prompts-and-circumstance

[prompts-and-circumstance]

It took days, but we finally found it buried deep in her subconscious.

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"The only reason I had fun tonight was because of you."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"Werewolves and vampires. Next you'll tell me there's a ghost in the next room playing piano."

"He prefers the term ghoul, actually."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"I don't want answers. I want revenge."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

The cat stared back in a way that gave me the prickling feeling that it had understood me.

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"You're my wife. I don't have to like you."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"You're drunk."

"Unfortunately, I'm not."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

Love the direction you took this prompt!

{summary: } emma confronts jake about their relationship as a last hope of getting through to marc and steven. { prompt: } "you can't stop me." "who said I wanted to?" from @prompts-and-circumstance

{ pairing: } original character { emma harper } x jake lockley; mentions of emma harper x marc spector && emma harper x steven grant { contents: } angst, kinda fluffy, kinda friends to lovers, happyish ending { warnings: } none? I don't think for this one { author's note: } well hello again, I've recently been trying to challenge myself to write shorter one-off pieces as I tend to always end up getting carried away with things and struggle to keep them short let alone one-off. not totally satisfied with this piece but practice? right? { word count: } 881 { credits: } middle divider from @bernardsbendystraws

She’d been through this with Marc, even with Steven. They’d both insisted that being with them was too risky, too dangerous given their world.

Marc hadn’t been a surprise, especially given his history and his issues with self-worth. He’d made every excuse about the dangers of being involved with him but she knew deep down that there was more to it than that.

The real reason that he felt so strongly about keeping her at arms length was because he believed he wasn’t deserving of love. Not after all he’d ‘done.’ Not after all that had been done to him was more like it.

She’d been lying when she’d agreed that they’d continue to be nothing more than friends. She couldn’t stop herself from something that had already happened what felt like eons ago. She couldn’t go back and erase her feelings for him, and she didn’t want to.

Steven had been more of a surprise to her when he’d sided with Marc. She thought surely he’d see sense. She knew he reciprocated her feelings. He didn’t exactly have the best poker face.

With Marc, she might even be able to believe that he didn’t harbor the kind of attachment to her. He was good at stonewalling after years of practice.

But Steven? She pushes out a guttural sound of frustration as she makes her way now to confront Jake. Her final hope of getting through to them.

Jake might be pretty good at putting up walls, concealing his true feelings, but he didn’t have the self-loathing that Marc did. And he was more open about how he felt in general. He didn’t hold back. Still, he was more reserved with her when it came to certain things, this being one of them.

She knows he’s fronting and she knows he’s home. He always texted to check in on her when he was in control. When he’d asked how she was doing, she’d simply asked where he was. He’d told her and them asked why, worried something was wrong.

So here she was, standing in front of their door, about to raise her hand to knock when the door swings open first.

He’d been waiting. Initially, when she asked where he was, he’d panicked, ready to leave in a fraction of a second to go to her.

Despite hiding his own feelings from her since the first time they’d met, it didn’t negate their existence. In fact, he was almost certain that he was the one that embraced them the most. He wasn’t keeping them from her to deny them, or even to agree with the other two.

He'd kept them from her because they were so powerful that he worried they’d consume him if he weren’t careful.

Somehow though, he’d known she’d be coming and he knew why. He’d paced furiously over the floor the whole time it took her to arrive. But as if sensing her presence on the other side of that door, he opened it before she could even make herself known.

There’s a moment of a standstill as they just stare at each other. She looks so furious there are tears in her eyes.

“I’m not gonna apologize for what I want or how I feel…” She seethes through a shaky voice. “And you can’t stop me. You can’t stop me from loving you—from being in love with you—”

His response is immediate, cutting her off before she can continue, his voice deep and smooth.

“Who said I wanted to?”

She chokes back a sob, her chin dropping as she shakes her head.

Jake is quick to close the distance between them, fluidly moving into her space. He raises his hands to cradle her jaw, lifting it to look in her eyes even as they squeeze shut, cascading more tears down her cheeks.

“Look at me, nena…” He gently commands.

She coughs out another sob as his thumbs brush firmly at her tears. She opens her eyes pleadingly on his.

His heart aches when their eyes meet, knowing exactly what the other two had done to break her heart.

“I don’t want to. I don’t want you to stop feeling the way you do, because I feel the same way about you…”

Emma pushes out a disbelieving and unsteady laugh of another sob, “y-you do?”

He nods slowly, looking her directly in the eyes and leaving no room for doubt. His voice is low and strong.

“I love you too.”

He wastes no more time as he leans down, finally capturing her lips for the first time.

She all but melts into him, her legs almost giving out as her lips move slowly in time with his. Her arms slip up around his neck, releasing a shaky breath into him as she does her best to keep herself upright.

His own tension begins to drain, releasing his hold on her jaw in favor of lifting her into his arms. He carries her back into their apartment and kicks the door shut with force, refusing to let her go long enough to give it too much attention.

His mind briefly thinks on the other two, but only how intends to make his stance known.

Waking up beside her the next morning should be convincing enough.

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"This is an ancient craft, older than timekeeping itself. You cannot learn it by...what did you call it?"

"YouTube."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

I hated to admit that she was right this time.

[prompts-and-circumstance]

She was the sun and I was the sea, and in the end we touch at long last, our sunset love painting the sky gold.

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"I'm not asking."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

I want more!

"You are here to play, right?"

"Actually I was hoping I could just watch."

"Then you'd better stand back there if you don't want to be killed."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"Face it kid, we had a good run."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"You are here to play, right?"

"Actually I was hoping I could just watch."

"Then you'd better stand back there if you don't want to be killed."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"Please help me. I can't stop."

[prompts-and-circumstance]

"I'm not who I was when we last met."