#*motherly voice* he is just a very special boy

[jiangwanyeehaw]

I just wanna say that while we see very little of An Le in this week's episode he does look like the perfect partner for Qi Rong. Like ... that smile at the end of the episode? That sure was ... unique.

[mountttmase]

A Mountain To Climb

The Christmas Special

Part Two

Note - they finally got their happy ending 🥺 little baby George is my whole heart I swear I think of him as my own child at this point I just love the little squish. Thank you so much for the love on part one and I really hope you like this part just as much 🩷

Pairing - Mason Mount × Reader

Word count - 6.2K

Warnings - fluff and a tiny smidge of angst

‘I’ll pop the heating on yeah? Get it all nice and warm for the little man’ Mason shouted to you as he opened the front door to let you in. The three of you taking your first family outing to the big Sainsburys to grab some last minute Christmas supplies and you couldn’t wait to get back into the safety of your home.

The run up to Christmas was always hard, there was always so much to be done and so much to plan but this year was different. You’d spent most of it heavily pregnant until your little boy made his entrance a week before Christmas Eve.

Mason was at training when you found out you were pregnant. You wanted to wait until he got home so you could take the test together and find out but you couldn’t handle not knowing and when the little test told you you were pregnant you collapsed on the floor in happy tears.

You managed to make them stop until he got home. The pair of you sinking to the floor once you’d shown him the positive test so he could hold you in his lap as you both silently cried. Counting back to realise your baby was probably conceived the night of your third anniversary and it just made everything feel even more special to you.

By all accounts it was a perfect pregnancy and Mason has been your rock through it all but as your due date approached you could feel yourself getting more and more anxious. Being a good mum was important to you and after everything that had happened throughout your childhood you were determined not to leave your little one with the same fate.

Just like Mason always was, your little bubba was late. Two weeks in total and you were starting to get to the end of your tether with being pregnant until your waters broke at 4am whilst you were tossing and turning in bed next to Mason who was more than horrified by all accounts.

George was a perfect mix of the pair of you. Your hair colouring and lips but Masons eyes and cheeks and you couldn’t be more in love with him if you tried. He was the cutest thing you’d ever seen and all you wanted to do was wrap him up and protect him from the world.

You had always been told you’d feel that feeling as soon as you saw him but there was a voice in the back of your head telling you it won’t happen for you. That you were a product of your family and it would take time for you to bond with George but thankfully that wasn’t the case and you’d turned into a big mamma bear almost instantly.

It was hard though. The pair of you adjusting as well as you could and even though Mason was the perfect father so far, your motherly instincts had kicked in ten fold and you very rarely let George out of your sight.

You weren’t sure what it was, that new baby fear maybe, or if it was something a bit more than that. If it was something you were trying to prove to yourself that you could be a good mum. The best mum. Nothing like the woman who raised you.

You knew it was in the back of your mind even though it shouldn’t be but you wanted to be perfect even though you were still healing from childbirth. Taking on every task that needed doing over Christmas and making sure it was done to perfection. Not accepting help from anyone, even Mason, as you organised a special Christmas Eve get together for all your family but the stress of it and learning how to take care of a little human was making you snappy.

Mason left you to it at first. Knowing not to rock the boat as your hormones were all over the place and you never backed down but eventually he stepped in. Telling you to relax and take a breather but rather than listen to him you exploded at him.

‘Will you just leave me Mason, I know what I’m doing’ you told him angrily. Moving your shoulder so his hand would drop away from you.

‘I never said you didn’t love, I’m trying to help’

‘Well that makes a change’ you scoffed and you felt awful immediately but your pride stopped you from apologising straight away. Under normal circumstances you knew he would probably have said something back but you heard him let out a short breath before carrying on speaking to you calmly.

‘Tell me what you want me to do’

‘What I want is for you to go away. I want these to be perfect and you’re just ruining everything’ you shouted, tears burning in your eyes before you slammed the napkins down on the table and made an exit.

You felt awful. Saying hurtful things to the man you loved who was only trying to help and when you stormed off upstairs he let you have your moment to calm down. Only going to look for you when he thought you’d been gone too long and finding you fast asleep on his side of the bed.

There was something about finding you on his side of the bed that made Mason's heart sing. He knew you were tired and stressed and not in any state to be doing as much as you had but he also knew how stubborn you were and how much it took you to ask for help but knowing you were taking comfort in his space made him feel just a tiny bit better.

By the time you’d woken up and calmed down you found Mason in the living room, sitting in the armchair with George asleep on his chest as he slowly rubbed his back with Parker asleep at his feet.

Ever since you’d fallen pregnant it was like Parker could sense the change. Rarely leaving you alone and forever laying his head on your ever growing bump and now that George was finally here he was just as protective. You wasn’t sure how Parker would react to such a little baby when he was such a huge dog but he was his usual gentle and loving self and no matter where George was, Parker wasn’t too far away.

Mason’s eyes were on you as soon as he sensed your presence but you didn’t know what to do so you played with your fingers whilst thinking of what to say. By the time you looked up, he’d moved George onto the one side of his chest before holding his other arm out for you to come and join them. Helping you sit on the arm of the chair and cuddle into his chest with your legs dangling over his lap and you felt even worse than before.

‘I’m so sorry’ you whispered, your tearful eyes looking into his sympathetic ones and you carried on talking before he had a chance to tell you everything was okay. ‘I just really want everything to be perfect you know? It’s George’s first Christmas and our families are gonna be together and I just wanna show everyone that I can do it’

‘I know baby. And I know you can do it but you can’t do it on your own okay? You pushed this little human out of you four days ago and you’re still healing, not to mention your hormones are all over the place. You need to rest’

‘There’s just a lot to do’ you sniffed. Reaching for George’s hand that was resting on Mason's chest and your heart thumped as he wrapped his fingers around yours gently.

‘How about we make a list of everything and then we divide and conquer? My mum said she’s happy to do whatever’s needed so we can see if she can help?’

‘Maybe that’s a good idea. I just wanted to do it myself’ you confessed. Not wanting to look like a failure but deep down you knew you could really use the help.

‘I know’ he breathed, pressing a small kiss to your nose. ‘And I know why too but you’ve got nothing to prove to anyone okay? You're a perfect mum and no amount of handmade place settings will change that’ he joked, causing you to nod at him with a smile. ‘You’re not superwoman. No one expects you to be okay? In fact I think they think you’re all mental for wanting to host them a week after you’ve popped a baby out’ he teased.

‘Thank you Mase. And I really am sorry for having a go, I didn’t mean it’

‘I know, there’s a lot of change going on but as long as we stick together we’ve got this okay? Now show me my favourite smile, pretty girl’ he teased, a smile taking over your face automatically and you felt a shiver roll through you as he reciprocated it. ‘There we go. And as for this one’ he mumbled, head nodding to the little boy who was still fast asleep on him. ‘He doesn’t remember anything half the time. We could literally skip Christmas and he’d be none the wiser. He’d just sleep right through it’

‘We’re not skipping Christmas, Mason’ you scolded, knowing he was only joking but you appreciated him trying to make you smile just like he always did.

So you did as he said. You made a list and a timetable and made sure to make lots of room for breaks and as soon as it was all written down you realised it wasn't as scary as you thought. But the last few sleepless nights had taken it out of you so when you got back from the shops to get on with your final task you felt yourself slowly slipping into sleep at the table.

‘Right miss, nap time for you’ you suddenly heard, feeling Mason’s hand on your shoulder but you shook it off. Wanting to finish what you were doing.

‘I’m fine-‘

‘Nope’ he laughed, forcing you out of your chair and looking at you with a stern face. ‘You’ve been in a mood all morning so you need a nap before everyone gets here’ he teased, pushing you up the stairs before he grabbed George from his basket. Parker sitting just below it like he always did but as soon as Mason picked George up he was up too and following you up the stairs and into your bedroom.

‘I’m fine’

‘Come on babe, you know what the nurse said. You sleep when baby sleeps’ he told you softly. Pressing a kiss to your forehead as he tried to attempt to push you to the bed but you resisted ever so slightly.

‘But I need to sort the-‘

‘Baby, we spoke about this’ he whispered. Popping George in the next to me crib before holding your face so you could really look at each other. ‘You’re exhausted and you’ll be even more so when everyone gets here later. I can do what needs doing okay. Will it be as good as if you did it? No, not at all. But I’ll make up for it with my charm and wit’ he teased, hands slightly moving to your neck as you smiled lightly. ‘You need to let me help, remember?’

‘I’m sorry Mase’ you whispered tearily but he cut you off with a kiss.

‘You don’t need to be sorry. Just please have a nap’

‘Okay’ you conceded, letting him tuck you into bed. George sleeping softly beside you as Parker took up a spot at the end of the bed and as much as you wanted to just sit and look at George you knew you were too tired and eventually gave into sleep.

You slept for longer than you wanted to but you knew you must have needed it. Waking up to quickly feed George and get him changed into his little Christmas outfit before meeting Mason downstairs. Feeling warmth rush through you at the sight of him finishing up the table settings and you resisted the urge to run over and kiss his face off.

‘It looks great Mase, thank you’ you told him, startling him a little bit but he sent you a kind lopsided smile before taking George from you so you could go and get yourself sorted and ready for everyone to come. Your heart melting at the way he was looking at him all dressed up and you could see how much Mason loved being a dad as clear as day.

Freya was first to arrive with Woody in tow. Making a beeline for George’s basket so she could pick him up and sit with him on Woody's lap.

‘Didn’t have you down as a baby woman’ Mason laughed, his arm around your waist as you watched the pair of them fuss over your little boy and it warmed your heart looking at the pair of them.

‘Well no, but this isn’t just any baby though is it’ she laughed. Stroking his little cheek with her thumb as Woody made the same gesture on Freya’s thighs and the pair of them looked at him in awe. ‘This is my little Georgie Porgie, the cutest baby in the world, yes you are’ she babbled to him and it made your heart flutter to see how much they loved him.

‘You’re supposed to be here to help’

‘I’m saying hello to my godson first’ she joked, but you smiled softly. Knowing there was a special gift for her and Woody under the tree from George asking to be his god parents so you were even more hopeful now she would accept.

‘You can come help me put the crisps into bowls if you like’ Mason offered, throwing her a bag after she’d popped George back into his crib and letting Parker take his spot underneath to guard him. ‘Woody, you too’

‘Yes dad’ he huffed before you watched Mason put him in a headlock and ruffle his hair.

‘Don’t talk back son or Santa won’t stop at your house tonight’ he joked, trying to mess his hair up but Freya was quick to separate them so they could finish sorting the snacks out.

Mason's family were next to turn up, Freya having to begrudgingly give George over so Masons family could meet him for the first time and you almost burst into tears as Tony pulled you in for a warm hug.

‘How you doing, love?’ He asked, walking into the house with you under his arm, your eyes full to the brim at his affection. Knowing how protective he was over you made you feel so full and watching his eyes tear up as he caught sight of little George almost sent you over the edge.

You loved sitting with his family and watching them fawn over him, knowing whatever happened that George would always have a loving family and people around him but when the doorbell went for the third time, you knew who it was immediately and the nervousness in your tummy was threatening to overflow.

‘You wanna get that, baby?’ Mason asked, a bright smile on his face and with a quick nod and a kiss to his cheek you were running to the door.

‘Hi dad’ you smiled, enveloping him in a big hug straight away and you felt your eyes sting as he held you back just as tightly.

‘Hi love. Are you okay?’

‘I’m good, how was the journey?’

‘Not as long as I thought but long enough’ he laughed, before stepping aside to reveal the rest of your family.

You’d met his wife Liz and your two step sisters Abi and Hailey twice before and even though you thought it might be awkward and weird you all got on like a house on fire. Pulling them in for a hug each as they came inside before leading them into the living room so they could mix with Mason's family.

You noticed straight away that George was back in Freya’s arms with Parker sat patiently besides her and you laughed as you made your way over to them.

‘What? He was handed to me. I didn't steal him I promise’ she laughed but you saw the pout from a mile off when you attempted to take him.

‘Come on Frey, my dads here and he wants to meet his grandson… god that sounds weird’ you laughed, taking George into your arms and you were surprised at how settled you felt as soon as he was back with you.

Watching your dad get emotional at the sight of your baby set you off, feeling Mason's arms wrap around your waist from behind made you smile though and with a kiss on your cheek you turned to pull him into a much needed hug.

George was an angel, never once crying or making a fuss as he was passed from person to person for a cuddle and you distracted yourself by refilling the snack bowls and getting drinks so the empty feeling you felt whenever George wasn’t in your arms didn’t linger.

After a while, Freya came to find you. Pulling you away from the washing up so you could spend some time with your family but the pair of you spent a little time just people watching as yours and Mason's families mingled.

‘You okay?’ She smiled, her arm around your shoulders as the pair of you stood to the side and watched everyone get along.

Your sisters talking to Jaz, your dad in deep conversation with Tony and Lewis and Debbie speaking to Liz who had George safely cradled in her arms. It all felt surreal to have everyone here together and it was overwhelming at how big your family was now.

‘Yeah, I’m okay’ you smiled, looking up and fraya before you bundled each other into your arms. You knew you both wanted to tell each other you were proud of the other but you let your arms do the talking before you pulled away. Laughing as you wiped your tears before going to join in with everyone. Freya choosing to go sit with Mason, Woody and the kids as they played with Parker whilst you went to see Debbie and Liz. Hoping you could steal George back as you felt incomplete without him.

Thankfully Liz and Debbie moved apart and patted the seat in between them and handed George over to you as soon as you sat down. Your heart hammering at the way your baby nuzzled into you and reached for the neck of your top to hold.

‘Now I want you to be honest, how’s Mason been this week?’ Debbie laughed and as much as you wanted to joke about him with her like usual you really wanted her to know how perfect he’d been.

‘Honestly? I really couldn’t ask for anyone better to do this with’ you smiled at her, watching her face soften instantly before you looked down to see George yawning adorably in his sleep. ‘He knows me like the back of his hand and knows when to tell me off when I’m pushing it too far. I think I forget I only gave birth a week ago but he’s really looked after us this week. You should be really proud of him’

‘I am’ she breathed. Tapping your knee lightly. ‘But I’m proud of you too. I know it’s hard to admit when you need help and I know you’ve spent a lot of time doing things on your own. But he really is a good boy and he loves you so much’

‘I love him too’ you laughed tearily, wiping your eyes with your free hand. ‘Sorry my hormones are all over the place still, I’m crying at the drop of a hat’

‘It’s okay, love’ Liz smiled, placing her hand on your other knee. ‘You should have seen me after I had Abi, I was inconsolable for weeks. It takes time and you’ll get there but you’ve got the best support around you by the looks of things’ she reassured you. ‘And you can always rely on your dad and me and the girls too’

‘Thank you’ you told her honestly. ‘And thank you for looking after my dad’

‘Of course’ she smiled tearfully. ‘He’s always spoken about you and I had to really give him a kick up the bum to speak to you. I think he was ashamed of how he acted’ she confessed, and sensing you might need some alone time you felt Debbie shuffle next to you.

‘I’m gonna go find my son and give him a big hug’ Debbie told you, standing up to go and search for Mason but before long her seat was taken up by the other man in your life.

‘I think me and Mason's dad are gonna get on great’ your dad smiled. Wrapping his arm around you and dropping a kiss on your forehead as he stroked George’s little cheek. ‘I still can’t believe I’m a grandad, I’m so proud of you’

‘Oh don’t you start, I’ve only just calmed down from Debbie saying the same’ you laughed, bumping your shoulder into his chest slightly. ‘But thank you’ you told him, smiling as Abi and Hailey shyly made their way over to join you all but you waved them over with a smile. ‘Would you guys like a hold?’

‘Me first’ Abi interjected, sitting herself down on the floor and Hailey joined her in a huff but you carefully passed George over and watched as he got himself comfortable in his new aunties arms. You felt so complete. The only person missing being Mason but little did you know he was currently feeling the love from his family too.

He was standing in the kitchen talking to his dad when Debbie approached him. Wrapping her arms around him with a tearful expression but he knew she wasn’t sad from the first glance as she held him tightly.

‘You alright mum?’

‘I’m more than alright’ she laughed, pulling back to look at him and the look of pride on her face made his bottom lip wobble. ‘I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. You’ve got the most gorgeous little boy out there and such a perfect family. I couldn’t be happier for you Mase’

‘Thank you mum’

‘It's not just that though, I’m so proud of the man you’ve become. She’s got nothing but praise for you out there and I know you’re looking after them so well. I just couldn’t be anymore proud of the man you are’ she sniffed. ‘And I know you’re not even doing it intentionally, it’s just who you are but it’s so lovely to see’

‘Stop it, you’ll make me cry’ he laughed, pulling his parents in for a much needed hug. Knowing they were proud of him was all he ever wanted and he was overwhelmed with how emotional they were for him.

You were soon up and making the rounds to ask if anyone needed any refills but everyone seemed to be fine so you went off in search of your boys.

You’d lost sight of Mason a while ago and now George seemingly too and as the noise in your living room grew louder you excused yourself to try and find them. Eventually finding the pair of them sat in the conservatory on the big sofa with a big fluffy blanket around the pair of them. Your chest feeling warm as you sat and watched Mason talk quietly to him before his eyes caught yours and he sent you a shy lopsided smile.

‘Look Georgie, mummy’s here’ he told him, poking his hand out from the blanket so he could beckon you over and once you were close he let you join him under the blanket so you could all cuddle up together.

‘What are two doing out here?’ You asked looking over to see George’s eyes were fully open and he was looking back at you when you spoke.

‘Little man was getting a bit overwhelmed with all the noise and people I think. Thought i'd just bring him in here for a little breather’ he told you and you felt yourself melt as you looked at him. His own eyes softening as they looked into yours. ‘What?’

‘You’re such a good dad, Mase’

‘Oh no you too’ he laughed. ‘I just had my mum and dad both crying in the kitchen saying the same’

‘But you are, you’re so good with him. And with me’ you laughed tears spilling down your cheeks. ‘Thank you for letting me join your boys only party’

‘You’re always invited to the boys only party’ he laughed, hearing Parker’s footsteps getting louder and louder before he rounded the corner and came into view. ‘Hello mate, you feeling left out?’ Mason laughed, tapping your thigh before Parker got the hint and jumped up next to you on the sofa so could lay his head on your lap. His eyes constantly flashing up to George as you scratched between his ears. ‘Well try and have a girl next, I feel like you’re a bit out numbered’ Mason laughed and you blushed at his words. Knowing he wanted to extend your family even more made your tummy flutter but you knew you had plenty of time for that.

George was starting to get fidgety and upset so you knew that meant only one thing. Carefully taking him from Mason as he passed him to you so you could feed him and as he settled down you felt Mason pull you into him further. A satisfied smile on his face as he looked down at his little family.

‘Just like your daddy you are’ you smiled, kissing George on the forehead. ‘Hungry all the time’

‘He’s just as obsessed with your boobs as I am’

‘Mason’

‘What? I haven’t got so much as a look at them lately, he always gets there first’ he huffed but the slight squeeze of your shoulder let you know he was only playing around but the look on his face let you know he was thinking about something else.

‘What is it Mase?’

‘Just seeing you with him, makes me realise how far we’ve come. Remember when you didn’t even want to be my friend? Now look at us’ he laughed. ‘I’d do it all again though if it meant we ended up here’

‘Me too’ you whispered. Leaning over so you could press a soft kiss to his lips before you both sat in silence to watch George. ‘We shouldn’t stay out here too long, everyone’s come to see us and we’ve gone and hid in another room’ you laughed once George had finished. Mason leaning in to kiss you softly as if he knew they should but he was sad about it.

‘I guess so. Why don’t you take George back to everyone and I’ll come back in a minute’ he told you. Helping you stand as Parker jumped up to join you and with a quick pinch to your bum you made your way back out to your family.

The rest of the night went without a hitch. Mason taking over the rest of the cooking with Freya and Woody and between the three of them they managed not to burn anything which you found quite impressive.

‘We’ll have to get the kids to bed soon or they’ll never sleep’ Jaz told you, stroking George’s cheek as she held him but Mason was pouting as soon as he overheard as he was having so much fun spending time with his little people.

‘Well you’ll have to wait a bit, we need to put snacks out for Santa’ he told you all seriously taking Summer and Mila into the kitchen so they could get a plate together of milk, cookies and a carrot for Rudolph before coming to get you and George so you could all take it outside and pop it on the porch. ‘We can check it in the morning and see if they ate it’ Mason told them before you handed George over to Mason so you could take a picture of the four of them and their snacks for Santa.

Everyone was off to bed soon after. Your dad and his family heading out as they had a long drive back home and after an emotional goodbye you walked back in to find Mason and everyone else finishing up getting things tidy.

‘You didn’t need to tidy up guys, I could of done it’

‘You’re hilarious, y/n’ Lewis laughed, wrapping an arm around your shoulder before walking you towards the stairs. ‘We’ve got this. Go to bed and we’ll finish up and see you in the morning, yeah?’

‘No, I can’t let you-‘

‘Mums orders!’ Debbie shouted from across the room, making you laugh as Lewis pushed you up the stairs. ‘We’ll see you in the morning okay?’

‘Okay’ You huffed, looking down at everyone appreciatively as you all shouted goodnight to each other before you went to your room. Getting dressed in your special Christmas pjs before Mason appeared with George not too long after.

‘I’ll just get ready and join you’ Mason smiled. Handing you over George and throwing you his Christmas babygrow that matched your pyjamas before Mason took his own matching ones into the bathroom so he could get ready himself. ‘I’ll have to go take a bite out of that bloody carrot in a bit, make it look like Rudolph ate it’ he huffed, shuffling into bed next to you and you looked at him with a fond smile before he looked down at George. ‘He’s so cute I want to eat him sometimes’ he laughed, pressing a quick kiss to his head before you did the same and place him in his crib next to you. ‘You okay?’ He asked, placing a kiss on your forehead, a confused smile on his face at the expression on yours but you just wanted to appreciate him and all he did for you.

‘Thank you for today Mason’ you smiled, the pair of you getting comfortable next to each other and his shy smile as blushy cheeks melted you.

‘There’s nothing to thank me for baby’

‘There is. It scares me sometimes how well you know me. How you always know what’s best for me’ you whispered. His face softening as he took your hand in his so he could rub comforting circles into the back of it.

‘It’s cause I love you’ he told you sincerely, picking your hand up to drop a kiss onto the back of it and you felt your fingers tingle at the sensation.

‘I love you too. And that’s why I want to give you a present early if that’s okay’

‘What?’ He laughed, watching you reach just by the bed to pull out what looked to be the size and shape of a shoe box. ‘What’s going on?’

‘It’s actually sort of a joint present but I want us to start using it as soon as possible’ you told him. Placing it on his lap before nodding your head so he’d tear into it. Once he had he was met with a cardboard box that he lifted the lid off of to reveal the present inside.

‘George’s book of firsts?’ He read aloud, picking up the folder so he could get a better look before his eyes were on you.

‘Its like a memory book. We can take pictures and fill in all his information so we’ve got something to look back on when he’s all grown up. I thought it might be fun for us to do it together’

‘I love it, thank you so much’ he whispered, leaning over to give you a small peck on your lips.

‘Open it up, there’s loads we can do’ you told him, watching his face the whole time as he flipped to the first page and you knew he’d seen it immediately.

This book belongs to:

George Tony Mount

To say naming George was easy would be a massive understatement.

First name, sure. You know you wanted something fairly traditional and when Debbie suggested it one afternoon as you all sat around to try and share ideas, the pair of you looked at each other with hopeful eyes almost immediately.

The middle name picked itself. Carrying on the tradition and a gentle nod to Mason's dad and all he did for the pair of you. You still remember the day you told Tony your thoughts around this and the little twinkle in his eye told you all you needed to know.

It was the last name that was a bit of a pickle. The pair of you not speaking about it as it had always been a bit of a contentious subject and so far no one had the guts to talk about it.

You knew it was partly your fault. Telling Mason soon after your engagement that when you got married you were unsure if you wanted to change your last name. It was the last tie to your old life and where you came from, the last piece of them you had, as you weren’t fully back on track with your dad yet but things had changed since then.

You knew Mason wasn’t thrilled by your thoughts on this subject. He wanted you to be his in every sense of the word and for his little boy to be his. But he also understood where you were coming from and loved you enough to look past it.

You could see Masons eyes full of tears as his bottom lip wobbled. A shaky breath leaving his lips as he looked up at you and your heart was thumping out of your chest.

‘Mount? You want him to be a Mount?’

‘I do’ you whispered. Taking his face in your hands so you could press a kiss to the end of his nose. And when we get married next year, I want to be a Mount too’

Your heart broke at the relieved whimper that left his lips. Dropping the book to his lap so he could wrap you up in his arms. His tears making your neck damp as you held onto each other for dear life before he pulled back to hold your face. Your own eyes now full of tears as you hadn’t realised how much it meant to him.

‘Really? Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure Mase. I want everyone to know we’re yours and we belong to you’

‘What changed your mind?’

‘You’ve given me everything I could ever want or need Mason. You’ve loved me when I didn’t deserve it and stood by me through thick and thin. All that I am, and all that we are now, it’s because of you and I’m ready to give myself to you fully. I know I said I didn’t want to lose my ties to my family but you’re my family. You and little Georgie are my whole life and it just feels like the final missing piece’

‘You’ve always deserved my love’ he whispered. ‘You deserve everyone’s love and I’m so happy you get to feel it from everyone now.

‘I think that’s partly the reason why. Knowing my dad and his family better now helps. I know I’ve got him now and losing my last name doesn’t mean I’m losing him or that side of me. But I’m gaining a part of you and you’re the most special person in the whole world to me and I’ll always choose you. Good days, bad days, come rain or shine I’ll always choose you Mase.

‘God I love you so much’

‘I love you too’

‘I can’t believe I’ve gotta wait another five weeks to show you’ he joked, making you roll your eyes as you realised what he wanted but couldn’t have just yet.

‘Well how about you run down and grab those cookies from outside so we can share them. Distract you a little bit’

‘That sounds like a good idea. I’ll drink some of the milk too’

‘Don’t forget the carrot’

‘I could never forget the carrot’ he winked, kissing your forehead before jumping out of bed and sneaking downstairs. Making you laugh at his attempts of being quiet and as soon as he was out of sight you realised this year for Christmas, you finally had everything you’d ever wanted.

[cuddlecow]

could i possibly get franco headcanons with a reader that like, enables him/acts motherly? hes a very special little guy to me and i just wanna scoop him up and kiss his head thank you

Yesss, coming right up! Thank you for requesting!

Since taking this request, it's been brewing and I definitely think I could expand off of the bonus story in this and potentially do a NSFW version if folks would like to see that for him, but yeah! I'm pretty happy about it and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this!

Franco Barbi With A Motherly/Fatherly Reader

Franco with an enabler is just an absolute chef special.

"I'm a fuckin' prince. You'd be so lucky.."

As Franco says, he is in fact a prince and should be treated like one. Anything less would just be unacceptable, clearly.

Supply this baby boy with stuffed animals for his giant collection and he'll be one pea in a pod.

In one of the shuttle hallucinations, we see him in a crib playing with a mobile above his head with his Lupara in hand. I feel like his bedroom would have one section be a typical mobster bedroom with his preferred colors, and then the hidden part would be his playroom.

Reader would totally coo and baby talk at this big bundle of sweetness. Franco would eat this up and start giggling and clapping his hands together.

Franco receiving any sort of baby toys or teethers would be precious. He'd probably end up mindlessly chewing or biting on a teething ring that you gave him.

He obviously has the one pacifier he keeps wrapped around his bandolier. When he's out doing his usual mafia things, he might on use it on rare occasion, but with you, he'd feel more comfortable using it.

Don't even get me started on the bottles or sippy cups..

BONUS:

It was a little past 7:00pm, the lights still shining brightly onto every surface in the mobster hideout where the trial "Poison The Medicine" was held. Franco had just finished his last scheduled trial of the day, and he was exhausted. Chasing all the rats in his pantry sure was a physical job.

He was breathing heavy as he usually does, making his way back to the double doors that expops and prime assets would emerge from. He was particularly aggressive towards the doctors and other staff as he went through the sanitation procedure. He was accompanied back to his large room by four staff members who clearly wanted to go home.

The room was set up almost like an apartment, except way larger. Inside of it, you were in there, preparing some snacks and sweet treats for the big baby. You shrunk back slightly, being pulled from your own little world upon hearing Franco yelling and threatening the staff members. You walked over to the door, waiting for Franco to open it.

Franco huffed at the staff members and you could hear him sniffling, beginning to lose his composure. You swiftly opened the door and stepped out. You had the sternest look on your face, radiating mama bear/papa bear energy. You put yourself between the staff and Franco, not raising your voice but making your point be known, "Thank you for escorting him back to his room. I will take things from here." Franco hugged your leg and hid behind it while pointing his Lupara at the staff members. Sticking out his tongue as the staff personnel walked away, he looked up at you. "Come along now, my love. I've prepared some special treats for youuu~!"

Walking to the table in the middle of the room, you pulled out a chair with a booster seat in it for Franco. He eyed you, crossing his arms and looking a bit reluctant. "Oh, come on my little prince! Don't you want your milky white?" You said, getting one of the bottles out from the overhead cabinets. Franco popped his pacifier in his mouth nonchalantly, and internally, you were gushing at how adorable he was. You knew he was just acting like he didn't love this, so you walked over to him and bent down, petting the top of his head.

He leaned into your touch, humming lowly. Suddenly, he panicked as he felt his feet leave the ground. You shushed him gently, just holding him up by his pits before you lifted him to where you were cradling the manchild. He looked up at you, swimming in the vast ocean of your eyes as you carried him over to the rocking chair you sat in every night. You brushed some of his hair back before leaning down and kissing his forehead.

"My baby Bambino, isn't that right?" You smiled softly down at him, rocking back and forth, and in response, he nodded and made grabby-hands up at you. Franco's baby blue's fluttered shut not long after this, his full body weight sinking into yours as a snore came from his now sleeping frame.

[no-where-new-hero]

On this fine Sunday afternoon, I shall sit down with my scripture (Emily of New Moon) and perform my devotions (catch up on book club commentary). In the interest of space, I'll try to keep this short.

Chapter 9: A Special Providence

The knack of turning this novel epistolary with the Father letters is one of LMM's best narrative decisions because she is, at heart, a voice writer, and I just saw in the lovely interview on craft that @gogandmagog posted that LMM loved writing in first person despite discouragement from her editors, so this way she gets to have her cake and eat it too. She also establishes Emily as a woman of text, specifically, as opposed to Anne, who got away with first person narration through non-stop chatter. Emily as a character is much quieter and more introverted, so her ability to blither through letter-writing kills many birds with one stone. It's also astronomically funny.

"I felt so insulted that I came up to the garret and wrote a deskription of myself being drowned on a letter-bill and then I felt better." Legitimately, Emily has died so much in her imagination in the course of nine chapters. You'd think her self-dramatization would be for good things, but no, she gets her revenge on people through self-destruction. Which is very funny as a child but also sets up her depressive nature as an adult very well.

Chapter 10: Growing Pains

Reading Rhoda's betrayal hurts every time! Also since the last time I read this, I went through a Rhoda experience of my own, soooo yeah not fun. Interestingly, I think Rhoda is the only one who gets a definite birthday other than Emily in the whole book. She doesn't reflect well on Cancers 💀

"Just cut a good big bang. Lots of the girls have their hair banged clean from the crown of their heads." This description always confused me because that kind of style sounds like a description of the "Dutch boy bob" that only came into fashion 30 years later (in the 20s). Also when I Googled hair being "shingled" it's basically also a bob? Maybe more of what we'd consider a pixie cut today, though it seems to be referred to as a "shingle bob" and therefore close enough to what Emily would have wanted. (I am a bit obsessed by how the "Pringle shingle" anticipated the 90s Winona Ryder style pixie cut craze). Though of course Aunt Elizabeth wouldn't have done this cut with any style in any case lol.

Chapter 11: Ilse

Emily aka Jane Eyre fanfiction strikes again. This is, though, a rare instance of New Moon itself being hostile to Emily in a way that isn't ever shown elsewhere. Though the house represents the motherliness that Emily lacks from people, it also has its dark patches that Emily must rebel against, though she only thinks she rebelling against Aunt Elizabeth.

Oh, Ilse my beloved. She has many endearing lines that show the depth of her neglect, but I think this one hit most for me this time: "And you won't be ashamed of me because my clothes are always queer and because I don't believe in God?" I also love how both she and Emily know exactly what their futures will be at this moment and both succeed in them.

Chapter 12: The Tansy Patch

I never focus much on the descriptions in this book because they come thick and fast, but I noticed this time how many flowers grow around the Tansy Patch, nearly suffocating the built structures. This is a place of surface beauty if festering neglect--much like Mrs. Kent's treatment of Teddy.

"He washes the dishes for her and helps her in all the house work. Ilse says the boys in school call him sissy for that but I think it is noble and manley of him." LMM saying fuck gender roles.

"I guess Ilse wants Teddy to like her best but she is not a jellus girl." The love triangle begins.

"I read the story of Red Riding Hood to-day. I think the wolf was the most intresting caracter in it. Red Riding Hood was a stupid little thing so easily fooled." RIP Emily Starr, you would have loved Angela Carter.

Reader, I did not keep this short. Second post incoming soon.

[taebearlover07]

New Daddy

The following slides might contain 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄, do not interact if uncomfortable  

Pairing: Step-daddy!Kim Taehyung x Step-daughter!Fem!Reader

Genre: Rough Smut, Step dad and daughter relationship, cheating 

Summary: You never had a good relationship with your mother, she hated you to her guts which became worst after your father’s death. After your father’s death, one day your mother came home with a hot man and called him your New Daddy

Warnings: Rough sex, Dom!Taehyung, Sub!reader, masturbation, use of toys, ass eating, spitting, Yn calls Taehyung daddy, rimming, etc.

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“Yn-ah! Come downstairs” Your mother shouted in her ‘sweet’ voice. You rolled your eyes at the command of your so-called mother, you never really had a good relationship with your mother, especially after your lovely father’s death. Your mother might have given birth to you but her behaviour towards you was never motherly. She hated you till death, maybe because she wanted a boy, not a daughter but your father loved you the most like a precious gem, but later after your father's death your mother never pretended to care about you, at first she would pretend in front of your father but now she would not pretend. After your father's death, she would stay out late at night and would come in the morning completely ruined made you wanna think how many men she fucked in a night, very wrong to think of a daughter towards her mother but your mother's action made you think like that. Now eventually you also hate her till death, “Only killing a person wouldn’t be a crime, I would have killed her by now” You whispered to yourself “Yn, baby come down quickly, someone special came to meet you” she again shouted, her fake sweetness made you wanna gag “Baby-tsk, who the fuck came now?” “I am coming mom” You boringly replied before lazily walking away from your bed, not caring about how you looked 

“Yes, mom? What do you want?” You said while looking at your mom, not caring about another figure in the room “Yn-ah that’s not how you talk to your mom, sorry she had become spoiled after her father’s death” Your mother said while looking at the ‘another figure. Finally, you too looked at him and you almost had a heart attack by his handsomeness and by looking at him now you regret that why didn’t you look at your face before coming down? You awkwardly waved your hand at him which he returned with a chuckle before following your gesture and waving his hand back and for god sake, his chuckle was sooo hot, everything about this handsome stranger was so hot that you wouldn't regret throwing yourself at him. Your imaginary sex bubble was burst by your ‘mother’s’ voice “Yn, meet Taehyung your NEW DADDY”  “Fuck! Why did it sound so exotic?” You thought in your mind. After a second thought, you understood and said out loud “He is my step-father!!” Your voice clearly showed anger, how could this woman replace your father’s place with another man, even though that man is hot but never, no one can take your father’s place, never. “Don’t worry Taehyung, she is just not over her father’s death” Your mother said casually making your blood boil like lava “Bitch what the fuck?! My father died years ago, not years ago!” You wanted to say that to her face to humiliate her but couldn’t, your father taught you to respect elders in any situation and you never disrespect your father’s word. 

You stomped your feet before walking to your room, your mother’s voice could be heard but you could care less. You shut the door harshly making sure people downstairs knew you were angry. Laying on your stomach on your bed you thought for a moment how your life changed, how your loving father died and your bitchy mother decided to bring up a hot hunk saying he is your step-father as if you were in a fanfiction. Your series of thoughts were disturbed by a knock on your door “Can I come in Yn?” "Yes" You said well you didn't want to let him enter your room but he is hot maybe you can have him after all your bitchy mother doesn't deserve such a handsome hunk like him. He slowly opened your bedroom door and walked into your room. Your eyes met his dark brown eyes, for a second you were drowning in those chocolate brown eyes that seemed deeper than the ocean but his deep soft voice brought you back to earth "I know it's new for you to accept anyone as your father as Noone can replace the place of a father but at least I could be your friend" He said staring at you, well he was too young to be your father well you can at least make him your friend. You were about to accept his offer of him being your friend but suddenly a naughty idea struck your mind "It's all right, I can maybe accept you as my New Daddy" You said with that innocent seductive voice of yours, "Maybe I can use him for making a revenge on my bitchy mother" You thought in your mind, smirk automatically forming on your face. "Perfect, I'll also love to have you as My Babygirl" He said with a smile, "Is he giving me a green signal or is he innocent, his body doesn't show that thought" You thought but shrugged it off after all him giving in would be better for you. 

———

After a month of shifting you are finally here at your step-daddy's house and his house was huge, you gotta say that your idiotic mother definitely got you a rich daddy. Your room was huge, definitely bigger than your old dusty room and this room was pretty luxurious too. Not disrespecting your original home but this home was way better than your home. "If you want any changes in your room tell me any moment ok?" He said, "No daddy, it's perfect. I love it soo much!" You squealed with joy making him chuckle at your cuteness "Such a cute baby I have'' He smiled before kissing your forehead and cheeks making you giggle more, well kisses were something you loved getting from him, it was common between you both which definitely didn't please you so-called mother but you could care less. You really like Taehyung's company a lot, well it'll be too cruel to not like him, he was everything a girl would want as in a boyfriend. He is understanding, adorable, a complete cuddle baby, hot and sexy too everything a woman would want in their boyfriend. 

After a while of chit-chat and house tour, you decided to go take a bath in your new bathroom. Taking a relaxing bath in your huge bathtub, this bathtub will surely make you productive to have a bath daily. After an hour you unwillingly decide it's enough for your bath. Wrapping a towel around you, you walked into your huge closet. After 10 minutes you decided to wear nice purple-coloured lacy panties and matching booty shorts, for a shirt you decided to wear a see-through white tube top. You were about to wear your top but something caught your eye, a huge mirror that was capturing your half-naked frame. "Since when was it here?" You looked at the mirror shocked as if it was a person. After looking at the mirror for a while you decide to wear your clothes but a naughty idea comes to mind "Taehyung is downstairs watching TV alone, mom is also not home right now. It's time to start my plan" You slowly walked downstairs with your half-naked frame, your nipples completely hard after coming in contact with cold air. Walking downstairs you saw Taehyung watching a soccer match on the TV while manspreading. You slowly walked to him till you stood near the armrest of the couch, you were surprised to see Taehyung not recognizing your presence “Daddy” You said with your sweet innocent voice making him look at you. His eyes widened looking at your not-so-covered body making him gulp. “Y-Yn-ah Baby what a-are-” He shuttered before gulping again, his mouth wide like a fish, to be honest, he looked so cute like a puppy. You slowly walked as his eyes followed your figure. You sat down on his lap, facing him, your nipples in front of his eyes making him gulp again. “Y-Yn, baby what are you doing?” He asked, still not over the fact that his sexy stepdaughter sat half naked on his lap “I always sat on my daddy’s lap” You said innocently. He tried his best not to look at your chest where your nipples stood proud as if asking him to suck them. He shook off his dirty thoughts and tried to look in front but the reflection of your juicy ass in the mirror located at the side of the Tv made him gulp again “Fuck she is so tempting! Even sexy and hot” Taehyung thought, well after all he is a man and men have needs which he too had and definitely your mother did not fulfil those needs. The sight of your big breast and juicy ass made him turn on, he just wanted to fuck you hard on this couch, only if he could. Only he knew how he controlled his thoughts to fuck your ass. “You are the best daddy, daddy!” You giggle before hugging him, his face pressed between your chest. He was already semi-hard but this action made him fully hard. Only he knew how he controlled his thoughts to fuck your ass.  

You could feel his hardened cock between your asscheeks making you turn on, fuck if you wanted to ride him now. You pulled out from the hug as your eyes met his, you stared at him which he returned. You took the first initiative and started to lean in which he too followed and leaned in. Finally your both lips crashed together as you opened your mouth to let his tongue in, his tongue explored your mouth as his left hand went down to grab your one asscheek. You moaned as you felt his large hand grip your ass. You slowly started to grind on his clothed cock as he too encouraged you to move, his grip on your ass still not leaving. You moaned feeling his hard grit move between your asscheeks, his cock rubbing on your pussy making you moan. Your leaking wetness patched in your panties making it stick completely to your pussy, the friction by his clothed cock and your covered cunt made you both moan from pleasure. "Fuck baby!" He shamelessly exclaimed, throwing his head back as he tightens his grip on your ass, definitely leaving a mark for later. "You're so good daddy!" You moaned loudly feeling the outline of his cock rub on your pussy lips. You both were about to lean in to join your lips again but the noise of the car engine made you both stop "Fuck! Mom is here!" You exclaimed before hurriedly peeling yourself away from him and running to your room leaving a sexually frustrated Taehyung behind. “I am home!” Said your mother as she entered the living room “Welcome back” Taehyung replied with a fake smile, mentally cursing her for coming home at the wrong time 

“Taehyung, can you ask Yn if she wants to have lunch or not?” She said to Taehyung, to which he happily agreed, at least he can see you for now. He walked towards your room. He was about to knock but stopped mid-way when he heard you moan loudly. He slowly creaked the door open to see you masturbating, a vibrator deep in your hole as you thrust a thick veiny dildo in your asshole, both the toys making you moan loudly as your moan made Taehyung turn on. "Fuck! Taehyung! Daddy, you're so good!!" You moaned his name not knowing that he is hidden behind and listening to you moan his name. The sight of you fucking your ass with a dildo made him want to throw that plastic and fuck you with his cock. He was about to go away to the washroom to calm his increasing hormones but his movement accidentally made a creaking noise by the door and became alert. You looked back with those toys still in your hole. You were shocked to see Taehyung standing behind the door with an open mouth “Please don’t tell mom!” You said fearfully, scared that he’ll tell your mom because you knew how she would humiliate you. Taehyung was about to say sorry and run away from there but his naughty brain and high hormones had some different plans. “I’ll not tell your mother, only if you………… let me do this” He said before kneeling down as he faced your both holes, he pulled away that plastic dildo from your asshole “W-What are y-you doing?” You said as you watched him spread your asscheeks apart, the sight of him kneeling behind you made your wetness leak more. “You want me to not tell your mom about this? Right?” He said sensually which you nodded immediately “Then let me have a taste of your ass” He said as he rubbed his thumb on your hole “Can I?” He asked as a gentleman, well he is. You nodded your head while biting your lips “Words, I want words babygirl” He said as he fastened his pace rubbing his thumb on your ass making you moan loud “Yes daddy, please taste my ass, please eat me as much as you want” “Good Girl” He said before laying a globe of split on your asshole, lubricating it. He showered his face between ass cheeks, rubbing the pad of his tongue on your rear hole. His tongue tries to enter your rear hole as the vibrator in your pussy continues to stimulate your pussy. 

He thrust the vibrator in and out of your pussy hole as his tongue does its magic on your tightest hole. You moaned loudly but buried your head in the bed to conceal your moans but he pulled your hair making you arch your neck “Don't stop, keep on moaning, I want to hear your slutty moans” He said before thrusting his tongue in your hole making your scream and flinch up but his grip on your both ass cheeks made you stay still. “Fuck!! You are so good daddy!!” You moaned as you moved your hips against his face but he pinned you down the bed and laid a harsh slap on your ass making you moan in pain “Stay still if you want to cum” “Yes daddy” You peacefully obeyed, too occupied to chase your orgasm. Feeling a knot forming in your stomach as you clenched your walls on both of your holes “Daddy, gonna cum!” “Cum baby, make a mess on your pretty bedsheets” The command in his deep voice made you release all your juices while squirting “Fuck baby! Such a good girl I have” He said, mesmerized by the sight of your shaking legs and sweaty body. You turn around as you remove the vibrator that was dripping from your juices. Laying on your back you spread your legs wide, taking this as a signal of approval Taehyung started to remove his clothes as you watched him hungrily. Pulling you to the edge of the bed he slowly rubbed the tip of his cock on your pussy hole making you whine at his teasing “Please daddy! Want your cock” He hummed before slowly thrusting his cock in your hole “Tell me if you are uncomfortable, ok?” you nodded. Slowly he started to increase his speed, thrusting inside you at an inhuman speed making you moan uncontrollably loudly. “Fuck babygirl! You are so tight! Fucking good!!” He moaned not caring if your mother found out “Daddy you are so good! You fuck me so good!” You moaned as he joined his lips with your kissing passionately 

“Do you like it kitten? Do you like it when daddy fucks you like this” He asked, hitting your g-spot which made you scream out loud. He groans as you clenched your walls around him making him thrust in you harder “I'm cumming” “M-me too kitten” He grabs your bouncing breasts, pinching your nipples as it increases the pleasure making you release all your juices, soon he too came and released his juices inside you. Slowly removing himself from you as he kissed your lips. Getting under the bed after making sure you are cleaned properly. Snuggling in his bare chest as he wrapped his hand around you. Maybe in the seeking of revenge on your mother, you found your comfort place, your love.

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The End

Thank you for reading

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[ghoul-bonez]

~Through the Wind and Rain~

Chapter 5 (How to Breathe)

OC x OC set in the “Avatar: The Way of Water” universe…

Summary: Niri’te’s first full day in Awa’atlu.

Word count: 1.7k

Author's note: Boom new chapter!

Last - Next

Masterlist

Chapter 5 (How to Breathe)

It was early in the morning when I woke up, eclipse was still ending and it was not completely light outside yet, but I felt well rested. Yesterday was so exhausting I expected to sleep half the day away.

I probably would have been woken up by someone before them, most likely my teacher, Leyra, to begin lessons. I understand why I had to start right away, but I still couldn’t help but to feel annoyed that I didn’t get any adjustment period, no rest.

For now there was no learning though. For now there was getting ready for the day and eating some breakfast. The front of my marui was open overnight, my habit of falling asleep watching the world around me was strong, so the first thing I did was get up and close it before getting dressed.

I didn’t dress in anything particularly special but made sure to stay away from certain beaded tops I wasn’t sure would hold up in the water. I would have to ask Leyra if she knew whether the materials of them could survive in the water.

I felt my stomach grumble after I was done getting ready and I knew I would have to go out in search of food soon. I assumed fish would be their main food source, but I was also hoping for there to be some fruits available on the island. The thought eventually dawned on me that I had no food, or any knowledge of how to find any.

I could go to the Sullys, but I was not in the mood to have my food stolen all morning by Tuk and Lo’ak. Swatting their hands away while my food got cold was not ideal right now.

I could go to Leyra. I’m sure she would help me. She is my teacher, she will need to teach me how to get food, but hopefully for this morning it will not be a lesson. Hopefully this morning she will just share whatever she has with me.

It was lighter when I stepped outside, a few Metkayina people were already starting on their morning routines while others were just stepping out of their maruis like myself.

It was peaceful as I walked towards Leyra’s home. Nobody bothered me which was nice, although a couple children did stop and watch me, their mothers quickly ushering them away from me, scolding them for staring. I didn’t mind, I was a new face, different looking, so I understood.

Eventually I made it to Leyra’s marui, after a few wrong turns. I knocked by the open doorway, waiting for her to respond but instead a little boy came running to the opening, “Who are you?” He asked, but it sounded more like a demand to know.

Leyra’s voice came from further within, “Atan’eko who are you talking to like that?” She sounded motherly, scolding him.

He looked over his shoulder and I could see Leyra behind him, coming towards us, “I don’t know, but she looks weird.”

She gasped, “Atan, that is very rude!”

I laughed, “It’s okay. I’m Niri’te, and I do look weird, don’t I? I can promise where I come from I do not stand out though.” I smiled at the boy, knowing now he would want to ask questions.

I watched wonder swirl in his eyes, but before he could question me further Leyra spoke up, “She came from the same place as Tuk. You do remember Tuk, right?”

He nodded his head, “Yeah. Tuk also looks weird, but she’s fun to talk to.”

Leyra seemed frustrated with him, but he is just a boy, he’s still learning, “Alright why don’t you go find your friends then? I have important things to do with Niri’te today.”

“Okay, bye sister!” He began to run off, stopping quickly to wave at us before running again, faster this time. He spun around, people moving out of the way for him quickly as he burst through clusters of people like a little twirling tornado.

“Bye Atan.” She yelled after him, “Why don’t you come in now. I’m guessing you're hungry?”

I stepped inside the marui taking a look around, it was pretty empty but I could tell Atan spent a lot of time here, toys spread all over the ground, “So you have a brother?” I questioned her.

“Yes, he is my responsibility most of the time, but thankfully his friends' parents are very understanding and will watch him during the day for me.” She stopped for a second, “Our parents are very busy people. Hopefully you will get to meet them sometime.”

“Meeting your parents already? Aren’t we moving kind of fast.” I joked and she laughed, covering her smile with her hand. I felt those feelings swirl again, like a strong wind was kicking them up, like the rain would come soon. I pushed them away, “I am hungry though.”

“Well lucky for you I made extra for breakfast.” She smiled. Saying nothing more she put the food on two plates and handed one to me.

We ate peacefully, small conversations happening, but mostly basking in each other’s presence and silence. It was nice just existing next to someone, but eventually all good things come to an end, and as we finished Leyra announced we should begin on my lessons.

She dragged me out of the marui by the arm, quickly, excited. I could tell she was excited. I couldn’t lie, I was too. I was learning a new skill set, and I loved mastering new things. I had perfected archery, weaving, and even as much cooking as I could.

We walked along the pathways, onto the beach, and then until Leyra finally found a good spot in the shade and sat down expecting me to follow, so I did, “I’m assuming you know how to swim. Am I correct?” she asked.

I nodded at her, “Yeah.”

She smiled to herself, like she already knew the answer to her question, but wanted to confirm with me, “Great, I will not have to teach you that. We will start with breathing then.”

I laughed loudly at her, “I think I already know how to breathe.”

She sighed, glaring at me, clearly I wasn’t taking her seriously enough, “Yes, but not properly. Not for diving.”

My face dropped, was there really a different way to breathe for diving? Well, I guess I was about to find out, “Okay, then teach me.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” Leyra reached her hand out, and as she placed her hand on my stomach she explained, “You must breathe from here, it will give you more breath, more time under the water.” then her other hand reached out to my chest, “You also must slow your heart beat. Imagine your heart is fire, a flickering flame, slow the flickering down.”

I took a deep breath in, following her instructions. I focused on my breathing and tried to slow my heart rate while her hand laid on my stomach. I was distracted by something I couldn’t describe. Yes she was pretty, breathtaking perhaps, but I don’t think that was the reason why. I was never so affected by other people though.

Why was it so hard to focus around her?

Why was my heart beating so fast?

What was so different about her?

Her touch, her voice, her presence, everything about her was different. The feeling she gave me was unexplainable. I would not be able to put it into words if someone were to ask. The best way to describe her is that she feels calming, like cool rain on your skin after a long day of hunting.

“Your heart rate is fast, Niri’te.” She stated the obvious, smiling widely at me.

I laughed out loud at her, closing my eyes and throwing my head back, “It’s a little hard with a pretty girl’s hands on me.” I played it off. It was so much more than that, she was more than just a pretty girl, but I couldn’t tell anyone that. I couldn’t even decide what it meant to myself.

Leyra quickly removed her hands and pulled them towards her chest, “Oh.” she blushed hard and I smiled at her, feeling warmth spread across my face as well.

Quickly I changed the subject, “What if we get in the water now? I’m sure I can learn as I go.” It can’t be that hard, and I’m familiar with swimming so that should be easy.

She shook her head no, “ I haven’t even begun teaching you how to communicate in the water. You must know some of the basics before we begin swimming or diving.”

I thought for a second, coming up with a quick idea, “We can just surface when you need to tell me something?” It can’t be any more complicated than that.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head again, “No, you need to learn how to properly speak under the water.”

Now I was confused, people can not speak underwater, it’s not possible, “How am I supposed to speak underwater?”

“I will show you.” she put her hands up, moving them as she spoke, “We speak with our hands.”

For the rest of the day that was all we did, talk through our hands. It was hard learning a new language, but I thought I was doing well. Catching on quickly. Leyra however seemed less impressed, and kept correcting me.

After hours of repeating the same things over and over again, the sun began to eclipse and we headed our separate ways to relax and eat dinner with goodbyes and promises of seeing each other again tomorrow.

I joined the Sullys for dinner again because I still didn’t have any of my own food, but this time it was less tense and Neytiri even seemed to somewhat enjoy my company. Lo’ak and Tuk focused less on my food and more on Kiri’s which I feel was because they could sense the exhaustion setting into my bones as much as I could feel it myself. The day hadn’t been very physically exhausting, but it had been long, and my mind had worked hard.

As I was falling asleep sitting up, Jake shook my shoulder, “Go get some rest, kid.”

I just nodded in response and lugged my body up off the floor. Everyone said their goodbyes which I was only half paying attention to, before I left back to my marui.

I quickly prayed, telling Eywa about my day, before I hopped into my hammock and fell asleep.

Word Bank:

Marui (Metkayina homes)

Metkayina (Ocean Na’vi)

Eywa (Na’vi goddess)

[whisperingexecutioner]

“Maternal” | Pesanta drabble (RE4)

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Summary:

A moment of solace between the Black Robe and a lost village boy.

Notes:   

Fandom: Resident Evil 4 (remake) Setting: Lakeside Settlement (location) Pairing: N/A Theme: Hurt/Comfort/Fluff Prompt: Comfort Attire: The usual robe

Inspiration: Just wanted to write something special for everyone's favorite bb gorl; Pesanta genuinely deserves more love~

Rating: sfw

____________________________________________________

Pesanta studied the young boy's startled expression, his clear, doll like silver eyes meeting her amber gaze. Her appearance clearly frightened the child, but he hadn't ran. Maybe if she hadn't been gifted with such a vicious countenance, then he wouldn't be peering at her in such a way. Such trivial things as physical appearance were no longer a matter of her concern.

The child though...   

Catching a hint of rising panic in his eyes when she tried to further approach him, she opted to change course, instead lowering herself to one knee. It was fairly obvious that her mere presence alarmed the boy, but he seemed -to some degree- at least a little less distressed now that she was closer to eye level with him. She sighed, a soft rumbling sound leaving her as she did so. He couldn't be more than six or seven years old. To think that a single child had survived so long in this accursed village and was seemingly untouched by its plague was remarkable, and nothing short of a miracle. The young boy was so very different than Ramon, both in looks and demeanor, but Pesanta couldn't help herself from feeling a deep sorrow at the memories he mustered up within her. The many sleepless nights, that icy feeling in her heart that never quite went away. It was a stab of regret for the one time she wasn't present when her former master, her charge, needed her the most. His infatuation with that blonde agent driving him to act arrogantly, coupled with her own failure to protect him, had cost the young count his life. Her absence had been an error, a fatal mistake that she would undoubtedly take with her to her grave. There was no atonement to be made, no way to undo that which was already done but, perhaps here, in this abandoned child, she might be able to find some small measure of comfort. Perhaps even long awaited peace. 

The child visibly stiffened as Pesanta waved toward him, motioning for him to come closer, and, though greatly apprehensive, he began to draw nearer. After a few more moments of careful deliberating and creeping bird-like steps, the boy was finally within arm's reach. Pesanta released a chest-deep sigh, slowly, calmly expelling the held breath. Lifting her gaze from the ground to his face, she once again caught sight of his striking silver-gray eyes. She continued to stare into those weary depths, easily getting lost in their beauty and the lonely child-like innocence that only one of such youth could possess. Ramon had been young once, and much kinder were those days. The days which she sometimes yearned to return to even if they were all but lost to anyone now. Who are you? she can hear him suddenly asking in Italian, voice a shy quiver. Are you...alone? His tone is light, quiet, like the echo of some lost memory returning. Tilting her head slightly to one side, Pesanta rumbled out a low, in-human response, knowing full well he probably wouldn't understand her. She was different now, her body, one that had once been nothing more than human, now greater resembled those of the monstrosities that roamed this place at night. Her altered vocal cords were no longer capable of human speech, and thus produced more animalistic tones and noises. Regardless... Shortly after the verbal exchange had taken place, Pesanta took a bold step, snaking both lanky arms around the child and pulling him into a motherly embrace. He was so small, delicate, a thing altogether precious and equally irreplaceable. For a moment there was a trace of dread crawling across his features, but it quickly vanished. Following his brief trepidation, the boy allowed himself to slowly relax, relishing in the warmth radiating from his new companion. Pesanta cast a glance downward just as the young lad began to lean close, pressing his small frame into her lavish silken robes. Folding both sleeves about him, she held him close, finding a proper setting position and making herself comfortable. Currently being this close to the docks offered a perfect view of the late evening sky, and it was already growing late. By the time the first vibrant streaks of red and pink were tearing across the blue of dusk, the child was already asleep and Pesanta was settling in to watch what was quite possibly the most beautiful sunset she had seen in years. The magnificent sight increased two-fold as its colorful reflection stretched out over the lake, and for the first time in quite a long time, Pesanta remembered, in a small measure, what peace felt like.

[rubien-unhinged]

It doesn’t leave my mind Omega Aemond who presented after claiming Vaghar but instead of hating his subgender decides to become the pinnacle of perfect Omega in court. Aemond, still one of the best swordsmen in King’s Landing, Criston's best student, still learns history and philosophy and is fierce but also accepts with no fuse about his omega nature. He’s not disgusted by his heat but merely feels the inconvenience of going through it without a partner.  Love Helaene with all his heart and not only sits to listen but also sews and embroiders with her. Take his Aegon’s caretaker role seriously but never drags his brother harshly or with cruelty, he knows it doesn't work, he does with soft touches and words. Always in contact woth Daeron and for being his baby brother Daeron receives the most motherly side of Aemond, who sends letter, gifts and his favorite sweets every single week. Alicent is Aemond's beacon in life and since Aemond doesn't hate his Omega side and accepts who he is fully, Alicent is less afraid for his future, but if necessary she will hurt anyone who tries to harm her dear boy, and tries to bond better with her children. Aemond's body is lanky and he is tall but he learns how to work with it, orders the best fabrics for clothes, never green, red or blue, he favors purple and black, follows fashion trends for omegas in court and even creates his own trends. 

Aemond who doesn't truly hates his nephews, cousins or Rhaenyra, he actually loves them and deeply thought they would be better together than so far apart. He has forgiven them after a heartfelt conversation and exchanges letters with them everytime he can. Since Joffrey, Viserys and Aegon are quite young Aemond sends them special trinkets. Daemon is the only person Aemond is feels distant, they kinda respect each other but from afar. His brother says he is mellow and too soft but it's okay his Omega is happy when things are this peaceful.

Omega Aemond who despises his missing eye is courted by many lords, after all Omega Aemond is known to be the best omega any lord could find. Omega Aemond who is not afraid of mating and would gladly accept a good marriage as his duty demands, he knows his mother would never lead him astray, but deep down hopes maybe he will marry someone close, maybe his nephew but this is just a thought. Omega Aemond who becomes the pinnacle of a court Omega and will be the best husband for his future mate. Aemond who rides the largest dragon and is very skilled with a sword is the same Aemond who dresses in the finest fabrics and is soft spoken. Aemond who is a Omega and is very proud of it.

Sounds a little bit OOC but my mind is just fixed on this haha.

AAAAAAH!!

Honestly, this is such a mood! Like sometimes, I think this is precisely how I should have written Aemond.

Him being confident and comfortable in his own skin, owning his omega status, and showing it on display to anyone - very gracefully, mind you, following trends and creating his own, dressing up in the beautiful shades of purple and black. He knows which sort of to dress in order to highlight his waist and hips but also keeps his sword at his hip always.

And I completely agree with you that he would take great care of his family and takes care of all of them softly and lovingly.

He walks with his head high and a little smile, and so many people are courting him, some of which encouraged by his soft words and cooing melody of his voice, but of course, he would only ever agree to marriage after Alicent would approve it, always willing to do his duty for the family, but he would never lose his pride.

God, god, I just love this idea of yours, it's so good and I would love to see Aemond like this! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! <3

[zstargalaxy]

MJA OC : Rose Evergarden.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Gender : Female

Age : 16

Birthday : May 17

Height : 153

Starsign : Tauros

Eye color : Castleton Green

Hair color : Porcelain white, Scarlett red ombre and streaks (dyed).

Homeland : Queendom of Roses.

Family : Unnamed adopted Fathers.

One younger adoptive sister.

Two older adoptive brothers.

Unnamed Biological Parents.

PROFESSIONAL STATUS

School Year : Seventh

Class : 1-B, Student no. 5

Occupation : Student, Pokemon Trainer.

Club : Gardening Club

Best Subject : Magic Analysis

FUN FACTS

Dominant hand : Left

Favorite food : Cookies

Least Favorite Food : Mustard

Dislikes : Being called a "Mistake", Laziness.

Hobby : Gardening, Painting.

Talents : Small party tricks (juggling, pouring tea from high places, singing, etc).

HISTORY

Her Parents has her unintentionally during one of their nights together. Rose grow up with no love or acknowledgment from her biological parents and was abused physically, verbally and emotionally where she always remembers of being a "mistake" to them.

Soon after, when Rose was 6, she was at a park where she was found and put on a orphanage just a few days after her parents abandoned her.

During her time in the orphanage, Rose never gotten close to the other kids and was very quiet and distant until she was adopted by a loving couple of two fathers who are seeking another adoption after already adopting 2 boys and 1 girl.

Living with her new family was an adjustment for her but Rose soon came to love her new family after a year being with them.

One time, Rose and her younger siblings played hide and seek on a near by park with their fathers and had ended up almost being lost until they were able to find their father's voices.

PERSONALITY

Rose is what many would examplify as a proper lady. She is kind, proper, graceful, smart, kinda strict, resourceful and strives to do everything perfectly to make her fathers proud, which can be unhealthy most of the time. Due to her past with her biological parents, Rose has fears of making a mistake or doing something wrong that will upset someone like her new parents where she promises to gain perfect performances at school to make sure that she isnt a mistake to them and even make sure that people accepts her, where at times gotten her to do some bedthings.

Despite all that trauma and pressure, she is very creative and very knowledgeable in the fields of arts, gardening and histroy, specifically magic plants and painting.

SKILLS AND MAGIC

Magic : Rose is a very skilled magic-user, and even precise at her spells to the point that during time in Alchemy class, she is the only one being able to turn chocolate into gold.

Painting : Finding this as a way to relax herself, Rose is a gifted painter who specializes in landscape.

Gardening : Loves to Garden due to one of her fathers is good in gardening as he would always let her and her siblings help him out in the backyard.

Nevigation : She is good in finding a way out of being lost like in mazes and forests.

UNIQUE MAGIC

Rose's unique magic is called "Plants Grow". She can grow and control plants at will but has to be near plants or anywhere that plants can grow so that it can work, otherwise it will be very weak.

POKÉMON TEAM

Blossom - Roserade

- Blossom is Rose's very first pokemon after both of thembwere wandering near some flowers bushes in school campus.

- Has this Motherly persona to her as she would help the little Flabebes from time to time in the school garden.

- Very protective of her Trainer. She is very helpful and elegant yet clever and strong during battles. Acts like Rose's personal therapist since she is aware of Rose's struggles so she wants to help her out, as best as she can.

Blaze - Rapidash (Kanto Form)

- Blaze is a very fast, proud yet competitive pokemon who was found by Rose when she was running around near some meadows during one of days in the assignment.

- Due to he's wild and competitive spirit, Blaze loves to cause some mischief once and awhile. Causing things like suddenly picking Rose up out of the blue and run very fast while she is in he's back or when he switches the color paints that Smidge is using.

-

Smidge - Smeargle

- Smidge is a very curious pokemon by nature and has an attendances to paint everything he sees and I mean EVERYTHING.

- Thats how Rose meet Smidge when she had saw him trying to paint some white roses with red paint. Though upset, Rose found a way to Smidge paint the plain wall beside the garden so that he wouldnt paint her flower bushes.

- Expect Rose's room to be very colorful or the trainer herself to be very stylish on certain days and events because Smidge here loves the arts and loves to stylize thing to he's liking, a fashionista if you will.

Victoria - Polteageist and Lil Jane (or Jane) - Sinistea

- A party duo, if you will. This two always love a good party trick or two to guests at parties and would love to help plan the perfect one.

- Birthday party's are their favorite and they want to make everyone feel special. When not partying, these two are always seen in their trainer's dorm kitchen cooking some small snacks and tea for Rose.

Ria - Altaria

- Ria is mostly the most calm one of the group beside Blossom, at times where the Roserade would butt heads with Blaze during one of he's pranks.

- Her name drives from her current form when Rose decided to call her after Altaria when she was just a Swablu found stuck in a tree branch.

- Her soft and pillowy wings always brings the group together whenever they all are ever tired from school, battling or training. The mediator of the group.

TRIVIA

Rose is twisted from the red painted roses from "Alice in Wonderland".

Her name "Rose" is simplh a direct reference to the roses that the card soldiers were painting red and her last name "Evergarden" is a nod to the Queen of Heart's garden.

The red color on her hair is dyed by one of her brother by her request due to an attempt to fit in with others in MJA when dyeing your hair was a trend at the time. Soon after, she came to like this new look.

Taken up painting when one of her father's had taught her one day outside of the garden and had been doing it since then.

(more to be added soon)

[karebear923]

Vice Versa rewatch ep 8

ANOTHER BIG IMPORTANT EPISODE!!! LET’S FXCKING GOOO!!!!!!!

Episode 8 is cloudy gray! Gray can have many meanings such as ambiguity, neutrality, weariness, wisdom, and melancholy. It’s interesting to note that cloudy gray specifically has a pink undertone. 👀 Also the new character we meet in this episode’s name is Mek, which means gray.

Bro, they’ve been doing this for over a year now!! That’s crazy!! 🤯 of course Talay is struggling to tell the difference between himself and Tess now.

ONCE AGAIN 10/10 THE BEST FRIENDS ONE COULD ASK FOR. Honestly, real Tess doesn’t deserve them but I’m so glad Talay has them ☺️

Iconic first AouBoom moment! Vice Versa fans are the real OG AouBoom stans! 🤭

PUEN I HOPE YOU GET TO LIVE OUT YOUR EVERY FANTASY WITH TALAY WHEN YOU’RE BACK IN YOUR UNIVERSE!!! 😄😍😏😉

MY BOY PERTH!!!! This was the first show I ever saw him in and even without knowing him I got the feeling that he was some kind of special guest or something. Like people knew who this guy was. And then I watched Love By Chance but it was a year later and he was such a baby there that I didn’t recognize him 😅 but I loved his acting so much and when I saw Never Let Me Go I finally did recognize him and I got so excited to see him again!

Oh the motherly joy I felt seeing him all grown up too! 🥹 I’ll always have a soft spot for him! 🥰 Back then I didn’t know anything about different companies or production houses so I just thought it was cool to see him again. Now I understand a little bit more about how he switched companies and stuff.

I’m sorry but as a Hispanic/Latina, Alessandro is not a Spanish name 😄 sounds more Italian to me. In Spanish it’d be Alejandro, but I don’t blame the Thai writers for not knowing lol (also he’s a Spaniard or Spanish person not a Spanish but again I guess it’s not their fault lol)

(ALSO ALSO: ‘Spanish people’ ONLY refers to people from Spain, just like ‘English people’ refers to people from England. People from Central or South America are NOT Spanish. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. It’s a very important topic to me.)

Seeing this now is funny cause back then I had no idea who Tay Tawan was 😅 I knew he was some kind of special cameo like Perth was but I’d never even heard of Dark Blue Kiss or anything. I watched this show at the beginning of my BL fandom experience so I was a clueless newbie.

THIS WAS SO IMPORTANT FOR PUEN TO HEAR!!! Cause yeah there’s the fear of Mek looking like Talay’s old crush, but more importantly as an actor Puen is used to people liking him for his looks. As a celebrity people don’t really know the real you and they judge you for what you look like or how you present yourself. But with this new body Puen is free to truly be himself with no filters and Talay doesn’t know what he really looks like. So all he knows is the real person that Puen is and that’s who he likes!!! He says “I like you even though I don’t know what you look like… I don’t know who you are.” He makes it clear that it has nothing to do with the fame that Puen has and all to do with who he truly is. And when Puen responds with “I like you too. I like everything about you” his voice is quaking with emotion and his eyes are watery with unshed tears!! 🥹❤️

AND THEN WE GET A BEAUTIFUL FIRST MUTUAL KISS!!! SINGLE TEAR ROLLING DOWN PUEN’S CHEEK!! TALAY MOVING HIS HAND TO GRAB HIM TIGHTER!! ME FLAILING AND KICKING MY FEET!! FADE TO BLACK TO END THE EPISODE!! PERFECTION!!

Fin.

Until next week at least lol

[lilshitshawty]

it's so funny looking at old pictures of myself.. i looked so much more, i guess diffferent. special ? different. i don't think i've lost my self in him, but it is

muffled. a voice once stentorian is now again meek and muffled.

i've always been able to see what he likes. which is very different from who i was when we met.

i was loud and obnoxious. i had always had a big vocabulary but i never used it because the people i considered my closest would think it was annoying.

i guess when i met him he felt the same way in a sense. but it was less that he felt the need to be quiet, as he felt the need to speak.

so in me he saw an annoying emotional girl who can't be quiet when she feels something. unless that something was an injustice done to her.

and that's where i am now. i've seen and known his type who was one of my friends. a quiet girl. with a floral name as well. she was obviously prettier than me and she knew well how to use it. she used it often even. she was quieter than me but he saw that as she was silent. because in comparison with an air horn, of course a mocking bird would seem calming. motherly , as he described her. i never saw that. i saw her for who she really was. something that in frankness i can only call a slut. i sometimes wish she would've gotten sent away a long time before she had. but if that were to happen would we have gotten close in the first time? you started considering me your best friend when you would call me every night in a somber and haunting tone to which i would raise three levels to make you at least laugh consistently about everything we hated about that girl.

you tried to turn me into her. i even dyed my hair. i got clothes.. to look like her. literally. it's pathetic on my part maybe. but you manipulated me... maybe you didn't. maybe it's my fault for being naive. i can't help it. and it doesn't help that naive is what you love. your perverted infantilised version you have of me in your head is simply , her. i can only ever feel like a replacement. it's so difficult to feel like naything but the funny loud girl that you settled for. and what is even worse. you used the same words to describe me that you used with her. i know what i was getting myself into. i knew from the start everything about you. my best friend.

did you start to see the "real me" that i didn't let others see that happens to mirror her rising, or did you start to see her?

you described us as "real love". what was fake about what you had before?

i know you didn't distance yourself just because you were bored. and i know that because you told me. you showed me your journal about it for gods sake.

why can't i live in the moment? why does he have to be so future oriented.. it stresses me out. i feel an obligation. i don't want him to die without me. is that because of the live i felt months ago or is that because i'm selfish and can't stand to have my boy with anyone else? orr is it because he's made me feel obligated to be with him and be this submissive personality wife mother girl for him?...

goodnight ,xo - rory

[electric--blanket]

a place where the heart rests

so, because @thekaiserroll drew fanart of my fanfiction i decided to return the favour by writing a long Wintersberg one-shot based off of her short comic! i hope you enjoy touch-starved Heisenberg.

warnings for death (not for main characters) and some angst.

read on ao3

--

Mama… I want mama. It hurts.

Where’s mama?

Karl Heisenberg always suffered from nightmares. Even before he was taken in by Mother Miranda — as a child, Heisenberg often experienced night terrors that had him screaming in his bed. There were distant memories in the back of his mind, where he’d wake from a terrible dream that had him screaming for his mother — and she’d always come to his side. In that terribly large, cold estate that Heisenberg once called home, it always felt so lonely. But, his mother always eased his fears; with her silk nightgown and the distinct smell of expensive soap. Her soft fingers would comb through Heisenberg’s locks of ashen brown hair, hushing him in a soft tone of voice — a voice he could no longer remember.

During the experiments, it was the only thing Heisenberg begged for when he felt the cadou infesting his body. It felt like a worm wriggling around in the wet soil during a storm, curling and writhing through his organs. He screamed for his mother, wishing she would save him from the pain and take him home again. A seventeen-year-old boy screaming for his mother to come and save him looked utterly pathetic from Mother Miranda’s perspective, and the feeling of fear only intensified when she stroked Heisenberg’s hair whilst he screamed. A soft whisper that uttered, “I’m your mother now, child.” It made Heisenberg nearly vomit.

That was the last time someone had ever touched him so tenderly. He’d not felt a loving touch since then and ducked away from Miranda’s so-called ‘motherly’ touches.

At first, Heisenberg coped with the intense trauma of his bodily changes by taking it in stride and calling his newfound power of magnetism a ‘gift’. He knew deep down it was the opposite: it stopped him from ageing, rendered him infertile and stripped away his dignity by becoming a slave to Miranda. It took a long time for Heisenberg to fully process what had happened to him. His father had left him in the clutches of a madwoman, and his life only got worse from there.

In a fit of rage — perhaps at the age of twenty-nine — he revisited his parent's estate to confront the man he could no longer call ‘father’. He had aged since Heisenberg last saw him, but those steel eyes he’d inherited were still as hard as ever. His mother lingered in a doorway just down the hall, but she didn’t dare come to greet her son as he snapped with a short, interrupted breath. Heisenberg had grabbed his father by the neck and pinned him to the nearest wall, knocking down a beautiful oil painting his mother adored. His fingers didn’t seem to stop, squeezing on the skin and bone until he felt a sickening crack vibrate beneath his fingers.

Heisenberg hadn’t meant it, not really. It was as if a demon had taken control of his body and sought revenge that barely mattered anymore. He didn’t realise what he’d done until he heard the sound of his mother screaming; distraught and fearful of her own son that she’d once coddled so long ago.

That was the last time Heisenberg saw his mother and father. The estate was quickly abandoned not long after, and from what he knew, his mother took her belongings and moved to Austria with some distant relatives. That large house teased Heisenberg every fucking day, with how it towered near the factory grounds and reminded him of what he’d done. Arson wasn’t exactly on his bucket list, but Heisenberg couldn’t resist taking a match to the place and watching it burn. Whatever childhood remained in that house was left in a pile of ashes, and he never looked upon it ever again. All of the silly dreams and hopes he’d had for his life were gone.

That was until Ethan Winters showed up. Nearly a hundred years later, Heisenberg felt something he’d sought after for so long — hope.

**

“Karl? Karl—!”

Mama. I want mama. Everything hurts.

Heisenberg forced his eyes open. It felt like his life was replaying in front of him whilst he was passed out; like watching an old film reel repeating itself and becoming more distorted each time. Up until that very night, Heisenberg’s life had been a series of traumatic events and unforgivable actions.

That night, he’d turned it all around just by laying his eyes on Ethan Winters. A man so incredible, resilient and insane… He’d do anything to get his little girl back. It was the man Heisenberg had oh-so wanted his father to be, and he admired that about Ethan. He’d never been so good at expressing his emotions honestly, or even laying out his ideas in a proper fashion to others… Oh, but Ethan was special. He’d shown Heisenberg patience that he’d not been offered before and decided to join him at his side to kill Miranda. Together.

“Karl… Fuck— Don’t die on me, asshole.”

Ethan… Ethan…

Above the metal remnants of what his mutated body had used as a shell, he could hear Ethan pushing the scrap aside to try and find Heisenberg buried beneath it. He could also hear the distinct cries of a distressed baby, something that brought him back to Earth. Heisenberg reached up through the metal until his bare, calloused fingers brushed up against Ethan’s soft knuckles. There was a moment of silence when their skin touched, but Ethan didn’t waste any time in grabbing Heisenberg’s hand and pulling him out.

The moment the pressure around his body ceased, Heisenberg felt the telltale feeling of sickening warmth seeping from many wounds across his body. The cadou inside him didn’t react too well to it, trying to cope with the trauma done by squirming and pulsating inside of him. Heisenberg drank in the expression of Ethan’s relieved face for just a moment, only until it warped into one of worry and horror. Heisenberg was weak, and his knees buckled beneath the weight of his torso before he fell back onto the ground.

The baby cupped carefully in one of Ethan’s arms began to cry again as Ethan jostled her accidentally in an attempt to help Heisenberg. A baby crying wasn’t really helping Heisenberg’s already distressed state, but it made him realise just how fucked he was. There was no way they would get away in time together, and Heisenberg was too injured to walk. The cadou might have helped to some degree, but it didn’t ease the burning pain in his body, and the loss of blood that was making him dizzy.

Ethan’s horrified expression was pinned on an appendage from the Megamycete, which rose up from the cave systems like a flower bud in spring, ready to bloom. The small, red flashing light alerted him to the fact that Chris Redfield had succeeded in planting the bomb. They had to leave.

“Go.”

A silence hung in the air for just a moment, and Heisenberg didn’t realise what he’d just said. For the first time in his miserable existence, he was being selfless and urging Ethan to leave him behind. It was the last thing Heisenberg wanted.

Don’t leave me here. I’m fucking scared. I don’t want to die yet.

“Fuck you,” Ethan’s voice trembled with venom, “I’m not leaving you here now. Not after everything we’ve been through.”

Heisenberg let out a bitter chuckle, tasting the blood seeping from his gums as he grinned, “I don’t think we have any time to be arguing about this, buttercup.”

“No. I— Mia’s dead, Karl. I need you.”

That’s right. Heisenberg briefly recalled Miranda’s kidnapping of the not-so-innocent woman and the experimentation that followed. Unfortunately, her body gave in due to her state after giving birth and she died on Miranda’s operating table. Ethan’s wife was dead, and Rose was now left without a mother’s loving touch.

“I said go. Rose needs her papa intact, not blown to pieces.” Heisenberg insisted, slumping back against the pile of scrap metal.

“Damn it—” Ethan looked hesitant to leave Heisenberg. It was a truly sweet sentiment: to see someone care about him after all this time. After all of the terrible things he’d done, and the love he’d been deprived of… Someone cared about him. Maybe that was enough. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to die like this.

“Fuck.” Ethan stammered again, licking his dry lips and swallowing, “Karl… I… Thank you.”

“... Yeah. I know, Ethan.”

That was all he needed. A trembling, watery smile shot his way before Ethan held Rose close with both arms and turned to run.

He’s going to be a great father.

Heisenberg looked up at the plant-like form the Megamycete had taken, looming down upon the ceremony courtyard with writhing mold creeping closer to Heisenberg. It was then that he decided that giving in like this wasn’t who he was: he was a fighter to his last breath.

In a last attempt to preserve his life, Heisenberg parted the pile of scrap metal and shuffled beneath it all. He rolled his wrist, the cocoon of metal surrounding him and tightening. The metal creaked, drowning out the sounds of the mold writhing around the metal to try and get inside. Heisenberg closed his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth. I won’t die. Not yet.

The explosion that followed shortly after was deafening, causing the entire ground to shake beneath him and the metal to shudder against his body. It felt painful, rippling off his injured skin like that… But, fortunately for Heisenberg, the explosion wasn’t nuclear — the blast was enough to do the job and wipe out the mold and the Megamycete.

A silence followed the explosion, brick and ash collapsing against Heisenberg’s metal cocoon. Each noise made him flinch, and his fingers twitched instinctively as some final line of defence. He didn’t know how long it was before he felt brave enough to let his guard down and release his telekinetic grip on the metal. The scraps suddenly slumped, collapsing around him as Heisenberg pushed the metal off of his body and emerged like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its former self.

The smoke and dust still remained, causing Heisenberg to cough heavily as he took a sharp inhale of the air. He squinted through the dust and remains of what was left of his home town and realised how much he’d lost. It hit him all at once; his childhood, his parents and his fucked up little family. Even though he hated Miranda and his makeshift siblings deeply, they were all he truly had left to call ‘family’. It was over in the blink of an eye, and Heisenberg suddenly felt like a child all over again. Like a child waking from a nightmare, scared and alone.

Heisenberg’s fingers twitched into tight fists, clamping his mouth shut as tears threatened to spill down his face. Even after all this, he tried to will himself not to cry, to never let down the walls he had so carefully built. But, at that moment there was nothing left to keep the foundations upright. Heisenberg’s fists loosened, and he brought his hands up to cover his face instinctively. A knot seemingly untied itself in his chest and throat, and a guttural sob left him. Maybe — just maybe — it was okay.

**

Navigating the woods was even worse during a snowstorm at night. It was bad enough that Heisenberg’s body was weak from his healing injuries, but it felt haggard from his intense emotional breakdown. In a strange sense, he felt relief from it but at the same time, it felt awfully inconvenient. Heisenberg was sure he looked like a terrible mess; his clothes were torn and his hair was damp with clumps of ash hanging from his silver locks. Not to mention the blood staining his clothes, and his valuable dog tags that hung low on his chest.

In his many idle chats with Ethan before they fought Miranda, he could recall the other man mentioning he didn’t live too far from the village. It was a fair distance away, but not too far that it would be impossible to reach if your car broke down on the road between them. Still, it wasn’t a pleasant or short walk.

By the time Heisenberg even managed to reach a place that looked like a livable home, he was close to collapsing in the snow… But, he held out. The lights were turned off inside, but a motion sensor light on the property turned on once Heisenberg got close enough. The bulb blinded him briefly, and he held a hand up to shield his eyes as he walked up the porch to the door. Heisenberg sluggishly lifted his hand, knocking on the door as hard as he could and leaning against the frame. It took a few moments before he could see a light turn on inside from the windows, and the sound of someone walking down a wooden staircase slowly.

The person on the other side of the door stopped before they reached for the doorknob, and they spoke out.

“Who is it?”

Ethan Winters. That voice Heisenberg had missed so dearly; in all of its glory and full of caution. It almost made him laugh.

“Let me in, Ethan. I’m freezing.”

“Karl?”

“As smart as ever, Ethan. Can you hurry up?”

Ethan was quick to unlock the door and remove the security chain, twisting the doorknob and pulling it open. There, Ethan was standing in a pristine white shirt and some boxers that hung low on his hips… Along with a pair of comical slippers that seemed to resemble a cartoon dog. Heisenberg’s lips twitched into a tired grin.

“Oh my, too much skin, Ethan. Back in my day—”

“Shut up and get in here!”

Ethan grabbed Heisenberg’s arm, tugging him inside to shield him from the snowstorm outside. He slammed the door shut and quickly locked it back up, and the two men finally stood face-to-face. There was a silence that hung in the air, with so many unanswered questions on the tip of Ethan’s tongue, but none came. Without any further hesitation, Ethan threw his arms around Heisenberg’s neck and tugged him close for an embrace.

It was the first time Ethan had touched him in such a way. So full of affection and genuinity, it made Heisenberg’s fingers tremble with uncertainty. He didn’t know what to do with his hands: so overcome with the touches that smothered him. His brows creased into an expression of relief, and Heisenberg’s steel eyes fluttered shut as he succumbed to the hug. He wrapped his arms around Ethan’s waist, squeezing him carefully and burying his face into Ethan’s shoulder. The smell of talcum powder and formula milk permeated his shirt, giving Heisenberg the comfort he craved. He never wanted Ethan to stop touching him, and he was content to stay like this for as long as he could — to make up for all the time he’d lost aching after affection.

“I thought…” Ethan mumbled slowly, “I thought you were dead.”

“Mm.” Heisenberg hummed lowly in response, curling his fingers into Ethan’s shirt. “So did I. Turns out I’m hard to kill.”

Ethan snorted softly.

**

As it turned out, Heisenberg wasn’t too bad with kids.

It was a tough adjustment for the two men at first; Ethan had to keep Heisenberg a well-guarded secret as he was moved to a new location with Rose (courtesy of the BSAA). Heisenberg followed their steps at a safe distance, but he was never too far from them. Understandably, Ethan was moved into a smaller home: a humble bungalow in a quiet German village. Once the BSAA had left Ethan in peace with Rose, it didn’t take long before Heisenberg settled into the bungalow with them.

Ethan had insisted that if Heisenberg was going to stay there with him and Rose, then he’d need to learn to help take care of the baby. At first, he was extremely hesitant to do something akin to a parental figure… But, Rose was a surprisingly sweet baby. She didn’t fuss too much and rarely threw a tantrum over the little things. Rose was the right amount of responsibility for Heisenberg, and that made him a patient parent.

He’d been taught how to properly hold her (after many lectures), how to prepare her formula and change her. Rose was understandably unhappy with Heisenberg’s presence at first, perhaps longing for her mother that was no longer around… But, after a few months, she took to Heisenberg very well.

Because of Karl’s lack of mortality and infertility, he never thought he’d take the figure of a father like this… But, it wasn’t exactly an unwelcome opportunity. He’d even upgraded from sleeping on the couch to Ethan’s bed.

The first night Ethan invited him to bed, Heisenberg could tell from the flustered look on Ethan’s face that it took a lot of courage to ask him to bed. A sexual joke lingered on the tip of Heisenberg’s tongue, but he bit it back in favour of keeping the proposal on the table. Instead, Heisenberg had nodded with a cheeky grin and followed Ethan to bed.

There had been some nights where the loss of Mia hit Ethan harder than he’d liked it to — even after Mia’s work with The Connections was revealed, he had still loved her to a degree. Those nights were the hardest. All Heisenberg could do was hold Ethan in his arms and comfort him with nothing more than his presence.

This invitation into Ethan’s bed was far more intimate than a comforting hug. At first, they stayed a polite distance apart on either side of the bed, with Ethan turned on his side whilst Heisenberg stared up at the dark ceiling. In the darkness, his eyes created shapes that danced across the ceiling and warped before him. Much like the mold that infested him, it was as if it continued to taunt him with its presence. After a moment, Heisenberg finally turned onto his side and glanced at the lump that was Ethan with his back to him. That urge to touch returned to the forefront of Heisenberg’s mind. It was that deep ache in his chest, like a lump of flour stuck in a smooth dough that needed to be coaxed inward.

He reached out but stopped himself before he could touch, trying to plan the best way to move forward with what he wanted. Heisenberg pursed his lips, shuffling his body closer to Ethan’s back until he finally slid his arm over Ethan’s waist. He could feel Ethan’s body freeze and tense up a little, which made Heisenberg’s heart feel like stopping altogether. Had he gone too far?

But after a moment, Ethan relaxed, pressing his chest back into Karl slowly. It was all the permission he needed to slot himself fully against Ethan and quietly seek out his hand. Once Heisenberg found it, he carefully laced their fingers together as he held Ethan like that, tugging him close with his elbow.

No words were spoken in the darkness, but a silent understanding of what they both wanted. Heisenberg finally felt complete like this, closing his eyes and exhaling tiredly. His body suddenly felt tired, releasing all the tension it had been holding trying to psyche himself up to do it.

A feeling of affection swelled in Heisenberg’s chest as he held Ethan, finally giving in to the darkness and drifting away with their bond now stronger than ever.

**

“Are you fucking insane, Ethan?!”

Chris Redfield. A thorn in Heisenberg’s side, but not as bad as Miranda. His voice filling their home put Heisenberg on edge, but it didn’t really matter too much to him. It was around ten in the morning, and the couple had just had breakfast. The television was on, playing some cartoons in the background as Rose was sitting on the soft carpet of the living area with her toys, and Heisenberg sat close to her.

When Chris made an unexpected visit, and he spotted Heisenberg in the living room, the yelling began. Ethan had kept Chris just outside of the room so that Rose didn’t see her father getting angry, and Heisenberg made sure to keep her attention on her toys. Heisenberg was wearing a pair of tartan boxers, along with a button-up pyjama shirt with a white tank top beneath it. It wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of bedtime fashion, but it made him comfortable enough at night.

When the yelling only got worse and Rose seemed irritated by the noise, Heisenberg carefully brought Rose into his lap and crossed his legs.

“Hmm,” He hummed in feigned thoughtfulness, “Does ol’ Karl need to perform for little Rose again?” Heisenberg sighed dramatically, “Oh, the things I do for you.”

He turned his body subtly to the kitchen area, holding his hand out and focusing on one of the drawers. It slid open, a few tablespoons floating out from a cutlery tray. Heisenberg pulled his hand back, the spoons floating across to the living area and bringing them to a stop in front of him and Rose. With a simple, slow roll of his wrist, the spoons began to twirl and move in a circular motion above Rose.

Her eyes widened with fascination, the corners of her mouth opening into a gleeful smile. Absently, she reached up with her soft, pink hands and tried to reach for the spoons half-heartedly as they continued their motions. A soft laugh bubbled from her, causing Karl to smile softly.

“He’s a dangerous bioweapon, Ethan. He could hurt Rose!”

Heisenberg managed to hone in on those words; a sharp pain digging into his chest when he realised the implications Chris was trying to make. That Heisenberg was a monster. A bioweapon without feeling. A creature that would kill a child.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ethan pointing wordlessly at the soft scene of Heisenberg with Rose in his lap, entertaining her with spoons. That was all he needed to say, really — without even saying it. Even Chris was at a loss for words, and he quietly relented. Ethan was surely in for an afternoon of lectures.

It made Heisenberg smile a little more, turning his head subtly towards Ethan and catching his gaze. It was his quiet way of saying thank you. It went beyond thanking Ethan for trusting him with Rose but thanking Ethan for listening to Heisenberg, taking him into his home and loving him. Even though they’d never spoken those three little words out loud, maybe they didn’t need to. Their actions, affections and closeness spoke those words loud enough.

Truly, after all this time, Heisenberg didn’t think he was capable of ever being loved or trusted. Now that he’d left that horrible life behind, he was now a father, a friend and possibly a lover. The trauma would always remain, yes, like the cadou and the mutations. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be happy like this, in this simple little life he’d started to build with Ethan.

Maybe it would be okay.

[harrytpotter]

What’s Happening To Me? — OneShot

Plot: James Potter was starting to feel more and more overprotective towards his friend Y/N and considerably annoyed at the blatant flirting she and one of his best friends were displaying publicly and at the thought she might be falling for Sirius. What was happening to him?

Pairing: James Potter x Fem!Reader.

Word Count: 5,9K.

A/N: I just had revised this long-ass story entirely and was pretty proud at the summary i came up with just for Tumblr to mess up with my post and erase its entire content, only leaving the title behind. Now i can’t remember the previous summary i wrote and am pissed about it. Anyways, I love writing for James and it shows. I won’t revise this again because i really am annoyed at tumblr so apologies in advance for any mistakes! :)

James tried to concentrate on Slughorn’s voice as the professor went on and on about whatever potion they were going to start working on during next week. He was really doing his best to absorb his words, but an extremely flirty pair beside him was making this task nearly impossible. He knew this was just for show since Sirius wanted to make Marlene jealous and Y/N kindly agreed to help him out, but all of this was still bothering him for some reason. Maybe it was because he knew Sirius way too well to know for sure he was enjoying this situation a little too much. Maybe it was because he cared about Y/N enough to bother if Sirius was going to end up hurting her somehow. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Merlin, would you two stop? It’s getting annoying,” he hissed at Y/N and Sirius, whom had been all giggly and touchy for the entire class.

“Does it bother you to see a happy couple in love, Prongs?” Sirius teased, barely suppressing a laugh.

“I’m just trying to pay attention to class,” he mumbled annoyed, his fists clenching slightly.

“Don’t be mean to him, Sirius!” Y/N bumped her fist on his arm. “He’s bitter because Lily is still turning him down despite his best efforts,” Y/N looked at James sympathetically as if saying she was sorry for him.

James sighed heavily at the mention of Lily’s name. Sure, it did annoy him that she was still rejecting his attempts of woo her, but, if he was being quite frank, it didn’t bother or frustrate him like it used to. If anything, it just... he didn’t even know anymore. Why he was still chasing her. Why he was still trying to get her to go out with him. It was seeming more and more pointless lately. He wasn’t sure if he was still pinning after her for a purpose or solely for the challenge.

“Earth to James!” Y/N waved her hand in front of James’ eyes. “You there?”

James tilted his head a little so his best friend’s face could enter his visual field. Her y/h/c hair was loose in a messy way that suited her perfectly, matching harmonically her hypnotic y/e/c eyes. She had a natural confidence that seemed to radiate from her body and wrap every single soul in the room. She was truly effortlessly magnetic. James started feeling flustered suddenly, unbeknownst to why.

“You alright there, mate?” Sirius asked with a brow lifted, staring at him.

“Never better, Pads!” James shot a cocky grin his way, brushing off the unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

James fell unusually quiet for the short rest of the class, his mind flickering between Y/N and Sirius and Lily. Everything just seemed so... out of place right now. He didn’t even notice Slughorn dismissing the class until Y/N tapped gently on his shoulder.

“Are you coming, Jamesy?” She asked, Sirius wrapping her against his chest. “Everyone else is already gone.”

“Sure...” James mumbled, still a little airy. His eyes wandered from Sirius’ tight grip around Y/N to her hand gently holding his wrist as her thumb caressed his skin lightly.

“Hurry up, Prongs! We can’t be late for lunch, I have a special surprise for my love here,” Sirius lifted Y/N’s chin gently whilst staring devilishly into her eyes.

James once again felt the same unsettling feeling he did before in the pit of his stomach when he noticed a subtle pink tone brushing through Y/N’s cheeks for a split second as she stared dumbfounded at Sirius.

“You two realize Marlene isn’t even here anymore to witness your annoying flirt, don’t you?” James asked his friends grumpily.

“Would you lighten up for Merlin’s sake, Prongs? Love is never annoying!” Sirius winked at him.

“Love might not be but you certainly are, darling,” Y/N retorted teasingly at Sirius, who took his free hand to his chest in mock offense.

“I usually grow on people, do you know that? Don’t you be so quick on biting the hand that feeds you,” he winged his brows at their amused female friend.

“You really are a complete prat, Sirius Black!” Y/N rolled her eyes with a large grin.

They were so invested on teasing each other that they had seemingly forget about James’ presence. The Gryffindor Quidditch captain spat an annoyed goodbye at his friends before storming off the classroom.

Y/N frowned and mentioned to follow James, but Sirius quickly grabbed her gently by the arm, stopping her from doing so.

“What are you doing? We have to go check on him! Haven’t you noticed how annoyed he left?” She lifted a brow at the grey-eyed boy.

“I did, indeed. But I also have noticed that he seems a little too annoyed at us lately, specially at me,” he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

“Your point? He’s probably still frustrated at his last unsuccessful attempt of wooing Lily,” Y/N sighed.

“Oh, love, believe me, this has nothing to do with Lily. I know Prongs way too well, better than he knows himself, if I may add.”

“Are you implying he’s in love with you?” Y/N exploded in a loud laugh. “Of course it has to do with Lily. It always has something to do with Lily.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes whilst a mischievous grin took over his face. Y/N did a pretty good job in hiding her annoyance when she mentioned Lily’s name, but Sirius could read his y/h/c friend like an open book. He noticed it.

“What now?” She frowned at him.

“Nothing, love. Nothing at all. Come, let’s sit by the Black Lake, shall we? It’s too much of a beautiful day to spend it locked indoors,” he winked knowingly at his friend whilst taking her by the hand, another plan taking form inside his mind.

——————————————————————

“Where are Padfoot and Y/N?” Remus asked no one in particular as he glanced around the Gryffindor table at lunch time.

“Haven’t seen them since Potions this morning,” Peter shrugged uninterested.

“They’re probably snogging somewhere,” James said bitterly, his eyes glued on his food.

Remus lifted a brow at James whilst Peter blinked his eyes in confusion.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Remus asked him with a furrowed expression.

“There’s nothing to read into it. I just meant what I said,” James shrugged, a grimace on his features as he looked at Remus and Peter.

“But Prongs...” Peter whispered as quietly as he could without being incomprehensible. “We know this between them is just for show.”

“Do we? Please, Wormy. You know Padfoot. We all do,” James said calmly. “It’s just a matter of time until they cross the line, assuming they haven’t already.”

“What if they have? It’s not like it’s any of our business,” Remus narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the messy-haired boy.

“But it is!” James exclaimed exasperatedly. “Y/N is also our friend, why do I seem like I’m the only one who cares about her wellbeing?! Padfoot is smitten with Marlene, you know that Moony. Y/N is the one who’ll end up getting hurt amidst this craziness.”

“Y/N is a smart girl, Prongs. She’s not naive. I highly doubt she or Padfoot himself will do something as stupid as that,” Remus shrugged before taking a piece of turkey to his mouth.

James bit his tongue and returned his gaze to his nearly untouched plate. He really hoped both Y/N and Sirius were smart enough to prevent what could only be described as a catastrophe, at least in his eyes. Just the thought of his best female friend being hurt by Sirius’ reckless actions made him feel like punching something. Or, more accurately, someone.

A loud sound of giggles snapped James out of his thoughts and drove him to wander his eyes to the big doors that separated the Great from the Entrance Hall. Holding hands, Y/N and Sirius were all smiles as they entered the room and approached their table.

“You almost missed the meal,” Peter scolded them with a motherly tone.

“Worry not, my dear Wormtail! We already ate,” Sirius winked at him.

“How’s that possible? You’ve just arrived,” Remus lifted a brow at Sirius.

“We raided the kitchen,” Y/N shrugged as she took a seat next to Remus.

Sirius plunk down by Y/N’s side and wrapped her in his arms guilelessly, playing with a lock of her hair. Nothing different than his usual behavior — since he and Y/N were pretty close friends themselves — but enough to drive James off the edge.

“You alright there, mate?” Sirius asked him for the second time that day, looking even more amused then he did firstly.

James blinked at the sudden attention as his other three best friends stared at him inquisitively. He only then realized how tense his body was and the tight grip he had around his fork. His knuckles were white due to how much pressure he was putting into it. The Gryffindor boy relaxed with a couple of deep breaths before letting his fork rest by the side of his plate.

“Hey, Prongs!” Peter whispered excitedly, breaking the awkward silence that fell upon the usually-very-talkative Marauders. “Fourth person on your left... look who’s staring at you!”

James gladly allowed his focus to shift from Y/N and Sirius as he looked to where Peter had told him. He lifted his brows in surprise as he’s met by Lily’s eyes, a small and shy smile forming on her face as their eyes locked. James returned her smile, waiting for the butterflies to flutter his stomach as they always did whenever he used to have some kind of interaction with the redhead. But they didn’t come at all. Not this time.

“What the bloody hell is happening to me?” He thought to himself as he forced himself to hold Lily’s stare for what seemed like forever.

“Looks like someone is finally wooing the girl of their dreams,” Remus teased after James broke off the eye contact.

“It was about time! I don’t think I could stand another year of this pitiful chase, it was getting quite embarrassing mate,” Sirius joked, earning amused laughs from both Peter and Remus.

“Would you three stop already?” Y/N rolled her eyes. “I’m happy for you, Jamesy. Don’t mind them,” she reached for his hand across the table and gave it a light squeeze. A sweet smile on her lips.

James felt his stomach leaping like crazy inside of him at her touch. He furrowed his brows at the unknown feeling, his hand lingering on hers a while too longer.

——————————————————————

“You’re staring,” Remus pointed out without taking his eyes off his book.

“I’m not!” James denied quickly. “I’m just thinking about what to write on my essay.”

“Is your essay stamped on Y/N’s and Sirius’ faces?” The boy with chocolate eyes teased.

“Don’t you think they’re spending way too much time together?” James asked as he stared at Y/N and Sirius laughing together in a distant corner inside the Common Room. Y/N’s cheeks were flustered due to how hard Sirius was making her laugh.

“Meaning?” Remus’ attention was now solely on James as he studied his friend with a quirked eyebrow.

“Meaning they’ve got other friends outside each other, you know?!” James sounded a lot more harsh than he ever planned to.

The sound of Y/N’s laugh echoed in the room once more. She sounded like a 4-year-old laughing, it was absolutely adorable and completely contagious. James couldn’t help a small smile to spread across his face. He then caught himself wishing he could make her laugh like that. His face fell suddenly as he wondered why this thought would ever cross his mind.

“If it bothers you so much why don’t you just talk to her about it?” Remus shrugged, his focus back on his book.

James reflected on his friend’s advise for a short while until his vision got red again as Sirius trailed his fingers across Y/N’s back whilst whispering something into her ear. James closed his book with a loud bang, startling Remus and other few students who sat close to them.

“Where the bloody are you going?” Remus asked as his friend got on his feet and started gathering his things.

“Somewhere I can actually study,” James mumbled before moving in the direction of the portrait hole.

James wandered aimlessly through the castle, both his mind and heart racing and pounding with questions and emotions. Was he losing his mind? He didn’t know what was happening to him, why or how it started and neither how to make it stop. Y/N didn’t seem nearly as bothered at Sirius’ blatant advances, so he shouldn’t be either, right?!

As James’ feet stopped suddenly on their own, his surroundings came into focus once again and he caught himself staring back at him in a bathroom mirror. He rested his books on top of the nearest sink and took his glasses off, throwing a quick splash of water in his face and leaning over so he could rest his hands on the basin marble.

“What’s happening to me?” He mumbled to his own reflexion.

——————————————————————

“Gather around, kids!” Slughorn said proudly in front of a cauldron as the students started arriving for the Potions class.

Y/N, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter approached the Professor and peeked curiously into the cauldron content. A mother-of-pearl sheen liquid with a spiraling steam lied inside of it. Y/N shifted uncomfortably on her feet as she instantly recognized what the potion with such an unusual shine was.

“Oh...” Sirius whispered not so quietly into her ear with an annoying teasing tone, wrapping his arm on her shoulders.

“Oh Indeed, Mr. Black,” Slughorn grinned amusedly at the raven-haired boy. “Perhaps Miss Y/L/N could tell us what this potion is?”

“Amortentia, Sir. The most powerful love potion in the world. It causes a powerful infatuation or obsession from the drinker. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals. It’s also known by its smelling properties. Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what — or should I say who — attracts them,” Y/N promptly answered the Professor’s question.

The room was dead silent as everyone stared at the cauldron with great interest after Y/N’s words. Especially the girls, whom all eyed the liquid furtively.

“Very good, Miss L/N! Ten points to Gryffindor!” Slughorn rumbled satisfied.

“That was hot,” Sirius joked, winking at Y/N.

James clenched his teeth as he stared at Sirius, feeling increasingly annoyed at the ever so blatant flirt and not hearing Slughorn asking for a volunteer to smell the potion in front of the entire class.

“Oh, Mr. Potter!” Slughorn exclaimed, dragging his attention back to the class. “Come here now, don’t be shy,” the teacher motioned for him to approach the cauldron.

Looking around, James realized the entire class stepped back and he was standing considerably afar from them. Gulping, the always-so-brave-and-carefree Gryffindor boy slowly started to walk to the cauldron, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Just go already, mate! We all know you’re gonna smell something Lily-related anyway!” Sirius shouted from behind him, earning laughs from almost the entire student body present at the class.

“I highly doubt he will,” Lily said out of the blue, making James stop suddenly on his feet and turn around to face her.

“What was that, love?” He quirked an eyebrow at her with a devilish smile. There was nothing that turned him on more than a challenge.

“I said you wouldn’t smell me. My bet is on something Quidditch-related. But I’ll tell you what, if you do smell anything that actually has something to do with me, I’ll let you take me out on a date,” Lily crossed her arms against her chest defiantly.

That was it, the moment James had been waiting for ever since he first laid his eyes on Lily. The moment he thought would be the happiest of his life. The moment that would leave him feeling over the moon of joy. But nothing of this happened. Sure, it felt satisfactory to finally achieve a long-term goal and finally convincing Lily, but that was it. Just it.

“Go on, Potter! We don’t have all day!” Someone among the Slytherin students shouted, clearly excited to see the outcome of the proposal.

James then walked to Slughorn and stood in front of the cauldron, facing his fellow Gryffindors and the Slytherin crowd.

“Now, Mr. Potter, close your eyes and take a deep breath,” Slughorn instructed as he stepped aside and left James and the cauldron all alone in the spotlight. “And then let us know what you smelled!”

James did exactly as Professor Slughorn had told him to. At first, nothing happened, and then, suddenly, a powerful wave of the most endearing and hypnotic smell enveloped him and raided all of his senses. The smell was an intoxicating mixture of patchouli, sandalwood and cranberry. His eyes widened open as he instantly recognized where he had already smelled this. It was her smell. Y/N’s signature smell.

James’ eyes searched the little crowd furiously until they landed on Y/N. She was inspecting her nails, weirdly quite interested. He wanted to shout so she could look at him. He wanted to lock eyes with her and tell her what he had just smelled. He wanted to run at her and sweep her off her feet, spin her around and tell her what had been in his heart unbeknownst to him this whole time. He now knew what was happening to him.

“Mr. Potter?” Slughorn’s voice alerted James that he and the entire class were waiting for his answer.

James nodded at the Professor and allowed his eyes to land on Y/N once again before finally answering him. However, what he witnessed made his stomach sink. Y/N was whispering something into Sirius’ ear and his left hand was clutched on her waist.

“So that’s why she wouldn’t look at me,” he thought bitterly at himself.

James’ eyes wandered to Lily, a sudden frustration invading him. The redhead looked at him expectantly, unlike Y/N, who was too immersed on Sirius to notice the longing looks he had been sending her way lately. Sighing, James made a stupid decision in the heat of the moment.

“I smell vanilla and lilies,” he announced to Slughorn, knowing very well Lily smelled like that.

When he turned around to face the class again, Y/N and Sirius were nowhere to be found. Lily on the other hand, was standing right where she was, blinking with a dumbfounded expression.

——————————————————————

“Please, Sirius, don’t make me go in there,” Y/N begged Sirius as they approached the Three Broomsticks. She knew exactly what she was going to witness once they went into the establishment.

“Come on now, Y/N! Marlene is going to be there with Alice, please?” He gave her his best puppy eyes as he implored.

“How long will we have to keep up with this?” She asked, pointing back and forth between the two of them.

“Until she admits she has the hots for me,” he winked at his best friend, who simply rolled her eyes at him.

When they entered the pub, their eyes instantly fell on the table where a certain couple was having their first date. Sirius squeezed Y/N’s hand as he noticed her gaze lingering on James’ back.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?” She mumbled, pulling Sirius by the hand to a distant table where Remus, Peter, Alice and Marlene sat chatting happily.

“Finally! Where the two of you were?” Remus exclaimed as Y/N and Sirius approached them.

“We were a little... busy, Moony,” Sirius winked suggestively at his friends. “Seems like I’m simply irresistible to my sunshine here.”

Marlene rolled her eyes at them, clearly beyond annoyed at Y/N’s and Sirius’ presence.

“Y/N, tell me, how can you possibly tolerate him, darling?” Remus teased as he noticed Marlene’s annoyance and Sirius’ proud grin.

“I usually keep my lips on his for as long as I can so he can’t speak. That’s the key,” Y/N shrugged, getting into character.

Remus, Peter, Alice and even Marlene laughed at Sirius’ shocked expression at Y/N’s comeback. She forced herself to laugh as well even though she was feeling everything but joy right now.

Stealing a glance in James’ direction, their eyes locked for a while before he drove his attention back to Lily and Y/N felt the sudden need of fresh air.

“I have to use the loo. Be right back,” Y/N mumbled at her friends whilst getting up.

The chit-chat ceased quickly as three of the Marauders and the two girls observed the y/h/c girl shy away from them.

“So, how’s our plan going, babe?” Marlene asked excitedly to Sirius as soon as they couldn’t see Y/N anymore, linking her arm in his.

Before Sirius could say anything, Remus cut him off asking with a much shocked tone of voice: “What plan are you two talking about? Didn’t Marlene despised you like you told us when you’ve asked Y/N for help to make her jealous? Why is she calling you babe? What is going on here?”

“Hold your wolves, would ya Moony? We’ll explain everything,” Sirius grinned. “I did tell Y/N that but Marlene and I had already been sneaking around unbeknownst to general knowledge.”

“Was that supposed to enlighten me?” Remus quirked a brow at him.

“Let me explain, for Merlin’s sake!” Marlene lifted a hand in front of Sirius as he opened his mouth to start talking. “We were snogging in an empty classroom under James’ invisibility cloak this one time when he and Y/N suddenly sneaked in as they ran away from Filch-“

-

“Oh, Sirius,” Marlene mumbled pleasantly at the raven-haired boy who was brushing his lips against her neck teasingly.

“Do you like that?” He asked softly.

“Ye-Yeah,” she muttered in response amidst a heavy sigh.

The couple was suddenly startled as the classroom door clicked open and was quickly closed again with an explosion of giggles. They quickly parted as they stared confusedly at Y/N and James, whom were out of breath and leant against the dark and old rock-wall, hands clutched together.

“Merlin, did you see Filch’s face?” James asked with a laugh.

“I honestly thought he’d spit fire,” Y/N answered with a snore, her face completely flustered from all the running.

James stared at his friend in a comfort silent for quite some time, as if he was engraving her every feature in his mind. “Godric, you’re beautiful.”

Sirius gasped at his friend’s words. Marlene’s mouth fell open.

It was only when Y/N’s eyes widened that James realized he had said that out loud.

“I-I mean, you’re quite alright for a girl and everything, mate,” he added quickly, making even more of a fool out of himself.

“Yeah... thanks, mate,” Y/N answered with a furrowed expression. She was clearly embarrassed as well. “We should probably get going before Filch comes back. Where did you leave your bloody cloak anyway?”

“I’m not sure, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Sirius must’ve borrowed it,” he shrugged, opening the door and checking the outside surroundings for any sign of Filch. “Let’s go!” He grabbed Y/N by the hand and led her out of the classroom, closing the door behind them.

“Did he just say what I heard?” Sirius checked with Marlene just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating as he tossed the invisibility cloak on the floor.

“He actually did,” she answered, a little shocked herself. “Not that it was surprising in any way, I mean, it‘s quite obvious he has it bad for her, I just didn’t think he’d ever notice, he pinning after Lily and everything,” Marlene shrugged.

“I don’t think he reckoned his feelings just yet, James can be a bit of a thick-head sometimes.”

“A bit? And just sometimes? The lad has been chasing after the same girl - who wants nothing to do with him if I may add - for almost six whole years. He definitely is a big time thick-head,” Marlene quirked a brow at Sirius.

“You’re right...” he mumbled thoughtfully. “We have to do something, they’ve got too much pride to ever admit their feelings for each other.”

Marlene shot him a grin as the perfect idea crossed her mind, “have you told anyone about us?”

“Not yet.”

“Good, here’s what we’re going to do...” Marlene started to explain him how he’d tell everyone she didn’t want anything to do with him and then ask for Y/N’s help to make her jealous in front of all of his friends. She made sure to let him know he was supposed to flirt hard with Y/N when James was around.

-

“Did you really have to make the beginning so... graphic?” Alice asked with a grimace once Marlene had told them the entire story.

“Agreed!” Remus quirked his brows at the secret couple. “But I have to say, this idea was quite... clever.”

“It really was,” Peter nodded excitedly. “Padfoot definitely stroke a nerve by flirting with Y/N in front of Prongs.”

“And so did Lily by pretending she was finally interested in him,” Marlene smiled proudly at herself.

“Wait... what?” Sirius looked utterly shocked as he asked her.

“Yeah, sorry about that, but I thought it’d look more... realistic if you didn’t know that. You care about Y/N, you wouldn’t bare seeing her hurt without letting her know the truth,” Marlene shrugged at her boyfriend.

“Woman... you are the love of my life,” Sirius grinned devilishly at her, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles.

-

“That prick...” James mumbled at himself as he clenched his fists at the sight of Sirius flirting and touching Marlene. Didn’t he have no respect for Y/N? He literally just waited until she turned her back to be a complete prat.

“What?” A bored Lily asked.

James realized he had been staring at their friends table basically ever since Y/N and Sirius first showed up, leaving Lily hanging. But, truth be told, the date sucked even before that. He and Lily had zero chemistry, zero common ground, zero... everything. They definitely didn’t belong together.

“Look Evans...” he started after a heavy sigh, looking for the right words.

“This date sucks,” Lily completed as she shrugged in relief. “I know.”

“Well, I’d probably be way more gentle than that, but... that’s what I was trying to say,” he laughed.

“You didn’t smell vanilla and lilies when you inhaled Amortentia, did you?” She quirked a brow at him.

“No...” he furrowed apologetically. “I smelled patchouli, sandalwood and cranberry. As in-“

“Y/N’s artisanal perfume,” she cut him off with a smirk. “Why did you lie you idiot?”

“In my defense, I was gonna tell the truth but then... I saw her and Sirius flirting and, well, you know what I did,” he shrugged.

“Your stupidness never fails to amaze me, Potter,” Lily rolled her eyes at the hazel-eyed boy. “Sirius would never get himself involved with a girl his best mate fancied.”

“Please, he could never know I fancy Y/N,” he furrowed his brows in disbelief. “I’ve only realized it myself a couple days ago.”

“Potter, you oblivious daft, everyone knows you have it bad for her for ages and the other way around,” she rolled her eyes at him once again.

“Are you saying-“

“That the entire school already realized you both long for each other? Yes. Now, let’s go,” Lily stood up and motioned with her head for him to follow her.

“Where are we going?” He asked confused.

“You are going to tell Y/N what Amortentia really smelled like to you and I am going to watch it alongside all of our friends and tease the two of you later,” she said as if it was obvious whilst they crossed the pub.

-

“He admitted his feelings towards Y/N out loud,” Lily announced amused as they approached their friends, taking Y/N’s vacant seat.

“Bloody finally!” Sirius and Remus shouted in unison as they both lifted their glasses in mock celebration.

“I have to say I thought I’d have to kiss her in front of you so your blind self would finally realize your own damn feelings,” Sirius grinned amused at James.

“Please, this is Prongs we’re talking about! He’d probably punch you in the face and still not have a clue as to why he was so angry at the whole situation,” Remus teased with a smirk.

“Sod off, would you?” James flashed his middle finger at them, his eyes scanning the entire place. “Where’s Y/N?”

“She said she was going to use the loo, let me go look for her,” Alice answered James with an excited smile.

James stood there full of hope whilst Alice went looking for Y/N, his heart pounding against his chest and his hands sweating as he thought about finally telling her how he felt.

Alice reappeared again a few minutes later, but there was no sign of Y/N as she walked back to their table.

“She wasn’t there,” she told James, a furrowed expression on her face.

“Where the bloody hell can she possibly be?” Sirius asked with a confused look.

“The castle...” James mumbled at himself before taking off hurriedly.

Marlene stood up as quickly as she could and mentioned to run after James.

“What are you doing?” Sirius asked with a scrunched face.

“Well, I’m definitely not gonna miss the pathetic scene of him finally confessing his feelings to our Y/N, will you?” She quirked an eyebrow.

The little crowd exchanged looks among them before getting up recklessly and take off on James’ trail.

——————————————————————

“How do I do that? How do I tell her I have feelings for her after saying in front of the entire class I smelled lilies as I inhaled Amortentia?” James asked breathlessly as he stopped suddenly in front of the Fat Lady portrait, turning on his heels so he could face his friends.

“Preferable with your mouth, although I suppose you could use your hands as well, you know, to make it more... intimate,” Sirius suggested with a devilishly grin, winging his eyebrows.

“Merlin. I don’t even know what to say about... that,” Lily looked disgusted at Sirius, turning to James afterwards. “Just... do something meaningful for the both of you. Use something that the two of you have in common to make it special. I’m sure it’ll earn you extra points.”

“I’m with Evans on this one,” Remus shrugged. “Sorry, Padfoot.”

They kept throwing suggestions at him, but James wasn’t paying attention anymore. Lily’s words were hammering inside his head as he was thinking about what to do. And then, suddenly, as if it was magic, a brilliant idea popped inside his mind.

“Fat Lady, has Y/N came in already?” James asked the portrait that guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor tower.

“Yes, Potter, she came in a while ago in fact. She didn’t have the best of looks on her face if I may add, I’m assuming she went straight upstairs to her dormitory,” the portrait answered promptly, gladly giving away the juicy details in hopes to gossip a little bit.

“Perfect!” James grinned at the painting. “Thanks, love!” He shouted before running through the hallway.

“Should we follow him?” Peter asked Remus and Sirius.

“What if he comes back?” Sirius shrugged.

“I don’t think he will,” Lily smiled, realizing what he was about to do.

“Mind sharing the why?” Marlene quirked a brow at her.

“Think about it. What’s the one thing they both equally love fiercely?” Lily asked the little crowd with a grin. “Despite each other, of course.”

“Quidditch...” Remus answered slowly, realizing James’ intentions as well.

Before anyone could say anything, James came back and flew by them on his broom, a large grin on his face, “well? Are you lot coming or what?”

Taking off as fast as he could and with his friends on his trail, James flew around the hallways of the castle in the direction of the sloping lawns in the school grounds.

As James proceeded on his flying, he started to draw more and more curious students returning from the Hogsmeade trip, that way, by the time he had approached the exterior walls of the Gryffindor Tower, he had quite a crowd standing underneath him.

Touching the ground slightly, James gathered a few little pieces of rocks and hopped on his broom again, flying up until he reached the same level of the girls dorm’s window.

Before James could execute his plan, a loud shout from Minerva McGonagall startled him.

“James Potter, get off this broom immediately!”

Before James could answer and beg for her to let him do what he had come here to in the first place, the window cracked open. As his eyes shot in the direction of the sound, James spotted an utterly confused Y/N staring at him.

“James what the bloody hell are you doing?” She asked with a frown.

“Well, I was planning on throwing these rocks softly at your window until you opened them up, but I guess there’s no point in doing so now,” he shrugged, showing her the rocks he had clutched into his palm.

“And why would you do that?” She giggled at him, causing butterflies to flutter inside James’ stomach.

“Because I have something rather important to discuss with you, love,” he grinned.

“Why didn’t you just shout my name from the Common Room then, you mental?” She quirked her eyebrows.

“‘m afraid that wouldn’t be as nearly as romantic.”

“Romantic? What are you talking about?” She asked, a disrupted look on her face. “James, what’s going on here?”

“POTTER!” McGonagall shouted once again.

“Could you give a smitten boy a second to confess his feelings for Merlin’s sake, Minnie?” He shouted with a wink at the Professor.

“Well... I suppose I can,” she shrugged with a discreet side smirk. “And Potter?”

“Yes, Minnie?”

“Glad to see you finally build up the courage,” she smiled at the dumbfounded look the boy gave her.

Y/N was still staring at James in shock as he drove his attention back to her.

“So...” she said.

“I lied at the Potions class last week,” he said out of the blue, gliding trough the air.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I didn’t smell lilies or vanilla when I inhaled Amortentia.”

“And what did you smell?” Y/N asked and James could notice she was holding her breath back.

“Home,” the messy-haired boy answered with a gentle smile, his hazel eyes lingering on Y/N’s. “And it smelled like patchouli, sandalwood and cranberries.”

Slowly realizing he was describing her scents, Y/N’s cheeks heated up furiously as she stared at the boy she has been fancying for so long, her eyes widened in shock.

“James is this one of your jokes? If it is, I swear to Godric-“

“No, love. I’d never joke about something like that. I’d never do something like that to you,” he smiled gently. “I’m in love with you, madly in love with you. I have been for years. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that.”

“In that case, would you get off this broom already so I can kiss you?” Y/N said with a lovingly frown.

“Gladly!” James’ face lit up as he hurriedly closed the space between his broom and the window, hopping inside the girl’s dorm.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Y/N shook her head with a smile.

“About you? Definitely!” James grabbed Y/N by her waist and crashed his lips into her, finally tasting what true happiness was like.

[abundanceofnots]

The door to the darkened alley next to the Alibi Room opens behind him, letting out a jumble of voices and loud music. Mickey expected Ian to find him there sooner or later. That’s why he’s so surprised to see that it’s not his husband pushing the heavy door open with his hip, his hands occupied by holding two glasses of beer, but Tami, his—

Well, whatever they are to each other.

Strangers, mostly. Both holding the title of Gallagher family appendages—the husband and the baby mama—who occasionally shared a laugh over some Gallagher bullshit. But that has always been as far as their relationship went.

“Occupied,” he informs her curtly before he takes another drag of his cigarette.

Tami smiles, undeterred.

“I was actually looking for you,” she explains as she lets the door close behind her, cutting the sounds from the inside to mere thumps again.

“Look, if you’re already tired of your baby daddy’s dick, I can’t say I blame ya, but you’ll have to find someone else because, on principle, I don’t fuck Lip’s sloppy seconds—”

Tami makes a face. “Jesus fuck. Is that really the only reason you can think of why I might want to see you?”

His eyes dart around her head of hair as he tries to look at anywhere but her, suddenly feeling very tense.

“Yeah?”

“Well, fuck you, too. No, here, listen.” She passes him one of the beers. “I saw the way you looked back in there and thought you might wanna talk.”

Mickey’s felt sick all evening. Ever since their big announcement when Ian threw his arm around Mickey’s shoulders, squeezed him tight, and gave him that blinding grin before he told everyone the good news.

There was clapping and noise, so much fucking noise. People were reaching out their hands to tap him on the shoulder or shake his hand, and it made Mickey feel like those hands were all grasping his throat while his blood was pumping in his ears.

His plan was to spend the rest of the party here, where he could breathe again, chain-smoking his way through the ordeal. He thinks he’ll be sick if he drinks anything right now, but he takes the glass from Tami anyway.

“About?” he shoots back noncommittally.

“Why you’re scared.”

On instinct, Mickey scoffs out a laugh. “Fuck off, I ain’t scared.”

“Right,” Tami replies, giving him a pointed look over the rim of her glass as she takes a sip. “That why you’re hiding out here during your own party?”

“Just needed to—” Groaning in exasperation, Mickey pinches the bridge of his nose and composes himself. “I just needed a second away from everyone congratulatin’ me. Or callin’ me daddy Milkovich. Or fuckin’ Kermit asking if I was gonna be the mom or the dad—” He cuts himself off again, measuring Tami with a hard stare. “What’s it to you, anyway?

She responds with a sincere smile.

“Believe it or not, I was scared of having a baby, too.”

Mickey’s brows furrow in confusion. “That why you decided to have another?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not scared anymore.”

“Sounds fuckin’ stupid.”

“Maybe,” Tami admits with half a shrug.

They spend the next few minutes in silence, Tami drinking her beer and Mickey finishing his smoke, his own beer left untouched.

“But you’re a chick, you know, so it’s different,” Mickey states resolutely after he lights another cigarette, confident he’s found an argument she couldn’t dispute. “You have, like, all those motherly instincts and shit. I don’t.”

For some reason, she snorts and shakes her head. Then, her expression softens again, and she says, “I have it on good authority that there’s one little boy who basically worships the ground you walk on.”

“He’s five. Fuck does he know,” he retorts back derisively, immediately chastising himself because Freddie knew a lot, in fact. Most importantly, how to get underneath Mickey’s skin.

Not that he didn’t love and pester Ian just as much, obviously. Everyone loved Ian, the charming motherfucker. But Mickey and the kid had a special bond, much to Lip’s irritation.

Freddie was one of the main reasons Mickey decided that he was ready to have kids all those months ago. He isn’t so sure of it now, though.

He takes another drag and lets the smoke out through his nose.

“I never thought I’d be this,” he explains ambiguously, not just meaning being a guy who gives enough shit to smoke outside a bar. “Always knew how to survive. I was good at that. I was gonna see forty, most of it behind bars, maybe fifty, if I was lucky enough and didn’t lose a fuckin’ limb at some shitty construction job. And then, one day, I wake up to a tire iron to my spine—”

“If that’s a metaphor, I don’t follow.”

“—and next thing I know, I have a whole ass husband, a fuckin’ condo on the West Side like some yuppie, and I catch myself sayin’ things like, fuck it, let’s have a kid. What’s wrong with me? I can’t fuckin’ do this, can I?”

The truth he’ll never admit to anyone, probably, is that Tami’s right. He is scared. Fucking terrified, really. Because there’s a kid who will have him for a dad, and Mickey feels sorry for it.

The poor bastard isn’t even a proper baby yet. It’s just a sonogram stuck to their fridge. A baby-like matter that Ian’s app insists is the size of cauliflower now. When Mickey finally managed to spot one in Whole Foods, he found himself apologizing to it for some bizarre reason.

He doesn’t want to be like his dad. He wants to do this right, but he doesn’t know if he knows how.

“The most important thing?” Tami breaks the silence then, reading Mickey’s reaction correctly even when he doesn’t say anything. “You don’t bail on this kid. Or Ian, because he’ll need you to be there just as much.”

Mickey bites his cheek and nods. There’s a chance he’d say more, ask Tami for advice even, maybe, if, at that very second, Ian didn’t come out to join them, bursting out of the alleyway door as if summoned.

“There’s the pops-to-be!” he cheers a little too loudly with a smile that splits his whole face. He stumbles forward on clumsy feet and envelops Mickey tightly in his arms. “I was looking for you.”

“Fuckin’ octopus-man,” Mickey laughs, careful not to let the drunk idiot spill his beer. “How much did you have to drink?”

“Just a couple beers,” Ian answers as he nuzzles into Mickey’s neck.

“Such a fuckin’ lightweight.”

Humming his agreement, Ian snags Mickey’s glass and knocks down most of its contents in one go. He belches before saying in a low voice, “I was planning on dragging your ass to the bathroom later and having my way with you, but since we’re already here, alone...”

He already has his free hand palming at Mickey’s dick over his jeans when Tami makes a sound behind him, something between a snort and a cough.

Ian’s eyes take a minute to properly zero in on her.

“Tami! Hey!” he greets her with exaggerated excitement. “You’re here, too. Why are you here, too? Something wrong?”

Tami looks pointedly at Mickey. “Wanna tell him, or should I?”

He seriously considers being honest for a second, but his next words are out before he can stop them.

“Your brother’s girlfriend was tryna jump me.”

Tami almost chokes on the incredulous huff of laughter she lets out. She finishes her beer and shakes her head, staring Mickey down.

“You’re such a fucking asshole, Mickey, I swear to God. Forget I ever said anything,” she barks at him as she goes for the door.

“Hey, Tami,” Mickey stops her last minute. “Thanks, or whatever.”

Tami rolls her eyes. Still, just before she slips back inside, she throws a quick smile over her shoulder.

“Did you just thank her for trying to fuck you?” Ian inquires stupidly when the door closes behind her.

“Sure,” Mickey sounds off without further explanation.

He turns back to his husband and lightly pats his cheek, letting his hand slide all the way down to his junk in hopes of pointing his attention in the right direction again. “So, about those plans you had—“

But all of a sudden, Ian’s white as a sheet, giving him a look of absolute horror.

“What?” Mickey asks, mirroring his look.

“Think I’m gonna puke.”

“’ Course you are,” Mickey has enough time to groan before Ian bends in half and proceeds to throw up on the sidewalk.

Mickey takes a few steps away, trying to give Ian some privacy, but he’s stopped by a hand clutching his wrist and pulling him back.

“I’m so sorry, Mick,” Ian says in between spits as his hand slides down to hold Mickey’s awkwardly.

“Hey, that’s okay,” Mickey tells him gently—just as gently as he strokes his back in big circles. “I’m here.”

[shivada-jade]

soulmates! (2)

soulmate!au BECAUSE IM WEAK. YOU'RE WEAK TOO.

characters: ganyu, kaeya, thoma ➡ mentions: cloud retainer, ningguang, adelinde, diluc, crepus, rosaria, traveler warning(s): like- just one swear

part one: (bennett, zhongli, diluc)

ganyu: can see footprints where soulmate has recently stepped on. if followed, they will be lead to their soulmate. sort of like "hot and cold" cold if you're far and hot if you're close

she knew she is a very busy person. she surprises herself when she asked ningguang for a day off.

"you want a day off?" she remembers ningguang's composed face deteriorate and herself doing the same thing.

ningguang let her rest for two weeks even if ganyu had only requested one. now she has so much free time.

the first thing she did was sleep, but she couldn't- not when she spots purple footprints.

as part adeptus with one heck of a good eyesight, she always assumes that the footprints on the ground are because of her eyesight, but cloud retainer says otherwise.

"child, you have a soulmate system of which," the old bird starts. "where one has the ability see where one's soulmate has been, and if they've been there recently."

blue footprints that fade away means her soulmate had left a long time ago. red-ish-orange footprints mean that her soulmate is very close by, but it's never been that colour in her eyes.

ganyu strolls along the grassy plains of liyue, admiring all the sweet flowers. she lightly touches her horns, a habit she got from being awoken from naps on a field of sweet flowers.

the footprints were purple, which is the closest to red ganyu had ever gotten. blue is the colour she always sees like her vision, her hair, the waters of liyue, and the glazed lilies.

the purple is also as beautiful.

"fate will bring two together at the right moment. thou need not rush." ganyu can hear cloud retainer say, so she didn't run after the footprints.

the half-adepti thrums her fingers on her leg, unsure what to do with all the free time given to her. she supposes she can head back to liyue and have tea with madame ping.

meeting madame ping confuses ganyu. the elderly woman keeps asking of her soulmate system and if she's met them.

"ganyu, have you met them?"

"ganyu, why not chase after them?"

"ganyu, ganyu ganyu-"

ganyu politely sets her teacup down, "i have yet to find them."

madame ping chuckles in her elderly woman way, like those smug elderly women who know more than others but will act clueless to amuse them.

"you know, i have a special gift, some speculate it as a curse, but i think it's wonderful," she said, pouring more tea for ganyu. "i have the ability to see red strings that connect soulmates. i can connect, i can break connections, but i can't see my own."

ganyu frowns slightly, "have you met yours?"

"no, but it makes me happy seeing the strings connect with people," she blows on her tea to make it cooler and turns her head to avoid looking at ganyu.

"madame ping, why-"

"you," a person behind ganyu seethes.

meekly, ganyu turns around and finds someone glaring at her. "may i help you?"

"ganyu, right? why do you always walk so fucking fast. i can never catch up to you when i see your footprints, and you're always going from place to place. one moment you're in liyue, the next your in somewhere like fontaine or something. it's like you're spiderman."

ganyu's jaw goes slack, "you're my soulmate?" she looks at the ground, seeing red footprints of where her soulmate had just walked. she now understand why madame ping kept asking her about her soulmate, because madame ping knew her soulmate was going to meet her.

ganyu clears her thoat, standing up to offer her soulmate a seat, "would you like to join us for tea?"

her soulmate blinks, and looks at the tea set then back to ganyu, "sorry, i didn't mean to intrude your tea party. i'm [name]."

"hello, i'm madame ping," the woman speaks "and your soulmate is ganyu. have tea."

ganyu stifles a laugh and sits on a chair next to her soulmate. "i apologize for walking too fast."

kaeya: he hears what his soulmate sings

at first kaeya thought he was going crazy when he kept hearing music in his head.

"dad!" he cried, forcingly rubbing away the tears that fell down his cheeks. the kids near the winery had come over and played with him and diluc, and that was when the first notes started. it never bothered him. he brushed it off until it became a full sound of a voice and a song.

not understanding scared kaeya to death. he always knew something, but this is the first where he doesn't know. he felt like he was going insane with this voice in his head, singing in his head; a voice that wasn't his.

"dad!" he called out again more desperately. diluc held him by his side, worried for his brother.

"father!" dliuc called this time, "father, kaeya's feeling sick."

diluc brought in kaeya, rubbing his back in attempt to comfort him. he saw adelinde and waved to her.

adelinde gasped when she spotted the blue-haired boy sobbing. she dropped her feather duster on the shelf she was dusting and dropped herself next to kaeya, inspecting of there were any wounds on his skin.

"kaeya, dear. what's the matter?" she quietly tells diluc to get his father in the wine cellar and gently pushed kaeya to take a seat near the fireplace.

diluc silently obeyed and ran, unlocking the door that led to his father.

kaeya hiccupped, unable to form words.

adelinde hushed him. her motherly fingers soothed his head, "what's wrong? breathe with me, dear. just until your father gets back."

she inhaled and exhaled in a steady manner for kaeya to follow. the boy shakily did the same. he did it a few more times, inhaling and exhaling slowly with adelinde. he calmed down. the crying stopped and his breathing was normal again. adelinde took this as another chance to ask him what's wrong.

"are you ready to tell me?"

kaeya blinked the tears off and gripped his clothes to stop himself from crying again. "it's happening again. i- i don't understand miss adelinde."

adelinde placed a hand over kaeya's for him to know she was listening. "what don't you understand?"

"i keep hearing things. i always hear a voice that isn't mine in my head-" kaeya sputtered.

diluc and crepus open the door from the cellar. crepus' face etched with worry when he spotted kaeya crying to adelinde. diluc had told him as much as he could but all the information he gathered was kaeya started covering his ears and crying.

"-all the voice does is sing and sing. i don't even like some of the songs it sings! i don't- i don't know," kaeya stammered, not noticing the two others that joined. "i don't know what happening to me. i'm scared."

crepus smiled at adelinde and nodded to her, signaling that he can handle it from here. adelinde gave a grateful nod and brushed herself off the floor to continue her duties.

"my boy," crepus smiles, kneeling in front kaeya to see him better. he brushed his face with a thumb and hugged him. crepus chuckled when kaeya hugged him tighter.

"my boy," the man continued with a knowing smile on his face. "that's your soulmate system. you can hear them singing if they sing as they can hear you singing when you sing."

kaeya lets go from crepus' hold and sniffled his tears away, "what? but isn't a soulmate system when things fall on you?"

diluc from the back of the room silently listened in, also confused as kaeya. didn't everyone have the same soulmate system?

crepus pats kaeya's shoulders, "we all have different ways to know who our soulmate is. yours and diluc's soul systems are different from everyone."

"master crepus is right." adelinde piped in while dusting off the dust on the shelves. "my soulmate system is a countdown to when i'll meet them."

kaeya looked at the woman shocked, "so not everyone has things falling on them?"

"correct." crepus raved, "but unlike diluc's soul system, instead of things falling on me, it appears on my hand for my soulmate system."

diluc eyes his brother, picking up a stray book on a chair and handed it to adelinde to help her.

kaeya pulled a cheeky grin and pointed to diluc, "diluc's eavesdropping."

the said boy gasped and turned his body around to make it look like he was doing something busy.

crepus bellows a laugh, "so what song is your soulmate singing?"

...

to be frank, kaeya had no idea what his soulmate sang that day. it was random words jumbled together. in fact, most things his soulmate sings are songs he has never heard before. it progressed from simple tunes, but now kaeya feels like his soulmate might be a song composer.

when he was younger he'd brag to diluc saying "my soulmate sings so well! what does your soulmate sound like, hah!"

to which diluc would respond with

he grins, swirling his wine around the glass as he watches a stack of papers hit diluc's face while bar tending on the first floor. kaeya clinks his glass on the table, watching people enter and leave the tavern from above.

today, his soulmate sings a song he's heard of.

'the wellerman,' and judging from the pauses and missing lyrics, kaeya safely assumes his soulmate was singing a duet with someone.

"soon may the wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum!"

kaeya hums the next few notes, never singing. after hearing his soulmate sing for the first time, his thought was to never sing- not when his soulmate could be a billionaire for singing with their voice.

only on occasions he would sing to let his soulmate know he was there.

he finishes the last sip of his wine and descends down the tavern stairs, raising a hand to acknowledge rosaria drinking in the corner. he airily chuckles, seeing diluc scrunch his eyes at the papers in front of him instead of looking at kaeya.

kaeya pushes the door open, humming along to the song his soulmate sings. he strolls by the alleyways, waving a hello to flora and a couple dogs that bark at his feet, scratching behind its ears.

he hears a bard singing at the plaza and saunters towards the music, climbing up the stairs and his frame almost freezes when seeing someone acting out to the song playing in his head.

good hunter's table tips over with a person on it. they land smoothly to the ground with a grin while singing with a resident bard.

"one day when the tonguing is done, we'll take our leave and go," they sing with so much melody and soul. the bard in green rumbles with cheer, raising his hands and dancing with the other with an arm latched around another.

kaeya watches, mesmerized by the singing and clapping around the plaza. he claps along and laughs when the bard drags his friend up to the walls of the fountain, singing louder.

the makes eye contact with the singer and waves. the singer waves back, unaware of what kaeya now knows.

soulmates.

he clued the pieces together and admired his soulmate from a distance, not wanting to disturb the performance.

"she'd not been two weeks from shore, when down on her a right whale bore!" the bard sings in glee.

kaeya quietly sings the next part, blending with the crowd. the whoops and cheers grow louder, chanting for his soulmate to sing the part kaeya sand under his breath, but to his surprise his soulmate tenses.

"WAIT! stop!" they hush the crowd with a hand and confuse everyone, "my soulmate's singing! but they're a bit too quiet. they never sing so shh, this is rare!"

the people murmur, watching kaeya's soulmate covering their ears to hear him clearer. kaeya grins, taking this opportunity to sing out loud.

"soon may the wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum!" kaeya waltzes in front of the people who create a pathway for him.

his soulmate's eyes snap to him and he steps up next to them, standing on the fountain. the bard grins, and cheers. the crowd follows his cheer, watching their cavalry captain sing to his soulmate.

kaeya takes his soulmate's hand and presses a kiss on the back, "hello darling, i'm kaeya."

his soulmate doesn't hear him talking, no. they hear music when he speaks. though, kaeya's introduction threw them off, who's to say they couldn't return the gesture.

"a pleasure to meet you at last," they place a hand over their forehead for drama. they grin taking kaeya's waist closer to them and whisper in his ear, "you have a marvelous voice."

mondstadt had never seen kaeya at loss for words and a blush rising his face.

thoma: you taste the same things your soulmate tastes, no matter how strange- even when you're already eating something else

for most times, you were envious of your soulmate for eating the most lavishing food- food only one with money can get. you so desperately wanted to try the food they ate.

you didn't know what they ate, but only knew of the taste. sometimes it clashes with what you eat, like one time you ate an orange while your soulmate started toothbrushing. it wasn't very pleasant to say the least.

you were minding yourself, gathering food for your dinner until you taste something horrible.

wtf is my soulmate eating

it is a vile taste on your tongue, and no amount of water can wash the taste off. you try rinsing it, you tried eating something with a stronger taste, but no matter what, the thing your soulmate ate just stays there. it's disgusting.

you buy anything sour to un-taste what you tasted, and it still doesn't work. walking nearby a tea house, you see a man of blonde, clutching his stomach and laughing at a traveler from afar. call it fate, because it probably is, you know by the second he says his stomach hurts, he is your soulmate.

you point at him with a pointed glare, "what on earth did you EAT?!"

you take a bite of a sliced purple melon in your hand and the man in front of you widens his jade eyes, noting the food you're eating and the blooming taste on his tongue. the traveler next to him knits their brows, looking between you and their friend.

"thoma," the traveler calls. "who's this?"

thoma looks at you apologetically and sheepishly rubs the nape of his neck. "hey? i did it to win a contest... i couldn't let my pride down." he pauses, looking at you, "forgive me?"

you wanted to throw a punch on him, but you knew he had it worse with a bad aftertaste and a stomach ache.

you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. and place a mischievous grin, "take me on a date with food that's actually good, and then i'll think about forgiving you."

[boldlyvoid]

Amoreena | chapter seven

Chapter Seven

main summary: Heaven is a real place and it's located exactly 14.6 miles away from the FBI, Quantico Headquarters. Off behind a small park, under a fantastical willow tree surrounded by wildflowers, in every colour young minds can imagine. Don't forget, heaven also comes with angels. Chapter Warnings: major fluff word count: 3.9k From the beginning <3

Spencer wakes up to the sound of Amoreena calling for her mother and the feeling of Y/N’s arms wrapped around his middle, finding her way to being the big spoon during the night.

“Dad? Where’s my mom?” Amoreena calls again from outside Spencer's door.

“She’s in here, but don’t come in yet, give her a minute to wake up,” he calls back, hoping she listens and doesn’t come barging in.

Y/N lets out a deep sigh as she sits up, still naked under the covers from the activities from the night before but not concerned in the slightest. She gets out of bed and grabs some fresh shirts from the closet before finding both their underwear on the floor, tossing them at Spencer and telling him to put everything on.

Once they’re finally dressed she opens the bedroom door and scoops up the little one, bringing her back into the bed with them so they can all cuddle.

“What the heck?” Is all Amoreena can ask, “why are you in here?”

“We had a sleepover,” Y/N explains softly, holding Amoreena closer to her and Spencer snuggles in too. “I’m thinking about moving my stuff into here too, so that me and your dad can share and we won’t wake you up by talking at night.”

“Is that why GG’s dress is hanging up there? Are you getting married?” She was full of questions, as always.

It makes them both laugh, “what if we already got married?” Y/N teases her, poking her side lightly.

She starts to pout, real tears forming in her eyes as she pulls away from them to sit at the foot of the bed, “why would you do it without me?” they both rush to console her, wrapping her up in a group hug.

“Not for real, we were just pretending to be married honey, I promise,” Y/N tries to explain softly, “did you want me to have a wedding?”

She nods softly, “like in Enchanted, but I’m your daughter and you marry Spencer and you can have a big puffy dress and I can get one too, can I be the flower girl?”

“Of course we’ll get married for you, just the three of us can plan something okay?” Y/N compromised, making a reference Spencer didn’t understand.

“We have to do it in New York like in the movie,” Amoreena was very serious, looking at them with a stern gaze.

There was a whole world of movies and music that built Amoreena’s personality that he was going to have to learn, he was going to be spending a lot of late nights on Disney+.

“We’ll find a way,” Y/N agreed before kissing Amoreena’s forehead.

“Okay,” she smiled nice and wide, wiping her tears away and cuddling in-between Spencer and Y/N.

She turned more towards Spencer, placing her head on his chest while Y/N spooned into her. The three of them cuddled up in one knot, and Amoreena was a snuggle bug. She cuddled right in and made a tiny home in his arms and he was going to hold her for as long as she wanted to be held.

Y/N couldn’t stop smiling at him, he’d glance to her every few minutes to see her gaze hadn’t moved; she was so content seeing the little family they made, all together and happy as they snuggled up closer and closer till Amoreena felt like she couldn’t breathe anymore and pushed them both away.

“I need to go feed the chickens,” she whispered, still on Spencer’s chest as Y/N got out of the bed, “would you like to help, dad?”

He kissed her little forehead before she sat up, “I’d love to, can I put some jeans on and meet you downstairs?”

“Sure!” She cheered, jumping off the bed and running out the door. Her feet smacking the hardwood floor, making the floor creak and pop as she marched down the cold wooden steps.

“How are you feeling this morning?” He asks Y/N with a small smile, remembering what happened the night before.

She nodded softly, smiling while she suppressed a laugh, “I feel like a teenager again, like my mom's going to know I lost my virginity the second I see her.”

Spencer laughed too, “you haven’t?”

“I said again,” she laughed again, sitting back down on the bed and laying her head in his lap, “I wouldn’t say I’ve been celibate all this time, but yeah no one’s done that with me in a while, it’s normally just me and these bad boys.”

She put both hands in the air, doing jazz hands as she raised her eyebrows, “I love you,” the words had their own agenda as he said them unconsciously.

“I love you!” She wrapped her hands around his shoulders and pulled him down into a big kiss, making the classic smooch noise as they pulled apart and smiled.

“Can I take you on a date this week? Maybe Thursday night, because you don’t work on Fridays?” he felt nervous as if she wasn’t pretending to be his wife currently like she’d reject him for some ungodly reason.

“Yeah, I’d love that, my mom won't mind doing Amoreena’s bedtime routine, she’d probably love to have a sleepover at their house,” Y/N’s eyes were gleaming at the prospect of spending more time alone with him.

He placed his left hand on her stomach softly, staring at the ring on his finger before letting his eyes trail her body. She was in just a pair of underwear and a shirt that used to be her grandma's, beautiful as ever as the sunrise cast an orange glow over her.

His wife.

“Thank you,” she cut into the moment of silence, “for last night.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

She got up and sat in his lap then, straddling his hips and holding his face in her hands so she could get a good look at his chocolate eyes, she ran her thumb over his cheeks, kissing the freckle on top of his eyebrow and the tip of his nose gently, “she has your nose.”

Knowing she saw it too made his heart physically burn, it caught fire in his chest and he felt like he couldn’t breathe “yeah?”

“My mom said she looked like a Who when she was born,” she pushed his nose up with her finger like he was a pig, “it’s so perfect and cute.”

“Thank you,” he can’t help but feel emotional.

“Hey,” she teases him again, “It was my turn to say that, so bear with me for a second before I get too emotional at 7 in the morning.”

“Okay,” he whispered, ready to listen intently to how she felt about him.

“You told me something very difficult for you, that was a secret I’m sure no one else knows about, I can tell by the way you panicked last night that this is a serious anxiety you have about never being a father,” her voice was soft as she brushed his hair behind his ears, running her fingers through the curls ever so gently. “You’re a father, hopefully of two”

It made him laugh as a tear trickled down his cheek, pressing his lips together as he listened, not wanting to disrupt all the thoughts she was going to unload on him because it was a ticket into her mind. He was finally learning her feelings and what she thought about him, not just in a fairytale glow, but in the ugly as well.

“If you ever want to talk about her we can,” she changed the subject.

“Maeve was probably a wonderful woman if you loved her enough to wish you had kids with her, she’s technically the reason I have Amoreena, you wouldn’t have donated again without what happened to her,” she made a great point, bringing a positive light to the worst day of his life.

“You’re a wonderful man and I love you very much, being open with me was really appreciated, getting to do what we did last night was very special to me, so thank you,” she smiled softly before kissing him on the lips again.

“Thank you for being the person I can talk to about this stuff, it’s been really scary,” he admitted softly about to cry when they heard the front door slam close.

“And she’s off,” Y/N smiled again, pressing their noses together. “You need to go with her, she’s very impatient.”

“I know,” he smiled. “But I need to tell you that it runs a lot deeper than what you saw last night. I’m a mess in here and it’s not going away overnight because I’ve found my family.”

“I know,” she nodded ever so softly so their noses brushed again. “I am always here to talk, or we can get you a therapist or sign you up for groups, anything you need to feel better, I’m here to assist in making this beautiful brain feel more loved.”

“Thank you,” he whispered again. “So, if I planned a big date night and requested that you wear your best princess dress and meet me at the door for 6, you’d be down?” He teases her.

She couldn’t help but laugh, “sure, cutie, any colour dress do you want me in?”

“I think red would fit the theme I’m thinking of,” saying a little of his plans and not too much, unsure exactly what he wants to do with her first.

She pinched his cheeks as he smiled, “I don’t get any hints?”

“Nope, and I have chickens to feed,” he said, moving her off his lap and getting ready for the day finally.

—

They both sent Amoreena off to school with a hug and a kiss at the bus stop, exchanging I love you’s and saying they’d see her once she got home. Then Spencer kissed Y/N goodbye as she got ready for work, heading to the main house to talk to her mother about Thursday.

He knocked on the front door, being told to come in, he was family now after all.

“Good morning Spencer, would you like some breakfast?” Linda offered with a big smile, exactly like Y/N’s.

“I’d love some,” he gladly followed her into the kitchen, taking a mug of coffee and a homemade cinnamon roll from her. Amoreena already had one this morning before the bus, leaving a single missing spot in the middle of the pan.

“Would you be able to watch over Amoreena on Thursday night so I can take Y/N out on a real date?” He asks with all the confidence in the world, knowing her mother would say yes regardless.

“Oh absolutely!” She beamed, “what were you planning?”

“Can you keep a secret?” He asked before picking up his coffee with his left hand.

“That’s her grandfather's ring,” Linda pointed it out with a smile growing on her face, it was motherly pride if he’s ever seen it, “she finally did it.”

She must have told her mom the plan, her long-time dream of marrying a good person in that field. Someone to have a family with, someone to give Amoreena siblings and all the extra love in the world, and she picked him.

He nodded softly, “last night we got pretend married, and Amoreena got very upset when she learned we did that without her.”

Linda nodded with a soft smile, “they’re attached at the hip, sometimes I think Amoreena is just a clone of her and then I met you.”

He laughed through his nose, eyes wide as he smirked, “well, actually I might be her father.”

Linda sprouted the same expression Y/N had last night when she found out, “huh?”

He sighed, “I donated sperm the month before she got pregnant with Amoreena, my friends said there should be more geniuses in the world and it’s not like I was getting married any time soon.”

Linda just smiled and shook her head with that same sigh of love that must run in the family, she walked over to him and gave him a small hug as he sat at the kitchen table.

“So, Spencer, tell me about yourself?” Linda asked as she sat down beside him with her own coffee and cinnamon roll, getting to know her son-in-law for the first time ever.

He was in there, laughing and bonding with her for over an hour, seeing Y/N drive down the driveway towards work from the kitchen window with a smile. Discussing his ideas for the date, telling her about his family and the dream he always had about running away to a place like this.

“Fate is funny like that, she knows what you need and when you need it,” Bob cut into the conversation, listening from the back door for a few minutes. “you're here for a reason, Spencer.”

He felt like he was on the set of an old movie about family love that always had a happy ending, he didn’t believe that any of it was real. For a second he wondered if he’s been in a coma for the last week, that this was all just a fever dream after crashing his bike on the way to the park, it was all too perfect.

He thanked them for breakfast with a hug, becoming a hugger to fit into her family and he didn’t even mind it. It was nice to be loved truly, not just because they were obligated to, but because they wanted him in their family.

—

His next stop of the day was Penelope’s apartment, he knocked on the door softly and waited patiently for her to answer, smiling wide at the surprise of Spencer behind her door.

“I need your help,” he says before she can even welcome him.

She was still in her robe, a sleep mask over one eye and her hair standing in every direction known to man “what did you do?”

“Nothing, I need a womanly touch for the date I’m planning,” he admitted, turning pink at the embarrassment of coming to her for this.

“What’s the plan?”

“Can I tell you on the way there?”

She raised her eyebrows, “come in and give me a few minutes, you can explain why you’re wearing a ring while I change…”

“For not being a profiler, you sure are good at this,” he avoided her question as he walked into her apartment, sitting right by her bedroom door so he could talk to her through the door.

“It’s a really long story, but essentially her fiancé died when she was 23 so she’s terrified of real weddings and wanted to just tell me she loves me and call me her husband without waiting or making a big fuss about it all,” he explained it as simply as possible. Not sure if he should tell her about the chat he had with Derek. “And we found out I might be Amoreena’s real father anyway.”

She peaked her head out the door, nothing on now and not wanting him to see. It wasn’t like she got naked when she was drunk and shown him everything before, he just laughed as she smiled at him. “If you need help tracking down any other kids, I can do it?”

He felt a little betrayed but he understood, Derek and Penelope had a bond where secrets never slipped out but they did tell each other everyone else's, “he told you?”

“No, I knew you donated because they did a background check into you at the bureau, and I was the one who had to send them the files,” Penelope admitted. “I wanted you to be the one to tell me, but I don’t think you ever would have.”

He shook his head softly, “I just wanted a family one day however I could get one, and when Rossi met Joy I knew it could bring me the same kind of happiness he has with her and Kai."

“You’re going to be a wonderful dad Spencer,” she tried to not get all teary-eyed as she stood behind the door with nothing on, “anyway continue?”

She slipped back into the room and the two of them continued to yell their gossip back and forth through the door before she finally walked out in her most Penelope outfit to date, “and we’re taking my car. It’s top-down weather, finally.”

It’s not that she was a bad driver, it’s just she barely followed any rules. She drove too fast and passed people when she shouldn’t and it stressed Spencer out, but he was too in love to really be bothered by it today. Taking an hour-long journey to Richmond, pulling into the Edgar Allen Poe Museum.

He was a member here, paying them every month to take care of the grounds and the cats, even tracking down some rare pieces from Poe’s collection to donate to them. He was their favourite customer and patron, and they were very excited for him to finally introduce his new love to one of his favourite places ever.

He rented out the Enchanted Garden for Thursday night, being trusted there alone after hours and granted a key to lock up before he left. Penelope and he picked out lights and blankets, what kind of dinner they’d have and drinks.

“So I’ll make sure your picnic basket is all ready and here waiting for you to arrive,” Penelope planned, reading through the list of things she was going to do to help on Thursday afternoon. “What kind of wine does she like?”

“Oh,” Spencer took a second to think, she might want some wine but she’s also hoping to get pregnant, it could help but it could be a hindrance, he didn’t know how to reply.

“Does she not drink?”

“Can you keep a secret?” The second time he asked that question this morning.

“No fucking way,” she whispered, smacking his arm. “Already?”

“No, I’m not sure, we only tried yesterday,” he feels the anxiety in his chest as he explains it, “It doesn’t work that fast which is why I don’t know if we should.”

“Believe me, wine is a good baby-making tool,” she smiled. “I’ll add some anyway and if she does, she does, if she doesn’t oh well, you know where I live.”

It was so easy with Penelope, she understood everything he did without questioning him. Rooting for him and his future family behind closed doors, always trying to get him with someone in the years she knew him, wanting him to get all that “sweet, sweet loving” Derek raved about.

“Do you think she’ll like this? Be honest.” His anxiety slipped back up his throat and past his vocal cords.

Penelope wrapped him up in a big hug, remembering the statistic that people with Autism and anxiety sometimes relaxing better when held with a certain pressure applied. It worked every time.

“She loves you, you wouldn’t be trying for a baby or wearing that ring if she didn’t,” reassuring as always.

“Do you know anything about Taylor Swift?”

It makes her laugh as she pulls back, “why?”

“She’s Y/N and Amoreena’s favourite person on the earth, I know nothing about celebrities, you know that, and I was thinking about getting them tickets or something this summer if she’s doing anything?” He was desperate to do anything to make his girls smile. “I need a Taylor Swift crash course, is there a new Taylor Swift fan for dummies book?”

“Spencer Reid, do I have news for you,” Penelope wrapped her arm around him once again as she rocked him back and forth with glee, “Rossi’s stepdaughter is her is a socialite in New York and one of miss Swifts friends… let's see what we can do.”

And with that, they left the museum with Penelope's arm still wrapped around him as they went back to her car, listening to Taylor Swift while she spat facts out to Spencer, helping him learn everything he could for his wife and kid.

—

He was the only one home when Amoreena got off the bus, running into his arms and giving him a big hug, “Dad!” She cheered the second he held her, kissing the top of her head as he carried her back to the house. “Where is mom?”

“She’s out buying a new dress for a date we’re going on,” he couldn’t help but over exaggerate his voice when he talked to her, it made it more magical for her little world. “How was school?”

“Awesome!” She swooned, “we started our fathers day presents early cause we won't have class after next week.”

He playfully gasps, stopping abruptly in his tracks to look at her in shock, “You can’t tell me anything about it, they’re supposed to be surprise gifts!”

“I know,” she laughed wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning against his shoulder while they walked, “I just wanted you to know one is coming, you always tell me about your gifts early, like at the museum.”

“Well, thank you for telling me,” he kissed her soft forehead softly before smiling.

She was so smart, her mother had raised her to be the most caring and considerate child. She picked up on everything, she wanted to please everyone, she was the sweetest ever.

“Do you have any homework tonight?”

“Nope! Can we watch a movie?”

He just held her cheek to his in a hug while they walked, “of course my sweet Amoreena, what would you like to watch?”

“It’s a surprise,” she whispered, struggling out of his arms and to the ground before running towards the house without him.

He walks in to see her standing in front of the tv with the remote, flipping through the channels and opening Netflix. Going to her mom's profile, down to the watchlist and clicking on the Taylor Swift Reputation Tour before taking off up the stairs to go get something.

“We made this a few months ago,” it was a piece of paper that she handed to him. “It’s the rules for when mom finally got a date, you’re her boyfriend right?”

He opened the folded lined paper, “I am,” he smiled.

Boy/girlfriend rules:

Must be royalty of some kind (or smart like a wizard)

Has to know all the words to Taylor swift’s songs

Likes to read books all the time

Have to like all the candy Amoreena doesn’t so that someone can eat the leftovers from her Halloween candy bag.

Has to be able to name all the Disney princesses

Must like cats. No if’s and's or butts.

It made him laugh, every rule was clearly Amoreena’s idea and Spencer must have ticked off all the boxes if she’s calling him dad already.

“You have to learn all the words to Taylor Swift, then you’ll be her boyfriend for real,” Amoreena informed him. “We have to follow the rules.”

“Well then, put the captions on so I can sing along,” Spencer compromised.

She hugged him with a big smile “you’re the best dad in the world.”

“You’re the best daughter,” he whispered as he held her back. “You make every day better by just being here.”

“So do you,” she replied before kissing his cheek softly and settling onto the couch beside him. “Thank you for wanting to be my dad.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anyone else’s.”

tag list: @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria @spookyspence @reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @samuel-de-champagne-problems @jswessie187