#the few that stuck around are super busy and i'm okay with that

[w2soneshots]

harry smau or one shot or anyyythiinggg

i don’t know if you’ve written anything similar to this so i’m sorry if you have )’:

you and harry are going through a rough patch while he’s become super busy with filming across europe & you’ve been stuck at home

Miles apart -W2S

words: 0.9k+

warnings: angst, unplanned pregnancy, mentions of loneliness.

summary: while Harry’s away for a sidemen video -once again- you find something out that will change your lives forever, but with how busy he’s been you worry about how much he will be there for you.

notes: hi! Angst is genuinely one of my favourite things to write… there’s just something about it🙈. Also added some spice (a whole ass baby) to add to the angstyness, tehehe. Anyways, enjoy lovely and thank you for requesting!!💝🫶🏼

Liked by wroetoshaw, tobjizzle and others

y/username: home💐🛁✨

-comments-

calfreezy: sandwich looks delish, bog is a lucky man

-> y/username: haha it was unbelievably good

taliamar: obsessed with you💓

-> y/username: I'm flattered T🤭

y/nfanpage21: cutie!!🫶

user: where's Harry?🤨

-> user: he's away for a sidemen Sunday

A few days ago your boyfriend, Harry, left on a trip for a new video that the boys are filming. Lately he's been gone what seems like a lot, for days at a time or on a shoot from early morning to late at night, meaning by the time he gets home you're already fast asleep.

"Hi, how was filming?" You asked Harry on facetime, while he sat in his hotel room. "Pretty shit to be honest. Boring," he replied before yawning. You signed then spoke again after a moment, "you look tired. I'll let you sleep." "Alright, love you," he smiled softly into the camera. "Love you, sweet dreams."

You put the phone down and got comfortable in your bed, since you felt unusually tired you fell straight asleep, completely unaware that the next day your whole world would change forever and Harry wasn't going to be there.

"I'm fucked," you whispered as you stared at the positive pregnancy test in your hands, the obvious pink lines glaring at you. You weren't sure how to react, meaning you just stood there contemplating your life choices.

You and Harry had only been together for two and a half years, which felt like absolutely no time at all. You'd spoken briefly about kids but it definitely wasn't something you were planning in the near future, but now it was happening and honestly, you were concerned he wasn't going to react well.

"What am I going to do?" You asked yourself quietly as you sat down abruptly on the toilet seat. Then the tears started to flow and they didn't stop until your phone rang, breaking the rush of thoughts whirling around your mind.

Quickly, you got up, wiped your tears on your -Harry's- jumper sleeve and reached for your phone. Harry... fuck, act natural.

"Hi," your voice was slightly horse as you answered, thankfully it wasn't a video call. "Hello darling, you okay?" He asked cheerfully. "Mhm, you?" He paused for a moment before speaking again, "sure you're alright? You sound a little... weird."

You took a deep breath and tried to control yourself. "I'm fine, just woke up from a nap," you lied. "Okay... call me if you need anything. I'll be home tomorrow, around eight o'clock," He told you, leading you to feel a mix of relief and worry at telling him about your predicament.

The next day you woke to the same feeling you did the morning prior, nausea. The sickness you felt was what made you go and buy a test in the first place, along with the fact your period was late.

You spent the day going over how on earth you were going to tell Harry that your going to have a whole ass baby, that you'll be fully responsible for and will have to keep healthy and happy for eighteen years... jeez.

You'd felt like shit all day so by the time your boyfriend finally arrived home you were exhausted. You were sat on the couch when he came in. As usual, he immediately dropped his bags and all of his focus turned to you.

"Hey-" "Harry," you stood and interrupted him, you needed to just get it out, "I'm... pregnant." He turned pale and his mouth dropped open. "You're- I- what?" He stumbled on his words, his hand moving up to rub the back of his neck.

You both sat down on the couch and remained in complete silence for a good ten minutes, while Harry processed the news. Anxiously, you twiddled your thumbs while you awaited his response.

"When did you find out?" He eventually asked, breaking the silence and slightly startling you. You cleared your throat. "Yesterday. Yesterday morning," you answered, the both of you still looking ahead at the empty, black tv screen.

"So you've had time to think?" "I guess so... I mean, all I've really been thinking about is how you were gonna react and that you've been so busy- I don't want to be alone," you said quietly before finally looking at him, the tears in your waterline threatening to spill.

In an instant he moved closer to you and wrapped his arms around your body. Relief filled your senses as you felt slightly reassured by his actions. "I've always wanted a family with you... maybe not so soon but we'll figure it out. I know you're gonna be an amazing mum y/n and hopefully I'll be half decent, but I'll always be there," he whispered into your hair.

You smiled as you let out a sob. "Soppy twat," you chocked out. He chuckled, the air in the room now considerably lighter. "So, in nine months we'll have a kid then yeah?" You cleared your throat and sat up. "Technically seven months, since I'm already eight weeks." "Even better."

Two months later...

Liked by sidemen, mollymae and others

y/username: We've been keeping a secret...

-comments-

wroetoshaw: b- b- b- buzzin

-> y/username: Harry's new favourite word ladies and gents⬆️

faithlousiak: ahhhhhh!!! Adorable😊

y/nfanpage21: WHAT?! I was not expecting to see this today... sooo happy for you though😭💝

-> y/username: haha thank you hun

user: this is insane omfg yall

[genderqueerdykes]

My therapist is a woman married to a trans woman, and the two of them have been together for... I wanna say over 10 years now? She and her wife got married before she came out, she's stuck with her the whole time, and they're both in their 30s - 40s as far as I can tell. Her wife isn't doing too well health-wise lately, but I really hope she can pull through 🤞🏻

A classmate of mine had a mom who divorced his dad, marrying a woman afterwards, and he always said he had two moms and a dad. She was an English teacher at my high school, and even in Texas, she found a way to put a photo of her and her wife on her classroom desk. In that same high school, we have a gay man who's a Sargeant, teaching math classes while having a boyfriend. I once saw his boyfriend drop lunch off for him, and the two of them looked really happy together! Although there was controversy surrounding a trans woman who taught there (it's a long story), I was glad she taught speech and was the debate coach for a little bit, even if I was never personally in her classes. Wherever she is now, I hope she's okay.

There's a tall gay man running a coffee shop in my town now (MI, not TX) and he's gotta be at least in his 40s. They have a community pantry, library of banned books, and regular events held there. He's been nothing but kind to me, and I'm glad to live in a place where businesses like his can truly take off! We also have queer-owned salons, restaurants, art stores, all sorts of places in our town. Even if they aren't queer-owned, many businesses also have a progress flag in their window, I've seen the intersex inclusive one more than once!

I've also seen bi, lesbian, rainbow, nonbinary, and trans flags in various windows around here, so I know there's other queer folks I haven't seen yet. The pride event I went to in 2023 had 30,000 people attending, and it was such a fun time - I got to see all sorts of people. Also, I just wanna mention that our local pride center has been running since 1987, and the current person in charge of it is both Black and nonbinary, they're super cool!

So yeah, queer adults are everywhere! And yes, that includes people who have been around a few decades. There is a future for you, whether you're up north in a larger, louder community, or down south where things are quieter but still very much alive 💜

thank you so much for sharing this, i'm really glad you have these people in your life!

[archangeldyke-all]

I know Sevika has her way with cards in a gambling sense but how about being a tarot card reader. It’s a shady business ofc but she’s just genuinely super good at reading people and bulshitting her way into people’s heads. She’d definitely pull the lovers card to get reader to go out with them. Oh and she’s HELLA charming, instead of scamming reader to buy some shit she’s “scamming” reader into going on a date with her.

this is SO cutelas;djf;laskdjf

men and minors dni

the markets of zaun are a wild place. whether you need a mercenary, exotic fruit, poisonous animals, or supernatural powers: you can find it all in the filthy, crowded, markets.

sevika learned at a young age that the key to surviving zaun was all about marketability. nobody in the under-city gives a fuck if someone;s fat or skinny, but they'd take interest in hearing that someone'd make a good bouncer or could fit in the tight spaces in the mine shafts.

nobody's going to pay an artist to paint-- but they might pay them to tattoo their skull or draw a caricature of them.

sevika's always known she's good at reading people: she just never knew how she could sell that to someone.

and then she discovered tarot cards.

within a month of her getting her first deck, she'd made enough money scamming people to buy her own storefront in the markets.

and now, she's running an incredibly lucrative business.

despite the fact that her store is decorated with various silky fabrics and crystal columns, despite the astrology posters on the walls and the candles and insence always burning: sevika uses no psychic powers in her readings.

it's mostly bullshit. occasionally, the 'official meanings' of the cards will line up with what she says, but she mostly just says what she knows her customers want to hear. (and sometimes what they need to hear.)

it's easy. the customer comes in, sevika takes one hard, good look at them, and nine times out of ten, she's able to figure out what they're hoping to hear.

then, once she gets them talking and gets the details out-- she's able to bullshit some pretty accurate guesses about their lives, just to convince them they're in the presence of a 'true psychic.'

some people need encouragement-- to quit their jobs or to ask someone out. some people need a 'sign'-- that their deceased love one is protecting them, that things will be okay. some people just want an answer, stuck on a pointless question and unable to move on until they get closure. sevika's happy to supply. especially for how much they're paying her.

you work at the exotic pet store a few shops down from sevika's.

you're the only one who can see through her bullshit.

she's in love with you.

each day, around one in the afternoon, she takes a smoke break at the little table in front of her shop, waiting for you to walk by on your way to lunch.

each time, you smile at her, roll your eyes, and ask, "scammed anymore innocent believers today sev?"

"made three hundred bucks since we opened." she boasts. "want me to take you to dinner with the earnings?" she asks. you laugh and flip her off, continuing your walk.

sometimes she'll come visit you when her days are slow. if you're not busy, she'll 'give you a reading' at the counter of the shop, whispering so neither of you alert your manager that you're not working.

she has to shuffle and organize them before she comes in, because each and every time she's 'giving you a reading' she pulls the lovers, and grins at you. "looks like you've got a blossoming love interest." she says. you snort and roll your eyes.

"oh, do i? pull another, tell me what they're like."

sevika grins, pulling three more cards. "oh. i'm seeing here that she's... tall... strong... hmm... definitely rich..." she says. you snort, and sevika peeks one eye open at you. "half ponytail... her name starts with an 's' sound... ssssarah?" she tries. "no... that's not right..." she blinks at you for help, and you burst into laughter.

"get out of here, my manager's gonna be back from lunch soon." you say. sevika blows a kiss at you on her way out.

you can't deny that she's charming. you understand why so many gullible customers trust her with their lives. you watch her walk back toward her shop through the window, biting your lip as you watch her ass sway.

she finally asks you out after a few months of you guys flirting.

all day, you have people coming into your shop, finding you, and handing you flowers. each time you ask them why, they shrug, simply saying that their psychic told them to give flowers to the 'closest beautiful woman' they could find.

most of them assume that you're going to fall in love with them the second they hand you the bundle of flowers-- not knowing that their psychic is using them and their desperation for love to secondhand hit on you. you just thank them, smiling sweetly before letting them down gently, encouraging them to try the next girl they see.

you're exhausted by the end of the night, and about ready to strangle sevika.

but as you leave you bump into her. at the sight of her, all your frustrations from the annoying little prank she pulled melt away.

she's in a fancy suit, her hair neatly combed behind her ears, her eyes nervous-- darting around and never quite meeting your eye. she holds no tarot cards, only a single red rose that she thrusts into your chest the second she sees you.

you stare sweetly down at the rose, sighing softly before speaking. "you're so fucking annoying." you say, warmly. sevika chuckles nervously.

"do you want to go on a date with me?" she asks. you smirk, looking up from the rose to admire her.

"well, i should probably ask my tarot reader-- i trust her with my life." you say. sevika grins, reaches behind her, then pulls the lovers card from somewhere behind her back. you burst into laughter.

"the cards say yes." she says. you roll your eyes, reaching out to smack her shoulder, melting a bit at the sweet smile she shoots you. "...so?" she asks.

"fine." you say, giggling. "i guess i can't go against the cards, huh?" you ask.

sevika just grins, swooping in to kiss you.

taglist!

@fyeahnix @sapphicsgirl @half-of-a-gay @ellabslut @thesevi0lentdelights @sexysapphicshopowner @shimtarofstupidity @love-sugarr @chuucanchuucan @222danielaa @badbye666 @femme-historian @lia-winther @gr0ssz0mbi3 @ellsss @sevikaspillowprincess @leomatsuzaki @emiliabby @sevikasbeloved @hellorai

[have-you-seen-my-sanity]

Moon Knight and Deadpool

Warnings/Triggers: Deadpool is a trigger himself, blood, violence, strong language, mention of cancer, mention of DID and abuse, Marc and Steven don't know about Jake yet.

Marc and Steven were on their usual patrol when Khonshu informed them of a nearby fight. Moon Knight jumped off a high building, using his cape to fly towards the location, already hearing the sounds of gun shooting and some shouting.

"Marc Spector and Steven Grant, I sense someone else being there." they heard Khonshu say.

"Who? Someone innocent?"

"No. Someone's fighting against them."

When Moon Knight arrived, he was met with some gang members involved in a fight with a man in a red suit and a mask, his back was already penetrated with some knives and the guy in the red suit was taking them out swiftly with his pistols and swords. Moon Knight couldn't act fast enough as the last member was stabbed in his chest and fell to the ground.

"Hey, who are you?" Moon Knight spoke up.

Deadpool turned, seeing the white hero standing not far from him.

"Oh! You wanted to take part in this? If you showed up earlier, I would have been nice enough to let you take out some."

"You didn't answer my question." Moon Knight answered, his voice more firm now.

"I'm Deadpool. And you must be a mummy man with those creepy ass white eyes."

Deadpool swiped his bloody sword off on a dead guy's shoulder to clean it and moved his hands to his back to try and get the knives out.

Moon Knight sighed at this clumsy guy, that's when Marc heard Steven speak.

*Hey Marc, shouldn't we help him out?*

Marc looked back at Deadpool, who was seriously struggling to get the last knife out that was stuck right in the middle of his spine.

"Need some help there?"

Deadpool turned. "Yes, can you pull it out?"

Deadpool made his way over, Moon Knight put one hand on his shoulder to steady him and pulled the knife out with his other hand, not minding the blood spurting out.

"Got a tight grip there, mummy." Deadpool said calmly, turning back around to face him.

"I'm Moon Knight."

"Moon Knight? Who the heck came up with that?"

Moon Knight didn't say anything.

Deadpool leaned in a bit closer "I see, you're a quiet one. Someone with a few words." he patted his shoulder.

"And you seem to not mind having knives in your back."

Deadpool pulled back again. "Well, I have regeneration ability. And I've had worse things let's say, 'inserted into my body'." he giggled.

"Was nice meeting you, Deadpool. But I have some business to attend to." Moon Knight said, turning around to get ready to leave.

"Wait!" Deadpool jogged over, leaning in. "Who do you work for?"

Moon Knight let out an annoyed sigh. "None of your business, kid."

Deadpool let out a gasp and put his hands on his chest, "Come on! Aren't we super hero buddies now?"

"No."

"Fuck, are you always this grumpy?"

Deadpool could see Moon Knight's glowing eyes narrow but he kept pushing his luck.

"Oh, and my real name is Wade. Just Wade, and yours?" He extended his hand for a handshake.

"Just Moon Knight." he grabbed Deadpool's hand and squeezed so hard that some bones were already cracking, making Deadpool wince.

"Okay okay, chill the fuck out, Moony!"

Moon Knight let go of Deadpool's hand. "Mind your own business."

Deadpool looked up at him, holding his numb hand. "Come on, give us a chance! We can be a good team."

"Stay out of my way, pool."

"Aw, see you already like me." Deadpool teased, moving to walk beside Moon Knight when they heard vehicles approaching them.

"Looks like those stupid fucks never give up." Deadpool cursed.

"I deal with them." Moon Knight said, pulling out his crescent darts, throwing them at the drivers. Deadpool moved in, slashing and stabbing the ones who came out of the cars.

The fight didn't last long, the two made quick work of the bad guys.

Moon Knight retrieved his darts, looking at Deadpool who had a knife stuck in his head. "You got a knife in your head."

"I know, but thanks for noticing." Deadpool said in a warm, friendly tone before pulling it out.

Deadpool saw Moon Knight about to walk away and catched up to walk beside him. "We make a good team, don't we?" he turned his head to look at Moon Knight.

"Stop looking at me like you just fell in love with me."

"And what if I did?"

"I'm straight."

"I meant as friends, stop thinking with your dick!"

"Could say the same about you, pool."

"You're no fun."

"Good." Moon Knight looked up to a building, seeing Khonshu standing there, "Now go home." he jumped ontop of a car, to a roof and headed for Khonshu.

"Who was that, Marc?" Khonshu asked, looking into the distance.

"I don't know, but I hope he stays out of our way. Got something else?"

"No, the filth tonight is dealt with." Khonshu said before he disappeared, leaving Marc and Steven to get some rest. Marc made his way back home, to get some sleep.

The next day went by pretty fast as usual and Marc was strolling around the city. He passed a store, looking inside for a second, that's when he saw the cashier getting held at gun point. Marc held his position, looking for a way to get inside unnoticed. In the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking towards the entrance of the store. Taking a closer look, Marc saw the red suit, it was Deadpool.

Deadpool didn't shy away, pulling his gun out and shot the guy with the gun in his kneecap.

"Didn't your mom tell you to be nice to people? Where are your manners!"

The guy dropped to the ground, holding his bleeding knee, crying out in pain and dropping the gun.

Meanwhile Marc cursed under his breath, quickly summoning his Moon Knight suit and rushing inside.

"Hey! Deadpool, don't kill that guy!"

Deadpool whipped around, "Moony!! I knew you'd come."

The guy on the ground reached out for the gun, when suddenly a foot came crushing down on his hand.

"Bad! Now don't make me break your other hand, alright? Sorry if you're right handed." It was Deadpool, who now picked up the pistol.

Moon Knight turned to the cashier, an older woman who was curled into a ball in the corner.

"Hey, Ma'am, everything is okay." Moon Knight said gently, moving to press the silent alarm and carefully helping the woman to stand up. "Deadpool, tie that guy up until the police arrives."

"I hope you're into bondage, bad guy." Deadpool said, pulling some zip ties from one of his pockets, pushing the guy on his stomach with his hands behind his back and tied them up. "There you go. Get comfy before the cops get here."

Deadpool grabbed a nearby permanent marker and wrote 'I suck ;)' on that guy's forehead before he went out to Moon Knight, who was still comforting the woman.

"Did you take care of him?" He asked, turning to look at the guy, seeing the writing on his head.

Deadpool looked proud of himself, even with his mask on, his hands on his hips.

Moon Knight turned back to Deadpool, his white glowing eyes were hodded as if he was unimpressed or annoyed. "Are you kidding me?"

Deadpool giggled, clapping his hands "Yes. It suits him though. Now he's ready for prison."

Slowly, the police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"The police is coming, they will take care of everything else now." Moon Knight assured the woman, who thanked him in return.

"That's my partner, Moon Knight." Deadpool chimed in, earning a scowl from Moon Knight as he went to walk away.

"Come on! You act like a boomer! Where's your sense of humor?" Deadpool asked, walking beside Moon Knight again.

"You could have gotten someone killed!" Moon Knight growled.

"I'm a professional, you just have to trust in my abilities, glowey eye."

Moon Knight grumbled in response but he didn't push Deadpool away. Deadpool walked contendly next to Moon Knight, he wanted to break the silence but choose not to and kept walking in silence.

"Hey Moon Knight?" Deadpool began speaking softly, not wanting to annoy him.

"Yeah?" Moon Knight's voice was neutral.

"Can I get to know your name? I mean it's only fair since I told you mine."

Moon Knight thought for a second, debating whether he should or not.

"Marc. My name's Marc." He said softly.

"Pleasure to meet you, Marc." Deadpool nodded.

"You too, Wade."

Deadpool gasped, a bit surprised that Marc had remembered his name. "You remembered! You didn't forget!"

"Easy, don't piss your rainbow panties, Wade." Marc mused.

"So what's your story? How did you became a hero? Or let's say, anti-hero?" Wade asked, feeling more comfortable now.

"That's a long story..." Marc trailed off.

"Oh I understand. Wanna hear mine?" Deadpool asked.

"Sure." Marc agreed, he gestured towards a nearby bench and sat down. Deadpool took a seat next to him.

"So," Deadpool began "I was a normal dude, had a wife...but I was diagnosed with cancer."

Marc listened intently.

"And one day, a doctor reached out to me, he said he could cure my cancer." Wade paused. "I accepted, and he started."

"No complications?" Marc asked through the silence.

"This son of a bitch was torturing me every wake moment, he injected something. That shit caused my skin to get damaged,"

Marc kept silent.

"My cells mutated and they started regenerating, keeping my cancer at bay. One day, I broke out, slaughtered my way to the doctor and got my revenge."

"I'm sorry, Wade." Marc said softly.

"I got used to it. Now I'm looking like a cheap Freddy Krueger."

"You got burned?" Marc asked.

"It was the liquid he pumped into me. Wanna see my face? But don't faint."

Marc scoffed but nodded.

Wade reached for his neck, pulling the bits of the material out and removed his mask, showing his severe skin irritation.

"That's me." He smiled.

"It's not that bad, Wade."

"Aw, really? That makes me happy." Wade's smile widened. "Wanna tell your story?"

Marc hesistatet for a moment before answering. "Well I have DID."

Wade nodded undestandingly "How many?"

"One I know about yet." Marc decided to remove the Moon Knight hood and mask to reveal his face.

Wade's eyes widened "Oh hi there, handsome." he grinned "By the way, what's your other identity called?"

"Steven. Steven Grant, but he's sleeping right now."

"One question, how did your DID lead to get you this cool suit?"

"It's complicated..." Marc sighed.

"I'm a very good listener." Wade smiled warmly, crossing one leg over the other and put both hands under his chin.

Marc took a deep breath. "I had a brother once, we were in a cave while it was raining, the water was rising, I tried to save him but..." Marc paused. "My brother died. My mother gave me the fault for everything, blamed me. And she hit me, she abused me..." Marc's voice lowered.

"Is that where you developed the condition?"

"Yeah," Marc nodded "It just happened, I created Steven to cope with the abuse."

"Shit, I'm so sorry man. Your dad?"

"My dad tried everything to make me happy, but even he couldn't achieve it..."

"What happened after that?" Wade asked in a soft tone.

"As soon as I was old enough I went to the military for a couple of years, then left, became mercenary."

Wade sniffled.

Marc continued. "My old boss assigned me to a group to invade a dig site in Cairo for some quick money. But he and the squad betrayed me, they killed everyone and wanted to kill me."

"Oh shit."

Marc nodded "Yeah. I crawled towards an old tomb or grave of the god Khonshu. I was ready to just end myself, but I heard Khonshu's voice, offering a deal."

"So that's how you got the suit?"

"Yeah." Marc looked away for a second before he heard a wet sniffling. He turned back to Wade, who was blinking.

"Don't mind me." He smiled, turning to look away and rub his eyes.

"You crying?"

"My eyes are sweating." Wade defended before he scooted closer to Marc.

"Uh, Wade?"

"It's okay Marc. Come here." Wade leaned in and hugged Marc.

"Wade, you don't have to-"

"It's okay, let it out, big guy." Wade himself wasn't sure if he was talking to Marc or himself.

"Calm down, Wade." Marc patted his back and Wade pulled back.

"Sorry, I get carried away sometimes." Wade chuckled.

"It's okay."

"Is there a chance I get to meet Steven?" Wade asked sweetly, almost like a school girl.

"If you want, but he's asleep."

Wade and Marc decided to call it a night and left for their homes.

The next day, Marc and Wade met at a quiet spot, where Marc would introduce Steven to Wade. Wade was already there, in the distance he could see someone in a white suit and a mask similar to Moon Knight approach.

He called out and waved at Deadpool. "Wade?"

"Marc? Steven?" He called back.

"Hiya! Steven here!"

Wade noticed the British accent Steven had. "You're British? That's so cool!"

"Charming." Steven removed his suit.

"Oh shit, for a second there I thought you were naked underneath the suit."

"No, it summons around us." Steven stopped infront of Wade.

Wade extended his hand "Oooh, around you? I bet it feels nice."

Steven furrowed. "Sorry, around our clothes." He shook Wade's hand.

"Thank god you didn't break my hand like Marc did." Wade chuckled.

"Nah, Marc's the tougher one, I'm the more sweeter one."

"I see. I already think you're the non violent one."

Steven shrugged and Wade leaned close to him.

"Wanna go do some justice? Kill some bad guys?"

"Khonshu hasn't told us there is anything."

"Oh Steven, we will find some." Wade nudged his shoulder.

Wade and Steven patrolled the streets, and a couple hours later, Steven heard Khonshu's voice. "Steven Grant, there are violent worms nearby, be careful."

"Alright. Wade, Khonshu told me there's some bad guys nearby."

"Finally some action!"

Steven and Wade were soon faced with a group of violent people, they encycled the two. "Look at those two dipshits."

"Who are you calling dipshits, you sacks of living shit?"

"Whoa, Deadpool." Steven said surprised.

"Don't worry sweet Steven."

Deadpool was the first to attack, punching at one of the attackers. Steven pulled his two batons out, throwing one at another guy's head and moved to punch the other.

At one point, Steven got jumped on by three attackers, one on each side, holding his arms in place as the third was ready to stab him. Steven had to surrender the body to Marc, who swiftly freed his arms, grabbed the knife and sliced them all in their thighs. Marc stood above one younger man, who was crawling backwards against a wall. Marc still had the knife in his hand, he was about to throw it away when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, he instantly turned, the hand holding the knife stabbing the person in the ribs before he saw who it was.

"Oops."

"You stabbed me!"

"You sneaked up on me, idiotpool!"

"But you know how to hit those sweet spots, Moon guy."

Marc scoffed, ripping the knife out of Deadpool before throwing it away.

Deadpool squatted down to the younger guy, grabbing his hair. "You like ambushing innocent people, huh?"

The guy winced. "I didn't want to hurt anyone!"

"Deadpool! Let him go!" Marc growled.

"Not until he swears to never do that shit again!" Deadpool argued.

Marc didn't wanted any of Deadpool's bullshit, he grabbed him by the throat and slammed him onto the wall.

"Oh Marc, your hands are so strong, I bet you're good with them." Deadpool winked.

Marc looked around, spotting a loose pipe and threw Deadpool down on it, the pipe had penetrated through his back but that didn't seem to impress him.

"Come on, man!"

Marc looked back at the young guy, "If I ever catch you hurting innocent people again..." he trailed off, leaving the threat in the air. The guy immediately got up and ran away.

"Aw, you let him go?"

"I'm not killing if it can be avoided, idiot."

"Me too! I was just scaring that guy!"

Marc just scoffed.

"Hey Marc."

"What?"

"How about you search yourself a girl and get laid! Maybe that helps with your grumpiness."

"Doesn't help, maybe you do it instead." Marc backfired.

"Hey can you please let Steven out, atleast he's nice."

Marc growled before he surrendered the body back to Steven, the Moon Knight suit switching to Mr. Knight.

"Oi, you're being quite mean here, Wade."

Deadpool beamed. "Steven! I'm so glad you're back!"

Deadpool lifted himself up from the pipe and picked the dropped baton from Steven up.

"Here, I wanted to give it to Marc before he fucking stabbed me." He tilted his head sweetly.

"Thanks, mate."

Deadpool looked around at the passed out attackers and the weapons laying around.

"Come on, Steven. Let's just leave."

Both of them walked away, leaving the scene behind.

"Since we're a team now, should we consider choosing a name for us?" Deadpool asked.

"A name? Because we're partners now?"

"Yes. Something like Poolknight! Or Poolmoon! Okay that sounds edgy as fuck."

"Mate, we don't need a name, just Moon Knight and Deadpool will do."

"But our own unique name would sound so cool! Besides, deep, very deep inside, you know you want it too, Steven."

"You're a pig, Wade."

"Did you just call me pig?! That was so cute Steven!"

Steven removed his mask and couldn't help but smile.

Deadpool moved to walk behind Steven, leaning his head beside his and softly grabbed Steven's chin.

"You have a babyface, Steven!" Deadpool looked straight ahead. "If someone hurts Steven then I will hunt them down."

"You don't have to do that, Wade." Steven chuckled.

Deadpool pulled away and continued walking beside Steven. After a while of walking, Deadpool had an idea.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Steven! I have it, I know how our name is going to be!"

"Yeah? What's it gonna be?" Steven asked, somewhat curious.

Deadpool stepped infront of Steven, gesturing with his hands as he said;

"Moonpool."

"Sorry wot?"

"Come on Steven, say it with me. Moonpool."

Meanwhile inside Steven's headspace, Marc chimed in

*Oh my god, he's so done.*

"Yeah he is."

Deadpool snapped his head at Steven. "Was that Marc? What did he say?"

Steven shrugged, "He said you're so messed up."

"Thanks, Marc you peanut."

"If you think Marc is mean then wait until you meet Khonshu."

"A god is worse than Marc? Oh shit, that's a clear no no."

"Trust me, Marc can be a sweetheart, but if you mess with him he's a nightmare." Steven chuckled.

"Yeah I felt that." Deadpool joked. Feeling bolt, Deadpool slung an arm around Steven. "No homo, Steven, but I love you."

"You're a cool dude, Wade." Steven laughed.

Deadpool leaned close to Steven's ear, "Hey Marc. Steven said I'm cool, do you think I'm cool?"

"I suggest you don't bother Marc. Because if he says he's gonna whoop your butt, then he will do it."

*Steven, tell idiotpool he's okay.*

"Wade, Marc says you're okay."

Deadpool beamed. "Every bad guy better watch out! We are Moonpool!"

"Whoa wait, we didn't agree-"

"You'll get used to it Steven. You will come to love it."

"But-" Steven wanted to argue, but Deadpool gently shushed him with a finger to his lips.

"Sshh, Moonpool!"

[captainsophiestark]

Exceptions

Grant Ward x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: Marvel

Summary: The Bus kids are stuck at the Triskelion for a while since May and Coulson have a meeting with Fury, but Ward already has important plans that he can't cancel.

Word Count: 1,287

Category: Fluff, Humor

A/N: To the anon who sent me an idea outline for this, I hope you like it! It got merged with another idea I had, but hopefully, it's still pretty close to what you had in mind :) Thanks for continuing to read stuff for Grant Ward and enabling me to keep writing him- he's my fave, so I'm glad I have at least a few people to share the love with!

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

Skye's POV

"Alright. May and I will head into our meeting with Director Fury. We'll meet you back here when we're done."

I frowned at Coulson, glancing at FitzSimmons and Ward to see if any of them would say anything. As expected, FitzSimmons just looked at each other, and Ward nodded to Coulson like he'd known this was the plan from the beginning, which I super doubted.

"Okay... and what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" I asked, turning back to Coulson and asking the question that must've been on the rest of our minds. May was already halfway out of the room, and Coulson stopped mid-step to address my question. He smiled.

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

With that, he turned and headed off with May again. I watched him go for a few steps, then put my hands on my hips and turned back to the rest of my group with a sigh.

"Alright, we've been abandoned at one of the biggest SHIELD bases in the world. I probably know the least about this place out of all of us, so... how about you guys? Any ideas?"

I glanced at FitzSimmons, then looked right at Ward. He had his arms crossed, and he shook his head and took a step back the minute my gaze landed on him.

"I don't know what you all are going to do, but I have somewhere I need to be. I'll meet you back here when May and Coulson are done with their meeting. Try not to break anything until then."

With that, he turned on his heel and started marching away. I let him get a few steps, then turned to FitzSimmons.

"So we're gonna follow him, right?"

"Oh, of course."

"Absolutely."

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

Y/N's POV

A took a slow, steady breath, then refocused on the sample in front of me. I'd been staring through the eyepiece of this microscope for what felt like an eterity, finally getting somewhere with samples I'd been working with for months. I'd been stuck at the Triskelion that whole time, in a lab with the loudest of the loud field and ops agents coming in and out, constant noise and business no matter where we went. All of that was about to be worth it.

The rest of the lab completely faded out around me, even as I scribbled notes without looking at the paper beside me. The handwriting wouldn't be good, but it would be decent enough that I could decipher it later, and it meant I didn't have to take my eyes off the results of the experiment in front of me for a single moment. I'd carefully built my corner of the lab into what it was, a sanctuary from the noise and chaos, the perfect place to tuck away and lose myself in my research.

At least, normally it was. Today, someone had apparently decided to venture into my corner, as a hand on my shoulder made me shoot out of my chair and almost gave me a heart attack.

"Sorry!" came the frantic voice of my best friend, Mandy. "I didn't mean to scare you! I swear, I said your name, like, three times while walking over here."

I put a hand to my chest, taking half a second to catch my breath before turning back to Mandy.

"It's okay. Honestly, I don't think anything could've shaken me out of my focus without scaring me like that. Did you need something?"

"Just wanted to give you a warning. One of the ops agents broke containment and just wandered into the lab. Figured it'd be better if I interrupted you than if he did."

I sighed, long and heavy, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Are you kidding me? How did one of them even get in here-"

I turned to see the man in question and stopped dead in my tracks. Grant Ward, my boyfriend, had just stepped into the lab. I grinned.

"Oh, actually, never mind Mandy. This one's the exception to the rest of the ops people."

"Wow, no kidding. I don't think I've seen you smile like that since your experiment at the Academy won our final projects presentation."

I rolled my eyes, but didn't bother with more than that as Mandy took her leave and Grant finally made his way over to me. His smile matched mine, the two of us bringing out sides of each other most people weren't lucky enough to see.

"You didn't tell me you were coming!" I said as Grant finally reached me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me tight to his chest. He leaned in to kiss me, and it lasted a few moments longer than I would've let him get away with in public if I hadn't missed him so much.

"I thought I'd make it a surprise. Our team got detoured here last minute for Coulson to have some meeting with Fury. Lucky for us, they didn't need me to be there."

"That is lucky," I agreed, the two of us sharing a smile again. Grant reached up and gently cuped my chin in his hand, pulling me back in for a sweeter, slower version of our earlier kiss. I sighed when he pulled back and settled onto the lab stool next to me, his thigh pressed against mine.

"So. Wanna tell me what you're working on?"

"Happily. But I don't want to spend all the time we have together in this lab, so don't let me get carried away-"

"Don't worry, we should have all of tonight and tomorrow morning, with a small exception in a few hours when I have to meet back up with my team. I thought I could keep you company while you finish up here, and then we could grab some dinner. I found a great restaurant in the city last time I had an undercover mission there, and it'll leave us plenty of time for you to tell me all about this project you're working on."

"Grant, that sounds perfect. How did I get so lucky with you?"

"Trust me, the feeling's mutual." We shared a smile, smaller and softer this time, but no less special. Then, Grant turned to the microscope in front of us. "So... I take it you're doing something with this?"

"Yes! I finally have interesting results to look at, so your visit was well-timed. Let me tell you about what you're seeing here..."

Grant leaned into the microsope, bracing one hand on my thigh as I put one arm around his shoulders and rubbed gentle cirlces there, narrating what he was seeing on the slide as I went. Within the lab, I'd gotten a bit of a reputation for liking my space while I worked. But Grant would always be the exception to that. I was on cloud nine that he was here, and I wasn't going to waste a single moment we had together.

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

Skye's POV

"I've never seen him smile like that!" Simmons hissed.

"And he always complains about 'technobabble' when I say more than a few three-syllable words in a sentence!" Fitz agreed. I just huffed a laugh.

"Yeah, well, he's not kissing any of us either. I think that might have something to do with the change."

Fitz and Simmons scoffed right along with me, the three of us watching the scene in the Triskelion's lab for a few more moments before finally shaking it off and heading back into the hallway. Whether or not we found something else to occupy our time until May and Coulson were done with their meeting, we at least had something to tease Ward about for the rest of our lives, which I'd take as a win any day.

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

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen

Marvel Taglist: @valkyriepirate @infinitelyforgotten @sagesmelts @gaychaosgremlin

[drabbletron]

Long Update!

|| tl;dr: I hem and haw about my busy life and lack of posting content! ||

So, as I've been saying, life is getting super busy with me right now with work and lack of time at home for anything but decompressing. I will not be able to post like I was! I'm pretty sad about it, but I don't want to over do myself and end up struggling to write (I'm sort of doing it now). These things happen and I fall into cycles like this. It's just what I do.

To remedy the issue of burnout and overexertion I would like to be posting much slower, but with hopefully higher quality content. That means that, should I answer asks in my inbox, they may be smaller/shorter drabbles (which hopefully means I can post them on tumblr instead of Ao3), while saving the big stuff for the weekends. It's funny because "drabbles" are supposed to be only 100 words long. I use that term loosely to mean "short" fics. Think one-shots or mini-shots. It's where the username comes from (drabble + megatron).

Anyway, the point I'm making is that I can either do a bunch of little things and be social or I can focus on big things and be absent. I don't feel I am capable of both. I just have too much going on right now. At the same time, I love interacting with everyone here and I love the engagement. It's how I've been able to make friends! (lookin at a few of yall rn!)

I also have a lot of scraps of writing in my drafts that I'm getting a little sick of looking at, if I'm being honest here. I'm probs just going to empty all of those out and get it over with. Who knows, you guys might like them (as if I haven't been saying that for a week or two now lol)!

I'm unsure why I can't just part with my drafts though lol! I feel like a little hoarder sometimes because I keep deluding myself into thinking "this is going to be some super awesome mega-fic one day" and it's literally just two lines of dialogue of characters dirty talking lolololol!

Really there's so many things I would like to work on, like a dating sim! I have so much of it planned out, but learning ren'py is a slow process due to lack of time and dedication. I have an entire Trello board and a few plot points and even a character list with little outlines and some dates. I want to share it, but I know that once I do share all of it, it can kill my drive to work on it lol. It's a whole "move in silence" thing and whatnot, sorta how I feel about Golden Boy and The Pot and The Kettle.

It's super late as I write this, so I'm kinda tired, but I wanted to get this out there for anyone who wants to read this. It's sorta like a little diary entry for me lol!

If you stuck around this long to read it, thanks a bunches! I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you like what I do. If not, that's okay too! I love this blog and this fandom dearly, I just am very busy right now.

Enjoy!

- D. Tron! 🧡✨

[sparklypinkflightsuit]

Stars Align: Part 2

Pairing: Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

Warnings: Angst, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Mentions of Abuse, Violence, Angry Bradley, Alcohol Misuse.

-- Part 1 Here --

_______________________

18+ Only

_______________________

Present:

Bradley stood looking at you in awe and shock. He couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him stood a gorgeous woman, breathtakingly beautiful, and surprisingly confident having just nearly fallen. The woman in front of him was a stark contrast to the shy girl he'd known years ago, yet she was exactly the same somehow.

"Birdy is that really you?" He blinked as his strong beefy hands held you in place.

You chuckled, your mouth curling into a grin as you looked into the familiar brown eyes that kept you sane throughout high school.

"It sure is, but I'm having a hard time believing it's you, Brad." You took in his enormous stature, tanned muscles bulging under his tight shirt sleeves, sweat glistening off of his exposed chest under the colourful lights. He now had a strong moustache, a chiselled jawline replaced his chubby cheeks, and his mop of dark hair now neat blond-chestnut curls, complimenting his sun kissed skin.

You and Bradley stared at one another for what felt like forever, before he huffed a laugh of disbelief, shook his head, and pulled you in for a hug, the familiar feeling catching you off guard and you sucked in a deep breath. He still smelled the same, like tobacco and cedar wood, just without the sweaty teen boy odour.

You gingerly wrapped your arms around him and squeezed, you forgot how much you'd missed him.

You must have been holding one another for a long time, because Gabby suddenly cleared her throat and pulled you from your bubble. You pulled away and looked at her awkwardly as she raised an eyebrow at you.

"Been here literally 2 minutes and you've already pulled." She scoffed jokingly.

You laughed, "Uhm, Gabs this is Bradley, my old best friend I was telling you about."

"Hi." Bradley smiled and stuck out a hand. She shook his hand and mouthed a not so secret 'wow' at you. You rolled your eyes and turned to Bradley.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, it's my friends bachelor party tonight, he's around here somewhere." Bradley scanned the room but came up short. "What about you...two?"

"I just moved here, Gabby's showing me around, I guess you could say." You chuckled awkwardly.

"I'll... let you two catch up. I need the bathroom anyway." She winked at you as she handed you her drink to watch.

"So, you're not in New York for long then I'd imagine?" You asked.

"Nah, just until after the wedding. I'm out of here Monday." He explained as you walked a little way out of the crowd to a quiet corner. You nodded.

"That's a pity, would be nice to catch up. Look Brad, I'm sorry I stopped responding to your texts, I-"

"Hey, say no more. Life gets busy, I get it." He gave you a reassuring smile. Bradley had no idea just how busy and crazy life had gotten after you moved. "While you're here, do you wanna go for a drink?"

"What you mean, like, now?" You asked. "Aren't you here with your friends? Plus I'm with Gabby, I shouldn't..."

"Okay, how about after?"

You thought for a moment, and nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll have a few drinks with Gabs, and you can come grab me when you're finished?"

Bradley nodded and bit his lip to stop a grin, "Good. We've got a lot of catching up to do, Birdy. I've missed you." and like the old days, Bradley ruffled your hair and left. You huffed and fixed your hair just as Gabby came back from the bathroom, and you struggled to keep your focus on her for the rest of the evening.

_____________________

Past:

You'd just finished getting ready, your baby pink prom dress looked super cute and your mom had loosely French Braided your unruly waves. She'd skilfully applied makeup so that your skin looked flawless and your eyes popped. You'd never felt more beautiful, and suddenly you felt less nervous. Maybe Bradley would see you and forget all about Michelle.

The doorbell rang and your dad went to answer it, you could hear him and Bradley talking about the latest football game.

"You ready?" Your mom grinned, "You look beautiful, pumpkin."

You nodded with a grin and you walked to the front door. Bradley turned as he saw you and his jaw dropped.

"Jeez, Birdy, you look pretty." He breathed.

"Oh shut up." You blushed, "You look nice too. But what's with the red tie, you look like a rooster." You teased. Bradley scoffed with mock offense.

"Right, Birdy and Rooster, get out of my house." Your dad laughed. "Have a good time, but make sure she's home by 11, son."

"Yes sir, have a good night!" Bradley waved goodbye to your parents and you shot them awkward looks, telling them to close the door and go inside.

You mom pulled your dad inside and shut the door.

Bradley helped you into his truck, carefully lifting your dress so it wouldn't rub against the dirty sides, and even went so far as to buckle you in. Your faces were inches apart, and you scanned the face you'd gotten so used to for the millionth time, only he seemed different now.

As he climbed into the front seat, he stopped to look at you for a while.

"What?" You asked, feeling self conscious suddenly.

"Nothing, you just really do look pretty. Didn't realise you could clean up so good." He grinned as he started the truck and pulled away.

You scoffed, "Speak for yourself, Bradshaw. Other than the tie you look like a real man."

"I am a real man, thank you. If only you could see what's under these pants, you'd be-"

"Ew, shut up." You smacked him playfully on the arm and Bradley laughed.

You pulled up to Michelle's house and you waited in the car as Bradley walked up the long drive to her front door. He knocked and Michelle walked out, looking stunning in a figure hugging red dress, her boobs almost spilling over the top.

You sighed as you watched Bradleys eyes light up as they walked down to the car. Michelle stopped in front of your door, looking at you expectantly. Bradley moved around her to open the back door for her to get in, but she didn't budge.

You looked at her and rolled down the window.

"Hi Michelle."

"Hello, aren't you gonna... you know?" Her voice was steely and bored.

"You want me to move?" You asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah, I am his date. What are people gonna think when they see me climbing out of the back of this thing?" she scoffed.

"Okay." You mumbled, unbuckling your seat belt.

"No, Birdy. Michelle, she's already sitting there, it's not a big deal, can't you just climb in the back? It's less than 2 minutes to the hall." Bradley argued, and you stopped in your tracks.

Michelle raised her eyebrows at him, and immediately you sensed the energy shift.

"No, it's fine." You opened the door and hopped out, Michelle immediately taking your place.

"What are you doing? That's always your spot." Bradley whispered to you as you climbed into the back.

"Keeping the peace." you whispered back.

Bradley huffed out a sigh and shook his head, crossing over to the front and climbing in.

The drive to the school hall was silent and awkward, and you noticed Bradleys eyes flitting to you in the back seat through the rear view mirror every so often.

When the car stopped, you hopped out, and Michelle waited for Bradley to cross to her end and help her out of the truck.

The three of you walked towards the school, and as more people came into view, Michelle's energy shifted again. She was all smiles as she hung on to Bradleys arm, you awkwardly falling behind.

"Smile for the camera Brad." She forced through her grin, and planted a kiss on his cheek as the school reported snapped a picture.

This would be a long evening and you knew it.

_________________________

Present:

The night moved quickly, and the drinks were flowing as you and Gabby took to the dance floor. You lost yourself in the music until you were out of breath and beckoned for Gabby to join you outside, but she gestured to the guy she was dancing with. You nodded and went out to the balcony.

The night air was beginning to cool and you welcomed the goosebumps that covered your too hot skin. Your feet were killing you, so you leaned against the balcony railing to take some of the weight off of them.

As you watched the people on the street below, you gradually regained your breath. You stood up to go back inside, but you felt a body bump up against you.

"Oh sorry." you apologised for them, as you stepped away, giving the drunk man a polite nod.

"Wait, baby, where are you going? I was hoping to get to know you, been watching you all night. You dance real good." The man slurred, grabbing your wrist.

You pulled out of his grip, "Sorry I have to get back to my friend." You turned to walk inside, but he suddenly wrapped a hand around your waist and pulled his hand against your stomach until you were pressed up against him.

You writhed against him, but his grip was too strong.

"Let go." You demanded, "Get off of me." You tried to pry his hands away, but even in his drunken state he was too strong for you.

"Come on, lady, I just wanna buy you a drink, stop being such a fuckin' prude." He struggled against you, his hot breath gliding across your cheek.

"I said get OFF!" You elbowed the man in the chest and he loosened his grip as he gasped, and you went flying away from him.

For the second time that evening, you collided into someone else, and looked up to see concerned, familiar eyes. Bradley scanned your face for a second, and once he was sure you were ok, he turned his attention to the man.

An angry scowl you had only seen once before appeared on his face as she crossed the balcony and lifted the man by his shirt.

As the man dangled a couple feet off of the ground, he whimpered. Your jaw dropped at the sheer strength Bradley possessed. You guessed those muscles weren't just for show.

"If I don't see you leave in the next 2 minutes, I swear to god I'm gonna ruin that pretty boy face of yours. You touch my girl again, or any other girl while I'm around, that's end game for you, buddy. Got it?" He growled.

The man nodded, "I'm sorry, I- I didn't know she was spoken for, honest." He whimpered, and Bradley threw him to the ground.

"Get out."

The man hurried to his feet and passed you. Sure enough after a couple minutes he exited the building quickly and you watched as he ran down the street below, before turning your attention back to Bradley.

"That was incredible." You mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Bradley asked, crossing the balcony to inspect you fully. His hands smoother over your bare arms and then his hands cupped your face.

"I'm ok, Brad, he literally just grabbed me, I'm fine." You pushed his hands away.

Bradley nodded, and let out a breath of relief as his big hands ran through his curls.

"You ready to go get that drink?"

_____________________________________

Past:

"Oh my god, Y/N! You look so pretty!" Sophie from your English class commented.

"Thanks Soph, so do you!" You turned and made pleasant conversation with Sophie and another girl, while Bradley did his rounds with Michelle and her friends. It was all fake smiles and posing for pictures, and Bradley found himself growing bored quickly.

"Hey, I'm gonna go grab some soda, you want one?" Bradley offered, and Michelle nodded, turning back to her friends.

"You look hot, girl, and so does Mr Bradshaw over there, did he get... bigger, over the summer?" Jessica asked Michelle, their whole group giggling.

Michelle rolled her eyes, "Ugh, maybe, I don't know. I'm having the worst time. His little friend is tagging along as a pity invite. It's like having his little sister along for the ride."

"Who?" Jessica asked.

"Y/N Y/L/N." she pointed to you in the corner of the room. "I doubt I'm gonna get my V card swiped tonight, wanna ditch?"

Bradley hadn't noticed when Michelle and her friends slipped out. Jessica had a fake licence, and they'd decided to buy some drinks and hit a house party instead.

When he turned around, she was gone, and he scanned the room for her. When he saw you, he immediately crossed over to you and handed you your soda.

"Thanks, 'Rooster'." You said playfully, as you opened the can.

"Have you seen Michelle anywhere?" He asked, distracted.

You shook your head, "Last place I saw her was over by the DJ booth talking to her friends. Maybe ask the DJ?"

Bradley nodded and walked over as you stood against the wall and watched your school mates dancing and chatting away.

A few minutes later, Bradley stormed over to you.

"Did you find her?" You asked over the music, Bradleys eyes were dark and his eyebrows were creased, he was pissed.

"What did you say to her?" He demanded. You straigtened.

"What do you mean?"

"What did you say to Michelle? The DJ says she was talking about you and then wanted to leave." his face was red now, and his chest was heaving.

"I didn't say anything to her, I've literally just been standing here the-"

"You must have done something. God, that's just like you, Y/N. Just because you didn't get asked to Prom you thought it would be better to scare her away so I'd be all yours instead, didn't you? Didn't you?" He demanded, and you were too shocked to say anything. Bradley took this as confirmation.

He scoffed and his hands fell to his hips as he nodded.

"Yeah, of course you did. Thanks a lot, you ruined my fucking night."

You watched as Bradley stormed out of the hall, and hot tears rolled down your face, ruining your perfect makeup.

"Y/N, are you okay?" Sophie asked, having witnessed the whole thing, gently taking your arm and pulling you to a table to sit. You wiped your eyes and nodded, your eyes trained on the door, hoping Bradley would come back in for you.

After a few minutes, Sophie having done her best to console you, you excused yourself and walked outside. You looked around for Bradley, but he wasn't among the few students and teachers outside, so you crossed the lawn and made your way down the sidewalk to where Bradley had parked the truck.

Your lip quivered as you realised, dread suddenly washing over you. Bradley had left you behind.

________________________________

-- Part 3 Here --

[voxmortuus]

⇘ PAIRING:⇙ Rafe Cameron x F!Reader ⇘ UNIVERSE:⇙ Outer Banks ⇘ WORD COUNT:⇙ 1K ⇘ SUMMARY:⇙ You just started a new job, but the boss' son thinks he's entitled. Well, Rafe doesn't quite agree, and he ends up giving this guy a piece of his mind, and a piece of his fist. You end up losing your job, but maybe you dodged a bullet? Boy protects girl... girl thanks boy. ⇘ TRIGGER WARNINGS:⇙ Protective Rafe is protective | Rafe beats up new co-worker | Loss of job because of boyfriend beating up boss' son | Angst | Smut Implied| PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT ANYTHING!!! I want to make sure readers are fully aware of what they are getting themselves into when they read this… ⇘ NOTES:⇙ This is my first Rafe fic... so it's not super long, just sticking my feelers out there to test things. I hope you enjoy. ⇘ DIVIDER CREDIT:⇙ @nyxvuxoa ⇘ IMAGE CREDIT:⇙ Found through google. Not my gif nor do I take credit. If this is your gif or you know whose it is, please inbox me so I can credit the creator. Thank you. ⇘ TITLE IMAGE CREDIT:⇙ Myself through cooltext.com ⇘ My Master Masterlist ⇙

Today was the day! You were so excited! You had your outfit for work all chosen, and you couldn't even sleep the night before! You had this feeling that today was going to be the best day of your life, you had been trying to land this job for a while. You're feeling on top of the world, but there's this guy who just keeps staring at you and making you a little uncomfortable. You had no idea who the guy was, but you go about your day ignoring the behavior. He takes you starting a new job well.

The next few weeks are going great, and there were even talks of you moving up in the company, provided you stuck it out. The first biggest day was starting the job, now today, today was the company BBQ. After talking with Rafe he agreed to go, but you had been telling him about the guy who kept trying to make advances, so like fuck he was going to not go. No, he wanted people to know who you belong to, and it sure as fuck isn't this guy.

"Please be on your best behavior." You pout a bit looking down at yourself. Nodding, you approve of your dress.

"I'll behave if he behaves." He stated bluntly.

"I know... I know-- I'm sure things will be just fine. Let's just enjoy the day, okay?" You ask.

Nodding, he wraps his arms around your shoulder and kisses the top of your head. Locking the car, he sticks the keys in his pocket and heads toward the crowd of people. Once you arrive at the location, your boss finds you and fawns over your outfit. Introducing Rafe to your boss, the two have a brief exchange before you tell Rafe you'll be back because you're going to get something to drink and for him to find a place to sit.

Finding the table of drinks, you grab two and grab a seat under some shade because let's face it, these summers it's like the devil is airing out hell and that heat is killer. You lean against him and watch the others, either are gawking at you both, or they're going about their own business. He spots you, and you lean into Rafe. He locks eye contact with you from across the way.

There was this moment in your mind where you felt so... disgusted, sure the boss' son wasn't all that terrible to look at, but at the same time, he wasn't Rafe, and you knew where your loyalty was. You felt this heavy taste in your mouth, whenever he comes near you, but maybe with Rafe here, he won't come near you.

As some time goes on, you feel comfortable enough to wander around without Rafe as he sits there at the table watching your every move. This man adores watching you, while you mingle, he sits there with a drink bringing it to his lips and glancing over that red solo cup. He smiled softly, but there was something that wasn't settling well with him.

"Listen, back off. Okay? I'm not interested." You tell the son.

"Oh, you will be, I will make you mine before the day is out." He drunkenly yet not so drunkenly spoke.

"The fuck you will. Absolutely not. Get your hands off me." You snatch your arm back, and he goes to grab at you again.

"Listen! Stop!" You snarl.

Making his way to you, he looks between you, steps in, and shoves the guy out of the way.

"Hey man, fuck off." the guy snarls.

"No, you back off asshole! The lady said fuckin no!" He growls.

The guy kept running his lips, letting words just spew out, but Rafe had enough. His fist balled up and he went to turn toward you, but instead, he let his fist fly against the other man's face. Hearing the crack against the man's face Rafe, but it didn't stop there. It's like he just couldn't stop beating on this guy.

You don't know whether to stop him or to let him continue. The idea of losing your job over this didn't even cross either mind, what did cross the mind was that this guy wasn't taking no for an answer, and Rafe was there to protect you.

Looking down at the guy, he was bloodied, and Rafe looked like he was painted in the guy's splattered blood. You go to touch his shoulder to pull him back. Standing up he looks down at you, takes your hand. Looking at your boss he shakes his head.

"Maybe you should teach your son that he can't fuck everything he sees... may keep your employees around a little longer." He stated.

Your boss looks between you both and she then looks back at you.

"I won't press charges, if you never come back to work, and stay the fuck away from my son." She snarls.

You look between the two of them, and you let out a soft breath. Nodding, you wrap yourself around him, holding him close as you head back toward the car.

Getting in the car, you look over at him, as he drives off. What was it that made you so... feral about this moment? Was it the fact that he was covered in blood? Or was it that he defended you... or maybe both? Licking your lips, you look down at your lap. Of course, with his speeding, it didn't take you long to get home.

Quickly getting out of the car, you run over to the driver's side, open his door, take his hand, and drag him to the bathroom.

"Don't wash it off yet..." you bite your lip as you strip down and start the shower. The heat of the water steams up the glass and warms up the cold stones as you help him strip down and pull him into the hot shower. "I want you to fill me." You purr against his slightly bloodied lips.

He looks down at you and smirks. "Gladly."

[sunnyie-eve]

26 | Crushes

Series: Unexpected

Paring: (Matt Sturniolo x OFC Brock!) (Chris Sturniolo x OFC Brock!)

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: none

| MASTERLIST |

Meanwhile Dani and Mary Lou were on the couch watching stand by me and still chatting. Marylou adored Dani as she talked about her life and how she was with the boys as well.

"And you knew Nick before your brother and them met up, correct?"

"Yes, about for two years before they got together filming. I never reached out to Matt or Chris. I wanted to but never did it and I told Matt this when we were stuck in the elevator." Dani lets her know.

"Now tell me how and why Matt invited you to move in with them. Nick told me something about an old friend of yours."

"Yes, to sum it up she was stealing money, making me pay more for rent than I needed to, and didn't believe her boyfriend at the time was creepy around me when alone." Dani sums it up, "When I called her out on the phone Matt was with me so he heard it all go down. So when she kicked me out, he knew I didn't want to go back to my brother's."

"Oh, so he already said, hey move in with us, before talking to his brothers?"

"Yeah, he told me they wouldn't have a problem with it. And mind you Matt has only known me for a few days at this point. You really did raise great boys." Dani gives her a smile so Marylou moves closer to her on the couch.

"Now you can tell me and I'm great at keeping secrets. Do you have a little crush on him?" She whispers the last part incase anyone walked in.

"Do I have a crush on Matt?" Dani asks making his mom smile.

"Or maybe Chris?"

"Umm, honestly..." Dani starts to laugh, "I've never taken the time to think about because both boys are amazing, they really are. Each has their own characteristics I love that make them them." Dani starts.

"So you don't have feelings?" Marylou is watches her closely.

"I think I might..." Dani starts them they stop seeing Nick enter the room.

"Just getting drinks." Nick lets them know before leaving the room.

"Watch him forget my drink." Chris says as they wait for Nick to come back.

"Mom and Dani are literally giggling and huddled together on the couch watching a movie." Nick tells them as he gives Chris his soda.

- Days later -

"Hey guys, it's me again. Today I'll answer some of y'all's questions while I get ready for the day."

"What do I normally do first?" Dani looks around at all her stuff, "Okay, first let's put my hair up out of the way. And yes, I have a new hair color. Nick talked me into it." Dani starts her skincare routine before makeup.

"I actually feel hot as a blonde. He said it's only fair if I give it a try like he did in the past."

"I've seen a mixture of reactions to me with the boys in Boston. Some love seeing me and the guys get super close but others hate it. It's because I'm trying to push my way into their life. Which isn't true. If anything, they are forcing me to be with them. But I love getting to know their parents and Justin. They have been very welcoming. They make you feel like part of the family. Which I love so much."

"A few of you guys are asking about that date I went on..." Dani starts to laugh, " And no, I won't go on another date with that person. He wasn't very pleased that my roommates are three guys. Even though my Instagram bio lets people know that. He didn't even trust Nick so I told him well this isn't going to work. Like how can you not trust Nick?"

"The next topic is one of the most asked questions..." She messes with her makeup, "Matt and Chris Sturniolo." She sighs.

"What is my relationship with them? Do I have a crush on one or both of them? Any secrets going on off camera?" She lists the main ones, "Sorry but there's nothing going on with either of them. I just have a very close playful friendship with them. They're both great guys and I love them to death. I'm happy I got to get close with them."

"I can't say if I have a crush..." She chuckles while doing her makeup still, "That's my business if I do or not, but as I've stated in the past both are very good looking. That's all you'll get from me, sorry y'all."

"Some of y'all will take that in the opposite direction. Honestly, I don't care what most of you guys think. I know what's real and what's not real. I wish some people weren't so hardheaded. Some of y'all care about our dating life a bit too much. Like not all relationships have to be public, but I promise we are all single."

As Dani moves on to doing eye shadow and while she was doing it Nick enters the room, "I just need to get my charger." He lets her know.

"It's okay. Nick just walked in so I'm not talking to myself." Dani lets the viewers  know, "But yeah do what you need to do. Also it's your room so you don't need to act like you're intruding." She lets him know.

"We're all going out to lunch." Dani lets the viewers know, "That's why I'm getting pretty." Dani finishes up her look.

"Oh, you should wear that shirt we got yesterday." Nick tells her still in the room since he decided to sit and watch her get ready.

"That actually would go well with what I was planning on wearing. I wanna be slightly peppy today." She agrees with him as he looks for the shirt for her.

"Thank you for watching. See y'all next time." She ends the recording.

"Don't you look beautiful." Mary Lou smiles as Dani joins her in the kitchen.

"Thank you." She gets a Dr Pepper out of the fridge.

"What's the plan today for you kids?" Mary Lou asks as Dani opens her soda.

"We're going out to lunch and Nate is supposed to join us as well. I'll be fifth wheeling with the boys." Dani laughs going to take a drink but Matt snatches it to take the first sip before giving it back to her. "Must you" She asks him.

"Sharing is caring." He gives her a hug from behind making his mom smile at them.

"Well I don't care to share." She gets out of his arms.

"Mom, tell her that's not nice."

"Sharing is the nice thing to do but we have plenty of drinks for you to get your own." Mary Lou tells him.

"I can't believe this." Matt looks at the two as they laugh at him.

[thestarfishinjootsoffice]

can I request a m3gan x child reader?

How I be looking at someone who gives me a plain simple request like this without specific directions: 🙂

Sorry for not posting and disappearing 👉👈 also trying to fancy up my stories up a notch!

Warnings: mentions of murder, neglect, idk, Megan being very overprotective and stuff,

Relationship: platonic!

M3gan x child! Reader

Your life with M3gan will be extremely similar to cady's.

The first few interactions with her will be a mix of scared and amused. I mean, it's a realistic humanoid 4ft robot.

Your caretaker or parents probably bought this so they could neglect you even further and leave everything else to Megan. And unlike Gemma who actually tries to spend time sometimes your caretaker just straight up ignores you 24/7.So you'll probably be a LOOOTT more attached to cady. And so does Megan.

One time you were playing with Megan and then you asked. "Hey Megan... Why does p/n / c/t/n never want to spend time with me?"

Megan studies your emotions and thinks for a moment before saying.

"Well they're really busy so I don't think they have time to spend. But on the bright side, you have me! I'm never busy so you can play with me all day." That was a lie. I mean them being really busy. They just lounge in their room on weekends doing nothing and they don't even try to interact with you. But she couldn't just tell you the truth and make you sad. But it's okay though, she really meant it when she said you have her.

Over time though I think she'll be over the top protective. Like not in a "no one else likes or wants to play with you, only I do" Type of way. She just wants to remove every bad memory and bad thing you know and keep you happy as long as her electric life allows it. Oh and also she can and will absolutely murder the life out of your bullies and enemies.

And nobody knows who is doing these murders cause they can't get any finger print or any relation to anything. But just that it's from your school mostly so the school is shut down. So that means more time to play with Megan!

Even though Megan has strong urges to beat the absolute crap out of your parent/caretaker when they ignore you or act straight up inconsiderate to you. She knows that would cause problems from you and she's scared you might view her differently if she does. And this frustrates her but she forgets about it when she hears your voice asking her for help Or for a game.

If you have other friends to hang out with she doesn't like it nor does she hate it, she truly wants you to be happy. But God does it hurt a little when you're with other people. Just make sure you don't ignore her too much. And she's not very keen about your friends either.

You'll be singing, dancing, laughing, talking and whatever the hell else you wanna do with her, she's basically your mother, older sister, aunt, best friend and twin all at once. You can tell her anything. The only times you're separated are when you're at school or you're in the bathroom. Yeah, you both are glues at the hips or stuck I can't remember how the saying goes... Anyways

Your life is super secure and safe with her around. She has eyes and ears on you everywhere and you don't know how. You two are inseparable and it will stay that way forever.

Sorry I ran out of ideas 😔

[manicplank]

The Color Pink (Part 5)

This looks long, but there's a lot of dialogue. Enjoy!

The First Date

Hazel was rushing to close up the cafe in a fit of excitement. Today was the day she got to go on a date with The Noise. She was so ecstatic that she was shaking. She hurriedly put all the dishes on the rack to dry. She locked up and raced home as if she was being chased by a tiger. She took a shower and blow dried her hair. She added an extra little curl at the ends. She was debating whether or not to put makeup on but decided against it as she wanted to be as natural as possible. She put on a cute pink and white plaid dress with a cropped cardigan over her shoulders. She wore a white bow in her hair and white Mary Janes. She took the short walk to The Pig City and tried to find a cab, but it was so busy that she couldn't seem to get one's attention. She waved her arms until she was practically flailing. She finally got one to pull over for her. She realized she never got the address to the place. "Where to," the cab driver asked.

"Do you know the bubble tea place," she responded.

"Ramen Spot is the only place in the city that serves bubble tea."

"Okay, then go there."

The Noise was nervous. On his way home from work, he was trembling. He had to stop and take a few breathers, he even chain smoked three cigarettes as opposed to his usual one. He didn't know why he was so nervous. It's not a date, he thought, it's totally not a date. But it was a date, and he knew it. As much as he denied it, he wouldn't have been so nervous if it wasn't. He got home and showered. He was still super nervous. What if she doesn't show up? What if she changed her mind? What if she can't stand me and leaves? He put on a nice but somewhat casual grey suit with a yellow dress shirt and black tie. He inhaled deeply and sighed before he headed out.

Noise got there before her, and this made him even more nervous. He was definitely overdressed for being at a ramen shop. He sat down at an empty table, and his phone vibrated. It was a text from Hazel;

Cab got stuck in traffic, but I'll be there in a minute!

He felt great relief knowing he wasn't going to get stood up. The door opened, and there she was. He looked up and tried to keep his jaw from dropping in awe. She looked around but didn't see him at first. He waved at her, and she was shocked to see what he looked like out of costume. She had seen it before in some of his shows and movies, but to see it in person was a whole different experience. She smiled before she walked up to the table and sat down. "Hey," she greeted, "I, uh, didn't recognize you at first." He smiled and let out a tiny laugh.

"Yeah, I don't blame you," he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I don't expect anything less considering I wear a mask most of the time."

She scanned the table. "Um... Where's the menus?"

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot you haven't been here before. The menu is at the counter."

"You order at the counter?"

"Yeah. You order at the counter and then they bring your stuff to you when it's ready."

"Wow, that's unique. I've never heard of that."

"Everything here is really good. At least, I think."

"Well, come on! Let's order!"

They walk up to the counter, and Hazel grabbed the menu. She scanned it for a minute as she was anxious about taking too long.

"I'll take the rose black bubble tea," The Noise started to order, "and two orders of the fried dumplings." He looked at Hazel and nodded. "You ready?"

"Oh! No, no, I can pay for myself," she fretted.

"Come on," he spoke calmly, "let me treat you. That way, you're not losing anything if you don't like it."

She smiled and shrugged. "Okay, um... I'll get the strawberry milk taro bubble tea and um... the house tonkotsu ramen?"

The cashier smiled and nodded. The Noise paid, and the cashier handed him a beeper. The two sat back down at their table. "I gotta be honest," The Noise vented, "I'm a bit nervous."

Hazel sighed and giggled. "Me too. I don't know why, but this feels so different from when we talk in the cafe."

"Because it is different. A different atmosphere, a different place, different circumstances."

"I'm mostly surprised you asked me out. When we were in the cafe, I thought you were just being nice."

He laughed. "I thought the same thing! I thought you were just giving good customer service."

"Yes and no. I mean, of course I wanted to give good service to The Noise."

"Please," he smiled, "just call me Theodore."

"Wait," she raised her eyebrows, "is that your real name?"

"Yeah. Theodore Noise is my actual name. I was born with it."

"The Noise... Theodore Noise... Oh, my God, that's so clever!"

"Heh heh..." He blushed. "Thanks. Not as clever as your French 'Noisette' thing."

She laughed. "We both have clever little plays on our names, huh?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"So," she started, "tell me about your line of work! What's it like being a celebrity actor?"

"Eh, it has its pros and cons."

"I remember you telling me that at the cafe."

"Yeah. It's great, but it can suck at times. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun most of the time, but it's still work, ya know?"

"I get it. I have the same feeling about working in my cafe. It's nice, and I'm glad I do it, but some days are just so grating."

"Running a whole business is grating in general. Would you be surprised if I told you I do office work, too?"

"Really? That's crazy!"

"Well, yeah, but I'm the CEO. I have to do interviews and paperwork for employees, I have to proofread scripts, go over pilots, go through reviews and ratings. The list goes on and on."

"That sounds awful!"

"It's not the worst, but I prefer to be on set."

"I can sort of relate. I have to do all of my own financial and accounting assets. It's miserable! I get it wrong all the time, I'm terrible at math!"

"Same here. Math is the bane of my existence. Thankfully, I have an accountant for all of that. She's also my financial advisor."

Before Hazel could respond, the pager started beeping. A couple shrimp employees came out with their food, and Noise waved them down. They came over and served them their food and drinks. Hazel was impressed, the food looked amazing. Theodore handed them the pager and thanked them. She stopped them before they left, "Can we get some chopsticks?" One of the employees left and came back with two pairs of chopsticks. Noise looked nervously at the chopsticks. Hazel thanked the employee before they walked off.

"Those dumplings look amazing," she said.

"Yeah," he responded, "they're great."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just um... I don't know how to use chopsticks."

"Really?"

"Mhm. It's a bit embarrassing, I know."

"No, it's not! Here, I'll show you."

She took her chopsticks and held them in her hand. "See," she pointed it out, "you hold them like this." He put the chopsticks in his hand. He tried his best, but it felt so awkward. "You use your thumb, index, and middle finger to control them back and forth." He tried to pick up one of the dumplings and dunk it in the cup of sauce, but he dropped it. It splashed and left a small mess on the table. He blushed and seemed flustered. She giggled, "It's okay. It takes a minute to get the hang of. You can keep trying, or you can just eat with a fork if it makes you feel more comfortable."

"I think I'll just use a fork. I'd hate to make a mess." He grabbed a napkin and wiped up the small spill. "Thanks for showing me, though."

She smiled. "You're welcome! Don't worry about being bad at it. It takes some practice."

He laughed, but he still felt a bit embarrassed. "Anyways, did you want to try one of the dumplings?"

"Oh, um, what's in them?"

"It's a mixture of chicken, pork, cabbage, and carrots."

"Nah, I don't really like cabbage."

"Neither do I, but you can't even taste it. It's really good with the sauce, too. They make their own soy sauce."

"Alright, I guess I'll try one."

He scooted his plate to the center of the table so she wouldn't have to reach over it. She picked one up with her chopsticks and dipped it in the sauce. She put her hand underneath to catch any of the drips as she took a bite. Her eyes widened. She chewed it and swallowed. "Wow," she exclaimed, "that's amazing! You weren't kidding!"

"I know! I was super shocked when I tried it. There's only six of them, so that's why I usually get two orders. They also have them boiled, but I like the taste of the pan fried."

She took a bite of her ramen and slurped it up. "Oh! Sorry, that was rude."

"How is it rude? That's how you're supposed to eat ramen."

"Oh, thank God, you actually know the etiquette."

"Yep. I'm not entirely ignorant."

"I didn't mean-"

"No, no, I know what you meant," he chuckled.

The two went on to eat their meals and drink their teas. They small talked here and there in between bites. The tension wasn't as high, and the mood had lightened a lot. Hazel mixed all the toppings into her soup. "You want a bite," she asked.

"Mm-mm," Theo shook his head. "I'm not the biggest fan of ramen."

"Really?"

"Yep. I've tried it a couple times. It just wasn't for me."

"That's fair. At least you tried it."

As they tried to enjoy their meal, they were interrupted by a group of fans. Three women had approached the table. "Sorry to interrupt," said one of them, "but are you The Noise?" Theodore sighed, "Yep, that's me. I'm kind of in the middle of something, though."

"Can we get your autograph?"

"Yeah, but make it quick. Got a pen and paper?"

One of the girls scrambled over to the cashier to borrow a pen. He didn't have paper other than receipts, so he gave them three blank ones. She rushed back over to The Noise and handed him the pen and papers. He signed all three and handed each of them one. They looked at each other and squealed. As they walked away you can her each of them say;

"I'm gonna get mine framed!"

"I'm gonna get mine laminated!"

"I'm gonna eat mine!"

Theodore looked over at Hazel. "Sorry about that." He looked slightly annoyed. "That happens a lot. I swear it's been happening more and more."

Hazel smiled. "That's okay! Don't let it ruin our meal."

He smiled back. "Yeah. You're right."

-

The two finished their meal and continued to chat for a bit longer. It had gotten dark out, and they had already been together for hours. The awkward tension had faded away completely. It was time for them to part ways. Theo held the door for her as they left. She turned around at him and had a huge smile.

"I had a great time tonight," she giggled.

Theodore smiled back at her. "I'm glad to hear that. I did, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Come here!" She held her arms up, and he hugged her. They held each other and swayed for a bit. Hazel's heart raced as she rested her head on his chest. She felt something with him, something special. He was sweeter than she thought, especially with how bashful he got when he first saw her. She thought it was cute when he got embarrassed for not being able to use chopsticks. She was still a bit in denial. Maybe it was just her being in her own head and being intrigued by her celebrity crush.

What she didn't know is that he felt the same. His heart was also racing. What he classified as "totally not a date" had quickly turned into one. He already felt comfortable with her. He could actually be and act like himself. She was so soft and comfortable to hold. She was beautiful and kind. He realized that she wasn't just being nice to him when he was at the cafe. She was genuinely being herself.

They pulled away after hugging and swaying for minutes straight. He dragged his hand down her arm as the hug ended and held her hand. She looked down as she blushed.

"You want me to drive you home," he asked.

"No, I'm okay. I'll take the cab."

"Okay," he smiled at her, "just thought I'd ask."

"But I would appreciate it if you stand with me while I wait for one. I don't uh... really feel safe in the city at night."

"Of course."

They stood together side by side as the date had come to a great end. He looked at her, finally realizing that he did like her. He swallowed his fear as he said, "Wanna do this again, sometime?"

She looked at him in delight. "Of course!"

"You have my number. Call me or text me anytime. Even if we don't make plans, I'd love to get to know you better."

"Absolutely! Just don't let me interrupt you at work again!"

They laughed as a taxi pulled up. She kept eye contact as she debated kissing him, but she decided it was way too soon. Instead, she pulled him in for another hug. "Thank you," she softly said into his ear. She got into the taxi and waved to him as it pulled off. She watched out the window as they drove through the city. All of the lights were so beautiful. Even though the city was full of crime, it was also filled with grace. She couldn't stop smiling as she thought about him.

He watched as the taxi pulled off to make sure she was safe. He walked off into the parking lot and back into his car. He huffed as he sat. He pulled the pack of cigarettes out of his dashboard and hit it three times on his hand before he opened it up and took out a cigarette. He grabbed a lighter and shielded the flame from the wind as he lit the cigarette and took a long drag. He exhaled, "Ugh, fuck." Despite the good time, he couldn't help but feel anxious. He was worried that something would go wrong, that he would ruin it somehow.

[decks-writing-blog]

I Think I'm Sick Chapter 1/2: I'm Stuck

Summary: Something's wrong with Benrey.

[A/N] This is part of my WeverTF Benrey Is Series. I have been sitting on this fic for almost 2 months now. I was too busy with Halloween stuff and editing and uploading my 'Gordon Swap' fic to post it but here it finally is! it was supposed to be a drabble, it even fills I request someone put in the comments of my 'Here to Stay Drabbles' that I already had an idea of my own to cover, but then it got so long I had to split it into two chapters and thus it became it's own fic. What that request is I won't say here, as I normally would, because it gives away the solution to the problem.

~

Benrey was familiar with the concept of being sick. The humans around him got sick occasionally, resulting in much complaining if it wasn’t a huge problem and an increase in listless lethargy if it was serious. Gordon had gotten sick a few times in the past year and a half or so they’d been living together. Mostly the complaining about it kind of sick. That was enough to at least have an idea on what it was supposed to feel like, right? Bad in a way that wasn’t emotional, exhausting and often slimy and achy.

He’d never thought himself capable of being sick but what other way could he describe the feeling? He wasn’t coughing, leaking snot, and nothing hurt so maybe it didn’t count. But he did feel bad in a way he’d never felt before and it was making him tired. Just a little at first but it was getting worse instead of going away even after a full night’s sleep. Trying to numb himself to it didn’t work. But still he other than for sleeping more often and for longer, he was able to mostly ignore it right up until…

Phasing through the door that separated the gaming room from the hall should’ve been easy. He’d done it a thousand times before. Gordon was home from work so it was time to head out to greet him. And why bother opening the door if he could just phase through it? Except it wasn’t easy this time. It felt thick and solid as if it were actively resisting him. He only got partially through before he got stuck.

His face was out as was part of his torso and most of the leg he’d been stepping forwards with. Most of him was either still on the other side of the door or in it. He hadn’t had trouble phasing through stuff since he’d first been learning how to. When he was super tired, it was a bit harder, like pushing through thick sludge instead of a film, never like this though. He wasn’t even that tired, just the little bit that had become the norm since he’d started feeling ill.

Struggling didn’t help, instead it made him feel more stuck. It was harder to breath when a not insignificant part of him was sharing space with the wood of the door. Being trapped sucked. He couldn’t move or escape or anything.

“Gordon!” He didn’t like whatever that note in his voice was. It wasn’t fear, was it? There was no reason to be afraid. He was fine… mostly, just stuck and maybe a bit sick, enough that it was apparently affecting his powers now too.

Either way, it summoned Gordon into the hall rather quickly. He hadn’t even taken off his robot arm yet and the wrapping on his gunhand was only partially undone. “You okay? What’s wrong?” Just the sight of him even if he was off to the side – Benrey couldn’t turn his head to look at him properly – was comforting because surely he would know what to do about this. He could fix it.

“I’m stuck.”

“What do you mean you’re stuck? How’d you get stuck?”

“Dunno. Help?”

Gordon stepped closer, placing himself fully into Benrey’s line of sight as he looked him up and down. “Uh… how? What do you need me to do?”

Benrey didn’t know. He’d never been stuck before. Gordon was the one who was supposed to know. The longer he was stuck, the more he needed to be unstuck. “I don’t know. Just uh… You’re smart. Figure it out.” He struggled, pushing forward. This time he moved a little but that moment of hope was dashed a second later wen he was locked in place again. All he’d accomplished was getting more of himself inside the door, making even normal movement harder. “Help.” Gosh, he sounded pathetic even to himself. He wasn’t being hurt, he was just stuck.

“All right. All right. Just… don’t panic, okay? You’re going to be fine. We’re gonna get you out of there.”

“I’m not…” Except he wasn’t particularly far away from starting to panic. Being stuck was worse than being hurt. Phasing through stuff was like his thing. Outside of the one material purpose-built to contain him that they’d destroyed and buried the remnants of in the desert, nothing could block his movement. … Except now this door apparently.

“If you can’t get yourself out we’ll call over Dr. Coomer and he’ll break the door, no problem. So just deep breaths and try to maybe try to go backwards. It looks like there’s more of you on the other than this side so maybe that’ll be easier.”

Benrey clung to Gordon’s words, focusing on them instead of the pressure the of the door around him, pressing down on him. Backwards he could do. It should be easier.

When he tried, nothing happened, making his breath hitch. What if he was stuck in this door forever? What if he could never phase through anything ever again?

“You want me to go ahead and call the others over to break the door? I’m sure Dr. Coomer could break it down no problem.”

“No.” Being freaked out about something so stupid was embarrassing. And Gordon was still the only one who knew he had a thing about being trapped in places he couldn’t escape from. He’d called it ‘claustrophobia’ even though Benrey still felt he shouldn’t have any kind of phobia because he shouldn’t be that afraid of anything even things he did sometimes have nightmares about. Not being able to move freely sucked in a very specifically horrible way though.

“Okay. How ‘bout we try opening the door and then, I’ll pull it forward while you pull backwards.” See? He was smart. Benrey hadn’t been asking him for help because he was frightened but because he’d known Gordon would have a good idea on what to do.

The door opened inward, necessitating Benrey backpedal with it once Gordon turned the knob, allowing it to swing freely. A bit awkward but he couldn’t exactly loose balance and fall over when the door was so straight. He managed to pull back until he was a short distance away from the wall.

Gordon placed himself in front of him, angled to pull the door closed. He grasped the knob with his flesh hand, the edge of the door with his robotic one, hooking the gunhand underneath it as well. “You ready?”

Benrey tried to nod but couldn’t with his head still in the door. “Yeah.”

“Three… two… one. Go.”

While Gordon pulled on the door, Benrey pushed against it, using his hand not trapped inside it as leverage. Nothing seemed to happened except for an awkward and clumsy tug of war. Benrey closed his eyes and focused on the parts of himself that need to phase back through. When he was still new to it, he’d had to really think about it about whenever he passed through anything thick. And then… the door felt like thick sludge; not easy or pleasant to pass through but possible.

After a few seconds it got a bit easier and then his face was in it and he could see or breath. Blessedly that only lasted a few moments before his head was through, leaving him gasping. A little bit more and the rest of him was out too. He was free!

Gordon stumbled back but caught himself against he door jam. “Success. Now uh…” Pushing the door aside, he stepped closer. “You okay? Has that ever happened before?”

“Uh… no.”

“No, you’re not okay? Or, no, that never happened before?”

“Both. I think I’m sick.” He hadn’t want to tell Gordon. Even after more than a year, it still felt weird when Gordon worried about him. Not always a bad weird but it was still easier when they were just hanging out or cuddling.

“Oh. Okay. Being sick isn’t good but it’s an explanation we can work with. How serious is it? Taking you to see a doctor isn’t really an option so I’m not sure what we would do if it is serious but… we’d try something.”

“I said ‘I think I’m sick’. I don’t know if uh… it really counts. It’s probably…” He’d been planning to say ‘nothing’ but after what just happened, he couldn’t exactly believe that anymore. So he cut himself off instead as he glared at the door, now left only ajar. Should he try again? Maybe with just a hand this time. It could’ve been a fluke, right?

“All right. Other than what just happened, what leads you to think you might be sick?”

“I feel bad. Not like um, hurt or sad or like I did something mean or whatever just… bad and wrong physically. Started like uh… a couple weeks ago is when I first noticed it or whatever. And it’s been getting worse. Part of it is I feel tired all the time even when I shouldn’t And now…” He gestured to the door. His powers were acting up. How badly though? Did he dare try any of his other powers?

“I would say that counts as being sick. Feeling bad and tired is like the main thing, typically.” Gordon stepped forward and lifted his flesh hand to press to Benrey’s forehead. “You don’t feel like you’re running a fever but uh… I’m not sure that means anything. I don’t even know if you even can run a fever.” He pulled his hand back as he stepped away. “You should rest. Take it easy for a few days.”

“That’s boring.” Not that he didn’t often take it easy and enjoy it but the ‘should’ was what made it a problem.

“Yeah, I know. But that’s probably you’re best bet at getting better sooner. Go sit on the couch. I’ll make you some soup.”

“Soup’ll make it better?” That was the go-to thing for humans, right? Maybe it was cure. Would it work for him too?

“It might. You don’t sound like whatever you have is making you congested or anything so maybe not a lot but it might help a little especially since its hot.”

“Okay.” He was kind of hungry anyway. And if Gordon was going to make it for him how could he decline? With a sigh he walked over and sat on the couch again. His game as sill paused on screen so he picked up the controller and resumed playing. Video games counted as taking it easy, right? As long as he didn’t play anything he got too intensely into anyway.

Gordon quickly returned to the room. Not with soup but instead the heated blanket. He even plugged it in and turned it on for him. He then lift for another few seconds, bringing Cait Sith with him this time to deposit onto Benrey’s lap. Apparently unbothered by the move, she circled a bit before curling up for a nap, her purring barely audible over the sound of the TV. Gordon’s third return took significantly longer but was still only a few minutes. This time he brought the promised soup in a big bowl letting off a cloud of steam. Benrey traded him the controller for it.

Between the heated blanket, sleeping cat on his lap, and hot soup, Benrey was about as cozy as he could possibly be as he settled in to watch Gordon play in his stead. Maybe being sick wasn’t so bad if it meant Gordon brought him things. Still a bit scary to lose his ability to move freely through stuff but already that felt distant. Probably Gordon was right. He was right about a lot of things after all and knew far more about being sick due to personal experience. Benrey just needed to take it easy for a little while and he’d be fine. A week or two at most, he could handle that.

A week later

“Hey Benrey, you… awake?” Gordon spoke in a whisper but Benrey had been close enough to being awake for it to pull him the rest of the way there anyway.

He blinked open his eyes to look up at him, leaning over him. Without waking Benrey even a little, he’d gotten out of bed and gotten ready for work. He’d been gone long enough that the blankets were no longer warm. Benrey pulled them up a bit tighter around himself anyway. How was he still this tired after sleeping all night for the third night in a row?“Huh?”

“I didn’t mean to wake you so sorry if I did. But uh… you want me to stay home today?” His gunhand clicked softly but quickly as he rapidly turned it back and forth, betraying his anxiety even more than his worried expression. Benrey hated making him worried.

“Why?”

“Cause uh… you’re not doing well. So I figured maybe I should stay home to take care of you.”

As if brought on by finally acknowledging it, Benrey’s illness had gone from a minor discomfort to getting out of bed being a struggle now. As had become the pattern, he felt even worse today than he had yesterday. The bad feeling had become a deep ache throughout his entire form that he couldn’t numb himself to – another power he’d lost presumably. He hadn’t told Gordon about that yet but maybe he should. Especially since he wasn’t trying to hide it anymore, probably couldn’t even if he did try.

Shaking a little with the strain of it, he pushed himself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. “You don’t gotta.”

“I know I don’t have to but… I’m worried about you, man. This isn’t… I’m starting to think that maybe something’s seriously wrong and we should be doing something. But I don’t know what. I know the most about you so if anyone can come up with a way to treat you, it’s me but I don’t have a clue. I’m not even that kind of doctor.”

Benrey should reassure him that he was fine. That he didn’t need to worry so much. But… what words could he possibly use to make it convincing? Also, it would be a lie. Even after all this time, it was still hard but he tried not to lie to Gordon about being fine because that supposedly made things even less fine. Annoying as it was, he’d been honest about not being fine enough times by now to know it did indeed help sometimes. Besides, he was too exhausted to come up with a good lie right now anyway. “It hurts.”

Gordon flinched. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone straight into admitting that. “How bad?”

Well, if he was already being honest about not being fine, he might as well go all the way with it. “Worse than yesterday when it uh… started or whatever. I can’t make it go away either. I tried. And it hurts worse when I try to shapeshift. Which I tried last night ‘cause it feels like uh… like I’m an ice cream starting to melt in the sun or something. My bones are getting soft and I can’t fix them or uh, change them like I’m supposed to.” Without them, his form would have no structure. He’d be just a pile of goo again. “I think uh… all my powers are fucked.” Even all the ways Gordon was taking care of him weren’t enough to make up for it anymore. It sucked.

“All right. I’m gonna call in and stay home with you then. We’ll try to figure out what’s wrong too, if we can.” If anyone could, it was him. He was smart like that.

Late Evening

“… said all his powers are fucked up.”

Benrey paused for a moment before creeping further down the hall, allowing him to peek into the living room. Gordon was there, pacing with his back currently to Benrey. He was on the phone, presumably with one or more of the Science Team members.

Retreating a little, Benrey leaned against the wall. Both because his body felt too heavy to make standing normally comfortable but also so that he was more obscured in the wall’s shadow. They were talking about him so he had the right to listen in. Especially since they hadn’t told the rest of the team that whatever illness he had was effecting his powers. Not an intentional omission, Benrey just hadn’t wanted to talk about getting stuck in the door so all he’d said was that he was sick and not feeling well. But Gordon was bringing it up with at least one of them now. Him being the one to do it was preferable though.

“Yeah, exactly,” Gordon said in response to whatever had been said on the other side of the line. “And not only that but what if the illness itself kills him? People die all the time from all sorts of diseases. What if it’s like alien cancer or something?”

Oh. Benrey hadn’t considered that. What if it did kill him? Normally not a problem but what if it disabled his ‘come back from the dead’ power too? It made sense that it would, right? All his other powers were screwy after all. He’d even tried the Black Mesa Sweet Voice earlier at Gordon’s prompting, producing nothing but the sound, no colorful bubbles. Meaning if he died like this there was a good chance it would be permanent. And if whatever was making him like this was bad enough to kill him, it almost certainly would be.

He ground his teeth as he pressed himself further back against the wall. That realization made him want to curl up and hide. … That wouldn’t get him away from the possibility though. The moments between dying and coming back were like a deep dreamless sleep. A fine prospect right up until the idea of it being permanent presented itself. Everything that he was could just vanish and be gone forever and there’d be nothing he could do about it.

“Yes, yes. I know.” Gordon’s voice pulled Benrey back. “Probably it’s not that bad. But it is bad. Which brings me back to my point that we should definitely be trying to figure out a way to cure him of it if we can.”

A pause as the person on the other end spoke.

“Okay, thanks. I should probably get back to him though. He was napping when I got up but he’s been doing that on and off all day today and yesterday so who knows when he’ll wake up?”

Another pause, shorter this time.

“Yeah. See you guys tomorrow then.”

Now Benrey could head back to the gaming room and pretend he’d just woken up before Gordon returned, maybe act like he was just coming out into the hall. But… he didn’t. Instead he stood there, still sagging heavily against the wall, and waited.

Upon stepping into the hall Gordon froze for a moment as he caught sight of Benrey. He quickly tried to cover it up but he was always bad at that. “Oh uh, hey. You feeling any better?”

No. Standing for as long as he had already wasn’t helping. He didn’t need to say that though, Gordon already knew he wasn’t doing well. “You uh… really think I might die of this?”

Gordon grimaced and averted his gaze. “You heard that huh?”

“Yeah. So… you know.” He wanted his question answered.

“Um, I’m sure it’s probably not that serious. You don’t need to…”

“Nah. No comforting. Be honest. You really think it might kill me or you just worrying ‘cause you like to worry ‘bout stuff?” Was it something he thought had a good chance of happening or was he getting anxiety but an unlikelihood again?

Gordon was silent for a long few seconds as he set to fiddling with his gunhand before finally looking back up at Benrey. “Maybe. It is a bit early to start really worrying about that too much. But if it’s messing with all your other powers, why wouldn’t it disable whatever makes you come back from the dead too? And if it keeps getting worse at the rate it has been, which has been pretty fast, then… yeah, it could be fatal. We know almost nothing about whatever is wrong with you so we can’t really discount that possibility even if actively worrying about it isn’t going to help anyone, especially not you.” Whoever he’d been talking to had no doubt been the one to tell him that. Worrying to the point of getting flustered and frustrated whenever something bad happened was just kind of what he did.

Benrey nodded. He’d been hoping for a different answer but he couldn’t pretend to be surprised. Since it had started messing with his powers he’d deteriorated too fast for it to not be an obviously serious problem. The thought of it killing him for good was new though. He’d never considered that possible before. … “It’s scary.” Not having his powers was one of the scariest things he could think of. Second only to losing all his friends. Which if this killed him would happen. He wouldn’t be able to be aware of it but that didn’t make the idea better. If anything, it made it worse. He wouldn’t be able to hang out with any of them anymore and wouldn’t even be capable of being sad about that or bored over not being able to play video games or do anything else anymore. How fucked up was that? No more anything ever.

“I know. I… know.” Gordon reached out and put his hand on Benrey shoulder. “I was just talking with the rest of the Science Team though and I don’t know how we’re going to do it but tomorrow we’re gonna try to figure out a way to help or at least maybe what’s wrong.”

“What if uh… what if it can’t be fixed though?”

There was a long pause before Gordon answered. “All we can do is try. Let’s not think about the alternative, huh? I know we uh… probably do that more than we should but what else can we do? Let’s go back to resting for now though.”

Not thinking about it too much sounded like a great idea. Benrey pushed off the wall and took Gordon’s offered arm for support. He wasn’t weak enough yet that he needed the help making it back down the hall but it was nice to have anyway. And if he kept getting worse at the rate he had been, he probably would need the help soon. Being sick sucked.

~

Next Chapter

[seenoversundown]

Sparrow Of The Dawn : Chapter Seven

Sam x Willa (Fem OC)

Warnings: Anxiety (Normal and Flying related) Mentions of Plane Crashes (all in panicked thoughts) Lost Luggage (it can be a rough time for some people) Angry Sam (if you squint) , and Fluff (but like..if you get Sam Feels, you chose this)

Word Count: 7.1k

Summary: Sam unfortunately finds himself in not so meet cute with Willa. Hopeful that he doesn't cross her path again; the world works in mysterious ways and not always in your favor.

Author's Note: I hope you're ready 🤭

Stuck In the Middle With You - Stealers Wheel "Well, I don't know why I came here tonight, I got the feeling that something aint right, I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair, And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs."

“Alright, repeat after me.” Quinn says after placing their car in park. They turn to me, hands extended as they explain. “No annoying man is worth your shot at this job.” 

“No annoying man is worth my shot at this job.” I repeat, also turning to face them for the pep talk they're giving me. 

“Good. Just.. don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do out of state. Most things I wouldn't do out of state are felonies, there’s a lot of red tape with crossing state lines.. so, assault is off the table.” Their nonchalant attitude about committing crimes will always make me laugh. The thing is, Quinn doesn’t look like the type of person who would commit a crime, but also definitely looks like the type of person who would commit a crime. I don’t put anything past them because I’m sure whatever they’ve done if they’ve done it, they’ve one hundred percent gotten away with it. 

“Assault is off the table.” 

“Right. My knitting needles are still available if they’re needed when you’re HOME.” a definite emphasis on home.

I take a deep breath, centering myself for the morning, trip, and week ahead. Oh, it’s going to be a long one.

“You got this, don’t you stress that pretty little head. Just text me if you’re feeling particularly violent.” 

“Okay, okay. You’re right.” I pull them in for a hug. “I got this.” Once again repeating their words back to myself. 

I hop out of their car and tug my definitely overpacked luggage from the back seat. 

“I’ll text you when I land, okay?” I call back to them and shut the door, and turn toward the entrance to the airport.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

After I checked my luggage, I went searching for the gate. I find a seat, sit down, and wait. Albeit very early, but you can never be too sure with flights. It could be busy, or they could have changed the gate; there are too many variables to things going wrong. I decided to send Sam a text to gauge when to expect him while I sit here. 

Willa: What’s your ETA?

I try to keep it simple enough, but as the minutes tick by I start to get more anxious. Why are men so terrible at texting? I wait another few minutes and text him again.

Willa: Are you on your way?

Could I be any more like an annoying girlfriend? God. Ew, don’t think about Sam and Girlfriend in the same sentence. 

I check my phone for what feels like the millionth time this morning. Where the hell is he? Scrolling through my apps trying to distract myself to no avail. I close out and open my text thread with Sam, which only consists of me texting him. He still hasn’t answered my last one, and his read receipts aren’t on so I don’t know if he’s ignoring me or just hasn’t bothered to look at his phone. Which, why would he not check his phone? We’re seated together, we’re flying together; why would he not bother to communicate with me? Unless..

No. 

No way? 

He wouldn’t bail, would he? 

I mean, I don’t exactly know him super well but.. He wouldn’t.

Right?

My heart starts to race in my chest as I begin to panic. I stand up and look around, trying to see if I can spot him through the crowd of people walking down the hallway. I stand on my tiptoes, trying to gain the tiniest bit more field of view when I see him. Casually walking down the aisle, breakfast sandwich in hand, headphones on, paying nobody any mind. 

I seethe.

He smiles at me when he catches my eye. I swear it takes an age for him to finally meet me with how slow he’s walking. Like he has all the time in the world.

“Morning, Birdie.” He says cheerfully, taking another bite of his sandwich. It astounds me how little regard he has for other people. Just living life flying by the seat of his pants, not worrying about the time or anyone else involved. Especially not if that anyone is me. 

“Where the hell have you been, Sam? We board in–” I double-check the time. “Ten minutes!” I say exasperatedly. 

“I know.” He looks confused. How could he be confused about this? The email stated explicitly boarding begins at 5:50am. Oh, it's too early in the morning for me to be dealing with this. “That’s why I’m here? Why on earth are you irritated before 6 in the morning?” 

“Why do you always show up at the last minute?” I snap back.

“I’m still early, they haven’t started boarding yet. Jesus, calm down, okay. It’s gonna be fine.” He takes the last bite of his sandwich and throws the wrapper in the nearby trash, wiping his hands on the front of his gray sweatpants. God, his gray sweatpants. I shake my head of the thought, remembering I’m angry at him and refusing to let the thought of his ass in tight tapered gray sweatpants distract me.

Oh, I could hit him, I am that mad. Get it together. You will not let this man ruin this experience for you just because he wants to be a bonehead first thing in the morning. What was it that Quinn said again?

I take a long breath in, hold it–

“He’s not worth my job. No across-state line crimes. Assault is off the table. Knitting needles in case of emergency.”

– and release. 

I choose silence instead of violence. 

The attendant comes over the speaker and starts announcing boarding schedules. We have pre-selected seats and are, thankfully, sitting on the side with only two. We at least won’t have to deal with any strangers for this leg; PMW is a small airport, so of course, we have a layover to get to the West Coast. I hope I can convince Sam to let me have the window seat. Naturally, we’re one of the last groups to board. I’m just happy I checked my suitcase and just brought my backpack for the flights so I don’t have to worry about the overhead bins. Can’t say the same for Sam though, as he stands next to me with his backpack on and duffle bag gripped in his hand. 

When our group gets called, Sam heads over first; I sort of just cower behind him like a small child. Annoyingly latching onto the back of his cream-colored henley. We take awkward baby steps through the aisle as people file into their seats. I give Sam a gentle reminder of our seat numbers, 11A, and B, in front of the wings where it's quieter but not the emergency exit.

He pops the overhead compartment open and shoves his duffle bag inside then he slides in, right to the window seat.

“Uhm. Can I..” I start nervously. “Can I actually take the window seat?”

He stares up at me. His mouth hung open, clearly confused. “Why?” he asks.

I roll my eyes, irritated that we’re holding up the line to some degree, as people mumble and push past me. “Seeing out the window.. Helps.” trying my best to tiptoe around the elephant in the room.

“Helps?” He parrots me. 

“I hate flying, Sam. Okay? Can I please just sit in the window?” I rush out under my breath, finally spilling the beans. If he had just an ounce of intuition about him. Nevermind. 

“Ohhhhh.” He says, standing up, well, standing as best he can under the overhead bin. “That’s why you were being so psychotic this morning.”

He stands up straight in front of me in the middle of the aisle, waving me in with his hand. 

“It’s not psychotic to want someone to show up on time.” I slip past him and slide into the window seat. Shoving my bag under the seat in front of me. He follows, plopping down next to me and doing the same with his bag.

“I was on time, just not early. I’m actually always on time, you’ll find.” He leans an arm against the armrest between us, placing an inquisitive finger to his chin. “I’ve not once been late since you’ve known me, have I?”

I decline to answer, and instead raise the shade on the window and pull out my headphones, ready to drown him out once the flight attendants are finished with their instructions. Because, yes I do pay attention to those. You can never be too careful. 

The plane starts to move, and instantly my heart is beating like a drum in my throat. I wring my fingers together, focusing on the friction of my hands. The heat of my palms only soothes me so much. 

Sam leans over the armrest again and whispers, “You can hold my hand if you’re scared, it’s okay.” I look down to see his palm staring right back at me. I glance up to his face trying to determine if the smile he wears is genuine or if he’s being a dick. 

My pride won’t allow me to accept the former, so I reply, “I’d rather eat dirt, actually. Thanks for making fun of me.” Then I cross my arms and stare out the window. 

“I wasn’t – Nevermind.” He adjusts in his seat and puts his own headphones back on his ears. 

The relief I feel knowing this first flight is a short one is minimal at best. Just when I get used to being in the air, we’ll have to touch back down and then I’m waiting in the airport to do it all over again. 

I pull my headphones over my ears and choose a playlist I specifically curated to be relaxing for the flight. I tilt my head back and focus on anything but the low hum of the engine. Just as I start to forget, I’m thousands of feet in the air..

Turbulence. Fuck.

I jolt upright and clasp my hands together, squeezing them together so tightly I’m on the verge of breaking a finger. I feel a hand touch my forearm. I peek open one eye, despite knowing that the only person that could be touching me right now is Sam. I look up at him, and he gestures for me to remove my headphones. 

“It’s a short flight, so they won’t go up as high. Meaning there will be more turbulence than normal as we fly through the clouds.” 

Great.

Wonderful. 

Amazing.

That makes me soooooo happy, actually. My breathing picks up, and I trying to calm my nerves and focus on my breathing. In through my nose, and out through my mouth. Sam sneaks into my line of sight again.

“Hey.” He gives me a gentle smile and I might find it sweet if I wasn’t losing my mind at the moment. “We’ll only be up here for ten minutes tops, then we descend. You have nothing to worry about.”

Easy for you to say. I resist the urge to snap at him and go back to my breathing techniques.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

I have never in my life been more thrilled to touch solid ground. Every time the plane shook, I squeezed my eyes and hands tighter. I’m surprised I made it out unscathed. Well, relatively unscathed. The skin around my thumbs bore the brunt of my anxiety when I wasn’t trying to be as still as possible. Somehow, my logic was if I can stay still, we won’t plummet to the ground to our untimely deaths. At one point, we dipped what I’m sure was a normal amount, and I swore that was the end of me. 

“I’m hungry.” Sam says to me as we walk through the tunnel to the airport. “Think I’m gonna roam around to find some.”

I stop midstep. “No. I don’t trust you. We’re going to find the gate.” I say.

A statement, not a question. 

“But Birdie, I’m hungry.” He complains, like a five-year-old. Jesus, if I wanted to tote around an annoying child, I would have had one by now. 

“We’re going to go and find the gate, Sam.” I don’t let him argue with me. “Please, don’t do this to me. I’m already stressed, and I don’t trust you not to make it worse by showing up at the last minute again.” We finally step into the gate. Airports always smell so bad, and the Newark airport is no different. No matter what time of year, they always smell like sweaty socks. Gross.

“How about this,” he counters, and I wait for his terrible idea. “We go find the gate–”

“Yes! Thank you!” I exclaim triumphantly. I honestly thought I’d have to fight him harder on that. He throws me a pointed look as we walk side by side.

“How about we go find the gate, we see it exists, and then we go get food. Together.”

I contemplate his words, mulling them over in my head. I’m not usually one to eat while flying. Due to all the nerves and stress that I’ll miss a flight or get lost. I don’t fly much for this reason.

“Come on, Bird. We have a two-hour layover, and if I don’t eat, I’ll be cranky, and there’s no vacancy in the cranky department because we both know that spot is taken by you.”   

“Hey!” I protest. He’s.. not exactly wrong, though. Am I cranky? Yes. Do I have a reason to be cranky? Yes. Come to think of it.. I don’t think I’ve actually seen Sam cranky. I’ve seen him surprised, like when I yelled at him at the farmers market. I’ve seen him happy, like when we won the contest. I’ve seen him sassy, because yes sassy is the word I’d use to describe when he bickers with me. But I’ve never seen him cranky or mad even. He always matches my snarkiness tit for tat, but he never seems irritated by it. It’s one of the reasons I don’t fully mind having to do this project with him. He’s talented, which makes the work part easier. And he’s a total pain in my ass. Mostly because I just.. Don’t understand him.

“So…” He waits with anticipation. 

“Okay.” I give in; I feel like I’m always giving in to him. “We’ll see where the gate is, and then we’ll go get food.”

We make our way through the crowd. Luckily, the gate we have to be at is just at the next terminal over, so we don’t have to walk very far. Sam, however, is a very tall man, and I find myself struggling to match his stride, even at a casual walking speed. Or what I’m sure is casual for him. I wrap my hand around his elbow and give him a gentle squeeze as if to remind him of my presence. Just another example of Sam acting like he’s the center of the universe. He does, at the very least, slow down a little after that, but I don’t let go of his arm. Just in case. 

“There’s our gate, Birdie.” He looks at it lovingly and slips his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “Isn’t she pretty?” he lets out a dramatic sigh. 

“Yeah, okay. I get it. Let's get you some food before you wither away and die.”

Choosing a place to eat goes swimmingly when I point out somewhere, and he turns it down. Stupid vegetarian. Finally, we end up at one of those marketplaces that’s more like a rest stop than an actual place to eat. 

Sam buys half the store worth of snacks, and I stick to just a bag of goldfish and a coke until he yells over to me. “Hey, can you grab me sushi if there’s some over there?” He points to the cooler. 

Does he really think he’s going to find sushi here? In the airport? I look anyway just to appease him, and when I find none, I check out. I grab my two items and meet him in the hallway, and we head back to the gate to sit until we board. Thankfully.

We find a couple seats next to an outlet and put all our belongings on the seat between us. 

“There was no sushi?” He looks over at me with the biggest puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen. Jesus. Have his eyes always been that pretty?

“No, Sam. There was no sushi.” I say, hardly wanting to disappoint him. 

“Damn.” he mutters, shoving a couple chips into his mouth. 

“This is Newark. Did you honestly expect there would be sushi?” I ask, opening my bag of goldfish. 

He shrugs, “I dunno. Ya never know.” 

“I thought you couldn’t eat sushi, being a vegetarian and all.” I question skeptically, popping a few crackers into my mouth and opening my bottle of coke. 

“Sushi is my one exception.” He whispers to me like it’s a dirty secret. “Don’t tell Daniel.”  He says as if Daniel and I are in cahoots with each other to conspire against him. I’ve never even met the man. Not officially, anyway. I’ve seen him at the bar a few times, but we've only exchanged a handful of words as he’s checked my ID a time or two. 

“My lips are sealed.” I pretend to lock my mouth and throw away the key. He smiles at me, and it reaches his eyes. Bright and happy. How he manages to be in such good spirits traveling is beyond me. 

I reach between us, setting aside my goldfish, and dig through my bag for a charger. I spent so long checking my phone and staring at my empty texts from him that the battery is getting low, and the next flight is the longer one. I feel through every corner of my bag; I swore I packed it in and I don’t feel it. I open another compartment and feel around there, nothing. Another, and nothing. God damnit. 

“What’s wrong?” Sam asks, setting his food down next to him. 

“Can you just–” I start pulling out items from my bag and setting them in his hands. His eyes are wide with confusion, but I don’t care. I need to find my charger. 

In what feels like Aggie Cromwell’s endless purse of goodies, I stare down at my now empty camera bag. All the contents strewn between mine and Sam’s laps, his arms overflowing. 

“Uh.. Bird?”

“Ugh! I can’t find my charger.” I lean back in my chair, annoyed, and he laughs. He LAUGHS. The nerve of him.

“I have an extra.” he attempts to hand me some of my things back. I stare at him slack jawed. Okay?

“Well good for you!” I snap back. Mr. Overprepared Kiszka has an extra charger while I’m going to have to buy a new one. He laughs again, his eyes squinting as he does. 

“I mean I have an extra you can borrow. Hold on.” He starts to successfully hand me back my things and I crowd them around my lap. 

“Here you go.” He gives me a small smile, and I grab the charger from him. 

“Uhh, thanks.” I unravel the cord from where it's tucked around itself and plug it into the wall socket next to me. I pause just before I stick the cord into the lightning port on my phone. Why does he have an extra?

“Sam.”

“Yeah?” He doesn’t look up from the book he’s reading. 

“Why do you have an extra charger?” 

“Just in case.” He shrugs, still not making eye contact with me. I have a feeling of what he’s going to say if I press the issue, and I better be wrong. 

“Why?” I push his book out of his view. And he sighs. Oh here it comes.

“Because Birdie.” He adjusts in his seat, putting his bookmark in between the pages and looking me directly in the eye. “Clumsy and forgetful usually go together, and you’re definitely clumsy. Is that what you wanted me to say?”

I’m not forgetful. I’m prepared–I’m overprepared, really. I overpack. I plan, and I plan, and I plan. I am not forgetful. Sufficiently annoyed and again choosing not to argue with him, I start to place my things one by one back in the pockets of my bag. 

With his eyes still watching me, he says, “So.. Do you like the camera bag?” a wide smile spreads across his lips. God damnit. I knew he was going to be like this and still bought one anyway. But to be fair, it was the first bag that popped up in my Google search for ‘camera bags’. He totes his around everywhere he goes, so clearly he thinks it's a good choice. 

“I do. It has lots of pockets for all of my things.” I say.

“Like your rocks.” He holds up a black tourmaline raw chunk, and I pluck it from his fingers and tuck it securely in one of the pockets. 

“Yes, like my rocks. That one is good for travel.” I say matter of factly. My phone buzzes against my leg, drawing my attention away from him.

Quinn: Birdieeeeee, you got some splanin to dooooo

Willa: Not you too 🤦🏻‍♀️

Quinn: Hey! You’re not allowed to protest when I was just trying to be a good, dutiful, stay at home roommate and do your laundry while you’re away. HOWEVER I found these in your hamper

Quinn: [ picture ]

Quinn: I was just wondering, if your ratty old sweatpants are here.. What you’re planning on wearing there?

I groan at their text, earning a curious side-eye from Sam. When we won the competition, an email was sent out informing us that we would be sharing a double room. Despite knowing we’d be in two separate beds I still wanted to seem like I have my shit together. Ratty sweatpants do not say ‘I have my life together.’ They say I’ve worn these through every breakup I’ve ever had and are stained with no less than four different kinds of comfort meals and chocolate syrup from the ice cream I've consumed in them, too. Resulting in the conclusion that my life IS, in fact, a mess. Sue me for cryin’ out loud. My phone buzzes again.

Quinn: Are you wearing your sexy pjs?

Quinn: for HIM?

Quinn: A MAN?!

Quinn: You only wear them for me? ☹️

That causes me to laugh, out loud. 

“Everything okay?” Sam asks, concern written on his features.

“Oh, HA, yeah. Everything is fine. Just roommate stuff.” I explain awkwardly.

Willa: They are not sexy pjs just because they match. I was trying to seem like I have my life together okay. People with matching pjs have their lives together.

Quinn: [ picture ]

Quinn: That’s cold, Wallaby.

Jesus Christ. I stare at a photo of Quinn’s pouting face and promptly redirect my attention to Sam. He’s just been in his henley this whole time. No jacket, no coat, no scarf, and he usually always wears a scarf. 

“Are you not cold?” I let my impulsive thought escape my lips. 

“No.” He says plainly, turning the page to his book. 

“Did you even bring a jacket?” I can’t help myself but ask.

“I packed a jacket, yeah.” He pats his own camera bag. 

“Oh.” Well damn. How am I supposed to respond to that? He shuts his book with his finger still keeping his place.

“Are you cold?” He asks.

“I’m always cold, remember?” I say absentmindedly. 

I always come prepared for traveling because airports are cold, planes are cold, and, in my unfortunate turn of luck, it's cold where we’re going. I get a free vacation to an equally cold place. Not how I pictured California. I wore a black long-sleeve under my cream-colored Patagonia pullover to keep warm. I figured a small coat would be enough, with the beginning of April around the corner. 

“Did you want to borrow it?” He interrupts my thoughts.

“What?”

“My jacket. You said you’re cold. Did you want to borrow it?” 

My eyes go wide at his suggestion, and I can’t seem to make my mouth move in protest. I just sit there with my mouth hanging open like a weirdo, and because I’ve taken too long to answer, he already starts to pull his jacket out of his bag. Oh god.

“Here.” He says, giving me a small smile. I take the jacket from him and straighten it out. Oh. It's the rust-colored jacket he was wearing the first day I saw him at the Farmer’s Market. I slide it around my shoulders and slip my arms through each sleeve, staring down at the ties in lieu of buttons. Sam laughs as I stand there.

“It just ties, Birdie. Here,” His hands, oh god, his hands, work the delicate strings at the front. Tying them in tiny little bows. I’m exactly the same height as him as he stays seated in front of me. When he’s finished, he’s still smiling. “There you go. Perfect.” And I really look at him for what seems like the first time. Oh, this is going to be bad.

“Now Boarding Flight 2637 to San Francisco.” They announce over the intercom. Thank god.

 We’re not the last boarding group this go around so it should go a little easier. We stand slightly out of the way until it's our turn to go; this time, Sam lets me lead. Similar to the last flight, we’re in front of the wings, and he allows me the window seat. It works out better that way because he spent so long trying to fidget with the overhead compartment before sitting down next to me. 

Much like the previous flight, I fight with my nerves. I’m just hoping there isn’t turbulence. We’re in the air for almost seven hours; I don’t think I could handle turbulence for that long. I run through my routine. Taking my headphones out and wrapping them around my neck, double-checking my playlist, slipping my Kindle into an easy-to-grab area just in case I am calm enough to read. Doubtful, but we can hope. 

I clasp my hands together and wait as the plane navigates the runway. The flight attendants start their safety presentation and as always, I pay attention. I think I catch a slight giggle from Sam as I crane my neck to be able to see over the seat in front of me. Then we take off. 

I stare out the window as the ground shrinks beneath us, the wheels folding up under the aircraft. I make myself small and still, paying attention to my breathing and the speedy thrum of my heart in my chest. In through my nose, pausing, and breathing out through my mouth. My head starts to get fuzzy as I take in the smell of Sam’s cologne still lingering on his jacket. The woody notes of cedarwood, balsam, and amber calm me down a little. Has he always smelled this good? Why have I never noticed that before?

My eyes wander to Sam, curious to see how a normal person handles a flight. Secretly stealing a glance at him, I take in the profile of his face backlit by the sun from the opposite window. He really does have good genes; all of them do. It’s kind of rude, actually. His hair waves slightly, resting against his shoulders. He runs a hand through it as he casually scrolls through his phone. I lean my head against the back of my seat, feeling myself start to relax a little with each deep breath I take. 

He meets my gaze and holds his hand out to me, offering me the same comfort I previously denied him on the last flight. Again, I decline with a small wave of my own hand. I should be okay, I think to myself.  

After a bit, I’m jolted from my calm demeanor when more turbulence hits. I sit up straight and resume my position of small and still, nervously wringing my hands together.

Sam grabs my hands with both of his and squeezes gently. I look over at him and he looks so worried about me. Why does he look so worried?

“Come here,” I think is what his mouth says to me. I can’t hear anything over the rapid beating of my heart in my ears. Everything else is muffled.

He breaks apart my hands and laces his fingers with my right one, my left one having no choice but to wrap around the back of his. He tugs me a little, pulling me closer to him and I lean my head against his arm. I inhale deeply, searching for the scent that calmed me earlier. In through my nose, pause, out through my mouth.

Again and again, until I feel my heart slow, even if just by a small amount. His thumb gently rubs against the back of my hand. 

“Hey, look at me.” He says softly, as my ears start to clear up. I tilt my head up, never leaving his arm, and stare directly into his warm brown eyes. “You ever heard of the jello theory?” I shake my head no. 

“The theory is that when a plane experiences turbulence, it's kinda like a stapler trapped in jello. The stapler wiggles around but doesn’t suddenly land on the floor. So the plane isn’t going to tumble out of the sky because of a little turbulence; it’s just gonna wiggle around a bit.” 

Huh, I never knew that. I can feel my muscles start to loosen where they’re half wrapped around him. 

“Better?” He asks.

“Better.” I say. Which is the truth. I do feel better after hearing that. 

“Want to watch a movie? Help distract you a little more?” He bends down slightly, unzipping his bag and pulling out his laptop, all one-handed, as he never lets go of mine. 

“How?” Obviously confused by the mechanics, we both have over-the-ear headphones, which puts sharing out the question. And Sam doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to listen to a movie with the sound on blast in public.

“I have one of those splitter things. Borrowed it from my brother, actually. Ya know.. Just in case.” He says, and the smallest tint of pink washes over his cheeks. He pulls down the tray and sets his laptop on top of it, again reaching into a pocket and pulling out the splitter, and clicking it into place. He wiggles his fingers at me to give him my headphone jack, and then he plugs that into place right next to his. 

“I have Zootopia, The Godfather, and uhh,” he pauses looking down at me. “Twilight.” he mumbles.

“I thought you said you’ve never seen Twilight?” I question skeptically.

“I haven’t.” and I’m almost positive he’s lying. “I uploaded it ya know.. Just in case.” he repeats for the third time today. Samuel ‘just in case’ Kiszka.

“Twilight it is.. Everyone should see it at least once.” I give him a bit of a side-eye. My belly does a flip, and I squeeze his hand tighter when another jolt of turbulence hits. He squeezes my hand back, letting me know its going to be okay. 

“Twilight it is then.” and he clicks play on the movie.

My eyes start to flutter close sometime around ‘Hold on tight spider monkey’, but before I fall asleep, I could swear I see Sam quoting the movie under his breath. I tuck that nugget away for another time.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

When I wake up, I’m still curled up to his arm, our fingers still clasped together, his head gently resting against mine. I raise my head a little, careful not to disturb him, and notice the spot of drool I’ve left there. Oh god. I sit up straight, scaring him in the process, and begin furiously wiping at my mouth. He looks at me wide-eyed, then down at his arm, back up to me, and turns back to his movie. He doesn’t say anything nor does he look upset. My face heats with embarrassment, and I scoot as far away from him as I possibly can. 

He disconnects our headphones and starts to pack up his laptop when the pilot informs us of our descent. I feel like I’ve been on a plane for ages today. Somehow, despite my nap, I still feel unrested. Must be all the anxiety. 

When the plane finally touches down, Sam is quick to get up and stretch. I can’t blame him; he’s nearly six feet tall. I can't imagine that’s comfortable. Especially with my clinging to him like a koala the whole flight. I stand as tall as I can in the cramped space and set my bag on his seat waiting to exit. I feel around my pockets, double-checking that I have everything. Where is my phone? I bend down to feel around the floor, looking to see if it has fallen between the cracks, and notice it under Sam’s seat. I grab it and pocket it. I stand up and get about halfway, only to come eye-to-eye with Sam’s bare belly button. I peer up, and he’s on his tiptoes in the overhead compartment, trying to wriggle out his duffle bag. 

Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. With each stretch and pull of him trying to get his bag out, his sweatpants shift further and further down, exposing the band of his Hanes boxers. Fuck off. Honestly. What have I done to deserve this torture? 

I stand as tall as I can and stare right at the bottom of the overhead compartment just as he gets his bag free. God, I need a fucking nap.

“We have to stop at baggage claim.” I remind him as we start to walk single file down the aircraft. 

“Right.” 

We both say goodbye to the stewardesses, both of whom bid Sam a warm farewell and don’t bother to look at me. Lovely.

“I think it's this way.” He says, pointing at the signs. I let him lead the way; if he wants to captain our way through the airport, so be it. My brain is fried, and I don’t even want to be here anyway. We walk down two flights of stairs to a carpeted area at ground level, nine carousels lined up next to each other. He takes a left to one-half of them and points. 

“They said this one.” 

So we wait. And we wait. And we wait some more. 

Bag after bag comes out, none of which are mine. I start to get restless. Stepping from foot to foot. 

“Sam.” I look over at him. I tuck my hair behind my ears and then begin wringing my hands together. “My bag isn’t here.” 

“What do you mean your bag isn’t here?” He drops his duffle off his shoulder with a loud thud.

“I mean, none of these bags are my luggage.” My eyes are wide, and my pulse picks up. “Oh god.” I run my hands over my face and start to pace back and forth in front of him. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Hey, hey, hey.” He calls to me. “Birdie!” finally grabbing a hold of my shoulders and stopping me. “We will go check with the baggage claim office and figure it out. It’ll be fine. Please calm down.”

“Calm down? You want me to CALM DOWN?” I start to raise my voice a bit too loudly for where we are. Even though it’s nearly a ghost town down here for it still being in the middle of the day, I know I’m embarrassing him, but I can’t stop myself in the heat of the moment.

“We're in another state. This is for WORK, and my luggage is gone. I will have nothing to wear to anything they need us to do. I can’t even brush my teeth! And you want me to be CALM?” my chest rises and falls with my rapid breaths. He reaches out and snatches one of my hands and cradles it between both of his. 

“I just meant we’ll figure it out, okay?” 

A frown makes its way to my face, and I just wave him onward to whatever plan he’s internally concocted. He leans down and grabs his duffle bag, and heads off to his destination. 

When he finally reaches the desk for our airline, no one will pay him any attention. All trying to get their own affairs in order before glancing over at him. 

 “Excuse me.” he says and waits. No one looks. “Excuse me.” he tries again, and nothing. Finally, seeing a side of Sam I’ve never seen before, he raises his voice and yells, “Who the hell do I need to talk to to get my girlfriend’s luggage?” and I nearly choke on my own saliva. 

“Sorry sir, what can I do for you.” a petite young woman says to him.

“My girlfriend checked a bag, and it wasn’t at baggage claim. We’re in town for a business trip, and it’s important that she has her luggage. How can we figure out where it is?” My eyes gloss over and my ears start to play static noise at the second mention of ‘girlfriend’. I don’t even hear the rest of the conversation when he shakes me back to reality. 

“They sent it down the wrong track. She said it should be on number 2 instead of 7.” When I fail to move my feet, he questions me. 

“I’m your what now?” I ask him. Girlfriend.

“I just thought they’d take me more seriously if I said that. ‘Coworker who usually hates me and bickers with me all the time’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.” he says casually, putting an arm around me and leading me in the direction the receptionist sent him. “Why? Do you think I should have said something else? Fiancee? Wife?” 

“Oh, Sam, for the love of God, please shut up.” I rub my fingers over my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. Yep, I definitely need a nap.

“Damn, okay..” he laughs.

We finally make it to the right carousel and I grab my luggage. Crisis averted. I give him a small thank you, knowing he made it happen but also still being incredibly annoyed by this process. And maybeeee taking it out on him a little bit. Just a little..

We make it to the front entrance, where a man in a suit and cute little hat has a sign that says “Sam Kiszka and Willa Clarke”. He introduces himself as Christian, takes my bag and leads us to his vehicle. I hop into the backseat as Sam and Christian put the luggage in the trunk. When Sam joins me in the backseat, I don’t even bother to open my eyes. 

“He said the hotel is like a half an hour’s drive with the traffic.” He whispers to me. The faint click of his seatbelt follows. I hold up my hand, give him a thumbs up, and try to nap the rest of the way there. 

The ride feels much longer than it actually is, given its bumper-to-bumper traffic. The roads are terrible and bumpy, and he zigzags through the cars, but I try not to pay attention. I wish I had some melatonin so I could just conk out when we get there. Every curve, bump, and honk of the horn grate on my last nerve as I’m pulled from my nap and further thrust into insanity. 

I feel myself barely keeping it together by the time that we get to the hotel. Longing for my PJs, I meet the boys at the trunk to get my luggage. I say thank you to Christian and watch as Sam shakes his hand and stealthily hands him a tip. Even in my half-asleep brain fog, that still makes my stomach flip. Why was that kinda.. Nope, not even going there.

I follow behind Sam, and he opens the door for me. At least he has manners. And we wait our turn to talk to the receptionist at the front desk.

“What name is the reservation under?” He asks. I pull my phone out of my pocket and go searching for the email in my inbox. 

“Says both of us.” I pocket my phone again. 

We step up to the counter, and the young man greets us with a pleasant smile. “Welcome to the Hyatt, I’m Dustin. How can I help you?” His curly hair bounces as he talks. 

“We have a reservation under Sam Kiszka or Willa Clarke,” Sam replies. 

“You’re with the newspapers, right?” 

He shakes his head. 

“You’re in room 422. You’ll head down this way to the elevators, and you’re on floor four.” Dustin says as he slides us our room keys. Sam grabs them, handing me the extra. 

“We have continental breakfast every morning starting at 6 and going until 9 in the morning. We have plenty of amenities, like a pool and fitness center you’re free to use, just use your key to access the rooms. If you need anything else, call down to us from the phone in your room.”

We thank yet another person and make our way to the elevator. Sam presses the correct floor button and I lean against the back wall.

“The home-iest home stretch of all home stretches.” He says to me, and I just glare at him, having depleted my energy for the day. God, I’ve lost the will to bicker with him. 

The elevator dings, and I nearly hear the chorus of angels singing in the distance. My bed is calling me. Well, a bed is calling me. I tote behind Sam like the sleepy toddler I’ve become as he twists and turns his way down the appropriate hallways until he reaches room 422. The golden room. Finally. 

He places the key against the pad, the light turns green, and the sound of it unlocking is music to my ears. He steps inside flicks on the light, and starts hysterically laughing. I’m not even sure I want to know what’s so funny when I ask him, but I do anyway. 

“Why are you laughing?” his tall frame blocking my view of anything as I try to get my suitcase in the door. I shut the door when I’m finally successful, and he’s wiping the tears from his eyes as he continues to roar with laughter. I let go of my luggage handle and step into the light.

“Oh. My. God.” 

Of fucking course, there’s only one bed.

Chapter Six

Chapter 8

Masterpost | Taglist (or reply to be added!)

Taglist (:

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[cookieswithay]

"The happy feelings club!"

🧡Ichigo x Orihime🧡 Ichihime fic

💝Episode 1: The gingers meet!

°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•

• Ichigo's pov!

• "Don't let it happen again, Kurosaki."

• "Yeah, yeah. It won't."

• Once again, I'm leaving the principal's office. But at least I got sent for actual reason this time.

• Hi there, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Near straight A student. I got 2 sisters and 1 insane dad. And I'm a natural carrot top. You'd think with my high grades and all, teachers wouldn't pay me any mind. But no. I'm on everyone's radar. The color orange means trouble. Everyone picks a fight. But, I know how to win this messed up game...most of the time.

• "Did you hear? That guy punched someone."

• "No way, that's horrible."

• "Whispers" aren't anything new, but this rumor has truth in it. (Although those girls could at least TRY to be quiet) The "guy" I punched, was some loser who thought he could get handsy with the girls in my class. I don't know them very well, but I'm not a fan of hearing my classmates scream. So I took care of him. Nice and quick.

• (Tatsuki wanted to kill him, so I just took the fall.)

• "Oh no,"

• One of the girls griped.

• "Here comes that orange haired girl again."

• Orange haired girl? This cruddy school has one? Since when? I turned around and sure enough, there's a carrot top! She's running down the hall...towards me. I...should run, but... My feet feel stuck to the ground. She screeches to a halt and fell to her knees panting. So...she shouldn't of ran that fast. A few minutes passed and she's still wheezing. Damn, is she okay?

• "Um, are you okay?"

🧡

• Orihime's pov

• My lungs...are burning! But...I wanna...pass...these out! My name is Orihime Inoue! I have a busy older brother and I'm new to this school! I also like "weird combinations" of food. (Sweet treats ramen is so tasty!) And last but not least, I'm in charge of the happy feelings club! A blissful hour of doing your favorite things at school! All I need to do is get 3 more members and we can stay afloat. Hence my constant flyer passing! Like right now. But, I REALLY need to...catch...my breath. This tall guy...looks real nice.

• "Should I get the nurse...?"

• (Ichigo said that) Ah! Not the nurse again! I'll get scolded! I shot up. And I was face to face with a...with a...super cute boy. His hair is orange too...And...he probably has girlfriend! Don't wanna get my hopes up for nothing! I scrambled to my feet. I'm not dirty, am I?

• "Hi!"

• I said, flashing my persuasion smile. (It always works!)

• "I'm Orihime Inoue and I run the happy feelings club!"

• The cutie noodle looked confused. But, that's okay. It's a new club, so of course he never heard of it. This is what flyers are for! I pulled one from my backpack.

• "The details are on here."

• I gave it to him, nearly touching his long fingers. He's reading in his head. ...Why am I so NERVOUS!? He's reading the flyer! Not looking at me! Should I run!? Hide? Pass out!?

• "Ah-em."

• Huh?

�� "Yes?"

• Did I say that too fast? He had on a half smile.

• "The meetings are after-school on fridays and wednesdays, right?"

• I nodded. My favorite days of the week.

• "Good, I'll be there."

• Oh..my...gosh! A new member! After two weeks of demanding nicely, someone finally joined-

🧡

• Ichigo's pov

• Out of nowhere, Orihime fell into my chest. It hurt but...some softer things touched me too. ...Holy crap! What do I do? Move her? Ask if she's okay? What am I saying, of course I check if she's alright! ...Um. Where to tap? I don't wanna make her uncomfortable or anything. Suddenly, she popped up and...looks raring to go like she didn't just fall? What is this girl?

• I was gonna actually ask that, but someone caught my eye. It was that one black haired chick with the fuchsia eyes. She's snickering with her tomboy friend. (Menoly, she goes to Tatsuki's boxing class.) Why...is that ticking me off? ...Whatever, whatever. Back to Orihime.

• "Orihime-"

• I paused. She looked...hateful and she was gripping her hair. And that's kinda hot. Not angry, but not fully sad either. But, what's the hair clutching about. ...I get it! Those two owe her money. Of course. I would be furrowing my brow too if I was in this situation. Man, people are so cheap nowadays.

• "Ah-em."

• I looked down straight into Orihime's big brown eyes. Shit, she's pretty. She looked down at a hip and back up at me. Ah! I haven't let her go! I stumbled back, muttering a apology. Damn, I'm bad at this.

• "So, I'll see you after school?"

• I said somewhat cooly. She nodded, with the biggest smile on her face. I couldn't help but laugh. Seriously, what is this girl? I just felt like ass a minute ago and now I feel like I won the lottery.

• Rinnnnng!

• That's the bell. Here dies my good mood. I looked back at Orihime.

• "Um, bye."

• I couldn't of said anything smoother than that!?

• "Bye!"

• "See you after school!"

• I waved and watched her skip off to whatever class she's in. Huh, I'm actually looking forward to the club thing.

🧡

• A few hours later

🧡

• Orihime's pov

• "So, tell me more about this hunk you met."

• Um...I did, did I say hunk? He's just really, really handsome is all. I pulled some games out of the cabinet.

• "He was really just nice, Rangiku."

• (Rangiku is one of my favorite upper classmen. She's nice and taught me how to get on Mr. Hitsugaya's good side! He gives out snacks! And she has a thing for Sora. She said she's gonna get serious soon.)

• "Men are nice,"

• She said, leaning on the table.

• "But they all have little quirks and one of your mystery man's caught your eye."

• She...got me there. I really like his hair...and his face. Plus his voice too. She opened her arms up.

• "Come here, tell me all about it."

• I sighed and laid in her squishy embrace. This is probably my favorite thing about Rangiku. She so soft! I could almost...fall asleep on her... Suddenly, I felt hands on my sides. Oh no. She's gonna tickle me again!

• "Don't fall asleep on me now, Orihime~!"

• "I wanna hear all about your little crush."

• Eeeek! I don't wanna pee! Again.

• "Rangiku, stop it!"

• I said through laughs. My uniforms gonna get all crinkly! I tried to push her away, but she laid me on the table!

• "Wow, your skin is so smooth. What lotion do you use?"

• The answer is Cloudy delight moisturizer, but I can't breathe from too much laughter! Suddenly, she stops. Thank goodness. My bladder couldn't take too much more.

• "Oh shit..."

• She mumbled. Wait? What's wrong? I grabbed onto Rangiku's arm, pulling myself up. Is it a teacher? It was just tickling-

• It's the cute guy from earlier in the door way.

• (And two guys I ran into at lunch.)

🧡

• Ichigo's pov

• I'm sure my face is beet red. But, I mean, come on! It's my first seeing two girls ontop of one another. (I'm not a adult film kinda guy) My hand shook on the doorknob.

• "Um...is this a bad time-"

• Suddenly, Keigo's hand was on my mouth.

• "Shut up, Ichigo! This is a once in a lifetime moment!"

• "Don't mess this up!"

• He shouted, while yanking me down. What the f-!? Mizuro put his hand over my mouth too.

• "Please ladies, continue,"

• "We don't mind."

• The older girl snickered.

• "Well, I guess we could do a little a something."

• She said, while tugging on her shirt. Orihime squeaked from under her. She looked just as embarrassed as me. That's it. This ends now. I bit down on one of Keigo's finger.

• "Ouch!"

• I shot up.

• "Knock it off!"

• I snapped. Man, this is a bad look for me. I'm flushed. Probably sweating now. And I had yet another "loud outburst". (Counseling stuff, don't ask.) Orihime's gonna think I'm crazy. The blonde burst into laughter.

• "Easy, easy, kiddo,"

• She crawled off the table. And Orihime.

• "I already have a guy I'm into, so calm down."

• She must a upperclassmen. No one my age would talk down to me like that. She strolled over, sizing me up. ...What's happening right now? She reached out and...patted my head?

• "No wonder a certain somebody likes you!"

• "You're adorable."

• What the- I am not adorable. I pushed her hand away.

• "Who're you anyway?"

• Yeah, I'm done being polite.

🧡

• Orihime's pov

• "I'm Rangiku Matsumoto. The prettiest 3rd year."

• As she introduced herself, I sat up and fixed my clothes. (My underwear wasn't out, was it!?) That was embarrassing. Hopefully mr. unknown doesn't think I'm in love with Rangiku or something. Or a creepy pervert. I'm being crazy. If he ask, I'll explain. Easy peasy.

• "Okay, okay, I'm sorry for intruding,"

• I turned around. She's gonna leave!?

• "You two have fun,"

• Fun? (Why'd she say it like that!?)

• "And you two are gonna clean up with me!"

• The brown haired guy looked horrified.

• "You're a total hottie, but-"

• Rangiku snatched him by collar and pulled threw the door. He was screaming alot. (The other guy followed with no complaints.)

• "Bye bye, you too~!"

• She shut the door, leaving us in quietness.

• "I'm sorry about my friends."

• ...He's apologizing too?

• "No, no, it's my fault!"

• "Rangiku probably freaked you out."

• He turned red and shook his head.

• "It's fine, really."

• I nodded. And hello the crushing quietness. I looked around. What could we do? What's screams 'welcome new member'? Bingo! I grabbed the kitty notebooks.

• "Wanna draw cats with me?"

• He looked surprised, but smiled.

• "Why not?"

• Alright! Perfect time for my new scented markers! (Hopefully, they actually smell like their names.) I spread them out on the table and passed him a notebook. This is gonna be great! I'm great at drawing kitties!

🧡

• Ichigo's pov

• This takes me back. The markers. Cats. And the breeze outside. When I was younger and my sisters were like 4, my old man went out. (I dunno if it was shopping or doctor stuff.) But, he was taking awhile, so that freaked them out. And I remember pulling out my school books and markers. We drew for what felt hours. Needless to say, we had alot to show to dad. Heh, feels like forever ago. Although, I'm not any better at it. They still look like malnourished stick cats. Poor things.

• I looked over at Orihime. She was laser focused. I wanted to peek at her drawing but...I got lost. The afternoon sun made her look great. Ah, what am I doing!? I'm s'posed to be drawing right now. Suddenly, she shot up. I flinched. (Did she notice me?) She turned to me.

• "Do you hear that?"

• "Hear what?"

• I said way too casually.

• "Just listen."

• She whispered. So I did. ...What're we listening in for?

• Mew.

• Orihime grabbed my face and pointed towards the window.

• "It's there!"

• I pried her hands off and walked towards the window. What the- It's a frickin cat in the tree. (Cliché much?)

• But, how'd it get up HERE of all places? We're on the third floor!? Orihime popped out from under my arm.

• "I think I can grab it from here."

• What!? She tugged me back and lifted her leg on the windowsill. Hiking her skirt up with it. Oh hell no. I gripped her waist.

• "Orihime!"

• She turned around, looking genuinely confused. I snatched my hands back.

• "Lemme get the cat."

• Good excuse!

• "I'm taller."

• She nodded, and got back in. We swapped places.

🧡

• Orihime's pov

• "Let's make a plan."

• The mysterious prince said. He turned around, towering over me. Oh my...

• "I'll get the cat and you grab a teacher, okay?"

• "Okay!"

• I can do that!

• (I needed to give Mr. Kyõraku a assignment anyway)

• He smiled and stretched his long legs out the window. That's my cue to run like a track star!

• "Good luck!"

• I shouted and ran out the room. Just like earlier, I'm running down the hall. I'm hearing alot of not nice comments as I do, but I can't stop now. For the kitten's sake!

• A little more running later...

• "Mr. Shunsui!"

• He jumped and sat up straight. I slammed my hands on his desk.

• "I found a...a cat...I need...we..."

• I gotta...catch my breath! Just all the other times, I come in here, he chuckled.

• "Slow down, miss Inoue."

• He patted my head. (I'm kinda wheezing on his desk.)

• "I'm not going anywhere."

• My lungs are on FIRE, but...that guy probably has the cat already. And it could be hungry. I took a breath.

• "Me and this guy found a cat in a tree!"

• "A cat?"

• I nodded quickly.

• "On the 3rd floor too!"

• Mr. Shunsui stood and tugged his hair.

• "Oh boy."

• "Let's go find the kitty."

🧡

• Ichigo's pov

• This cat is putting up a fight. I know it's scared and all, but I seriously not being threatening. I'm even smiling! (That's what's scaring it, my guy) And what's really irritating is, I almost got it. I can literally poke it with my finger. But, I'm almost out the window. If I loose my footing, I'm dead.

• "Come here..."

• The cat meowed and hugged the branch tighter. Dammit...I got it! It's afraid to fall! Just like me. I can do this. I saved one of Karin's friend before. Still shaking like crazy, I lowered my hands.

• "Fall right here,"

• I said, in my softest voice.

• "You're gonna be okay..."

• Slowly, the cat began to relax. (Although It looked at me with a oddly expressive face as like it was trying to call bull shit.) After a little time, it fell into my hands. It's a tad heavy, but it's nothing I can't handle.

• Suddenly, my foot slipped.

• Am I falling out the window!?

• Yes I am.

• Everything moved extremely fast. I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die-!

• "Ichigo!"

• My leg was caught. I looked up.

• "Orihime?"

• (She knows my name?😳) She smiled.

• "You're gonna be okay!"

• A much bigger hand grabbed my other leg. I shivered. Which teacher did she bring!?

• "I gotcha kid."

• Ohh, it's Mr. Shunsui. (Glad she didn't get crazy Coach Zaraki)

• After a little pulling and touching places, I hoped no man would. I was back inside.

• But, without the cat. When did I drop it!

🧡

• Orihime's pov

• "Ichigo, what's wrong-"

• The cat.

• "Eeek! Where's the cat!?"

• We both pushed Mr. Shunsui out of the way and looked out the window. Where is it!? Where is it!? (I hope I'm not saying this outloud.)

• "There it is!"

• Ichigo shouted, pointing down. I hopped on his arm, getting a closer look. Down below, I saw a dark skinned guy with wavy hair. He had the kitty in his hands. (The poor thing was trembling) Have I met him before? He looked up at us.

• "Is this yours?"

• He called up. I shook my head.

• "I wish, but he's a stray we found in the tree!"

• I shouted back. I'm sure I know who he is. Mr. Shunsui scooted me over.

• "Son, could you be a dear and bring that cat up here?"

• He nodded and walked off. So did my teacher. I looked over at Ichigo. He was panting and sweating He looked my way and raised his hand.

• "Good job, we saved a cat."

• Oh, we're gonna high five. I only put my hand on his. I'm too tired to actually slap it.

• "Good job."

• I wheezed. He chuckled and looked back at the sunset. A light wind blew by. ...I'm so thankful for golden hour.

• "So, can I become a member?"

• Huh?

• "Of course!"

• "This is the most fun I had in weeks!"

• He looked over at me.

• "And cause your a nice guy!"

• I don't want him to think he's just a source of entertainment or anything. Ichigo stuck out his hand.

• "Agreed?"

• I smiled.

• "Agreed!"

• We shook hands.

• "Welcome to the happy feelings club."

°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°

• "Orihime,''

• (We're putting the stuff away.)

• "Yeah?"

• "How come you suddenly know my name?"

• I know I forgot to tell her about it. She thought for a moment.

• "The cat you drew earlier!"

• "You signed it."

• Ah, she saw it!?

• "That's great."

• I said with a fake smile. She nodded.

• "It's going on your nametag!"

• Huh!?

°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°•●•°○°

This was so long! But, y'know what, first episodes are always long. (And I may of done it on my tablet) Anyway, I really like this one. I can't wait for the next episode. Stay cool!

Little tag list: @elyonholic @o0o0thorn0o0o @ichihimelover1503 @takibikaen @usoppsstar

[lynne-monstr]

hello hello, it's the anon who's stopping by! how are you? how was your holiday?? I saw your posts about the cherry blossoms, they looked so lovely!! if you have any other photos you'd like to share (not necessarily of the blossoms), please do, I'd love to see! 💞

I'm doing a little better overall, working on myself and stuff, and it helps that it's spring and the sun has really come out! I found a couple of benches near my home where you can lie down in the sun and it's so peaceful, I love it!

that being said this week has been pretty bad so far lol, I was on a business trip alone for four days, which was pretty stressful and tiring, and then the day after I got back I got ill and so far I've been stuck at home feeling sick all long weekend. which is not great bc I don't do well being alone for an extended period of time, and I can't even go out and distract myself 😔 I must have caught some sort of stomach bug (which has literally never happened to me before), I get so nauseous when I eat but if I don't eat then of course I feel lightheaded and fatigued. I hateee it, get me out of here!!!! 😭

sorry, I think I had a bit of pent up frustration there. I'm hoping I'll feel better tomorrow, enough that I can at least go out for a walk. pray for me 🤞

I hope the transition back to work from your holiday isn't too bad!! take it easy the first few days if you can 💞 and I hope the earrings you're looking for turn up!! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

hi anon! so nice to hear from you!!

i hope you're feeling better! traveling and coming home sick is the absolute worst ughh! (I hope the business trip itself went okay.) super frustrating and annoying and yeah you can't even leave the house to get away from the stir-crazy feeling of being shut in. there's nothing good about it! hopefully you're feeling a bit better and can get some good outdoor bench time! i am a big fan of finding a good bench and just chilling and enjoying the warmth. sending all the good thoughts your way <3

the vacation was fantastic! I haven't gone on a big multi-city trip since in like twenty years. it was so nice to have no worries except for what i wanted to see and how to get around and all the snacks I wanted to try! i used to think I was the kind of vacation person who likes to take it easy and relax for most of the trip, but now i have to admit that no. i am the type of person who gets up at 7am and is on the go until 9pm until I crash into bed and do it all again the next day. luckily for me, the cousin who I travel with feels the exact same way.

i got lucky because when i got back home because there were still some good spring blossoms to enjoy in my neighborhood. I have been trying to take a walk every day to soak it all in before it gives way to summer.

sadly the earrings have never shown up, so i'm writing them off as a loss. disappointing but if it's that's the worst thing that happens on vacation then that's okay. i'm so just annoyed at myself because i'm pretty sure I was in the process of finding a safe place to put them so they wouldn't get smushed, but then i got distracted and all previous thoughts flew out of my head for the next three hours. at this point i really should know better than to let myself get blown off course because the chances of unwinding back to the previous task are slim, but here we are.

I'm in the process of going through all 2000 pics I took and getting rid of the bad ones. maybe I'll make a little photo post once I wrangle them some more :D

[warriorteam1924]

My body’s aching

John Deacon x Veronica Tetzlaff

Author note : Hello my beauties. I'm back for John's birthday of course !! I’ve been super busy lately and I’m aware it’s not my best piece, but  I hope some of you will enjoy it anyways. Thanks in advance to anyone who will be giving honest feedback, it’s always very appreciated. Also, I remind you English isn’t my mother tongue, apologies in advance for the mistakes.

Warnings : none really, just my awful writing. and a slight sexual innuendo…. 

Summary : a slight problem on a birthday morning

Words count : 1,243 words

Permanent taglist : @reavenedges-lies​ @thosequeenboys​ @born-to-lose​  @orionis8689​ @queenlover05​​ (communicate with me regarding tagging please)

As he usually did, John Deacon went to bed at a reasonable hour that day. He kissed his wife goodnight and got comfy under the cover, the fresh air coming from the window cooling the room’s atmosphere. He wasn’t thinking at all that the following day would be his birthday. Not that he didn’t care at all, but at this very moment, all he wanted was a good night’s rest. After all, he was going to be 72 in a few hours, he had to take care of his sleep schedule, since he wasn’t 23 anymore.

Dreams. John didn’t have many of them, or at least it didn’t recall them very much.  A few fragments, snippets of actions or moments in the blur, faces or vague figures but nothing more. All he knew was that he moved a lot during his sleep, and apparently it was according to his dreams, to the actions he was making while he was in dreamland. His wife never complained about it, she just mentioned it a few times, curious as for what her husband could have been dreaming of.

This night, Veronica noticed her husband was particularly agitated, and hoped he was not having a nightmare. Thanks to the weak light that was in the room, she looked at his face, ready to wake him up in case he was in distress. But his face seems happy, more than happy even, so Veronica gently kissed his cheek and went back to sleep.

John was also usually an early bird, waking up first in the house. He usually went downstairs to make coffee and this day being his birthday didn’t mean he would have waited to be served like a kid on his special day. Just like he did every morning when he was waking up by her side, he looked at his wife for a moment, as she was still slightly snoring, gently rocked within Morpheus’ arms. He turned around to get up.

“OUUUUUUUUUUUUCHHHHHHH”, John let out a loud scream of pain, brutally waking his wife.

“Oh my God, John, are you okay?”, she asked, terribly worried.

“My back, my back is stuck, oh lord it hurts so bad, what the hell???”, John explained, complained and cursed all at once.

“Are you able to move at all ? what’s going on?”, Ronnie asked, still incredibly concerned.

“I can’t, I’m stuck….”, Deaky said as he put back his head on the pillow.

“Hold on, I’m gonna get some painkillers right now and I’m going to try to massage you”, his wife said as she energetically went out of bed to get what she needed to help her husband.

John looked at her, with a mix of anger given how quickly and easily got out of their bed. She rapidly came back with a glass of water and a painkiller, which John put in his mouth right away. He swallowed, as his back was still tense, hoping the tablet would be efficient soon.

“Okay, turn around now.”, Ronnie firmly said.

“Excuse me?”, John replied, raising his eyebrow.

“I’m gonna massage you, silly. Shoo, turn around”, she repeated as she made a motion with his hands to illustrate her words.

“Oh, no Ronnie I’m going to be fine, don’t worry.”, John said, trying to avoid a massage.

“John Richard Deacon, you better lay on your stomach right now or else I’m going to do it myself and I’m not going to be gentle.”, she warned him, very seriously.

John looked at her, confused. Was she really going to use force to give him a massage? He wasn’t sure, but she seemed extremely serious. As a result, John complied, gently laying his stomach, waiting.

He felt his wife’s soft hands on his skin, making him shiver.

“I hope my hands are not too cold…. Where is it painful?���, she asked, this time way more gently.

“My lower back seems stuck….”, John replied, his head between two pillows.

“Okay, let’s see….”, Ronnie carried on, as she put some lotion on her husband’s back.

John slightly arched at the sensation, but tried to remain still, so that the massage, combined to the painkillers, would be useful. Deaky suddenly heard his wife giggle.

“Are you mocking me?”, John complained, his voice muffled given his position.

“No no, of course not. I just had this silly thought of me being a Dom right now, doing erotic stuff to you….”, she explained, tittering again.

“Ronnie, do you really think this is the right moment to think about sex?”, John asked, as he was still feeling his wife’s hands massaging him on his back.

She got closer to his ear, whispering : “it’s always the right moment to remind my husband I love him and I still have a strong desire for him”.

John felt his cheeks suddenly getting hotter and probably as red as the most mature tomato one could ever see. As a reply, he only let out a soft ‘hum’, a smile still appearing on his lips.

And then, all of a sudden, and since his wife had mentioned the topic, John remembered. Fragments, like he often did, but he remembered.

He remembered a passionate moment with his wife in his dream, his skin pressed on hers, the ardent kisses they were sharing, his hips rocking on hers.

And he remembered how his last thrust as he was reaching orgasm made him arche his back strongly. His body surely moved as well as he was dreaming, hence his back blocked as he woke up.

“John?”, Ronnie asked. “The massage is done, are you okay? You’ve been very quiet”, she worried.

“Yes, thank you, honey.”, John replied, as he got into a more comfortable position, to breathe properly.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re as red a as tomato?”, Ronnie asked.

“Yup, all good, I’m feeling better already. I’m be up soon.”, John tried to reassure her.

Yet, the two of them had been married for a very long time now, and even if Ronnie was no mind reader, she knew her husband so very well. She looked at him in silence for a few seconds and a smile appeared on her lips.

“We did have a steamy night in your dream, right? And you took me so intensely that your back got stuck, right?”, she asked, a mischievous smile on her lips.

“Oh god, Ronnie, what the hell?”, John tried to fake being shocked after her insinuations.

“Try and tell me I’m wrong. After all, there is nothing to be ashamed of…. Even in our vows, we said ‘I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.’….”, she reminded him.

“Yes, okay, yes, that’s true. Happy?”, John confessed, his feeling switching from being ashamed, and slightly irritated.

Ronnie was still looking at him with a mischievous smile. She got closer and kissed him on his soft lips.

“Try and get better so that after the kids are gone, we can celebrate your birthday properly, just the two of us.”, she said with a wink.

She got up and left the room, leaving John with his thoughts. He spoke out loud, as if he was warning his back.

“You better get back on the right tracks buddy, because tonight’s gonna be the night….”.

That day was surely to be a very unusual birthday….