. "Okay, this doesn't really work when Rachel's stomach is in the way," Nathan said with a small laugh before he pulled away from the both of them. "I... I am really sorry, Rachel. I hope you know that. And I know it will take you time but I hope you know that I'll do whatever it takes to prove to you - to prove to both of you that I'm me again. At least, on the road to being me again."

Rachel looked over at Nathan with a sad smile, shaking her head. "I don't want to leave you struggling for months and months and I don't want you getting kicked out of your apartment. Because as much as I love you, I don't want you moving in here. This is our place. And we had our shot at all being roommates for a really long time. And while it was fine, I really don't want to do it again," She added with a soft laugh, looking over to Finn. "I think I should be away from the Molly situation for a little bit if you guys start talking to her. Because uhm, if I talk to her, I'm definitely going to go into labor." Rachel added with a soft smile, rubbing her bump. "One minute of talking to her and I'm pretty sure I'll freak out. Sorry, Nathan. As much as I know that you had a kid with her and you were with her, I still don't like her. I've tried for a long time to warm up to her, but I can't. But I mean, I'll help you out with the situation. But once I have the baby. That way I don't need to worry about needing to be rushed to the hospital because I started screaming at her and put myself into labor. I've felt braxton hicks every once in a while, and believe me, she'd put me into labor." Rachel paused for a moment, offering him a small smile. "We'll be here for you, I promise. I know you're trying and I can see that you are. I believe that you are. I know you're sorry and I accept your apology. I just want us to start fresh, alright?" Rachel knew that the whole situation was way too entirely stressful, and she didn't want to get too worked up over it because she knew that Finn would freak out over her. "Now that I proved to Finn that I can have a conversation with you without yelling or needing to sit down to be calm, can we actually sit down? As you can see, Finn doesn't make small kids. I'm seven and a half months pregnant and I look like I'm almost forty weeks. It also helps that I'm the size of a teenager." Rachel managed out a soft laugh before heading towards the couch. "Sit down, Nathan. Make yourself at home. Let's just relax. We ordered food. You can share some because we definitely ordered too much, if you want. If not, we have stuff here, too."

Finn smiled softly at Rachel as she spoke. "Yeah, we're kind of enjoying the whole having the place t ourselves thing," he said with a small laugh as he moved his hand to rest gently on the small of her back. "Rach, even once you have the baby I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk to Molly. That girl just says the worst shit she can possibly think of all the time and then acts like what she said wasn't wrong." Nathan laughed softly at that before he shook his head. "I know she does. I hate that I didn't listen to you guys and leave her before I got her pregnant. Not that I regret Ellie but... I regret who she's with." Finn knew that all of them starting fresh was what they needed and while he hadn't expected Nathan to talk to Rachel until after the baby was born, he was glad that it had happened. He was glad that his best friend was back because he had missed Nathan. "Hey, you're the one who decided to have a kid with a guy that's twice the size of you. I don't even know the whole sex thing works with you two being such different heights." Finn couldn't help but laugh at Nathan's words as he helped Rachel sit down before moving to sit beside her. "Oh, it works. That's all you need to know." Finn laughed as Nathan grimaced and he couldn't help but feel that things were finally where they needed to be. Sure, things obviously weren't one hundred percent but he knew that they were on their way back to that. "I can't believe you two are really having a baby. It's crazy, isn't it? It feels like just yesterday that you two were hooking up behind James's back and now we're all parents." "It is crazy. God, I can't believe that we're old enough to have kids and people actually congratulate us, you know? I remember being seventeen and being terrified of Rachel ever getting pregnant," he said with a laugh. Finn smiled at his wife before he ran his hand over her baby bump lovingly. When there was a knock at the door, he immediately got up, eager to finally get their dinner. "How crazy obsessive and protective has he been over you?" Nathan asked Rachel with a teasing smile on his face. "I bet you haven't even opened a door yourself since you started showing." As Finn came back with the food and set it down on the table, he was oblivious to the conversation as he licked his lips and took out everything that they had ordered.

Rachel knew that it definitely was crazy that her and Finn were having a baby, especially after how long it had been. "Yeah. It definitely works, Nathan. It's worked since we were in high school." She laughed before sitting down fully on the couch and getting comfortable. "It is crazy. And ew, let's not ever bring up James again. I don't need to get flashbacks to hooking up with Finn in a bathroom again. But yeah, it's definitely a huge change from high school. I'm pretty sure if Finn got me pregnant in high school, our lives would have been way different. I don't even want to imagine what Finn would act like. He probably would have had a panic attack," She laughed, looking over at him as he moved to get up from the couch to answer the door. "Oh, he's been horrible, Nathan." She said softly, making sure Finn couldn't hear her. "I mean, I appreciate it, but I mean, it's been crazy. He barely even let me help him put stuff in the apartment, and then, I was only a little over halfway. Now it's even worse. I love him for it, though. He's adorable." Rachel watched as Finn sat back down, Rachel scooting forward slightly on her seat to sit up straighter. "Have whatever you want, Nathan. I mean, I'm eating for two so I actually eat a lot now, but there's plenty of food here. Feel free to get whatever you want. And to grab anything you want to drink." Rachel grabbed her food and went to start eating, her sighing contently. "Wow. I was starving. So was the baby. Feel him." Rachel laughed after taking another bite, putting Finn's hand to her bump to feel a few kicks. "Keep kicking and you're going to end up kicking your way out of there, baby boy." Rachel said, before starting to eat again.

Finn was immediately focused solely on the food that had finally arrived. He was starving and while he was excited to catch up with Rachel and Nathan, he wanted to do so on a full stomach. Nathan immediately grabbed some food for himself and Finn offered his friend a small smile. When they had all lived together, this had been the usual routine and it felt good to experience that again. While things weren't perfect, he knew that they were getting better. Finn knew that Nathan wasn't ever going to be completely out of their lives, it just wasn't possible after everything the three of them had been through together. As Rachel moved his hand to her stomach, Finn smiled when he felt the baby kick against his palm. "Wow, he's really moving around in there. If he makes you this hungry all the time and gets this excited for food, he's definitely going to have my appetite," he said with a laugh. "I don't know why you're laughing, Finn. That just means you'll never see Rachel's boobs again," Nathan said between bites of his food before a laugh escaped his lips. "Hey, don't talk about my wife's boobs." Finn smiled over at Rachel before he continued eating his food, quickly finishing it all. It never took him long to eat but since the food had gotten there late he found himself eating even faster than normal. "Are you ready for him to get here? I mean, I know you guys are obviously excited for him to be born but, are you two ready for the whole process?" Nathan asked curiously as he looked between them. "I think we're ready. I mean, we have the hospital bag packed and I know I just want to meet him already," Finn said happily. "Twenty bucks you pass out when Rachel goes into labor," Nathan said with a laugh. "Hey! I'm not going to pass out! Why would you even say that? I'll be excited!" "I didn't say that you wouldn't be excited. I just know you, Finn. You're totally going to freak out when Rachel goes into labor. All you do is worry, this is going to make you go into a massive anxiety attack." Finn glared at Nathan as he continued to laugh, not knowing what was so funny. "I don't always worry." When his words only made Nathan laugh harder, Finn sighed before he turned to Rachel. "I don't, right, baby?"

Rachel grinned as Finn and Nathan started talking, knowing that Finn was more than protective of her. She appreciated it, she did, but there was a point where it got to be a little bit too much. They were ready to have a baby, but he was constantly going to be worried about her. And when she had the baby? He was going to be worried about how she was feeling and constantly be trying to help her with the baby to keep her as well rested as possible. "We have everything ready, yeah. It'll be really amazing when it all happens." She laughed at Nathan's words, shaking her head before looking at Finn and watching as he looked to her. "Babe, you kind of do. You're completely trained to freak out and worry over me, though. I know that you'll be excited, but the second my water breaks, you're going to be freaking out. It's just who you are, really. Ever since I was sick you've always been constantly worried about me. Which has only translated to the baby, and since the baby and I are kind of one person right now, it's like double worrying over me." Rachel laughed before patting his cheek. "I appreciate it, though. I do. Some days it's just a little much. You barely even let me carry groceries in anymore. It's cute -- you worrying about me. But I'm definitely managing just fine. I've been through way worse and been fine. Nathan's right. I'm not surprised if you go into some mild anxiety attack when I start going into labor. But I will be too, I guess. It's fine," Rachel grinned as she shrugged gently. "The baby is going to have a dad who just worries a lot. And a mom who never wants to let him go. I'm not surprised if he goes out of the house in bubble wrap because we're scared he's going to hurt himself."

Finn sighed when Rachel told him that he did indeed worry too much. A part of him knew that she was right and that he could probably relax but he couldn't really help it. It was true that ever since she had gotten sick he worried about her a lot but that was only because he was terrified of losing her. He never wanted anything or anyone to hurt her and if him worrying about her a little too much prevented that then he was okay with that. "It's just because I love you," he said softly, a small smile on his face when she patted his cheek. "I just don't want you to strain yourself too much. And I don't want you to feel stressed because that's not good for you and that's not good for the baby. I just always want you to feel happy," he said before he rubbed her stomach gently, his heart swelling with love when he felt a soft kick against his palm. God, he couldn't wait to meet their perfect baby. "Bubble wrap, not a bad idea, babe," he said with a playful smirk on his face. "I'm sorry that I worry a lot, Rach. I know that it might be annoying sometimes but I'm only like that because I almost lost you and I love you. I never want anything bad to happen to you again. Or our baby." Finn smiled softly at Rachel before he kissed her softly, only pulling away when Nathan sighed loudly. "I swear, Finn. You need to start a class or something on how to talk to girls and how to spin negatives into positives because even I'm a little in love with you after that," Nathan said before a laugh escaped his lips, causing Finn to laugh as well. "I grew up with a single mom and then met my soulmate when I was sixteen. My whole life has pretty much been talking to girls. The only thing you have to do is be honest." "Ugh, okay, nevermind. I don't want to hear anymore," Nathan said as Finn shook his head. "One day you're going to meet a girl you really like and then you'll come to me and learn all there is to know." Finn smiled softly before he brought his gaze to Rachel, draping his arm over her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Do you need anything, baby?"

Rachel shook her head immediately as Finn started to apologize for worrying so much. "Babe, don't apologize. It's not like that. I know that you worry and I really love that you do. I know you care and I know that you almost lost me. And I don't want to ever have to worry about anything with the baby, so I understand why you're worrying. I do. And I really appreciate it. Please know that I do." Rachel said after laughing at Nathan's words. "Believe me, Finn has always been really good at talking to girls. He's always been really polite. In high school he always used to make sure that I was happy and he'd always pretend to listen to me even if he wasn't actually listening. It's all a girl needs," Rachel laughed, a small grin on her lips. "But really though, he's always been amazing. It's so amazing to have him. Plus, I never worry about anything happening to our relationship. I wasn't worried when I was in my last year of high school with him, and I'm really not worried now. At all. If you left me, I'd probably kill you," Rachel laughed before Finn draped his arm over her shoulders. "No, I'm okay. I'm enjoying just sitting around here with the two of you. I feel like we haven't done this in years. It's crazy." Rachel smiled over at him gently before looking over at Nathan. "We can just sit around for a while. Just talk. I feel like the three of us have missed out on a lot in each other's lives. I've been avoiding you like the plague, Nathan. I mean, not to be mean. I think I was just frustrated and my hormones didn't help anything," She added with a soft chuckle at the end, shrugging a bit before shaking her head. "If I move, Finn is going to worry so we can just sit around."

Finn laughed softly at Rachel's words. "Leave you? Never. I do love that we never have to worry about that kind of stuff, you know? I mean, after everything we've been through being jealous and fighting over stupid stuff just seems like a waste of time. I just want to enjoy every moment we have for the rest of our lives." Finn knew that once upon a time they hadn't always been perfect. They used to get jealous and fight. However, after she had been sick, he knew everything had changed. It had truly altered both of their lives in every single way and they just didn't to take anything for granted anymore. "I um, I really missed you guys. It feels good to just sit around and talk again. Even if I'm kind of a third wheel I never really minded with you guys," Nathan said with a soft laugh. "How have you two been doing anyway? I mean, I know you two are good. And I know you've both probably been preparing for the baby like crazy. But, how's everything else? When did you end up leaving your show?" And how's your music stuff been doing, Finn?" It felt good to know that Nathan cared again because when he was high all the time he had been a shell of the best friend he once had. Finn was so happy that he was back again. "I mean, I think we've been really good. I know Rach is probably going stir crazy though. You went from being at your show every day to being home all the time," he said softly. "And um, with the whole music thing, I mean, I'm still writing. The baby has given me a lot of inspiration. But, I'm not doing anything with it yet. With the baby on the way and Rachel not working, I think it's best to wait. I know that there will be a time when it feels right." If Finn was being honest, he didn't know when it would feel right to focus his attention fully on music but he knew that he would do it one day. At least, he hoped he would. However, his attention now was on his family and providing for them and that was the most important thing there was.

Rachel still found it crazy that she wasn't doing the show sometimes. It felt like so long ago, really. She felt like it had been years since she had set food on stage. "I left my show about halfway through the pregnancy. I started to show too much, so I had to stop. I mean, no one wants a pregnant Fanny Brice on stage. Plus, I mean, Finn was freaking out about me having such long hours, anyway. I was exhausted. And when I had bad morning sickness, doing the show was definitely really hard. It sucks to see my understudy doing the show, but my director told me to let him know when I'm ready to go back on stage. I know I want to go back, but I want to spend as much time with the baby as I can. I don't want to have some babysitter here all the time and I don't want our son sitting at some day care. You know? I don't want to sound bitchy when I say that, but you know what I mean. I'm sure you do. I just want to be with him as much as possible. I'll go back when he goes to school. Because then at least if Finn starts his music, our schedules would be way different. We'd actually have time to be together." Rachel shrugged. "I want him to do the music, but he wants to wait. And I get it. If neither of us are working, we have money saved up, but I mean, that can only work for so long before it gets hard. And kids are expensive. I don't want to have to worry and you know Finn -- he'd start freaking out way before I would. If I never got to go back to Broadway, I'd be fine with it because I accomplished my dream, but I would like to eventually. Even if it's far in the future. I'm pretty sure I left my mark on Broadway. And I still get to go to the Tony's and get my name out there again so we'll... I mean, we'll see how it all goes. I'm not rushing anything. I'm just thankful for what we have."

Finn smiled softly as Rachel spoke, knowing that their son truly was going to have an amazing childhood. They were going to make sure of that. He knew that they both wanted to be home as much as possible so that their son could be raised by them, not some random person. "Your kid shouldn't be at a day care or have a nanny, not when he's going to have parents as awesome as you guys. I know you two are going to raise an awesome kid. I bet he's going to be super respectful and a big momma's boy just like Finn," Nathan said with a laugh as Finn rolled his eyes. "Hey, I was raised to respect and protect women, that's just who I am. And I know that's how our son will be too." He couldn't wait to raise a child and while it was nerve-wracking, knowing that he was doing it with Rachel definitely took a lot of those nerves away. "You'll definitely go back to Broadway, baby. I know you will. You were born to be on that stage," he said with a small smile on his face as he ran his hand down along her arm affectionately. "Plus, they announce who's nominated for the Tony's next week. I bet you're one of them, Rach," he told her as he looked at her happily. Finn knew that Rachel was going to get a Tony. She was amazing and no one was better for the role of Fanny than she was. Sure, he was a little biased but he believed in Rachel and he knew that she was going to be amazing. "Oh, I can already see it now. Rachel is going to win the Tony and waddle up to the stage," Nathan said with a laugh. "How does the sex work when you're pregnant anyway? Molly wouldn't let me touch her when she was pregnant," Nathan said, causing Finn to laugh as he shook his head. "Nate, shut the fuck up." "What!? I'm just curious. Is the super horny thing true? Are you all over each other even more than you always have been? Because that would be impressive." Finn laughed before he flipped off Nathan and brought his glance down to Rachel. "Are you sure letting him in here was a good idea?"

Rachel was so happy that things were finally working out between the three of them. She felt like it had been so long since they had been able to just hang out like this. "I hope I'll be one of them. I think the show will get nominated for sure, but I don't know about individuals. I mean, I think I did a good job and I got a lot of good ratings, but we'll see how it all works out, I think. I don't want to worry too much. It was my first big show, it's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen the first time." Of course, she was lying to herself -- she really did want this, but she was trying to just stay positive. "I will be waddling up to the stage. I'll be so pregnant. I'll be in some nice dress, super pregnant and hoping that I don't fall up the stairs and make a fool out of myself. And oh, believe me, the sex works." Rachel laughed, her grinning over at Finn before looking back to Nathan. "Any girl who isn't super horny when they're pregnant is definitely lying. It's not as bad right now, but believe me, when I wasn't so huge, I definitely wanted sex way more than now. But I mean, I still want it now. That sucked that Molly wouldn't let you touch her. Because let me tell you from personal experience, the sex is definitely good," Rachel laughed before bringing her hands to rub over her bump. "We had to take full advantage of the pregnancy sex, because you know, it might never happen again." Rachel smirked, looking over at Finn before looking to Nathan and taking a deep breath. "Can we talk about something else before I make you leave so Finn and I can have sex? Because now you're making me think about it and that's really not a good idea." A laugh left her lips before she let herself lean against Finn, her head resting against his shoulder.

Finn couldn't help but smile at the image of Rachel walking up to the stage super pregnant to accept her Tony. God, he wanted her to win so badly. He wanted her to have everything that she had ever dreamed about and he knew it would absolutely transform her world. As Rachel spoke, he laughed softly, unable to keep a small smile from his face. She was definitely telling the truth about her being super horny. While him and Rachel were typically all over each other anyway, he was loving her initiating sex way more frequently than usual. "Oh, we definitely took full advantage," he said with a soft laugh as he met his wife's gaze. God, he loved her so much. "No, no, it's a really good idea. I think you should keep thinking about it, baby," he said with a playful smile on his face before he pressed a kiss to the top of her head when she leaned against his shoulder. "Forget I brought it up," Nathan said, laughing softly as he shook his head at them. "You guys are going to be the best parents," he told them as he looked between them. Finn smiled softly at his friend before he looked down at Rachel, bringing his hand to her bump and rubbing it gently. God, he couldn't wait to be a dad. He couldn't wait for their perfect baby. "I mean, just seeing how you two were with Ellie - it was... you guys were amazing. A part of the reason that I was so upset with you two was because I was jealous, honestly. You both made it look so easy and there I was struggling to change a diaper or struggling to calm her down. I was really stupid. And I - I miss Ellie so much. I'd change a million diapers if it meant Molly would let me see her again." "Hey, you're going to see her again, okay? Our son is going to need a little best friend growing up," he told Nathan with a small smile on his face. "We'll figure this all out, you know? Everything will work itself out, I know it."

#after the storm

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