#i mean i had a peaceful evening just waiting for tomorrow's press conference and then they just BOOM HAVE SOME LESTAPPEN

[paint-it-red-and-black]

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK TWAT THE FUKL

WDYM “Max praises Leclerc”

WDYM “Lestappen bromance”

[danielxricciardo]

for the song prompt list #38 with max please 🥺

Summary: One sided love with Max Verstappen

Warnings: angst, swearing

Word count: 2.7k

38. “You wouldn’t know love if it crushed your fucking chest.”

One-sided love is like waiting for something that is never going to happen. It is like looking into those eyes that will never look back into yours. It is like having someone in your heart but not in your arms. It is suffocating. It starts eating you from inside.

It starts from the moment you meet them. The eye contact that chills your spine, the butterflies somersaulting in your stomach, just the mere thought of them sends goosebumps all over your skin. Your eyes wander and you can't concentrate whenever they're around; despite feeling a little embarrassed for approaching them, you do so anyway and exchange numbers in the hope that at least a friendship will develop. I mean, they're cool, you're cool, you should hang out or something. Or whatever.

It becomes harder to remain nonchalant. Your moderate interest in this person turns into the non-stop checking of your phone to see if they've contacted you... absolute elation when they do, and utter, utter despair when they don't. But you keep telling yourself that it's cool, you don't even know them that well, and they probably don't even want to know you (otherwise they would be making an effort by now, right?).

They text you something vague and impersonal every once in a while, and this is enough to send your heart soaring into the sky. You respond straight away, and they don't. And as this continues, your self-esteem begins to drop, and you question everything.

Why aren't they contacting me? I expect they're just busy. Or is it me? Are three texts in a row too much? I don't wanna seem stalkerish... but I don't want to look like I don't care about them. Am I too fat? Would they prefer me if I lost weight, or had a car, or my own place? Probably. Why am I thinking about them? They'd never think about me like this.

It hurts, from the pit of your stomach to the backs of your eyes. You can't concentrate on anything. You forego activities with friends and family, to keep yourself available for this person just in case they want to meet up with you. You feel sick every day, your appetite drops, your enthusiasm for everything decreases, and you are left with the most bitter, raging emptiness you've ever felt in your whole life. And it's all your fault.

Despite the pain it causes you, you carry on quietly pursuing this person. You silently scream to yourself 'THEY'RE OUT OF MY LEAGUE! THEY WILL NEVER EVER WANT TO BE WITH ME! DON'T THINK ABOUT THEM!' but it's so overwhelming to hear yourself saying it that you try and ignore the voice of reason inside your head. Because right now, your heart is taking control, and there's nothing you can do about it.

You wish they were a part of you, that they could give you a chance, to let you be the best partner that you could possibly be. You wish you could hold them, and talk to them, and kiss them, and sleep beside them, and protect them... but you can't.

The reason you put yourself through all this pain, is a simple fact that you love this person so, so much. And even though the rational side of you is telling you to give up, a small, pathetic part of you says 'They might care about you one day...'

It hurts. Hurts real bad.

True Love doesn’t hurt. Expectations, possessiveness, insecurity, jealousy, and emotions do.

Memories don't hurt. Love doesn't hurt. It is the attachment that hurts. It is the expectation that hurts. It is the imagined future that is now broken that hurts.

Unrequited love hurts the most. You will love someone no matter what they have done to you and that someone may not love you back no matter what you do. That hurts. Those expectations hurt.

To love is always selfless and that feeling is always unconditional. Love is always unconditional. It may sting seeing him with someone else, but you will be happy for him for their happiness is more important to you when you truly love them.

When we lose someone that we love so truly and they walk out of your life for some reason, it hurts. This doesn't mean memories will haunt us. It is the collapsed future that hurts us. Living in the past with the ones we love brings us tears, not because that is lost, but because there was something that could have been forever, but it isn't now. That hurts. That stings and we tend to associate it with good memories. Sometimes we love people more than the memories they gave us. We fall for the person, not just for the memories. We love, we live life to create beautiful memories for us and the loved ones around us.

Expectations hurt in proportion to the emotional investment. Whenever we are too much attached to someone or something, we grow attachment and that attachment leads to expectations. These expectations when fulfilled are an awesome experience. But when we are too much emotionally invested and when those dreams aren't coming true, it stings and hurts and kills from within.

Getting over it is by forgiving and moving on with life accepting that you will never get over that true love. Forgiveness is your trait. It solely depends on you and not on the other person. You want to forgive them because you want peace of mind and don't want to hold grudges against anyone in your life.

Feelings and emotions are real. If you truly love a person, you will love them forever, even though they can't see you that way. That's why love is always unconditional. You love that person because you want to, not because you have that hope that someday he will love you back. If you just hope for being loved back, that's not love, to begin with, it is just some business deal. You love him because your feelings for him are real, deep, and true.

You met Max a long time ago. You were both in Formula 3 in 2014 and got along really well. You started to see each other outside of racing and after a while, you could call yourself friends. But you had feelings for him. Even before you get to know each other properly. You tried so hard to show him that you were interested in him, but nothing. Either he was oblivious or he was not interested in you. Either way, you were hurt, and that was seen in the way you competed. You lost your ambition, there were some days when you cried before the race because you didn't feel able to compete, and Max had no idea you were feeling that way because you wouldn't let him see you when you were at your lowest point.

You gave up racing and Max ended up competing in Formula 1. You weren't jealous of him, you knew you never had a chance to get there, but he deserved it, and all the hard work he put in helped him. You were with him, you encouraged him every time, on the phone, if you could not travel, or in person when he asked you to be with him.

'I need my best friend, Y/N, please. Can you come to the race on the weekend?'

And no matter how much it hurt you to hear that he considered you just his best friend, you wouldn't let your tears fall on your cheeks and tell him you'd be there for the weekend. Every time. It doesn't matter that you had something else planned, you never refused him.

"Oh my God, thank you so much for coming!" you heard Max. You look up and see your best friend coming towards you, ready to hug you. You instantly smiled. No matter how you would feel when you see him you can't help but smile.

"Of course I came. I wouldn't be anywhere else," you say and you are taken by surprise by the sincerity with which you uttered those words.

He takes you to meet some people and you were happy because he seemed well, he seemed delighted with his place there.

"Do you miss it?" you heard Daniel asking you, but you had no idea what he was talking about. "The racing," he continued as if he had read your thoughts and knew you had no idea what he was talking about.

"Oh," you shrug nonchalantly. "I mean, yeah, sometimes, but it's fine."

"Is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Clearly your mind is somewhere else. I thought it was because you were here and that brought back some racing memories, but it's different, isn't it?"

"Okay, Daniel, I appreciate the free therapy session, but I'm fine, seriously. I'm just happy to be here to encourage Max."

"Talking about me? Man, I'm feeling like a superstar," your best friend says coming between you. "I don't know about you guys but I want to get drunk."

"Are you even allowed to get drunk? It's Wednesday, don't you have press conferences tomorrow?"

"I'm in!" Daniel says and you roll your eyes. Of course he is.

Getting drunk with two boys you swear have ADHD was not a good idea.

Technically speaking, you weren't drunk, you drank a bottle of beer all night so you could take care of the two boys. Drunk Daniel was ok. He was not very agitated, he was even calmer than usual. He was sitting on the couch, laughing louder than usual, but it wasn't a cause of concern for you. Max on the other hand was a different story. Being drunk, he seemed very attracted to the balcony and that stressed you a lot. You tried to explain to him that it is dangerous on the balcony and that it is much more fun inside. You hardly convinced him.

"You're not funny at all, Y/N!"

"I'd rather know you're alive, Max."

Daniel went to bed at about 11:30 PM, but Max showed no signs of being tired. No matter how much you told him about tomorrow's busy schedule, he didn't seem to care.

You were lying on the couch, staring at the TV, and Max was on the floor, quietly for once. You wanted to ask him if he was feeling well, but he spoke before you could say something.

"Do you believe in love?"

Those five words knocked the air out of your lungs. Love? What made him ask you about love?

"Yes, I do," you answer and hope that he'll be satisfied with what you said.

"What is love anyway?"

"That depends, Max. Love is different for everybody."

"Well," he said and turns to look at you. "What is love for you?"

You sighed. What was love for you? Max. But you can't say that.

"Love is a broad term, Max. It can have different meanings for different people and can vary according to the context. At times love is synonymous with respect. At others, it is all about caring and sharing. At still others, it is a trail of concern, affection, and connection."

You didn't know you started to cry until Max kindly wiped off the tears on your face. Who would have thought that talking about love in front of the person you loved the most in this world would have made you cry? You whisper a 'thank you' to Max and get up to take a napkin from the kitchen.

"We're best friends, right?" you hear him coming towards you and he sits down on the kitchen chair.

"Sure," you answer, wiping away your tears.

"What you described. About love... I think I feel that for someone."

You heard something break and you were sure it was your heart. What you felt in that moment was what? Jealousy? This is human behavior. We, people, have the tendency to imagine ourselves with the person on whom we develop our crush. And this is totally normal, everyone does that.

Initially, it's all roses and unicorns. We start to imagine how our life would be with the other person, how we would treat them, what gifts we would give them, how we will take their pain away and how we will happily live after.

But life doesn’t work how we want it to work, does it? Then comes the second phase where we start to realize the differences between you and your crush, but still we hold on to it because in our minds that person is just too perfect to be wrong.

And then comes the thirds phase where we see our crush getting into a relationship with someone else. We even think that our crush doesn’t deserve that person, my crush deserves me! I’m better than that person. But that’s how it works, things fall apart. They break. That’s life. And at that moment, it broke your heart and you knew you want to know nothing about that other person. But you were hurt. He was drunk, yes, but you still had a crush on him, even if your feelings for him couldn't be reciprocal.

"That's... That's great, Max," you bit your lip to stop your tears from falling. "Let's go to bed."

"I think I always loved this girl but I never told her. Maybe I should," he giggles and you feel your blood boiling in your veins.

“You wouldn’t know love if it crushed your fucking chest,” you yell at him and you were sure Daniel was now wide awake. Max was watching you with wide eyes. "Stop talking about things you have no idea about," you shoot a glance at the clock. 12:25 AM. Looks like a lovely time to go for a walk in a foreign country you've never been to before. You collect your phone and wallet and march to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I need fresh air. Go to bed."

"I'm coming with you, Y/N!"

You opened the door and left, not letting Max come after you. You started to run and in front of the hotel, you stopped. Where to now? You have no idea where you are or what is near the hotel, and you desperately needed to put some distance between you and Max.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Running like that? Are you crazy?" you hear a pissed Max behind you. You tried to wipe the tears in a desperate attempt to look like you haven't been bawling your eyes out. "What happened inside?"

"Nothing, Max."

"Let's talk about it. Please."

"Talk about it? Fine. Let's do it! What should I start with? The fact that I've had a crush on you for three years or should I give you some love advice for the girl you like?"

"Say that one more time," Max said, walking towards you.

"Say what one more time?"

"You liked me for the past three years?" he was now in front of you, feeling his hot breaths on your face, and you could smell the alcohol.

"That is not relevant."

"Why not? I should know if someone has feelings for me, no? At least that's what I deserve, I think."

"Stop being so fucking cocky, Verstappen. This is not a joke," you puffed. "Forget I said a damn thing," you started to walk back into the hotel.

"Well, if I have to forget what you said that means I'm not allowed to tell you that I've liked you too for the past three years, right?"

You stoped. He said what? You were dreaming. Maybe you were the one that drank a lot. You were drunk, that's the reason why you just heard Max confessing his feelings for you. Or maybe you were both drunk.

"Max, let's go to bed. You've had a lot to drink, maybe we'll talk in the morning if you remember anything."

He came to you and hugged you from behind.

"I know what I said. Sure, I've had a few beers to drink, but I know that what I'm telling you now it's the truth."

[buckyownsmylife]

Hoola, maybe Chris unconsciously placing his hand on reader's leg during an interview and accidentally saying that they're a couple? idk 😅

Ps: i love your writing.

Wait, but I love this???? P.S.: I always get excited when I see in my notifications that you liked something I wrote!

If you’re reading this and want me to write something, feel free to send me some headcanons ideas! I’ll be writing those all day!

“Isn’t it tiring? Having to spend so much time with each other?”

That was the first question the interviewer made as you three adjusted your microphones, making sure everyone was comfortable as the camera started rolling

The truthful answer was yes, but probably not for the reason that she expected, and since you couldn’t admit that holding back your sexual frustration was getting the best of you, you decided to play it cool

“Oh, yes. Evans is such a terrible guy. I have to keep myself from slapping him in the face about three times a day.”

By the way both Chris and the interviewer reacted, it was clear they hadn't been expecting this sort of sarcastic answer, but you didn’t even get to feel bad since you were the reason for Chris’ deep rumble of laughter, his hand coming up to hold his chest before he slapped it over your bare knee.

Immediately, you clenched. The contact was completely foreign - this movie was an animation, which meant you hadn’t really had the opportunity to spend much time together before this press conference

And even now that you were spending practically all day together, there hadn’t really been any sort of situation that justified any kind of skin-on-skin contact, much less one that felt so intimate, considering the position of his hand on your leg.

Still, you ruled it out as instinctive reactions. There was no reason for him to consciously decided to leave your hand on your leg like that.

“And how do you feel about her, then?” The interviewer pressed on, trying to give an opportunity for Chris to get in on the joke.

“I don’t know what to say, I mean, I know I’m an asshole, but to have your girlfriend think of you like that...”

The temperature seemed to have dropped fifteen degrees as everyone in the room froze, all staring at him at once.

In his defense, it clearly looked like he didn’t mean to say that, with his mouth opening and closing while he too, remained frozen in his seat

But then again, it clearly looked like he didn’t mean to say that, which meant that by this time tomorrow, the whole world would have bought into this idea that you and he had been secretly dating.

And even worse, it was like, once he started talking, he just couldn’t stop.

“I mean... I don’t mean... I didn’t mean ‘girlfriend’, ‘girlfriend’, I meant “girl friend’, you know? A girl that’s also a friend...”

And that’s how you ended up being the one with a hand over his knee, squeezing it tightly, signaling him to shut up.

You were able to steer the conversation into the movie and after the four minutes of the interview were done, you asked for a break so you could go back to your dressing room and talk to him in peace.

“Why the fuck would you tell the entire world that we’re dating? We’ve never- We’re not... I just don’t know what you were thinking!” You shouted as the door slammed behind the both of you, but despite the forceful words that left your mouth, it was clear you were more terrified than angry

And the way that you caught his eyes skimming your body when you turned around to look for an answer only served to steal all of your indignation away, leaving you breathless and uncomfortably aware of just how wet your panties had gotten since the second you felt his hand on you.

“I mean... since it’s gonna be a shitstorm anyway... maybe this isn’t the right time, but would you like to go on a date?”

Please, this fucking adorable idiot, I just know this is something he’d do

[milirii]

For the spring OTP prompts, may I have number 7 with Joonas and Joel pls! (platonic or romantic, your call <3)

I was struggling to come up with ideas for this one 😂 But then I browsed through UMK's instagram posts from last spring and one of them said that there was riding a bike in boys schedule on free days and I finally got an idea. So here you go, I hope you like it 🤗

7. Thrift shopping, words: 1167, can be either platonic or romantic

Nowadays free days were a rare luxury for Blind channel. Life was hectic and they have been pulled in different directions by journalists and interviewers and important label peoples all the spring after Darkside came out. And even more so when UMK was over and they had wiped the floor with other contestants. Every fiber of their bodies and souls and the very meaning of their life aimed only for one thing: to get their asses on Rotterdam and on the big stage of Ahoy-arena and in front of cameras and live audience. To make the statement and force people to look at them and acknowledge their existence. 

But all moving parts around them made Joel anxious. To have constantly 666 things in their To Do-list was great for giving him no time to think too much, but now when their semifinal was only a day away and everything was ready and only waiting for them to step up on the stage, the life had quieted down enough for Joel to hear the anxious and panicked whispering of his head. It made him nauseous and fidgety and fucked up his already non-existent sleeping schedule. 

But if life had given him a mean head that didn’t let him have the peaceful moment, it has also given him five best friends who picked up the pieces when Joel didn’t have strength to do so and even prevented some of the breakdowns before Joel had fully noticed them even approaching. 

And especially Joel was thankful for having one specific person in his life.

“We are going to ride a bike and look around the city!” Joonas dragged Joel behind him towards the door of the conference room where they had spent the morning, doing last checks over things. 

Tommi waved them off with: “Don’t do anything reckless, we need to be able to perform tomorrow”, before turning back to his phone. 

“We know and we won’t get the plague”, Joonas rolled his eyes and tugged Joel more insistently with him and all but pushed him out of the door. “We will be back in three hours, bye!”

Door closed behind them and now Joonas turned to look at Joel. “This door separates you from all the Eurovision stuff we have been doing all spring. All of it is behind this door and none of it is on this side. We are going to now spend our free three hours doing basic tourist things and you can’t think of this Eurovision circus because it doesn't exist in the rest of Rotterdam.” 

Joel just blinked in confusion and Joonas gave him a smile. “You are restless and anxious and we need to fix that before you break. Best I can offer you now is to take you away from this for a while, if you are up to it.”

“Fuck yes, please let’s get out of here!” Trust for Joonas to see everything, Joel thought. Joonas’ happy squeal and swift kiss pressed on his cheek made Joel already feel a bit better. 

****

Warm wind felt nice on his face when they rode their bikes down the streets. Together with Joonas’ continuous talking and observing the colorful buildings and green parks, Joel could almost feel how the extra stress melted away. When they stopped to buy some ice cream from the stall they found in one of the parks, he didn’t feel anymore like his esophagus was about to wrap itself around his neck and throttle him. Breathing felt so nice without the heavy weight of the hoped breakthrough on his chest. 

“We need to get some souvenirs, don’t you think?” Joonas suddenly asked while he licked his ice cream and walked his bike next to Joel. 

“We can’t go anywhere, so just take a picture of your ice cream and consider it done.” Joel shrugged and continued to enjoy his own ice cream cone. 

“What if we twist the rules a little bit?” 

“How?” Joel sighed exasperated. “It feels nice to pretend we are not performing tomorrow in front of hundreds of thousands of people, but we can’t ignore the fact that we actually are performing tomorrow and we can’t get ourselves sick. This is too important, Joonas.” 

“I know! But there is an open-air flea market and I kinda want to go and see what we could find. There aren't too many people in there and we can keep our distance and use face masks.” 

Joonas’ pleading voice made Joel consider. Joonas loved thrift shops and Joel had sometimes made good findings too. Like old vinyls with some classic songs. Once he had rummaged through a huge box of C-cassettes just to piss off Tommi and found a record of Mäntypistiäinen, which he had later given Tommi as a birthday gift. No one had a proper player to actually listen to it, but it was considered a treasure anyway. Sometimes he found other cool stuff, like hockey cards or jewelleries and one time he had even ran into a hockey jersey in Kärppä-colors and Lasse Kukkonen’s number.  

So yeah, he actually wanted to twist the rules with Joonas a little and go visit the outdoors thrift shop. 

“Let’s go then!”

****

Circling among the tables full of books, clothes, CD’s and other knick-knacks was the final thing needed to pull Joel out of his Eurovision anxiety. It felt so normal to walk through the sales area where others had little to no idea who they were. No one was expecting anything from him. It felt refreshing. 

He didn’t even buy anything. Nothing really caught his eyes and when Joonas drifted away to inspect something he had considered interesting and came back with a smooth rock, Joel decided to just grab Joonas’ arm and drag him away from the place. It was time to get back to the hotel anyway.  

“What are you going to do with it? You could have just taken a rock from the ground?” Joel asked when they returned the rented bikes. 

“You’ll see.” Joonas smirked at him.

****

Flight from Rotterdam to Finland with no sleep and terrible hangover wasn’t the best thing Joel had experienced. But in all it’s horriblesness, Joel knew that the flight was not only the end of this mad Eurovision wringer, it was foremost the flight that got them towards the dreams that had kept them going. The breakthrough happened and now they needed to make sure the wave would take them as far as possible and that they would stay on the surface. 

Joonas was sleeping against his shoulder and snoring lightly. Joel would have liked to take advantage of the couple of hours they would be on air and close his eyes, but he was still too high on the adrenaline. 

He brushed his finger on the surface of the rock Joonas had given him before boarding. There was written: “Time to make a hundred million people listen”

Yes it was. Joel smiled and turned to press a kiss on Joonas’ hair.

[firstdegreefangirl]

Hi, I love your work! May I request a Chenford fic with the lines "Your voice sounds like rocks on sandpaper" and "I know you're tired, but you really can't sleep on the table"

Now that I’ve finally had the time to sit down and write for more than five consecutive minutes, you sure can! These were such fun lines to play with, by the way!

--

Lucy raps her knuckles gently against the conference room door as she nudges it open slowly. The lights are off, but enough sunlight streams in through the windows that it doesn’t really make a difference. She winces when she sees Tim shift in his chair, pressing his face deeper into the crook of his elbow where he’s slumped against the tabletop.

“Hey,” she whispers. “How’s it going, Sarge?” She’s teasing, really, with the use of his new title, knows that they’ve carefully divided their personal and professional relationships. And they are at work, even if she can feel the exhaustion coming off of Tim in waves.

He grunts and flips Lucy off, but she’s relentless. She crouches down beside him and wraps two of her fingers around his. Tim is still for a moment, then he curls his finger back in and shifts his hand until it’s almost holding onto Lucy’s.  

“How you doing?” Lucy asks, when Tim still doesn’t say anything. This time, she earns another noncommittal sound, but Tim shifts closer to her. She leans toward him, just close enough that her temple is brushing against his elbow. “Tim?”

She can’t imagine how exhausted he must be, after 26 hours on duty. He’d agreed to work a double, cover for an officer on the shift after theirs, and Lucy knew he’d been looking forward to getting back into the field for a day.  

What he hadn’t bargained on was getting called back into the office before they’d even gotten to dinnertime, running command with SWAT on a barricaded subject. The suspect had kept them on edge all night; every time they’d thought he was wearing down, he’d add another demand to his list.  

Lucy hadn’t heard from him much, other than a text letting her know that he was going to be off late, a couple of details about the call. He’d sent another message hours later, as she was getting dressed to go back to the station, the words got him, and nothing else.

So Lucy had driven his truck across town again, back to Mid-Wilshire, where they’d walked in together the day before, making plans for a late-night snack after Tim’s second shift ended. And she’d carried two cups of coffee through the bullpen, all the way to his empty office. When she’d turned around, confused, she’d nearly walked into the newly appointed Captain Grey and narrowly avoided splashing hot liquid all over them both.

“Officer Chen,” he’d nodded at her. “Looking for someone?” Lucy had sized him up, trying to figure out her response; she knows he knows about her and Tim, Luna had invited them over for dinner just a week ago, but he’s carefully turned a blind eye around the station to avoid having to transfer any of his officers. After a moment, he’d softened. “War room. Something about chairs without arms.” Grey waited for her to turn around, then called her name again. “I don’t want to see you again until tomorrow, understood?”

Lucy had nodded her thanks and walked away, abandoning the coffees on Angela’s desk as she walked by.  

By the time she’s thought back over the last few minutes, unable to pick up on any details that might tell her why Tim is draped across a table in the roll call room, he’s turned his head just far enough to reveal one eye, glaring at her.  

It’s less aggressive than she thinks he’s meaning it to be, between the heavy bag underneath the eye and the hint of softness Lucy can see behind the expression.  

“Your voice sounds like rocks on sandpaper,” he says, and Lucy rolls her eyes, tightening her grip on his hand.

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” she laughs softly. If she’s brutally honest, Tim is the one with the raspy voice, and Lucy wonders how long he’s been in here. “What are you doing way down here?”

“People look for the sergeant in his office. If he’s not there, he’s busy. Wanted peace and quiet.”  

“That so?” Lucy gives up the pretense, leans her head completely against Tim’s arm and waits for his head to loll against hers.

“Present company excluded.”  

“Well aren’t you sweet?”

“Almost as sweet as Grey. He gave me the shift off to make sure you get home alright.”  

Tim groans again, and it vibrates through Lucy’s skull too. Fatigue isn’t contagious, she knows, but right now, nothing sounds better than crawling back into bed with her boyfriend and not waking up before lunchtime at the earliest.

“I know,” she turns her face to press a kiss against his forehead. “I know you’re tired, but you really can’t sleep on the table.”  

“Was doin’ OK with it until you got here,” Tim mumbles.

“OK, you can’t sleep with me on the table.” At that, Tim lifts his head and smirks. Lucy swats his arm with her free hand. “Shut up, that wasn’t a challenge. We’re at work, and you’ve been awake way too long to be sexy.” He raises an eyebrow. “Tim!”

“You love me in the mornings.” The words don’t quite make sense, but Lucy knows what he’s trying to say.

“C’mon,” She doesn’t argue – can't aruge, because she knows Tim would call her out on the lie, even half-asleep. “Let’s go home and get back into bed.”

Lucy pulls at his hand until they’re both standing upright again and lets Tim drape an arm over her shoulders for balance as they start walking. But he stops her at the door, waits for her to turn around so he can pull her in for a kiss.

“And when we get there?”

“After you get some sleep,” Lucy laughs, shifting away from where he’s trying to reach for his keys in her back pocket. “Which you can start on while I drive us home.”  

[olivarryprompts]

Fanfic Friday #10

Welcome to Fanfic Friday! Each Friday I will post a new fanfic here and on A03. Enjoy x

Read and save it on A03 here 

{peter stark and a no good very bad day}

Ship: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers & Peter Stark

Warnings: swearing, fluff otherwise :)

Wc: 3,984

Today, everything had gone wrong. He stayed up way past his bedtime the previous night and had gotten barely three hours of sleep by the time he arrived at school. He forgot his Spanish homework in the lab and that was the one grade he needed to pull from an A- to an A. He chugged a couple shots of espresso, and his usual store on the walk to school was closed. Meaning he had no redbull to sustain him through his classes.

Also, guess which class was straight bangout first, Spanish. So he hadn't done the homework and had no time to do it. Great. Fortunately, he made it through first period Spanish, only getting slightly scolded for not handing in the assignment. Then he had a break, and the kid desperately needed a pick me up coffee and muffin. He went to the closest cafe, one he’d come to love, only to find the whole football team there. Which would have been fine, if he wasn’t so goddamn awkward. He stood there for a solid five minutes before he asked the jock in his way to move so he could order.

Then, when the kid did get to ordering they ran out of fuckin chocolate muffins. What kinda cafe runs out of chocolate muffins at ten am? This one apparently. So coffee and blueberry muffin in hand, he headed back to the student lounge to get some work done.

The next portion of his day went as planned, a welcomed change of pace. Well Flash was a bitch, but what was new there. And his senses were through the roof. But other than that. That was all until the last period. To start, he got a text from his boyfriend, explaining that he’d no longer be arriving this Friday, but instead the following Saturday. Peter wanted to cry. He missed his boy. Leaving Harley on read, he tried to focus on chemistry, but he’d done the stuff they were going over about 100 times with Dr. Banner. He zoned out the entire class.

Finally, the bell rang and put him out of his misery. He quickly texted Ned asking if he was coming in the following day. He had been sick that day. He went to leave, but the class was stopped by the announcement of a test and more homework. For fuck sake.

He did get out, though. And he got straight in the car, barely pausing to say hello to Happy. Noticing the boy's unusual quiet, he didn’t press for more details about Peter’s day. Happy, though he’d never say it, enjoyed hearing about the kids day. He had come to really care for Peter, and his accomplishments made the older man happy. Ironic, he knew.

They had arrived at the tower in almost record time, and Peter was glad to have avoided extra time in the car. What he really craved was a couple hugs from his dads, a chat with his boyfriend, and to get through the stack of busy work that weighed him down.

Happy went round to the private entrance, wished the kid a good day, and headed off to some other errand. Peter exited, scanning his pass at security and being recognized and let through by Friday. So, he’d finally made it upstairs and there the sofa was, filled with a few avengers. Luckily his parents were among them. The two were sitting close to each other, as normal.

Peter simply put his head in his pops lap, and he laid his feet on his dad. Neither Steve nor Tony said anything, but they gave each other the look. Steve ran his hands through his son’s hair lovingly. “Pete?” Tony asked, “What happened kid?” “Nothin’” Peter replied, still buried in his Pop’s lap. “You sure about that?” Steve pressed. “Just a bad day,” Peter mumbled. “What happened паук?” Nat spoke up. She is very protective of Peter. “What didn’t happen?” he sighed dramatically. “Well you mope for as long as you like, Pete,” Tony joked. “Thanks dad,” he said, closing his eyes again in search of sleep. “Teenagers I tell you,” Clint said, rolling his eyes. “Fuck you Barton,” Peter mumbled before falling asleep properly. “He really is your child, Tones,” Clint laughed. “Hey Peter just said a bad language word,” Nat remarked. “God I hate all of you,” his Pops groaned. Then Peter fell into peaceful, safe sleep.

“Pete?” his Pops said, entering his room. He moved around, noticing he’d been moved from the sofa to his own room. He groaned. “Hello to you too.” “Yes, Hi, father, Captain America, Leader of the Avengers, Man of Strengt-” “Ok relax,” Cap rolled his eyes. Peter sat up, smirking. “Wanna tell me what actually happened today?” “J-just everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong.” “Did that start with you staying in the lab way past a normal sleeping time?” “Perhaps. How did you kn-” “You are aware that your dad designed that whole lab situation, right?” “Fair enough.” “Do we have to initiate Insomnia protocol again?” “God no, it was one night.” “Promise.” “Swear. Just an awful day. Spidey senses all acting up, being annoying, no chocolate muffins. Speaking of which, can I have the day off tomorrow? I have basically no classes.” (he wasn’t sure why, but all but one of his classes were cancelled.) Steve thought for a moment. He knew the kid had been through a lot always, and a day off never hurt anyone. Also, he was far too smart to be there anyway. “Yeah. Let me just double check with Dad, okay?” “Thanks.” “We’re eating dinner now so get cleaned up?” “Yep. Coming.”

The next day

Peter awoke at 10 with a smile on his face. He’d peacefully regained energy. He’d finished his school work the previous night, and he was happy to just relax for a day. He pulled on some SI sweatpants and a hoodie he’d stolen from Harley awhile back.

“Hey parentals,” he greeted, still holding his smile. “Morning,” his Pops said as he cooked breakfast. “Morning? Is it already?” I bet you can guess who that came from. “Tones,” Steve said, voice full of its normal concern. Peter just laughed, taking a stool at the bar. “What? I’m fine. I’m having fun.” “You promised you’d at least take a nap.” “Oops,” he smiled, heading back in the direction of the lab. “You’re a great role model to our son!” “You really are dad!” Peter added. “Love you both dearly.” Steve rolled his eyes and Peter chuckled. “Where’s the rest of the team?” Peter inquired. He’d come to realize that saying team was easier than naming all the residents of the tower. “Nat, Clint, Wanda, and Pietro are training. Thor and Loki went back to Asgard last night, and Bruce is in his lab.” “Oh, Loki didn’t tell me he was going back.” “Some emergency. Sorry kid.” “Yeah, i-it’s fine.” “He told me to assure you they’d be back soon.” “Good.” “Keaner getting here soon?” “Nah coming tomorrow now. Something about something, I don’t really know.” “Ok. Made grilled cheeses and tomato soups. It's almost done,” Steve offered. “Thanks,” Peter said. “What’s with Loki leaving that's got you so down?” “I just miss him a lot.” Steve knew that his Kid and loki had come to get on surprisingly well. They were as close as he and Nat. Not even Clint had managed to get that close.

Peter practically inhaled a couple of sandwiches. “I’m going to go work with Dad.” “Have fun!” “I will.” “Love you.” “Love you, too.” He sped down to the lab, where he could hear his Dad’s ACDC blasting as usual. “Heyo, what you working on?” “The suit nanotech. Wanna give your old man a hand?” “Always. Bring up the blueprints. What adjustments have you made so far? “Just the molecule distance and expansion weight. Trying to help stabilize the structure.” “What about the build construction stacking?” So they dove into work, Peter easily keeping up with the genius.

“Nicely done, getting too smart for me. What are you even doing in high school?” “Being bored and failing my humanities classes.” “You're not actually failing your classes are you? Grades are not everything bu-” “Relax father, I’m doing well in all my classes.” “I should probably know that. In fact I’ll actually show up to your next parent teacher conference.” “Please don’t,” Peter smiled. His father was generally very embarrassing. “Friday, make sure I’m at the kid’s next conference?” “Reminder set.” “Thanks, Fri.” “Anytime boss.” “God Fri please remind me to not show up for my next conference.” “Heyyyy,” Tony said, faking offence. “Dad, you can be very overbearing.” “I know, but-” “No.” “Fine, guess I’m not coming. Trying to be a good father and parenthood isn’t for me.” “I beg to differ,” Steve said, coming in to check on us, “realise you're no match for Peter’s intelligence yet?” “No fucking way. I’m a genius. Many PHDs. Kid hasn’t even finished high school, plus he has an A- in Spanish,” Tony laughed. “How did you-,” Peter rolled his eyes. “Friday just sent them to me.” “You’re awful.” “Hey watch it, MIT is still your dream school?” “I fucking hate you so much,” Peter really did loved this kind of banter with his father. “Maybe I do agree that parenthood isn’t for you, love.” “Capsical, you are a traitor. You’re supposed to always be on my side.” Steve kissed Tony’s cheek and ruffled Peter’s hair before saying, “Pepper needs you. Something about important business.” “Really important?” “She says if you don’t come she’ll lock you out of the company.” “That important then. Fri, tell Pepper that I’m coming.” “She has been notified, sir.” “Thank you. Bye then, Peter don’t fuck anything up.” “The same to you Mr. Stark.” Tony left the lab with a chuckle. “You two will be the death of me.” “Almost certainly.” “You staying in here?” “Nah, I have some projects in my lab waiting for me.” “You know your dad was joking about the grades right? Because grades really don’t mean anything, and they don’t define you. Nor does your intelligence. You are so much more than all that. And all these suits and mechanicy genius things-” “Pops. I’m fine. I know,” he smiled at his dad. “I just read in this parenting book that something smart or gifted kids can feel like th-” “Pops, you and dad are the best parents a kid could ask for. Stop worrying too much or you’ll turn grey like dad.” Captain America just smiled at his kid because he was the best. “Right. Good. Have fun.” “Will do.”

He messed with the design for the 100th millionth time but he couldn't get the vibrainim to synthesize with the web fluid. “Fri, get me another cup of coffee, please.” “For fuck sake, why isn’t this working,” he said to himself. He began to mess with the 3d hologram again. He typed in Mock 32 for the design and started trying again. “Pepper Potts is requesting access to the lab.” “Access granted,” he said to Fri. “Hey Pete, how’s it going?” “Badly, but it's fine. IS THAT COFFEE?” “White mocha latte, triple shot espresso,” She said, placing it down on the desk. “Ok..back up. What do you need?” “What, I can’t just bring my favorite stark a coffee?” “Aren’t you busy?” he asked skeptically. “Yes. Incredibly. So it is a peace offering. I allowed a tour access to this lab to look around, and see what a higher ups lab looks like in action. Fri will hide all of the classified things, and I thought you’d be at school. Tony just told me you weren’t so, here we are.” “He actually showed up to your meeting?” “Yes, and it wasn’t my meeting. He just needed to be there, and I didn't.” “I take your peace offering. It’s fine, I don’t care. So long as they don’t touch my shit.” “Good. Greet them, let them look around. Smile your cute smile. They’ll be up in five.” “FIVE MINUTES?” “Yep. Sorry, Hun, got to run. Thanks.” “You owe me one!”

As promised, the class showed up in five minutes. He was fine with the concept of a class showing up, he was not, however, good with his class showing up. “Is that Penis Parker?” He heard Flash. “Holy hell that is Park?” “IS THAT PETER?” “Did Peter break in?” “How is Peter here?” He couldn’t exactly kick them out. So, embracing his inner Tony Stark charm and Steve Rogers kindness, he opened the lab door, stepping into the corridor.

“EVERYONE PLEASE BACK UP AND BE QUIET!” The tour guild, Aliah, yelled. They were a kind person who Peter knew a bit. The classes quieted down.

“Hello, Aliah.” “Hi Peter,” they greeted, “Sorry, I hadn’t realized you’d be in today. I’ll just take them to our next stop.” “No, no it's fine. If it’s alright, I’ll give them a little tour sorta thing. I don’t mind, plus I kinda promised Pepper.” “That’d be really cool. Thanks.” “Yeah. Call ‘em over.” “Yeah. We’re just waiting on their teacher, he’s in the restroom.” “Course.”

Mr. Harrington showed up, questioning Aliah about the next stop. Then, he saw Peter. “Mr. Parker!” he exclaimed angrily, “How dare you show up here without a permission slip and claiming to be sick. What is this? We will be speaking with the principal and your parents about this! I am so sorry Aliah. Peter shot Aliah the “I got this” look. “Hi Mr. Harrington, I was unwell this morning, but I felt better so I came into work. Yes, I do have an internship here,” he said, loud enough for the class to hear. “The next stop on your tour,” they said, “is to Peter’s lab. He’s been so kind to give us a run-down.” Peter simply point at the door which read “Lab #55: Peter Parker.” “Right, uh, um, sorry Mr. Parker, please let us continue.” Peter smiled through his nerves. “Right, hello there class! I will be giving you a tour of my lab. I do some pretty important work, so I’m going to ask Friday to activate the ‘Guest Protocol’ to hide the classified stuff. It’s also very dangerous, so please do not touch anything.” There were nods from the class. “Right, Fri complete guest protocol and allow tour of Aliah to enter.” “Yes miniboss.” He re-entered his lab. “So, most of the time I work here,” he said, pointing to the biggest holograph table, “I work on designs, changes, and any mockups that need to happen. I then make them a reality. I can also run simulations on any formulas to see if they would be successful.” “Fri, please pull up the WFV project I was just working on for Spiderman.” “Right away mini-boss.” “So as you can see I’m trying to get the vibranium intertwine itself with Spiderman’s web fluid. This would allow the webs to be almost 47 times stronger, and also would allow them to conduct electricity, which has many uses. Anyone have any questions?” Ava raised her hand and Peter nodded at her, “Hey, so how did you learn all this? Like, it seems really complicated and you're in my chem class, so.” “I’ve worked a lot with both Mr. Stark and Bruce Banner, who’ve taught me most of what I know throughout the years. I also took a few online courses to solidify some subject matters I didn’t quite understand,” Peter, satisfied with his answer, asked if anyone else had inquired. “How did you get an internship here?” “Mr. Stark found me on the internet and took a liking to my projects. He met me and decided I’d fit right in here,” Peter explained simply. It was a lie of course, but it functioned as their cover story. “Anyone else? No. Cool, so moving onto some other sections in the lab. Over in that corner are the testing rooms. I have some more equipment scattered around for certain projects or just overall help on making things. Feel free to look around for 5-7 minutes and ask any questions you may have.” Some kid, Peter wasn’t sure of their name, raised his hand. “Why do you have cars in here? Are they yours?” “Some of the cars are mine, courtesy of Mr. Stark, who claims no lab is complete without some collection of cars. I can’t even drive them, to your point, but I guess I will when I’m eighteen. Some of the cars are Mr. Harley Keener’s, who I occasionally share my lab with. He doesn't do Avengers related projects, but he does love to tinker here and there. ‘Specially on the cars. See that red one, yeah he bought it for 5k and fixed it up. It’s actually an electric car, he just likes the old timers look. Guess that’s on him and da-Mr. Stark.”

No one seemed to have any other question, so he allowed them to look around. MJ nor Ned seemed to be in this class. He guessed they were in another group that wasn’t coming up here, or they went to a different location.

The tour went smoothly, and Flash seemed too shocked to say anything. “Peter! Peter!” Bucky came in yelling. Peter ran over to him. “Please keep it down uncle Buck.” “Oh shit your class is here!” “Yes now please don’t embarrass me.” “Won’t do! Just wanted to ask where Loki went.” “Asgard official business,” I said with a frown. “Really? He didn’t say a thing!” “I know.” “That little shit.” Peter laughed alongside Bucky. “Did you need anything else?” “Yeah, my arm's a little fucked up. Need a hand.” “Happy to give it a look. Dad in a meeting?” “To all our shock, yes.” “Ha. Give me a sec to get my class outta here.” Bucky nodded. “Right everyone, thanks for visiting. Please head towards the exit. The lovely Aliah will take you to your next location. They are awesome!” A murmur of “thanks Peter” and “is that the winter soldier” spread through the room. “See ya round,” Aliah said to him personally, “And thanks for this.” “Anytime. Bye!” They smiled a warm smile before leading the class out.

“What’s not working so well?” Peter asked. “Just some tightness in the finger motion. “Alright, okay. Fri, get me an update of the schematics, please.” “Yes, sir.” They appeared on the holographic table Peter was working at. “Right, can I please get a current scan of Uncle Bucky’s arm?” “Yes. Shall I place them next to the schematics?” “Yep. And highlight all differences.” “Yes miniboss.” “You gotta stop with that Fri.” “Name unable to be changed under the authority of Tony Stank, Badass Boss, God of Mischief, and Fiance.” “Glad the whole team is against me living a good life,” Peter remarked with an eye roll. “You drama queen.” “Thanks,” Peter smiled. “You know what’s wrong yet?” Peter opened up the schematics, looking at the highlighted section of the 3d arm model. He didn’t speak for a moment. “So I reckon, you fucked up the wiring and section T4’s minigears. None of the important tech is messed up, it’ll be fine. Maybe a half an hour fix. Max.” “Good, good. Thanks kid,” Bucky said with an appreciative smile. He nodded, disconnecting the arm carefully. He placed it onto his table next to the holographic model. He gave a skeptical look. “Something bad?” “No, no, I was just thinking. Thinking, hmn.” “Care to share with the class?” Buck said with a sense of humor lingering in his voice. “Well, you’re not on mission all that often, and this is quite a bulky arm. Ever think about getting one that’s your skin colour, lighter weight, more, I don’t know, arm like. Less hydra murdery vibes. Help get rid of that, that time.” “I have…” “So can I make it?” Peter said excitedly. “You mean it?” “Of course Uncle Buck! No clue why dad hasn’t offered before!” “Guess he never thought of it. Maybe thought I liked the scary metal thing,” he suggested weakly. “Well that’s stupid,” Peter said casually. Bucky never understood how the kid could be so compassionate so easily. “Thanks. Really.” “No worries. I’ve been looking for a new project to throw myself into. It'll be fun. And as much as I hate to admit it, I need to work on my smaller scale mechanical work.” All Bucky could do was smile his beaming smile. “Bucky!” the voice of the Black Widow shouted. “Hey Nat,” Buck replied. “Wanna train?” she asked. “As much as I want to,” he said, pointing towards the area his arm would have been. “Oh, what happened this time?” “Nothing to major, some gears and wires,” Peter filled it, “Give me twenty minutes I’ll be done.” He’d already opened the arm and gotten to the section where the wires were screwed up. “DAN-E get me the soldering kit, please,” he asked the robot, “Oh and some new T6YU wires. Red and purple.” The robot gave a vaguely human nod. “Right, I'll be waiting. Test the adjustments out on me?” She suggested. “Alright,” Buck said. “Oh and I’m in charge of ordering food. What do you want?” “Burgers?” “You boring, bland little boy,” Nat scolded. “Thai?” Buck requested. They looked over to Peter, “Sure, yeah.” Nat headed out, greeting Tony with a “Hey Stank” on the stairs out of his lab. “Yours is so much smarter than mine, why is yours so much smarter than mine,” Tony fake (real) whined. “I’m the superior mechanic, father, deal with it.” DAN-E, almosting proving his point, dropped the materials on his desk, and he continued to work. “I’m donating DUM-E,” Tony glared at him, “What happened to the arm Buck?” “Stiff fingers isall.” “Oh, ok. Pete, need a hand?” “Nah, I’m good. Not much to do. Some wires got fucked up, just replacing them now. Going to look at the minigears in the palm too, just to make sure the oil regulation and gear’s aren't broken. I think one of the gears is, but it's one of them that's easy to replace,” Peter replied, not looking up from his work. “Right, sounds good. Your pops and I are going out for the night. Be back around 12 let’s say.” “Cool. Can I borrow some vibranium from your lab?” “Sure thing kiddo. Call us if you need anything. Fri, give Peter access to vault B3 in my lab.” “Thanks,” Peter smiled. “Anytime. Good luck with ya know.” “Shouldn’t he ask you what you're going to do with a substance that costs 10,000$ a gram?” “Something about trusting me.” “Parents trust their kids with going out later or or doing their homework not fucking multimillions of dollars.” “Uncle Bucky, my parents are Iron Man and Captain America. There was never a shot at normal.” “Fair enough.”

Peter finished up the adjustment on the arm by changing a gear. “Thanks a lot kid.” “Of course. I’m going to work on your new arm now.” “Alrighty, I’ll get out of your way.” “Oh could you ask Auntie Nat what time she’s ordering dinner for? So I know when to head up, just get Fri to tell me.” “Will do.” “Thanks.”

So Peter was left to making some blueprints and drinking many red bulls. The red bull mini-fridge was actually a gift from Shuri, and his fathers had many words with him about it. He managed to convince them that he should keep it, god knows how. Well, he used the whole Princess of Wakanda and making peace and Stark Industries relationship with Wakandan products and companies as well as international relations and blah blah. It worked, who cares.

After a few hours he was called up for dinner, and he sat there and enjoyed the absolute chaos of his family.

Save/comment on A03 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/33320938

[princess-geek]

Love Lesson

This fic is dedicated to my guardian angel @storyofmychoices. Besides she's a wonderful a writer, she's an incredible human being whose kind and light are endless. I never could thank her enough for what she has been doing for me.

Dear Dani, I know you usually don't read Hunt's fics written by other authors, but I hope you accept this one.

I hope you enjoyed it 😊💕

Choices Book: Red Carpet Diaries (a couple of years after Book 3)

Characters: Thomas Hunt, Miss Taylor (@storyofmychoices ), mentions to Jessica Massena (my RDC MC) and Matt Rodriguez.

Words: 1748

Warnings: none

Notes: English is not my first language. Please, excuse me any typos /or grammatical errors.   

Special thanks to @alj4890 for be by beta reader.

Jessica Massena exclusive pregnancy photos -  The most handsome Hollywood parents to be talk about the challenges of parenthood.

Thomas sighed and poured some more of the expensive scotch in the glass. He has no idea why he was wasting his time reading garbage press. He'll be the baby's godfather. He knew every detail about the issue. All the sacrifices she did to conceive...how the first months of nausea got her down. But now, she was radiant...healthy...happy...with Matt. 

She had woken up his senses and melted his heart unlike any other woman in years. He never actually had confessed his feelings because it was clear like crystal whom her heart belonged to.  For a while, it drove him crazy. Nowadays, he had made peace with his feelings and he came back to his old self. He also recognized that it was nothing more than a crush, a fever of an almost middle-aged man caused by her infectious joy.  Jessica Massena was a closed chapter in his life.

He abandoned the magazine and refocused on his research. A tragic death of a beloved teacher in a shooting at a high school inspired him to approach the question of USA public schools’ problems. He had read tons of news and academic papers about it, but they were too theoretical. He needed to breath that air, step on those dirty floors, hear the sounds. So, he decided to visit some public schools in area.

Since he was invited to speak at a university conference in New York, Thomas decided to visit some schools there too.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Kids and teens. Many. Too many. It was a banal New York school. Perfect.

As he wandered through the corridors, he saw a girl crying, hidden in the corner of lockers. Thomas wanted to do something, but he didn't know what to do or even what to say to calm the girl down. He never had a good way with children.

While Thomas was still distressed in his dilemma, a brunette stopped her hurried march, stepped back, placed a giant coffee cup on the floor and knelt beside the girl.

She gently wiped the girl's tears away. Thomas couldn't hear clearly what they were talking about, but he noticed that the girl calmed down as the woman spoke to her and stroked her hair.

“After class, I promise I'll go with you to talk to the principal. They can't do that and get away with it!”  the brunette promised hugging the girl tightly.

It was the last thing Thomas heard before the bell rings.

With confusion in the crowded corridors, Thomas lost sight of the girl and the brunette. 

The school board recommended him to visit Miss Taylor's class, classroom no.51. It took a while, but he finally found the classroom. Before knocking on the door, Thomas suddenly felt nervous, with a knot in his stomach.

‘In the name of art, Thomas, in the name of art …' he murmured before knocking.

The door opened. Many pairs of expectant eyes looked back at him with curiosity. When the door opened a little more, it revealed the brunette he had seen with the girl.

His eyes fixed on her sweet chestnut for a moment, and, no matter how cliché and cheesy this may be, his heart literally skipped a beat. Thomas felt an inexplicable warmth come to his face. Fortunately, the beard would camouflage his rosy cheeks. Whatever happened in those seconds, it didn't seem to affect the brunette who looked away.

“Is this Miss Taylor’s class?”

“Yes.”

“I have permission from school board to attend your class. I’m…”

“I know who you’re... please come in,” she smiled shyly, “I apologize for not having a seat for you ... the room is at its maximum capacity ... but if you want you can sit at my desk…”

“No way, Miss Taylor! Don’t worry about me. I am going to the back of the room. You won't even notice my presence. Thank you for having me.”

 She just nodded.

“Class, let me introduce you Mr. Hunt. He is a famous director…”

“We watched one of his movies a few weeks ago, didn't we, Miss Taylor?”

“Yes, we did…”

“Mr. Hunt, Miss Taylor is a huge a fan of you…she said she watched all your movies…”

Miss Taylor's cheeks changed to increasingly reddish tones.

“Kids let me finish, please…”

“Is it true that Jessica Massena blow you off?”

“Samantha don’t be nosy! I’m so sorry, Mr. Hunt…they’re well behaves kids. I'm sure this is the excitement speaking for them,”

“I'm not making anything up ... it's in all the magazines!” Samantha protested.

“Miss Taylor is single, and she already has a soft spot for you…You could ask her out!” another girl added.

“Children, you’re crossing the line ... one more inappropriate observation and you are grounded!”

“That’s okay, miss Taylor…they’re just kids.” Thomas said.

“Thank you for understanding, Mr. Hunt...As I was saying, Mr. Hunt will be here at school for some days and attend some classes for research proposals.”

“This is for a new movie?”

“Can we be part of it?”

The students were even more excited.

It took some time for them to calm down, but little by little, Miss Taylor, in a sweet and serene voice, managed to calm them down and refocus their attention on her.

After correcting homework, Miss Taylor started her Math lesson. The way she explained it was truly remarkable…inspiring. She put in those numbers the same passion he had seen in the greatest actresses.

She was very affectionate with the students. One of them was having troubles in understanding an exercise. Miss Taylor explained it once, twice, three times ... always calmly and patiently.

“Very good! I knew you could do this.” Miss Taylor encouraged the student.

Jessica Massena was a consuming fire, but the brunette teacher was warming his soul, a kind of heat that settles on the skin, on the bones and makes us feel good and at peace.

From time to time, when she thought he wasn’t looking, Miss Taylor threw him a discreet shy look. When their eyes locked, she blushed, adjusted her hair nervously and looked away.

Thomas found himself completely mesmerized. In fact, he felt like he was in one of those cheesy movies where the main character is completely lost gazing at the girl, there is a pop romantic ballad playing in the background and the sun shines brighter.

 He didn't notice time passing, delighted to hear and observe her. The bell woke him from the trance.

“Sorry again for the kids... and for and the indiscreet remarks.”

“No need to apologize. It's part of the children's charm ... at least that's what people say.”

“I hope you found our class useful for your research.”

“Yes...thank you for having me...”

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Whenever one looked, the other looked away.

“The pleasure was ours. If there is anything that kids or I can do for help...”

He barely heard her, captivated by her natural features. Her lips were two beautiful pink lines. Thomas had never thought of his life being enchanted by a nose, but Miss Taylor's nose was the cutest nose he had ever seen. The director was so distracted that he didn’t notice he was leaning against a desk, which, at some point, gave in to his weight, causing him to lose his balance.

She tried to grab his arm to hold him, but the force of gravity had no mercy and the director ended up falling on the floor dragging Miss Taylor with him who landed on top of him.

Just a couple of inches were separating their lips. “Kiss her!” a voiced shouted in a corner of his head, “Are you crazy, Thomas?” another inner voice replied, “You’ve only known her for a couple of hours ... What would she think of you?”

I must have hit my head very hard... his rational self thought.

“Oh Lord, I’m so sorry, Miss Taylor...Are you okay?”

“Yes...and you? I’m so sorry. I was trying help and my clumsiness got things worse like the usual…”

“No, it was all my fault, Miss Taylor.”

Her perfume. It was not like the expensive signature perfume the women who he usually crossed paths. Her hair smelled like honey and her perfume was soft with hints of flowers.

“Maybe we should get up?”

“Yes, of course, sorry.” Thomas babbled.

She got up first and held out her hand to help him. Thomas declined delicately. A gentleman must help the lady and not the other way around.

However, when he got up, he fell out of balance again, falling once more.

Miss Taylor smiled to avoid laughter.

“You can laugh. This is absolutely ridiculous,” Thomas said, allowing a smile to appear on his lips.

He rose from the ground with as much dignity as possible, shaking the dust and smoothing his blazer. Moved by the instinct of help, Miss Taylor helped him to clean up. At some moment, their fingers touched and grazed each other’s for some seconds. She blushed and took her hand from his arm.

“May I offer you to a coffee? I mean, offer a coffee to you…as an I’m sorry coffee,”

“You don’t have to do it, Mr. Hunt…”

“Just Thomas, please…and I insist…It’d be a pleasure for me.”

“I…I'd love it…”

“Great! Do you recommend any place special?”

“Wait , I can’t…I’m sorry, I promised to help a student after classes…she really needs me today…I’m sorry…”

“She…your students are lucky to have you.”

Miss Taylor blushed. “I’m not that special…I just love what I do…I think you can understand me on that point…You used to be a professor too...and, you know how it is...When we love our job, we don’t just do it...we breathe it.”

Yes, he could understand that. And he was understanding that this he was feeling was something he shouldn’t ignore.

“I’ll come back tomorrow to Mr. Somerset’s classroom. Maybe, after classes tomorrow?”

She smiled.

“Until tomorrow.”

Thomas gently grabbed her hand, taking it to his lips and planting a gentle kiss on it, “I’m counting the minutes. Have a lovely evening, Miss Taylor.”

He made his way out of the classroom, but not resisting to steal some glances of her along the way, which cost him a blow to the shin, courtesy of desk’s iron leg. When he threw a last glance at the doorway, she said:

“Danielle. My name is Danielle.”

[certifiedskywalker]

Making the Most of This - Carol Danvers

Carol is back on Earth for an in-person conference. After hours of meetings, updates, and tactical planning, you and Carol decide to make the most of her time on the planet. What that means to you and what that means to Carol happens to be one in the same.

You slumped back against the hair the minute the holographic visage of Rocket’s raccoon form flickered out of sight. An instinctive sigh fell from your lips as you settled in the laid back seat with your eyes closed. For a moment, you forgot where you were and everything that had happened. That moment was peaceful, almost serene. At least it was until you heard someone clear their throat.

“Comfortable?” You peeled one eye open and saw Natasha, strong arms crossed against her chest, staring at you. Under her piercing eyes, you sat up and feigned a sense of alertness.

“Sorry, just-“ A small, muffled laugh cut you off from the other side of the conference table. You glanced up and felt your face go warm.

“Someone’s tired,” Carol mused with a smile. Lingerings of her laughter were spread along her features: her bright brown eyes and rosy cheeks.

“Y-Yeah, a bit, I guess.” Your whole body tensed under Carol’s soft gaze and you wanted to disappear. Silently, you wished for the power of invisibility to be bestowed upon you that very moment. Maybe Thor knew someone that could do that. 

“Tired or not, don’t forget about those reports.” Natasha dipped her head towards a slight stack of folders balanced on the conference table. You sighed at the sight and nodded.

“I won’t.”

“Good,” Natasha gave you a closed-lip smile before she turned to Carol. “You’re heading out?” 

Carol nodded, her long blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. “Tomorrow.”

“So I’ll see you in the morning?” Carol nodded again and Natasha sighed. “Alright then. Y/N, those reports.”

“You got it,” you gave Natasha a thumbs up that the assassin did not see as she strode out of the conference room. You let your hands fell to the table’s surface with a ‘thwack’ and the impact stung your knuckles.

“You alright?” Carol’s voice pulled you out of the thoughts threatening to drown you. When you looked up and across to her, the superpowered woman’s brow was knitted with concern. “Y/N?”

“Yeah, like you said, just tired.” Carol pressed her lips in a thin line and you couldn’t help but smile. With Carol, it was easy to tell when she was thinking. And when she thought, she had such an innocent, almost excited expression on her face. It was a face full of possibility; something you hadn’t seen since Thanos, since the snap. 

“Do you maybe...want to get out of here?” Your smiled faltered at her question. You hadn’t been prepared for that possibility. “To blow off some steam?”

“I-I,” you stammered. Panicked you glanced around the room until your gaze landed on the pile of folders stack on the table. “The, I have the reports.”

“Oh, yeah,” Carol’s disappointment was written plainly across her features. Instantly, you regretted even speaking. 

“But, I mean, it’s your last night on Earth for…” you gestured to the air with a shrug.

“For a while,” Carol answered for you. “A few planets have reached out to me so, I have to go soon and...I don’t know when I’ll be back.” You nodded and tried not to show your sadness. You liked Carol, like, liked Carol. Not seeing her or having her around all the time would make the Avengers Compound all the more lonely. 

“So, I think Nat would understand if I showed you around…”

“Around here?” Carol asked, pointing to the conference table. 

“No! No,” you waved your hands and shook your head. “Around the city, maybe?” 

Carol beamed. “Yes. I would like that.”

“And Nat would totally understand,” you said confidently. As if speaking the image of Natasha’s smiling, nodding, and understanding face into existence. 

“Totally,” Carol agreed. She stood up quickly with a smile so bright you swore she was a living and breathing star. “You wanna go?”

“Yes!”

“So, you like the city?”

“Yeah, it’s cute.”

“Cute?” You raised a brow and Carol shrugged with a small grin.

“What, you want the truth?” You squinted your eyes at her before nodding. “Well then, this place smells. Like really smells.” 

You let out a laugh. “Thank you, for your honesty.”

“You’re very welcome,” Carol bowed slightly as you stopped before a crosswalk.

 The night air carried with it a chill and you had to pull your jacket closer over your chest. Somehow, Carol seemed unfazed by the cold in her tight black t-shirt. The jacket she had been wearing was thrown lazily over her shoulder. You watched as she glanced around at the bright and colorful street signs. She seemed unimpressed.

You sighed at the sight and Carol raised a brow at you. “What?”

“You’re bored,” you said flatly. 

“Am not,” Carol countered. You gave her an incredulous look. “I’m just...thinking.”

“About what then?” You leaned against the stop sign’s pole and watched Carol. She didn’t seem disingenuous. On the contrary, she seemed collected. 

“I want to do something.” Carol smiled as she spoke, her brown eyes alight with excitement. If you forgot everything that had happened, forgot what originally brought Carol into your life, you could almost feel completely happy. 

“Like what?” Carol threw her hands up unknowingly, but her smile remained. She glanced around the street signs and storefronts again, taking in every possibility.

“I have no idea,” she laughed finally. Her brown eyes locked with your gaze and you felt your grin widen. “I just…”

You watched Carol’s eyes drift over your head to across the street. Her mouth fell open with shock and you had to turn to see what had caught her attention. 

When you did, you saw a pair of glowing, green scissors that, every few seconds, made a chopping motion. However, it wasn’t the elaborate neon sign that had so enraptured Carol. No, it was the ‘OPEN’ sign beneath it that gave off a welcoming red light. You glanced back at Carol only to find she was reaching for your hand.

“C’mon,” she cheered as she pulled you across the street. The wind whipped around you but you weren’t cold. Not when Carol was so close to you. When she was around, it was hard to be anything but warm. 

“And we are all done! What do you think?” You looked up from the magazine you had busied yourself with to where Carol sat in a salon chair. The zine had been a poor attempt to distract yourself so that you didn’t ogle at Carol while she got her hair down. It had worked, for the most part, but when you looked up, the booklet fell instantly from your grasp. 

“I think it looks great!” Carol beamed at her reflection in the mirror before her as the stylist spun her chair around. “What do you think, Y/N?”

It was hard to think anything. Only the sound of your heart pounding in your ears filled your mind. Carol’s hair had been cut short, into a sharp pixie cut. Strands of blonde hair fell into her face as she stood up and you felt your whole body ache with longing. “Y/N?”

“I-I, it looks amazing. You look amazing.” You weren’t surprised when you felt your face grow red hot, but what did surprise you was how Carol’s cheeks became a soft pink. Part of you wanted to stay like that. Just staring, one marveling at the other, and wondering where they had come from and why they had chosen to spend their time like this. 

But you looked away. You tore your gaze from Carol’s and waited by the door of the salon while the stylist rung up Carol’s payment. It proved difficult to keep your eyes off of her. When she laughed at something the stylist said, you watched her and tried to ignore the pointless jealousy that kept up your spine. Carol was leaving tomorrow, there was no point in getting angry now. 

“Thanks again,” Carol shouted as you held the door open for her. The stylist waved as you walked back out into the night. “So, where to next?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted, letting your eyes fall from Carol’s. “It’s your last night. You should decide.” You heard Carol let out a thoughtful hum and you looked back up at her. Her lips were pressed together, her normally thinking habit, but they were turned down into a frown. Did she feel it too?

That pressure of her absence that was weighing them both down. Did Carol feel the resounding echo of loneliness that would fill the void she would leave in your heart? She must have, right? She had super everything: supervision, super hearing, and super emotions. However, it must have been just you projecting because Carol turned around with her new hair cut and smiled at you.

“Frozen yogurt!”

“I still don’t understand how yogurt can be vegan,” you mused as you scooped another spoonful of the cold treat into your mouth. 

“Vegan?” Carol didn’t look at you when she asked. The sound of her spoon scraping against the bottom of her carton made you smile. At least she liked one thing about Earth; even if it wasn’t you or the way you wanted her to like you.

“Without animal products,” you explained. Carol made a face of realization before she sat back on the park bench you had claimed. 

“That was good,” she sighed. You laughed at her posture: she was leaned so far back she resembled an old man stuck in a lazy boy recliner after a much too large meal. You watched as she sat up suddenly, bright brown eyes scanning over the park until she found a trashcan.

“Are you…”

“Just watch.” Without waiting for another second, Carol chucked the empty frozen yogurt cup in the air. You watched, mouth open wide in shock, as the cup landed perfectly in the trash bin that was, at least, five yards away.

“Whoa,” you laughed. “Way to use your powers for good.”

“Hey, littering is evil,” Carol said, with a jokingly serious tone. “It’s one of the many superpower perks.” You laughed softly and shook your head. Ever since you had surrounded yourself with superpowered people, your life had only grown more dangerous.

“Not enough perks to outweigh the struggle.” You said it with a smile, a bittersweet one, but a smile all the same. So, when Carol didn’t smile too, you backtracked. “I mean-”

“No, you’re right. It’s hard most of the time.” You nodded and gave her a sorry frown. Silence fell between you, an unwelcomed visitor to your park-bench-haven until Carol spoke up once more. “How have you been...after everything and…”

“After Thanos?” You asked, setting your yogurt cup to the side. Carol nodded, her joking demeanor now lightyears away. “Alright, I guess. What about you?”

“If I’m honest,” Carol shrugged, “not good. The only thing keeping me up is the fact that there are whole planets that still need help recovering.”

“But you haven’t recovered yourself,” you pointed out, “that’s not good.” Carol shrugged again and you felt something twinge in your heart. 

“I don’t think anyone has really recovered.” You nodded in agreement and let your gaze fall to the pavement below your feet. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” You felt something knock against your shoulder, something warm and you looked up. Carol’s hand rested on your upper back in a touch that you wished you could bottle and save forever. 

“The Avengers Compound is just...empty. Everyone is grim, except for Steve. But he hasn’t come around lately. It’s like no one can even try to be happy.”

“Y/N,” Carol began with a gentle voice, “you know that it’s hard.”

“I do but...I just know if I let myself think about it, I’ll drown too. I’ll become cold like Nat or distant like Steve and everything will suck. I want to make the most of this life. We got lucky. Others didn’t.”

Carol nods but stays quiet. Her expression revealed nothing to you and you wanted to cry. You knew that the moment she left, you would fall back into a routine devoid of any hope or joy. The endless stack of reports would only grow and Natasha would stay bitter. It felt like you were alone; with Carol, you felt like anything was possible.  

“You’re right,” Carol says suddenly. You hold her gaze and furrow your brow.

“What?”

“You’re right,” Carol repeated. Before you could respond, Carol’s lips knocked against yours. It was a rushed kiss, another possibility that you hadn’t taken into account. However rushed it was, you melted into it. It wasn’t the first time you had felt Carol’s softness, but it was the first time you had felt it so passionately. So it pained you when she pulled away.

“Wh-What was that?” You asked and Carol smiled. She rested her forehead against your and you felt her breath tickle the skin of your neck.

“Me, making the most of this life.”

“Oh….” You breathed, still reeling from the kiss. Carol pulled away from you at your hesitation. Her brown eyes were wide and you could feel her panic.

“Sorry, I should have-“ You smiled as she rambled before you leaned back in to stop her. Your lips met hers and you felt Carol hum in contentment. Her hand lifted to your face and you felt your own hands wander to her waist. Then they traveled up to her hair; the short strands were soft from their recent treatment and you gave them a small tug.

The rest of the world faded to black. Reality and its sorrows could wait a few more moments. You had Carol and you wanted to savor that for as long as you could. You would make the most of this, even if it killed you.

[perriewinklenerdie]

Pretend you love me (Ethan Ramsey x MC)

Open Heart, Ethan Ramsey x MC

Author’s note: Hello, hello, hello! Let me just start with the fact that this is LONG AS HELL. It took me six days to finish, and since I now find myself with an awfully crazy amount of free time (still bitter about that one), I finally had the time to finish it, so here we are.

AO3 link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23110381

Tag list:   @paleweasels , @lilyofchoices , @hopelessromantic1352, @kittykatchoices, @valiantlychaoticbarbarian , @radlovedreamer , @usuallyamazinglyaverage, @palestazure, @cordoniaqueensworld, @universallypizzataco, @princess-geek, @faithhasnowords, @mightyfangirlofthefandoms, @drakewalkerfantasy, @timmagicktoad, @laceandlula, @greywitchyshots, @llamasgrl, @gingerjane15, @bucket-harrington , @marywrites-things , @ethanplaysfavorites , @mfackenthal , @betelgeusebee , @simsvetements,  @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction, @buzz-bee-buzz, @owleyes374, @cora-nova, @aworldoffandoms, @l822, @cream-ray, @ughhhxjazzy, @silverlitskies, @justendlesssummerfeels, @togetherwearerapture, @desmaranj, @edgiestwinter, @friedherringclodthing, @daisy-ashton, @waytooattuned, @choicesgremlin , @lapisreviewsstuff, @the-soot-sprite, @writerapprentice, @chasingrobbie, @choicesobsessedd, @cassiusownsmyass, @x-kyne-x, @thisperfectmemory, @drakewalker04, @rookie-ramsey, @jlynn12273, @thepinknymph @dr-brianna-casey-valentine, @a-i-n-a-a-s-h Enjoy! <3

----------

No matter how many times it happened, no matter how much time has passed, he couldn’t get used to the fact that Naveen was the new Chief. He always half expected it to be Harper on the other side of the message on his pager, but it was always his mentor, and he couldn’t wait for his mind to finally remember it.

Ethan’s eyes were buried in the chart of the patient that the diagnostics team was taking under its care. In any other circumstance, he would probably pay more attention to his surroundings, but the case was a tough one and he needed to get some thoughts on it before the team meeting.

While turning a corner to reach Naveen’s office, his body collided with something, causing him to drop the file onto the floor and catch whatever it was that his arms were full of. The skin on his face got tickled by something that must have been hair and the scent hit his nose, bringing all his senses to life. He didn’t even need to look down to know who he was holding.

“Dr. Herondale.” He muttered, letting her take her time to gain stability on her own two feet. She lingered for a moment longer before taking a step back, straightening her coat and pressing out any wrinkles in her smooth shirt.

“Dr. Ramsey” Claire nodded her head, her eyes sparkling playfully before continuing her journey in the same direction as Ethan. He called out after her, picked up the file from the ground and rushed to her side, discussing the case with her as they both walked the remainder of the distance to Naveen’s office. He held the door for her, smirking at her grateful smile.

“You’re both here, good. I seem to have a bit of a problem with an… engagement that I planned a few weeks ago.” He started enigmatically, watching as their faces twisted in confusion. Leaning back in his chair, he continued. “Edenbrook was invited to take part in a conference in Washington, and it was decided that Dr. Charles and Dr. Lewis were supposed to go.”

“They work in pediatrics, don’t they? That married couple. She announced she is pregnant, like, two weeks ago I think?” Claire asked for clarification, earning a nod from Naveen.

“Precisely. I called ahead and organized everything, told them that we were sending them a married couple, so they knew how to manage their hotels and other arrangements.” He stood up and started walking back and forth as he explained further. “What I didn’t expect was to run into some complications. Dr. Lewis just found out that her pregnancy was a high risk one and she can’t make the journey without putting herself and her baby in danger, so both of them had to cancel. I tried to reach the organizer of the conference to let them know, but the furthest I got was his assistant, and he told me that it was impossible to cancel and that they already were expecting them there, nothing that could be done.”

“So, we have a problem.” Ethan stated, his brows furrowing as he looked at his friend. Naveen nodded slowly, then looked between them like he had something up his sleeve.

“I do have an idea… I didn’t tell them who was coming, just that it was a married couple.” He trailed off, watching Claire and Ethan as he waited for them both to catch up to speed. They either didn’t get it, or didn’t want to get it, because neither spoke up. “I’m going to put it simply. I want you both to go there instead of Dr. Charles and Dr. Lewis.”

Silence was so dense one could hear a pin drop. No one spoke, no one breathed, no one even looked at anything other than their hands for a solid couple of minutes. Claire took a shaky breath, being the first one to raise her head and ask the question they all knew was coming.

“You… want us to pretend to be married?”

“I don’t see the problem. You are good with each other, I think it would be believable.” Naveen sat back down in his chair, leaning on the desk with a playful spark in his eyes. “I take it you both agree? Wonderful! You leave tomorrow, at six in the morning.”

“Naveen, I don’t think-“ Ethan spoke, for the first time since he heard his idea, and there was a sense of vulnerability in his voice, which Claire recognized immediately, because she had the same feeling rising in her chest.

“You two have plenty of time to prepare. It might be a good idea to start calling each other some of those sweet names kids use these days, you’ll figure something out.” Naveen didn’t even try to cover up how much he was enjoying it, and he was sure that he would hear from Ethan about this later, but he couldn’t say he was concerned much.

He saw the way Ethan’s eyes followed Claire around the room. He saw how his whole posture changed when she entered the room, how his face lit up when she was speaking. It was pretty obvious to everybody around him that he had feelings for her, even if he didn’t want to say it out loud. What was amusing him even more, Claire herself seemed much more at peace with her feelings. She covered it up well, most likely because of Ethan and his pleads, but Naveen knew her long enough to see through the veil she pulled over herself.

If he knew something for certain, it was that these two needed all the help and pushing they could get. Both were stubborn, both were willing to keep their word to each other, no matter how much their whole beings screamed in protest. Naveen was determined to change that.

“If that’s all, I’ll let you two get back to your duties. I want you to reassign your patients to other doctors before you leave. Claire, make sure Esme has someone to take care of her while you’re gone.” He concluded, opening the door for them with a smile, his face wiped of any other emotions. The younger doctor looked between the two men before nodding her head gently and standing up, excusing herself from the room. Ethan stared at her as she left, his body locked in the same position for the next couple of seconds before his friend patted him on the shoulder.

“You’re having fun, aren’t you.” the attending questioned, turning to stand face to face with his mentor. Naveen grinned, raising his hands in a gesture of defenselessness.

“I have no idea what you mean. I’m just trying to solve the problem the best way I know how. I need people that I can trust not to screw this up. People that I know will not have a problem with being close together.” Stepping closer, he lowered his voice in case someone was walking by. “And we both know that you’ll only gain from it. Nothing to lose.”

“Naveen, with all due respect, but I literally fled to another continent to push myself away from her. It hurts me to be in the same room as her and not reach out for her, and you want me to get away with her for three days and pretend that I’m married to her?” Ethan breathed heavily, falling against the wall, his head hanging low. It was a deadly mix, heaven and hell, rolled into one package and thrown into his arms, threatening to blow up in his face and kill him.

How was he supposed to act like she was his life partner, something he’s began dreaming of since he left for the Amazon, and then just… stop? It was a disaster that was waiting to happen, like playing with fire. One wrong step and he would vanish. But that’s not what worried him about the mess in his head.

He had a choice, he saw that in Naveen’s eyes. He could say ‘no’ and Naveen would call the whole thing off. And yet, he didn’t say no. He didn’t take the lifeline, he didn’t put himself onto the safe shore, instead choosing to jump into the water and drown, pulling her along with him. Maybe she was stronger than him, maybe she would survive. He would not, now he knew that.

“I’m worried I’m going to ruin her.” he whispered slowly, finally voicing the source of everything that made him pull away when she got close. Naveen placed his hands on his shoulders to grab his attention.

“You’re not going to ruin her. She is strong, she can hold her own. I know you believe in her, but you also need to believe in yourself, Ethan.” Watching as he struggled with coming to terms what he just heard was like the sky clearing after the storm, letting a single ray of sunshine through.

“I’ll try.”

--------

He couldn’t believe it was happening. It was 5.55 in the morning and he was just entering the airport. Late. By all means, the gate should be closed and he would need to catch another flight. Maybe it was a sign that he shouldn’t go, that he was taking too much of a risk.

No, it wasn’t.

The truth was, he got up too late, and he moved too slowly, and the cab wasn’t going fast enough. His brain wasn’t working fast enough that morning either. When he finally reached the gate, there was only one person there, reading calmly.

“You’re late.” A voice stated, humor coloring their voice. Bright, green eyes peeked at him from above the book, gleaming with satisfaction. “Five more seconds and I would have boarded without you.”

“No, you wouldn’t.” he stated, walking over to her and helping her stand up, taking her bag for her. She put her hand on her hips, arching her eyebrow at him quirkily.

“And what makes you so sure, Mr. Ramsey?”

“Because they expect us there together, Mrs. Ramsey.” He tested the words in his mouth, watching her to lock in her reaction. Her pupils dilated, surprised, before shaking off the feeling and gliding to his side, wrapping her hand around his arm as they walked to the plane in perfect silence.

-------

Having landed in Washington, they were picked up by a representative of the company and left at the hotel to rest for a bit. In a perfect world, they would have a day to themselves, but that was not the case. They had lectures that day, a fancy dinner later that evening, and their attendance was obligatory.

Ethan let her into their room, closing the door behind them and leaving their luggage by the wall. He knew what to expect even before he saw their bedroom. After all, they were supposed to be married. The sight of a king size bed shook him either way, causing him to get a bit lightheaded.

“I can sleep on the couch if you want.” she offered, walking over to sit on it, her face scrunching a bit at the uncomfortable feeling.

“Claire, I hope you know how much nonsense you’re talking right now. First of all, we’re adults, I don’t see why we can’t share the bed… If you don’t feel comfortable, I will be the one sleeping on the couch, not you.” his words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them, and then he attempted to cover it up with his second sentence, but she heard and understood the first one just fine.

“But you were the one to take the couch the last time we-“ Claire protested, stopping dead in her tracks in the middle of her sentence. She didn’t mean to remind them both of how their last conference together had ended. His mind got flooded with memories of her body, pressed tightly against his, and his body ached to feel it again. He couldn’t, he knew that, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to.

“We can share the bed.” They agreed and didn’t speak about it again.

While Ethan excused himself, saying he needed to take care of some business before the conference, she picked out the clothes to change into. They would need to leave in about an hour, so she had just enough time to get herself together. She didn’t really think about what the next three days meant for them until now. Alone in their room, alone with her thoughts.

She shed her clothes, leaving her in only her underwear, and threw herself on the bed. In desperate need of something to ground herself with, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. The realization of what they were about to do hit her like a bag of bricks, knocking the air out of her lungs. It’s been hard to have him so close and not be able to do anything. Everything that was about to happen is everything she wants to do to him, with him. And it’s empty, meaningless.

The sound of the door opening escaped her, so the first thing she heard was him taking in a choked breath. She snapped up on the bed, their eyes meeting, and then she realized that she was only in her underwear. Biting her lip, she made the move towards her clothes, avoiding looking at him directly. He cleared his throat, looking down at his feet, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat.

“I- uh… we need to leave soon.” Ethan muttered quietly, his voice shaking slightly. He walked over to the couch and sat down, locking his eyes onto the pattern of the carpet beneath his feet.

“Yeah, sure… give me a second, I’ll be ready.” She nodded slightly, putting her clothes on before clearing her throat, letting him know that he can look now. His shoulders relaxed a bit when he stood up and walked over to her. She already moved towards the door when he reached out to catch her hand.

“Claire?” their gazes crossed again, and he couldn’t help the smile that pulled on his lips so hard that the corners shot up. “You’re my wife, remember?”

“…Yes?” she confirmed slowly, not really getting what he meant. He shook his head, searching the pocket of his sweater. He revealed a small, velvet box and Claire, despite herself, gasped.

“It would not be believable if we’re not wearing rings.”

The box opened, revealing two golden wedding bands. Ethan had a torn expression on his face, unsure how she would react. Before she could reach out to touch the rings, he put them away at the table and reached into the pocket again, revealing the second box. He gave it to her, making sure to not let their fingers touch. As soon as she opened it, she looked up at him with surprise, making him grin.

“I figured that since everyone knows us, it would be unusual for you to not wear your engagement ring.” He took the ring out of the soft cushion, taking her left hand in his gently and gazing at her from beneath his lashes. “I can exchange it if you don’t like it.”

“No need for that. I love it.” she replied breathlessly, an unexpected laugh escaping her lips.

“What’s so funny, Mrs. Ramsey?” questioning her was what he did, and she did that to him too, but as he observed her reaction, he knew that she was about to call him out on something.

“I mean… are you going to get down on one knee or…” she trailed off, winking at him playfully. That, in turn, made him laugh too, his whole body shaking slightly.

“Do you want me to?” he muttered, voice low and deep, creeping into her mind and wrapping around her like a soft blanket. Still, she smirked, stepping just an inch closer to him.

“It would be a nice touch. A nice story to give those leeches at the conference. “How did you propose?” “She called me out on not kneeling before her.””

A laugh like she hasn’t heard in what felt like years escaped his lips. After a moment, he sighed with what could only be classified as happiness and dropped to one knee, running his thumb over the back of her hand. They didn’t say anything for a long moment before he cleared his throat.

“Will you marry me?”

They both knew that it wasn’t real, that it was only pretended, but something felt different. It felt emotional, it felt deep it felt like they could do it for real. Claire debated whether she should nod, say something or just confirm and be done with this, but instead, she decided to bring some humor into this.

“I mean… sure. If I have to.”

“Ha! As if you have a choice, Mrs. Ramsey.” He snorted, putting the ring on her finger and pulling her hand to his lips before he could think twice about it. The touch lingered, leaving a pleasant, all too familiar tingle on his lips. Standing up to make them equals, he reached for the rings on the table, pulling hers out of the box and putting it on her finger, next to the engagement ring. He traced both bands with his thumb, deep in thoughts for a short moment that was cut when she reached for his ring, mirroring his actions. It felt natural, it felt good.

“Now, you’re mine, Mr. Ramsey.” She whispered, gazing up at him, realizing how close to one another they were. One small step, one waver of her balance and she would fall into his arms, their lips pressed together. His eyes dropped to her lips, darkening slightly, before they went back to hers and it was as though the spell was broken. Like on a cue, they took a cautious step back, shaking themselves off the tension that locked their bodies in its hold.

“We… we should go.” he hesitated before offering her his arm. She took it gently, her touch so light that at times he wondered if she was even there.

----------

The conference room was packed to the brim. Everyone kept on bumping into everyone, some were trying to get out of the way, others were taking full advantage of their elbows as they walked. Ethan felt his arm wrapping around her before his mind registered the move, pulling her close to him so he could shield her from any injuries and unexpected blows as they walked. She didn’t even try to pretend like it didn’t affect her, the feel of his body so close to hers, his scent wafting over her with every move he made, the warmth of his body that she could feel through their clothes.

Aware that they had to at least look like they were together, they silently decided to stick to holding hands and occasional hugs, just to be safe. There was no saying what would happen if they let themselves get too comfortable with one another, and it got the job done relatively well. Why walk the line if you can stay far away from it?

It made him squirm how much cliché it was that he felt unprepared for the feeling of her skin against his. Brief touches were not that uncommon for them, after all, they worked together and they were bound to touch at some point of the day, but that was entirely different. It felt like thousands of needles, pricking his skin, almost too much but never enough. Every time he pulled her to his side, he welcomed her warmth and how sweet her scent was. Every time she laughed, his heart fluttered, and every time she turned to hug him, he was ready to believe it was real.

But it wasn’t.

“Ramsey! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” a voice called out to him from behind them, one that he recognized as many of the people that came to those conferences for their own gain. A man stood before them, his hair was gaining grey streaks and his wide smile was so forced and fabricated that he felt bad for that man’s face muscles.

“Helpert, how have you been?” Ethan responded with as much politeness as he could and the two of them shook hands firmly. Helpert’s eyes shifted to Claire and his face got taken over by a suggestive smirk.

“And who is that lady?” he took her hand, leaning down to press a kiss to her skin. “Pleased to meet you, Miss…?”

“Actually, it’s Mrs. Ramsey.” Ethan clarified, tightening his hold on her as his other hand grasped her left hand, showcasing her rings proudly. Helpert’s eyes widened before he laughed, slapping Ethan’s back firmly.

“Well, I’ll be damned! Ramsey, married! I never would have thought I’d see that day. Congratulations, to both of you.” they nodded, smiling genuinely, no part of their behavior an act.

The moment they were left alone, she turned to him, smiling brightly at him, excitement radiating off of her. “We did it!” she exclaimed, raising her hand to a high five. He looked from her to her hand and then back to her face, his eyebrow shooting up in amusement. “Oh, come on. For me?”

He sighed, pretending to be just as excited, laughing as he clapped his hand against hers.

“Oh my god, I love you.” she gasped, pressing her other hand to her heart. His pulse stopped for a moment before it picked back up, twice as fast. Despite all that, he smirked, pulling her closer to him again.

“Only for you, Rookie.”

---------

They made their rounds, wandering from one stand to another, pointing out the most promising ideas and technologies. It was moments like these that made his heart swell with pride, knowing that she was brilliant on her own. Her hand rarely left his, pulling him by it in the direction she wanted to go in, squeezing it when she was excited, lacing their fingers tenderly when they had a moment of peace and quiet.

Before they knew it, evening came and the time they had to get ready for their dinner. Ethan was almost ready, finishing putting on his tux, while Claire showered, the door opened, very much like back in Miami.

“How long will we be there?” she called out to him, shouting over the rush of water. Ethan leaned closer to the door to hear her better.

“For my sanity, and your own, I hope that not long. Unfortunately, from my own experience, it can get pretty late before everyone decides to leave.”

“Fortunately for us, we have the ultimate excuse to leave early.” She exclaimed, her voice muffled by the distance and the water, and yet despite all that, he could tell she was grinning.

“And, pray tell, what is that?”

At that precise moment, she walked out of the shower, her body loosely wrapped in a towel. His eyes widened at the sight of her almost bare body and their gazes met, an intense stare freezing them both. He walked towards her, noticing how droplets raced down her body before disappearing beneath her towel. She watched him carefully, electricity cracking in the air around them. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip, pupils dilating significantly.

“A young married couple that has a few days to themselves… no one would blame us for slipping away.” She muttered, gauging his reaction, and he did not disappoint. A choked groan almost slipped past him, barely catching it in time. His breathing got labored, his hand reached for her, his index finger swiping along the line of her cheekbone.

Claire nodded slightly, then moved past him to put her clothes on. Once again, only in her underwear, she didn’t look back at him, acutely aware of how bad it could get if they threw caution to the wind. Teasing wasn’t necessarily bad, but anything more than that could turn fatal.

Her fingers glided down her sides, smoothing the silky material before she picked up her purse, finally turning towards him. He already had his eyes on her, grasping any part of her he could catch, while trying not to be too obvious about what was happening in his brain. And it was a lot.

She winked at him playfully, then walked past him to the door. With her hand on the handle, she looked back at him, still frozen in place. “You’re not going to let me go alone, are you?”

------------------

Many torturous hours later, they stumbled back into their room. Claire was hunched forward, clutching her stomach, struggling to catch her breath. Ethan was walking ahead of her, in a similar state, tears falling from his eyes. She tripped over the carpet, almost falling to the floor if it wasn’t for Ethan’s reaction, who wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, the motion throwing off their balance. That, in turn, slammed them against the wall, her body on his, their faces hidden against each other’s necks, breathing heavily.

“I have… never… seen a face… so red in my entire life-“ she managed to choke out, giggling hysterically. He nodded, his nose brushing against her neck.

“Who would have thought… that all it took was a metal band… and he would cry.” Ethan’s head shook from side to side before he leaned back, looking down at her.

She had him pinned to the wall, though he was pretty sure she wasn’t aware of that yet. They might have had a bit too much to drink, and he didn’t expect her to be such a light weight. He was tipsy, she was bordering on drunk, which made him swap her drinks for water, and that had already began working.

“Claire, are you-“ he noticed how her expression changed and started asking if she was alright, when she pulled on his hand and dragged him to the side of bed. She began stripping her clothes until she was only in her underwear, then put her hands on her hips and looked up at him expectantly.

Most likely caused by alcohol, he reached for the buttons of his shirt, working them in haste, then throwing the offending material to the floor. As his fingers reached for his belt, Claire made a tentative move to touch the muscles of his stomach. The small touch made them contract, the tiniest of groans slipping past his lips despite his best efforts. Once they are were equally exposed, she reached for his hand again, throwing them both onto the bed. He adjusted their position into one that still has them close together, but one that is not a safety hazard for either of them, and that is how they fell asleep.

The bright light of the morning shone directly at his face, warming his skin. His whole body was relaxed, completely at ease, and there was something thrown over his back carelessly. His own hands were holding onto something, someone, tightly, causing him to finally open his eyes.

Claire’s blonde hair was spread over the pillow, strands falling onto her face without a pattern. The ends of them ticked Ethan’s nose, and it was that sensation that finally made him realize what was happening. He tensed, reaching behind him for her hand, resting it back on the bed gently. His fingers lingered on her skin a moment longer, sadness bleeding into the moment that would be so pleasant and delightful. Bracing on his arms, he lifted himself away from her, as gently and carefully as he could, wanting, more than anything else in that moment, to let her sleep, to allow himself a way out of a conversation that they would have to have had she woken up right this second.

Once in the clear, he released the breath he was holding, looking over his shoulder to watch her. She seemed unbothered by the grunt he let out when he was getting up or the way mattress screeched under his weight. The duvet covered her feet, exposing her body, the morning sun enriching the color of the underwear she had on. His movement didn’t wake her up either, and to his horror, he realized that he had hoped, briefly, that she would wake up, grab him by his shoulders and pull him right back to her side.

“Fuck.” He sighed, pain laced into his voice, then turned around and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Unknown to him, Claire had been awake for the last two hours, stroking his hair as he slept, in no position and with no motivation to leave him, waiting for him to wake up and make the first move. He did, just like she expected him to, and she wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved. Perhaps a bit of both.

----------

The rest of the morning was nothing out of what they expected it to be. She teased him about how he was getting his tolerance back and how her head was getting stronger, for neither of them had a hangover. He smiled at her, slowly gaining back the easiness that he felt when he was with her. There was no point in wallowing at what could have been, he didn’t have time for that.

Around noon, they were back in the conference room, the struggle annoying him seemingly even more than it was possible. Claire went to get some coffee while he stayed behind, continuing his conversation about the future of diagnostics team with one of the more reasonable people there.

He stood up from his seat, looking around to try and find Claire, when his ears caught a scrap of conversation.

“I didn’t know Ramsey could be nice to people long enough to score himself a girlfriend, not to mention a wife.” Some man snickered, his friend laughing along, not as subtle as they thought they were.

“For a married couple, they are awfully cold to one another. Maybe it’s true what they say, that she already wants a divorce.”

Ethan didn’t entertain the thought of listening to nonsense more than he already had, so he moved away from them, still looking for his ‘wife’. His suspicions were confirmed, though. They were not convincing enough, holding hands and hugging just wasn’t enough. There was a small voice in his head that pleaded with him, to get back to the safe space, to just stick to what they both knew, but it got overpowered by everything else that his brain was throwing his way.

He found her by the bar, standing alone, swirling the lasts of her coffee in a cup. There seemed to be someone approaching her, and Ethan wasn’t sure what’s gotten into him, but his steps got more eager and much faster than he ever expected himself to be. In a matter of seconds, he was by her side, his eyes holding the wild determination that surprised and confused her. He took the cup out of her grip, leaving it on the counter, then pulled her by her hand a few meters to the side. She opened her mouth to ask what the matter was, but never got the chance to finish her sentence.

He attacked her lips with the hunger that consumed his entire being, his hands gripping her hips with force that bordered on bruising, coaxing a low moan from her. Confusion lasted only so long in her movement before she responded in kind, sliding her hands up his chest and gripping the lapel of his jacket, her fingers tangling in his hair at the base of his neck in the meantime.

It was inappropriate. It was hot. It was intense, so intense that tears stung his eyes. It was liberating. After so much time of keeping her at arm’s length as much as he could, as much as he managed to do so, here he was. Initiating a kiss that would and always will be his undoing. Luring out the sounds of her pretty lips that were definitely reserved for his ears only, and only when they were alone.

Claire was the one that instigated most of their encounters, and he never complained while it lasted. It did however make him wonder if she felt like she was the only one that felt this overwhelming need to just feel her.

The way she was holding him, the way she was kissing him, teeth clashing, messy grips that would slip, only to be adjusted, pulling just that much stronger, that much closer. Everything about it screamed to them, and to the world outside, that there was not even a sliver of doubt. They cared about each other, they cared deeply and passionately.

Letting her go was, as always, the most difficult part of it all. But it was different now. In their current circumstance, he could hold her, kiss her and tell her he loved her all he wanted, and no one would even blink at that.

Claire’s brilliant eyes searched his face for any indication as to what exactly happened that made him burst like that. Shaking his head, he dove in for another kiss, much gentler this time, cherishing her, hugging himself to her and pressing his forehead to hers after the kiss was over.

“Are you okay?” she muttered, the tiniest of smiles rising on her face. Her fingers were stroking the sides of his face tenderly, leaning into him when he pulled her closer. His blue eyes shone brightly with affection that there was no way he could fabricate, deep and real and burning.

“Now I am.”

-----------

Her fingers haven’t left his for the rest of the day. Her warmth hasn’t left his side. Her lips kept on coming back to his.

And that smile of hers. The sight that was a recurring theme of his dreams, now a part of his reality. He found it easier to smile himself, the weight he’s been carrying on his chest since he left for the Amazon has been lifted off. It’s been easier to breathe, easier to be close to her, easier to deal with all the thoughts he had.

Claire’s face was glowing. Her movements got gentler, softer, lighter, like she was walking on air. She practically danced as she strolled around the room, his hold on her tight, his words going directly into her ear.

“You’ve got an incoming ahead of us.” He muttered, grinning slightly when she tried locating the person approaching them in front of them.

“Then talk to them.”

“Oh no, it’s all on you. Go for it.” he nudged her forehead with his nose, earning himself an elbow to his side, making him laugh. She turned on her heels, grabbing his face and pulling him into a brief kiss that left her wanting more. He hummed quietly, tightening his grip on her and letting himself get lost in the feeling. A rather insistent voice interrupted them, and they reluctantly leaned away. Scrunching her nose at him, she turned to their company, putting on a polite smile.

There was some music playing in the background as they walked slowly along the side of the room, their hands clasped tightly together, his thumb caressing her skin tenderly. Her ears caught the melody and when he wasn’t paying attention, she twirled into his arms, beaming up at him when they embraced each other. It was so easy to forget where they were, who they were when they were this close together.

“What are we even doing?” he questioned, humor coloring his voice as they swayed from side. Claire tipped her head to the side, her eyes shining happily. Her nails scraped the back of his neck slightly.

“We’re dancing, my dear husband.” She responded, a flash of heat hitting her cheeks when he leaned towards her, pressing his lips to her forehead. His eyes fell shut, drowning out the rest of the world.

“I can name at least three more appropriate places for such activities.”

Her grin got wider than before when she replied teasingly. “Are you threatening or promising?”

Ethan groaned quietly, rolling his eyes as the world started to bleed back into their focus. He kissed her cheek, then pulled them both forward. “No comment.”

-----------

Evening came sooner than they expected, the sun casting long shadows against the walls of their room as it fell through the windows. Ethan came back to the room before Claire, and that gave him the moment of clarity and quiet he needed to take a step back and assess the situation.

What were they doing?

It was his fault. Again. He let himself get too close to her. Again. He could feel the heartbreak coming. Again. Yes, it was him that initiated their closer relationship earlier that day, and he could beat himself up for it for the rest of his days. The truth was, the amount of pent-up emotions, the repressed need to be close to her, it all cumulated into the burst out that he’s been experiencing for the whole day. He had to stop this; he knew he did.

But, damn him, he didn’t want to.

A sharp pain started building in his chest. The more he thought about pushing her away, the more he could feel the dread of what was to come. He was so lost in his head that he didn’t hear the door opening, and when they fell shut, he visibly tensed.

“There you are! I was wondering where you went.” Claire’s voice infiltrated his mind, and then she came into his field of vision. She was smiling, a wide and bright smile that made him want to smile too. He had to fight the invisible force that pulled on the corners of his lips.

It seemed as though he either concealed his emotions well, or she simply didn’t notice the melancholic scowl on his face. He hoped, for the sake of himself, that it was the former. Her steps guided her closer to him, until she was standing by his side, and she made a move to pull him closer to her, smirking slightly. He flinched, giving away almost instantly that something was wrong. Concern filled her features when she whispered. “Ethan?”

“We can’t.” he addressed the elephant in the room, even if she wasn’t aware that it was there in the first place. Now she knew, and pain slowly substituted the happiness that was she felt only seconds ago.

“I feel like I’ve heard that one before.”

Claire took a step back, breathing deeply. He felt himself breaking, tearing at the seams as seconds ticked by, but he held on. He had to be the strong one, the resilient one that would get them through this.

“You know why it had to be that way. Claire, I-“ he started talking, he wanted to explain something that they both already knew, but his breath caught in his throat and his voice broke. His eyes pleaded with her, to understand, to remember what was at stake, know how much it hurt him to push her away.

“If you didn’t want to start anything, then why would you kiss me today?” she breathed the words out, because she wasn’t strong enough to force her vocal cords to work. He cursed inwardly, his face falling. “You know how much it hurts me to even stand this close to you. You know how much pain it causes me to just stay within my lane and not cross the line. And yet…” she cut off, shaking her head and walking around him, her feet carrying her into a nervous pace. “… you have the audacity to kiss me? Why, Ethan. Why would you do that?”

He focused his eyes on the ground, for a long moment not saying a word. The silence was killing them both, slicing them like two sharp knives, tearing them apart. “Because we weren’t believable. It didn’t feel real, the hand holding and hugging. People were suspecting we weren’t together, or that we were, headed towards a divorce.”

“So you decided to sacrifice everything that we’ve worked for? And what for? So that we looked believable?” she exclaimed, not quite believing her own ears. She was getting riled up by the ridiculousness of the whole situation, and Ethan wasn’t helping her either.

“You want to know why I did that? I could tell you that it was because I wanted us to keep up the appearance. I could lie to your face and tell you that I thought about the consequences or how fucked up we would be if I kissed you.” He crossed the room in two long steps, taking her face between his hands to make her look at him. “But the truth is, I didn’t think about the consequences. I didn’t have the time or the opportunity, because as soon as you come close to me, I’m unable to think straight.”

She looked up at him, questions filling her green eyes to the brim. Questions that only he could answer. He stroked her cheeks, a thoughtful, distant look taking over his features for a second before he centered his attention on her again. “You’re dangerous, Claire. You make me want to throw everything I know out the window and follow you. I wasn’t lying when I said that everything yesterday felt empty and dull. It was pretending, it’s what we had to do. But today?” he pulled her even closer to him, her breath hitching at how intense his gaze was. “It wasn’t pretending.”

His lips slammed against hers with a force of a car, taking a deep breath, his whole posture tensing and relaxing immediately afterwards. Claire slowly threw her arms around his neck, pressing him even more into her, a quiet groan reverberating against him. It was like the sun going supernova, blinding them with its intensity. When he pulled away, his eyes remained closed for a long while, giving Claire an opportunity to take in the way his face spelled relief.

“This is not pretending, not for me. It never was.” He revealed, tense and unsure of what’s to come. And then he laughed, a real, true sound that took over his entire being. She observed him with a perplexed look on her face and started laughing with him too. “I can’t believe I finally said that.”

“Would you blame me if I told you that I can’t either?” allowing herself to grin, she lowered her hand to pinch his side playfully, making him yelp in surprise. They slowly caught their breaths, still holding on to each other. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face, resting his palm against her cheek, then watched mesmerized when she nuzzled into it softly. “Can we forget the world exists? Just for tonight?”

Ethan considered her words carefully, much more intensely than he probably should. He knew the answer right away, the correct answer, and yet, that is not what he chose to follow. It wasn’t about being correct, it was about being right, and at that moment, nothing felt more right than to just pull her closer and not let her leave his side.

“For tonight, the world is thousands of miles away. You don’t have to worry about it.” he muttered delicately, his lips pressed to her temple with care. She sank into his embrace, at peace, relaxed, letting herself just be with him.

---------

“Are those all of your things? You didn’t forget anything?” he questioned, sweeping his eyes around the room one final time. Claire smirked before replying.

“Not all of us are old, Ethan. You on the other hand…” she trailed off, picking up his shirt, lying on the floor by the bed and hanging it from the tip of her finger, then throwing it at him with a laugh.

“I’m not even going to drown myself with excuses.” He chuckled, then folded the material and put it into his suitcase. His wedding band caught the ray of light, shining brightly. Grimacing, he slowly lifted his eyes to her, bitter taste in his mouth. “We- uh… we should probably do something about the rings.”

Claire sighed, her fingers playing with two bands absentmindedly. What were they supposed to do, get rid of them? Throw them out? Sell them? Donate them? “What do you think we should do?”

“I think we should put them back into the boxes and just leave them here.” He decided after a moment of careful consideration. She nodded, reaching for one of them, placing her rings inside with delicate precision, patting them gently before closing the lid. He watched the entire situation with a heavy heart, knowing well that it wasn’t about the material value of the rings, but the emotional one. Maybe that’s why his movements resembled hers when he mirrored her actions.

They placed the boxes under the table, on a small shelf, not visible unless one looked for it, then turned to their suitcases. Ethan grabbed one of his and began walking towards the door, leaving Claire behind him.

She bit her lip, looking between the boxes and Ethan, then her hand did a quick move, grabbing the one holding his rings, slipping it into the pocket of her jacket. Praying that her face would not betray her and that he would not notice.

“You’re coming or not?” he asked when he came back for the second suitcase, his eyebrow raising in question. She nodded, then squared her shoulders and left the room.

Ethan grabbed the handle of the bag and took a step towards the door when he was stopped by a quiet voice in his head. He battled with himself, for as long as he could before she would notice he didn’t follow her and check on him, and then, in a split second decision, moved his hand to take the box that held both her rings inside, and placed them in the pocket of his coat carefully.

“For a better time…” he muttered to himself quietly, then followed her voice out the door.

[datenightfright]

Infamous

This story is dedicated to Oiwa. Thank you for allowing me to share your story, may you one day find peace.

Previous/Next

Pairing: Kayako Saeki x WOC Reader

Warnings: Mentions of blood, stabbing. 

As always, thank you to @mlmdarkfiction and @doodleferp for letting me rant until I figure things out and giving me the best ideas to work with. Your help is indispensable. 

Things were strange nowadays. Somehow, someway, you had become more famous than your husband. When the news of your husband’s strange death hit the media, news crews were outside of your house immediately to bombard you with questions. Did you think it was the work of Kayako? Would his new book be published posthumously? Did you notice anything strange about the house? Did you have any idea who murdered Haru? You did what the police advised you to do. You made a blanket statement to the media at a press conference stating that you hoped your husband’s killer felt remorse and that they would come forward soon, and that you hoped, with time, you’d be able to find happiness once more. You even managed to sound perfectly broken up about the whole matter. 

Some people said you were the one that had done it. Well not, physically, but you’d hired a jealous lover to off him. Thankfully those people were in the minority. The prevailing theory that was some crazy fan had felt slighted by him and decided to end his life the moment he stepped foot outside his house. The theory among his fans though...that was closer to the truth than you’d like to admit. They were adamant that the house had killed him. That the ghost of Kayako had offed him and chucked him out a window. The hole in that theory, however, was why you and your daughter still lived. Didn’t Kayako kill everyone that entered her house?

When you’d told his mother over the phone, the normally stern, composed woman became a wreck of lamentations for her lost son. You helped you father-in-law arrange the funeral, as was your duty, and decided to hold the viewing in their home, since yours had such awful rumors hanging about it. The funeral had been a quick one, but tiring nonetheless. 

Now you were alone in your house, letters and presents from fans stacked about the place, wondering what the hell you were going to do with your life. You had to get a job. Being able to feed yourself and your daughter was of the utmost importance to you. Luckily, it wasn’t such a pressing matter, as Haru left everything he had to you, which was a sizable amount of money, and being his widow meant you got all the royalties from his book. But still, that money would dry up eventually, then where would you be? 

You hum and splash warm water over your daughter. She giggles as you do so. “Clean baby!” You coo, rinsing the soapy water from her feet. “I have a clean baby!” When you’re finished, you pick her up and bring her to your chest, despite her soaked state. She giggles as you place kisses to her cheek. You turn to gather the towel, managing not to yelp when you find Kayako standing directly behind you, towel already in hand. 

You ignore what looks like Kayako wanting to hold your baby, and instead simply take the towel from her. “Thank you,” You say, wrapping your baby up. “Clean baby,” You start to sing again, “I have a clean baby.” You shuffle past Kayako, holding your baby close as you go. 

You continue to sing as you dry Sakura off, dress her, and feed her. Today was going to be a big day. Today you were going to meet with someone that might be able to help you with your problem. You might be able to rid yourself of Kayako once and for all. If not for your sanity, then for the sake of your daughter’s ability to lead a normal life. 

You feel her presence as you put on your shoes. She was always there at the door when you put on your shoes. Her death rattle soon to follow. This time, she grabbed your arm, startling the hell out of you. She was cold, so damnably cold. You look into her eyes. Normally they’re empty pits of black, but now they look...panicked almost. “I’ll be back,” You find yourself saying. “I don’t know when, but I’ll be back.” You give her a shaky smile. She seems to find that an acceptable answer as she lets go of your arm after a moment’s hesitation. Without another word, you slip out the door. 

You try not to rush out of the shadows of the house, but you couldn’t help it. All the time you could get outside of that damnable place was a moment of fresh air and sunshine. Gloom hung eternal around the home, and god dammit you needed to breathe every once in a while. You turn on to the main road, feeling yourself relax more the further away from the house you got. 

You make it to your mother-in-laws house with little problem. Parking on the side of the street, you get out and gather your baby. Before you shut the back door, your mother-in-law is rushing down the drive to greet you. She pulls you into a hug before taking Sakura from your arms. Ever since Haru died she’d been more...tolerable of your presence, sometimes going overboard with affection. It was still awkward for the both of you, but neither of you said anything about it. Perhaps it was because you were the mother of her last connection with her baby boy and she understood that you could take all that away from her. Ironic, really. 

You hurry up the drive behind her as she babbles to the baby about how much fun they were going to have. You both stop in the doorway, you huffing at your slight exertion, and your mother-in-law giving you that infuriating expectant look. Some things never changed. “Here,” You say, shoving the baby bag to her chest, not caring how rude it was. She didn’t have Haru to bitch at any more, thus, you didn’t have a care in the world. “I’ll be back tomorrow evening,” You say, giving your baby a quick kiss. “You be good for Grandma ok?” You say as she giggles. 

Waving bye to her you enter your car once again, you blow kisses before your line of sight is cut off by a closed door. You were silently thankful for your mother-in-law, even if you still didn’t like her. One night to get this shit figured out, one afternoon meeting. You were hellbent on riding yourself of this curse, or die trying. A momentary skip of your heartbeat as you thought of your baby. Would she go down with you? If you played your cards right, Sakura would at the very least be safe from the curse. 

You try to speed your way to your destination, but find yourself lost in the maze that is Japan. Looking over and over at your list of directions, you were lucky enough to park with more than enough time to make it to your meeting. 

You fix yourself as you hurry towards the building. Professor Ibuki Sato had agreed to meet with you to discuss your current circumstances. Well, alright, he hadn’t agreed to meet you, more like begged. He was a professor of the paranormal at a community college and had been one of your late husband’s most ardent fans. He emailed you days ago, wanting to know what really happened. You didn’t trust him one bit, so you were going to monitor your story as much as you saw fit and gauge his reaction from there. You only wanted help for one thing, and you were going to go to hell and back to get it. 

You easily find your way to the professor’s room. You knock lightly, trying to adjust your outfit again. You couldn’t understand why you were so nervous. The door opens and one girl comes out, looking bored and irritated. There was an aura around her that reminded you of the house. It was so strong, you had to take a few steps back. She looks at you curiously, but says nothing as she walks away. You watch her as she leaves. 

“Mrs. Kubo!” A loud voice interrupts your rude staring. A disheveled man looks brightly at you. “Come in!” He says, holding the door wide open for you. “Thank you,” You mutter, bowing to him and hurrying in. 

“Please, have a seat.” he motions to a chair. You sit, sinking right into its squishiness. It would be comfortable if not for the fact that you were so nervous. Professor Sato sits across from you, a smile flitting across his face. It wasn’t a perverted one at the very least, just a bit awkward. “I’m so sorry about your husband,” he says. You nod, making a non committal noise. “He was a pioneer in the field,” Sato said awkwardly, “I mean he, he-”

“Can we cut to the chase?” You ask gently. The professor looks relieved. “Is the house really haunted?” He asks. “Yes,” You simply say. “But it’s weird.”

“Weird? How? Haven’t you lived in haunted places before.” You snort. “None of them were haunted.” You tell him. Shaking your head, “Not like this anyway. Kayako…” You pause trying to find the right words. “It’s been three months,” You say, exasperated. “Three months and she’s done nothing more than jump scare me by standing behind me when I least expect it.” Sato frowns at your explanation. “She cooks breakfast most mornings, and dinner, she does the dishes. She’s even done the laundry once. She’s always hovering like...like she’s waiting to help or something.” You continue to ramble for nearly ten minutes about all the things she did. Making the bed, arranging shoes neatly by the door, even putting papers in neat, organized piles. Sato listened without interrupting. 

“It sounds like she’s in love,” He says blandly. The statement shocks you so bad you physically jump. “Excuse me?” 

“Think about it,” Sato says, “Making food, cleaning up around the house, it all sounds like she’s trying to take care of someone she’s in love with.” Your brow furrows, your brain somehow not able to puzzle it out. “Who the hell could she possibly be in love with?” You mutter. Your husband was dead, and the last man she was married to killed her so violently she still haunted the mortal realm. Sato looked at you, highly amused. “You,” He says through a chuckle. “That’s absolute bullshit.” You deadpan. This causes him to throw his head back with laughter. “Is it?” 

“Yes!” You say, standing up in indignation, “It is! There’s no way in hell she’s in love with me. She’s dead!” 

“In Japan, the dead are thought to be born from high emotions, to feed off them. Hatred and rage are two of the most powerful, but so is love.” Sato explains, “Here, I want to show you something.” Sato moves towards his desk and you follow him. He brings out a journal and hands it to you. “It’s Kayako’s journal,” He says, pride obvious in his voice. You don’t even want to begin to think about how he’d gotten it. 

You take the journal but don’t open it. “Well?” Sato says, obviously excited. You grimace. “I don’t think it’s right,” You say, putting the book on the desk. Sato looks at you with confusion. “You said it yourself, she’s dead.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to live with her ghost.” you mutter. Sato nods in acquiescence. “The journal describes her life from the time she was eight years old to the moment of her death.” Sato explains, taking to book up again. “It serves as the counterpoint that tipped the balance in her disfavor. It seems as though she was obsessed with someone during her lifetime.”

“Obsessed?” You murmur. Sato nods. “She followed him everywhere. Watched him. His name is written all over the pages of her book.” He holds the object in question in the air. “It’s possible that, by some miracle, her curse has changed from vengeance, to one of unrequited love.”

“You’re damn right it’s unrequited! I want her out of my life! She makes me miserable, I don’t-” You stop, gaining control of yourself. “I don’t want my baby to grow up in that damned place,I want her to survive this stupid curse. But I don’t have many options.” 

Sato presses his lips together. “I’ll have to do some research.” He tells you honestly. “Can I give you a call?” You huff, running your hands through your hair in frustration. “Fine,” You say, “Fine. You know how to get in touch with me.” You turn on your heel to leave but pause. A familiar flash of black moves across a picture frame. Kayako. Shit. She heard everything, of that, you were sure. 

*

You lived in fear. Any day now Kayako would extract her extreme revenge, you just knew it. You wince at a creak sounding off somewhere in the house. Yes, any moment now Kayako was going to come out of hiding and end your life. 

You huff and roll over, hoping she would just do it already. The suspense was making you a nervous wreck. Another creak, another wince. Was it windy outside you wonder? The house is usually as silent as a tomb. Perks of it being haunted you guessed. You groan and flop over on your back. You were getting nowhere. “Kayako?” You called out, for the zillionth time. And for the zillionth time no response. 

Two weeks, it had been two weeks since your fight with Kayako. If you could even call it a fight. After your meeting with Sato, you’d come home to a completely wrecked house. Furniture upturned, papers everywhere, pictures on the walls hung askew. You had tried calling for her, and at first, she hadn’t come out. Not until you reached the master bedroom where she had scared the living daylights out of you. 

You had yelled at her. Fear had given you the push you needed to voice your opinion. She scared you, and no one could really blame you. She was known for her merciless killings. She was toying with you, and you hated that. You wished she would just get it all over with. But spare you baby, please God spare your baby. With your confessions hanging in the air, she disappeared. You hadn’t seen her since, despite trying to get in touch with her. 

Sato seemed unreachable as well. Phones in the house didn’t work, whether it was because of Kayako, you didn’t know. But your computer worked just fine. You’d send him several emails, wondering if he got anywhere, but no response from him. You were worried, but too scared to track him down. What if he died because of your visit? You really didn’t want to find out. 

Just as you were about to drift off into a fitful slumber, Kayako’s death rattle started up. You screamed and flung yourself away from the door, off the bed and to the floor. This is it, you think, she’s going to kill me now. Thank God Sakura was with her grandmother for her weekly visit. The door bursts open and Kayako begins to crawl in, her black hair obscuring her face. “Come on,” You whisper, fear rooting yourself to the spot. “Come on, come on, come on,” Tears begin to run down your face. You’ve accepted your fate long ago. You were ready even if you were scared. 

You let out another screech as the sound of a cat’s cry meets your left ear. You throw yourself against the night stand. Toshio was sitting in his usual position, crouched with his hands on his knees, mouth wide open. He looked...terrified to you. Not like the empty soul he usually looked like. But genuinely scared. A grating sound rips your attention away from him. You look over the bed, Kayako has stopped moving towards you. She was now moving backwards...no...that’s not right...she was being dragged backwards, her nails digging into the wooden floor, leaving claw marks in their wake. She looked to you, her face also screwed into one of terror. “Kayako?” You breathe, wondering what the hell was going on. 

You scream as furniture begins to shake, a great rumbling tears through your home. You’re convinced for one moment that the house is going to rip itself in two. “Kayako?” You yell over the cacophony of it all. Motherly instinct overcomes you, and you drag Toshio to your side, he clings to you as though his life, or lack thereof, depends on it. Kayako continues reaching for you. She’s jerked, once, twice, three times before you spring into action. “Kayako!” You leap over the bed and grab her wrists. 

You now know something is wrong from the way she clings back. You play a strange game of tug of war before you’re jerked forward. Your grip on her is so tight you’re dragged right through the doorway before slamming into the hall’s wall. The shocking force of the hit loosens your grip a fraction and Kayako is pulled from you. “No!” You run for her. 

Down the stairs you go, stopping only when you get to the living room. Why the hell did everything exciting happen in the living room? “What the ever loving hell are you doing?!” You screech. A figure in the middle of the room turns to you. “This is the only way!” They yell, from the sound of it, they were male. “You don’t have to worry anymore!” He continues, “I know how to really get rid of her, once and for all, there will be no more Kayako!” 

“No!” You scream, lunging for him. He easily brushes you off, throwing you to the ground. You watch in horror as the man reaches behind him. Your horror turns to confusion when he brings out what looks to be a small child rather than a weapon. The tiny thing struggles against him, to no avail. “With this sacrifice, Kayako will-” The man doesn’t finish his sentence. Aiming for his knees, you tackle him to the ground. He falls on you with a soft ‘oomph’. Luckily, you were prepared for the inevitable catch and rolled him off with little hardship. You scramble to your feet. Grabbing for the child, you’re met with no resistance as you run off into the house. “Come back here, you bitch!” The man thunders. 

You race back to your room, slamming the door behind you. What the fuck? What are you going to do? Somewhere in your panicked brain you shove the child into the closet, hoping Kayako doesn’t pull one of her nasty tricks and kill the poor thing. They cry out, reaching for you, just as scared. You hush them, “You’re ok,” You say, “You’re ok, I won’t let him hurt you. Hush now, hush.” You shut the door to the closet as they fall silent. 

Your door rattles as the man rages on the other side. “You bitch! I’ll kill you!” He yelled, throwing himself against it. You look around your room for something to defend yourself with. You had a bat, but for the life of you, you couldn’t remember where you put it. You don’t get the chance to search for it before your door bursts open with a terrifying crunch. The man, half crazed in the moonlight, is huffing, staring at you. “You dog,” He hisses, “You will not stand in the way of my revenge.” 

“Why are you in my house?” You cry, legs shaking. “I’m here to kill Kayako!” He yells, “I’m going to end her miserable curse! You aren’t going to stand in my way!” He lunges for you, but misses. Still, he has you cornered in seconds. “I won’t let my daughter’s death be in vain! You won’t stop this!” He grabs for you once more, stumbling over one of Sakura’s toys. This allows you the precious seconds you need to dodge and run back down the stairs. 

He roars with rage, hot on your tail. You’re cornered easily once more in the kitchen. You whirl around to meet your attacker. There’s no way you’re going to get out of this alive, you’re sure of it. Maybe this is how the curse works? You think Kayako drives others to do her dirty work then picks the last one off. No, that wasn’t right, not in this instance. Kayako had been scared, Toshio too. This guy was the real deal. “You’re dead!” The man yells, stumbling forward. 

His hands wrap around your neck. You flail knocking everything on the counter over. You go down, he goes down on top of you. In the back of your mind, you’re reminded of Haru. Just a few months ago he tried choking you to death too. Kayako had saved you then, she wouldn’t now. A strange sense of calm overcame you, a sense of clarity. This was how you died. Unable to watch your precious daughter grow into a young woman. Unable to watch her fall in love for the first time, to have children of her own…

The man lets you go, slapping you hard. You taste blood in your mouth and spit it out. Your head is still reeling from the smack when his hands close around your neck again. That’s when you see it, a silver glint, a sliver of hope. A terrible rage overcomes you. For months you’ve lived in terror, for months you expected to die, night after night, in the most terrible of ways. You’ve tasted the brink of death more times than you wanted to. You’d had enough quite frankly. Moving automatically, you hand grips the knife, swinging it with all your might you instantly feel the pressure on your neck ease, then disappear altogether. Something warm drips onto your face as the mystery man slumps over, then finally topples off you. You lay there for a moment, taking in deep breaths of precious air. 

You close your eyes for a moment or two, trying to come to terms with what just happened. The rumbling of the house settles, things fall silent once more. You only open your eyes when you feel something brush against your face. This time, when you meet Kayako’s eyes you don’t flinch. She looks concerned, for what? You? You cough, spitting out more blood. Kayako rattles softly, touching your face. “I’m fine,” You croak, “I’m ok.” You sit up gingerly. 

Coldness overtakes you as Kayako presses herself behind you, her hands rest on your shoulders. When you don’t push her away she takes it as an invitation to get closer to you, wrapping you up in her arms, resting her cheek on your shoulder. You smile, running your fingers over her soft skin. You smile, because for the first time in a long time, you felt alive. And baby, it felt good to be alive.

[jimlingss]

The President’s Son [10]

Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 10.5 OR Chapter 11

➜ Words: 4.2k

➜ Genres: 100% Fluff, Slice of Life, Bodyguard!AU

➜ Summary: Kim Taehyung is the President’s son, mischievous and playful, and infamous for being a troublemaker. When everyone’s given up, they call for you to be his personal guard. There’s no other choice when your dad’s assigned you to it and surprisingly Taehyung doesn’t mind either. Maybe because you happened to grow up with that brat.

Siren wails and deafening ambulance howls — putting arms over heads and getting to your knees — handcuffs clinking as your hands are restrained. You’re bathed in blue and red lights, eyes wearily blinking as your vision is blinded. Camera clicks — microphones shoved into his cheeks — questions spewed one after another, morphing to sound like the tortured in hell. Taehyung shields himself away from the white flashes as he’s forced to stand by his father’s side.   Fear runs rampant, only partially subdued with a single press conference, tabloids and media outlets gathering as they try to figure out what happened, calling upon the police chief, your father, and Taehyung’s. Those responsible are taken into custody, under investigation, while another team tries to contain public hysteria from spiraling.    “I’m sorry I snitched,” Jungkook tells you. “I didn’t want to.”   “It’s okay,” you murmur as you stand at the back of the room, watching the President take a stand against terrorism. “You brought me backup when I needed it.”   But just because everything’s said and done and everyone’s safe doesn’t mean there aren’t any repercussions.   It’s the end of the line. From across the room, you stare at Taehyung intently, how disheveled and tired he looks, the spark in his eyes lost, knowing this is unfortunately the last. And you’ll accept it. When tomorrow arrives, you’ll go looking for other jobs to take on, accept whoever might want your selected skill set. There’s nothing to do but take responsibility for your actions and the damage done.   But you don’t know why it feels so hard.   Your whole life has revolved around indifference, acceptance, letting things roll off your shoulder and continuously moving forward. But for the first time, your feet feel too grounded to keep moving.   “Come in.”   You push the door, closing it gently behind you. His office remains ever the same, except for the new piles of papers placed all over his desk.   The old man sighs, taking off his reading classes and rubs two fingers at his temple while you take a seat across from him. It’s more frightening when he isn’t outright angry.    He begins, words heavy with exhaustion. “Did you think about what you were going to do?”   “Yes,” you answer after a beat. “I knew it was going to take a long time—”   “So you ignored all the plans that were being made? You ignored standard protocol and my authority as well as everyone else’s?” He asks you calmly, composed without a bite to his words, almost like he expected this.   “I wanted to scope out the environment to provide more details.”   “That’s out of the scope of your job. You went above and beyond. And you did so irresponsibly. To the point where it’s outrageous. You could’ve gotten killed. You could’ve gotten the President’s son killed.”   “I’m sorry.” The apology doesn’t cut it, but it’s all you can offer. “I...saw a chance and I took it.”   “You’re lucky that no one got more hurt than they did.” The old man sighs, leaning back in his swivel chair as he shuffles papers in front of him. “I’ll write you a recommendation letter before you go.”   “There’s no need.”   He raises a brow and halts his movements completely. After a second, he glances up at you again. This time, he speaks in a softer tone, not as a chief, but as your father. “Are you planning to stay in the capital?”   “I...don’t know yet.” You came for a reason and yet you’ve done nothing for that reason — it’s still too difficult to approach, too awkward. You’re not sure where to begin or what to do. Your initial intentions have washed down the drain.   “Let me write you a letter,” he insists. After all, despite recent incidents, the past three months have passed by without any qualms. It was the first time there was some semblance of peace and quiet. “It’ll help you in whatever you want to do next.”   “What letter?” He’s interjected by a chiming timbre. The lithe woman shuts the door behind her before sauntering up to the desk, right beside you. Her arms are crossed, dark hair draping her backside, dark circles showing her fatigue, yet she doesn’t show any weaknesses. “You’re not going to write any letter, ____.”   “Hyunjung...this is a decision that’s been in the making for a long time.”   Taehyung’s stepmother is outright challenged, but she stands her ground, shaking her head, not amused whatsoever. “I know I have no part in this, but it’s my job to protect my son’s protector.” Her voice moves into a higher pitched, almost like a whine of disbelief. “I came here to get on my knees to personally thank Y/N and lo and behold, I find you not only reprimanding her but firing her? I won’t have it.”   Your father lightly scoffs, looking away. “She isn’t suitable for this job…”   “Then who is?” The middle-aged female asks, demanding an answer he can’t give. “She risked her own life to save Taehyung. We should be honouring that bravery. I expected you to promote her, y’know! Give her a better title! Give her a raise or a vacation!”    Her rambling is childish and lighthearted, dissipating the tension in the room. While she’s not biologically related to Taehyung, she shares striking similarities to him. You’re not surprised that she suits the President well. “Or even put up a statue of her in the yard! I thought I would have to fight you against naming Taehyung’s firstborn Y/N!”   “I acted irresponsibly,” you speak up, looking towards her. “I’ll accept whatever punishment—”   “Tch.” She clicks her tongue in annoyance, shushing you harshly. She frowns in disapproval with her reddened lips pouty. “I’m trying to defend you. Don’t make it worse, young lady.” Taehyung’s stepmother turns to face the chief. “Look at what you did to the poor girl! She should be proud of her courage, but you made her feel ashamed. Have you ever praised her before? Or do you just criticize your best employee all the time?”   There’s a long silence.    The tables have turned. Now he’s the one being reprimanded and scolded. But he doesn’t protest or fight her on it, perhaps giving into the woman’s judgment.   “Unbelievable,” she scoffs. “You are about to fire one of the nicest people of your entire team. Absolutely unbelievable. Come on, Y/N. Follow me. You don’t have to sit here any more and listen to this ridiculousness.”   You turn to your father after looking at her. His expression is impassive, but you read it well enough. There’s no real anger. At best, he feels at a loss.   You deliberate what to do, but the woman doesn’t give you a chance. She urges you one last time, heavily insistent, so you take her hand and she pulls you to your feet. “If you want to fire her, you’ll have to speak to me about it first.”   She struts out, tugging you along and you look back to catch your father sighing, molded into his chair, head knocked back to stare at the ceiling. He can’t get rid of you even if he wanted to. Somehow, you’re protected by everyone that has the last name Kim.   “You really didn’t need to….”   “Hush, child.” She spins around, hands securing on your shoulders comfortingly. “I owe you my life. Taehyung owes you his life, okay? I’ll make sure he knows that too, but I think he already does. Don’t get too bothered by your old man. He was probably just worried about how you risked yourself out there.” Somehow you doubt that. Then again, even while growing up he had an odd way of showing his affection. “Which I don’t approve of either, but what’s done is done and all I can say is thank you. Truly.”   “I was….just doing my job.”   “You weren’t.” She smiles softly. “And you know that.”   Taehyung’s stepmother tells you how you not only saved a life, but a family and a country from being thrown into chaos. While it’s a bit much, she emphasizes that you’re a hero. Your name was never disclosed to the public, but they know an agent single-handedly saved the President’s son and the public opinion has improved in the Presidential Security Service.    The recognition is overwhelming and not something you ever intended, but not something you particularly despise.    “If there’s anything that you ever need, tell me, okay? Remember to take care of yourself too. I understand if you want to take a break and rest up after all that. It must’ve been traumatizing. I’ll let your father know if you want to take a vacation….”   You fiddle with your fingers. “Actually, I was wondering where Taehyung was.”    For the most part, you were fine and if anything, you were more curious on how he was handling it all.   The woman gently smiles again. “He’s at this hospital right now.”   “Can I visit him?”   “You most certainly can.”   //   He is a prisoner. And he doesn’t understand why he’s being punished.   Kim Taehyung crosses his arms and pouts like a petulant child, sitting on the edge of the bed. He would’ve personally ripped out the IVs in his arms, but he doesn’t do needles, so he had wailed painfully until the nurse came and took it out for him.   “Get me out of here!” he screams at the top of his lungs. The white walls and maybe the shadow outside hears his plea. “I’m more traumatized from being in here!”   He’s been under intensive questioning, assessed both physically and mentally, forced to speak to three different therapists. Taehyung’s not as scarred as they think he is. He doesn’t need any recovery when there was nothing to recover from. He was perfectly fine, especially considering when deep down he knew you’d come for him. There was nothing to be afraid of.   You always end up showing up again. He just has to wait.   A few minutes….a few hours….or a few years.   You always come back.   But at the moment he’s too impatient. Enough is enough. Taehyung jumps to his feet and marches to the door, sliding it open.   Park Jimin blocks his way.   “Taehyung,” he whines his name, reluctant and timid with every movement. “You’re not allowed to leave.”   “Just let me go!” he demands in exasperation.   The dark-haired bodyguard is at a loss, trying to get the other to sympathize with his situation. “I…..I’ll get in trouble.”   “No one has to know….”   The two of them are whispering as if someone can hear, lingering in between the room and the corridor. The gates to freedom are so close, yet too far. “But they’ll find out. I’m sorry, Taehyung. I was given specific duties. You know that. I’m not allowed…..I can’t go against them.”   There’s a held silence.   Taehyung isn’t amused whatsoever and he narrows his eyes, words full of spite. “You know….you’re unbearable sometimes.”   “Yeah….” Jimin’s head slumps like he knows, lips pulling to the floor. “I’m sorry.”   “What...are you doing?” You’re standing at the end of the white hallway lit by fluorescent lights. Both Jimin and Taehyung whip their heads over, the former taking a sigh of relief at the sight of you and the latter with a grin expanding into his cheeks.   “Fuck! About time, dumbo! Where were you?! I’ve been trapped for five hours!”   You approach with crossed arms, peeking inside the room momentarily. Of course he has his own private hospital room on the highest floor of the entire building. But you notice that the bed sheets are crumpled, chair pushed over haphazardly, tissue box on the floor — evidence that he threw one hell of a tantrum. You give him an incredulous look.   He smiles, suddenly on his best behaviour. “Are you gonna come in?”   Jimin looks at you like you’re his saviour.   The door shuts, finally just you and him. “Are you okay?” Your eyes sweep up and down his figure. He’d make a joke about your staring, but he’s too irritated by the question.    “Yes, I’m fine,” he groans. “People keep asking me that. I’m not traumatized, okay? I don’t need any sort of recovery. I wasn’t injured. I’m not shocked or anything. I’m breathing, normal, alive.”   “You were kidnapped, Taehyung.”   “For like...two hours,” he points outs. “And they didn’t even do anything to me. I was going to talk my way out of it anyways. You don’t have to be so worried. I’m more worried about you.” He tugs on the hem of your jacket, pulling you gently until you give in, falling into the spot by his side. The mattress dips under your weight. “Doesn’t your wrist hurt?”   At the mention of it, your own hand circles your other wrist, rolling it around once without feeling any aches or pains. “It healed weeks ago.”   “Yeah….well….I was just...worried.” He gazes at you through his lashes. The soft lighting makes the edges of him glow. His voice is also strangely husky around the edges. You’re uncomfortable with how intimate it is.    “You shouldn’t be. I’m used to it.”   He scoffs lightly. “You always like to act like you’re tough — you know it’s okay if you aren't, right? It doesn’t mean you’re weak.” It’s quiet, the words sinking in. “Even if you’ve experienced worse things, it doesn’t make this one any less dangerous or scary.”   You swallow hard, tearing your eyes away from him to stare at the door instead. “I’m sorry.”   The corner of his mouth curls. “What for?”   “I was supposed to protect you and I let that happen to you.”   “You saved me, you idiot.”   “I shouldn’t have let it happen in the first place. I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight and I’m-….I’m….nervous,” you admit in a murmur and you hate it. You absolutely detest being this vulnerable when you’ve sworn to trample any signs of weakness. It goes against every cell in your body, but it’s the truth — a truth that you don’t want to shoulder alone. “I’m nervous it’s going to happen again. I keep getting startled at the smallest things. I don’t...think that’s normal.”   “It’s okay.” His arm wraps around your shoulder, pulling you in for a friendly hug. You don’t jump on instinct or lean back as you usually would. You allow yourself to relax into his hold, leaning against his chest, letting him close the distance between you two. It’s nice having this sort of comfort — you’re not sure when the last time you were hugged. “It’s okay if that happens. It’s okay to be nervous or scared.”   But even so, it goes against everything you’ve been taught at a young age.   “Aren’t you scared?” you murmur the question and had he not been so close, he would’ve missed it entirely.    “A little,” Taehyung admits too. “It kind of felt surreal when it happened….my adrenaline was pumping. I think my survival instincts kicked in — I was talking a lot to them. But I don’t remember exactly what I said or what happened….it was kind of an out-of-body experience...you know?”   “Yeah. I get that.”   Taehyung smiles and pats your backside once. It’s the first time he’s comforting you and it’s odd considering when that was your job when he always cried as a kid. Granted, you never did a good job — having looked down at him while telling him to get up again and that tripping wasn’t going to kill him.   It always made Taehyung cry harder.   “You were so cool,” he hums like it even means anything. “When you untied yourself and stole the gun….I keep thinking your talent is wasted on me. You should be a spy or something. You’d be good at it.”   “I’ve already done my part,” you tell him. “I wanted to go home.”   He hums another soothing note from deep inside his chest and you hear how his heart rate quickens in pace. You finally pull yourself away before it gets too weird. He’s reluctant to let go, but does so anyhow while you compose yourself with a deep breath.   “Hey…” Taehyung pipes up, staring at you with those intense eyes again. “If you ever wanna talk to me about something, you should. Don’t keep it inside.”   “Yeah, okay.”   “Or talk to a doctor,” he suggests with a smile. “They’re probably more qualified than I am.” Taehyung hops up to his feet, stretching his arms above his head, trying to act all casual after the heart-to-heart conversation. He groans, getting the kinks out of his shoulders before spinning around with a mischievous expression. “Should we ditch?”   “You’re supposed to stay here for the night.”   He pouts childishly, bottom lip jutted out when he doesn’t get his way. “I don’t wanna. They already poked me with a whole bunch of stuff and asked me a million questions. It’s suffocating being in here.”   “What if—”   “What if nothing. Nothing’s going to happen.” He shrugs. “You and I both know that. The entire city is on high alert and the perpetrators are already caught. No one’s gonna kidnap the President’s son twice in one night. And you’re off duty, aren’t you?” Taehyung’s eyes sweep you from head to toe, brow quirked at your casual attire as he discreetly smirks. “It’s not like you’d get in trouble if we hang out after your working hours.”   “Me being off duty might be permanent at this rate.”   He’s alarmed at your remark. “You’re getting fired?!”   “No. Your stepmom saved me from that.”   “She did?”   You nod, much to his surprise. “She saved me, but I’ve been thinking about things and….maybe I should resign, Taehyung. I’ve caused a lot of issues and I don’t want to give...chief a headache. I want to be treated like everyone else and if I was, I think I would’ve been removed a long time ago.” The last thing you want is to be a burden and you don’t want to be saved anymore, to cheat the system for self-preservation when you’d rather accept responsibility.   “If it were anyone else, they would’ve been at the podium at the press conference,” he says. “If it were anyone else, they would’ve gotten a metal. Your dad’s just really harsh on you to a point where I don’t even understand and it upsets me.”   You look up at him, exhaling. Taehyung’s tone softens, eyes saddened. “Can I make a selfish request, Y/N?”   “Depends on what it is.”   “I know I said you’re better off somewhere else...but still...I want you to stay. Not forever. But just a little longer,” he asks and it’s shy and earnest. Taehyung’s hand drops to his side awkwardly after brushing back the blonde strands of his hair. He musters an embarrassed laugh. “Honestly, you’re my only friend and probably the biggest reason I haven’t run off yet.”   You don’t get it.   You’ve done nothing for him. You don’t even openly offer him the friendship that he so desperately desires — you can’t comprehend why you’re the reason he stays. “What’s so special about me?”   “I don’t know.” He shrugs. “A lot of things. It’s not because we grew up together. Maybe a little has to do with that. But you just make it a lot more….bearable for me. I look forward to seeing you. Every day.”   He’s ashamed, cheeks glowing pink, looking away. It’s the first time he’s shown you something aside from outright boldness. You muse that it’s a night of firsts and you savour the glimpse of sincerity that you see. “I don’t want to make this weird, alright, dumbo? And I’m not saying I like you like that. I just know that you listen to me and that you’re loyal. This might be a job to you and you probably think I’m annoying as hell on most days or that I’m a spoiled brat, but I know you actually give a fuck about me. You care. Unlike a lot of other people. And it’s all I...wanted. I like your company. And if you’re gone, I wouldn’t know what to do.”   You stare. It’s another first — the first time you’re really seeing him.   Taehyung’s not just a troublemaking boy who’s caused you a lot of your childhood gripes and headaches. There’s someone deeper in front of you, someone that’s not a chore or purposely a nuisance, someone human.   You stand to your feet. “So...where are we going?”   Taehyung grins. “I’ll lead the way.”   Jimin is surprised to see the both of you exiting, insisting that he shouldn’t leave when it goes against the rules he was specifically instructed by Seokjin. But Jimin gives in when you convince him otherwise, easily giving up when it’s two pinned against one. He follows behind, ducking away into the stairwell when the police walk past. There are more guards lingering around the halls in case something suspicious were to happen. But luckily, Jimin takes one for the team and diverts their attention while the pair of you slip away.   “For the record though, I don’t think you’re an annoying, spoiled brat.”   “Really?” Taehyung chirps, turning his head as you walk down the street. Without bodyguards, suits, camera flashes, you’re just normal people. No one would notice that he’s a descendant of one of the most important people in the country.   “Only sometimes.”    Taehyung melts into another grin, curiosity making his irises glimmer. “Like when?”   “When you give the bodyguards hell when I’m gone and you demand I come back.”   “It’s a great strategy that has proven to work.” He winks and you scoff.   “I’m not a toy, alright?   “You’re not. But if you were, you’d be my favourite.”   Your eyes roll, not taking it as a compliment and certainly not impressed by the lame pick-up line. “I think you know deep down how childish you are.”   Taehyung shrugs. “It’s fun. Why not? Life’s too short to take seriously. You should take that advice for yourself, dumbo. I remember when you were just a wee-child—”   “I’m a year older than you—” you interject.   He outright ignores you. “—and you wouldn’t even join the kids on the playground. You were reading an instruction manual your dad told you to read and he only gave you that to get you to go away when he was doing work.”   You can’t recall the memory, surprised that he does. But based on what you hear, you don’t really want to remember it. “Where are we going exactly, Taehyung?”   There’s a sparkle in his eye that makes you want to sigh. “Go-kart racing. Ever been?”   “No. And no. Do you even have a driver’s license?”   The question is answered when he pulls it out for the teenager who’s working at the center. Your worries are at least eased somewhat when you see him get strapped in with a hard helmet and a proper seat belt. You’d sit beside him just in case something goes wrong, but he told you to get your own kart and wouldn’t give it up.   It’s a terribly immature and childish game, but with Taehyung’s excitement, you let loose, allowing yourself to enjoy it. Even if it’s just for a second.   The music blares above you. There’s two other adults here at this ungodly hour to enjoy their own fun, but Taehyung’s the loudest and most obnoxious person in the building. He hollers, firing up the atmosphere and his energy is infectious. The boy also ignites your competitive spirit after egging you on and you end up racing against each other.   Taehyung turns around often to mock you, sticking out his tongue, and he swears when you overtake him. You start to laugh when he switches strategies and tries to crash into you, doing anything possible as long as you don’t win first place.   “Hey! Excuse me!” The teenager is shouting at the rails. “You’re not supposed to crash into each other! This isn’t bumper cars!”   “Sorry!” Taehyung yells back, but he’s not in fact sorry when he tries it again.   In the moment, you’re reminded of something that you let slip through your mind.   He’s not the President. He’s the President’s son. But even then, he’s just a guy — Kim Taehyung, who enjoys simple things, who doesn’t want anything to do with the limelight, who’d rather stay out of the spotlight and in the audience, sitting next to you.   “Hey, dumbo!”   “What?!” You scream, the roar of the motors and noise of the music too deafening. “I can’t hear you!”   “Thank you!”    “What?”   While you can’t hear him, he screams it again. With all the sincerity he can muster. “Thank you!”    Taehyung slams the gas pedal, going as fast as he can to let the wind blow into his clouding eyes, hoping it can dry them up before he starts to cry.   Truth be told, Taehyung remembers everything. He remembers every word he said, every little action they did, down to the odor of the abandoned warehouse. More importantly, he remembers you appearing in front of him, staring at him, standing in front of him, extending an arm to help him stand again when he was going out of his mind, scared beyond belief.   And he can still remember how his arm wrapped around your shoulders, how you leaned into his tender touch, how his own pulse mysteriously skipped a beat. It’s all still fresh in his mind.   But he wishes it lasted longer.

[tobin-heaths]

Not the best day 

plot: Getting a red card wasn’t your plan for the game but could anybody blame you? Or with other words, you’re having a bad day

pairing: Alex Morgan x Reader

words: 2214

"Rise and shine!" Cold water was thrown into your peaceful face and it had you jumping awake with a surprised scream. The bedcovers were a mess around the lower half of your body as you threw them off and jumped out of the plush bed.

Loud and uncontrollable laughter could be heard all around you as Sonny's phone was shoved into your face, obviously recording whatever was going on.

"Oh my god! What on earth are you guys doing? Do you know what time it is?" You screamed at the pranksters. Among them were Ash, Sonny, Mal and Rose.

Ash was almost laying on the floor, holding her stomach from laughing but you couldn't laugh about it at all.

They decided to do this two hours before your alarm clock would ring and therefore robbed you off precious beauty sleep.

"Out! Everyone of you! Fuck off, guys! That one time Dawn let's me sleep a little longer you decide to ruin it? Nah, out of my sight!" You shooed them all out of the room.

Arriving at breakfast, after a long hot shower, your gaze fell onto the group that had terrorized you earlier. You immediately walked into the opposite direction with a mean glare.

But what pissed you off the most was that the night before you weren't able to share the room with your girlfriend. Instead you both were put into different hotel rooms and you ended up sharing your room with no other than Emily Sonnett, surprise surprise.

"People need their good night rests, nobody wants to be woken at one in the morning because the two of you are having a go at it." Jill had tried to explain the situation to you.

You looked around the room trying to spot a certain brunette but neither Alex nor her roommate Kelley were there which worsened your mood.

Once the team made it to the arena it was a lost case, somehow the shenanigans continued and you were close to snapping for a second time.

Normally, you loved pulling pranks on others especially with Sonny or Lindsey but today neither of them seemed to understand your need for personal space. You had a bad day and their actions weren't helping.

"Okay, where the fuck are my cleats? I swear to god, when I find the one who hid them from me!" Invisible steam was coming out of your ears as you stormed into the locker room.

Several pairs of eyes landed on your angry form standing in the doorway. Your fists were clenched.

"Cleats? Has anyone seen a pair of cleats? Hello, 911, we're missing a pair of cleats." Emily high-fived Lindsey, both of them laughing. Of course it was them.

On any other occasion you would have high-fived them as well not able to contain your laughter but you took it way too personal this time.

"Sonnett, I will not hesitate to slap you right here." Her eyes widened as you took a step forward ready to go off as a few 'woahs' could be heard throughout the room.

"Y/N, calm down. Alright guys, that's enough now. Where are her cleats?" Megan appeared behind you and took ahold of your arms.

You were thankful for the support you got from her, she was like your second mom and best friend, both of you having played at Seattle Reign for years.

"Sonnett, from now on until game starts I want you two feet away from my girlfriend, got it?" Alex appeared behind you and everybody shut up watching with interest.

You looked over to the blonde and saw her nodding her head in a fast motion as if she really felt threatened by Alex' words.

Her arms pulled you into her sturdy body and held you tight. You sighed and relaxed your muscles, finally feeling complete. Eager lips met yours in a welcome kiss.

The rest of the players continued getting dressed and ready for warmup, not really minding the display of affection, if that was what could help you calming down it was much appreciated.

"I missed you, baby." She said stroking your hair with one hand.

"I missed you so much more. Where were you this morning? I've been through hell, I just needed you." You buried your face into her neck and breathed in her scent.

"I know, babe, we'll talk later, okay? Let's get ready to kick some ass. We're here to win a World Cup after all." She winked and pushed you towards your locker and now returned cleats.

Sonny did keep her distance until it was time to get onto the field and you were grateful for that, thank god, no more pranks.

Today's group stage match was against Chile and you were still motivated after the big win against Thailand five days prior where you scored three of thirteen goals yourself.

You thought maybe your mood could finally switch to a good and relaxed one but the game made you think otherwise.

You were fouled so many times you couldn't keep track of it. Your white jersey, shorts and socks were stained with dirt and grass from all the sliding and falling. But that didn't stop you from fouling either, receiving a yellow card for a bad tackle yourself.

In the 11th and 35th minute you rewarded yourself with two goals and even Julie managed to score in the 26th minute. Your team was going strong and had no interest in stepping of the gas pedal.

It went on like that until the 88th minute, the score still 3:0 for your team, when you were once again fouled before you could attempt to shoot at the goal.

A Chilean defender tried to take the ball from you by slide tackling you. Her feet had grazed your ankle instead of the ball and you landed on your ass just outside of the penalty area.

The ref pointed a yellow card at the defender. How was that fair, that's a red at least! She had been fouling you all evening now. Ignoring the slight sting in your ankle you stood up and went face to face with the defender.

"What the fuck? Huh? What are you doing going for my ankle like that?" You yelled at her.

"I'm only doing my job, can't handle that? Then esconderse destras de la espalda de tu novia!" She yelled back at you. The Spanish part really triggered you.

You ignored the warnings from the ref or the shouts from the players surrounding you guys. Everyone was either arguing or trying to pull another away.

So what did you do? With your face as red as a tomato, clearly more than exhausted, you grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. You followed her and pressed your forehead to hers.

The whistle was blown and arms belonging to Ali Krieger wrapped around your waist and lifted you away from the Chilean players. Out of the corner of your eye you could see an angry Alex arguing with the ref.

"Y/L/N, that's a red for you. Leave the field immediately!" The ref came running over to you with your second yellow card before holding up the red one.

You scoffed, broke free of Ali's grip and stormed off the field, ignoring your teammates and girlfriend. Jill was already furious on the sideline, everybody seemed to be yelling at you.

You ignored Jill and went straight for the locker room, not granting anybody sitting on that bench another look.

It was only two more minutes and a few for added time and then the game would be over, you scored two goals, Jill can calm her ass down. Sure, you'd be missing the next game against Sweden but that wasn't on your mind now.

The door to the locker room met the wall with a loud bang before you closed it with much more force than necessary.

Taking off your shorts you replaced it with your blue training shorts and pulled off the blue socks. Your ankle wasn't hurting that much, it wasn't swollen nor bruised so that's a good sign.

Nothing an ice pack or Dawn couldn't fix.

You finished changing and sat down in shame. That's a wrap with trying to give your jersey to fans today. Tears were close to falling but you wiped them away, anger and frustration once again taking over.

The door opened and you saw all the girls strolling in, happy smiles on their sweaty faces. How could they not smile? They just won a game and did an excellent job.

Taking out your headphones you counted the seconds until Jill would be all up your face.

"Y/N! You and me will have a detailed talk about that stunt later in the evening, be sure of that!" You winced upon hearing her angry tone, not able to meet her eyes.

Arriving at the hotel you waited in the lobby for said woman while the others, including your girlfriend, went for their rooms to take showers.

"We better get it over and done with now and then you're dismissed for the evening, alright?" Jill asked. Dawn was also there taking some notes on her tablet.

"Sure, let's do this." You mumbled and followed them into a small conference room. Tony was the last to join the session.

Well, three's a crowd and four's a party, no?

"Have a seat. What was going on today? You've been tense since the morning all throughout warm up and then pushing another player like that?" Jill looked at you with concern.

"It's been a hard day, can't lie about that. But I gave 100 percent on the field, you can't take that from me. Whatever happened with that player was a mistake. I know it was uncalled for and I'm ready to face the consequences." You said honestly.

"Lucky for you there won't be any legal consequences. But you will be missing the game against Sweden, which is a loss but we can handle it." Tony finished the sentence and you remained silent.

"Nonetheless you did an excellent job out on the field and the team and fans know that, nobody is mad. Stuff happens." Jill smiled.

"How's your ankle?" Dawn asked.

"Might need an ice pack but it's nothing serious."

"I'll have someone check it to make sure. Can't have you risking an injury before the important games."

True to that some medics appeared in the room and as their speech went on your ankle was checked. Nothing was wrong or damaged, everyone letting out relieved breaths.

"Take a shower, eat and cool that ankle. You're up for bed rest now. I want you back to full energy tomorrow. Oh, and Jill made sure that Alex and you are back in one room." Dawn said.

Both women dismissed you afterwards and you walked to the elevators. This went better than expected and you finally get to see Alex and spend the rest of the evening with her.

You swiped your hotel card and opened the door. You recognized Kelley, Ali, Alex and Megan sitting on the beds with their phones out.

"There she is. How's your ankle?" Megan smiled upon seeing you.

"My ankle is fine. Dawn told me to cool and rest it, they'll have another look tomorrow morning."

Dropping your bag at the door you went over to Alex and fell down into her lap. Her arms slung around your waist and pulled you into her.

"No, I will not take an ice bath today. I just want to shower and rest with my girlfriend." Before Megan could open her mouth you interrupted her.

"Alright, just for today I'll make sure Carli won't be dragging you out of here, can't promise anything but I'll try. We'll have a talk about that red card another day but for now– let's go guys." Nodding towards Kelley and Ali they stood up, saying their goodbyes and quietly leaving the room.

"I'm sorry." You sighed and turned around so you could face her.

"For what?" Alex looked concerned and held your hands.

"For being such an asshole. Letting the team down like that and missing the next game. I just felt so helpless and frustrated."

One of Alex' fingers wiped a tear from your cheek and gently kissed your lips.

"I'm not mad at that, you know that. I'm not mad at all, nobody is in fact. I did speak to Ash and Sonnett, they're sorry for not noticing your mood. And that red card? We've all been there at least once, it happens, baby." Her arms pulled you down so that you laid on top of her.

"I'm covered in dried sweat and mud. Let me at least shower and then we can cuddle, please?" You tried to get away but her arms are made of iron. How is Alex so strong, damn.

"Five more minutes. I just want to hold you right now. Haven't been able to all day. Then you can shower and I'll get the ice pack for you. Dinner is up in 30 minutes, so we better hurry."

You looked down at her angelic face and caressed her cheeks with your thumbs.

"I love you so much, Alex." Leaning down you connected your lips for a much longer kiss.

"I love you just as much, Y/N." Alex could never get tired of hearing you say that.

[melwritesbadly]

With Wings in All Black

After a tragic turn of events,  Kazama Kaori , AKA Hex,  has her  investigation swept out from under her by the #2 Pro Hero.  Reluctantly  she joins Hawks in the pursuit of justice. On top of trying  to solve the  biggest case of her career, Kaori is still a young woman  struggling to  find her place in the world. Life is turned upside down  as her  professional and personal lives start to blend.

Rating: T (subject to change)

Content Warnings: mild language, implied violence/death

________________________________________________________

                                                 Missing Person

Name: Sakata Naomi

Date(s) of birth used: April 17, XXXX          Place of Birth: Otsu, Shiga Prefecture

Hair: Brown (may have been dyed red)       Eyes: Brown

Height: 167.3 cm                                         Weight: 60.6 kg

Sex: Female                                                 Race: Japanese

Quirk: Painless

__________

Three for Communion 

After the welcome departure of June, the rest of the meeting was spent going over everything she had acquired investigating on her own with Duke, and Hawks. 

All those missing were convicted of some crime at one time or another. All were relatively young, Takei Kenji being the oldest. All under-educated with dead-end jobs linking them to large crime syndicates. Strangely, after their disappearances the area noticed a steep decrease in reported criminal activity.

“At first I thought it was Vigilantes,” spoke Hex physically piecing together the  evidence on the large table in the conference room “But then Kenji reappeared. According to his mother he was acting differently.”

“People change.” offered Duke “Maybe he cleaned up his act?”

“Maybe so.” Hex paused shifting through her notes “But then this name came up.” she pulled the paper she had written ‘The Bard’ on.

“Who’s he?” asked Hawks, plucking the tab of the can he was holding. This was the first he was hearing about this mysterious figure.

“No idea” Hex shrugged. “I was hoping to catch some audio of Kenji talking about him at the bar last night but well.. you know…”

“Poor bastard” commented Duke shaking his head.

“You’re the one who found him right? I haven't read the report yet. How... did he die?” her voice dropped off.

Hex didn’t have much experience with the dead. She had been to one funeral in her life but her Deda had passed naturally, slipping away in the night. He had looked peaceful in a strange sort of way.

Hex doubted Kenji was at similar peace.

“Not the prettiest picture. Looked like he had been dumped where I found him. Very much like a statement but I’m no detective.” Duke leaned back in his chair clasping his hands on the table  “Anyway, he was nearly in pieces, strangely enough, whoever did him in left the hands.” He held his own up in a macabre example.

“Damage from the quirk is similar to the injuries a U.A.teacher sustained from a member of the L.O.V. when they attacked their training center last year.” added Hawks.

Nasty, Hex reminded herself to mentally brace for the pictures once she did get the postmortem report. 

“So much for his quirk.” Hawks took the last gulp from his can then zoomed it towards the bin at the other end of the room with a feather. His tone equally normal and used to such violence.

Hex frowned, she never wanted this to be normal for her. But, those were thoughts for later. Now... new thoughts and possibilities ran through her mind.

“If the League is somehow involved...” brushing a hand through her hair tilting her head in thought.

Her seemingly random encounter with the number 2 Hero made a little more sense now. It would certainly help people feel at ease knowing that someone like Hawks was on the case but Hex doubted that word of Kenji’s death, or the other disappearances, would ever be publicly released. 

If she didn’t know any better, and she did, Hawk’s involvement had to be something else. She sighed.

 “And here I thought it was altruism that brought you to the case. If The League is involved of course the HPSC would have their best on cleanup duty instead of someone like me.”

“So jaded Hex.” Hawks chimed “A woman after my own heart. I know it’s not pretty but let’s make the most of it yeah?”

“Yeah yeah.” she shuffled through her notes once more looking for her quick looks at each missing person. 

“So why kill Takei?” asked Duke

“You said it yourself, it looked like they were making a statement. Maybe if we can cross reference those missing with known league activity?” she paused, eyes darting back and forth between the papers trying to find the connection.

“Turf war?” she muttered to herself tapping her finger to her lower lip.

“I’ll have Mr. Condor look over these. If there’s a connection he’ll find it. The police are pulling the phone records for that burner. Should have those by tomorrow.” Hex assumed Mr. Condor was another one of Hawks’s sidekicks.

“Then we can start knocking on doors and knocking heads!” added Duke punching his palm. Hex nodded, feeling useful and confident for the first time since she started looking into this matter.

---------

She parted with the Hero’s some time later and posed to meet Mayu for a promised dinner with her advance pay June, her new manager, provided her.

The two sat at their table picking at their food and sipping their drinks.

Kaori listened to Mayu go on about a woman who kept coming to her bar and asking her out. She simply nodded and continued to listen to her friend go on about her much simpler life compared to her own.

“It’s going to be so weird without you around.”

“I’m barely at the apartment anyway. Just a few days here and there. Just like a regular 9-5 In a weird sort of way I guess.” Kaori chuckled. “I’m a commuter now.”

“Only you’re a commuter who kicks bad guy butt!” Mayu punched the air, “Seriously though. I know I’ll miss you, but like... Are you ok with this?”

Kaori sighed

“Not ideal, but it’s a means to an end.” She paused “Better get used to the idea of Hero reporters skulking around the apartment though.”

Mayu rolled her eyes and drummed her hands on the table.

“It’s not going to be that bad, besides,” she flicked her hair “I’m always ready for the paparazzi!” 

Kaori laughed.

“Yeah you thrive off the attention. You’re like the neediest houseplant.”

“All the more reason for you to hurry up in Fukuoka and come home and drown me with your affection and company!”  Kaori playfully kicked her friends legs under the table.

“If you're going to be that lonely, invite a friend over.” shooting the bluenette a coy look.

“PB! How spicy of you to suggest” May shimmied her shoulders  but then dropped them “To be honest, I’m in a bit of a slump.” pouting, rolling a bit of napkin into a tight ball fiddling with it between her fingers.

“Well what about that girl you were talking about earlier? The one from the bar, you said she’s cute and you seem interested?”

“I don’t know.” she sighed “She’s said she’s just visiting- so nothing long term.” 

“When has that stopped you before, Yu?” Kaori smirked, gnawing on the little straw in her drink. Mayu grinned in return.

“It hasn’t, but…I just-with my quirk she just seems so… it’s all muddy with sharp angles.”

“You really shouldn’t be using your quirk on strangers without their consent.” shooting her friend a stern look.

Mayu scoffed and held her wrists out.

“Arrest me then Hero.” Kaori swatted them away.

“Just do go prying where you shouldn’t be. I don’t want you to get in trouble.” 

“Ah, I’ll be fine. If it gets that bad you’ll come save me right? Hero?” Mayu flicked the napkin ball at her best friend. 

“Always, you brat.” Kaori tutted and tried to hide her smile.

“That’s me!” Mayu chirped “Think of the headlines PB!” another giggle.

“Local Hero saves hopelessly horny romantic who doesn't know how to leave well enough alone. More on page 3” Kaori sips her drink.

“Ha! Sounds about right. Oh!” she excitedly bounces in her seat “Then, then- the local tabloid will get hold of it and cast us as lovers. Our passionate affair revealed for all to see.”

“You have too much time to think of stuff like that Yu.” Mayu shrugged  cupping her cheeks in her hands.

“Well someone has to. I could be like your media guru. We should make you a twitter!”

“Ah pass.”

“Get with the times Hexy baby, all the pro’s have a twitter. Endevor has a twitter- your mom has a twitter!”

“Wait, seriously?” Kaori bobs her head back “How do you know my mom has a twitter?”

“We’re mutuals” she makes a little heart with her hands “Who else can I talk about my PB with?” Kaori sighs feeling her good mood sour.

“You mean spy on me.”  Mayu puffed up her cheeks and threw another napkin ball at her.

“Not spy, just talk. She misses you. Maybe you should…” Mayu trailed off knowing how gloomy Kaori got thinking about her parents. She watched Kaori press down her feathers at her neck then pinch her nose, eyes fixated on the condensation on her glass.

“I should call them huh?” Kaori seemed far away,  Mayu knew to tread carefully. 

When she had first met Kaori she had felt so buried. She’s certain her family hates her. But how can they? How can anyone hate her when she always tries her hardest. Even if she’s hard on herself too.

Even with her quirk, Mayu doesn't know much about the situation. All she knows is that Kaori feels selfish and guilty about whatever happened.

“Well, I mean, yeah that’s a good idea!” Mayu encouraged “That way you can warm them to not reveal your adorable baby photos to the press!” 

“I bet my mom would totally do that.” Kaori snorts leaning her elbows on the table and messes through her hair. 

“You can tell them the good news too!” Noting her friends pessimistic, but open, demeanor.

“Well I wouldn’t call it good news Yu.”  Mayu waved her off.

“It is good news PB. You get to work with the number 2 Hero!”

“Hooray.” Kaori dryly cheered, not anywhere close to as excited as Mayu was on the subject.

“That’s the spirit PB.” Mayu laughed, used to Kaori’s glib humor but noted the strange far off look in her eyes. “Hmm? What’s up?”

Kaori blinked, regaining her focus.

“Just, thinking I guess. You’re right Yu.” Mayu beamed.

“I’m always right PB, ‘bout what?”

“My parents, I should call them. I’m sure dad already knows but…” she trailed off continuing to mess with her hair as Mayu looked at her expectantly “It’s nothing, it’s fine I’ll try to call them in the morning.” Kaori fumbled with her words not really sure how to articulate her feelings on the matter.

Mayu reached over and clasped her hands around Kaori’s.

“Personal growth, proud of you PB. Ooo, I’m so excited for you! You’re going to be the next big thing! I know it!” she let go of Kaori’s hands and clapped her fingers together, giddy,

“Pshh, yeah sure. ‘Introducing your new number 1 Hero, Hex!’” Kaori mocked in a dramatic announcer voice “No thank you.”

“Well maybe not number 1 or 2…or 3-” Kaori cut her off.

“Your confidence in me is humbling.” That caused Mayu to laugh.

“ All I want is your first piece of merchandise, OK? Remember I wear a ladies medium.”

“Oh jeesh, I don’t even want to think about stuff like that.” Kaori sighed “I bet the manager is already cooking up insane publicity stunts to make my life miserable.”

“It can’t be that bad?”  Kaori made a scrunched up face.

“Well, I didn’t make the best impression and came out swinging. She is determined to brand me.”

“Brand?” Mayu tilted her head. “like cattle? Weird...”

“Err, uh,  It’s Hero jargon. She wants to market me because I fit the aesthetic of the agency.”

“Ah, because bird.” Kaori nodded at Mayu’s simple but accurate reasoning “Oh that reminds me! I was looking up bird facts this morning.” Kaori rolled her eyes.

“Oh this’ll be good.” waving for her friend to continue.

“Did you know, “ Mayu started putting her most matter of fact face on “that crows and the red-tailed hawk are natural enemies.”

“Oh, I know.” Kaori responded in a knowing lilting tone. Recalling how her inner instincts itched at her brain last night to flee or call for backup at being alone and ambushed on the rooftop with a predator Hawks. But he was more man than bird and was decidedly not a threat to her. Annoying, yes. Intimidating, no. 

“But!” Mayu started up again an even more exciting bird fact bubbling forth “But, ok. So red tailed hawks eat crows, poor babies. But a red shouldered hawk will work with crows to take down larger birds like owls and other birds of prey!” Mayu grinned and fluttered her eyes giving Kaori a coy look causing the dark haired woman to shake her head.

“Fine, I’ll bite. Which one is Hawks?” knowing that is where her friend was going with this entire line of thought.

“No clue, you’ll have to ask him for science.” she shrugged with a grin and a wink.

“Biology.” Kaori pointed trying to hide the small smirk hiding at the corner of her lips.

“Biology is still science! But I guess it doesn't matter friend, foe.  Either way sounds fun, though I personally would prefer being devoured.” Mayu rolled her eyes blissfully and Kaori felt a small flush on her neck kicking her friend's shin causing Mayu to laugh.

“And which would you prefer, Miss. Chickadee?” referring to the text she had spied that morning.

Kaori groaned and pressed her fingers to her eyes.

“Death.” Mayu cackled.

---------------------------------------

A woman wearing an American Hero Association pin on her collar sits going over her notes of her time in Japan. This cyclitic system changes nothing. The flaws and cracks crumbling its foundation. Yet it persists…

She was sent here to learn, to find the best way to expand their influences over Hero society. 

Every mask she had come into contact with was so trusting. It was too easy to get them to talk, so easy she didn't even need to use her quirk to loosen their lips. 

It was boring. 

Boring, but still- Hakon needed her.

The front office buzzer signaled a visitor at the door. The hour was late but that didn’t matter. Her door was always open to any lost souls.

“Mr. Darma, please show our guest in.” 

Ben Darma did not have an AHA pin on his collar, instead he sported one with an indigo triangle on it. His hair was much shorter than it was 7 months ago. He filled out his clothes much healthier and he felt-

He felt...

He felt!

He felt

Content.

He had been so lost, so wayward. Now he had everything he needed. Ben wanted to give other people what they deserved, what they needed....

Ben Darma has never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bard. 

Soon. Ms. Alice promises. He was so close to ascending to the next level. Just a bit more dedication then his true potential could manifest.

“May I help you?” Ben had opened the door revealing a tired young woman.  She was anxiously tapping her foot as she finished off her cigarette. She was skinny, tired, but notably used.

By society, by others, by her own vices. She was perfect for Bard’s teachings.

“Err uh,” Naomi paused mid drag. Honestly she wasn’t expecting anyone to answer. She had felt foolish giving in a bit to her own despair tonight. Sick of bruising her knuckles in alleys, sick of dodging the police, her family.

The sweet lull of a new life,  a better life was too hopeful a promise to beat down into her subconscious tonight. 

“Are you lost, miss?” the tall, well dressed man asked her.

“No, uh- I’m looking for Kenji? Is he here? He said he would be.”

The man before her was a foreigner though he spoke naturally. Sharp features that Naomi found attractive though his eyes were...unsettling. The hair at the back of her head stood up as she met his dull drooping gaze. Kenji had similar eyes though his were not so dark.

“Did Mr. Takei happen to give you his card?” He asked, unblinking. Naomi took another nervous drag from her cigarette and fished the now slightly rumpled business card out of her back pocket. The man took it from her and  quickly pressed out the folds in the card. 

“Very good, would you like to come in miss?” the man finally moved out of the doorway and held a hand out gesturing her inside the dark office space.

Stomping out the butt of her cigarette Naomi stepped inside.

Kenji had called his organization a type of charity but this place didn’t look like any soup kitchen or halfway house she had ever seen. Her escort brought her through what looked like an office  towards a woman who was standing next to a desk. She was tall, lean with straw blond hair and the bluest eyes Naomi had ever seen. 

“Welcome, are you lost?” the willow of a woman asked Naomi and she squinted pressing her lips into an unsure line. The question set her hair on edge again.

“No, not lost. I told your friend here, I’m looking for Kenji. He said he’d be here?” Naomi nervously tugged out her pack of smokes smacking the pack against her palm. The man stood behind her hands folded neatly and the blond woman eyed the pack of oral vices with an annoyed crease in her brow.

“Stop that.” the blond ordered and Naomi did. 

How rude of her fidgeting like she was. She was a guest in this place, she would need to be taught better manners. She found herself thinking with a strange buzz at the back of her head.

“I’m sorry Kenji isn’t here at the moment but you are welcome to wait for him.” the AHA woman motioned towards a door at the back of the office. “There is food in the back as well as some medical supplies if you’d like to fix your hands.” Naori subconsciously brushed along the cracked skin and smatterings of dried blood(some hers, some not). 

Naomi didn’t like the way her brain was fizzing. Her instincts were telling her something that she wasn’t quiet listening to.

“Ah, no thanks. Just wanted to talk to Kenji. It’s late anyway- I’ll come back tomorrow.” Naomi turned and was met with her tall angular faced escort.

“It’s no bother, please, stay.” Her mind buzzed again. Naomi thought they had  invited her in despite the late hour. Such hospitality should be respected and pursued to its fullest. How thoughtful. 

“I-I suppose I could wait for a few minutes…” she turned away from the man and shuffled towards the woman who placed a hand on her lower back.

“Very good. Now, what’s your name, lost little girl?” the blond asked sweetly. “My name is Alice.”

Don’t be rude Naomi, Alice was being so polite and friendly it’s only natural to do the same.

“Naomi.”

“Well Naomi, Mr. Darma here will take you to get something to eat while you wait for Kenji, how does that sound?” Naomi opened her mouth as if to protest but Alice saw her eyes glaze over as her quirk worked and simply nodded.

“Mr. Darma, speaking of Kenji, he hasn’t checked in has he?” asked Alice as she went through the motions of unlocking the deceptively complex lock. Ben nodded.

“Correct ma'am, he is still working on the outreach mission you sent him on.”

Alice hummed ushering in both Ben and Naomi and closed the door behind them snapping the locks into place.

Alice supposed she should be concerned. After all, a lot of resources and effort went into making Mr. Takei presentable and useful for their needs. If she really needed to know where Kenji was she could always contact Hakon. But if she did that… her little passion project would be exposed and the punishment severe.

Such delicate deceptions took time.

She had to be confident that Mr. Takei’s mission would be successful, he would be back soon. Alice organized her notes and quickly cleaned her desk, done thinking about Kenji Takei for the evening.

Besides, she had a new project waiting to be shaped and molded.

Smoking was such a bad habit,

Alice smirked once again going through the motions of unlocking the door slipping into her workshop to find her new medium.

But such an easy one to break.

_______

End Notes: oooo, very spooky. Anyway, I still have some stuff going on. If you follow me on tiktok I kinda explain a tiny bit what’s going on. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter I am unsure when part 4 will be up. I’ll try and post something to kind of fill the gaps until then though. Thanks for sticking with me.

Other notes: Deda is a nickname for grandfather in Russian.

Masterlist

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 35)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count: 2630

Warnings: angst, fluff,serious Tony Stark,  happy moment for the reader!!!, emotional Loki Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things had gone back to normal, or as normal as it could get for The Avengers, everyone was back to doing their own thing and always getting together for dinner as much as possible. Planning had gone underway for the wedding. Both had agreed they wanted something simple and quiet they didn’t want the public to ruin their happy day. 

True to her word, Shannon had brought down things to ask you for an opinion from flowers, to cloth colors, to dress designs. Everyone was basking in the happiness that the soon to be husband and wife were in. That was until word got out to the press that the billionaire playboy genius was finally settling down with the one woman they have seen on his arm for the past two years. 

The morning the team saw the news they tried  to hide it from Tony and Shannon but had failed when they saw he was reading the news on his holographic tablet. 

“Morning everyone!” Tony said sounding cheery as he had been lately. “There still some coffee left?” came from him without looking up from the tablet he had in his hand, going over some paperwork. 

“Morning, Tony. What’re the plans for today?” Steve asked trying to keep Tony busy. “Shannon have anything she wants you to do or get for the wedding?” 

“Not yet. We’re still looking at some possible ideas.”

He took a sip from his mug. “Although I did hear something about going to some chocolate tasting, I might not like it but I’m sure she’d appreciate you or Clint going with her to see which would be best.” He looked up at the tall blonde. 

“Sure thing, I’ll ask her when she’s doing that.” 

“Everything alright, Cap? You seem a little tense.” Tony could see the way Steve was holding himself like as if something was wrong. 

“Oh it’s nothing,” he said nonchalantly. “Just a bit sore from my last training session.” 

Just then Shannon had walked in wearing an oversized hoodie and her hair pulled up. “Good morning, everyone.” She gave everyone a kiss on the cheek. “Mm something smells good in here. You cooking again, Steve?” 

“Morning, doll, just trying out some old recipes.” He smiled at her. “Tony, says you want to go chocolate tasting?” 

She hummed while eating the food. “Yeah I was hoping you’d come with? Seeing as Tony doesn't like chocolate that much.” She looked up at the super soldier. 

“I’d love to, doll, just as long as we keep Clint away from eating too much,” he joked. He hadn't noticed that Tony was reading the news.

The coffee mug slipped from Tony’s fingers and landed with a thud on the table thankfully it was a metal mug and not a ceramic one. “Umm… Babe, you wanna come take a look at this?” He sounded weird. 

“Sure thing, Tony.” Confused as to what it might be she walked quickly to his side. She was speechless when the cover story was of them two and how they’re getting married.  “How did they find out?” She was confused as to how someone could have found out only those closest knew. 

“I have no clue… Could one of the workers here have said something?” Hoping that was the case. “Oh crap, your parents are going to find out and it’ll ruin the surprise,” he realized. 

“Tony?! We need to get this off the news now before it’s too late! I already have everything set to tell them tomorrow evening,” she groaned knowing it might be too late already. She covered her head with the hood and leaned her head on the countertop. 

“Don’t say that, doll, they probably haven’t seen the news yet. I bet Tony could get it removed in less than 3 hours.” He walked to her and was patting her back. 

“Sir, you have an incoming call from multiple magazine companies wanting a scoop for their issue.”  

Hearing that he groaned and saw Shannon shrink herself some more. 

“Send all the calls to the conference room. I’ll pick up all of them at once.” He cleaned up his mess and was heading out. “Don't worry, babe, I got this. Jarvis, contact the company who got the word about the engagement. I need to speak with them,” he said is a tone he only uses when he means business. 

Clint silently suggested he and Steve get Shannon back to her room and contact the chocolate place to have then send their samples to the tower so they could try the samples in peace and away from the public eye. They all knew it's the last thing she would want. 

“Come on, Shannon, let’s go back to your room and set up a movie or something.” Clint stood at her other side. “Let’s get your mind off this stuff.”

“I’ll make a quick call and meet you guys there,” Steve said after getting Shannon onto Clint’s back so he could carry her. “You guys pick the movie, I’ll get the snacks.”

She nodded her head and turned to look at Steve make a call while she was taken to her room. 

“Hello this is Steve Rogers calling on behalf of Shannon. We ran into a bit of a situation and wondered if the samples of your chocolates could be sent to us? If not I’d be happy to go pick them up myself,” he asked the lady who picked up his call. It killed him to see his best friend feel like things are going wrong when they shouldn’t be.

On the other side of the line he was told that it would be no problem at all getting the chocolate packaged and sent to the tower in half an hour. Steve thanking the woman who was kind to have that happen and walked to Shannon’s room to see if everything was ready for them to make her feel better.

“Alright the chocolate samples should be here in half an hour” seeing that Clint was laying at the edge of the bed he moved to sit next to Shannon. “What movie we watching?” he ask hoping that watching some movies will help.

“Well we were thinking of starting off with something Disney so I found Trolls seems like it could be a silly movie” Clint said while about to start the movie. “How much chocolate are they sending?”

“Your not going to get to eat much of it” Steve warned him “You and chocolate is not a good mix we don’t need to go off chasing you around form you being hyper.

“Oh come on Steve don’t be a party pooper.” He stuck his tongue out at the blonde

Meanwhile on a different floor of the tower Tony was in one of the many conference rooms addressing the matter at hand with all the news channels. He wanted this to be over as quick as possible and make sure that the news doesn’t get to Shannon’s parents at whatever cost it takes he know how excited she was to tell them but seeing her the way she was when she heard that it was out in the public.

“Alright thank you for waiting for me as it would seem someone has given you personal information of my life and foremost would like to know who exactly it was that told you so that they can face the consequences appropriately” he said. 

“We were told by an anonymous figure,” came the response from a few of the channels. “We were told of this news from one of the towers workers,” said channel 12 who had kept quiet until now.

“And does said worker have a name?” he wanted to know now. “Now as for the reason for calling you all, I need you to get rid of that footage ASAP. My fiance is currently worried that her parents will find out from your channels rather than what she has planned for them. Yes we are getting married but that is all you will get from me so please don’t bother trying to get anymore information because you wont get any.” They all saw how serious he was about getting the footage removed. “This is the biggest news we’ve had in a few years, Mr. Stark. You can’t just expect us to drop the story just like that,” one channel said.

“You do realize who you’re talking to right?” he challenged who had spoken. “I could easily make few calls and make sure you don’t have a job for tonight’s viewing. Now I’m not saying I will I’m just saying I could.” He smirked seeing the person pale. “The same will go for all the channels any sponsor you might have I have connections with so if you don’t remove the footage of announcement of my wedding there will be trouble.” 

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” a few of the channels said seeing a bit of fear for their current jobs. “We’ll have that footage removed and deleted.”

“Thank you now if you excuse me I have a fiance to go make sure is okay, have a good rest of your day and I will be looking into if it’s been deleted or not.” With that he ended the video call with all the channels.

Walking out of the conference room Tony felt a whole lot better knowing that they would definitely be getting rid of the footage of the story that had be created and had high hopes that it would be gone before Shannon’s parents had a chance to even look at the news. Knowing her parents the would probably wait to be in bed to watch the news at night which gives the new channels a good time slot to do as he had ordered.

He headed up to the lab wanting to give her some time with her friends and later on tell her about it’s all taken care of and that she can go on planning the surprise reveal. He hoped that with her being distracted by her friends she will feel a lot less stressed out.

>> Rogers let Shannon know I’ll be in the lab for a bit there’s something I need to finish then I’ll head down to where you three are.

<< you got it, Tony. Is the issue fixed?

>> yes, it took a bit of threatening but yes

<<good it’ll help make things better for Shannon

Tony had finished off what he had been working on early and headed where Shannon and the guys were watching movies and laughed when he saw Clint lying on the floor covered in chocolate wrappers and Steve looked annoyed. Overall things had gone well the chocolate had been picked thanks to the guys and Tony could tell that Shannon was in a better mood

“Hey, babe, so I just got everything fixed you can go back to planning how you wanted to tell your parents the news” he went to sit next to her seeing her light up made him happy knowing he’s the one that made her feel like that.

“You mean it?” 

“The news won’t be showing that story ever again.”

“What a relief I didn’t want my parents finding out like that especially with what I had in mind”

“I know how much telling your parents means to you so of course I would do everything to make sure you could”

Three days later both had gotten invited to have dinner with her parents at their house. Which helped because they wanted to announce the news somewhere private. Once they understood what they had been given with the sweaters they were excited for the happy couple and could not wait to see how the planning was going for the wedding and who would be going and when the wedding would happen and where too.

_____________________

“Are you sure? Like… is this okay?” you asked as you stood in your cell, wringing your hands.

“Yeah, absolutely!” Shannon said with a wide, bright smile.

“So Tony, Fury, they all know about this?”

Shannon laughed at your fears. “Don’t worry. I’ve taken care of everything. SHIELD and the Avengers have all signed off on your parole.”

“Parole… Wow. Never thought that word would be assigned to me.”

Shannon shot you a sympathetic look. “It’s just for you though, right now. Loki’s will come shortly.”

You nodded. “That’s fine.”

“And that’s only because you’re getting out early to help me with the wedding.” 

“I know. This is amazing. I told you everything would work out.” 

She smiled at you. “Well tell your boyfriend you’ll be back.” She gestured to Loki who sat on the leather couch, pretending as if he wasn’t listening to the conversation.

You walked over, feeling guilty. You were gaining freedom before him, and it didn’t feel right. Part of you felt amazing to get to go out and do everything you wanted to with Shannon, but the other part of you felt enormously guilty for leaving him here.

“Well… I’m gonna go. Dress shopping with Shannon,” you stated, laughing a bit uneasily as you sat beside him. He continued to flip through his book, not meeting your eyes. 

“That sounds wonderful,” he evenly said. 

“Yeah. It is. I’m pretty excited.”

Loki sighed, closing his book and looked at you, his gaze softening. He put the back of his hand on your cheek. “You should be. You deserve this. Have a good day.”

Truth be told, he was slightly terrified that you would never return. That once you left through those glass doors, you wouldn’t come back. Shannon wouldn’t come back, you wouldn’t come back, Tony wouldn’t check in. A random orderly would come down once a week to bring food and a change of clothing, and that would be the rest of his life. 

Maybe you would convince everyone that Loki needed to stay down there and rot. Maybe you would say it was all his fault and he deserved to never leave. 

Yes, you stayed by his side while you were on Sanctuary, but was that only because you had no way of escaping? Did you only find safety with him because he was a friendly face? When you came back to Earth, did you not flee due to fear of Thanos? So far, he had no real proof you would ever return to him. Every time you were near him, it was in a situation you couldn’t control.

Maybe now you saw him for what he really was, and would leave and never look back. These were the fears that danced through his mind and heart as he looked at you. 

“I will be back…” you suddenly promised, concern coloring your features. “I promise.” 

Loki temporarily wondered if you could read minds. He smiled at you, and you knew that was his stage smile. You knew there wasn’t sincerity in it when he said, “I know.” He leaned forward, cupped the base of your head in his slender fingers and gave you an earnest kiss. 

With that, you stood. You knew words would never help Loki. You could only prove your loyalty by returning back to him tonight. Returning back to the cell that kept you prisoner for over two years… To walk into a place that you loathed, that you never wanted to see again, just to demonstrate how much, how impossibly much you loved this man. 

“Ready to go?” Shannon asked from behind you.

You turned to her and said, “Yeah.” One final glance behind you where Loki nodded and smiled at you, this time it was a little warmer. You gave him a small wave, and you left that cell, a free woman for the first time in over three years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876​ @magpiegirl80​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​ @iamwarrenspeace​ @marvel-imagines-yes-please​ @superwholocked527 @missinstantgratification​ @thejemersoninferno​ @rda1989​ @munlis​ @thefridgeismybestie​ @bubblyanarocks3​ @igiveupicantthinkofausername​ @kaliforniacoastalteens​ @feelmyroarrrr​ @kaelingoat​ @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo​ @damalseer​ @heyitscam99​ @yknott81​ @sorryimacrapwriter​ @glitterquadricorn​ @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm​ @alyssaj23​ @sea040561​ @princess76179​ @thisismysecrethappyplace​ @sarahp879​ @malfoysqueen14​ @ellallheart​ @breezy1415​ @marvelmayo​ @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles @marvelloushamilton @paintballkid711​

Loki: @lostinspace33​ @ultrarebelheart​ @lenawiinchester @esoltis280 @tngrayson @wangdeasang @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice

UC: @lokis-high-priestess​

@pandacookieowo​

[myhockeyworld87]

Nervous Regrets - Tyler Seguin - Part 13

Word Count: 3089

POV: Reader

Warnings: Smut, NSFW, Oral, sex, cursing

Notes: Finally the smut you’ve been waiting for, or at least I have...haha! Hope you enjoy! As always love your feedback. Peace, Love and Hugs!

It was exactly day twelve that you finally woke up pain free, no headache, no soreness, absolutely nothing; you felt like a million dollars. The only problem was, there was no one to celebrate with except the dogs. Tyler was away on a road trip; which wouldn’t see him home for another five days. He had not been happy about leaving you alone for eight days, and had tried to con you into going to stay with your parents; or have them come up to stay with you. In the end he relented, since your friends would be here on and off the whole time; which they were. However, since it was seven o’clock in the morning and most of them were getting ready for work; you were left on your own.

 So, instead you got up and went about your day, feeding the dogs and making yourself breakfast. It was the same routine you’d done the last three days without Tyler. Usually, you’d head over to the couch and binge watch television; but it was slowly driving you insane. It wasn’t like you could even start to pack up the house for the move which would take place in a few days; since Tyler had already hired a company to do that.  Maybe you needed some retail therapy, but you still weren’t cleared to drive. Hopefully that would change tomorrow, after you saw your doctor for a checkup. Wandering into the office you sat down at the hardwood desk, realizing it didn’t match your new home at all; it hadn’t been what you originally wanted to shop for, but it was a start.

Over the next couple hours, you combed website after website purchasing some new furniture and fixtures for the home you’d be moving into shortly; one thing in particular caught your attention though, cribs. There were so many to choose from. There were small round ones, ones that converted to a toddler bed later, white ones, hardwood ones, the list went on and on. You really needed to start buying stuff for your little one. It was a shame that you weren’t feeling well, when Tyler’s family was here; for you knew they were all dying to go baby shopping. They would all be back in Dallas shortly, so you’d just have to make up for it then.

 You really hadn’t made any decisions about which room would be the baby’s in the new house; so furniture buying was out of the picture for today. Besides, you kind of thought Tyler might want to help with that. So, instead you started shopping for small items you knew you were going to need; all gender neutral of course. In no time, you had the online cart filled with pacifiers, swaddling blankets and cute little onesies; that’s when you heard your phone ring.

 “Hey Ty, How’s your morning?”

 “Morning? Babe it’s one o’clock in the afternoon. Are you feeling worse or something? Or have you been sleeping all morning?” You could hear the concern in his voice.

 Time must have really gotten away from you, had you really spent the last four hours or more on the computer? “Actually, I feel fantastic. It’s the first time I literally haven’t had any pain at all, anywhere; not even a headache.”

 “Oh, so you must have been watching our favorite show without me then, that you lost track of time.”

 The two of you had decided to re-watch all of the Game of Thrones episodes before the final season came out; you swore to him before he left that you wouldn’t watch any without him. “No, I’m not watching G of T. I was doing some online shopping.”

 You could hear him groan through the phone, yet still he chuckled when he spoke; “I’m surprised the credit card company hasn’t called to tell me I’m over my limit.”

 “Oh stop, I didn’t even use your card. I have my own money you know.”

 “I’m just teasing you. You know I don’t care if you use the credit card; that’s why I got one in your name too.” It was in your purse, and you never used it. He had originally given it to you when you moved in the first time; and had offered it back, now that you were together again. Even back then, you’d only used it sparingly; it just didn’t feel right.

 “I know you don’t care; but you also know how I feel about it.”

 He sighed heavily; it was an issue the two of you always had. “(Y/N) I wish you would just use it, but I’m willing not to argue about it; for now.” Well at least your headache wasn’t going to come back. “So, tell me what are you buying that has you losing all track of time.”

 “Well it started with a desk for the new house, which lead to a new chair, and then I saw the most gorgeous bedding set for our bed, so I had to buy that. Then right before you called, I was just about to get some stuff for the baby.”

 “Woah, that’s a lot of stuff. What did you buy for the baby? Nothing important, I hope.” There was disappointment in his voice, and you immediately felt guilty.

 “No, it was just some small things, bottles and stuff like that. I looked at cribs and stuff, but wanted to wait for you. Maybe when you come home, we can go shopping together and look at things.”

 His voice perked up, as he said; “Yeah, I’d really like that. Though I should confess I bought the baby something as well.”

 “Really, what?”

 This was unexpected, and had definitely piqued your curiosity. “Nothing major, just this cute little stuffed animal I saw.”

 “Awww I can’t wait to see it. I really miss you.”

 It was Tyler’s turn to sound surprised, “really?”

 “Of course, I’m so bored here.” While that was true, you also missed the way his skin smelled when he came out of the shower; grown accustom to him holding you at night and the soft sweet little kisses he gave during the day. Those thoughts of him now, made you long for his touch. Though his voice pulled you out of your daydreams.

 “Oh, so you only miss me because you’re bored huh? It’s what every boyfriend wants to hear.”

 You let a flirtatious tone take over your voice. “Well, I might miss you for other reasons.”

 “Mmmm, such as.”

 “Well…I miss the way your lips feel on mine when you kiss me.” His breathing hitched up, and so you continued; “And the way your body feels when it’s pressed up against me at night. Your leg wrapped over mine.”

 “Yeah….anything else you miss.” You knew he was getting turned on; the fact that it was doing the same to you only made you keep going.

 “I miss the way your hands roam over my body, and how they caress my breasts.” Leaning back in the chair you abandoned the computer; giving your full attention to thoughts of Tyler. “I miss running my hands down your chest, until I can feel the hard length of your cock in my hand.” A moan escaped his lips, and you knew he was touching himself. “I miss sliding my hand up and down your shaft.”

 “Fuck, (Y/N) I miss you so damn much.”

 “I want you so bad Ty. I need to feel you inside me.”

 He must have had you on speaker, because you heard a knock in the distance. “Go away…sorry babe, I didn’t mean you. I meant whoever is at the door. Keep going.” The knock came back again. “Fuck” There was mumbling in the background. “I’ll be there in a minute. Babe, I gotta go, team meeting or some bullshit. I’m so sorry.”

 Chuckling, you said back, “No need to be sorry, we can pick this up when you’re home and I can show you instead of telling you.”

 “Stop, you’re not helping,” to which you only laughed more. “I’ll call you after the game. I love you.”

 “Love you too.” Hanging up the phone you realized these next 5 days were going to be longer than you originally thought.

 However, it ended up not being so bad. On Friday, you were cleared by the doctor to resume normal activities; though it was a bit awkward asking if sex could be included in those daily actions. Weeks ago, when the doctor first brought it up, you hadn’t foreseen you and Tyler progressing that far in your relationship. Now you couldn’t think about anything but that. So when the doctor said he saw no problem with you resuming sexual activity; you couldn’t wait until Tyler got home.

 Saturday, your friends came over and you all had a girl’s night; minus the alcohol for you of course. It was great to just laugh, talk and hang out with them. Sunday you took the dogs for a nice long walk, which had you feeling completely amazing; so, you took them over to your apartment and packed the rest of your things. Admittedly, you might have overdone it; as you were a bit sluggish on Monday. While you had good intentions of heading back to work; you decided to take the extra week they had given you off, and simply work from home. It actually gave you a chance to get caught up on things without any interruptions.

 You were just finishing up a conference call with your boss, when Tyler came home the next day; Gerry and Marshall running out to greet him. Ever your faithful sidekick these days, Cash stayed with you in the office. “(Y/N), babe, where you at?”

 “I’m in the office, just finishing up an email.” He was leaning against the doorframe when you finally looked up from the computer; dressed in a dark charcoal gray suit, with a black shirt unbuttoned at the neck. His hair perfectly slicked back taming the riot of curls on his head; he looked like he just stepped out of a GQ magazine. A small smile played across his lips. “There’s my girl. God, I missed you.”

 Before you knew what was happening, you were out of the chair and in his arms; legs wrapping around him as he lifted you up. “I missed you more.” Your lips crushed down on his, in a searing kiss that stole your breath away. You gave yourself over to him, letting his tongue wander inside your mouth before yours joined in. Sliding your hands up, you let them roam through his perfectly combed hair. It was as if you couldn’t get enough of him. For the last two weeks, you’d either laid beside his half naked body or talked to him on the phone; as you fantasized about this moment. It had been entirely too long since the two of you had been like this, and now that he was here in the flesh with you; you saw no reason to deny yourselves any longer. You broke your mouth free from his, breathing harshly; “take me to bed Ty. I need you.”

 It was all you had to say, the next minute you knew, his lips were back on yours; as he carried you back to the bedroom. He shut the door behind you, locking both the dogs and the world outside. Gently he laid you down on the mattress, his body coming on top of yours. Reaching up you slid the expensive suit coat, off his shoulders. His mouth rained kisses down your neck, as his calloused hands reached the hem of your shirt to glide it up your body, and remove it. He looked down at you then, soft brown eyes burrowing into yours. “Are you ok to do this?”

 Your hands fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, as you answered; “yes, the doctor said its fine.” You could see his eyes searching, he was hesitant to go further; thinking he would hurt you or the baby. “Ty, I’m fine. I’ll tell you if something doesn’t feel right.” He seemed to accept that answer, for he replaced your hands and threw his shirt off with ease. Snaking your hands around his neck, you brought his mouth to yours kissing him feverishly. His hand wandered down to your breast, where his thumb brushed against your nipple; a soft moan escaped your lips. His mouth replaced his fingers as he sucked the tight peak through the thin fabric of your bra; wetness pooled in your pussy with every lap of his tongue. “Mmmm…Ty…that feels so good.” Shifting, he went and gave your other breast the same attention. The moment his mouth touched you, your hips bucked up against him.

 He rolled your bodies so you were on top of him, his hands skimming along your side; as you reached down and undid his belt. “God, baby you are so beautiful.” You leaned down and captured his lips again, while he unfastened your bra; the garment drooping off your shoulders. Slowly he pushed you up, so he could worship your breasts; flicking his tongue over your nipple. You grinded your hips against his thigh seeking some sort of friction to the tension that was building within you. Running your hands down from his chest, you moved toward the flap of his pants, wanting to feel his hard length in your palm. He sucked in a harsh breath when you cupped his balls through his boxers, feeling his cock harden even more.

 He flipped you on your back, before you could do anything more. Kissing his way down your body, his hands slowly pushed at your leggings to remove them; you lifted your hips to assist him. His mouth paused when he was at your tummy; a small baby bump had formed in the few days he’d been gone. He reverently placed a kiss there, then looked up into your eyes. “When did this happen?”

 Suddenly you were self-conscious. “A few days ago.” You tried to pull him back up to you; but he couldn’t be budged.

 He kissed your belly again, then began to caress it. “Damn (Y/N) this is so sexy. I have never wanted you more than I do right now.” You released a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. He continued to worship you with his mouth, kissing your pussy through your panties; as he slid them slowly off your body. You moaned, the sound echoing through the bedroom. His finger slid between your folds, “Fuck, you’re so wet babe.”

 His thumb found your clit, you practically jumped off the bed from the sensation. “Ty!” The next thing you knew, his mouth was on your hot little nub; flicking it with his tongue. You arched your back, seeking more. Hands threading his hair, you tugged him closer to your core. He slid a single finger inside you, making a come here motion with it. Your head thrashed against the bed, it was too much and he’d barely touched you. You could feel the orgasm building inside you; legs starting to shake as it built. Your body felt on fire, and with one hard suck on your clit from Tyler; the orgasm hit with full force. “Tyler” you screamed out as waves of pleasure washed over you. He held your hips down with his free hand, as his finger pumped in and out of you; milking the orgasm from your body.

 He raised his head, “You ok baby?”

 You smiled, “Mmmm, yes.” He kissed the inside of your thigh, nipping lightly at the skin there; as he made his way back up your body. He discarded his pants and boxers in the process, so that both of you were naked. You raked your nails along his back, and he hissed out his pleasure. He kissed you, and you could taste your essence on his lips. Cock in his hand, he ran it along your length; coating it with your wetness. Placing it at your entrance, he stilled; not moving, as he ravished your mouth with his. With one swift thrust, he was fully engulfed in you.

 Your body shivered, and he looked down with questioning eyes. Lifting your hips, you urged him to move, yet it wasn’t the verbal confirmation he wanted. “Please Ty, I need….”

 “What do you need baby?” A small smirk crossed his lips.

 “You….Ty…I need you.” Only then did he start to move inside you. Slowly, thrusting in and out of your pussy; as the two of you built a rhythm. Your hips moving up to meet each of his thrusts. He bent down capturing a hard nipple in his mouth, and you groaned in pleasure. You wrapped a leg around his waist, changing the angle and letting him push deeper inside you.

 “Fuck (Y/N) I can’t last much longer.” You reached between your bodies and found your clit, stroking it in a way that had you on edge in minutes. He started to tense, his thrusts becoming faster and shorter. You applied a little more pressure to your clit, sending your body over the edge as the orgasm hit. Your pussy contracting around his cock. With one last hard thrust he pushed deep inside you and came. Both of you screaming out the other’s name. He collapsed on top of you, and immediately you tighten your arms around him, not wanting to move. Ty tried to roll over, but you wouldn’t let him. “I’m gonna crush you.”

 “I like to feel you on top of me.” He kissed your forehead, then your lips; sliding his hands underneath you, so he could roll you with ease now. “Not fair, you protested.” So he rolled you both on your sides.

 “Better?” you nodded. “Are you ok? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

 You giggled, “No Ty, you didn’t hurt me. I feel amazing.”

 “Mmmm me too.” He reached down and brought the covers around both of you. “Sleep.”

 “It’s the middle of the afternoon?”

 “Mmmm I know. And I’ve just thoroughly made love to you, I think we both need a nap. Then we’ll go for round two.”

 Snuggling into his chest, you said, “Round two huh? I think I like that idea.” His hand lightly skated up and down your back; and in no time you found your eyes getting heavy as you relaxed into his embrace. It was as if all the pieces of your life were finally back together.

[need-a-fugue]

We Grow Together (5)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Summary: Relationships can be tough, especially when one person is a recovering-from-being-brainwashed-and-tortured former assassin and the other is an overworked mutant scientist. But hey, every couple has their struggles. Right?

Warning(s): some angst, some emotional and mental turmoil… some bad language words… much fluff

Chapter Summary: The team heads home after their short - and mostly successful - mission, only to be confronted with a new threat heading their way.

The extraction ends up taking almost eight minutes instead of the intended five. But all three hostages are safely evacuated, and aside from some bumps and bruises – and a broken nose and near heart attack – the team is no worse for the wear. “Let’s call that a success,” Steve says as he peels off his helmet and heads for the cockpit.

Tessa’s bent over in the back, digging through the medical supplies as Bucky comes up behind her. He hands his packed-up rifles off to Sam, who takes them without objection and goes to put them away in the lockers at the front of the jet. Bucky doesn’t say a word as he kneels down next to her, laying his palm on her shoulder.

“There’s morphine, but no fucking ice packs,” she mutters. “Who put this kit together?”

He reaches around behind the box that she’s digging through and opens a small freezer, pulls out a soft, blue ice pack. “Here,” he says, leaning back on his heels as he hands it to her.

She turns to him, brow furrowed both in confusion and frustration. It takes her a second to even recognize what he’s offering. She reaches out with a shaky hand and cautiously takes the pack from him. He leans across her and starts piling the medical supplies back into the box, keeping out some gauze and tape. When he turns back to her she’s leaning with her back against the wall, eyes are closed with the ice pack covering most of her face.

“Need any help?” he offers shyly.

She drops the pack and blinks at him. “It’s broken,” she says, staring at him with puffy, red-rimmed eyes.

He gives her a pained smile. “Yeah, looks like.” He holds up the gauze and tape for her to see and she shrugs her shoulders and leans forward.

“Don’t use too much tape,” she tells him as he gently lays a folded square of gauze below her still-seeping nostrils. “I’m just going to have to redo it when we get back.”

He presses the tape into either side of her nose and cringes when she flinches in pain. “I hope you know you’re not redressing this when we get back.” He folds over another square of gauze and gently pats at the thick split in the skin at the bridge of her nose. “You’re gonna need a few stitches,” he tells her.

“And you think I can’t do my own stitches?”

“Baby,” he breathes out, “after tonight I’m not sure that there’s anything you can’t do.”

She lets out a long, deep sigh. “I’ll have Caroline take care of it,” she says, referring to the PA on the med team. She sets the pack back in place and lets her eyes fall shut again.

He moves around so that he’s by her side, leaning against the wall with her. His gloved metal hand lays on her knee and gives a little squeeze. “I’m proud of you,” he whispers to her. Then, smiling to himself, “I really didn’t know what to expect. And when you were out there with that…” He stops and shakes his head. “It scared me to death. But you more than held your own.”

“Held my own,” she repeats, her voice both nasal and a little sharp. She doesn’t move her head off the wall, doesn’t remove the ice pack, doesn’t open her eyes. “I killed a man.”

Bucky’s fingers tense on her knee and he turns to look at her. “You defended yourself,” he says simply, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Another sigh, this one cracking at the end. “I didn’t need to kill him.”

Steve’s voice sounds from the cockpit, “You guys good?” And Tessa drags herself up from her spot against the wall and over into a seat near the middle of the plane. Sam crosses over to her and reaches around to help buckle her in.

“Thanks,” she mutters through the ice pack.

He gives her a sad sort of smile. “You did good tonight,” he intones. “I know it can be hard, but –”

She throws up a silencing hand. “It’s not the first time I killed someone, Sam.” Her words are clipped and harsh, and he can tell immediately that they’re marking the end to a conversation, certainly not the beginning to one. So he gives her a soft pat on the shoulder and quietly moves up front with Steve.

Moments later she can feel Bucky’s presence next to her as they prepare to take off. But he says nothing. She can sense his nervous energy. “I’m fine,” she mutters.

“That was convincing.”

She reaches her hand out next to her, blindly patting around the seat, then his thigh, in search of his hand. He lets out a small smile as he takes hold of her fingertips, and she twists her hand around in his grip to give him a firm squeeze. “I just need to… decompress,” she tells him.

He brings her hand up to his lips and lays a soft kiss on her fingertips. They smell like copper and when he looks down he sees that they’re stained a deep red and brown from pinching her nose for the last half-hour trying to stanch the flow of blood. It sends a chill down his spine. “You’re shaking,” he utters absently, noticing how her fingers tremble in his grasp.

“Yeah,” she replies, leaning her head onto his shoulder. “I’m buzzing.”

His brow furrows. “Buzzing?”

“In the beginning… when we first jumped the wall… I dropped a guy.” She slowly removes the ice pack and blinks heavily a few times before gingerly touching the dressing on the bridge of her nose.

“Stop it,” he says, batting her hand away as she tugs at the tape. She frowns like a small chided child. “What does buzzing mean?” he asks her again.

“I took on his energy. Basically. And that doesn’t really go anywhere. So when I do that… I feel like I’m buzzing. I just need some time to come down.”

He nods. “Okay.”

She turns to face him, looks him directly in the eye. “I really didn’t need to kill him,” she says suddenly. “The other guy… I could’ve dropped him like the first. I just… didn’t.” She closes her eyes again, leans back, and pulls her hand from his grasp. “I just didn’t,” she repeats solemnly, wringing her fingers together in her lap.

He’s silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Then, “Redirecting bullets, though…” He lets out a small chuckle. “That is pretty…”

“Jealous?” she asks with a lilt.

He nods, not that she can see him, the ice pack laying over her eyes. “Very.” He reaches into her lap and lays his hand over both of hers, forcing her to stop worrying her fingers. It takes a moment, but he can feel her body begin to relax next to him. “That extra energy,” he starts, heady whisper in her ear. “We could maybe put it to good use…”

She barks out a laugh, the ice pack dropping from her face as she sits upright. “Right now?” she asks turning to him. He raises a single brow at her and quirks his head in the direction of the bathroom at the rear of the plane. “You wanna join the mile high club with this?” She indicates her bloody face, bruised and swollen eyes, nose packed down with gauze.

He shrugs his shoulders. “I’ll focus on the rest of you,” he says, eyes falling down to grace her body. “For the record, that suit is definitely too tight. And I like it.”

She laughs once more, deep and hearty, before curling into him. He smiles as she lays her head on his chest. “Maybe I’ll let you peel it off of me when we get home.”

“If you’re gonna make me wait that long, I won’t care if you let me or not,” he says, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.

The flight home is fast and uneventful. Every once and a while, they hear some laughter coming from up front as Steve and Sam shoot the shit. They seem to be in a relatively good mood, and that beaming sort of energy helps calms her. As does Bucky’s sense of relief and accomplishment… and peace. By the time they arrive back at the tower, the buzzing has all but left her system.

“It’s late,” Steve says as they file out of the hangar and into the long hall. “Let’s debrief tomorrow.”

“Read my mind,” Sam says with a yawn. “Can I crash at your place?”

Steve looks to Bucky, who’s got himself draped over Tessa, his arms wrapped tightly around her from behind. She giggles as he tightens his grip and tells his friend, “Do what you want, I’m not coming home tonight.”

Steve rolls his eyes and chuckles as Sam lets out an “ooooo.”

“First thing.” He points sternly at the couple, his words strict despite the light smile on his face. “Be in the conference room at 0700.”

“Stop talking military,” Tessa complains as she manages to pull out of Bucky’s grasp. She turns around and walks backwards so she can face the men as she says, “I’m going to the med floor to get some rhinoplasty.” The moment she swings back around, she nearly collides with a giant who turns the corner a bit too fast. “Ooomph,” she breathes out as her hands brace herself on his broad chest.

“Hello friends!”

The men all stop short as they take in the scene before them. “Thor?” Steve asks, surprised.

“Lady Doctor,” the blonde god exclaims, his huge hands coming to rest over hers as they sit on his pecks. “What has happened to you?!”

As he speaks, Clint and Natasha saunter in as well. “Had some fun, I see?” Clint intones.

Natasha comes around the other side of Thor and gently peels Tessa off of the man. “Did you seriously go on a mission without me?” she asks, taking the brunette’s chin in her hand and turning her face to inspect the damage.

Tessa shakes her off and looks back up at Thor, whose handsome face is still showing enough concern to send a shot of electricity through her. A god indeed, she thinks to herself as she connects with his deep blue eyes. “Steve threw me against a wall,” she tells him with an exaggerated frown.

Thor’s stare levels Steve. “You harmed this lady?” he asks, disbelieving.

“I… That’s not…” he stutters out as Sam snickers next to him. “She slipped.”

Nat cocks an eyebrow at him. “That’s right up there with, she walked into a door.”

He gives her a terribly unamused look. “What are all of you doing here?”

“The captain did not harm you?” Thor asks in a low tone meant only for Tessa.

“Of course I didn’t harm her,” Steve says with more than a little irritation. Then, again, “What are you doing here?”

Nat turns to face him, hands on her hips. “We’re here to suit up.” Then, turning back to Tessa, she asks, “Wanna have some more fun?”