#''everyone think fire resistant thoughts for me real quick!!'' and just ran my hands over the gas flame bc yknow

[clickityweasel]

made and destroyed a friendship at work today

[separatist-apologist]

Honestly whatever works best for you ^^ I just like seeing jealous Lucien

This ask was for jealous Lucien. It's sort of a remix of Elain riling Lucien up, wherein they actually DO stuff. it is NSFW, 18+, and "edited".

Also I like my little Feyre/Lucien moment. I HC them as pranksters

--

--

Lucien was later than he’d meant to be, walking into Solstice. He was still reeling from his day with Elain, stunned that Nuan had been right, and her plan had worked.

She wants you, Nuan had murmured halfway through the larger meeting Lucien had glanced over at Elain, carefully arranging stems across the hall on a glass table.

He’d rolled his eyes, but Nuan insisted.

Let me help you make her jealous.

He’d kissed her hand and now he wanted to kiss every other part of her. He’d settle for polite conversation and maybe a little hand holding. He was nervous, like a young male about to touch his first female. Elain had never given him the time of day before and Lucien wanted to get things right.

He ran his hands down his sage green jacket for the millionth time, his boots echoing off the marble in Feyre’s home. He followed the sound of chatter to a drawing room and paused in the doorway. His eyes immediately found Elain standing beside Azriel, gazing up at him with sweet, doe eyes…her hand on his forearm.

He was so fucking tired of seeing the pair of them. Jealousy burned in his gut and he almost turned around and left. Feyre caught him, perhaps reading his thoughts, and looped her arm through his.

“Will you help me with something?” She asked conspiratorially, walking him out of the cozy drawing room.

“How could I say no?” He replied easily, his mind still back with Elain and Azriel.

“I want to put snow in Rhys’ side of the bed,” she confessed, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “He’s been shoving it down the back of my clothes for days now and I haven’t been able to repay him.”

“Because he’s so tall, or you love him so much?” Lucien asked dryly

“Don’t be gross, of course it’s because he’s tall,” Feyre shot back quickly. “I tried his pants but he’s just a little too fast—”

“That’s quite enough. Of course I’ll help you prank your mate. Let’s go to the kitchen for some bowls, though.”

“Smart, I didn’t think of that,” Feyre said with a happy smile.

For the next hour, he and Feyre giggled quietly as they scooped up frozen snow in metal bowls and snuck through the River House. They put the snow on Feyre’s side of the bed, creating a snow person shaped like her body they hoped a very naked Rhys would attempt to cuddle up next to. Lucien didn’t want to think about what Feyre and her mate did in their alone time but he had to admit, it was fun conspiring with Feyre again.

By the time she walked him back to the drawing room, they were pink cheeked from the cold and still quietly chuckling to themselves. Rhys was instantly curious, not that it mattered. Lucien was almost relieved to see Elain had left though Azriel remained behind, standing with Cassian and Mor discussing who knew what. Lucien went to a little loveseat, still amused when he froze.

Elain was there, looking up at him with those same wide eyes. Ah, fuck, he thought, about to turn and find another place to warm up. She scooted, patting the cushion beside her and Lucien couldn’t resist.

She was so gorgeous, her hair curled gently down her back and spilling over her shoulders in a long-sleeved, off shoulder gown of lilac. He wanted to feel hopeful, but her eyes slid past him towards Azriel and Lucien wasn’t stupid. He recognized when he was being used as bait. He nearly rose, nearly left entirely but she set her small hand on his knee and Lucien quickly changed tracks.

She might want to make another male jealous but there was something between them. He could smell her anticipation. He didn’t know what had transpired between the pair of them, if anything had, for that matter given how determined Azriel seemed to be at not looking at her. It didn’t matter. If she wanted to play games, Lucien was leave knowing she was utterly covered in his scent. There would be no mistaking who she belonged with…who she was mated to.

“Are you having a good evening?” He asked, unable to take his eyes off her hand sliding slowly up his thigh. He was so, so hard just from one little touch.

“I am,” she agreed, looking up at him again. Good. He wanted her to keep her eyes on him. “And you, Lord?”

“It’s certainly looking up,” he replied truthfully. Feyre glanced at Lucien and he heard her in his mind.

You two look cozy. Want us to leave for a bit?

He hated when she did that, when she spoke to him mind to mind, worried that she knew every little thing he’d ever thought. This time, though, he was a little grateful for it.

If no one minds.

He heard Feyre chuckle in his head. I promise you, no one minds. I don’t think she’d notice if we left at all…

Feyre withdrew and Lucien looked fully back at Elain, her eyes wholly focused on his face, pink lips parted, her hand so close to his aching cock he felt half insane. He reached for her neck, his hands twining in her hair as he tilted her head towards him. Lucien glanced up when Elain’s eyes fluttered shut, watching as Feyre silently ushered people from the room. His lips curved into a smile and he nodded his thanks to Feyre once before she left, too, closing the door quietly behind her.

Elain sucked in a soft breath, angling her head. He couldn’t resist. He didn’t care if she had started all this to make Azriel jealous. She’d failed on that account though she’d very much succeeded in making Lucien jealous. He ghosted his lips over her own, delighted when she gasped a little, her fingernails digging into his thighs.

“It looks like everyone left us,” he told her, his mouth pressed against her jaw. Her eyes flew open and Lucien, still holding her head, let her turn just long enough to look at the now empty room. The only sound besides their breathing was the cheerful crackling of the fire and the soft hum of the wind tapping on the glass.

“I didn’t notice,” she admitted, proving her younger sister right. Lucien’s heart picked up at the admission, hope re-blooming in his chest. He smiled at her, rubbing his nose against her own. She reached up, cupping his cheek and Lucien was half-lost. He brought his mouth back to hers, kissing her for the first time. It was nothing like he’d imagined, and he had spent years wondering what she might feel like, how she’d taste.

She was better in real life he thought with a soft sigh. Like lavender and honey and warm, sunlit air all combined and mixed with something personal, something uniquely Elain that was sweet and inviting. She opened her mouth for him, surprising him again when her tongue very hesitantly licked against his own.

She moaned and Lucien was fully gone, utterly done. He was going to have her on this too small couch. He couldn’t walk, not with the erection he was currently sporting and especially not with the way her arousal was slowly curling through the air around them. He couldn’t think straight anymore, kissing her with more intensity than he might have. He leaned her back, one hand on the column of her pretty throat as he shoved his knee between her legs, parting them both.

“What do you want, Elain?” He asked before licking up the smooth, soft skin of her throat, his other hand holding her by the hip. Her eyes flashed open, dark with desire.

“You,” she breathed, dragging him back down to kiss her again. Did she knew the affect she had on him, he wondered idly a moment before her hips rubbed against his thigh? She moaned softly against his lips, her eyes closed again.

Would Feyre forgive him for fucking her sister in the drawing room? He hoped so, he thought to himself, devouring her mouth with a hunger that surprised even him. His fantasies could not compete with the real thing.

He ran a hand over her breast, hidden beneath glittery fabric. Elain arched into his hand, moaning softly again. He’d kill to hear her make that notice again, he thought desperately. More, more, more, the bond between them crooned, demanding satisfaction. Elain, too, seemed to be demanding it, given how her hips rolled against his thigh. There was not enough space to spread her out the way he wanted to. They’d have to move.

Lucien withdrew, pleased at the disappointed mewl that escaped her throat.

“Not for long, sweet dove,” he promised, pulling her easily into his arms. Her dress covered his tented trousers and her weight helped ground him back to reality, to slow him down just a bit. Her mouth on his neck, nipping the skin, didn’t make walking any easier, and leaving the drawing room for the bedroom Feyre had offered was difficult, given how badly instinct made him want to slam her against a wall and bury himself within her.

They passed her family, not that she noticed. Feyre pressed a hand over her mouth and Rhys actually winked, which made Lucien almost laugh. The jealous monster that still roared in his chest settled when Azriel, too, glanced their way, catching sight of Elain utterly lost, one hand in his hair, her mouth still licking his skin. What had he been so worried about, he wondered, half jogging up the steps that led to the hall he slept in?

He placed on her his bed with as much reverence as he felt in that moment and Elain sat up quickly, eyes wide. He froze, expecting her to tell him no, that they’d taken this too far and she wanted to leave.

Her fingers found the buttons of his jacket and with a nimble quickness, managed to undo them before he could inhale and exhale. She shoved them down his arms and without any hesitation, pulled his shirt out of his pants and attempted to yank it over his head. Lucien helped, utterly stunned with the image of his mate undressing him with hurried determination. He didn’t stop her when her fingers, trembling now, reached for the laces of his pants though he did gently pull them away when, having gotten them undone, she attempted to yank them off his hips. She was still fully clothed and the part of him that was still a gentleman knew he might be tempted to just flip her skirts up and have her without any other care of consideration.

He heard her swallow when, having divested himself of his boots, he climbed up the bed. He reached behind her for the little pearl buttons on her dress and undid them much slower than she had, reveling in each new inch of skin he revealed. Lucien dragged his hands down her shoulders when he finished, taking the dress with him until she her underthings were exposed, her dress pooled at her waist. He watched as she shimmied out of it, tossing it to his floor. It took her merely a moment to remove her under things as well, leaving her utterly exposed.

“Elain,” he breathed, gently guiding her back to the bed, unable to take his eyes off the peaks and curves of her beautiful, soft body. He almost asked if she’d done this before but the memory of snide, stupid Graysen strutting about flashed through his memory and he knew he might become overwhelmingly possessive if she admitted he’d ever touched her.

Some questions were better left unknown. He simply did not care how many lovers she had or if she’d had none at all. He’d pretend she hadn’t and let her set the pace.

“Now will you remove your pants?” She asked him, her voice catching in her throat. They were hanging embarrassingly low on his hips as it was, hardly keeping him modest and the fabric was beginning to chafe the crown of his cock. Lucien sighed, disappointed to climb off her and slid them down his body, well aware of how her eyes zoomed to the appendage bobbing between his legs. He wished he knew what she thought in that moment, if she found him lacking or not.

She gestured for him to come back, and Lucien obliged, hardly able to keep himself away. This was happening, he thought dazedly, his mouth covering her own again. Elain’s hands slipped up his chest and over his shoulders, her nails dragging down his back. He groaned even as he palmed at her now naked breast, desperate to feel her naked body arch against his own.

She gasped when he rolled her nipple between his fingers, her hips lifting off the bed. He was slowly being driven mad by every little noise that left her lips.

Taste, taste, taste his instincts chanted. She didn’t pull away when his head dipped to her chest so he could take that same delicate, pebbled nipple and roll it along his tongue. She squirmed, her nails digging into his flesh in the most deliciously painful way. More of that, his thoughts begged. The idea that his mate might instinctively know what he liked and how he wanted to be fucked was exciting to him.

She writhed against him when he took the other breast into his mouth, lavishing attention even as she ground against the bare thigh he had pressed against the heat of her cunt. His eyes rolled into the back of his head at the slickness she left on his skin, growling softly in appreciation.

“Please,” she begged, lifting her hips again and fuck did he want to take her up on the offer. His hand was gliding down her body and when he dipped one finger into the source of her wet he half died right then and there. She clenched hard around him, the sensation shooting straight into his cock.

“Taste you,” he said desperately, trying to position himself between her hips but Elain screamed with frustration and yanked him by his hair, pulling him back up.

“Later,” she bossed, her kiss a demand. He wanted to taste her so bad it was almost painful.

“Please,” it was his turn to beg.

“Fuck me, Lucien,” she ordered and Lucien’s eyes rolled straight into his skull. Later implied they would do this again, slower, perhaps all night even. He notched himself against her slick opening, groaning at the silky, hot feel of her.

It had been his intention to go slow. He slid in an inch and Elain offered him another soft scream, stopping him dead. She hooked her legs around his waist, dug her heels into his ass, and pushed, slamming him to the hilt within her.

Holy fuck, he thought, dazed. His Lady was practically wanton, he thought with pleasure, watching as her hips arched to meet his next thrust, her eyes half-wild with lust.

“Been thinking of me, have you?” He grunted out, his thrusts almost punishing in their intensity.

“Mm hmm,” she wined, her breath coming in short, shallow pants.

“Tell me,” he demanded, trying to fight back the urge to spill himself inside her like an untested youth. His hand slid between them, his thumb rubbing careful, precise circles over her clit.

“At night,” she gasped. “In bed.”

“Touching yourself?” He asked, needing to know.

“Mm hmm,” she keened, her voice rising an octave. He sped up, both his hips and his hand, dragging her to the edge.

“What do you want?” He demanded again.

“You,” she begged. “Lucien, you, you—” Her words were lost to a scream, so loud he was sure the whole house heard. Lucien snarled with pleasure, still rubbing as he fucked her, driving himself deeper still, desperate to be as close as he could.

“Lucien,” she half sobbed, her body trembling around him, her nails digging so hard into his skin he could scent blood in the air.

“Again,” he told her, his voice rich with authority. She tossed her head side to side. When she came again, the walls of her cunt slick with fluid as the fluttered tightly around him, Lucien couldn’t hold back any longer. His own pleasure burned beneath his skin, coiled tightly in his gut desperate for release. Every part of him tingled wildly. He thrust hard, deep, and pumped his release into her, snarling loudly with satisfaction. This was home, his mind screamed. She was home.

When his body relaxed, Lucien carefully lowered his body to hers. She pressed a lazy kiss to his mouth.

“Again,” he murmured against her lips. She giggled in response.

“Let me breathe, first,” she asked, her chest still rising and falling rapidly. Lucien couldn’t bring himself to pull out of her, to leave her.

So he stayed, nuzzling his head into her shoulder while Elain worked to catch her breath. Minutes passed, timed only by the synced beats of their heart.

“Okay,” she whispered after who knew how long. “Again.”

[lotusss-flowerbomb]

Nice To Meet You (2)

Bucky x Wilson!reader

Warning: 18+, Smut (seriously, children are not welcomed here)

Word Count: 3,152 (I literally tried so hard to keep this short)

********

The drive to the docks to meet Sam and Sarah was too quick. You wanted to spend more time with him alone.

Once you arrived, you kept your distance from both Bucky and Sam and helped Sarah most of the time. You were sitting something inside of the wheel house when she silently followed behind you. You paused to look at Bucky and then turned around almost crashing into her.

"You know those glances you've been giving him hasn't been as subtle as you think," she squinted.

"Girl, what are you even talking about??" You feigned innocence.

She just stared at you until you finally cracked.

"Damn it!" You looked out at Sam and Bucky talking.

"So?? Tell me everything," she motioned for you to hurry up with her hand. "How was it?"

"Amazing," you sighed as you thought about all the nasty things the two of you had done.

"Aye man, what are you smiling about? Are you even listening to me? Why are you so weird?" You heard Sam yell.

When you looked up, you saw the window was open. Your heart rate sped up. There's simply no way he heard that... Did he??

"I can't believe you slept with a man you just met and Sam's friend of all people, " she shook her head.

"You look out there at that man and you look me in my face and tell me that you wouldn't," you challenged her.

"Yeah, he's kinda cute for a white guy," she said.

"Besides, they're not friends... they're coworkers."

When Bucky started laughing, you knew he could hear you. He got a real kick out of hearing you use the line he'd tried using on you last night.

You slammed the window shut embarrassed. Once Sarah realized what had just happened she fell into a fit of laughter.

"It's not funny, that's so embarrassing," you put your face in your hands.

"I just want to know how you plan on telling Sam? You know how he gets, he's gonna shit a brick."

"I know and I don't care if he's mad at me, but I don't want him to be mad at Bucky."

"Ooh, a sneaky link," she danced.

"Girl bye!" You laughed. "What do you know about a sneaky link?" You walked outside.

"I got Tik Tok too," she bragged.

You all finished the work you were doing on the boat for the day. You were happy Bucky was there to help move things along faster. You shook your head at the way he and Sam constantly bickered back and forth throughout the day.

"I know what I'm doing, I've been fixing on this boat my whole life!" Sam would yell.

"Hey, pipe down. You're still wet behind the ears. Just let me show you!" Bucky yelled back.

"Will you two just get a room?" Sarah asked, finally getting them to shut up.

Back home, the boys wanted to spend the rest of their weekend at their friend's house and Sarah welcomed the break.

"Alright, my kids aren't here so I'm not cooking," your sister announced.

"It's Sam's turn anyway," you said.

"No, it's your turn," he fired back.

"I cooked yesterday, you weren't here. Bucky ate, so it counts."

"Bucky definitely ate," he said.

Sarah choked on her drink. Sam, completely oblivious, patted her back and made a comment about hef never knowing how to drink without choking since she was little.

"So, pizza? Yeah, I'll order pizza. Sam, Sarah your usual right?"

"Yep," she answered in between breaths.

"Got it, I'll go up and order online." You jogged out of the room.

When Bucky followed behind you Sam asked where he was going.

"I'm from New York, Sam. I'm gonna make sure she picks the best pizza place." He said matter of factly.

When you two finally got to your room, you smacked Bucky on the arm.

"Ow!" He whined.

"Oh, please!" You smacked him again, "are you trying to get us caught?" 

"Mmm hmm," he pulled you close and kissed your neck.

Your body melted into his. Unable to resist his advances, you put your arms around his neck and kissed him. Soon after your legs were wrapped around his waist and he had you pressed up against the wall.

"I want to fuck you so bad," he said in between kisses.

"Then do it," you teased.

Bucky didn't waste a single second turning you around and pulling down your joggers. He kicked your feet apart and pushed inside of you.

"Oh, fuck yesss," you hissed.

He put his hand over your mouth. The last thing he wanted was to be distracted by your sounds of pleasure and unable to hear someone coming.

Your pussy was so wet. The sloshing sound was driving him crazy and he wanted to get on his knees and suck it, but knew better.

He wanted to see your face, so he turned you back around and lifted you up again. This time he slid into your pussy slowly, watching as your mouth opened and you tried desperately not to make a sound.

"Do you know how good you feel?" He said into your ear. "I'm gonna cum in this tight little pussy. It's mine now and I don't care who knows it."

You grabbed his chin and pressed your lips to his. The knot in your belly unraveled as you creamed all over his dick.

"That's my girl," he fucked you quicker and harder as you tightened around him.

Bucky moaned into your mouth as his body stiffened and he came inside of you. He used one hand to brace himself on the wall and the other to keep you in place. He stopped you when you unwrapped your legs.

"No, wanna feel you," he panted into your throat.

"We don't have time for this, one of them will eventually come see what's taking so long," you wiggled out of his hold.

He let you down, but not before he got one more kiss.

He pulled his pants up while you grabbed a towel from the bathroom and wrapped yourself in it. You quickly placed the order for the pizzas and turned on your shower.

"Bucky, no," you giggled when he tried to follow you in.

"Fine," he kissed you and smacked your ass before leaving quickly.

********

"They've been up there for a long time," Sam said to Sarah.

"They're probably talking. You know how much she loved hearing old stories from daddy. He's probably telling her about how he was there when the wheel was invented or something," she replied.

"Mmm, I'ma go see," he said and walked away before she could stop him.

Bucky slipped into the guest room right before Sam hit the top of the stairs. He quickly rounded the bed and grabbed his bag as if he'd been looking through it.

"Hey, where's Y/N?" Sam questioned.

"Said she was getting in the shower," he never looked up.

"Oh... Why are your pants unzipped in my house?"

"Because I was also going to get in the shower, is that okay?" Bucky finally looked up at him and rolled his eyes.

Sam squinted at him before walking the short distance to your room. He could hear the water going in your bathroom, so he finally relaxed. Bucky came out of the guest room to go in the bathroom across the hall. He just shook his head at Sam. The man was definitely gonna pop a vein when he found out about the two of you.

********

While you all ate Sam and Bucky talked about their infamous first meeting.

"The guy puts his arm through my windshield and snatches the steering wheel clean off," Sam laughed. "Then I watched him jump over the side of a bridge and land on his feet."

"Come on, man," Bucky sounded embarrassed and looked over at you.

"It's funny now. Not so much back when you were trying to kill me, but definitely now," he took a drink.

"Alright, enough of those stories time for music," Sarah saved him. "Alexa, play some old school."

Alexa lit up and played Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye.

"Nooo, Alexa, next song!" Sam yelled.

Alexa played Love and Happiness by Al Green.

"Oh, this the one right here," he stood.

You and Sarah stood on each side of him and let him take lead, eventually coming in to be his back up vocals.

Bucky couldn't help but smile seeing the three of you together.

"Ooh, come on, Buck, let's dance," you put your hand out.

"What? No, I haven't danced since the 40's," he said and took a sip of his whisky.

"Well, you're long overdue then," you grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

You both swayed to the music. He smiled at you as he held on to your hips and led the dance. You were so caught up in him that you hadn't noticed Sam stopped singing and was just staring at you.

It wasn't until the music abruptly stopped that you remembered your siblings were even there.

Sam's jaw was on the ground as he stared at the two of you. You jumped out of his arms and started to explain, but he made a beeline for Bucky.

"Sam—"

He punched him in the face causing Bucky to flip over a chair.

"Samuel!" You and Sarah both yelled.

"He had it coming!" He walked away.

You helped Bucky up.

"Why didn't he hit that hard a few days ago when Walker was kicking our asses," he rubbed a finger across his eye.

"Are you okay? I didn't think he'd ever react like that," you checked his face.

"I'm fine," he assured you. "I should probably go," he said.

"You don't have to go, I'll talk to him. Besides, he just punched you; he didn't say you had to leave." You walked away to find your brother.

Sarah grabbed ice for his face and started cleaning up.

********

"Samuel Thomas Wilson!" You screamed when you saw his silhouette pacing back and forth on the dock. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"Have you?!" He yelled back.

"You're a real piece of work, do you know that?"

"Of all the men in the world, why did you have to choose him?"

"Oh please, you're acting like I ran off and married the guy," you rolled your eyes.

"That's just it, the man's been through enough. He doesn't need you playing with him and trying to figure it out."

"Wait, you're mad at me?? Why the hell did you hit him?"

"I'm mad at both of you. I don't want him hooking up with my kid sister. He's too damn old, " he said, finally starting to calm down.

"Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not a kid anymore and the man is too old for everyone." You sat down and swung your feet over the edge.

"You'll always be my baby," he sat next to you.

"How's your hand?"

"Hurts like a bitch. The guy is very literally hard headed," he chuckled.

********

You found Bucky in the guest room lying in bed with the ice pack on his face.

"How's the eye?" You leaned up against the door.

"It'll survive," he looked over at you.

You walked over to the bed and laid flat on your back next to him. You were quiet until you couldn't hold in your laugh any longer.

"What's so funny?"

"He socked the shit out of you."

"Right?!" He laughed along with you. "But it was worth it. Besides, I had it coming. I did rip the man's steering wheel off while he was driving after all." He chuckled, referencing the earlier conversation.

"You know, he just jumped at the very first boyfriend I ever had and that poor guy never called me again," you moved the ice from his face.

"Yeah well, I don't scare that easily," he pecked your lips with a soft kiss.

You put your hand out for him to grab.

"You sure I'm not gonna get punched again," he laced his fingers with yours.

"Oh please, it was just a little love tap," you led him to the bedroom.

He locked the door behind you then quickly scooped you up to lie you down on your back.

"Bucky," you giggled as he kissed the insides of your thighs.

"I'm going back to Brooklyn tomorrow. I need to taste you one more time before I go." He pulled off your pants.

He slowly slid your underwear off and stuffed them in his back pocket. He definitely needed something to remember this moment by.

Bucky rubbed your pussy and then slowly pushed two fingers inside of you.

"Fuck, look how wet you are and I've barely touched you." He admired the wetness on his fingers when he pulled them out.

You opened your mouth wide and stuck your tongue out, letting him know you wanted a taste.

He happily stuck his fingers in your mouth. His dick pulsing as he watched you suck on his fingers. He could no longer resist diving in between your thighs after watching how much you enjoyed tasting yourself.

Bucky expertly rolled his tongue over your clit. Watching you as you struggled to keep quiet.

He rolled over onto his back while keeping you in place, so you were now riding his face. You buried your face in the pillows and let out the moans you'd been holding back.

"Fuck my tongue," he smacked your ass.

You bounced your ass on his face while he licked and sucked you.

Bucky stroked his cock. His balls were so full, he'd be cumming in no time.

"I'm gonna cum," you gripped the sheets.

Bucky flipped you again, as much as he wanted you to cum on his face, he wanted to see you come apart beneath him even more.

He pushed your legs back and nudged into you. Your breath caught in your throat as he stretched you.

He rubbed your clit as he fucked you slowly and deliberately. Putting his hand around your throat and squeezing lightly until damn broke and you shattered to pieces.

He caught your screams with his mouth and kept fucking until he could no longer hold back. He came inside of you for the second time that night.

After getting cleaned up, he wrapped his arms around you and before long he was asleep. You thought about what Sam said about him having been through enough. Sure, you had your time when you were just living life and didn't take men seriously, but after the blip you've realized that life is way too short. Besides, you actually liked Bucky and wanted to get to know him.

You ran your finger across the stubble on his sleeping face. His soft breathing continued as his fingers flexed lightly on your back.

Normally, even that light touch would've awakened him, but right now, he was completely comfortable and felt safe there with you and your family.

********

The next day Bucky got up early. He decided not to wake you and made his way down the stairs. Sam was already outside throwing the shield around.

Bucky walked up, but the two men didn't speak for a while. It wasn't until Sam threw the shield and Bucky caught it did they break the silence.

"I should've said something. The moment we got to the boat, I should've told you," he said.

"Yeah, you should have," Sam finally stopped to look at him. "That's my baby sister, man."

"I know and I didn't plan for it, hell, I didn't even know you had sisters... Or a boat? Which she got on my ass about by the way," he smiled.

"As she should," he laughed.

The two men talked about a few things and finally Bucky opened up to Sam a little bit.

"You still having those nightmares?" He asked.

"All the time... Except these past two nights." He inhaled as he felt himself becoming emotional. "For the first time in a long time, I felt a little at peace. Even when I was in Wakanda, I always felt like someone was coming, but with Y/N, I just..." his words trailed off.

"You know the Wilson's, we good for the soul man," Sam joked. "You can't use her as a crutch though," he became serious.

Bucky nodded in agreement. He knew exactly what he meant.

"You ready for a little bit of tough love?" He asked the older man.

********

You and Sarah watched out of the window while the two men talked.

"Oh look, they're doing the little high five dap thing," you said.

"He's walking away. Wow, that man broke your back and now he's leaving without saying goodbye," she teased.

"The hell he is," you ran to the front door.

"Hey!" You yelled after snatching it open and running out.

You ran past your brother and jumped into Bucky's arms. Wrapping your legs around him, you gave him a long, tongue filled goodbye kiss.

He set you on your feet after finally pulling himself away. You reached up and pinched his arm.

"Ow! Why is this family so violent?!" He yelled dramatically.

"How dare you try to leave without saying bye to me?" You huffed.

"I'm sorry, doll, but I'm not so good at goodbyes," he hugged you close. "I have some things I need to do back home, but I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You'd better," you kissed him again. "Come on, I'll take you to the airport." You tugged him towards your car.

********

It had been weeks since you'd last seen Bucky, but you spoke on the phone almost everyday. You were excited when he told you that he was coming back to visit and would be at the big cookout.

You mingled with the people while you waited for him to show up, sitting with a group of friends talking when AJ and Cass took off running past you. You turned to see where they were headed and you saw Bucky walking up with a cake in his hand and sunglasses on.

"Damn, he looks better in person," one of your friends said.

"That he does. Excuse me, ladies," you vacated your seat and walked over to him.

The smile that stretched across his face was a mile long.

"Sargeant."

"Hey, baby doll," he wrapped his arms around you and kissed you passionately.

"Alright, alright, enough of that. We're trying to eat here." Sam said.

Bucky clapped his friend on the back and you all sat down together.

Bucky looked around the table at all the smiling faces. He never thought he'd have happiness. Let alone people he could call family. He kissed you at your temple one more time. The way you looked at him made his heart flutter.

Finally. The calm he'd been searching for.

[yourmcu]

102

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x reader

Summary:

Songfic based on ‘102′ by the 1975. Moments when Natasha’s really in love with you.

A/n: listen to that song here, it’s good

Word count: 2,442

Warnings: fluff. pining. angst. angst. one sided relationship. r’s an idiot

Well, we’re here We’re at the common again

To put it simply, Natasha’s in love with you. It’s been a while now and she’s positive about her feelings. She’s not even in denial of it.

Natasha loves everything about you especially those little things and how you can make her day a thousand times better just by being around. Only realizing it a few years after you became a full time Avenger, you’re still unaware even though you’ve got this wonderful friendship with her.

Friendship, she sighs. She thought she could do anything, unfortunately admitting her stupid feelings isn’t one of them. She’d be risking the friendship and bond you two have, or, you could admit that you felt the same and everyone’ll be happy.

However, the thing is, you don’t.

“I like the way that your face looks when I’m arguing with you”.

She finds you adorable even if it's just the dumbest thing ever.

"Nat!" You whine, flailing your hands at your sides like a child. "I called shotgun!"

"I got here first, didn't I?"

"Children, better hurry it up or we'll miss the premiere." Tony gets in the driver's seat.

Natasha sticks her tongue out and crosses her legs to get comfortable, teasing you. The way your eyebrows furrow and your lips turn into a pout, sometimes you'd flail your arms or cross them is so adorable to her.

"Nat," you drag out, crawling in to sit on her lap and attempt to push her out. You don't think of it much because you're frustrated. "Come on, Nat!"

"There's room for both of us here, this is fine." She smirks, wrapping her arms around your waist making you jolt. You're ticklish like that.

Natasha teasing you is the norm for the team so they barely react, so normal that Tony just goes ahead and drives while you're still on the redhead's lap.

"Stop! We're gonna get pulled over!"

"Eh, they owe us an unpayable debt, remember?"

Even if the matter's more serious, she couldn't help but feel soft for you. Every time.

Inside you were freaking out. It was when the Avengers were handed the Sokovia Accords. They were all your friends and to see them split in two sides was - crazy. You remained undecided, but you knew if you didn't sign you'd probably be behind bars.

Both sides made valid points. After Steve abruptly left you were with Natasha most of the time. She tried her best to persuade you that signing was the best option for the team.

"You know I'm not one with politics, I just don't trust them, Nat," you sigh, gently taking her hand to fiddle with. "But - but then again, we've done enough collateral damage through the years."

Natasha nods. "you know I'm with you no matter what happens, right?"

You nod as well and offer a thankful smile. She truly is your bestest friend.

"Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path," she continues. "Staying together is more important than how we stay together."

Her hand now intertwines with yours. But she gently removes hers, that's way too... weird. You can't just do that, Romanoff.

She mentally sighs in relief since it doesn’t look like you noticed. You remain silent, deep in thought, but you snap out of it when she gets up.

"I'm making a quick stop to London then I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. You're welcome to join me."

And so when, when we all grow old I hope this song will remind you that I’m not half as bad As what you’ve been told

Here we are, sort of like your origin story on how you met the Avengers.

Steve introduced you to the team when you've settled, healed, and able to control your pyrokinesis. You were thankful for them saving you from the HYDRA base because unlike the others, the experiments they ran on you were forced.

As Natasha first laid her eyes on you, that cliché moment in movies where in the character's surroundings seem to slow down and the only thing you're focused on is that one particular person-

She didn't believe in that shit. She would scoff and roll her eyes whenever she saw a scene like that.

But it happened to her. She hated it and would've accused you for taking her breath away.

"Yeah. Natasha Romanoff." She curtly extends a hand for you to shake and you smile at her, taking it.

And for a while she ignores you while simultaneously looking you up behind your back.

Why would someone like you, a genuine and beautiful ray of sunshine, want anything to do with someone like Natasha?

She's terrified of the thought of what your reaction would be if you realize what she'd done in the past. Ah, her past, something she isn’t proud of.

You finally confront her one day, hating how you seem to get a long with everyone just fine except her.

Your real reaction being, "we've all done something really bad that we regret. I mean, look at me, I was treated like a weapon for a quarter of my life and I can produce fire anytime, which I didn't ask for - sorry, I guess what I'm saying is, I don't think you're a bad person Natasha. You're here, aren't you? Saving people's lives? You're a better version of yourself, you're changing and if you ask me that's what really matters. Now, can we get some coffee?"

Natasha's been in love with you ever since.

And when I knock at a hundred and two, And I see your pajamas I can’t stop smiling at you

Natasha heard soft knocks outside her door one night. To be honest she'd be most likely to ignore the harsh and hard knocks, so she got up and made her way to open the door.

There you stood in your pajamas. You hate the matching ones, just like the pair you had on that night. But you also hate mismatching them. Natasha wouldn't admit to think that you look nice in them though. "Hi," you manage to say, avoiding looking her directly in the eyes since you already doubt she'd let you stay just this once. "I... uh, m'sorry for waking you up, Nat-"

While you find the words to say Natasha just observes - that's creepy - admires - she looks, she looks. You're clearly dying inside, probably regretting you knocked, the way you prefer looking at anything but her as you try and get words out, and how you fiddled with the hem of your shirt.

"God, you know what? Never mind, I... I'm sorry for waking you up."

Before you could walk away Natasha opens her door wider, her face displaying full concern. "Hey, what happened?"

"It's nothing serious, I was just-"

"As your friend, I'm here for you no matter what," she wonders what'd it be like if it’s more than that. "Plus, I won't be able to go back to sleep either if you end up not telling me." She offers you a smile.

You sigh, looking her in the eye for the first time that night. "Had a nightmare. It was one of those kinds where I had no idea if I was gonna wake up from it - it was just - I feel like if I went back to sleep I'd see it again, you know?" You exhale, frowning.

She's glad you chose to show your vulnerable side to her, it just goes to show that you trust her that much, feeling like you could tell her anything.

You bite your lip, looking away. "I'm being such a baby about it, sorry-"

"Y/N," she states. "Stop apologizing and come here,"

Natasha motions you inside her room and almost immediately you latch yourself onto her, hugging her as you near the bed. It must've been bad, you seem shaken up about it.

You sigh in relief when Natasha pulls the covers over both of you, enveloping you into warmness.

Natasha lies beside you with her elbow propped up to look at you. "Do you... want to talk about it? Or I can put on a movie if you'd like."

You shake your head slightly, scooting near her. "I'm all good now."

Natasha's heart skips a beat, knowing that she's the one making you feel at ease, calm. She smiles and nods, turning to turn off the lamp.

Friends can cuddle, right? She wonders. She wants to wrap an arm around you more than anything but she feels that would be some sort of violation. So she hopes that the closeness of your bodies would be enough, for now. Hopefully.

I said “well I, I like the cut of your jib,”, “I like the way that your face looks when you're yapping on about him,”

Even though you were being affectionate with Natasha sometimes, you never returned her feelings.

Only a total asshole would hang around with someone often and do something that would cross that barrier, giving signs and subtle hints that you liked her, at least that’s what it looked like to Natasha but it ended up actually didn’t. Were you really the one to blame though? You have no idea Natasha likes you more than a friend.

Which lead you to making a very poor choice of opening up about someone you liked, to the one who liked you.

Natasha’s heart was racing when you mentioned you liked someone and planned to take them on a date, but you decided to go to her for advice first. 

It was a fifty-fifty chance for her, really.

“I mean, she is very mysterious,” you thought while running your thumb across your bottom lip. “Wanda.”

From there, Natasha just tried to ignore the sudden ache in her chest, pulling herself together in your presence. Of course it wasn’t her, you would never like someone like her. Plus, it was expected. You and Wanda shared a few more things in common than Natasha.

Noticing that the redhead hasn’t spoken a word, you continue. “I’d like to get to know her better but... you’ve known her longer than me, right, Nat? I want her to be comfortable if I ever get to go out with her.”

She tried to swallow the lump on her throat subtly, avoiding your eyes. She wanted nothing more than to walk away, out of anybody’s sight so no one could see her mercilessly destroy anything in her sight.

“You don’t need to,” she finally replies. “You could watch her favorite sitcoms together and you’ll win her over.”

“Sitcoms?”

“She likes them.”

You pout, pondering about the idea further while Natasha sighs to herself.

And after you excuse yourself to talk to the young witch, Natasha wastes no time to head to her floor to have some well deserved alone time to herself and mope, telling herself that she doesn’t and never will deserve someone like you.

But on this shirt I found your smell I just sat there for ages Contemplating what to do with myself

You and Natasha are both lucky to have each other on the team. The both of you are a match made in heaven on the battlefield, you have each other's backs.

"So... that went well," you state, referring to the mission, putting your hands on your hips as Natasha packs her stuff to get ready to leave for the next day. You bite the inside of your cheek, cursing yourself for packing lightly. "Can I borrow a shirt?"

Natasha just finished showering, now in the process of doing her usual routines before going to bed. She grabs a shirt from her closet and pulls it on.

She sighs exhaustedly, running her fingers through her hair. The fact that the shirt she put on was the same one you borrowed from her that day doesn’t click immediately.

But when it does,

"Fuck."

Natasha told herself to slowly move on because a more-than-friends relationship with you is not happening.

Well, not that she's ever told you directly that she's in love with you, but she can take a hint. You clearly aren’t interested.

And now she sits there alone with a shirt that fucking smells like you, her favorite person. At that moment she wants to just march over to your room and confess.

Trying to move on isn’t a good look on her, key word: trying to.

You’re something else. No one's made her feel this way before.

I called you up at a hundred and two, We just sat there for ages Talking about that boy who was getting on to you

You just might be the most oblivious idiot ever.

Because after your first, second date with Wanda you still failed to notice the changes in Natasha’s mood. You should know, you considered her your best friend, but being with Wanda became your priority ever since you pulled off impressing her on the first date.

Instead of letting you be, Natasha had to call you. At the time you were on your break, taking time off out of the compound. She just wanted some sort of closure at least, wasn’t even sure if that’s what to call it considering you both would still be friends, but she needed it.

“Hey, I won’t take up too much of your time,” she starts, but you immediately bombard her with what happened with your day with Wanda.

Natasha bites her lip as you do, every little thing you mentioned that she could only imagine doing with you sends her heart throbbing. But at the same time she’s happy for you. She simply loved seeing you happy. 

“I couldn’t have managed to do any of it let alone talk to Wanda without your help. Thanks, Nat,” she smiles sadly at your words, completely scrapping the thought of confessing her feelings to you. Maybe it didn’t matter anymore. “We should hang out when I get back. I miss you.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t, I... I’m being sent off for a mission soon,” she blinks back the tears and she could’ve sworn the ache she felt just got worse. Before she could utter another word, you sigh.

“Oh. I’ll see you when you get back, then?”

“I guess.”

When the call ends she goes to her messages to type out the things she’s been dying to say. She’ll be gone when you get back, she won’t have to face you once you’ve read it. After everything I still love you. It’s been too long, you deserve to know.

[wrenhyperfixates]

How to Cure a Cold

Pairing: Loki x reader Summary: You catch a cold after playing in the snow. Loki worries that, as a frost giant, he is too cold to warm you up, but you quickly convince him otherwise. Warnings: very brief and non-descriptive mention of violence; short and fluffy, with just a dash of angst A/N: Just some quick winter fluff for everyone! Hope you all enjoy :)

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiant​​ @lunarmoon8​ @twhiddlestonsstuff​ @lokistan​ @thelokiimaginechroniclesficrecs​ @gaitwae​ @whatafuckingdumbass​

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

“Are you sure you’re going to be warm enough?” Loki fretted as you prepared to step outside. “Perhaps another scarf?”

“Relax,” you laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

He was about to say something else, but you silenced him with a kiss. Turning a deep shade of scarlet, he relented and let you lead the way outside where the first snow of the season had just finished. You loved your boyfriend to pieces, but he worried far too much. Though, to be fair, it may make sense considering how you met. There had been an attack on the Tower, some hydra operatives trying to take out the Avengers. You worked on one of the lower levels in administration, and while all your coworkers had been rounded up, you’d evaded capture and got word to the heroes on the levels above. Just as the hydra agents discovered you, Loki came bursting in and saved everyone. He shielded you from a bullet and, naturally, you made sure to seek him out and thank him once the whole ordeal was over. The two of you just clicked and eventually started dating.

You walked out of your suburban home that you’d bought together and into the cold. You fought off a shiver, knowing that it would earn you an “I told you so” look from Loki. After zipping your jacket up just a little bit more, you pulled Loki down into the snow with you, and started making a snow angel.

“What in the Nine are you doing, darling?” he asked, looking on with perplexed features.

“Are you for real?” you asked back, turning your head to look at him. “Do you really not know what a snow angel is?”

“I am afraid it was warm year-round on Asgard. I do not know much of your outdoor winter activities. Regardless, I am sure Asgardian traditions would be quite different than the ones on Midgard, should we have any.”

“Well then, it’s my job to teach you.”

He was hesitant at first, certain that he would look absolutely ridiculous. Slowly, you convinced him that it was fine, and he gave in. Even so, he seemed rather embarrassed when your neighbor passed by, walking his dog.

Once you’d finished, you contemplated what activity should be next. A snowball fight could be rather fun, but you had to admit, you were a little nervous that Loki would go overboard. He was usually very gentle with you, but he could be a bit competitive. Not that you were complaining; you loved his fiery side. Maybe something you could do as a team would be better, though.

“That’s it!” you exclaimed, trying to snap your fingers through your gloves. “We should build a snowman.”

“Come again?” Loki replied, trying to work out how a person made of snow would be very practical. Besides, how could mortals instill sentience in it?

“We make three balls of snow, then stack them. I have a bunch of stuff for decorating it inside. And, yeah, it melts in a few days, but it’s fun while it lasts,” you explained with a smile.

“I see,” he said, glad he hadn’t fully voiced his now silly musings. “If it is what you desire, then I would love to make a snowman.”

You demonstrated how to roll the snow and got to work, ignoring the chill on your skin as snow got in your sleeve. Loki noticed as you paused for a moment to shake it out and came over to check on you. You just waved him off, certain that you’d be alright. If you were going to be completely honest, though, the cold was starting to get to you, and you’d suppressed more than one sneeze.

While Loki hefted the head onto your creation, you quickly ran into the house to grab the box with the necessary accessories, including a fake carrot for when you didn’t have a real one in your fridge. You excitedly rushed out to rejoin the trickster god, but unfortunately went just a little too quickly and slipped on a patch of ice. Loki was by your side so quickly you wondered if he’d teleported the short distance.

“My darling!” he exclaimed. “Are you injured? How can I help?”

His hands hovered over you, almost as if he was afraid he’d hurt you more if he touched you. You grabbed one of his gloved hands to still its nervous movement, and pressed it to your lips. That seemed to ground him, and he helped you up, putting his free arm around your waist to steady you.

“I’m ok,” you reassured him, bending back down to pick up the box. “Thank you. Come on, let’s finish our snowman!”

Together, you dressed up your snowy work of art, and stood back to appreciate the finished product. You were about to ask him what he thought you should name it when you felt a sneeze building up. Despite trying to hold it back, it slipped out. And it wasn’t any demure, cute sneeze either. It came out full force, practically a shout.

“Aha! I knew it!” Loki declared. “You, my darling mortal, are not bundled up enough. Now come in before you catch your death of cold. Please.”

“Well, that’s a little dramatic,” you protested, hands on your hips. The soft, pleading look he was giving you, though, quickly made you agree. “Ok, fine. But I can walk, you don’t need to carry me.”

“Fair enough, darling.”

You went inside and stripped off your jackets, gloves, and scarves. Loki immediately ushered you to the couch and tucked you under a blanket. He used his magic to start a fire, then rushed off into the kitchen to prepare your drinks, tea for him and hot cocoa for you. Handing your mug to you, he sat down on the other end of the couch.

“Hey, Loki?” you said. You knew there was something bothering him given the way he sat so far away. “You know what would really help me warm up?”

“Another blanket?” he guessed. “Or being closer to the fire, perhaps?”

“Nope. Snuggles.”

He frowned a little, eyes downcast. “I am not so sure that would have the desired effect. You forget, darling, I am a frost giant.”

“Nonsense,” you tsked, now understanding why he was keeping is distance. “If anything, that only means you should be getting warm with me. Now come on. Snuggle time. Please.”

“I do not think it works that way,” he argued, though you could see his resolve was weakening.

You lifted up the blanket and looked at him with your puppy dog eyes you knew he couldn’t resist. With a sigh, he slid over and tentatively wrapped his arms around you. He didn’t relax until you cuddled against him, though. He pressed a hesitant kiss to the back of your neck, and smiled against your skin when you made a happy, content little hum.

“I hope you know, Loki,” you began, “I don’t care if your the coldest thing on the planet or the warmest thing in a million miles; I will always want to cuddle with you. Because, well, because you’re you, and I love you.”

“Oh, darling,” he replied, the uncertainty in his touch fading fast as you kissed along his jaw, making your way to his lips. “I cannot express how much it fills me with happiness to hear those words. Thank you so much. I love you, too, more than anything else in the Nine Realms.”

You sighed happily and burrowed further into his side. As you felt yet another sneeze building up, you wondered if maybe he had been right after all, and you were getting sick. Rather than lecturing you on the importance of staying warm in the winter, the raven haired god just handed you a tissue as the sneeze finally made its way out of you in a loud “achoo.” It made you feel safe and cared for, and you were glad to know that if you did come down with anything, you would have the man you loved to take care of you. Loki pressed a kiss to your forehead, and you stayed there chatting until you slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep in each other’s arms.

[thenakedgingerwrites]

Gullible Mike

AN: I’ve had a few prompts on my notepad for years that I haven’t fleshed out and finally got into a creative and horny mood today. Prompt below. I welcome any other authors to take it and run with it to make their own variation on the simple idea. I ended up having the POV be the controller but I think my original prompt idea was that the POV would be controlled. If you use the prompt shoot me a message so I can enjoy your mischievous minds :)

Prompt: “Photo or video gets found of a friend and he has to convince his friend it’s not him by getting naked.”

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

The hypnosis show me and some buddies went to a few weeks ago was pretty fun. A few of us had been called up on stage and while it didn’t appear to work on a few invited volunteers, it had certainly worked on Mike.

His instruction was pretty simple: to be incredibly gullible. The hypnotist lady had then gotten him into a number of funny situations by proving just how gullible he was. He had offered a bunch of money to random members of the audience since it was obviously illegal to have more than $2 in your wallet at any time. He talked like a baby to anyone who claimed they were a parent because that was the polite thing to do. And lastly, he had taken off his jeans because the hypnotist thought they were on fire!

The show wasn’t x-rated or anything, so it stopped there, but it was pretty funny to see Mike hopping around on stage in his boxer briefs and polo. The audience’s wolf whistles agreed. Before a heckler’s shout of “I think your underwear’s on fire too!” she had put him back under.

It wasn’t until a few days later that it became apparent to me that Mike was still under this ‘gullible’ command. We had been hanging out just the two of us and watching the Packers v. Steelers game and he was going on and on about how Roethlisberger was going to wipe the field with my team. I jokingly said something like “since you’re clearly in love with him, a good luck kiss might go a long way.”

He somewhat seriously asked me, “you think so?” I figured we were still just razzing each other and so I responded, “Oh for sure. If you plant a big one on the TV when he’s on screen I’m positive that’ll make sure the Steelers win.”

Mike just sat there with a curious face as we continued to watch the game. I thought it was just a weird interaction until the camera zoomed in on Roethlisberger between downs. Mike nearly sprinted to the TV and kissed the image of Ben. “Good luck Ben!” he said, somewhat seductively.

I burst out laughing thinking he was still just trying to be funny. He looked back at me and said, “we’ll see who’s laughing at the end of the game.”

I rolled my eyes and got us another round of beers, but these bizarre actions continued. All through the game anytime Ben was shown on screen, Mike would run up and kiss the TV. Luckily we were at his place so I didn’t care about the lip marks and saliva streaks on the screen but I was flabbergasted. What the fuck was wrong with him?

And then I remembered the hypnotist.

It clicked that Mike was clearly still under the command she had given him. I wasn’t sure what to do about it though. I remembered the bar she had performed at so maybe I could call them to get in contact with her and have her reverse this thing.

Then the Steelers scored and he gloated to me that my team was gonna lose because I didn’t have as much team spirit and loyalty like he did.

“You haven’t kissed Rodgers once and you call yourself a fan? You should be ashamed.”

Really, Mike? That’s how you’re gonna act?

“Well at least I’m not kissing him wrong unlike you. What you’re doing is far more disrespectful. I bet they lose the game since you’re doing it so wrong.”

Mike looked worried, “what do you mean?”

“Everyone knows you don’t fucking kiss the quarterback like it’s your grandma or something. I haven’t seen tongue once this whole game. And your silent ass kiss is probably gonna make him miss every throw from this point on.”

Mike was wide eyed. I wagered that in his warped mind now he thought HE would be responsible if they lost. He looked to the TV in terror. Serendipitously, he actually did botch the pass in the next play. Honestly it was more good defense from the Packers end and less-so a poor throw from Roethlisberger but to Mike, that was the confirmation he needed.

The camera zoomed in on Ben cursing inaudibly and Mike went to work. He was fucking making out with the screen, tongue and all, and moaning a ton. He even ran one of his hands up the screen like he was caressing the dude.

I was filled with mixed emotions. I felt bad that I was taking advantage of the situation, I felt ecstatic because this shit was hilarious and I couldn’t wait to tell the guys, and, scarily, I felt turned on watching him make out with 2D Ben Roethlisberger and moaning louder and louder.

The tent in my gym shorts told me I was feeling the third emotion more than anything else.

We were close to the end of the game and I wasn’t pleased that the Packers had lost but for the first time in my life I didn’t care. The day had made a turn and seeing Mike in this way was a treat I didn’t know I wanted.

He continued to berate me for not caring about the Packers as much as he cared about the Steelers which was an argument I let him win. I was still a bit in a state of shock.

I finished my beer and needed to get home. As I was getting ready to leave, I decided to try something. It was dumb, but at that point I was still thinking with the hard dick in my shorts.

“Alright, Mike, I need to head out.”

“Sounds good Matt. Sorry, I made your team lose. Not!”

I rolled my eyes again, “yeah, well maybe next time I’ll try my own good luck charm.”

He raised his eyes, “What’s that!?”

“Well I’m not going to give you any secrets to let your team keep winning against mine.”

“Ah, fuck you Matt. We’ll win no matter what.”

“Sure, sure. Anyway, should we do the kiss now?”

He looked at me confused and took a step back. “The what now?”

“You know, the goodbye kiss.”

He still looked at me like I was crazy. I started to get nervous but doubled down, hoping it would work.

“When two friends watch a game together, they have to kiss after it’s over to show there’s no hard feelings. Have you honestly never heard of that rule?”

He shook his head, “No I… I guess I haven’t. I’m sorry, Matt.”

“Shit, I hope you haven’t pissed off any of your other friends.”

I could see panic in his eyes as he thought through how many times he had botched this gentleman’s rule before.

“It’s probably fine, Mike,” I assured him. “You didn’t know. I’m sure no harm done.”

“Fuck. I hope so.” He looked up at me, “Well I won’t fuck up from now on, that’s for sure!”

He walked up to me and kissed me.

It was so quick and I was on cloud nine with the realization that it had worked that I just stood there for a second.

He looked at me curiously and asked, “We good?” I blinked away my shock to continue the game, “Is that how you kissed Roethlisberger? I thought we were actually friends, dude.”

“Oh, shit sorry!”

I didn’t even need to coach him on what I wanted. He leaned back in and planted his lips on mine but this time, began to invade my mouth with his tongue. As he did he rubbed my back and began to moan. This time, I kissed back.

My arms also stroked up and down the small of his back and I even risked a single rub down onto his butt. Man, was it hot. If he felt my boner pressing up against his thigh, Mike didn’t say anything.

We kissed hot and heavy like this for a good 30 seconds before he broke away.

“Sorry, Matt. I’ll be sure to give a proper kiss moving forward.”

“Yeah… Yeah.”

I was at a loss for words.

I should leave.

I should.

I didn’t.

I’m not sure why it came to mind but I was running on autopilot at this stage controlled entirely by the dick in my shorts. I wouldn’t identify as gay or really even bi, but I had been curious for a bit what it would be like to be with another guy. Mostly like a morbid curiosity or something, but now that there was a real opportunity on the table, with someone I trusted and who was pretty freaking hot, I couldn’t resist the temptation to get it out of my system.

“Oh fuck, dude.”

I looked down at my phone as I exclaimed that.

Mike looked at me, “What’s up? Everything okay?”

“I think your ex leaked dick pics of you.”

“What?!” Mike shouted and ran over to my phone to try and get a look.

I hid my phone from him quickly and covered myself by saying “wait, Mike. You don’t want to look at these in case it’s not actually your dick. That would make you gay if you did.”

He quickly backed off, “I’m not gay!”

“Right, right. Me either. But I didn’t have a choice, I had to look at them but you don’t have to.”

“Okay, yeah. How the fuck would she have done that though? I don’t remember her even taking them!”

“I’m not sure, Mike,” I said. “Maybe she took them when you weren’t paying attention.”

“Fuck, are you sure it’s me?” he asked nervously.

Gotcha.

“Well, I’m not sure. The only way I could know for sure would be to see your dick to compare.”

Mike looked confused, “Well that would be pretty gay dude. I don’t want you looking at my junk and I’m sure you don’t either.”

“Well of course not, but chances are I’m already looking at it right now. But I’m willing to do this as a friend, and that wouldn’t be gay. And if it’s not actually your dick then you don’t have to worry. If it is, we should report them and try and get them taken down.”

“Fuck. Fuck! I don’t want dick pics of me out there on the internet!”

“I know! Think about if your work found them, or your family! That would be so embarrassing!”

“Shit shit shit.” Mike was freaking out. “Okay… Okay, are you sure you don’t mind helping me out?”

“As a friend, I have to do everything in my power to confirm whether these pics are of you or not.”

“You’re such a good friend, Matt. I’m sorry you’re in this position though.”

Oh, no worries.

Mike hesitantly started to undo the button on his cargo shorts. He didn’t strip in any sort of sexy way but a second later his cargo shorts hit the ground. I was staring at a similar image as last week: Mike standing there with nothing but a shirt and underwear. This time though, his hands were reaching for the waistband.

“I’m sorry,” he said to me one more time.

I went to say ‘no problem’ but got caught off by the shucking of his boxer briefs. As he stood back up I finally got to see it. The whole package.

Mike clearly didn’t manscape much and honestly neither did I, but that didn’t hide what he was packing. His soft cock was cut like my own and pretty thick. I knew not to judge a guy based on his softie but wagered he was large. And as a double bonus the balls below, while tight to his body, looked pretty big too.

I stared.

“Well?” Mike asked me cautiously with his palms extended, miming ‘what do you think?’

“I… I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean?” he asked me.

“Well, Mike, this is awkward… but the photos here are of a hard dick. It’s difficult to know for sure if this is you or not comparing the two.”

“Fuck man! What are we gonna do?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied.

I wanted him to come up with the solution. Somehow that made me feel less like a terrible person and friend.

“I hate to ask…” he started. “But, would you be willing to look at my stuff if I went and got a boner?”

“Man, Mike… I mean. Like I said, as a friend I basically have to. It’s my duty, as everyone knows. So yeah, I’ll compare your boner to the pictures.”

He sighed in relief. “You’re the best, Matt.”

He looked around, “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get it up though given the situation…”

Time to test this hypnosis. I planted a seed. “Well, I heard that in this situation I’m supposed to be the one to get you hard.”

“What? Where did you hear that?”

“Greg, my buddy from work, told me a year or so ago. This same thing had happened to a friend of his.”

“Fuck, really?”

“Yeah,” I said. “And I asked him if that was gay or anything.”

“That’s what I was wondering too.”

Mike was falling perfectly into my made up scenario. “Yeah, but Greg assured me that it isn’t. Literally anything I have to do to make sure you’re good isn’t gay. It’s just being a good friend. But he told me that his friend couldn’t get himself hard because boners look different when you get it up versus when someone else does.”

“Really, I’ve never noticed before.”

“Me either, but I guess that’s because I don’t really notice dicks, you know?”

He nodded his head eagerly. “Right, right.”

“So, I guess, I’ll have to get you hard. That’s like the only way I’ll be able to tell for sure.”

“Damn. I’m so sorry, Matt.”

“Honestly, don’t worry about apologizing. I’m just happy I can hopeful help to confirm you have nothing to worry about with these photos.”

“Thanks man!”

He looked around the room a bit awkwardly. “Should we uh.. Sit down or something?”

I pointed to the couch. “Yeah, why don’t you sit there.”

He did as instructed and spread his legs out. He hadn’t bothered to cover up at all this whole time and as he sat down and reclined a bit, his soft dick fell to one side of his thighs.

I timidly knelt down in front of him. He watched me. Now just inches from me was the first dick I had really ever seen up close besides my own. Gym showers don’t really count. This was entirely different.

I reached my hand out. I was no longer nervous that I would get caught or something because it was clear I could do anything with Gullible Mike at this point. I was just nervous about how much I was going to like this.

My fingers touched flesh. The soft skin of Mike’s cock was warm and spongey. I sort of just played with it in my finger tips for a few moments before palming it. As I started my slow strokes to bring Mike Jr. to life, I looked up at Mike Sr.

He was watching but was clearly embarrassed. He was blushing profusely. I probably could have spared him with some command, but I decided against it. It was fun to watch him squirm a bit.

He slowly began to inflate and as he did I took note of his balls with my other hand. They were indeed large. Larger than mine at least. Mike clearly didn’t shave them but there wasn’t much hair. Mostly up near where they met his body. I lightly massaged them, earning me the first moan from Mike.

He had leaned his head back, no longer watching the action. Perhaps he was imagining some girl doing this to him. Perhaps he was just enjoying the experience as much as I was.

My hand was now grasping onto firm meat. His cock was at full mast. Finally I had him beat somewhere. His dick was probably only about 6 inches hard, maybe a little smaller actually. However, he still had me beat in girth. I continued to stroke him for a bit when Mike finally spoke up.

“I think I’m fully hard now. Can you tell if the pics are of my dick or not?”

I pulled out my phone, letting his dick fall back onto his belly with an audible ‘smack.’ I pretended to compare the imaginary pics up against his dick.

“Hm, mind if I take some photos of the same angle so I can compare them side by side?”

“Umm…” he bit his lip.

“I’ll delete them obviously.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, that’s fine.”

I took a myriad of photos for my own personal entertainment. Some close up, some showing all of Mike including his face which was still flushed. I even took a secret video of me holding his dick upright and stroking it a bit.

“So, I’m feeling more confident that it may not be your dick.”

“Oh thank god!”

“But, there’s a few things that are still off.”

Mike was worried again, “like what?”

“Well… the photos of the dick are kind of… wet.”

“Wet?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Like, your ex had just given you a blowjob or something.”

“Fuck. Is there that much of a difference with a bit of saliva on it?”

“Surprisingly yeah. It’s hard for me to know for sure. Unless…”

“Unless you…?” He asked.

I feigned hesitation. “I think I have to blow you.”

“Matt, no, that’s too much. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“Mike, you don’t have to. You’re one of my best friends.”

“Seriously, Matt. I’d rather just have my dick pics leaked. I would feel so bad asking you to do that for me.”

“No, I’ve made up my mind. This is for you, Mike!”

Without letting him try and talk me out of it, I brought his dick to my mouth.

“Oh fuck! Mmmm” Mike no longer protested.

Being the first blowjob I’d ever given, I didn’t get much in at first. Maybe two inches of his thick cock. But as I continued to bob on it, I got past the halfway point.

Mike’s dick tasted great. There was a fleshy, salty taste that I’d expect from skin like when I’ve licked my fingers in the past after getting food on them or something. But there was also an extra flavor that I realized must be his pre.

In under a minute, Mike was moaning loudly. He even placed a hand on the back of my head. Not forcing me down his dick or anything, but he kindly rubbed and played with my hair as I sucked him.

I hate to admit it, but I loved it. I don’t think I could say I wasn’t bi anymore.

I continued to nearly gag on his thick tool when he interrupted me to say, “Matt, I think you should stop. If you go any further I might fucking cum.”

I stopped to look up at him and deliver my last line, “I didn’t want to mention this, but the pics also had a video of the dick cumming. I think that’s the only way I’ll know for sure.”

“Matt…”

Mike was fully flushed both from the seemingly great blowjob I had been giving but also the idea that he was asking his friend to make him cum. He was so embarrassed.

“You don’t have to ask me, Mike. I want to. You’d make me into a bad friend if you didn’t let me.”

“Well, you are a great friend.”

“So it’s settled.”

I went back to work.

“Fuck, Matt…”

It honestly didn’t take long. I hadn’t gotten to the point where I could take his whole dick in my throat; I’m not sure how gay guys do it. But I got probably 4 or 5 inches down when I felt his ball sac start to tighten up.

“Matt, I’m gonna cum.”

I wanted to taste it but I also got a little gun shy and scared. This was maybe too much for my first gay experience. I released his dick from my mouth and began to stroke him instead. Eight strokes later, his thighs flexed and he grunted.

Mike wasn’t a shooter like myself but fuck did he cum a lot. The first spurt actually shot out a couple inches onto his abs. The next four were just gushes that flowed out and down his dick onto my hand but it was a ton. Then he dribbled more and more for a minute or so as I continued to stroke his slowly deflating cock.

“Wow, Mike. That’s a lot of cum.”

“Haha, thanks. I feel terrible for putting you through this though. I’m a fucking asshole.”

“No you’re not! And, now that I’ve seen you cum, I’m positive these dick pics aren’t of you.”

“Really?!”

He shot up in excitement which caused his semi-hard dick, covered in cum, hit me the face. I fell back in shock and he quickly knelt down to make sure I was okay.

“Shit, sorry Matt! Oh fuck, I got my cum on your face.”

I could feel the warm liquid on my cheek and bit on my mouth.

“Well you know what they say,” I said with a laugh.

“What?”

“You know, ‘if you get cum on a guy’s face, you have to clean it off with your tongue.’”

“Shit, I had no idea. Matt you seem to know so much.”

“Oh I do. I’ll be sure to keep teaching you.”

We shared a laugh before he leaned in.

[thegreatestofheck]

Not So Unrequited ⚜ JJ Maybank ⚜

request - (from Anon)  JJ and the reader arguing about anything and he’s like I Love you and she’s begging him not to say it because she doesn’t think she can be loved. warnings - swearing (lots and lots your welcome), steaminess,  synopsis - in the middle of an argument with your best friend, he says something to you that you had never wanted to hear. 

(thank you for this, anon, I love it! I hope this is what you wanted, I made it a lil steamy because- well, I have no excuse. Threw a little bit of body positivity in there because everyone is beautiful, and you all deserve to know that.)

“God, you’re such an idiot,” Kie sighed, pressing an ice pack against JJ’s cheek. “She’s gonna be pissed.” 

JJ rolled his eyes, letting Kie baby him because it made the both of them feel a little bit better. He opened his mouth to say something when the door to the Chateau opened. 

He had expected it to fly open with a flurry followed by the hurricane that was y/n. But when it creaked slowly, barely opening enough for you to slide inside, both Kie and JJ froze. JJ flicked his gaze away from Kie and met yours. 

A chill ran down his spine at the look in your eye. Silent as you were, everything that you weren’t saying was storming behind your eyes. Your dead calm was more terrifying than your raging storm. 

You walked into the dark Chateau and leaned yourself up against the wall, crossing your arms. Tension shrouded the room. Kie felt like she had stepped in the middle of a show down, her movements on JJ’s bruised knuckles short and awkward. JJ knew he was about to get his ass handed to him in a verbal beat down and he wasn’t really in the mood for it right now. 

And you, you were pissed off. Beyond pissed off. 

Kie stood slowly, setting her cleaning supplies off to the side. She glanced quickly over at you, but your gaze was fixed solely on the blond boy currently nursing a bruised cheekbone. With a sigh, Kie put a hand on JJ’s shoulder. 

“Good luck,” she whispered before making a quick break for the door. JJ grunted in response.

The tension in the room increased ten times when Kie left. JJ refused to meet your gaze again, still holding the ice pack to his face. 

“Why are the lights off?” you asked, breaking through the silence. 

“Hurts my head,” JJ mumbled. You resisted the urge to sigh dramatically. 

“Cause you have a concussion. That’s what you get for getting in a 3-on-1 fight.” 

JJ tightened his jaw and slouched farther in his seat, dropping his hands into his lap. You finally let out that sigh you had been fighting back. Pushing yourself off of the wall, you crossed the room and lowered yourself to the floor in front of JJ’s feet. He watched you carefully with wide, curious eyes, just waiting for you to explode.

But you didn’t.

You lifted your hand slowly and took the ice pack from his hand and gently pressed it back against his swollen face. His breath hitched in his throat from the sudden cold. At least, that’s what he told himself. 

Being so close to you made him freeze, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest. It made him want to throw up. He wondered why people liked falling in love if this was how it felt. Or maybe this was only what an unrequited love felt like. 

“You are a fucking idiot for taking those guys on like that,” you said, your voice quiet but shaking. 

“They were dicks,” JJ replied. He looked away from you as you cradled the ice pack in your hand. 

“You can’t fight every dick in the world, Jay.” 

“But I can fight every dick who treats you like shit.” 

You’re calmness started to quake, threatening to become something far more wild. 

“I don’t need you to defend me,” you told him, setting your jaw to keep your anger at bay. He had been trying to help, after all. JJ scoffed and slouched even farther. You pulled the ice pack away and scowled. “What, you think I need you to fight my own battles?” 

“You can but you don’t,” JJ snapped. “You let them harass you and call you names. You let them get away with it.” 

“I don’t let anyone do anything. I just don’t justify their taunting with a response. They’re not worth my time.” Your eyes narrowed at JJ. It had always been this way. Someone said anything bad about you and he would throw himself into a fight instantly, even if you were unphased. You just wondered why in the hell he thought that meant he should take it into his own hands. “If they’re not worth my time they’re sure as hell not worth you getting all bloodied up for.” 

“God, you do this every time.” JJ pushed himself up out of the chair and stepped past you. You glowered at him as he paced toward the other side of the room. Rising from you ground, you couldn’t bite back your irritated response. 

“Every time you do something stupid? Yeah, I’m sorry for caring about your sorry ass. Newsflash, jerk face, but I don’t like seeing you get beat up. It’s not fun, for any of us.” 

JJ ran his hands through his hair, but he didn’t say anything, which only fueled your fire even more. You crossed your arms and your glower turned into a full glare. 

“Why do you insist on fighting every goddamn prick who has to run their mouth?” You continued. “What’s so important that you have to throw yourself into every fight? Why can’t you just leave it be?” 

He still didn’t respond, but he turned his back on you as his face went red. 

“Huh? Are you listening to me? Jay, why-”

“Because I love you, goddammit!” JJ whirled around to face you, his eyes wide, his hair a mess, his breathing ragged. You stiffened, the anger in your chest vanishing like a painful mist. 

“What?” Your voice was barely above a whisper, the shock evident in your face. JJ’s face fell in desperation, dropping his hands back to his side. 

“I love you.” He said it again, much more desperate, but with no less emotion. JJ almost smiled. He took one short step toward you and you took one back, your eyes dropping to the ground. JJ’s smile fell. 

“Well, stop it,” was all you could find to say, your voice still quiet. 

“What?” You hated to hear the heartbreak in his voice, but it was better that you break his heart now than ten years down the road. 

“Just, stop!” Your hands trembled at your sides. 

“Stop what? Stop loving you? I tried that already and it didn’t work.” You crossed your arms over your stomach and turned your face away from him. “Say something, please. Anything.” 

“I don’t even know what love is, JJ. How could you possibly know?” You asked, still not looking at him. He shrugged his shoulders, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“All I know is that every time I’m around you, I want to be holding you and my stomach gets all tied up in knots. That I miss you whenever you’re no around. That whenever I see you with another guy, I want to tear his fucking throat out. That it fucking breaks my heart when you cry. That I would burn down the entire world before I let anyone hurt you.” 

You finally looked up, your heart beating wildly in your chest. This wasn’t supposed to be happening, not now, not ever. You were supposed to just be friends. It was better that way. 

“What happens when those feelings go away, huh?” You asked, nose burning and eyes brimming with tears. “I say I love you back and we start dating and we get married and have kids and then what happens when you don’t have those feelings anymore and you wake up some day and you don’t love me anymore, what fucking then, JJ?” 

You sounded angrier than you felt. You felt terrified, like an animal trapped in a cage, the walls closing in tighter and tighter around you, suffocating you. 

“We’re not your parents, y/n.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they said the same exact thing when they were our age.” Bitterness laced your every word. Sure, maybe you had been talking about your own parents, but he didn’t have to actually mention them. It just made the sting all the more real. 

Your dad had up and left when you were 12, leaving you with a mother whose heart was broken beyond repair and a 4 year old sister to take care of. You hadn’t believed in love from that day on. And JJ knew this, so why was he throwing it on you now? Why was he putting you through this when he knew damn well what it meant to you? 

“You can’t,” you said, giving your head a shake and praying that the tears wouldn’t fall. “You can’t. Not me.” 

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” 

“I’m fucked up, JJ.”

“Everybody’s fucked up.” 

“I’m especially fucked up.” 

“That’s bullshit and you know it!” There was real anger in his voice, but not anger directed at you. He was angry that the world was so messed up that it had convinced you that you didn’t deserve to be loved. 

And it shook you to the core. 

“I’ve kept my damn mouth shut about this for so long, y/n.” His voice broke painfully. He looked exhausted. You wanted to cross the room and pull him into your arms and wipe the tears from his eyes because if he wasn’t saying the words he was saying now, that’s what you would have done. “Didn’t even tell the Pogues. I kept it to myself because I knew what it meant to you but you’ve gotta know because I can’t do this anymore.” 

“What about all those....all those girls from the parties?” You crossed your arms as your mouth ran dry, grasping for straws. JJ scowled, looking more hurt than ever. 

“They were nothing.” 

“Those girls aren’t nothing, JJ. They’re people.” 

“I meant they were nothing to me. They were just...distractions.” 

“From me?” You said the words like a breath, your stomach twisting as you did so. Because the more JJ spoke about what he was feeling, the more you recognized them as a mirror of your own. 

“Yeah. From you.” You felt yourself fall still again, but it wasn’t that frozen stillness from fear. It was a calm that washed over you and you didn’t know why. “Because every time I saw you sneaking off with one of those guys I just-” 

JJ’s words fell off as you took one small step toward him. As soon as that first step was taken, you couldn’t stop yourself from crossing the room until you were standing right in front of him, chest to chest. 

He looked down at his, his lips parted. Your eyes flitted from his down toward his mouth before venturing back up to meet his stare once again. 

“Maybe....” You paused, glancing down again. “Maybe we aren’t our parents.” 

JJ’s eyes were fixated on your lips, a breath caught in his throat. He wasn’t going to make the first move, you knew that, yet you weren’t sure you had the strength to break what was left of your walls. You wanted him to do it for you, but he wouldn’t want to push you any farther than he already had. 

Your stomach was already tangled into knots even before you stood on your toes. JJ’s eyes were closed even before you pressed your lips to his. Those knots detangled into butterflies and exploded throughout your bones. 

The kiss was a ghost of a thing. At least, it was at first. Because once the dam was breached, the water all came rushing out with a startling force. 

Your hands left your sides and found their place tangled in his hair, pulling him down closer to you. He hesitated, his hands flexing at his sides as the desire raged within him. 

“Are you sure about this?” He whispered, his eyes opening just a tad. You gave yourself one chance to breathe and second guess yourself. “Because once I have you, there’s no chance in hell I’m letting you go.” 

You pulled one of your hands out of his hair and rested it against his cheek, brushing your thumb over his lower lip. You chewed on the inside of your cheek before giving a short nod of your head. 

“This is what I want,” you told him. “I just want you.” 

That was all the permission that JJ needed. All of his hesitation was gone, vanished into thin air. Tucking his hand behind your neck, he put his lips right back onto yours with a fire that was just waiting to burst forth. 

You thought you had been control when you broke the dam, but JJ took no time in proving you wrong. With one hand on the back of your neck and the other on your hip, he pushed you back toward the wall. 

What little breath remained in your lungs was sucked away as your back hit the wall. Months of tension and deep rooted desire hit a boiling point as your lips found a rhythm with his. Your fingers left his hair to tug him closer by the collar of his shirt. Any space between you was too much. You needed his skin against yours, you needed to take his heat for your own. You needed him and you were no longer afraid to admit it, at least to yourself. 

JJ pinned you to the wall, his hips pressed up against yours. His hand shifted from behind your neck to the front, hanging loosely around the base of your neck just to keep you steady. His other hand found it’s way under the loose fabric of your shirt, kneading at your skin with his palm.  

You let out your first ungodly sound of the night, muffled only by JJ’s lips. You felt him smile so you pulled back. 

“Careful,” you murmured, eyes still closed. But JJ’s grin persisted even as he pressed butterfly kisses against your cheek, trailing past your jaw and finding rest against your neck. 

“Shit,” you breathed as his tongue grazed across your skin, his teeth pulling gently here and there. He started to work his hand farther up your shirt and you had to pressed your hands against the wall to keep yourself from falling. 

“All those other boys didn’t make you feel like this, did they?” JJ whispered against your skin. His breath was warm and sent ripples down your spine. You popped one eye open to glower at him. 

“Fuck you,” you breathed as he smiled against you. His hand at the base of your throat tightened ever so slightly and your glower deepened. 

“Was that a no?” 

“I don’t play that way, Maybank,” you ground out through your teeth. 

“Then how do you play?” 

You pushed him away from you and for a moment a look of hurt crossed his face. But when you grabbed hold of the bottom of your shirt, never breaking eye contact as you pulled it off and discarded it on the floor, a grin replaced that fear. You reached out for him, pulling him back in. 

Both of his hands went for your shoulders before tracing the curve of your body all the way down to the waistband of your shorts. You nipped at his lower lip, tugging gently, you hands holding his head just where you wanted. 

“Damn, y/n.” There was that damn smirk still. You wondered what it would take to wipe it off his face. His hands worked at the zipper of your shorts, tugging on the hem before you even realized he had them unbuttoned. 

“You really don’t waste any time, do you?” You asked him. Instead of responding, he pressed a kiss against your neck. Part of you wished he would stay there again. But then he kissed your collarbone and then he was lowering him self slowly, pressing his lips to the skin beneath your breasts, then just below your bra. 

You were pretty sure no boy had ever done anything like this before. You weren’t ever one to take your time with them because, after all, they were just a poor replacement for who you really wanted. But the attention that JJ gave your body as he continued his trail of kisses down your stomach was enough to make your eyes roll toward the back of your head. 

He was on his knees in front of you, tantalizing, as he pulled your shorts down as slowly as he could. He kissed your thighs once they were exposed as he pulled the shorts the rest of the way down. You were going to simply step out of them when he put on hand on your calf and the other just under your knee. 

“What are you doing?” You asked with an almost nervous laugh. JJ looked up at you as he started to lift your leg. A smile pulled at his lips. 

“I’ve been waiting a long time to have you,” he mused. “And I’m not wasting a second of it. 

He rested your foot against his shoulder and gave the side of your knee the smallest, most butterfly inducing kiss. You heaved out a breath and leaned your head back against the wall as JJ continued to kiss your inner thigh. His hands kept you steady. You had never felt more grounded. Your toes curled, fingers tensing. 

“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered, as if it was just a spoken thought. You lifted your head and looked down at him. 

“What?” 

He looked back up at you a look somewhere between concern and amusement. 

“You’re beautiful.”

You moved your leg off of his shoulder and joined him on your knees. For a reason you didn’t know, your eyes swam with tears. His smile was gone but there was something far deeper in his eyes that a smile couldn’t properly communicate in that moment. 

You took his hands in yours and pressed his bruised knuckles to your lips. When you met his eyes again, you gave a small shake of your head, the tears threatening to overflow. 

“No one’s ever said that to me before,” you whispered, trying to offer some kind of explanation for your strange actions. JJ looked taken aback. 

“Bullshit.”

“No, JJ, I’m serious. You’re the first person-” Your voice broke. 

“Is that why you didn’t believe me when I told you I loved you?” Your head fell and the tears you had been feeling started to fall from your eyes. He hooked his finger underneath your chin and moved your face to look back at his. “Hey, you’re beautiful, alright? And I’ll say it a million times until you believe me.” 

You nodded, sniffling as you tried to hide your embarrassing tears from him. He leaned forward and kissed both of you cheeks. You let out a small laugh as he pulled away. 

“Sorry to ruin the mood,” you said, still holding one of his hands. That look returned to JJ’s eyes, the hungry one, as he looked down at the clothes you were left in, or lack thereof. 

“Nothing’s ruined,” he said. “I’m still getting you in that bed.” 

You wiped away what was left of your tears and felt a smile of your own pull at your lips. 

“What are you waiting for then?” 

                                                                ***

Pope grumbled angrily as he climbed into the van, Kie sliding into the front seat. 

“I don’t see why they had to kick us out,” he said, plopping down into one of the seats. 

“I don’t think we were really kicked out, per say,” said John B up front with a slight smirk. “You were the last one in there, Kie, what happened exactly? One minute they’re screaming at each other and the next....” 

Kie shrugged, keeping her eyes fixed on the road as she started the car. 

“Guess they just reached their breaking point.” 

“I think that bed is going to reach it’s breaking point,” Pope huffed. “I mean, couldn’t they wait until they were alone to start going at each other?” 

Kie rolled her eyes and John B just laughed. 

“Give it until the morning. I’m sure they’ll pretend like it never happened,” John B said with a sigh. 

“Are you kidding?” Kie looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “Those two have been waiting to tear each other’s clothes off for months.”

“Really?” Pope and John B both said at the same time. Kie laughed and looked back to the road. 

“You boys are so clueless.”

“Damn,” Pope breathed. “And they didn’t tell us?”

“He’s afraid of commitment and she’s got abandonment issues, of course they waited this long.” 

“Kie, when did you become a goddamn genius?” 

“Ha ha, you’re so funny.” 

The van rattled down the road, the three friends laughing together. 

                                                           ***

JJ’s arms curled around your stomach, his face nuzzled into the crook of your neck. He slept softly, breathing gently through his nose. Every now and again, he would mumble something, his lips grazing against your exposed skin. 

But you were wide awake. You ran your fingers aimlessly up and down his arms, relishing in the feeling of his skin still against yours. 

He hadn’t stopped telling you you were beautiful since he first said it. Every chance he got, the words would pass his lips. He probably said it more times than anything else, other than “shit” and “fuck”, which you loved to hear almost just as much. Almost. 

When he flopped down next to you, sweaty, breathless, and still grinning like an idiot, he wrapped his arms around you and said it one last time, whispering it into your ear before he fell asleep. 

And you believed him every time. 

If he had been any other boy, this was the time when you would have scurried out of bed, collected your clothes, and made a break for it. But you stayed. There was no where you would rather be than here, cradled in the arms of the boy who loved you. The boy that you loved. 

You moved slowly, carefully, turning until you faced him. JJ groaned quietly, shifting his head against the pillow, but he didn’t wake. You felt yourself smile again at the sight of him. That stupid grin was finally gone from his face. Now you found that you were missing it. 

“I love you, too,” you whispered, your voice quieter than the breeze that blew the curtain of the window above you. You tucked your head under his chin and he pulled you in tighter. A smile graced your lips. 

Even if he didn’t hear you, it was good to say aloud. Maybe now you could say it when he was awake. Maybe someday. Maybe not today, but someday. That thought was enough to sing you to sleep. 

JJ opened a single eye and looked down at you, unable to keep his smile at bay any longer. You had fallen asleep quickly, but he didn’t care. You didn’t need to know he heard you. He would deal with that in the morning. For now, he just let you sleep. 

[matthewtkachuk]

how to be a heartbreaker: rule four - rafe cameron

Rafe Cameron’s privileged upbringing has let him get away with far too much, for far too long. Between his tormenting of the pogues, running his mouth without consequence, and arrogant attitude, it’s time someone knocked him down a peg. Breaking his bones didn’t work, but maybe you can break his heart.

co-authored with my love, freya @rekrappeter

pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader, unrequited!JJ x reader

warnings: angst, starting a relationship under false pretences, drinking and drug use, mentions of death (not main character!!), mentions of drowning

word count: 4.8k

a/n: here’s the second to last chapter!! please please please leave us feedback, freya and i read every comment and cry, love you guys so much!!

As JJ re-explained the next rule, you couldn’t stop the scoff from leaving your lips. “Who exactly is the ‘we’ in this rule, JJ? Cause it sounds to me like it’s really just me.” You sighed, the thought of getting close enough to Rafe Cameron to break his heart freaked you out the more JJ spoke.

“We’ll be with you through it all,” JJ reassured you. 

“What do you mean through it all?” You asked, “Are you going to be there holding my hand while I let him kiss me?” 

JJ scratched the back of his head, eyes flicking to Pope and John B who shrugged their shoulders, allowing him to take the fall for this question. “Eh, we’ll be there to provide support afterwards.”

“Knowing you guys, you’ll be pissed at me for kissing Rafe Cameron,” you snapped, crossing your arms in front of your chest. 

“I promise, y/n, we’ll be full of love and support,” John B promised, making you roll your eyes. 

“Oh yeah, full of love and support like when JJ punched that touron who was trying to take me home.” 

“He was a douchebag,” JJ defended himself.

“I literally just wanted to sleep with him, I don’t care if he was a douchebag. Do you make sure all the skinny blondes have winning personalities before you fuck them?” You smirked when he didn’t have a response.

“Can we get back to the plan please?” John B butt in again, frustrated as JJ sighed and nodded.

“Rule number four: never get attached, we don’t do that”

You awake the next morning, sunlight filtering through your broken blinds and your brain immediately goes through your to-do list for the day, like it does every morning. You’re still half asleep, contemplating spending an extra fifteen minutes in bed but it wasn’t until an arm wraps itself around your waist that you’re jolted from your thoughts and awake. Arm. Snores. Last Night. All the memories came rushing back in seconds, your stomach twisting with nausea and you felt the blood leave your face. 

You panic, wondering how to escape from underneath the arm of your best friends’ most hated person before realizing this is your house and even if you were able to escape there is nowhere to run. As if sensing your thoughts, the arm pulls you closer and his face falls into the crook of your neck. Your heart is beating erratically, from panic or attraction or a mixture of both, you can’t say. Two soft kisses are pressed against your skin, before he huskily mumbles “good morning.”

It was hard to ignore your heart missing a beat, it was even harder to ignore the erupting butterflies in your stomach at the sound of his voice. When you heard his voice, it reminded you of how he praised you last night, whispering sweet nothings in your ear as he fucked you gently on the bed. He was so attentive last night, making sure that you were okay and enjoying it, and boy, did you enjoy it. He had you undone in seconds, you couldn’t even pretend you hadn’t wanted him, every bit of you was screaming for him to take you. 

“y/n, you okay?” Rafe asked softly, cuddling you even closer if it was possible. You relaxed into his embrace for a second, unable to resist the warmth his body provided before your phone buzzed on your nightstand. 

“I should get that,” you replied softly, pulling away from him and he let his arms drop from around you, situating himself on your pillow. You tried not to stare too long at his bare torso, remembering last night when you kissed down the abs god gave him. Swallowing hard, you looked away and furrowed your eyebrows at the message from JJ.

dumbass ❤️: mandatory meeting pogues assemble

The words reminded you that you were playing with fire. You sighed, and Rafe sat up a little in your bed, “everything okay, y/n?” 

“It’s just JJ, he wants everyone to meet up at John B’s,” you replied honestly, not seeing any reason to lie. 

“Oh,” he nodded slightly, “forgot about that part of your life for a second.”

“You forgot that I’m a pogue?” 

Rafe sighed, running his hand over his face, “No, that you’re best friends with Maybank. I used to see you as Maybank’s wh-girl, but now…” Rafe trailed off, eyes looking past you to the mirror hanging on your bedroom wall that reflected your current position. 

“First of all, I’m not JJ’s anything. I don’t belong to anyone.” You replied sassily, making eye contact with him through the mirror, “Secondly, what do you mean by ‘but now’?” You couldn’t help but ask.

“I think last night explains it all,” Rafe smirked, the faraway look in his eye completely gone when he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into him, kissing down your neck. You couldn’t help but giggle at the sensation, and you wanted nothing more than to pull away when you realised that you were enjoying this moment. 

“Rafe, stop,” you laughed, trying to pull yourself away from him, for your own sake. The line between doing this for the plan and doing this for yourself was blurring with every touch of his lips.

Rafe sighed heavily, pulling away from you but not before cupping your face and planting a kiss on your lips. You lost yourself in the moment, melting into his body and letting him deepen the kiss. He could have kissed you all day if he liked, it wasn’t until your phone vibrated again that he pulled away, a smug look on his face.

dumbass ❤️: NOW! 

You sighed heavily at the message, hating when JJ would get into a demanding mood like this. You pouted, thinking about how your car was still in the shop where you had left it, not really in the mood to make the long trek to John B’s. 

“Whatcha pouting about, pretty girl?” Rafe asked, eyes focused on the curve of your lips.

“Nothing, I’m just thinking about how I’m going to have to walk all the way to John B’s-” you started to explain before he silenced you with a kiss. Your pout transformed itself into a smile despite your efforts to resist. You couldn’t help but wonder why you were giving in so easily. The rational part of your brain hated him, but the way he made you feel so good... You let the kiss deepen once more before he pulled away.

“I can drop you off,” he replied a little shyly, “y’know if you want me to.”

Your lips curved into a smile, having Rafe drop you off at the chateau would show them all how well the plan was going. Plus, JJ’s reaction would be a bonus. You could almost picture it, the stormy look in his eyes from the day before coupled with a grimace. Either that or complete indifference, but either way you wanted to find out. “Okay.”

“I thought you’d put up more of a fight,” he admitted, leaning on his elbow and looking down at you.

“Honestly, I just really don’t want to walk,” you replied, hand moving to run through his hair, “besides you’ll be on your best behaviour, right?”

He gripped your wrist, pausing your motions, before pressing a kiss to the inside, “for you? I’ll try.”

Half an hour later (you lazily made out with him for another ten before quickly getting dressed and heading over), Rafe pulled up outside the chateau. You weren’t sure if luck was on your side or not, when the prying eyes of your friends peeked over their shoulders at the sound of an unfamiliar truck at the side of the house. JJ stood out from the crowd, standing by the hammock, a smoke hanging loosely from his lips. 

You tore your eyes away from him, ignoring the look he sent you and turned your attention to Rafe, who was staring at the unreadable expression on your face. “Thanks for the lift, Rafe, appreciate it,” you mumbled, reaching for the handle. 

Rafe grasped the wrist of your other hand, making you turn to him. “Forgetting something?” You were confused for a second, but the smirk that rested on his lips answered any questions you had. He closed the gap between you, his hand cupping your face to deepen the kiss. His tongue ran along your lips, making you moan softly into the kiss. When you pulled away, you didn’t miss the quick glance Rafe sent to JJ making your stomach knot slightly. But who were you to be worried that he was playing you, when your ultimate plan was to play him? 

“Your dog is glaring at me,” Rafe chuckled, making any worries you just had disappear. 

“Don’t mind him,” You mumbled, thanking him for the ride again and hopping out of the truck, “call me, yeah?”

“Of course, babe,” Rafe winked, and when you closed the door of the vehicle, he reversed out of the driveway and was miles down the road by the time you made your way to the pogues, all with different expressions. John B’s eyes were wide, almost as if he just witnessed the real life santa claus walking around naked; Kie was amused, the smirk growing wider at the heart eyes popping from your head; Pope, as usual, seemed worried and you could tell that his mind was coming up with twelve million different questions; and lastly, JJ. You couldn’t make out his expression, he looked sour but accomplished. You weren’t sure what he was thinking but you knew that in only a couple of seconds, he’d be filling you in on his messed up thoughts. 

“That looked like some kiss,” John B whistled, playfully fanning himself making you push him off the driftwood he was lounging on. “How many of them have you shared?” he asked from the ground, resting his arms behind his head. 

You shrugged your shoulders, plonking down next to Pope and letting him comfort you silently by placing his arm around your shoulder, he placed a soft kiss on your forehead, muttering a quiet greeting. “Just a few,” you acknowledged, looking back to JJ, “right, boss, get the meeting going.” 

JJ’s eyes scanned your face, looking for something that was missing. You knew he knew, he could sense it the moment you got within two metres of him but you didn’t bring it up, you didn’t ask him what was wrong because he’d eat you alive. “How is it going with him?” JJ asked, his voice low and filtered with underlying annoyance. 

“H-he’s definitely falling,” you hummed. JJ took another look at you, this time his gaze zeroing in on the red mark on your shoulder that you had failed to cover up.

“Did you fuck him?” JJ asked you harshly, dark gaze strictly on you.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, JJ,” you snapped back, cheeks feeling warm with embarrassment about being called out. 

“Uh, I think it’s my business if it’s going to fuck up the plan,” he replied, as if that thought should have been obvious to you. “Besides, you’re my best friend and that makes it my business.”

Rolling your eyes, “I think if anything, it furthered your stupid little plan. Besides who I do or do not fuck is not your concern, friend” you spit at him. The pogues sensed the outright hostility and quickly made their way into the chateau to give the two of you privacy. Although, if you know them as well as you think you do, they’re likely standing on the other side of the door, listening in.

“Look, I just think there are plenty of other people you could fuck if you needed to,” he replied, hands in the air.

“Oh really? Because everytime I try, something or should I say someone scares them away.” You glare at him, more than aware of the way JJ runs off every guy that so much as looks at you.

“Those guys aren’t good enough for you,” he mumbled, suddenly losing all his indignation in favor of something that looked a little like shame. 

“It’s literally for a quick fuck, JJ. I’m not trying to get married here. Besides, if they’re not good enough for me, show me someone who is.” 

There’s silence as JJ considers your words. You raise a single eyebrow at him, waiting for him to give you something. “That’s what I thought.” You pushed past him and entered the Chateau to find your friends just on the other side of the door, staring at you with wide eyes. “What?” 

You threw yourself onto the couch, crossing your arms and legs protectively over your body as you sat there and pouted. Pope sat next to you, a hand encouragingly resting on your knee. You waited for JJ to enter the house, his eyes shooting a glare in your direction but they must have caught Pope’s stare on the way, his face softening slightly as he released a heavy sigh. He made his way to the chalkboard, picking up the white piece of chalk and ticking off rule one and two. 

“What about rule number three?” you piped up. 

“Well, you gave him everything you had, there’s nothing more left,” JJ snapped, this in turn caused Kie to jump from the stool she was sitting on near the kitchen, walking up to JJ and pushing his chest. “What the fuck?” he hissed, eyes narrowing at the dark haired girl. 

“You stop being a fucking dick, this was your idea and if you’re not happy with how it’s going then fuck off,” Kie snapped, getting real sick of the attitude JJ has become accustomed to. 

“She’s right, man,” John B agreed, nibbling on his bottom lip, “You’ve been real snappy lately, especially with y/n.”

You threw your hands in the air, letting a sigh of relief escape past your lips, “Thank you!” 

JJ’s eyes softened, his pink lips turning into a pout. He knew there was something wrong with him, he felt more irritable as the days went on but he never pinpointed that it was because of this plan. The Pogues were right, he didn’t have the right to be annoyed at you but yet he still was. “I’m sorry, y/n,” he hummed, running his hands through his blonde hair. 

“It’s fine, J… I’ve actually been thinking, I don’t think I want to continue with this plan-” It was like a wave of anger just washed over JJ’s expression at your words, if it was a cartoon, steam would be flying from his ears. Pope squeezed your knee in support, getting ready to pounce at JJ in case he loses it. 

“What? So you fuck him and now all of a sudden you’ve got feelings for him,” JJ chuckled drily, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“What are you talking about? Look at how this plan has us acting, we’ve never fought this much before,” You shouted at him, standing up from the couch and letting Pope’s hand fall from you. You square your shoulders at JJ, telling him you mean it. 

“Don’t bother lying to me, you know that has nothing to do with this. You like Rafe Cameron, admit it!” 

“I don’t!” You hollered, ignoring the aching in your chest at the obvious lie. “So what if I fucked him? It probably just made it more believable that I liked him but I’m sick of this. I’m sick of fighting with you, I’m tired of you jumping down my throat every time I see you, it’s not the same. I’m through with this.”

JJ trudged towards you, his breathing erratic, “We’re not through until you break Rafe’s heart,” his voice was low, but his eyes spoke loudly enough to back up his words. They were fuming, scanning your face as if it was the last time he’d see you. 

“You can break Rafe’s heart all you want, but I won’t be a part of it anymore,” you whispered, pushing past his panting body and stalking towards the door, pushing it open loudly. You paused on the porch for a moment, contemplating going back in and apologizing to JJ, promising him you’d finish what you started but the image of Rafe entered your mind. In this moment, you cared more for Rafe than you did JJ, a foreign feeling. 

“Hey, you’re still here,” the sound of Pope’s voice made you turn, looking at him walking over to you. “C’mon,” he mumbled, pulling your body flush against his and comforting you. He ran his hands up and down your back, and you were never so grateful to have him in your life than in that moment. 

You nestled your head into his chest, tears brimming your bottom lashes. “Pope, I’m exhausted.” 

“I know, I know it’s hard pretending and I’m sorry you’ve to go through this,” your friend whispered, tightening his grip on you. 

“No, Pope, I’m exhausted fighting with JJ over every little thing. I’m pretending here, right now, around all of you,” you cried, allowing the tears to fall. Pope had to take a second look when he pulled away from you, never seeing you cry in his life. You were always so tough, so hard headed and it made Pope’s heart ache at the sight of you right now, “When I’m with Rafe, I feel more like myself these days.”

“But y/n, it-it’s Rafe Cameron,” Pope’s brows furrowed.

“I know,” you exclaimed, shaking your head, “I know, Pope.” 

“Look, go home and think about all this. I’ll be here with you until the end of the line, okay? I’ve got you.” You smiled thankfully at Pope, doing your handshake with him before jogging down the steps of the porch, ignoring the sight of the blonde peeking from the door when you turned to wave at your friend.

Pope looked at JJ, shaking his head in disappointment. “If you don’t tell her how you feel soon, you’re going to lose her.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” JJ mumbled, his inner voice telling him deny, deny, deny.

“Then don’t come crying to me when I’m right.”

“She fucked him, man,” JJ mumbled, running his hand over his face. His heart was hammering against his chest, his blood boiling in his veins. He wanted nothing more than to hop onto his motorcycle and go directly to Rafe Cameron and smash his face in. The thoughts of him having his hands all over your body made him sick. 

“You can’t be angry at her though, you know y/n, we all do,” Pope sighed, running his hands up JJ’s back as he bent over, trying to ease his stomach, “she may be tough on the outside but she just wants someone to love her like she loves….”

“Like she loves me,” JJ sighed, shaking his head in anger, “I can’t love her like that.” 

“You do though, bro.” 

“N-no, I don’t. I’ve tried, I’ve tried thinking of her in that way, but I can’t. I love her, yes of course I do, but in the same way that I’d love my little sister.” 

“If you want to keep lying to yourself, go right ahead.” Pope sighed, sick of fighting with his best friend about his feelings for their other best friend. JJ just kept silent, knowing deep down that Pope was right, he always was. He did love you, however, JJ wasn’t lying about being unable to love you the way you loved him, he didn’t know how. You occupied his thoughts most of the time, and he was fiercely protective of you, but he could never act on his love for you the way you wanted him to.

In your anger, you forgot that Rafe had dropped you off at John B’s, the realization hitting when your feet hit the gravel and you remembered you had to walk home. You thought about calling him, but you didn’t want to come across too desperately. That would really mess up the plan, you thought stubbornly, ignoring the butterflies that were fighting in your stomach at the thought of seeing him again so soon.

You were grumpily walking through the Cut, grumbling to yourself about your stupid best friend. Your heart sunk as your flip flop caught on a rock and you felt the plastic piece that separated your toes separate from your shoe. Looking down at your now ruined shoe, you briefly wondered if kooks ever had this issue, or if their hundred dollar kate spade flip flops broke too. 

You stopped and leaned against a tree, pulling your phone out to call someone to come pick you up - there was no way you were going to walk in the Cut barefoot. You scrolled through your recent text list, grimacing at the sight of JJ’s nickname and deciding you didn’t particularly want to speak to any of the other pogues who had witnessed your disastrous fighting. Your eyes locked on the text history with Rafe, realizing he was probably the only person who would be willing to pick you up. You sighed, before shooting him a quick text.

you: if i dropped a pin, would you come get me?

rafe: i’ll be there in fifteen minutes

You smiled a little to yourself, who would have ever thought that Rafe Cameron would be who you called when you were in need of help? Honestly, who would have thought that Rafe Cameron would ever be someone you called ever.

Even though he said it would be fifteen minutes, he was in front of you in ten. Seeing the look on your face, he quickly threw the truck in park before hopping out and wrapping his arms around you.

“Hey,” you mumbled into his chest, leaning into him.

“Hey, baby,” the nickname fell from his lips by accident, but he decided he liked it, “everything okay?” You could only shrug, the weight of JJ’s words pressing down on your shoulders. “They don’t like you being with me,” he guessed correctly, pulling back a little to press a kiss to your forehead. 

“I don’t care what they think,” you said, the earlier pout resting on your lips again.

“I think you do,” he replied, hand moving to soothingly rub circles on your back as you leaned into him.

“Well I wish I didn’t,” you snapped, feeling a little sorry. Truthfully, it was JJ you were still mad at.

“I like that you care,” Rafe admitted, “about your friends, about the environment, about strangers...about me?” the last two words said with a lack of confidence. You forced a smile onto your face, cupping his cheek with your hand before pressing your lips to his. 

The strange thing is you were beginning to care for him, if only a little. His touch was calming, his presence comforting and his lips were heaven. Maybe you were just so touch starved that you latched on the first one to place their hands on you, but there was something about Rafe beyond the physical. He listened when you spoke, never spoke over you and never invalidated your feelings, not like JJ lately. He pulled away from your kiss slowly, and you kept your eyes closed, lips pursed. After a moment, you slowly opened your eyes to see him smiling down at you softly.

“C’mon, baby let’s go for a drive,” he kissed your forehead again before leading you to the passenger side of his truck, opening the door for you before getting in on the driver’s side.

You reached over the console, wrapping your smaller fingers around his hand and bringing the palm of his hand to your lips, placing soft kisses on it. “Stop that, it’s tickling,” Rafe chuckled, trying to rip his hand from yours but he put no effort in it, secretly wanting you to keep holding his hand. He looked over at you, the sun beating in from the window and lightening up his face. The way the sunshine shone across your body made you glisten, he could see the specks of dust flying around the car but his focus was solely on you, and he could have sworn your outline was sparkling. 

“Where are we going?” you mumbled against his palm, turning his hand around and kissing his knuckles. 

Moments later, Rafe pulled up to a cliffedge, overlooking the town below you. He took his seatbelt off, leaning over and clipping yours out, you took this as an opportunity to climb onto his lap, your knees straddling his sides. He nestled his face into the crook of your neck, circling his arms around your waist and pulling you into him. You felt your fingers absentmindedly brush through his soft hair, thanking the gods above that he didn’t have enough time this morning to style it with an oddly amount of gel.

You lifted your head up but knocked it off the sunvisor causing you to groan. “You okay, baby?” Rafe asked, his breath dancing across your exposed skin. He placed a kiss on your collarbone, and when he didn’t hear you answer, he pulled back slightly seeing your focus on something else. In your hand held the photograph that Rafe kept in his car, one that you were curious about. Your finger grazed the face, smiling back at you in the picture, seeing the brunette for the first time. Her smile was beautiful, her eyes were twinkling with excitement and the longer you stared into them, you knew exactly who it was.

“This is your mom?” you whispered, feeling the tension get heavy. Rafe let out a shaky breath, nodding his head at your question. “She’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, she was,” Rafe sniffled, wanting to reach for the photograph in your grasp but his eyes found your face, seeing how soft and calm your expression was. He knew you wouldn’t pry, he knew you wouldn’t question anything but something deep down told him that he wanted to tell you, he wanted to open up to you about this part of his life that he kept so private. 

“You look just like her,” you smile, looking from the photo to Rafe. Your mouth parted at the expression on his face, the glossing of his eyes made your heart tighten in your chest. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“N-no, don’t be silly, it’s fine,” he mumbled, glancing at his mother. “When I was four years old, Ward took me out fishing by the lake on a Saturday. I don’t remember the day much, it goes by in such a blur. One week of my life was all pushed into one memory, I remember crying a lot. I remember there was a lot of screaming and-”

“Rafe, you don’t have to talk about this,” you interrupted him, hearing his voice shake. His tongue darted out from his mouth, wetting his lips and he shook his head, wiping the tears that were sliding down his cheek away. He avoided your eyes, the blue in them bright from the tears and the sun, but you reached up to cup his face, his stare finding yours immediately. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“I want to,” he whispered, “I’ve only ever spoken about this to one person, and that person was my therapist. I want to tell you.” You nodded at his words, urging him to continue. “So he brought me fishing to his usual spot, he warned me about the steep slip and told me, over and over again, to not go near it. But I was four years old, I forgot or I wanted to go home so I thought, maybe if I slipped, I would get to go back home. Anyways, I stepped on it and slipped into the lake, but I couldn’t swim and I didn’t realise Ward wasn’t looking at me.”

“Oh, god,” you couldn’t help the emotions from crashing over you, feeling his tears wet your hand. 

Rafe sniffled, trying to chuckle through the pain the memory brought, “They got me out of the lake but I was unconscious, I could remember the sound of ambulances and flickering lights but everything was a blur until I woke up two days later, and no one was there to see me.” Rafe paused, heaving a deep breath, he clasped his fingers around yours, holding you tightly. He was shaking at your touch. “But it turns out, they were planning my mother’s funeral. Ward had called her from the ambulance and she left work in a hurry, she didn’t realise one of her tires were flat and--” Rafe couldn’t finish the sentence, he burst out in tears right in front of you. 

Your chest was heavy as you immediately wrapped your arms around the crying boy, bringing him closer to your body and comforting him in silence. His whole body was shaking with the sobs, the sound of his pain making you cry alongside him. His arms circled your waist again, squeezing and grasping onto any bit of life he could.

(tag list in the first reblog)

[ambivalent-anarchy]

No-one

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Warning: None

Based on a true story. Just wanted to write something relatable for myself lol and anybody else that's gone through what the reader's going through also wtf it's already thanksgiving break? that's wild

Summary: Peter finds out something about his crush that might totally change the game for him

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

"Dare," Ned said, a smile creeping onto his face as the rest of the bus stared at him.

"Okay," you said, looking around for inspiration. "I dare you to..." You tilted your head to the front with a smirk."-go sniff Mr. Harrington's armpit then come back and tell us how he smells," you said, earning some laughs and a disturbed face from MJ.

Ned shuddered slightly, looking to his friend Peter for support. Peter simply shrugged, barely able to hold in his laughter from the frivolous dare.

The entire back of the bus turned to watch as Ned slowly stood up and made his way to the front seat where Mr. Harrington sat, cursing himself out under his breath the whole way there. "Uh, hi Mr. Harrington!"

"Hey there Ned!," Mr. Harrington greeted, but quickly ran himself into a fit of worries, standing up to check the back of the bus. "Why're you up here? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!," Ned yelled, trying to get him to sit back down. "I just... kinda really want to hear about your wife!" Ned looked back to see the entire bus giving him frantic thumbs up.

"Oh," Mr. Harrington said, sitting back down with a blank look on his face. "Well, did I tell you how she set every piece of clothing I bought her on fire and sent me a video of it?" He leaned over a bit as he reached down his pockets to pull out his phone. "I'll show you."

Panicked disgust transformed Ned's face. '1...2...3!' He sucked in a deep breath before practically plunging himself into his teacher's arm.

"Jesus Christ!," Mr. Harrington yelled in shock at being practically tackled by a kid. "What are you doing Leeds?!"

Ned backed up immediately after, face deep red. "Um, I JUST REMEMBERED THAT I LEFT SOMETHING BACK THERE! BYE-!"

The bus erupted with laughter and applause as Ned sprinted back to the back of the bus, leaving a confused Mr. Harrington behind him.

"He smells like cheap cologne," he coughed, his head still reeling. "Cheap cologne covering up a week of no showering..."

"MJ, truth or dare?," Flash asked after the commotion had died down.

"Truth," MJ mumbled, her eyes never leaving her phone.

Flash leaned over till he was practically halfway in Michelle's seat. "Who are the top five hottest guys in our class? Rank 'em." He tilted his ear towards her, obviously expecting to hear his name first.

In response, MJ simply smirked and brought her free hand up to count it off.

"Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, and nobody," MJ answered with a shrug, earning multiple groans from many boys on the bus.

"That's not acceptable!," Ned exclaimed.

Brad nodded. "Yeah give us a real answer, Michelle."

MJ scoffed, scrolling higher on her phone. "That's the answer I gave you. Therefore, it's acceptable."

You grinned, shaking your head at MJ. "Can't argue with that logic," you said with a shrug.

It was hilarious to see the boys and their little egos, desperate to hear that Michelle Jones, of all people, thought they were hot.

"Well what about you, [Y/N]?," Brad asked, directing his attention to you.

You raised your eyebrows as nearly all of the boys in the bus turned to you with desperate or curious faces. "What about me?," you asked with a smirk.

"C'mon, who's your top five?," Ned questioned.

You placed your hands over your cheeks. "What and help you little lost boys' fragile male egos?," she teased. "Yeah, no thanks."

The boys groaned.

Peter looked over the seat to where you were sitting. He watched as you held your head up, satisfied at the frustration you were causing the guys. Could he? Should he? Ya know what, screw it.

"Well then, truth or dare [Y/N]?," he squeaked, his hands already shaking.

Your eyes flickered over to Peter curiously. "Um, dare, Pete."

He breathed in deep, face immediately turning red from seeing the entire bus looking at him. "I dare you to tell everyone your crush!," he rushed out. "A-and don't lie!"

But then everyone turned towards you with questions and assumptions and guilt quickly fell onto Peter's shoulders. He couldn't make you say that to everyone. How would he feel if someone did that to him? "Wait, nah no no nevermind, I was just fooling around you don't actually have to-!"

Flash spoke over him. "Yeah [Y/N], who's the lucky guy?"

Abe laughed. "C'mon, spill."

Peter hecticly turned and sat back down in his seat, Ned quick to turn with him.

"Dude, I can't believe you just said that!," Ned whisper-shouted with a large grin.

"I can't believe I just said that!," Peter repeated in a gasp, frozen and staring at the back of the seat in front of him in horror.

"Why did you ask her that?!"

"Why did I really just ask her that?"

Ned gasped dramatically. "Oh my gosh do you think she'll say you?!"

"Oh my God what if she says me?!," Peter reeled.

"No-one. I've never had a crush."

Peter's eyes went wide before he turned back around onto his knees in his seat.

"Wait, seriously?!"

"B.S.!"

"Total lie!"

"I smell cap."

The other guys were obviously not putting up with that answer.

Ned frowned. "Like foreal? You've never had a crush? Like ever? In your entire life?"

Peter however, was still trying to process what he'd just heard.

"No-one."

No.

One.

It's not like he expected you to like him back- a part of him sort of wished for it but he knew that was unlikely- but no chance? None at all?

Suddenly you'd become the new focus for every boy on the bus.

"Seriously, who was your last crush?," Brad asked.

You stared for a while. "Do celebrities count?"

"No."

"Oh, then no-one."

Flash stood up. "How does that even work? Are you ace or something?," he asked, right before getting smacked in the head by Abe.

"You can't just ask people that stuff, Flash!"

Flash shrugged. "Yeah I know...but like-" he wiggled his eyebrows. "-are you?"

You groaned and laid back in your seat, already growing tired of this little 'interrogation' the boys were having. "No. I like guys, okay? I've seen enough to know that much at least" You shrugged. "I've just never liked any guy I've met before."

Millions of questions roamed through Peter's head.

Were you lying? Did you just have high standards that no one you'd been around had ever met? What was keeping you from liking people?

He wasn't some big hot-shot lady killer. There was no way he could be your first crush. That's just narcissistic to even think about. Peter had grown to become quite content with not being the guy who just reeled in girls.

He peeked back over the bus seat at all of the boys surrounding you, obnoxiously attempting to show themselves off.

Brad lifted his sleeves and flexed his biceps. "[Y/N], I mean, c'mon. Can't resist the gun show, right? This does nothing for you?"

That one made you laugh. "You guys really aren't as attractive as you think you are!"

Peter groaned for what must've been the tenth time that morning. And the worst part? He couldn't even be mad.

"So, like never? Never in your life?," Flash asked.

Betty chimed in as well. "Not even that 'puppy love' phase we all had in middle school?"

You shook your head. "Why are you all so invested in who I haven't liked anyway?"

"Okay okay," Brad said. "So if you were gonna like someone, who would you like?"

MJ bursts out laughing and you rolled your eyes. "That is literally the dumbest question I've ever been asked in my entire life. I just said I've never-"

MJ nudged you and tilted her head to one of the seats furthest from yours. Peter Parker and Ned Leeds were sitting there, Ned watching the commotion intensely while Peter was seemingly knocking his head into the back of the seat in front of him repeatedly. Poor guy.

You knew he had a crush on you. You could at least do him this one little favor.

You grinned. "Peter."

"Peter?!"

'What?!"

"Parker?! Are you serious?"

"Awww."

Peter looked up frantically. "Um.. okay..why?"

"Yeah, that needs an explanation [Y/N]," Flash sneered, suddenly losing interest when his name wasn't called.

You shrugged and looked at the nerdy boy. "I like his rosy cheeks," you laughed before looking back at your phone. "Plus, he minds his own business, unlike other people."

The school bus filled, half with sounds of disinterest and the other half with sounds of amusement.

"Now can we go back to actually playing the game now? Jesus..."

The game of Truth or Dare continued and you couldn't have been more glad that the guys' interrogation was finally over. But then you got a text on your phone.

MJ: look at parker

Looking over you saw Ned shaking the boy as he simply just stared out of the window with a dumb look of glee in his face. "Dude, snap out of it! We still have a competition to go to, where's your brain gone?"

Ned turned to you with a frown. "[Y/N]...I think you broke him."

Tagging mutuals: @allegra-writes, @allegra-soleil l, @yumings, @hey-its-grey, @spideyyeet, @sunkissedspidey, @tommyunderoos, @chaoticpete, @spidey-reids-2003, @thesherlockianavenger, @bubblebucky, @kelieah

[nimmy22]

A Mistake: Chapter 13

Wesker heard Jill speaking through his hidden earpiece before he reached the barn. "Multiple armed hostiles spotted. Looks like a drug deal gone wrong. They are fighting amongst themselves, one shot fired but no casualties and no hostages yet. Chris, Barry, and I are getting the drop on them while they're distracted. Brad and Joseph are looking for their getaway vehicles. Over." Jill spoke quickly, her voice slightly muffled by the shouting of the other panicked party guests.

"Roger that," Wesker replied coolly through his walkie-talkie. Good, everyone was following protocol for situations like this. Looking at his watch, it was 2:35 AM. They should be done here before the sun was up, possibly each in their respective homes before then. He won't tolerate failure, especially if it means a delay in taking his present home with him. they needed to have a little chat about limits and boundaries.

Cara was too daring tonight, especially towards some boy she hardly knew. A boy who was her age, someone any girl would be proud to introduce to the parents.

Stroking the outline of his concealed gun, he had watched their dance from his place in the dark. He fought hard the impulse to kill, his nails biting into his palms like wasps. He gritted his teeth, knowing he wasn't the one to get to dance with her. That filthy boy was desecrating a temple. He'll make sure to teach her a classier way to dance, having witnessed such atrocious moves. Teenagers were unsophisticated at times.

Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't he have some affair with some umbrella bombshell? Things would've certainly been a lot simpler, with much less loss of sleep. Her face always filled his mind each and every night, haunting him endlessly.

Cara should've died many attempts ago, yet here she was, laughing and dancing with some other guy, pulling him in for a kiss. Wesker's lips curled into a cruel smile seeing the girl who often leaves him sleepless, choosing to return his efforts and protection with the worst kind of betrayal. He had been burned tonight, but now he will burn everyone.

Amongst the people barreling out the barn, Wesker spotted the boy who dared touch what didn't belong to him. He was helpless, shoved around in the stampede of a crowd with no real strength to push back. Wesker moved in his direction, purposefully driving his shoulder into the fleeing boy.

The contact lasted a second before the boy ran for his car. With a smirk, Wesker pocketed the wallet after looking over the name of the owner. James Hunter. Address: 243 charlotte road. In due time, the boy will reap what he sowed.

He spotted Joseph and Brad bugging a van among the parked cars outside, giving them a nod. As he stepped into the barn, he spotted Jill taking out her taser. There were two men on the ground, tackled by Chris and Barry and in the process of being cuffed.

A third man was on his knees, his body jerking as Jill delivered a shot of electricity through a taser. "You brought the fucking cops here? I knew you were an informant!" he shouted at the cuffed men between violent spasms. He was no older than twenty with a black duffel back hugged close to his body. He kept trying to reach for the gun he must've dropped, but Jill zapped him again. He was persistent and continued to reach for his weapon, spittle flying out of his mouth as his body spasmed.

Kicking the gun out of his reach, Wesker delivered a sharp kick to the man's stomach, watching him fold over. Planting a knee into his back, he twisted his arm, earning a pained groan. The movement was automatic as he began the arrest process, stating his rights in a monotonous voice. Jill moved to retrieve the black duffel bag, unzipping it to reveal the wrapped bundles of white powder. No doubt cocaine.

"That's a hefty block of sugar," Jill joked, juggling three bundles with surprising skill. But Wesker still lost interest after two seconds.

Everything was going smoothly until a fourth man stepped into the barn. In his grip was a hostage dragged by her hair.

Seeing who was being dragged had Chris lose his calm and run towards the man, aiming his gun. "Let her go, you fucker!" Chris roared, breathing erratically with teeth curled over his teeth. Every fiber in his been stood tense and ready.

"Throw away your guns first," the man warned, digging the muzzle of his gun against the struggling girl's head, ending her resistance.

"Stand down, Chris," Wesker ordered and sighed when Chris didn't comply. Instead, he offered more death threats.

"Chris, you know how we handle hostage situations! Do you want me to write you up for insubordination?" Wesker hissed, growing impatient with the show of open defiance. A dead hostage will create a headache with the Chief in toe.

"He's got his hands on my fucking sister!" Chris's hands gripped the gun tightly, shaking his head furiously.

"I am well aware," Wesker regarded the tearful girl, held so tightly by the neck her toes barely touched the ground. With every threat and step Chris took towards them, the man held Claire even tighter, using her as a human shield.

Wesker walked up to Chris before taking hold of the gun. After staring down his Captain for what felt like an eternity, Chris begrudgingly let go of the gun. Wesker threw it at the hostage-taker's feet along with his own. Jill followed suit.

"State your demands," Wesker addressed the hostage-taker coolly. His interest was more on maintaining the reputation of STARS than on saving the female version of Chris. Any headache was a good one to avoid.

"First, take off the fucking sunglasses hotshot. Second, give me that bag." The man demanded, pointing his chin to the bag next to Jill.

With a raised eyebrow and a bemused smile, Wesker took off his shades before pocketed them. His icy blues pierced the man, watching him take a sharp breath, a slight tremble to his hands.

"You need to let her go first, and then the drugs are all yours. No one will go after you. Our priority is the safety of all civilians and law enforcement officers. Let's all get home safely." Wesker stared directly into the hostage-taker's eyes, his posture relaxed, speaking as if conversing with a friend.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I ain't falling for that shit again. Bag first."

As Wesker turned around to go grab the bag, he whispered into his walkie-talkie. " Joseph and Brad, be ready for an armed hostile at the south exit. Over." with an affirmative answer from both officers through his earpiece, he picked up the bag. He proceeded to walk closer to the hostage-taker, his free hand up in the air.

"Stop, don't come any closer. just throw it over."

"As you wish," complying, Wesker threw the bag, watching as it slid across the floor to stop near the man.

The man kept eyeing the exit furthest from them before bending to pick up the duffel with jerky movements. Sweat pooled on his forehead as he pondered his next move. Slowly he inched backward, his eyes not leaving the three officers. He should've known how rotten the deal would go. His hands were so clammy the gun kept slipping. He swallowed as a pillar of hay blocked them from view, and he was quickening his steps to the exit.

"Move it!" he hissed, dragging Claire to her feet as she stumbled.

"Let me go, you fucker!" Claire wailed, fighting against him.

"Shut up, you little bitch. You're my ticket out of here. Stop struggling, and don't think I won't blow your brains out."

As they made it just outside the door, another gang member appeared. "Casper, that you man?" he called out and suffered a kick to the chin.

"No names, you little shit!" the hostage-taker hissed, spittle flying into his partner's face.

"Sorry man-"

"Any more of our people left?"

"Well, there was them, but they're caught up with the cops over there," he pointed to an area where two gang members wrestled with Brad and Joseph.

"Let's go, start the van. We're getting the fuck out of here. I have the drugs. We'll sell em' in another town." they ran to the van, dragging Claire with them. Opening the back of the van, they were about to shove her inside until a voice shouted.

"Wait! Please don't take her!" Cara cried, stepping out from behind a car right next to their van. She had been watching them drag her best friend out of the barn.

"Cara, no! what the hell are you doing?" Claire hissed, forming wild motions with her hand for her friend to get the hell away. This was the stupidest thing she had ever seen.

Without an ounce of thought, she shouted. "Take me instead!"

"Your pretty dumb shit. but it's not like I want to watch two hostages while the cops come after us," the man holding Claire spat. "You go, and you get in the van now!" he shoved Claire to the ground before grabbing Cara by the collar and shoving her inside. Slamming the doors shut, he and his partner were quick to get behind the wheel, ignoring Claire as she banged on the doors.

Before Claire could chase the van, she was grabbed from behind. "Let go!" she shoved frantically, watching the van get further and further away down the dirt road through the cornfield.

"Mrs. Redfield, you're already in enough trouble as it is. don't add to the list." Wesker pulled her by the arm, confused as to why she would ever chase the car of the people who held her at gunpoint moments ago.

"You don't understand they have-" Claire grabbed the front of his jacket, looking at him pleadingly.

"Enough Claire!" Chris hissed, detaching her arms from his Captain and dragging her off to the side. Opening the door to his undercover car, he shoved Claire inside. He was about to slam the door, but she stuck her arm out.

"Chris, please, you have to listen to me. they have-"

"I'll listen once your ready to tell me why you're out in the middle of nowhere and drinking underage. what part of 'be careful' did you not understand?"

Straightening out his jacket as if nothing happened, Wesker placed his shades back in their rightful place. He watched Joseph and Barry get into a car before giving chase as Brad herded the arrestees into an undercover cruiser. It was a tight fit with three bulky men sharing the backseat. He will interrogate them tomorrow, finally shoving the leads down Iron's throat so he would shut up.

Walking over to the STARS undercover van, he looked over their communication devices and smirked as the tracker on the culprits' van signaled their exact GPS coordinates. Umbrella was generous with the tech donations to the police department, making the job all that much easier.

Picking up a radio, he connected to the team's frequency. "Hostage is secured. Jill and I will set up a blockade based on their GPS coordinates. If they push you, push harder. I don't care if you flip them over. Make sure they don't get away. Over."

He walked towards Chris and frowned; his mouth set in a grim line. "Seeing as you are currently busy, I think you should go home, Chris." With a glance at the feuding siblings, Wesker knew he couldn't use Chris tonight.

"What? You're not leaving me behind. They had their hands on my sister. How the hell am I supposed to let someone else catch them? it should be me." Chris exhaled through his teeth, glaring at his Captain.

"Are you sure you'll simply put them in cuffs? Right now, you're biased. Your emotions are not in the right place. Go home and help your sister get sobered up. you can't afford mistakes that will ruin your career or her getting charged with underage drinking."

"Is that a threat?" Chris blinked, speaking dangerously slowly, glancing between his captain and sister.

"It's a warning. Now go. you've done enough tonight."

Getting into the van with Jill, Wesker saw Chris punch a lamp post and smirked. His smile was gone as he thought about how he will have to discipline Chris all over again.

Remembering what he left behind in the junkyard, he paged one umbrella's bribed cops to go and fetch her. Cara will be furious, but she will be safe. She will get over it, having been through much worse. And then they will be home in no time at all.

With Jill in the driver seat, they drove off with Wesker looking over the communications equipment, directing Barry and Joseph after the signal. It was amusing watching the dealers rest their car, thinking they lost the cops before being chased again. They were too stupid to abandon the vehicle with a tracker on it. He thought out possible blockade locations at predicted intersections where the dealers may go.

Getting to their destination, Wesker and Jill worked quickly to set up the blockade, laying out the tire spikes. Traffic was minimal, but they still left the police siren up. Frowning, Wesker rejected another call made by Chris. To prevent further distraction for the rest of the team, he made everyone change radio frequencies. The scolded STARS member has been calling nonstop through all forms of communication. Wesker ordered the rest of the team to disregard him. Whatever silly grudge the boy had would have to wait until they handed the suspects into the RPD, where they'd be bragging trophies for the Chief.

With their guns out, Wesker and Jill used both van doors like a shield as they stood ready for the lights fast approaching at an illegal speed. A familiar vehicle flanked the white van, leaving more and more impressions against the exterior as they smashed into each other over and over. Barry was enjoying himself tonight.

"Captain! There is another hostage!" Chris shouted through the radio. He must have figured out their new frequency change.

"What? Enough of this, Chris. You are off the mission. What you're doing now is interference with official police business, and you know the consequences. last chance, Chris." Fed up, Wesker slammed the radio on the dashboard, gripping his gun tighter. As the van came closer, he fired several shots at the tires, and the van began swerving on wobbly tires.

"What's up with Chris?" Jill glanced over at her boss, seeing the overly familiar scene of Chris and Wesker clashing. She, too, fired a couple of rounds.

"He claims there is another hostage," Jill grew stiff, her eyes growing wide. She was quick to lower her gun.

"On no, I thought his sister was the only hostage. then what the hell are we doing!"

"Likely, he just wants back in on the mission and is being childish," his voice was as sharp as his next shots into the engine.

"Are you sure Captain? Chris may be thick-headed, but he wouldn't lie. especially about something like this."

Wesker opened his mouth, but no words came out. No, he wasn't sure without a doubt. Something felt off to him. Like the feeling he had in the parking lot of the Hospital. Later that same day, he ends up finding Cara almost being used for an experiment.

His pager went off, and he quickly read the message with a sinking feeling. 'Nobody at the junkyard, Captain. Just a pack of stray dogs.' What were the chances of Cara being the hostage? She was a magnet for trouble everywhere she went. So, there was a very high chance.

Wesker lowered his gun, but the damage was already done.

The van swerved before flipping over three times, sending metal debris all over the road. Before the van stopped sliding, Wesker was already sprinting as fast as he could to the wreck. Through the blood rushing through his ears, he barely heard Jill call for an ambulance.

Disregarding the injured men crying for help in the front, Wesker dug through the wreck. The back of the van was crumpled, sealing the doors, and he kicked it in frustration as they refused to budge.

As Jill ran to the STARS van to grab a saw, Barry, Joseph, and Brad watched their captain behave as they'd never seen before. They helped the hostage-takers not so gently exit the heap of metal as they all gawked at their Captain. Returning with the saw, Jill received a death stare as soon as she tried to push her captain out of the way.

Seeing how his behavior has caught the attention of everyone, Wesker begrudgingly had to detach himself from the scene and collect himself. Only he lost it all again as they dragged her body out.

[yelena-bellova]

Don’t Be Afraid: Poe Dameron x Solo!Reader - Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four: Rebellions Are Built On Hope

Series Masterlist

Plot: With First Order troops ambushing the party, Y/n, Finn and Poe must find a way out, but not without getting the list.

Warnings: blood, injuries, talk of death

Word Count: 7.7k

A/N: SO this is two days overdue. While I’ve liked keeping a schedule for posting chapters, it’s just not working for me any longer. Life has gotten a bit busier and to be honest, I write much better when I’m not on a deadline. The last thing I want is for this series to suffer because I feel that I don’t have enough time to make it the best it can be. I’ll try to update every week but if it takes longer because I feel it needs more work, then it needs more work. Anyway, this one is long and I’m posting from my mobile so I can’t add a ‘keep reading’ so many apologies to the scrollers lol. I hope you enjoy it!!

————

Blaster smoke and the scent of saltwater filled the air. Furniture was overturned to create barriers for guests who had also snuck in weapons. Shattered glass littered the floor. You’d never have guessed that minutes prior the room had been the pinnacle of elegance.

Poe grabbed my hand while Finn shielded me protectively as we crouched and moved through the room. It took work to avoid being caught in the crossfire that showed no signs of ceasing, even with losses on both sides. With each death, including Hasadar Shu’s, I had to fight the now familiar overwhelming sensation in my body.

“We need to find Sura and Charth,” I gritted out as I focused on taking deep breaths.

“We need to find a couple of blasters.” Finn remarked.

“Both,” Poe replied, “Both would be good.”

With every step we took, I felt the lightsaber make contact with my other leg. Even Poe and Finn didn’t have weaponry, we were still protected.

“Look!” Finn exclaimed and took the lead. We followed him and I spotted Sura, ducked behind a waterfall with a blaster in hand. We cautiously made our way to her as we dodged startled guests and blaster fire.

“Where’s Charth?” Poe panted after we’d safely made it to her.

As she inhaled to answer, a shot was fired just above her heads. We ducked just as the rocks it hit crumbled around us.

“He went for the ship,” Sura answered, “What happened?”

“They must have found out about the auction,” Poe nodded towards Sura’s stolen Stromtrooper blaster, “Don’t suppose you have another one of those?”

“Go get your own. I did.” Sura grinned.

“Hold on,” I put a hand to Poe’s chest to stop him, “I’ve got my lightsaber, I can protect us.”

“Too risky,” Poe shook his head, “They’ll recognize you immediately and then we’re in real trouble.”

He was right. The story of my stand on Crait was galaxy wide now and I had no doubt that Ren had the entire First Order searching for me. I was as good as dead if I brought my saber out now.

“Cover him,” I begrudgingly told Sura who proceeded to step out from behind our shelter. She fired at the trooper closest to us and once he was down, Finn jumped out and grabbed the weapon. He ran and hid behind a column a few feet away, going us an affirmative nod. 

“We can’t leave yet,” Poe stated, “We’ve got to get the list.”

“The list is lost,” Sura replied quickly, “We’ve got to get out of here alive.”

“Negative,” I countered, “There’s got to-“


Before I could finish, the lights cut out and we were cast into total darkness. I felt Poe shift me so I was pressed firmly against the rock of the waterfall with him acting as a human shield.

“Okay, what now?” I asked, watching small lights on the floor turn on. They weren’t enough to see any attackers so they were essentially useless.

“At least that damn ocean holo is off,” Sura remarked, which while true was of very little comfort.

As I was trying to make out any shapes out in the dark that I could, I caught a white light on the move near us. I caught the sight of Nifera Shu bolting up the staircase, her shell dress and the glowing of the eel around her neck lit her path.

“Sura, grab Finn and Charth and go find the ship,” I instructed, “Poe, you’re with me.”

“What? Where are you two going?” she asked.

“To get the list.”

I took Poe’s hand and carefully maneuvered us through the dark, doing my best to avoid bumping into anyone. Once I’d pulled us to the staircase, the floor lights came in handy as we were able to climb the steps fast. Once we got to the second story, there truly was zero light. Since no troopers had made it up yet, I unholstered my saber and ignited it so we could see ahead. There was a faint voice coming from nearby, we followed it to find Nifera on one of the balconies.

“Nifera!” Poe shouted, I deactivated my saber and clipped it back onto my thigh holster.

The frightened woman spun around and faced us, comlink in hand. “They killed my husband,” she breathed, barely audible, “They murdered Hasadar in front of me. In front of everyone.”

“I know,” I said sympathetically, as Poe and I raised our arms to show we meant no harm, “Because of the list.”

“Because of the Collective,” Poe stated. I came to the same conclusion only seconds after he had. The eel that rested on Nifera’s neck looked eerily similar to the snake we’d seen on the holo.

“Because of me,” she whined, her voice breaking with emotion.

“And I’m sorry, Nifera, but if I had to take a guess, they’re coming for you next.” I presumed just before something on the ground floor collapsed. Whatever had fallen was strong enough to shake the second story. Nifera clutched onto the railing while Poe and I hit each wall shoulder-first. I would have been fine had it not been my injured shoulder. I cried out upon impact and Poe rushed to my side, not that he could help the deep ache or the possibility that I’d popped a stitch.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” Nifera panicked, she tried to use her comlink again.

“They’ve blocked your signal,” Poe guessed as we watched her failed attempt at trying to escape.

“No,” she said anxiously, “I dropped it when they shot. I-I think it’s broken.”

“What about the list?” I asked with almost as much anxiety in my voice as in hers.

“Here,” she answered as she patted her eel’s head. She pressed its jaw open and I spotted a datachip sitting on its tongue.

“We can get you out of here,” Poe said as he took a cautious step towards her, “We’ve got a ship.”

“The Resistance?” she asked, her eyes flicking between the two of us, That is you you’re with, Lorell? Sola?”

We nodded in response.

“And what will it cost me?”

Poe jutted his chin out toward the eel, she caught our drift immediately. She didn’t look thrilled at the prospect, but at the sound of footsteps behind us, the mood shifted to urgent. Nifera’s eyes widened as she saw something over our shoulders, they were coming for her and by association, they were coming for us too.

“You’re running out of time,” I urged, “Trust me when I say coming with us is a more attractive choice than how the First Order will treat you. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” she nodded.

“Great,” Poe replied as the two of us moved to the edge of the balcony. We looked over the railing and saw there was a large pool, seeing that we were tailed by the First Order we didn’t have any other option for escape. 


“How deep is that water?” Poe inquired.

“I-I have no idea.” Nifera answered shakily.

Poe climbed over the railing and helped us both over, “Let’s find out.” I gripped his hand tightly and spared him a wary look, he didn’t look any more confidant than I felt.

There was no time to think, we jumped.

In seconds, we were engulfed in the freezing cold water but I lost my grip on Poe. The first thing I did was look for him and Nifera, I couldn’t spot them because of how dark it was. I felt around the general area but couldn’t feel either of them. How far could they possibly sunk when we were right next to each other? Panic grew in my body as I waved my arms wildly around me, unsuccessful in finding them. I blindly swam towards the top, if I was going to have to search for them I’d need more oxygen to do so. When I hit the surface, I drew a deep breath and frantically looked around for Poe. Not half a second later, he emerged with a loud gasp and Nifera next to him.

From behind me, a pair of hands pulled me out of the pool and onto the grass. I looked up to see Sura shaking her head at me. “You’re insane,” she chuckled, “And that’s me saying that.”

“I jumped into a pool, you jumped into a gladiatorial ring,” I panted as she pulled me to my feet. I reached through the slit of my dress and felt relieved as I felt my lightsaber still secured.

Finn pulled Poe out while Sura and I helped Nifera, it took two people thanks to the heavy shell dress. It was a wonder she hadn’t been dragged under. 

“Your necklace!” Poe cried, looking at Nifera’s bare neck. She dipped her arm into the pool and the eel slithered its way up her arm and rested again on her neck. The datachip was safe.

“Cute trick,” Sura commented.

“A better trick would be to tell me we have a way out of here,” Poe said, still trying to catch his breath. Finn and I helped him onto his feet, “Where’s Charth?”

“Headed back to us, no luck on the ship,” Sura reported, “It’s locked down tight, the whole landing dock surrounded by stormtroopers.”

“Sola,” Nifera said, grabbing my wrist, “I thought you and your husband were going to get me out of here.”

“We are,” I affirmed, taking hold of her arm “We’re just going to have to get creative with how.”

“Well, I suggest we do it quick,” Sura said firmly, “I figure we only have a few minutes before we’ve got our own contingent of troopers to deal with.”

That was true, the First Order would have noticed by now that Nifera was nowhere to be found. They would begin searching the grounds of the house soon.

“What about Wedge?” Finn suggested.

“Go on,” Poe said with a nod of his head.

“He’s here, right?” Finn continued, “And he’s got a ship. We get to him, we got a ship, too.”

“Brilliant,” Poe said with a smile, “Now all we need to know is where he is.”

“I’ll hail Connix back on Ryloth,” Suralinda said, pulling her comlink out of her dress pocket, “Maybe she can pinpoint Wedge’s position.”

“What’s going on?” Nifera asked, distrust spreading across her face, “Who is Wedge? And who are you...really?”

Finn stepped forward and placed a hand on her arm, “We’re with the Resistance, ma’am. And we’re here to help.”

“Lorell and Sola said as much on the balcony, and you with your starbird pin.” Nifera recalled, stroking her eel, “But if you think I’m one of you, you’re mistaken. The Collective doesn’t support any government.”

“We’re a far cry from a government,” I said, “We’re more like…”

Where I couldn’t find the correct words to describe us, Poe could. “A rag-tag group of heroes.”


“Heroes?” Nifera echoed with a raised eyebrow, “I suppose that remains to be seen.”

Sura turned back to us, “Okay, I’ve got coordinates on Wedge’s team, but we need to hurry. They’re on the move.”

“What about Charth?” I asked.

“He’ll meet us on the way.”

Nifera’s eyes bounced between me and Poe, the two people she felt comfortable talking to in the group. “Where are we heading?”

“Corellian Engineering Corporation.” Poe answered, “Do you know the direction?”

“I do.” Nifera nodded.

“Lead the way,” I said, she guided our group away from her home. Poe, Sura and I brought up the rear of the group, Sura placed a hand on each of our arms and slowed our pace. 


“Something wrong?” Poe asked.

“I didn’t want to say more in front of Nifera, but there’s trouble on Ryloth,” Sura said quietly.

Fear struck through me like lightning, every worst case scenario to the situation filling my mind. “What’s wrong? Is everyone okay? Leia?”

“Connix didn’t go into detail, but she said they are evacuating.” Sura explained, “I’m sorry I don’t have more information.”

I tried to steel my nerves, there was no time to delve too deep into my worry. Even so, I couldn’t stop the thoughts of my mother or Rey being struck down from seeping into my mind.

“We’ve got to get back,” Poe said, his voice was hardened to hide his own anxiety.

“And we will,“ Sura said confidently, “We’re trying. We need a ship for that. So we stick to the plan, get off this planet, and go rescue our people.”

I shook my head and kept my gaze locked ahead, “It’s never that easy. Not for us at least.”

————

We hurried through the darkened Coronet City, taking back roads and sneaking between buildings while praying we didn’t run into any First Order officers. Poe and I in our shared knowledge of what was transpiring on Ryloth had unknowingly quickened our pace and ended up at the front of our group with Nifera. I was ready to curse whoever had designed the high heels I was wearing but then again, I don’t think they had been designed for running. 

“That’s it up ahead,” Nifera said, pointing to a series of buildings and a very large hanger.

I gripped Poe’s hand tighter as we approached, “I don’t see our friends.”

“Wait,” Poe squinted and leaned forward, “I see ‘em. Up ahead to the right.”

I looked to where he was pointing, spotting the figure in the distance waving wildly at us. I couldn’t tell who it was but it was highly doubtful the First Order would be so enthusiastic about our arrival. We picked up the pace until we could clearly make out that it was our team. Wedge came forward and hugged Poe tightly.

“We sure are glad to see you,” Poe said over Wedge’s shoulder, “Thought we’d lost our ride for a while there.”

"What happened?” Wedge asked as he released Poe to embrace me.

“First Order ambushed the party,” I said, holding onto my family friend, “The port was shut down so we lost Charth’s ship.”

“It’s a small thing,” the Twi’lek reassured from behind us, “We got what we came for.”

“This list?” Norra Wexley asked from beside her husband.

Poe motioned for Nifera to come forward, “This is Nifera Shu. She has the list. We get her off the planet, she gives us the list.”

“Do you know there’s a water serpent on your neck?” Teza Nasz asked, gesturing to the eel.

“Yes,” Nifera confirmed with a polite smile.

“Okay,” Nasz replied, lifting her hands, “Just checking.”

“Everyone accounted for,” Norra spoke up, “Time to get the hell off this planet.”

I nodded in agreement, “How are we doing that?”

“Stormtroopers ahead,” Snap reported.

“How many?” Poe asked.

“Sixty,” Snap answered, “Maybe more. They’re guarding the entrance to the shipyard.”

“As if we were expected?” Poe guessed.

“Our luck was bound to run out,” Wedge said unhappily. “Yama,” he nodded for a young girl who came to stand next to Teza Nasz, “Is there another way around?”


The apparent First Order officer turned ally thought for a second before pointing back to a sky tower, “We can go through the building. But the halls are narrow and there’s a lift and a checkpoint.”

“So our best bet is entering here,” Wedge said as he turned to Poe and I, “Only we need a way to get past the troopers?”

“Create a distraction,” Norra suggested, “Wedge and I can lead them off while the rest of you get through.”

“No guarantee they follow you,” Snap objected, the worry was plain as day on his face. He didn’t want to subject his mother and Wedge to that potential fate.

“We’ll make it worth their while,” Norra stated confidently, “We’ll go in the way Yama said. We’ll make a lot of noise, make them think we’re bringing in the prisoners that way.”

“Mom…” Snap protested.

“We only need to split them. If we can get even half of them to follow us-”

“That’s still two against thirty.”

“Snap,” Poe broke the argument between mother and son, “It’s not a bad idea.”

“Then I’ll go,” Snap suggested in desperation, though he seemed to already know it was a lost cause to fight.

I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip and prepared myself for Poe’s immediate objection, but even that couldn’t stop me. “No, I’ll stay with them.”

Poe’s head whipped around to me, “What? No, Y/n-“

“You just said it’s a good idea,” I spoke over him, “And I’m not leaving them to fend for themselves. You guys have more than enough reinforcements to get the ships, I’m of more use here. Better three against sixty than two. There’s no argument to be made here, Dameron.”

Poe sighed as I threw his words back at him. He rubbed his hands over his face in frustration and moaned in frustration into them. He knew I was right just as Snap knew Norra had been. I wasn’t about to let two older pilots fight alone while we went with an oversupply of people to gather ships. As Snap was finally giving into Wedge and Norra’s decision to stay and sharing an emotional moment with the two, Poe silently nodded his head in agreement toward me. I tenderly placed a hand on his arm, he in turn pulled me roughly into his body with an arm around my back and crashed my lips to his. I grasped onto his still soaking wet tuxedo jacket to steady myself. It wasn’t a goodbye kiss, but it was one that had it been our last time together, it would have been appropriate. But I had too much faith in us to believe that a few Stormtroopers was what was going to separate us.

As we reluctantly broke apart, Poe kept his lips hovering over mine. “Stay alive, Solo.” he whispered huskily.

I took a shaky breath, it had been one hell of a kiss. “You too, flyboy.”

“Go,” Poe let go of me and looked to Wedge, “We’ll make our move when we see the troopers split. See you on the other side.”

————

It hadn’t been difficult to get the troopers to start shooting at us. The entire battalion was laying down fire and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, things were going to become dire within a few minutes. Wedge only had one back up blaster, Norra had none and all I had was my lightsaber. Once they were out, I was our sole defender.

“How long do you think we can hold?” Wedge asked after narrowly dodged a shot.

“Long as we need to,” Norra responded as she leaned out from behind our makeshift shelter to fire a few shots.

“What happens after that? I can’t promise I can take out all of them by myself.” I asked, the two legendary pilots shared a knowing look that I was not a part of.

“Guess this is what I get for wanting to be a hero,” Wedge laughed.

“Since when have you wanted to be a hero?” Nora chuckled.

I peeked out from our structure to deflect a few hits, a couple bounced off my saber and back at the troopers. “You’ve always been a hero in my book, Wedge.”

He smiled down at me when the two of us ducked again, “You’re more of a hero than I’ll ever be, Solo. Han and Luke would be proud of you.”

Would they? Would my father be proud of me for being caught in a fight with sixty stormtroopers on the home planet he’d hated? I highly doubted it but I took Wedge’s compliment regardless.

“There!” Norra said from her position, Wedge and I peered over the barricade to see the rest of our team. They had collected the prisoners and were running them through the hanger. It looked like they were splitting up, I could see Karé, Teza Nasz and Charth taking those who were injured and extremely weak to an Imperial shuttle while Finn, Nifera and Snap led the rest of the group headed for a large blockade runner. However, we were visibly missing two people.

“Where’s Poe?” Wedge asked, voicing my thoughts before I could, “And Suralinda?”

“I don’t see them,” my voice wavered with concern.

“They can take care of themselves,” Nora assured us, “Keep shooting. We’re almost out but we’re not there yet.”

If there was one thing I could admire about Snap’s mother, she didn’t give up. She was one of those women who you could tell would fight until she physically couldn’t and even then, she’d find a way to keep going. She reminded me so much of Mom.

“Solo,” Norra said as she spared a quick glance at me, “Why are you bleeding?”

“What?” I asked confusedly before realization hit and I looked down to my shoulder. My deep crimson blood had mixed with the water still on my body, probably making the wound look worse than it was. I quickly pulled aside the material of my dress to see that I had indeed popped a stitch. Between hitting the wall back at the Shu’s and the action of using my saber had done it. I was in no danger of major blood loss, even if I had been it wouldn’t matter. My sole focus was on the fight at hand. “It’s fine, keep going.”

Wedge came out from behind the shelter to fire only for his blaster to fail. As he was reaching for his backup, a shot came from a trooper that hit him. He yelled out in pain and clutched his arm as he fell to the ground.

“Wedge!” Norra cried, crawling over to where her husband lay. In true badass fashion, she aimed and took out the trooper who had laid Wedge out before coming to his side.

I’d be damned if I was going to let Wedge’s injury go unpunished. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Norra was handing Wedge his backup blaster. After being assured that he was okay for now, she rejoined me while keeping one eye on her husband. We’d taken down fifteen troopers at best, if we were going to make it out alive, something spectacular needed to happen soon. I peeked over to the hanger to see that our group was nowhere to be found and a few troopers were breaking off to investigate. They’d never make it in time to stop them nor have enough firepower to ground the ships.

“Antilles,” I commanded as I could see his shots slowing down, “Don’t you dare fall asleep on us.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied before turning to his wife, “But Norra, if I can’t stay on my feet, I want you to…I want you to-”


“Don’t even say it,” Norra gritted out, “We’re in this together. You stay, I stay. We make a run for it together or we don’t go at all.”

“But-“

“Done talking.”

“I love you,” Wedge smiled.

“Good,” Norra said firmly, “Now stay alive.”

The whole exchange sounded very familiar. It reminded me of a conversation Poe and I would have. Somehow that lit another fire under me to protect Wedge and Norra and make sure they came out of this together.

“Keep going,” I ordered as I carefully poked the top of my head over the edge of the barricade. The troopers were separated into four groups standing a few feet away from each other. I crouched behind our shelter again and deactivated my lightsaber, setting it next to Wedge and paying close attention to the shots fly over my head. There was a timing to them, one shot roughly every three seconds. If I timed it just right, I might be able to knock out at least one group of troopers. It was risky but the entire night had been a series of risks, what was one more?

I counted one, two, three seconds before springing to my full height and stretching my hands out toward our attackers. I used the force to send half the troopers flying back to hit a nearby building. I quickly dropped back behind the hideout just as a blast flew past my head, I felt like all the energy had just been drained from my body. In all the times I’d used that move, I’d never used it on that many people at once. I’d need to wait a minute before trying it again.

Suddenly, the wall of the hanger to our left exploded and sent a thick cloud of grey dust into the air.

The three of us coughed violently, I struggled to see through the dust and find what had caused the explosion. Heavy fire came from where the blast had occurred and it became apparent that it was coming from a starfighter rather than a regular blaster. I had an educated guess as to who was behind the controls…

“Poe better cut it out or he’s going to bring this building down on us, too,” Norra observed as she came to Wedge’s side once more. He was laughing from the shock we’d been given. The stormtrooper’s shots had ceased as Poe took each one of them down. “Do you think you can walk?”

Wedge nodded, still chuckling as the two of us helped him to his feet, “I did not see that coming.”

“Most people don’t see Poe Dameron coming,” I remarked as I grabbed my lightsaber and we hurried across to the hanger. My boyfriend hovered around to give us cover, I spotted Snap at the ramp of the blockade runner motioning for us to hurry.

“You guys go,” I yelled over the engine of Poe’s starfighter, “I’m going to help out on the shuttle.”

Snap gave a nod and helped Wedge and Norra onto the ship. I sprinted across the hanger to the shuttle that was just getting ready to take off, Teza Nasz was helping the last prisoner on. We filed in and I shut the door behind us, I holstered my lightsaber back under my dress and attempted to catch my breath.

“Jedi?” Nasz jutted her chin to my concealed weapon.

“Not quite yet,” I breathed with a small smile.

She simply hummed in reply and led us into the main part of the shuttle. Judging by the crowd it looked like we’d gotten quite a few, if not all of the prisoners. If we made it out of the hanger, we could call the mission a success.

I began getting everyone comfortable, the group we had must have been tortured and starved. There were cuts and bruises littered all over their skin, some of them were practically skeletons.

“Excuse me,” a voice croaked from behind me, it was the man Teza Nasz had helped on as I’d boarded. He had cuts littering his arms, blood dried underneath his nose and was dangerously thin. I made my way over to him and crouched down so he wouldn’t have to strain his voice, “Where are we going, miss?”

He was so frail, I couldn’t imagine what the First Order had done to him. All because he’d dared to stand for what was right. It made my blood boil. I carefully took his hand, his trembling fingers wrapped around mine, and I looked into his eyes. “Somewhere safe.”

————

Once we’d made it off of the planet and after I’d gotten the survivors situated as best I could, I came to sit beside Nifera. She seemed steady in spite of her world having been turned upside down. Staying collected in the face of adversity was an admirable quality, one of the many skills I lacked.

“I’ve never associated with the Resistance until tonight,” she said, her eyes never leaving a small window, “But what you did tonight was…admirable. Even if you won the prize of the evening in a most unsavory fashion.”

“Well, we’ll actually do some good with that list. I doubt any of your other guests would treat these people with the kindness they deserve.” I commented as I pressed a gauze pad to my wound to stop the bleeding, “But thank you. I’m sorry about Hasadar, truly…I hope you can find peace somehow.”

She ducked her head, raising a hand to stroke her sleeping eel. “Tell me, Sola, or whatever your name really is…Have you ever lost someone? Not a soldier or pilot whose name you barely knew, someone close to your heart.”

I squeezed my hands together in my lap, “I lost my father one week ago, three days later I lost my uncle. And my br-“ I caught myself and bit down harshly on my tongue to stop the words from escaping my lips, “Yes, I have.”

"Then you must know,” Nifera turned to me, a tear staining her heavily powdered cheek, “There is no true peace after losing someone you love. You can try to move on, you can sink into a deep denial, but there will always be a hole in your life that only they can fill.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I conceded, there was definite truth to what she said. I’d never recover fully from my father’s death and while I knew my uncle was at peace, I was still devastated by his loss. “But then I’ve never had much peace to begin with so I don’t think it matters if I go through the rest of my life without it.”

“Based on tonight? No, I very much doubt that you live a serene life.” Nifera’s expression radiated a judgmental type of disapproval. I had to remind myself that while polite, she was in no way an ally.

”I never have and I doubt that will change anytime soon,” I stated unflinchingly, “But if I can help people, then the chaos I create is worth something.”

Karé emerged from the cockpit and interrupted our conversation, “Nifera, Poe wants to speak to you.” She handed her comlink to Nifera and gave us privacy to take the call. I however had no intention of leaving.

“Hello, Lorell,” she replied, smirking at me as she used his alias name.

“It’s Poe. Poe Dameron.”

“I know,” she smiled.

“We need somewhere safe to set down for a while. Not long. Just a meeting point to regroup, disseminate the list. A day at most.”

I watched the cogs turn in Nifera’s head as we awaited her answer, “And you think I can help you?”

“I think the Collective can help us.”

“And why would we do that?”

“Because we just helped their benefactor escape certain death.”

I nodded along with Poe’s answer, Nifera eyed me as she thought over her answer.

“Very well, Poe Dameron,” she laughed, “I’ll help you. After you make a generous donation to our cause.”

I rolled my eyes, the Collective had already taken half of our money during the auction. If we gave more, our funds would be almost non-existent. This solidified my earlier conclusion that Nifera was not our ally, if anything she was a business woman.

“Yeah, about that...didn’t you already take half our credits?”

“And now I aim to take the other half,” Nifera answered plainly.

There was a long pause over the comm, Poe was thinking it over. Finally, his tense reply came, “Take the money, lady.”

Nifera rose from her seat and I followed her, she headed into cockpit where Karé was piloting once again. She relayed a set of coordinates to her and Karé punched them into the ship, our course was set.

“I’ve given your pilot coordinates to a safe house. She will transmit them to yourself and your other friends. I will let them know to expect us.”

“Thank you.”

“A pleasure doing business,” she said before handing the comm back to Karé. I stayed in the cockpit with my friend as she continued speaking to Poe. I no longer had any interest in interacting with Nifera.

“Did she give you the coordinates?”

“Yeah,” she responded as she hit a few buttons, “Sending out to Resistance channels now.”

“Copy. Is Y/n with you?”

Without taking her eyes off of the stars ahead, Karé stretched her arm out to me and I took the comm from her.

“She’s here,” I answered, “Unharmed and still very wet.”

“There’s worse things to be. Karé said she got a transmission from the Falcon, First Order found them and they had to evacuate Ryloth. Leia’s okay though.”


I sighed, the weight of fearing the worst for my mother dropped immediately, “Any casualties?”

“A couple, one of the Phantom Squad pilots and Charth’s sister.”

“He’ll be devastated,” I mumbled, “It’s going to sound insensitive but I’m so glad that Mom’s okay.”

“I know. Me too. We’re about to make the jump, I’ll see you wherever we’re landing.”

“See you there. And hey,” I paused, smiling softly at the comm as if it was Poe in the flesh, “We did it.”

“Yeah, we did.” 

I handed the comm back to Karé and settled into the seat behind her. While Nifera wasn’t my favorite person in the galaxy, I trusted that she was leading us somewhere safe.

“Ready?” Karé asked.

I nodded, “Punch it.”

————

Poe and I corralled the last group of prisoners to the doorway of The Collective’s hideout. The door was marked with a picture of the same type of eel that had rested on Nifera’s neck. Finn stood watch from an alleyway nearby, I shot him a nod and he did the same. We were clear to enter, no one had followed us. I was surprised we hadn’t been picked out by now, mysterious hooded figures typically stood out in a crowd.

I opened the door and we ushered each person in, after everyone was accounted for, Finn joined us and the three of us entered.

The first part of the building was an abandoned storage room, where the Collective stood atop various boxes keeping watch over everyone who entered. We went through the room to a small door to the side where Zay stood, bringing the prisoners into our final destination.

“Is that everyone?” Zay asked.

“Should be,” Poe answered as we entered the next room. As Zay had shut the door, I caught Collective members sliding crates in front of it to conceal the entryway. We were safe.

Inside the large room, there were tables with food and drinks laid out on them, many of the starved prisoners sat and ate quickly. There was also a staircase that led down to the main room where many reunions and conversations were taking place.

Mom came up the stairs to approach the last prisoner we’d led in, it was her old friend, Ransolm Casterfo. She gently embraced him, the man was trembling as she did.

“I thought you were dead,” she whispered.

“But you came for me anyway, my friend.” 

“I hoped,” she replied, “Come meet everyone.”

Rose led him down the stairs and began to introduce him to people as Mom turned to Poe and I.

“General,” we both acknowledged with a nod of our heads.

“Commanders,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye, “Well done.”

Mom and General Rieekan had turned the room into a makeshift command center. There was equipment set up and a large holomap of the galaxy against one wall. Nobody seemed to be skipping a beat, they were working just as hard as they had when we’d had a full setup on D’Qar.

“Did Nifera give you the list?” I asked.

“Already disseminated,” Mom reported, “Yendor and Orrimaarko are making assignments now. We’ll find them all. Warn those who are in the First Order’s sights, rescue those in danger, and recruit who we can.”


“Good,” I said, my mind was already trying to figure out what we’d do tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. And-

“One step at a time,” Mom broke my thoughts with a hand to my arm, “We’re not taking on the entire First Order tomorrow. We can’t. But we can take one step, and that earns us another day to take another step.”

“We can’t do it alone,” Poe stated, he was in a similar state of mind as I was.

“And we won’t. We’ll find people, we’ll inspire them. Show them they aren’t alone, show them what’s worth fighting for. And we’ll prepare and rebuild. This,” Mom spread a hand and gestured to the room, “is a beginning.”

I nodded with a hint of a smile, looking around at our group. We’d doubled in size today and Mom was right, this was a start. All around us were old friends and new allies, working together and actively doing exactly what Poe’s speech in the Ryloth hanger had inspired them to do…Be better.

I broke away from them to climb the staircase and land on the top step. I wasn’t used to commanding attention, but I felt the unusual desire to do so.

“We can’t stay here,” I said, my voice carrying over both rooms. They fell silent in seconds and everyone had turned to face me. ”As much of a frightening thought as it is, there’s nowhere in the galaxy where the Resistance is safe from the First Order.”

Breathe, I told myself, you can do this. The worried expressions that rested on everyone’s faces stirred up my anxiety.

“But right now, we’re going to revel in this win. After our losses, we still rose from the ashes and lived to fight another day. And look around,” I gestured around me, “This is what we accomplished in a day that the First Order never intended for us to see. So celebrate, we deserve it.”


Applause broke out across the room, I let it ring for a few seconds before holding up my hands to call for silence.

“But this isn’t the end of the fight,” I said, “This is just the beginning.”

“What do we do next? Where do we go?”

I turned to see the voice belonged to Pacer Agyo, the headstrong pilot who’d challenged Teza Nasz.

“We go where there’s injustice, we go where the oppressed are being beaten down. We go where we are desperately needed, where hope is needed. You want to know what we do next? We do what we do best…We resist.” my voice rose with the passion I was pouring into my words, “We fight. And when the time’s right, we’ll make the First Order pay for each and every one of their sins. There’s a future ahead of us where the First Order is extinct and we’ll be the ones to have ended them.”

Cheers erupted across both of the rooms and I allowed myself a moment to savor the moment. The mistake I’d made aboard the Raddus was permanent, but it seemed forgiveness could be too. I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do; make amends. As I descended the staircase, people surrounded me and gave me nods of approval, hugs and pats on my back.

Mom was beaming from where she stood, watching me take charge of the room. Poe came forward to press a kiss to my cheek, I wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him to my side. Professionalism didn’t matter right now, there were hugs and kisses being freely given between everyone. It was another day that we’d survived and that was something I’d celebrate freely.

I could see Wedge, whose arm was in a sling, and Norra making their way across the room with their eyes locked on Poe. “I’ll find you in a few minutes,” I said quietly before breaking off on my own. I had people to speak to as well.

I spotted Rey in a corner, kneeled down and in conversation with Bee. When she saw me approaching, she rose and turned her attention to me. Bee excused himself and left the two of us alone.

“I like the outfit,” she quipped, her eyes scanning up and down my barely dry dress.

“I like yours better,” I said, tugging on the sleeve of her dark Jedi robes, or at least what was starting to look like a set. “Much more suited for battle than a ballgown.”

Rey laughed and wrapped her arms around me, there was so much relief in our being reunited. I didn’t like being separated from her, there was something about having her at my side that calmed me. It was the same feeling I got when Poe and Finn were with me.

“Okay,” I said, pulling away from her, “I can’t be expected to wait any longer. I need to know what my uncle said about me.”

Rey’s face changed from joyful to serious instantaneously, “Yes, you do. I doubt there’s a place we could go to discuss it privately so here will have to do.”

I didn’t particularly care if the room was just us or a hundred more people. My uncle had something to tell me and I was desperate to know what it was.

“When I was with Luke, he talked about you quite a lot. How when he met you as a child, he’d had a vision about your future.”

“Yeah, my mother told me. I don’t know the details of it, just that he had one.”

“Well,” she went on, “He said he knew you wanted answers. About the Force and about your parents. And he said that when you’re ready, those answers lay on Ahch-To.”

My body stiffened and my ears quit registering the noise around me. The prospect of having the questions I’d asked my entire life answered was almost too much to process. I’d accepted the fact that I’d never know about my birth parents long ago. Now I was being told that information about them existed somehow and was mine for the taking.

“I-I can’t…I mean…how?” I sputtered, trying to wrap my head around the idea.

“Don’t ask me,” Rey shook her head, “I asked and he wouldn’t tell me. He just said to come to the island when you’re ready and all will be revealed.”

I raked a hand through my messy head of hair, a grin spreading across my face at my uncle’s cryptic invitation. Was it possible? If he said so, it had to be. I could finally know the truth about myself and my family. It was the greatest gift I’d ever been given.

“Are you alright?” Rey asked worriedly.

I let out a gleeful laugh and threw my arms around her neck, “I’m fantastic.”

Rey hugged me back and we stood there for a moment, two souls who were struggling to understand themselves celebrating that one of us was getting answers. It was a bond we shared that no one else could come close to understanding.

As much as I wanted to stay there reveling in the news, I also wanted to find Poe and Finn. “C’mon,” I said as I grabbed Rey’s hand, “We’ve got a lot to celebrate.”

The two of us maneuvered through the room to find Finn and Poe standing on the stairs talking. “I don’t think you can stop me,” Finn replied to whatever my boyfriend had asked before we’d arrived.

“Where are we going?” Rey asked, they turned to face us.

“I didn’t want to ask,” Finn said with a large grin.

“You didn’t have to,” Rey smiled as they bumped shoulders.

Poe and I shared an intimate look conveying many emotions at once. Relief that we had succeeded in our mission, hope for the Resistance’s future, and unfailing love for each other. I climbed the steps to meet him and walked into the arm waiting to wrap around my waist.


“So if our clothes were lost on Charth’s ship,” he pointed his finger to the bodice of my dress, “Does that mean you’re gonna be wearing this from now on?”

“Depends,” I said, playing with one of the flaps of his tuxedo jacket, “Are you going to keep wearing this getup?”

Poe tapped a finger to his lips before slyly looking to me, “I think that can be arranged.”

A fake gagging sound came from Finn as he stuck his finger in his mouth, eliciting a hearty laugh from Rey. Poe rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead, not caring one bit if anyone had a problem with it.

“You don’t mind?” Rey asked, her eyes drifting to Poe, “Me coming wherever you guys are going?”

“I would be,” Poe bowed slightly to my friend, “Honored.”

Rey smiled, visibly excited to be included in our group. Finally I had three of the people that meant the most to me together.

“Wherever we go,” I grabbed Rey’s hand and squeezed, “You come too.”

When I’d met her, she was living in an AT-AT alone. No family, no friends, not even a droid for company. I never wanted her to feel like that again, she was a permanent part of the Resistance family now.

I caught my mother’s gaze as she watched us laughing and conversing. She looked pleased with what she saw, but also like she was having a nostalgic flashback.

“She knows,” Rey commented, catching the same look I had.


“Know’s what?” Finn asked as he took another sip of his drink.

“That the Resistance is in good hands,” Poe answered contently, “That we won’t fail her.”

“Because of the Force?” Finn asked.

“No,” I replied as Mom shot me a wink before moving away, “I don’t think Leia needs the Force to tell her that.”

“Ah! Right!” Finn said happily, “She knows because she’s got us.”

I took a look at our group, admiring the fact that in the week that we’d all known each other how close we’d gotten. Four people who under any other circumstances should have never found each other. There was no other explanation for how we’d ended up with one another other than the Force.

Poe wrapped his free arm around Finn’s shoulder while Rey embraced me from my side. “That’s right,” he said, laying a gentle kiss to my cheek, “She’s got us.”

For the first time in a long time, everything felt alright. Tomorrow would bring a host of new problems to face but suddenly, rebuilding the Resistance didn’t seem so impossible. Not when I was surrounded by the people I loved most in the galaxy. I had my boyfriend next to me, my friends on each side of me, my mother at ease for once, and long awaited answers waiting for me whenever I wanted to come get them. Everything was coming together even in what seemed like the darkest of times. There was hope.

“Yeah,” I smiled as I looked between my friends and Poe, “We’re going to be fine. Now let’s go save the galaxy.”

————

A/N: We’re taking a trip to Ahch-To next chapter 😏 I’M SO EXCITED YOU HAVE NO IDEA. As always, thank you so much for reading and all the kind messages/comments that you guys have dropped. It really makes me happy to know that this series I started out of boredom in quarantine is being enjoyed 💕 Until next time!!

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[thetomorrowshow]

Slower Than Words Ch. 24

First  -  Previous  -  Next

I’ve been waiting for this one :)

cw: bad parenting, arguing, intense anger

~

“Hey, Lo? Do you have a minute?”

Logan’s eyes followed Patton as he went directly to his room, barely flashing a ‘hello’ at him. Then he returned his attention to a strangely nervous Remus. “Of course. What do you need to discuss?”

He almost invited Remus to sit on the couch with him, but he knew the man would decline. Instead, he stood, watching Remus hop from one foot to the other.

“Well,” Remus began after a moment’s hesitation, “this could sorta come as a surprise. But . . . I found them.” A small smile appeared on his face, immediately washed out by apprehension.

Logan smiled gently. “I would guess that by ‘them’, you mean your family. In that case, congratulations.” He stuck his hand out, and after a moment, Remus shook it. “I assume that is why all of your possessions have gone from being strewn about the living room to being contained in a trash bag?”

Remus’s teeth flashed in another quick smile as he nodded. “Yeah. Haven’t really been subtle, huh?”

Logan had been planning for this eventuality for quite some time, and had not been at all taken by surprise. Instead, he dropped the car key that Remus had just given him after returning home back into Remus’s hand. “I want it back, of course, preferably before the end of the month.”

Remus looked down at the keys, then to Logan, then back at his hand. Logan chuckled.

“Naw, I—how will you get to work?”

“I’ve already made arrangements, don’t worry about me.” And he had. One of his jobs was within walking distance, and a coworker had offered to carpool for his other job. He nodded at Remus. “I take it you’ve already quit?”

Remus ran a hand along his slack jaw, still staring at the key in his hand. “Y-yeah. Gave ‘em my letter two weeks ago. You sure?” he asked, almost as an afterthought.

“Of course I am,” Logan waved him off. “You need it more than I do right now. Find them.”

Remus laughed, almost shrill. “Thanks, thank you . . . so much, Lo. Not just for this. For everything.”

Logan inclined his head. “Thank you, too. For bringing my son back to me. Consider us, er, even,” he said. “Will you be leaving immediately?”

Remus didn’t say anything for half a minute, before nodding. “No reason not to, huh? Guess I’ll just . . . say bye to Pat and be on my way.”

Logan sat back down, content to let Remus pack his things into the car and exchange a private farewell with Patton. Thinking of Patton, Logan shifted uncomfortably. He could wait until Remus left to confront his son. Unfortunately, Patton may already have an idea of what was to come. If he had sought out his notebook, it would have not been found under his bed.

Finally, Remus was out the door, with a little wave and a spring in his step. It was time to speak to Patton.

-

Patton rubbed his face tiredly as he followed Father to the cramped kitchen. He really didn’t know what this was about, but he could guess. Now that Remus was leaving, he didn’t see how it was possible to continue with therapy. His weekly appointments would probably become monthly, then he would only still be in contact with the physical therapist in order to continue getting back to full strength. Today, for instance: it was around midday, and he had only had a therapy appointment and he was already exhausted. He’d been about to take a nap when Remus came to say goodbye.

Remus had promised to video chat with him, but Patton didn’t know how much help that would be with voice lessons. Up until now, he’d frequently been able to rest his hand on Remus’s throat and mouth to really understand how it was supposed to feel when he spoke. And with Father’s laptop not having a very good camera, it wasn’t very likely that he would be able to continue speaking lessons at all.

Not that he wasn’t happy for Remus! Patton was as excited as he could be that Remus was going to find his real family. He understood that. And he was sad that Remus was leaving, but not because it meant he was going to be stuck in this terrible apartment for even longer. He was going to miss him as a friend. He was going to miss teaching him sign, laughing at his jokes, his big smile when Patton managed to say a word correctly.

Losing Remus was losing his only friend. He’d already lost his love. Now it was just him and Father, in this tiny house that he could never leave. It was worse than the Haven, because at least then he could go outside. Now he was stuck in this acrid-smelling, too-small apartment. And without his best friend.

“Patton, I need to speak with you,” Father signed. Patton resisted throwing out something snarky and kept his hands by his sides.

“Earlier today, I was cleaning, and I happened to find this.” From the silverware drawer, Father pulled--

Oh no. Oh no. His notebook.

Patton tried not to let his sudden panic show in his face, but could feel his hands fidgeting. He shoved them in the pockets of Virgil’s jacket. This was fine. There was nothing wrong with learning to talk, or writing jokes. Maybe he’d been a bit frustrated in some of his journal entries, but that was normal. Everyone got frustrated sometimes. Father would understand.

“Son, I was not happy with what I found,” Father told him, and Patton’s heart sank. He fell into a chair, knowing exactly what it was. Sure, there was nothing wrong with learning to speak. For everyone else.

“You seem to have been teaching yourself how to speak audibly,” Father continued. “While I admire the effort and your willingness to learn, I have to tell you how disappointed I am. Learning something that could endanger you and this family behind my back? That is not something I will tolerate.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Patton asked cautiously. This was going a little better than he’d thought it would—Father hadn’t outright told him to stop yet.

“What is wrong is it is dangerous. Learning to speak and lip-read may seem appealing, but once others discover your talents, they will want to take you away. I am putting a stop to it right now.”

There it was. Patton felt tears well up in his eyes, but he wasn’t sad. He was angry. The fire that had been simmering in the bottom of his belly rose to his throat, and with stilted movements, he asked, “Who do you think is going to take me away?”

Father was losing his composure as well. He tugged at his own hair for a moment, hands spasming, before answering, “Anyone. They’ll take you away from me, and study you, or make you work, or hurt you. They won’t let you see the light of day ever again. I can’t let that happen! Not again!”

“Well, it kind of feels like you already did.” Patton’s hands moved furiously. Did he really want to say this? “I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re doing the exact same thing that they did.”

“No, I’m not.” Father reached out, but pulled himself back at the last moment. “I-I’m keeping you safe. You’re only a child.”

“Dad, I’m twenty-two!” The anger burst over the surface. Patton shoved back from the table and stood, chest heaving with adrenaline. The leg of the chair scraped against his calf as it fell to the floor. “I’m an adult! I finally got out of that godforsaken cult, and all you do is keep me trapped in this horrible apartment! I know what danger is, I lived through it. I nearly died in that place, starving to death as nobody opened the door. Well guess what? I’m starving again. I’m starving for sunlight, for open space, for the love of my life!”

“Patton—”

“I’m not finished!” Patton kicked the overturned chair, then the table leg, unable to feel the pain it surely brought. “You’re actually worse than them! You know why?”

Logan was crying, a single tear rolling down his cheek. The pain in his eyes only served to fuel Patton’s rant.

“Because Virgil’s out here!” Logan flinched, and Patton kicked the wall, leaving a dent. “Virgil’s out, somewhere, and I could find him, but you won’t let me out! We don’t have any money, but you won’t let me work! There’s nothing to do, but all you do is bring me more and more books that I don’t want! And you know what? I’m done!”

“Son, please—”

“No. I almost died back there. So you got me out. I’m dying here, so I’m getting myself out.”

Patton kicked the wall one last time, then picked up his notebook from the table, resisting the urge to throw it at Logan.

“Wait!”

He looked at his father, who was pressed against the cabinets. He was shaking, eyes wide with hurt and fear. Hastily, he signed, “Where are you going?”

“Anywhere is better than here.” By the look on Logan’s face, that sentence had come out close enough. He nodded curtly at his father, then stalked out of the kitchen, then out of the apartment, only pausing to grab his thin winter coat.

The door slammed shut behind him, and Logan fell to his knees.

-

Remus swung the door shut and threw the scraper to the floor of the car, feeling far too tired for not even having left yet. It didn’t normally get too cold around here, especially not now that it was March, but apparently a cold front had moved in overnight or something and it had been lightly snowing all day. He hadn’t thought it was enough to freeze the windshield--he’d just barely gotten back from taking Patton to therapy, after all—yet here he was, switching on the defrost and scraping off the windows.

He was just about ready to pull out, even had his hand on the gear, when the side door of the apartment complex burst open.

Patton came hurrying out, walking so quickly that Remus would think he was trying to escape a crab that kept snipping at his heels. The kid didn’t even give him a second glance as he walked in front of the car. Remus’s jaw dropped as his head turned to follow him—across the sidewalk, into the parking lot, then right up beside the car.

Patton yanked open the passenger side door with surprising strength, then threw himself into the seat and slammed it behind him. His face was red and wet, Remus noticed, as he roughly drew his sleeve across his face. Then Patton turned to him.

“I’m going with you,” he signed, his movements quick and short. Remus picked his jaw up off the floor and quirked an eyebrow.

“And daddy’s okay with that?” he asked aloud, signing along. Patton rolled his eyes and turned away.

“No.”

Remus shrugged. “Ooookay then!” He made to get out of the car, but Patton grabbed his arm.

“Please—don’t tell him. He’ll make me stay.”

Remus looked up at the building, then back at Patton. He looked like he’d really gone through it, poor kid. And he’d been trying to tell Logan for months that he needed to loosen up, let Patton explore the Outside a bit.

“First place with a phone we hit out of town, I’m calling him,” Remus compromised. Patton nodded, pulling the zippered edges of his two jackets closer around him. Remus hadn’t noticed previously, but now he saw the blue notebook laying on his lap. He reached over and tapped it lightly. “Get some practice in.”

Patton nodded, awkwardly pulling his seatbelt one-handed while he flipped it open with the other hand. Remus gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile, then shifted the gear.

He was on his way home. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he muttered something that Patton, his nose already buried in his notebook, had no way of seeing.

“Hope you like Sharon.”

~

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[dragonfiremage]

Destiny - Chapter One

Author’s Note: Wow, ok, so it’s been so long since I’ve written anything, let alone a fic about Avatar the Last Airbender. I used to watch this when I was little, and now that it’s back in Netflix, I couldn’t resist. Please tell me if you like it, what I can improve, etc. I would love to hear feedback!

Summary:  You are the daughter of the handmaid who served as Queen Ursa’s right hand servant. One night, the handmaid helps Ursa plot Azulon’s death and helps her escape. However, your mother is caught and is charged with conspiracy and accessory of the crime. That day, your family broke apart, torn away from your nation that you thought you loved, and away from your best friend, Zuko. Years pass, and after so many years apart, you finally face your old childhood friend again. However, things have changed. You are no longer that same servant girl in the Fire Nation Palace and Zuko is no longer that Prince you once knew. Funny, how Destiny could entangle your paths together. What will the future hold? (Zuko x Reader) [Next - Chapter Two] Chapter One

You stood behind your mother, clutching a basket of stale bread. Standing as still as possible, you held your breath in hopes to stay even stiller. But as 8 year old, your attention could only span only for so long and the strain for standing still for so long began to wear you down.

"Mother -" The sharp turn of your mother's skirts was enough to still you. "Hush child, we must stay polite and still." Your temper flared momentarily. Why did you have to stand so still while Zuko played with the turtle ducks as much as he can?! It wasn’t fair. Pouting, you crossed your arms in huff, only to be pinched by your mother shortly after. “You need to have decorum, child, if you are to be the head of the maid staff in the future like me. The palace requires us to behave and be seen a certain way. Do not think that just because you are friends with the Prince Ozai’s son that you can get away with anything. It is not proper for you to be friends with him, but since Lady Ursa has urged it so, I will honor it.” Even as a child, you could feel the tension radiating from her and it made you look up towards her. When she noticed your stare, she leaned down and whispered, “Please my child. Be diligent and show manners, if not we can in big trouble with the Prince Ozai who is not as kind as the Princess Ursa.” You nod and your eyes cast downward. When your mother initially explained what she did for the palace one night over dinner, you were elated. The palace was big and you imagined every room to be full of treasures and jewels. Your imagination ran rampant and when your mother invited you to join her one day to start your observation for servant training, you were more than excited. But nothing could have prepared you for the utter boredom it came with in following order after order, etiquette after etiquette. Luckily, you easily made friends with the Prince Ozai’s son, Zuko. It happened by chance one day. You were closely following your mother when the spell of fresh baked breakfast pastries wafted from the kitchen to the hallway. You stopped abruptly, your mother still walking down the hallway, oblivious that you were slowly tip toeing your way to the kitchens. As you got closer and closer to the kitchen door, you listened careful through it and opened the door just a bit to peek. When you saw nothing, you opened the kitchen door widely and found the pastries on a plate on top of kitchen counter. Your mouth watered as you stood right next to the counter and tried to grab one of the pastries, your short arms, however, were not long enough to reach the plate. You struggled, even going on your tip toes to see if you could reach further. As you were about to touch the plate, a gasp could be heard and it scared you, making you shriek in return and knocking over a bag of flour over and spilling all over you. the flour tasted bitter in your mouth as you cough, plumes of white powder puffed all over the air as you struggled to see through all the flour on your face. “You’re not supposed to be here! Mother!” Footsteps were heard and the next thing you knew, a fit of giggles could be heard. Finally, you wiped the last of the flour from your eyes and they widened.

Your mother was going to kick you to the spirit world.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over - your majesty!” Your mother walked into the kitchens, her eyes full of horror at the sight of you covered head to toe in flour, caught by the Lady Ursa and her son.

“It’s ok, Alina. Looks like she just wandered off and was curious. Were you just trying to get a fruit pastry? What is your name sweet child?” Ursa kneeled to your level, her arm outreached towards you.

  You glanced at your mother who still had harsh look in her eye, but nodded reluctantly. Looking at the Ursa again, you were awestruck. She was very beautiful and looked very kind. Zuko who stood next to her, looked at you with curiosity and a timid smile. Reaching over, you slip your small hand onto the queens and she shook it gently. “I’m (YN). And yes I was trying to get the pastry. I stopped by and it smelled so good. I didn’t mean to knock the flour over.”

Ursa laughed, the sound melodic and soothing to your ears. Her presence was warm and inviting and you scooted closer to her. “Such a pretty name (YN). This is my son, Zuko.”

  Zuko looked over to her and smiled widely, “Wanna split a pastry?!”

Your eyes gleamed, “Yes! I would like to share it with you, Zuko!”

Ursa and your mother exchanged looks, before your mother cracked a smile. From that day on, you and Zuko because friends.

“Come on, duckling. We’re needed inside. Let’s go.” Your mother’s voice pulls you out of your day dreaming and she opened her palm for you to take before you slip your small hand onto hers, her palm rough, but still soft. You glanced over your shoulder, catching Zuko’s eyes who waved and turned back to his mother.

 A couple of days later, you hear of General Iroh’s son’s passing while in battle.

It was devastating news. You briefly met General Iroh right before he left for Ba Sing Se. He and Ursa had sat by the gardens drinking tea while you and Zuko fed some of the turtle ducks. He seemed such a warm and kind man, even showing you fire trick that made your eyes wide and gleam with wonder. That was your first real taste of fire-bending and a small flame ignited within as you hope that one day you could fire-bend like him. 

There was nothing but warmth when Ursa, Iroh and Zuko were together. Lady Ursa was so fond of General Iroh who would often treat her son like his own. Seeing all of them together made you so happy. You remembered inviting everyone for a tea party when Iroh returned from Ba Sing Se.

But General Iroh would never return to the fire nation - not until for while.

After Lu Ten’s death - everything changed.

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

You awoke to the sound of your door creaking open, a small sliver of light filtering through. Sitting up and rubbing your eyes from sleep, you mumbled, “Mother?”

“Hush, child. I have to be quick.”

Eyes scanning the dark, your eyes finally refocused on your mother’s face that was in front of you. Reaching up to cup her cheek, you noticed that it was wet - she had been crying. A chill went down your spine. Your mom rarely cried for anything - she was one the strongest people you know. For her to cry…something really bad must’ve happened. “Is everything ok?”

There was a beat of silence before she whispered quietly, “Y-yes, my love. Everything is ok. Know that I love you no matter what happens and that I will always be with you.”

You tilted your head in confused but shoved it to the back of your head when you felt your body call back for sleep. “I love you too mother. I’m tired now, can I go back to sleep?” You ask with a yawn.

She chuckled lowly, tucking a hair behind your ear. “Yes my love. I hope your dreams are filled with cake and sweetness.”

You giggle and nod tiredly, “And we’ll have a tea party with you, Lady Ursa, and Zuko.”

Your eyes flickered shut and your mother looked at you with sadness. “Yes, my love. We’ll have a lovely tea party with everyone.” She kisses your forehead, whispers a goodbye, and turns to leave the room. She glances one last time at your sleeping form before looking at the doorway where Ursa stood with tears in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry Alina...to pull you into this.”

Alina, with tears falling from her eyes, takes Ursa’s hands and kisses the knuckles, noting the trembling hands. “You do not deserve this brutality and this life, my queen. Anything for you.”

Ursa trembles, more tears spilling from her eyes. “I hope our children will be shielded from this brutality. They do not deserve it.”

They hold hands one last time and Alina whispers, “For them.”

Ursa nods, “For our children.”

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

A short while after, you awoke with the strangest dream. Your mother had come to your dream and something about tea parties. Yawning and stretching, you took note of your mother’s absence in the servant’s room. Your brows furrowed, your mother would have awaken you by now with a cup of hot tea and some gook she made for breakfast, but it was eerily quiet.

  “Mother?”

Silence.

A pang of fear washes over you. Something was wrong.

You got out of bed and rushed to put on your servant’s attire, which was just a simple red dress with the fire nation emblem on the chest. You ran through the halls looking for you mother, but the palace seems to be empty. Until you ran into Zuko and Azula. Azula scared you. She wasn’t kind or warm like Zuko, if anything she always seemed to be plotting and being mean, even though she was younger than you.

“Where’s Mom?” Zuko demands.

Azula shrugs nonchalantly. “No one knows. Oh, and last night, Grandpa pass away.”

You gasp quietly, hiding behind a pillar.

“Not funny Azula! And I want my knife back, now.” Zuko makes a grab for it, but misses when Azula steps away.

She waves the knife in front of him, and taunts, “Who’s going to make me? Mom?”

With hands fisted in anger, you move from your spot from behind the pillar and say. “You better stop that Azula, give the knife back to Zuko and tell us where Queen Ursa is!”

Zuko gasps and Azula sneers with a glare. “Go back to the kitchens, servant. You do not talk to me that way - wait. You’re Alina’s daughter right?”

You tremble, “Y-yes..why?!”

  She saunters over you, twirling the knife expertly as if she wasn’t an 8 year little girl. “Rumor has it that your mother murdered our Grandpa last night. Her trial should be over by now…”

You gasped. Your mother? Poisoned the Firelord? Eyes flashing, you snarl, "You're a liar!"

Azula glances at the clock and tuts with her tongue, smiling wickedly when the Firelor’s chamber’s doors opened with guards and fire mages walking out. Some had tears in their eyes, others looked angry. “Well good timing.”

The mages talked amongst themselves and as they walk passed you, but Azula was able to tug one of the mage’s sleeve and they stopped and bowed for her. “Oh dear fire mage, you must excuse me. Can you please tell me what happened in my father’s chambers?”

The mage shook with anger. “That lowly servant scum murdered our great leader. Oh Hail Firelord Azulon Her punishment is death.”

Coldness seeped through you as you saw Zuko’s eyes widen before turning his head to look at you. The mage quietly left, shaking his head while crying for the loss of their great leader.

“I wonder what they’re going to do with you - the traitor’s daughter.” Azula slowly and purposefully towards you, like a predator hunting their prey.

“We don’t want any traitors here.”

She continued to stalk towards you, your back meeting the pillar. Even though she was younger than you, she scared you. “You will get what you deserve, traitor.”

Azula sneered before spinning the knife in her hand and plunging the knife into your chest. ---------------

You gasped, springing out of bed while you clutched your chest.

  It was just a dream.

  Cold sweat had seeped through the bedsheets and you groan, shivering in your small apartment. You felt for your chest and, although the knife felt real, it was just a dream.

Pulling your knees to your chest, you silently wept.

  After hearing your mother’s crime and her punishment, you and the rest of your family - your father and younger brother - only saw her briefly one last time in her cell before she was whisked away. The punishment for traitors was death - and her death was a cruel one. You and your family, and the rest of the nation, were forced to watch her burn at the stake, her screams of agony and pain forever etched into your memory.

Soon after, the new Firelord ordered the banishment of your family. You didn’t even have time to say goodbye to your good friend Zuko. They had ripped you from him right before you left, screaming and crying for him while Zuko couldn’t do anything. 

Azulo told him that you were being taken to another palace to be a servant. It made him sad to see his friend go without even a goodbye. He locked himself in his room, crying gently as he wished for his mother’s warmth and your soft giggles as they played. 

It was the last time you would ever see each other.

You got out of bed, sighing when your feet met the cold tile floor, moving slowly to get started on boiling some water for tea and getting a pot of gook ready - just like what your mother had always made for you.

  Years passed and when you were 13, you learned of Zuko’s banishment - the reason unknown to you. There were rumors that the Firelord had branded his own son with a mark - a mark that you knew would come from an Agni Kai. 

This only solidified your opinion towards the Fire Nation at that age - the Fire Nation was hungry for greed and power and would use fire to threaten others into submission. When you were 13, you had nothing but hate towards the nation that burned your mother and destroyed your family. 

You remembered feeling sad for him, and thought about reaching out to him by sending a messenger hawk But would he even remember you? Zuko had never once tried to make contact with you so why would you reach out to him?

But was three years ago, and now, at 16, you could hardly remember your childhood friend’s face anymore.

  The past was a nightmare to you, one where you tried not to dwell for too long. You had made peace of what happened to you and your family a while ago, but certain things still haunted you. You were still angry, sure, but you had come to understand that there was nothing that you could have done.

  You thought that by forgetting your past, you could somehow make peace with it... ...but Destiny is a funny thing. And she had other plans for you.

[queen-scribbles]

Relatively Speaking

First, anon, thank you! ✨ ❤️✨ 😊 Second, my immediate reaction of “Aahhh, that’s perfect for them” was proven correct as this morphed from a micro fill to an actual 1200 word oneshot very quickly.

-----

Wolves were, relatively speaking, less of a concern once you’d gone up against a Faceless Lord or three. (Or five.)

That did not, however, guarantee emerging unscathed.

“Come here.” Xaeryn let the spell at her fingertips fade away and strode toward Red as Chase and Briony made sure the wolves stayed gone. His yelp of pain from mid-fight was still ringing in her ears and it made her heart pound

“Ryn, it’s fine, I can take care-”

“One-handed?” she cut him off, words sharp with her racing heart. She arched her brows knowingly. “It’ll be much easier if you let me help.”

“Heh, can’t argue with that,” Red conceded with a small laugh as he sat heavily on a convenient boulder and half-extended his arm. And he did know her well enough to not even try when she was so adamant. “Alright.”

Xaeryn sat next to him and cupped her hand under his forearm as she examined the pair of gashes that cut across the skin. She didn’t miss the way his breath caught, ever so slightly, at her touch. “Good thing you have quick reflexes,” she finally said. “It only grazed you; these aren’t even deep enough to need stitches.” Thank God. Her thumb rubbed an arc against his skin and she couldn’t help a small smile.  “Nice backswing, by the way.”

He chuckled, darting a glance toward his warhammer, propped against the side of the boulder . “Thank you. I’d like to take credit, but it was pretty much all instinct-”

“Pretty sure you still get credit for those, Red,” she teased, releasing his arm so she could gather the supplies she’d need from her pack.

“-and adrenaline,” he finished, smiling at her. “Do I get credit for that, too?”

“Hmm, ‘fraid not.” Xaeryn paused just as her fingers brushed his arm.”What?”

Red nodded toward her hand, his smile faded into something more sober.  “Looks like one got you, too.”

She followed his gaze to the blood rapidly going sticky down the side of her hand and wrist. The sting set in as she registered its presence. “Oh. Must have been the one I tried to light on fire; none of the rest ever got close enough...” The gash sat just below her knuckles, only a slightly deeper cut than Red’s injuries.  “It’ll be fine.”

He studied her face as she set about cleaning his arm. “Awfully reckless, especially for you, Xaer,” he said softly.

She shrugged, picked up the bandages, and nudged his elbow a little higher so she’d have a good angle as she set to work. “It was after you,” she replied, just as softly. “And you already had your hands full.”

She tried to ignore how uncomfortably close the scratches came to parts of his arm where they could have done real damage and didn’t quite succeed.

He chuckled. “If you’re worried about me, Ryn, your best course of action is to stop doing things that nearly give me heart attacks.”

Xaeryn smiled wryly. “I’ll see what I can do. But between our line of work and you being-”

“A worrier?” Red filled in blithely.

She laughed as she nodded. “I don’t know how successful I’ll be.”

“I’ll appreciate just the effort,” he said, his free hand coming up brush dirt off her cheek.

They lapsed into silence as she bandaged his arm, almost elbow to wrist, pausing when he winced despite her efforts, or when her hand spasmed.

“There we go,” Xaeryn murmured as she finished and tied off the bandages. She slid her hand the few inches to let Red’s rest against her palm, fingers tracing small, gentle circles on his skin, around his knuckles and back toward his wrist.

“Thank you.” Red indulged her for a moment, then flipped his hand over, gently grasping her wrist to pull her hand toward him. “Your turn.”

She laughed a little as she passed over the bandages and waterskin. “Very smooth.”

“Well, I do have a reputation,” he joked, turning her hand over so he could trickle water over the gash to wash away the blood.

“The legendary Antiqua charm?” Xaeryn needled with a smile, splaying her fingers a bit so the bandages wouldn’t be too tight when he was done.

Red laughed warmly. “I feel like ‘legendary’ is overstating it a little, don’t you?” 

Her smile turned into a smirk and she leaned forward to flick a clump of grass off his sleeve. “As the one who watched pretty much everyone in the Circle swoon over my best friend at one point or another, I have to disagree.”

He blushed and turned his attention to her hand. “I don’t think it was everyone, Xaer.”

“You’re right, Pan and Neon did prove surprisingly resistant...” Xaeryn joked, then cocked her head in thought a moment and laughed. “Could’ve been they were trying to nudge the two of us together...”

Red snorted an amused laughed as he wiped the blood and water off her hand. “Would have saved us a lot of time if we weren’t such idiots if they were.”

“Thankfully it worked out, even though we are idiots,” she replied with equal amusement. She looked down at the now-clear gash and wrinkled her nose. “Good thing that’s not any deeper or it might turn into a problem...”

His thumb ran gently along the edge of the wound. “It did come awful close to doing serious damage.”

“But it didn’t,” she reminded him, seeing the worry creeping in his gaze again.  “We’ll keep an eye on it, to be safe, as well as yours. Absolute worst case, Briony does know something about Healing. But I don’t think it’ll come to that.”

“I hope not.” Red bit his lip and concentrated on wrapping the bandages evenly. “There you go,” he said softly when he was done, and pressed a light kiss to the backs of her fingers just above the bandages, running his thumb--warm and callused and gentle--over the skin before he released her hand.

“Thank you,” Xaeryn said, the earlier worried tightness in her chest easing into warmth. She caught his hand as he started to withdraw and leaned forward until her temple rested against his. “I’m glad you’re alright, Red.” Her fingers brushed lightly over his bandaged arm. “Relatively speaking.”

“Same to you, Xaer,” he murmured, leaning into the contact and glancing at her hand. “Relatively speaking.”

“You lovebirds done patchin’ each other up yet?” Chase’s voice interrupted cheerfully, along with the rustle of undergrowth. “‘Cause I figure none of us wanna camp right next to the half dozen dead wolves.”

“Chase!” Briony huffed. She slugged his shoulder, and he winced for a moment before it turned back into a cat-like grin.

While she appreciated the indignation on their behalf, Chase did have a point.  “It’s fine, Briony. We’re done. And he’s right; this would be a rather terrible place to camp, so we really should try to find a better one before it gets dark.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Chase winked at her. “I think I saw somewhere while we were shooing away our uninvited guests.” He jerked his head toward the nearest dead wolf. “Looked like a safe spot for the night, relatively speaking. We are still in the middle of the woods.”

“Sounds good.” Xaeryn leaned more firmly into her contact with Red for a moment before she stood.

“I feel like ‘relatively speaking’ is the best we’re going to get out here,” Red agreed as he followed suit. He collected his warhammer and nodded to Chase. “Lead the way.”

He and Xaeryn fell in step next to each other as they followed Chase and Briony back through the woods, close enough their hands brushed even if they never clasped. Each brief contact had Xaeryn fighting a smile, and she saw Red doing the same. But given they weren’t alone, it was probably best if they behaved themselves....

Her fingers tingled where Red had kissed them and she bit her lip to hold back a wider smile.

....relatively speaking.

[girlofthefandom]

Tales from the smp thoughts and random quotes I enjoy (essentially delayed live blogging) Part 1

I love all these npcs already

“Hurry up camera man!”

Yes! Gladiators! I remember seeing someone say that idea

Just some joes

Porkeous the 7th. Oh no I can see the fan girls now.

Yes! Punch em off!!

“Yeah same.”

“That’s good cause I don’t” “we build a new colosseum every time”

I can’t want to see the names of everyone’s characters. Especially Philz’

Stairs everyone’s worst enemy

Tubbo... sweet child

She disappeared!! Witch craft! Burn the witch!

Tubbo=Jacky (forced off streets)

Fundy=Laggius Maximus (I love this name so much with the spinning)

Please don’t kill both the boys in this fight. But also I’m cheating for Laggius.

Subbin Empire? Subbin to Technoblade!

Go Laggius! This is not going to go well... this is really not going to go well...

No I refuse to root for Jacky. I like Laggius the bit will be funnier later.

I want to know what happened to the last camera guy! Let us know!

Vertical feeling! Heaven forbid! Also look at them insulting TikTok

I love the background music. Feels magical.

A lovely jump

Surprises... well that’s ominous. And wait the first one!

Tower! Towers are always good.

We got our popcorn. Ready to watch this fight.

Laggius is... coming... maybe...

GG Jacky... he hasn’t won yet but gg.

Lava!!!! Hooray! Love us some good lava

Poor Laggius... he was burning too early

And Laggius is still lagging

Why isn’t Jacky burning?? He won???

Knocked unconscious in the lava. What is this a Pokémon game?

GG Jacky.

Nobody needs to know the way around here.

“Almost like a video game” just break that fourth wall right down

Keeps looking at sapnaps character and talking about strong. How sweet. We love some fiancé’s.

Please don’t throw Laggius to the wolves

Jack Manifold = Bartholomew

Phil having to translate. I love it.

Watson = Phil

Good pun. Very good pun.

Nobody likes Punz. Gosh everyone’s so mean

We love Watson. Let’s go Watson.

Bartholomew with the drugs and Watson.

Crazy drunk man with fire resistance

I agree with Watson why did we come to this cousin.

Sapnap in a hole

Also I love the drinking age being 3

Let’s go Watson!!!

Where are my Pom poms? I’ve got a Watson to cheer for.

Execute those architects.

And their first Borns.

Watson! Watson! Watson!

“Welcome to the land of the living Bartholomew.”

I love the slow fight.

Come on Watson shoot em!

Oh no. Oh no. Come on Watson. You’re so close!

Noooooooooo.

Why Bartholomew???? I can’t spell that! I’ve been relying on autocorrect this whole time.

Watson would be so much easier to spell.

Still must go down the stairs.

Speed running life. That’s what I do.

No one dies. Just take them to nurse joy.

Poor Punz being so bullied

Punz=Levi

Levi? Really? Oh well I like the name. He won’t like but I like the name.

Also why does Levi have such a full backstory.

Has weapon hands with a horrible southern accent. I love it.

“Hmmm”

Who is Ol’ Sap?

Sapnap = John

And no creativity apparently.

Laggius had the best name for a gladiator. All the others are too boring.

Why are we beating up BBH

Hannah=Genevieve

Genevieve! I can spell that thanks to old Barbie movies!!

Go Genevieve! Trained her life! I love this woman!

Mostly women upstairs. I love it our fandom is so biased.

“Are you sure about that?”

Darlin? Really that’s not the right word.

Go Genevieve! I probably shouldn’t cheer for her since everyone I’ve cheered for has lost.

But still GO GENEVIEVE!!

Our empire is millions in dept

Let’s step up the battle! Let’s gooooo

“Ayyyyy!!!”

Go Genevieve! Levi hush up with your gills.

Jump in! Splish Splash!

Wait why are we listening to Mario Kart music? Wait I recognize this song.

Go Genevieve!!

YES FINALLY! I PICKED THE WINNER!

Levi hush. You done lost messed up southern boi.

Go Genevieve! I can actually spell your name!

I straight forgot Porkeous the 7ths name for a second and had to check my notes.

Stairs. Woop de doo.

“Pick the most handsome” wow

Ol’ Sap = John as I remember. And he’s sticking with it. Bold man sticking with it.

Ranboo = Ran

Just Ran and it’s just the enderman part of the skin. Haha. Very funny.

BBH = Edward

He went from strange voice to normal(ish) voice

I don’t like Edwards speech pattern. At the very least. Yucky.

John v. Edward letsa go

Go John!

Wait we renaming? This is going to get confusing.

Handsome. Can you two quit flirting (not really keeping going)

Alrighty then Ugly v. Edward

Go Ugly! (Sentence I never expected to type)

The seat thing

And saying king Julien. Sigh.

Just BRB real quick.

Thinking about buying things. Oh he meant ad.

Alright Ad 1/3 let’s go.

No I can’t even open chat to watch them instead of the ad. Boooo.

2/3 let’s get this done!

3/3

Snickers just loading for forever

Alrighty we survived.

And a crown really? Just wants his normal skin back.

Let’s go Ugly!

Bo-at battle! Let’s go!

Please don’t shoot Ugly.

Go Ugly!

“King Are you ok!”

I still hate Edwards speech pattern so much

Please. Just pretend to have a fair fight.

The rabbits???? Cant rabbits swim?

Hooray rabbits! I don’t what purpose they serve but I love them.

Edward or Edwardo? Did I miss something?

Ok it seems both.

Shooting a rabbit? Disowner on you disowner on your cow.

Killing pets reference? The references are so good.

YES UGLY!!!! Thank heavens!

I’m 2/4 for choosing the winner.

I hope ugly keeps on winning

“Colosseum Remote Control”

3 in 1 battle how did they not plan correctly for an even number

Nerds hold cameras you heard it here folks

I don’t want to hear deeper for some of these stories. All I want to see is Genevieves further story. She seems deep.

“Massive pigs growling at us. No offense”

Watson trying to clean the table.

We bringing in the Harmonika.

Harmonika fits the moment.

Yes name him handsome! Haha

Grievous is how I’m spelling that stupid sounding name. But it’s better than John and ugly.

I can’t get over the name Ran.

BE GONE LEVI!

I love Watson having to take care of Bartholomew. Translating for him and waking him up.

Phil just can’t resist playing the dad.

No no stopping just fighting.

Also I love Watson saying break it up. I wish Watson had won.

Genevieve sounds like such a lovely lady and she deserves to win.

As much as I love Grevious I want Genevieve to win.

Sapnap=Grevious good gracious this is hard to follow.

Ran is cool. I’m going to kill over listening to them just saying Ran.

Complicated backstory. Found the main character.

Ran is cool.

Wait this place is going down??? Pardon me???

Three person fight is...

Grevious v. Ran v. Bartholomew

Genevieve v. Jacky

Puns! Let’s go! And of course Levi likes Puns.

Everyone is so mean.

GO GENEVIEVE!

And Watson just babysitting Bartholomew

I’m going to get good at spelling Bartholomew. Because I was horrible at it before.

Empire of women!

Cages=Lava

“Mmm what smells good”

Battle star!!

“Boing Boing Boing”

Water dome?

Water Dome in Lava?

Well he tried zombies/bunnies

Lava in the water sphere?

Only fight at top of fishbowl got it.

GO GENEVIEVE!

Come on girl you’ve got this!

No Genevieve babe please don’t lose.

“The boats going down.” “It’s yelling timber.” “Like that song that hasn’t been made yet.”

Hurry up and die. I love it.

NO GENEVIEVE!!!!!

Do do do do

That was a longer fight. But pretty good.

To the cellars! Not to the cellars!

No! The boat is gone!

That was close.

This feels like a funky Pokémon game.

Jacky is a finalist! Good for him. I’m not cheering for him but good for him.

TRIANGLE FORMATION

Who’s missing? Oh wait it’s Bartholomew

“Intense prison cosmetic surgery”

Rabbits! We love rabbits.

Oh no faceplant mode!

What is even happening?!?!

Thinking creatively.

Just don’t die. What a game.

Cant wait to watch the thinking creatively animatic.

In a boat to avoid floating.

Attack!

Go Ran!

Oh we’re lagging.

Disable the dive mode!

The zombies are a bit much. Oh everyone’s actually fighting.

Rats why weren’t there baby zombies when Watson was going. They even made a Phil reference.

No treaties.

Go Ran! Keep on running away.

I love Ran.

GO RAN! I love Grevious. But GO RAN

Faster Zombies. Zombies go zoom.

Oh Grevious won.

Wait why does Ran have grass and why do they see him again.

Placing more dirt to clean old dirt.

Poor Grevious.

I feel sorry for him now.

Stand on da dirt.

Put the rabbits in the cages!!!!

I cheer for Grevious.

And yes there are many a loser.

Everything is so spicy. As in lava is there.

You can’t kick your fiancé’s future descendent out of the gang.

A full inventory

Watson with the backup button!

Seriously all he can do is be a dad.

OH BOY LAGGIOUS IS BACK!

And he’s here for the picture.

And Watson is (still) bullying him!

Bartholomew is pure trouble.

Ooops. The root beer was on the brain.

Watson! Come get your drunk!

Oh wait he actually did! I love this so much.

Petition for more Phil in Tales.

Only Genevieve voting for Jacky

Some people refusing to vote.

I’m sorry who asked if Laggius is ok.

He is always (not) ok

He is fine. See.

I love Laggius’ character the most.

Go winners!

Reformed kinda. If that doesn’t sum up the whole of the smp.

All the grass in the cage.

And Laggius being his slow self.

Nothing v. General

I love how it went from King to Emperor to King

And there is Laggius.

I don’t know how anyone else is spelling Laggius but I like this way and refuse to edit it if it actually spelled different.

Oh we’re getting more ads.

1/3 let’s go

[kyloswarstars]

Come on! • Part 5 – „Black Clouds“

Peaky Blinders • Mini-Series

Vendetta had brought your family back to Small Heath for a while. As a Blinder you received orders from Tommy like everyone else did as well. Your current one: Keep eyes on Bonnie Gold. When you first heard those words you wouldn’t have dared to imagine this order would take a complete turn on you.

Pairing • Bonnie Gold x Shelby!Reader

Words • 2.2k

Come on! • masterlist

/////

Another funeral. Another brother turning into dust. Were you supposed to get used to losing those you loved? Because if so you would never be able to.

This time, seeing another one of your siblings go, Bonnie was at your side. He stood next to you. He grabbed your hand and intertwined his fingers with yours when you flinched at the sight of Charlie as he soaked the wood under the caravan in petrol.

It was the same place where you held John’s funeral. It was the same people. It was the same damn black clouds floating behind your back and waiting for the perfect moment to come and get you. But that moment never came. Something else came. Rather someone else: Mrs. Changretta – holding a white flag.

She had the audacity to show up at Arthur’s funeral when one of her men had been responsible for his death. And Tommy had the audacity to not send her away – or put a bullet in her head which you would’ve preferred in that moment.

He lit the fire under your brother and not long after you’ve been shoved in a room with her, Tom, Pol and Finn. You stared out of the window, noticed Mrs. Changretta was talking about how the vendetta was won and they would take all of the Shelby businesses. Otherwise her son would kill all of your family. But their words seemed too far away. The window brought some daylight in but your vision was blurred. The black clouds were reaching out and you finally had enough of them. Resisting was hard and you didn’t have the strength for it anymore. Though, you didn’t have the strength to grieve as well.

You felt torn, just wanted to leave when Mrs. Changretta was finally brought out. Finn had already left, Tommy and Pol were already in a quiet conversation but he broke it off and you heard his steps hurrying after you.

„Hey, Y/N, stop it!“

You had avoided being alone with Tommy since the night Arthur died. 

That night Bonnie rushed out of the ring and tried to shake you out of your shock, but it must’ve taken him a good while until he was able to. Everything was a mess. You remembered him bringing you back home, that he undressed and laid you down in your bed. You were laying on your side, looking through him once again when he tried to wash off the blood on his body over the tiny wash bowl. He blew out the candle, climbed in bed and held you. You didn’t sleep that night. Instead of celebrating his victory, you buried yourself in his chest and listened to his quiet humming while he was rubbing circles on your back.

You had expected the clouds would intensify in quantity but they didn’t. What changed was the force they tried to pull you with them. So no, you didn’t want to face your consequences for disobeying Tommy’s orders back at the boxing venue. Now in the hallway, though, you couldn’t avoid him anymore.

„What did you think you were doing?“ Instead of him being furious he was almost compassionate. You wouldn’t fall for it, though. 

„I was protecting my brother after I just lost another one. It’s what siblings do. Protect each other.“

Tom’s face was a mystery and none of his expressions ever made sense to you. All he said was: „Finn has to become a man.“

„And you have to remember what it means to be a brother. So leave me the fuck alone.“ You had enough of this. He never told anyone anything about his plans, therefore his orders were hardly ever comprehensible for someone who wasn’t Thomas Shelby. He wanted Finn to grow up, even though he wasn’t ready yet to take that step. And you wanted Finn to be okay with the decisions he made – seemed like a dilemma to you.

The clouds fuelled your anger and before you would say anything else you’d regret later, you left for your room.

Bonnie was waiting.

You grabbed your bag. „I have to get out of here.“

He nodded.

Bonnie wasn’t in shape yet to go boxing again but he accompanied you to King Maine’s. There were not many people anymore, given it was almost nine in the evening. He was already at your favorite punching bag, waiting for you when you got out of your little lumber room. He silently wrapped the bandages around your hands, tied your gloves over them and then steadied the sandbag as you started hitting it.

His face was still a bit swollen, the cuts were finally closed and didn’t look that intimidating anymore.

You didn’t look at him when you rammed your fists into the hard surface. All you wanted was for the clouds to go away but they didn’t. Your thoughts didn’t decrease. Everything that had happen, the burden you were carrying no matter what – the clouds were coming, gnawing on your skin and your fists couldn’t push them away anymore.

You stopped boxing and let yourself flop on the floor sitting. You gave in to the clouds. Running away was always only a temporary solution.

Bonnie sat down next to you when he realised you wouldn’t stand up soon. Within his presence you felt safe enough to let go, fall into the clouds and wait for the tears to come. You stared at him with your vision slowly getting blurry. Maybe that moment had been inevitable. After John died there hadn’t been a moment like this because you ran away from it. To suffer through losing someone was something you must’ve known you weren’t strong enough for on your own.

Bonnie was there. He dragged you into his arms when the sobbing started. And only let go when Finn came into the boxing studio to take your ass home.

/////

As always, you didn’t know the plan. All you knew was that Tommy wouldn’t surrender so easily. So there must be a plan you didn’t know of and which would save all of your asses. Otherwise he and Polly wouldn’t have been so calm when Finn and you followed them to the gin distillery.

You didn’t sleep at all last night but there hadn’t grown any hair back yet you could’ve shaved off. Thinking back at it now, you didn’t even need to shave your head again to feel better. Recovering from falling into the clouds with Bonnie at your side had been enough.

Luca Changretta and his men arrived. They spread some papers on the table, searched you and took your guns. He wanted Tom to sign over the businesses but your brother didn’t move.

It seemed that Luca Changretta didn’t have much self-control because it didn’t take long for him to push the papers off the table and tell Tommy to sign them on his fucking knees. He did kneel down. And then pulled the shit he always did.

When Tommy told him that big always fucks small, and he found people who wanted to take over the Changretta’s businesses in New York, it slowly dawned on Changretta that he perhaps could take Sabini, the Titanics and even Alfie Solomons, but not the Shelby’s.

He fully realised how fucked he was when Tom told him his people had new orders because obviously Luca Changretta wasn’t the highest bidder anymore.

Changretta pulled his gun but your brother pushed it away. They started to hit each other. You always forgot how incredibly ruthless Thomas could be once he started throwing punches. He shoved Luca Changretta into a table full of empty bottles and repeatedly forced his body down into the shards.

Some people entering the distillery distracted you from the rather unpleasant image of Changretta’s cut up face.

When you turned your head and saw who had entered the room, you reached out for Finn next to you and dig your fingers into his arm.

Arthur. Your brother Arthur. He was dead. You burned him. And now he was standing only a few feet away.

You turned to look at Finn – being the twins you were, you most likely had the same expression on your faces, looking each other in shock and trying to comprehend as to how Arthur could be here. You simultaneously turned to your dead-not-so-dead brother again.

Tommy pulled Changretta up as if he had expected Arthur to come and finish him off. Sure, Tommy knew. And Polly – that was why they had been so calm. 

Arthur ever so slowly aimed his gun at Changretta and gave him a bullet to the head which exited his brain on the backside and made its way to the barrel behind him. The body sank to the ground and got soaked in gin.

Tommy had some last words for the men and then Arthur ordered them to leave.

Just like he hadn’t been dead – which he obviously wasn’t but your brain couldn’t comprehend that yet – Arthur’s voice was strangely calm. „Tell your boss what you saw here today. Tell him… you don’t fuck with the Peaky Blinders.“

Never had you been so quick to throw yourself into Arthur’s arms. You wrapped around him and heard him coughing because you probably cut off his air – it didn’t stop you, though.

„It’s alright, kid.“ He gently petted your back but didn’t break the hug. Finn threw his arms around you and Arthur as well and now squeezed the air out of both of your lungs.

Black clouds had made you give in and grieve for John and Arthur and now one of them was back. The mess in your head was real. Tonight you needed more than one drink, that was for sure.

/////

So, Tommy launched a family party at Arrow House. The vendetta was done. Last time the whole family was at this place hell broke loose but now, you were at a ‚happier place’, to go by Tommy‘s words. 

He raised a toast and everyone was raising their glasses. Bonnie stood across the room and you looked at him. He was holding out his glass into your direction. You nodded. He nodded back.

Arthur took over the word but you didn’t really listen. You noticed he suggested Tommy should go on holiday and put his feet up, your eyes and thoughts were fixated on Bonnie, though.

You sat with him during dinner. Right after everyone finished eating you snuck out into the huge backyard of Arrow House. It was dark, the moon only a small crescent. You dragged Bonnie along.

„Where are we going?“

„I don’t know, Bon. I just want to run!“ You started to run in the same moment and didn’t stop until you reached the first trees. Collapsing next to each other on the damp grass, Bonnie still had your hand in his.

Your breathing, trying to get back to its normal rhythm, filled the nocturnal silence. It was just like the night on the blanket as you laid there on the grass. When you finally admitted to those feelings you had for him. When you realised it was love.

You still couldn’t believe the plan Tommy had went through with. And Arthur not being dead. When they explained it all, the immediate wish emerged that John’s death should’ve been only a farce as well. 

Your mind took you back to the night of Bonnie’s fight. Finn had took you aside tonight, thanking you for doing what he couldn’t do that night. The shock when Tommy had shot in that hall tried to creep back along with the black clouds. But something else, something more important to you right now, took over your thoughts.

„Bonnie.“ You rolled on him and tried to see a little more than nothing of his face. It took a good minute until your eyes got used to it and you could figure out where his eyes and his lips were. „We didn’t celebrate yet.“

„No, we didn’t,“ he confirmed.

„I promised something.“

„You did.“ You couldn’t see it but by the tone of his voice you knew he was smirking.

„Come one!“ Getting back on your feet and pulling him up, you ran back to the house together and sneaked your way up to your room. You kept your promise. 

And Bonnie made a thousand other ones while you laid awake until the next morning. He would always hold the punching bag throughout your session. He would always treat you the way you deserved to be treated. He would always be there and fall with you into the black clouds so he could pull you out if you couldn’t do it on your own. He would never stop loving you. And he would be there, for the rest of your life, to remind you that being unapologetically you was everything he ever wanted you to be with him.