#17 minutes left but i’ll probably be going with no

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

The Danger Zone (Part 17) - Hangman

Pairing: Hangman / Fem!Bradshaw!Reader | OC

Word Count: 5.0k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ ONLY.

Warnings: Unplanned Pregnancy; Military Inaccuracies; Medical Inaccuracies; Crying; Fluff; Talk of Marriage; Angst; Use of "You," No Use of Y/N, No Set Physical Description

Summary: Jake gets his orders.

Series Master List

Master List

It was deathly quiet in Cyclone’s office and the only sound that Jake registered was his heart beating out of his chest. Slowly closing the folder, Jake turned back to Cyclone, who remained sitting with an impassive expression behind his desk. 

“I’m sorry, Hangman,” Cyclone replied quietly, his tone genuine. “There was nothing that I could do.”

Cyclone had been in Hangman’s position before. Twice, actually. And he didn’t relish in handing any man or woman orders that would take them away from their family. Especially during such an important time. But that came with the industry that they signed up for.

“I was expecting it, sir.”

And that roughly translated to: of course, they wouldn’t let me finally be happy

“Still, I am sorry. I’ve been in your position before and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else.”

“Do you know how long I’ll be away?” Jake asked quietly, holding onto a tiny thread of hope. 

“Anywhere from two to eight months. Most likely, somewhere in the middle.” 

You were about six and a half months pregnant now. If he made it back in two months, he could be there for the birth of your child. But Jake knew from experience that he probably wouldn’t be home by then. And what if the baby came early? He’d be cutting it extremely close if he was lucky. 

Worst-case scenario, he would return home to you when the baby was almost six months old. Six months. He would miss your baby growing and learning all about the world around them. He’d come home and the baby would already almost be halfway to a full year old. He’d miss so many milestones, so many little triumphs. 

“Am I excused, sir?”

“Yes, of course. Take the days before you deploy and spend them with your family.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Slowly walking out to his truck with the most defeated feeling of his life, Jake slipped into the driver’s seat of his truck. He just sat there for a minute, processing the news, and trying to get his emotions under control. 

But once the tears started falling, there was nothing that he could do to stop them. 

Resting his head on his fist, Hangman let a batch of tears of complete and utter frustration slip down his cheeks. He slammed his fist onto the steering wheel of his truck before the fight left his body and he slumped against the steering wheel, letting more tears slip down his cheeks. 

How the hell was he going to break the news to you?

~~~~~

The lights were on in your apartment when Jake pulled into the parking lot. He took the key out of the ignition and slowly slid out of his truck. Staring up at the window that showed into your living room, he took a moment to gather himself before heading inside. 

From the outside, you could be seen smiling to yourself, making dinner for the two of you. Your growing and prominent bump was covered by one of Jake’s tee shirts and you wore his ring on your finger proudly. The joy on your features only multiplied when you heard the door unlock and Jake step inside. 

As you hurried to wipe your hands on a towel, Jake set his bag down, and tried to push his emotions aside when he heard your footsteps. And when you came hurrying around the corner, his smile was pained as you ran up to him.

“We got the house!” you yelled, causing Jake’s mind to shift for a moment. “They took our second offer!”

“Really?” Jake breathed out as you nodded, practically bursting with excitement. 

“We bought a house!”

Jake held out his arms and quickly pulled you close to his chest, his mind still on the news that he had to break to you.

The kiss that you initiated was light-hearted and celebratory, full of playful little pecks. But the kiss that Jake returned was one of deep-seated emotion, like he was afraid that you were going to disappear right in front of him. He held you firmly, his arms enveloping your figure and cradling your bump with every touch of protective energy that he possessed in his body. 

You pulled back, your brows furrowed, as you cupped his cheeks with your hands. Staring into his eyes, you rubbed your thumbs along his cheeks. 

“Jake, what’s wrong?”

From the outside, Jake could be seen leading you over to the couch and sitting you down. He forced himself to gather his courage as you looked at him with concern. Letting out a breath, he turned back to you and finally broke the news. 

As he slowly explained the situation, your expression started to change. There was a flash of fear that built and built until a defeated, frustrated look drew your gaze down to your lap. Jake leaned over, whispering soft words until you picked your head up. Forcing a smile to assure Jake that you were alright, you couldn’t help the tears that started slipping down your cheeks. 

Jake wiped them away with his thumb, starting to cry again himself. The two of you shared another kiss before Jake pulled you into his lap. Curling against his chest, you dug your fingers into his shirt, trying to hold in the sobs that were crawling out of your throat. Jake rested his head on top of your own, whispering all kinds of words of reassurance that neither of you truly believed in. 

He had been in this industry since he was eighteen. You grew up around the Navy. 

And you knew what this would mean for your family. 

The two of you sat there, locking in embrace, as the sun started to slip below the horizon. Jake rested his arm around your bump, hoping that your baby would still be there when he returned. He’d never forgive himself if he missed the birth of your child. Especially if anything went wrong. 

He would never forgive himself. 

The sun had completely set when you finally uncurled yourself from Jake’s chest. Sitting up, you brushed your hand through his hair a few times, causing him to close his eyes for a moment. Jake slowly opened his green eyes, the eyes that you quite honestly pictured your baby inheriting, when you removed your hand from his head.

“We have a few days,” you whispered, your voice cracking with emotion as you tried to find the good in the situation. There wasn’t much to be found, and you were really trying your best to not start crying all over again. “What did you want to do with them?” 

“Spend every minute with the two of you.”

“Anything more specific?” you teased him, trying to smile though Jake couldn’t seem to return it. “You want to take a trip or go shopping for some more baby stuff or . . .?”

You trailed off, trying to think of something else when Jake gently grabbed your hand. You looked down as he slowly turned your wrist over and ran his thumb over your engagement ring. Sharing a look with Jake, you felt another batch of tears start to form. 

“I know you mentioned wanting to wait until after the baby was born because it would just be too chaotic to think about now . . . but—”

“—Yes,” you agreed quickly. “I’ll marry you, Jake.” 

He offered you a genuinely touched smile, a different batch of tears coming to his eyes. You wiped them away while you shed some of your own before pulling him in for a soft, loving kiss. And Jake could only pull you closer, savoring one of his last opportunities to do so. Breaking away a few moments later, you flashed him a painful smile.

“I guess I should find a dress.” 

~~~~~

Sitting with your head in your hands at Bradley and Emma’s kitchen table, you tried to not let your stress show. Everyone was giving you looks like they were waiting for you to finally break and you just frankly did not have the time. 

You were marrying Jake that afternoon and you didn’t have a wedding dress to get married in. 

The day before the two of you had run around like crazy people, making sure that all of the necessary documents were being prepared for the closing of your house. Then you spent time at his lawyer’s office, signing off on wills and other documents to protect yourselves and the baby while Jake was away. And you did a fair amount of crying along the way and so here you were, still without a dress. 

“I just don’t know where I’m going to find a white dress that fits me in time,” you told Penny, picking your head up from your hands. 

“We’ll figure something out,” she assured you, squeezing your shoulder. “Maybe we can find a dress down at one of the department stores in town.” 

“And what if we don’t find something?”

“We’ll find something,” Emma said from your other side. “You’ll have a white dress for this wedding.”

“What about this one?” Bradley called, causing the three of you to turn to him. 

Your brother held up the vacuum sealed bag that contained your mother’s wedding dress from her own wedding in 1983. It used to sit in your apartment closet, up until you moved in with Jake and were pretty much forced to hand it over to Bradley since you didn’t have any space in the apartment. 

After your mom’s death, you knew that you would incorporate her dress into your own in some way. Perhaps with a bit of fabric. Or you would borrow the veil. Something small that would have her with you on your special day, but also not holding you back with eighties fashion. 

You never really pictured actually getting married in your mom’s wedding dress.

For one thing, there was the little detail that your mom was over five months pregnant when she married your dad. 

Apparently, shotgun weddings and unplanned pregnancies ran in the family. 

Walking over to your brother, you inspected your mother’s wedding dress a little closer. It was fitted at the bust, but even with the slight cinch at the hips, the fabric was loose. It had to be. Bradley’s fat ass had to be accommodated. The skirt was a bit full, but nothing crazy. The bodice was covered in delicate lace and it had the distinct puffy sleeves from the eighties. 

“Mom’s dress,” you said quietly, turning to your brother. “You think I should wear Mom’s dress?” 

“It’s the only suggestion I have,” Bradley replied softly. And when he saw a flash of doubt in your eyes, he asked, “What’s wrong?” 

“I just don’t want to ruin it,” you replied, running your fingers along it. 

“You’re not going to ruin it,” Bradley assured you, causing you to turn back to him. “She always said that she would have married Dad in a potato sack. She didn’t care about the dress. She just wanted to get married, that was all.” 

“She never cared about any of that,” you agreed, sniffling a bit. Wiping your tears away, you croaked out, “I just wish she was here.” 

Bradley pulled you in for a tight brotherly hug that you quickly returned. Emma carefully took the dress from Bradley’s hand, letting him properly hug you. You held onto your brother and sobbed, your promise to yourself about not breaking down falling to little pieces at your feet. 

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair how Jake got called up for deployment when you were nearing your third trimester. It wasn’t fair how the two of you had to cobble together some random ceremony at the last minute. It wasn’t fair how you couldn’t have your parents at your wedding. It wasn’t fair how you could have your baby without Jake by your side for months.

And it all just came rushing out as your big brother protectively hugged you in the middle of his kitchen. 

“It’s going to be alright,” he told you, sharing a worried look with Emma. “You’ll see.” 

“I’ve lost enough. I just wanted to win this one time, Brad,” you sobbed, causing your brother to start to tear up too. “I just wanted him here for a few more months. That’s all I needed.” 

“I know, I know,” he told you, rubbing your back. “It’s going to be alright.” 

The two of you stood there for a few moments, maybe even minutes as you cried and Bradley tried his best to comfort you.

“And Mom and Dad aren’t here to walk me down the aisle,” you continued on, sniffling repeatedly. 

“I cried about that too, on my wedding day,” Bradley told you quietly, voice thick with emotion. “But they’re both here. And they both wouldn’t want you to cry like this on your wedding day.”

“I know,” you whispered, wiping your tears away. 

Giving your brother another hug, you stepped back and turned to see Penny, Emma, and Sarah, who had come in while you were crying to Bradley, standing there, waiting for you. 

“So, do you want to wear your mom’s dress?” Emma asked softly, holding it up for you. 

“Yeah,” you agreed with a small smile, wiping some more tears away. “I’ll wear my mom’s wedding dress.”

Penny walked over and gave you a tight hug before leading you over to the guest bedroom with Sarah and Emma trailing after the two of you. 

“We’ll get you fitted into the dress and while Sarah’s sewing it up, you hop in the shower and get all of the tears and snot off of your face and then we’ll really start getting you ready, alright?”

~~~~~

“. . . and that was how I met your mom,” Jake recorded his own voice, sitting in your shared apartment. 

With you at Bradley and Emma’s house to get ready, Jake was taking the opportunity to put together a little gift for you. He ordered a set of headphones for your bump and now he was recording little messages to your baby. 

Saving that message, Jake was about to start another one when there was a knock on the door. He got up from his seat and walked over, letting Javy in. Just like him, Javy was dressed in his dress whites and he offered Jake a smile of condolence as he walked into the apartment. 

“How’re you doing?”

“I’ve been recording messages. For the baby,” Jake replied softly, shutting the door. “For her to play when I’m deployed.” 

“How many do you have now?” 

“Six,” Jake stated, showing Javy his phone. “I’m hoping to record a few more before I leave.” 

“I’m sorry, Jake,” Javy stated quietly, trying to not let defeat enter his tone. Jake’s expression already had too much of it for Javy’s taste. “You should get to be there. And there’s still a chance, but this isn’t fair and you have the right to be pissed about it.” 

“I’m not even angry anymore. I’m just . . . depressed,” Jake returned quietly. “And I’m worried about her. I’m terrified that this is going to push her into early labor or hurt the baby or something like that.” 

“We’ve already passed around a sign up sheet,” Javy told Jake, who looked at his best friend with a measure of confusion. “Every day, at least one of us is going to stop by and spend time with her. Check on her. Help her with anything that she needs help with. Make sure that she and the baby are alright. She’s not going to be left here alone.” 

Jake nodded slowly, tears threatening to fall. He bit his lip, trying to hold it in, but when Javy pulled him into a tight hug, Jake let a few fall. 

“I’m so sorry, Jake,” Javy repeated sorrowfully. 

Straightening up after a few solemn moments, the two aviators collected themselves before Javy put on a brave face for his best friend. Looking around the apartment, Javy turned back to Jake. 

“So, you got the rings?”

“Yeah, we bought them yesterday,” Jake replied, walking over to your bedroom. 

He pulled out a fabric bag and handed it over to Javy, who opened it and dropped the rings into his hand. To match your engagement ring, the two of you bought silver wedding bands. They were simple, traditional wedding bands, but when Jake got back, the two of you were already discussing getting something engraved on the inside of them. 

But right now, the most important fact was that the two of you got married today. All the other details could come later. 

“Anything else that you’re supposed to bring?” Javy asked, handing the bag back to Jake. “You got all of the paperwork?” 

“Right here,” Jake replied, picking up a folder from the kitchen counter. “I’m just waiting for the text to start heading down there.” 

“Go record your messages to your kid then. I’m going to call Nat,” Javy told Jake before heading out of the apartment. 

Pulling out his phone, Javy pressed Phoenix’s contact and held the phone to his ear as he walked over to the stairwell. After a few rings, Phoenix picked up the call. 

“Hey, you at Jake’s?” she answered quietly. 

“Yeah, I am.” 

“How is he?” 

“He’s fucking broken, Nat,” Javy sighed, rubbing his face. “I’ve never seen him look this defeated before.” After a pause, Javy asked, “How’s she doing? Did you make it to Rooster and Emma’s place?”

“They’re doing some quick alterations to her dress. And Emma is doing her hair and makeup right now. So, we’ll probably be heading out within an hour.” Phoenix took a moment before adding, “She’s trying to pretend like she’s okay but Rooster said that she had a bit of a breakdown earlier.” 

“But she’s okay now?”

“Physically, yeah, she’s fine. Emotionally, I’m worried. But Penny’s keeping a close eye on her.” 

“I just feel so bad for them.” 

“I know, me too,” Phoenix replied softly. “Where’s Jake now?” 

“Don’t tell her because I’m pretty sure that he wants to make it a surprise, but he’s recording messages to their baby for her to play while he’s gone.” 

“Jesus Christ,” Phoenix sighed, shaking her head. “I can’t believe that he has to leave tomorrow. They can’t even fully enjoy their wedding night.” 

“I know,” Javy sighed, glancing down the hall at your and Jake’s apartment. “I’m going to go check on him again. Text me when you guys are heading down to Town Hall.” 

“Yeah, I’ll let you know.” 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

~~~~~

You sat in Emma and Bradley’s bathroom as Emma applied some eyeshadow to your eyelids. She had already braided your hair into a simple updo with some help from Phoenix before working on your makeup.

“Alright, no more crying, okay?” Emma stated as she pulled out your eyeliner and mascara. “Once this is on your face, no more tears.” 

“I’ll try my best,” you returned quietly. 

Closing your eyes as Emma applied your eyeliner, you could hear the sound of footsteps down the hall. When Emma told you that you could open your eyes, you turned your head to see Maverick standing at the entrance to the bathroom. He was already in his dress whites and offered you a supportive smile.

“Hey, Mav,” you called to him before Emma turned your head to apply your mascara. 

“How’re you feeling?” 

“Like I’m tired of everyone asking me that question,” you replied, causing a small smile to crack at Maverick’s lips. 

“Did you find something to wear?” 

“I’m wearing Mom’s dress,” you replied, turning back to him after Emma removed the mascara brush. “Sarah and Penny are fixing it up quickly right now in the guest room.” 

“You’re wearing your mom’s dress?” 

“With a few alterations. I had the sleeves cut off,” you explained, causing Maverick to nod slowly. “But it actually fits pretty well. Turns out that my baby at almost seven months is about the same size as Bradley when he was five months.”  

“He was a big baby,” Maverick replied, missing Emma’s wince. 

“You think that she ever pictured me walking down the aisle in it?” you asked Maverick as Emma finished up with your eye makeup. 

“She was probably hoping that you’d get married first and pregnant second.” 

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” you returned with a shrug of your shoulders, causing you and Maverick to share a quiet laugh. 

“Well, Phoenix bought you a bouquet. And are you wearing a veil?”

“No, it was just another thing to worry about.” 

“Then that should be everything. Do you need anything else before I start rounding everyone up?” Maverick inquired, straightening up. 

“Yeah, actually.” 

“What is it?” 

“Can you help walk me down the aisle?” you asked him, causing Maverick to freeze. 

“Of course, I will,” Maverick promised you.

Emma stepped aside and you slowly stood up to accept Maverick’s tight hug. You returned it, trying not to cry, but Maverick let a few tears slip from his eyes for the both of you. He slowly pulled away, holding you at arm’s length. 

It was hard to believe that the little girl who he remembered learning how to walk, who asked him to help put her tiara on properly, was now pregnant and getting married. Goose’s little girl was all grown up. Carole’s little girl was all grown up. 

And Maverick knew that he was going to cry about it. 

“You’re going to make such a beautiful bride.” 

“Thanks, Mav,” you returned, pulling him in for another tight hug. 

“Alright,” Maverick sniffled, slowly releasing you. He quickly dried some tears before stepping out of the bathroom. “I’m going to go and make sure that everyone’s where they’re supposed to be and leave you to finish getting ready.” 

“Bye, Mav.” 

You waited for him to go before turning back to Emma, who put the final touches on your makeup. Dabbing your lip color a bit more, she smiled and stepped back. 

“There, you’re all set. Let’s get you dressed.” 

~~~~~

Bradley drove you down to Town Hall in the Bronco because it just felt like the proper send off. Accepting his hand, the two of you started walking up to the building. Turning to your brother with a nervous smile as you linked your arms together, you poked him in the side. 

“Can I ask you something, Brad?” 

“Of course, I’ll act as your getaway driver,” he joked, helping you up the stairs. 

“Actually, will you help walk me down the aisle?” you asked him, causing him to pause for a moment. “I asked Maverick to walk me too, but I have two arms.” 

“You’re sure that you want me to walk you down?” Bradley questioned, turning back to the stairs. “I mean, I know I wasn’t the most supportive of you and Jake in the past. And I just offered to be your getaway driver.” 

“I know, but I want you to walk me down. You’re my big brother, Brad.” 

“Are you trying to get me to cry?” Rooster jokingly asked, refusing to look over at you, because he knew that he would actually start crying if he did. “But, of course, I’ll help walk you down the aisle. I promised you when we were kids, didn’t I?” 

“You did.” 

Maverick met the two of you up at the top of the stairs. You looped your other arm through his own and shared smiles with your family before the three of you walked inside Town Hall. They led you through the building and to the ceremony room. Standing in front of the big doors, you took a moment to gather yourself.

“You ready?” Maverick asked you softly, causing you to smile and nod.

“I’m ready.” 

The doors opened and you turned forward to see Jake waiting there for you, dressed in his immaculate dress whites, looking like a dream. There was a small crowd of friends and family, but the two of you were only focused on each other. 

You offered Jake a small smile, letting a few tears drip down that you’d held in for the sake of your makeup. Jake rubbed his chin, trying desperately not to cry himself, but there you were, dressed in a white dress, looking like a goddess with your prominent baby bump where your shared child was growing. 

And he started silently sobbing himself. 

Reaching the end of the aisle, you accepted kisses on your cheeks from both Bradley and Mav before Jake gently took your hand into his own. The two of you stepped up onto the very small stage and faced each other as the officiant began the short service.

You reached up and wiped Jake’s tears away with your hands and as you tried not to cry too many of your own. The two of you repeated your vows clearly and without hesitation as you slipped your wedding bands onto each other’s fingers. Holding hands in front of your closest friends and family, you smiled widely as the officiant got to the end. 

“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may—”

Jake’s lips pressed against your own before the officiant even finished his sentence. You smiled into the kiss and wrapped your arms around his shoulders as your friends and family cheered for the two of you. 

“I love you,” you told Jake as he broke away and rested his forehead against your own. 

“I love you too,” he returned softly, stealing another kiss. “My wife.”

~~~~~

“I have a wedding present for you,” you told Jake that night as the two of you laid in bed. 

You rolled to the end of your bed and slowly got up, walking over to your dresser. Jake sat up from his own spot, watching you curiously. 

“You had time to get me something?”

“I picked it up yesterday.” 

Pulling out a simple plain white envelope, you walked over to Jake’s side and sat down beside him. Jake took the envelope from your hand and paused when he saw the logo from your obstetrician’s office. 

“What is this?” he asked you quietly, an edge of concern in his voice. 

“I wanted to wait to find out the baby’s gender until they were born,” you started off with, causing Jake to nod slowly. “But I also want us to be the first two people to find out. And just in case—” 

Your voice broke and you cut yourself off as emotion clogged your throat. Jake quickly swooped in and pulled you in for a hug and a soft kiss. You rested your head against his shoulder, staring down at the envelope as you gathered yourself. 

“It’s your choice, Jake. We can find out now or we can find out when the baby’s born.”

Jake looked down at the simple little white envelope in his hands. You didn’t move to rush him, but you sat up more when Jake pulled the paper out of the envelope. Turning to you, he held out the piece of paper and motioned for you to take the other side. 

“On three,” he stated, causing you to nod. 

The two of you counted down together before you opened it together. Staring at the simple message written there, you let out an incredulous laugh and Jake pressed a series of kisses to your cheek and neck as he pulled you into his lap.

“I knew it,” he breathed out, resting his hand on top of your bump.  

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” you asked him, causing him to shake his head. You let out a bright laugh, some joy returning to you. “We’re having a girl, Jake.” 

“I’ve been telling you,” he insisted, causing you to jokingly nudge him. The two of you shared a soft series of kisses before Jake pulled back. “We’re having a little girl.” 

“She’s going to be a handful.” 

“That was going to be true regardless,” Jake reminded you, causing you to laugh again and sink into his arms once more. “I love you so much.” 

“I love you too.” 

“And I love our daughter so much.” 

“She knows that, Jake,” you replied softly, pressing a kiss to his chest. “She knows.” 

~~~~~

Jake barely slept that night. 

The two of you discussed it the night before and agreed that it would be less stressful on you and the baby for him to leave on his own in the early morning. You said your goodbyes the night before and Jake managed to coax you to sleep after another round of tears and kisses.

Getting up before his alarm, Jake took a quick shower and got dressed in his uniform. His bag was already packed and all he had to do was say goodbye to you and your daughter. 

But that was going to be a difficult process. 

Kneeling on the floor in front of you, Jake rested his hand on your bump and pressed a kiss to your skin before moving his hand around some more. He let a few tears drop as he tried to feel your daughter moving around to no avail. 

“I’ll be back, Baby Girl, alright? I just have to go take care of some things, that’s all.” Jake took a moment and a deep breath before adding, “You’re going to be a good girl for your mom, right? Let her sleep at night and don’t dance on her bladder, okay?” 

Removing his hands from your bump and moving to stand, Jake looked up at your peaceful expression one last time before turning back to your bump. 

“I love you so much, sweetheart. And I’ll be back. Don’t you ever think that I’m abandoning you, okay? I’ll be back.” 

Jake stood up and leaned over to press a soft kiss to your face. Not wanting to risk waking you up, he withdrew and let out a quiet sigh.

“I love you, Honey. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

A few moments after Jake reluctantly left for base, you snuggled into your pillow, still deeply asleep. As you continued to snooze, there was a small press on your skin, like a little fist was waving goodbye, before it slowly sank back down. 

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[wosoragebaiter69]

late

barça femeni x teen!reader

request: here & here

A/N: i love everything about this request. (i did make lucy ona and keira a throuple for the memes)

also Asisat has left.. no more dedicated funny person in my stories 😔

TW: Panic Attack

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

You’re late. You’re never late. That’s how you end up on the phone with Ona, stressed and out of your mind.

“I’m not sure Ona! All I know is that my period is late, and I am FREAKING out, so god help me and come over please.” You’re borderline screaming at the phone.

“Ok ok, please just calm down I’ll be there soon. When I get there you better have an explanation of why you think you might be pregnant, you are literally 17.” You can hear her disappointment.

“Yes I know, I know. Just get the tests please.” She says yes and promptly hangs up the phone as you go back to worrying.

- - - - -

All was going well for Ona, she bought two tests which were different brands and payed for them without getting recognised by any fans. She opts to not buy a bag, considering it’s 8pm at night. It’s not like she was going to run into anyone anyways, right?

Wrong, immediately as she walks out of the pharmacy, tests in hand she bumps into not only her captain. But 1 of her 2 girlfriends as well.

“Uhh, what is that?” Lucy says, looking down at the tests in her girlfriends hand.

“I, uhh.” The younger spaniard starts to freak out, not wanting to put you in a vulnerable position.

“Tell us.” Alexia says sternly, leaving no room for argument.

“Well, it’s not for me. It’s for… it’s for Y/N.” The older women look visibly shaken and shocked.

“Disculpe!”

“Qué?”

They speak at the same time.

“Ok, I’m about to go to her house. Lucy you can come with me and Ale you can come if you’d like.”

“I’ll leave the nena to you both, just update me ok?” Alexia is concerned, rightfully so. Ona and Lucy nod, before getting in the car and driving to your place.

- - - - -

You open the door, surprised to see not 1 but 2 visitors.

“Hola.” You say before allowing them access inside the apartment.

“Sorry, I uh might’ve ran into Lucy and Alexia and I had to tell them.” Ona blurts out, you don’t worry though as it would probably get out anyways.

“It’s fine… can I just have the tests now?” She nods slowly, passing them to you before running off to the bathroom.

When you’ve followed the instructions and done what’s needed, you walk out and place the two sticks on the table, flipping them upside down. Once again you begin to spiral.

“Oh god, what if it’s positive.” You mumble, pushing your knees to your chest.

“Hey, if it is positive we’ll do our best to support you, if it’s negative then there’s nothing to worry about. Might be a cyst or something. Take deep breaths for me ok?” Lucy’s reassuring voice leads you into a less panicked state, and you just hoped that time would fly by faster.

When the timer on Ona’s phone went off, you felt sick. You took deep breaths as Ona scratched your back slightly. You counted in your head to three and flipped both tests open to reveal one negative… and one positive. Oh fuck.

“Ona? Luce? Please. What do I do, I’m scared.” Tears stream down your face, your body starts to shake and Lucy immediately holds you tight against her.

“Shh, shh, it’s ok. It might be a false positive, youre going to be ok I promise.” She says as you’re crying, her words fall deaf in your ears as you can only sob harder. Now going into a full panic attack.

“Call Keira, I’ll message Alexia.” Ona nods and calls the other Englishwoman.

- - - - -

It’s around 5 minutes later, you feel like you’re going to pass out when there’s knocks on the door. You register something else happening and soon enough someone has their hands touching your knees and speaking.

The person takes your hand and puts it agaisnt something that’s beating and you try to get in sync with it.

Soon enough, you regain your senses and it’s Keira who’s pulled you back to reality. It seems she knows you’re back with the look she gives.

“Hey…” She whispers softly, wiping the tears out of your eyes. “Whatever happens, you have me, the team and we won’t judge you at all. Ok?” You nod.

It takes a few more minutes until you’re basically back to where you were. You look up at their curious gazes.

“You can ask questions if you want.” You answer the unspoken question.

“So you… you had sex.” You nod at Keira.

“With a guy?” Ona pipes up and you sigh nodding your head again.

“Ok, how about this. Give it another week and we’ll do another two tests, IF you haven’t got your period by then, sound good?” You half-smile and stare at the table.

“Do you want any of us to stay at all?” You shrug, not even sure what you want at the current moment. “Ok, Keira will stay with you and you’ll go to training in the morning. We updated Alexia and she’s worried. She agrees with us about the waiting and what we’ll do after today. She might want to speak to you tomorrow though.”

“Ok, thank you for everything Luce and you Ona.” You look at both of them, smiling gratefully. They pat you on the shoulder before walking out to presumably go home. Then Keira turns to you.

“I brought stuff over in case, don’t worry about lending clothes or anything like that.”

“Ok… could you maybe sleep- like in the bed with me?” You ask, slightly embarrassed.

“Not at all come on, you need the rest.” She leads you to your room and you immediately crash fast asleep against the pillow.

- - - - -

The next morning when you wake up, you know something has changed. There’s a light ache in your abdomen and your muscles are slightly sore. Keira is peacefully lying beside you and you’re happy that she stuck to her word and stayed.

You lazily make your way to the bathroom to use the toilet when you feel as if God has blessed you. low and behold that positive from the previous night was a false one.

You feel immediately at ease and get done what needs to be done in the morning.

“Keira!” You greet happily, she smiles slightly confused. Considering it’s such a dramatic change from last night.

“What’s up?” She asks.

“I finally got it.” It takes a second for her to register what you meant by that but when she does she’s also happy.

“Well, that’s great. Come on, eat this muesli bar and we’ll get going, then you can tell the girls about it.” You nod and head off to training.

- - - - -

When you walk in the room where all the girls are, the ones who knew look at you in surprise of the look of joy on your face.

“Why so happy cariño?” Ale asks.

“Well it seems like someone has blessed me because this morning I got what I’d been hoping for. My period.” You say dramatically and she smiles.

“YAYY THE BEBE ISN’T PREGNANT!” Mapi’s loud voice shouts as you look down, cheeks turning red.

“Welcome to womanhood elskling.” Ingrid pulls you in and presses a kiss against your temple.

—————————————————————————

i fangirled so hard today on the woso writers discord

[badalivie]

 when you faint on stage

warnings: unhealthy diets, cursing, and some mentions of blood 

seungcheol!

“I can’t. My performance is in a couple minutes” You huffed, almost tripping over because of the lack of feeling you had in your left leg.

“slow down” Seungcheol grabbed a hold of your waist and pulled you back up on your feet “y/n please.” Just as he tried to beg you again, your group was called to perform. He could only watch as you hauled yourself onto the stage and smiled brightly, waving and making hearts at the cameras. He hated seeing his members in pain during performances and not being able to do anything to help them. So imagine how he felt watching you, the love of his life, haul yourself onto the stage like a soldier with a duty to battle.

After 3 excruciating minutes, you were able to finish the performance. Seungcheol kept his eyes on you like a hawk throughout the performance. Biting his nails, tapping his foot, peeling the skin on his lips. He felt like his heart was going to burst from worry. The way your eyes began to close and the way your foot was fighting for balance didn’t go unnoticed by him. Just as the lights shut off, you lost consciousness. Seungcheol was fast enough to catch you before you hit the ground, tearing his slacks as his knees slid across the floor. “Y/n, doll, come on” He lightly tapped your cheeks and stroked your head “Fuck.” He cursed, picking you up bridal style and running to your waiting room.

“I don’t care what you think! I’m asking you why you thought it was okay to overwork y/n like this! Extreme diets, 17 hour schedules, are you out of your mind?! You think being an idol is easy?”

The voice of your boyfriend yelling slowly woke you up. “Baby..?” You muttered. Seungcheol’s head snapped towards you when he heard your voice and he instantly kneeled down to your eye level while you lay on the couch.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” He smiled sweetly while he waved your manager and other staff away with one motion of his hand.

“Dizzy” you replied, trying to get up

“hey hey, slow down” Seungcheol placed his hands on your back and helped you sit up. “drink.” He gently held your chin as he guided you to drink from the water bottle he had bought earlier, feeding you like a baby. You drank a good amount before pushing the bottle away. “Good girl.” Seungcheol cooed, stroking the side of your head and tucking your hair behind your ear.

“what happened?”

“you passed out.” He frowned

“Oh shit not again” you face palmed. Seungcheol’s eyebrows crashed together.

“again? how many times has this happened?” He grabbed your wrist tightly and pulled it away from your face, forcing you to look at him. “Tell me.” He pressed.

“Just like… three or four times”

A serious, yet worried, expression washed over his features. “I knew it. I knew something was up with you. Why didn’t you tell me?” You sensed a hint of anger in his voice even though he tried his hardest to suppress it. You knew how careful he was with you, always making sure you never bumped into anything or strained yourself too much (which you were grateful for), so you didn’t want to trouble him when you started passing out and kept it a secret.

“because I knew you’d react like this.” You sighed.

His face scrunched up in what seemed to be annoyance before he took a breath and relaxed “of course I’m going to react like this, y/n. I’m your boyfriend, all I want is for you to be happy, and healthy. You can’t expect me to be anything less than worried.” He sighed, eventually calming down, and rested his forehead against yours.

“I’m sorry,” You said, attempting to calm his nerves knowing he was probably exploding internally. You rubbed your hands up and down his arms, which you could feel made him physically relax. “It won’t happen again.”

“It definitely won’t. I’ll make sure of that. You’re gonna be okay. I’m here now.”

He’d definitely watch over you like a hawk for the rest of the month. He’d make sure you ate 3 meals a day and had a decent amount of sleep. Your manager adjusted your schedule to make it a bit lighter. How could he not? He was too scared to find out what Seungcheol would to do him if he didn’t ease up on you.

jeonghan!

“so you think I’m weak and can’t handle it?”

“That’s not what I meant at all and you know it.” Jeonghan exasperated

“Yeah well, that’s what it sounded like to me.”

Jeonghan sighed and reached for your arm, rubbing up and down “I just worry for you... That’s all...” Before you could respond, your group was called to the stage. The heartbreak he felt when you shook his hand off was incomprehensible. It started off as a joke. He was teasing you about how pale you were, but when he noticed how weak you actually were, his mood changed. “You can’t go on stage like this y/n.” “You’re too... frail...” “Look at you! You look like you’re going to fall over any minute!” Were some of the things he said. Considering your exhaustion and all his prior teasing, you were not having any of it, which lead to a small dispute.

Jeonghan quietly returned to his seat by his members when the event continued. He kept his eyes fixated on you the whole time. Every time your balance faltered, and when your knees hit the ground too hard, he flinched in his seat. You managed to get to the end of the performance, but before you could strike the ending pose, you fell to the ground. The crowd gasped and the camera flashes went wild.

Jeonghan calmly stood up and excused himself from his members, who all understood where he was going. He heard the voices of your concerned members through the speakers, but he never sped up his pace as he made his way backstage. The pace he was walking at was driving him insane. When he got backstage, away from the cameras, his legs mindlessly began to speed up, taking him faster and faster until he was sprinting to your waiting room.

Jeonghan’s heart sank when he saw you with an oxygen mask strapped to your face. He immediately turned to your manager and lost it.

You woke up to the sound of your boyfriends voice and that irritating tone of his. You only heard it when you got in big arguments with him. It was that tone that made you think he wasn’t taking you seriously, like he was mocking you. It drove you crazy. But hearing what he was saying made your heart warm.

“So what did you expect her to do? Just take it and soldier though? Do you hear yourself right now? What do you want me to say? ‘You’re a genius!’ Pull yourself together dumbass. Look at the state she’s in! Did you not have enough brain to think this far? Do you think she’s a robot?! This is what happens to a person if you don’t let them rest!”

You gently reached your hand and grazed your fingertips over Jeonghan’s hand. A shiver crawled up his spine at the contact. “Baby…” Your boyfriend fell to his knees by your side, brushing your hair back. The staff all silently slipped outside of the room, partly because they were scared of Jeonghan, but because they also wanted to give you two privacy. “I’m sorry for earlier. I shouldn’t have been hard on you…”  He immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry too. I know you care for me… I shouldn’t have let my exhaustion rub off on you.”

Jeonghan shook his head and smiled sweetly at you “It’s okay. I know I have those moments with you too, and honestly I’d rather you be open to me about how you’re feeling. Okay? Don’t hide it from me.” He grabbed some water and a snack from the coffee table next to you. “Please eat something. You know how hard it was for me to just watch you eat only fruits at home?”

You sat up slowly and debated at first, but when you saw the way Jeonghan was looking at you with his worried, begging eyes, you had to say yes. “Just a small bag of cheetos. That’s it.”

“It’s a step” He chirped, popping the bag open and feeding you pieces of the snack one by one.

He’d watch over you silently but diligently for the next few months. He’d subtly try to up your food intake without you noticing and he’d always cuddle you after eating a large meal, almost like a reward.

shua!

"you’re bleeding!”

You felt blood trickle down from your nose, the droplets landing on your stage outfit. Joshua ran to your side and wiped your nose with a tissue. “This is bad, y/n. Really bad.”

“I’m fine. This happens a lot” You said nonchalantly, stuffing some tissue up your nostril. 

“a lot? y/n you need to see a doctor!”

“I’m fine, shua...” You tried to reassure him, but it obviously wasn’t working.

“y/n please.”

Just on cue, you were called to the stage to perform. Joshua grabbed your wrist, asking you to stay and take a break. He didn’t let go up until the very last second. He watched your performance from his seat anxiously. It was obvious to him that your blood was still trickling down from your nose. You kept looking up and wiping your nose when you walked to the side of the stage. You were like a ticking time bomb. 

Just before the last chorus could start, you dropped your microphone and fell onto the cold wooden floor. One of your members helped you up and carried you backstage with the help of some staff while your other members continued the performance. Joshua pushed through the crowd and burst through the backstage doors, booking it towards your waiting room.

“y/n!” His heart sank at the sight of you laid out on the couch. Grabbing a blanket, he threw it over your body and fell to his knees beside you. Joshua grabbed your hand and brought it up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss on the back. After about 15 minutes, you regained consciousness.

“Shua..?”

“you’re awake... how do you feel?”

It took you a second to answer, feeling too drowsy to even evaluate your physical state “not so good.”

Joshua sighed and brushed your hair back,  whispering softly “we’re seeing a doctor tomorrow.”

“Joshua there’s no need-”

“No. You are not arguing with me on this. I should have been more stern with you.” His voice was sharp, yet his eyes were still gentle as ever, afraid of hurting or scaring you. “We’re seeing a doctor and that’s the end of the story. If there’s something wrong with you, I want to know, I want to help. I don’t want to regret not taking you to the doctor. I can’t take that risk. I can’t to lose you...”

You cupped his cheeks and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead “And you wont...” He melted upon hearing those words of reassurance, bringing his hands up to yours and pressing them closer to his face, moving his head to the side to kiss one of your palms. “What time do we have to go tomorrow?”

“After we get enough rest.”

The doctor said you were suffering from burnout and exhaustion and advised you to get lots of rest. Joshua was happy that you didn’t have any serious life threatening conditions and that helping you get better was something he had power over. He’d pamper you but also be strict with your recovery, scolding you whenever you didn’t eat enough saying “you didn’t eat a lot, you just ate more than usual.”

jun!

Jun was usually soft-spoken toward you. He always respected and trusted your decisions whatever they may be. So when you were depriving yourself of your basic needs and deteriorating your health, he had no idea how to talk to you about it. You’d never put yourself in a situation that needed his intervention before so he had no idea how to tackle it. His hesitation lasted weeks, with multiple occasions of him saying he wanted to talk to you about something that was concerning him but it ending up with him getting too nervous and changing the topic to something else.

“Love, can we talk please?”

“Of course Junnie. What is it?”

“Are you okay-“

Before Jun could finish you were called by your manager, telling you to get on stage. You told him you’d talk to him later and ran into positions. Jun bit his lip, frowning at how the outfit you were wearing brought out how much weight you’d lost. 

You were out of breath and wobbly on stage, something even the audience took notice of. Mid-performance, as your verse was coming up, you fell onto the ground, landing hard on your shoulder. Jun flinched and instinctively ran to you, propping you up on his lap and cradling your face in his hands. The cameras went wild, the flashes almost blinding him. Soon after, staff came to the stage, blocking the two of you from sight and lifted you onto a stretcher. Jun followed the staff that took you to your waiting room with his heart stuck in his throat. He knew that there would be consequences to coming on stage and letting the media see him with you like that, but he didn’t care. He just needed to make sure you were okay. After all, as long as he had you by his side, he could take on the world.

It took about 20 minutes to wake up. You blinked your eyes open to see Jun sitting on a chair across from you, head in his hands. “Junhui...” You called. He jolted when he heard your voice and knelt by your side in a flash.

“y/n! I was so worried! When you fainted I- I didn’t know what to do I-... I was so scared.” You cupped his cheeks and brought his face closer to yours, pressing a gentle kiss against his lips. 

“I’m sorry.”

“You can’t keep scaring me like this, y/n. I can’t keep watching you do this to yourself. I can’t take it. This is where I draw the line.”

“Junhui...”

“Listen to me, y/n” His voice was sharp and stern, a polar opposite from his usual gentle tone. After noticing the shock on your face, he took a deep breath and softened his approach “ Please... We’re seeing a doctor, and getting you a dietitian.”

“Junnie, I can handle myself. I don’t need a dietitian-”

“That wasn’t a request, y/n. I’m getting you one”

You knew by the way he was stalking to you that there was no changing his mind. Though, you did realize that if you hadn’t pushed yourself so far, he wouldn’t have been so stern with you. Deep down, you knew he cared about you.

“Okay... Thank you, Junhui...”

His eyes softened “I’ll never let anything happen to you. You know that right?”

“I know... But hey, on a side note, I like you being strict. It’s really cute~”

“stop it” He giggled, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you in for a kiss.

Jun would be very gentle and supportive in your recovery, making sure you knew he would be with you every step of the way. He’d send gentle reminders to eat the snacks he packed you with sticky notes of motivational messages and cradle you to sleep, smiling when he gradually felt your body gain a little more fat every time he held you.

wonwoo!

“stop it.” Wonwoo chided

“Leave me alone, Won.”

“Y/N!”

“JUST GO!” You shook his arm off, stumbling as you did so. “if you’re not going to support me, just leave.”

“you can’t keep doing this. Your body can’t handle it.”

“I know what I can and can’t handle, Won.” The way you seethed his name left a bitter taste in his mouth. He exhaled and gently tried to reach for you again.

“y/n, please... I don’t want to fight.”

You sighed “me too... Just-... I’ll catch you after my performance”. Wonwoo wanted to reach for you again and say something, but no words were coming out of his mouth. The two of you almost got in a really big fight, he knew the both of you needed space. Still, he never stopped worrying about you, not even for a second.

Wonwoo could barely sit still while you performed on stage. Every time you fell too hard on your knees or twisted your ankle, he winced. Before he knew it, in the blink of an eye, you were on the ground, motionless and cold. He jolted up from his seat, watching in horror as the staff carried you backstage. He felt his legs take him to your waiting room where he found you laid out on the couch.

Wonwoo took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, loosening his tie and grabbing a chair to sit beside you. He couldn’t stay still no matter how much he tried, so he grabbed a bucket, a towel, and some iced water. He dipped the towel in the iced water and wrung it before placing it on your forehead. “come on y/n...” He whispered, brushing his fingers through your hair.

“Won..?” You blinked your eyes open

“Oh thank God” Wonwoo exasperated “You have no idea how worried I was. I just blinked and the next thing I knew you were on the ground! I-”

“I’m sorry...”

“huh..? for what, love?”

“for earlier...” You lowered your head “You were right and I... I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Oh baby, you’re tired and stressed. I get it. I’m not upset because of that, I’m upset because I don’t like seeing you get hurt.” He rubbed your now bruised knees gently with his hands. “Listen, let’s get you help. Okay? You’re having problems staying up and eating and breathing and just… You need help, y/n, and I’ll give it to you. You just need to let me in. Let me help you help yourself. How does that sound?”

You stayed silent, letting Wonwoo think you were debating it in your head when in reality you already knew the answer. Of course, you would listen to him, why wouldn’t you? What kept you silent is how long it took for you to finally let yourself get help. “Okay… Let’s go to the doctor…”

“Thank you” Wonwoo wrapped his arms around you and held you as close to him as humanly possible. The two of you would have a long, thorough conversation about how you would be handling your health and what steps you’d be taking to get back to proper health. Wonwoo was patient and respectful throughout the whole process, hearing your concerns but also making his side known.

He’d say he trusted you enough to take care of yourself but he’d always be subtly looking after you even if you didn’t notice. Lots of small gestures like putting more food on your plate or getting you juice after practice and opening bottles for you.

woozi!

“This is your fault! Look at what you’ve done to her! Are you proud of yourself?!” Your hearing was muffled but you could make our your boyfriend’s voice in the room, yelling. When you tried opening your eyes, you saw his figure facing your manager, who had a guilty expression on his face. “I told you time and time again that it was too much! You never listened! Now, look what happened! You sacrificed her health for magazine shoots! Are you out of your mind?! You watched her get worse and worse and did nothing! have you no remorse?”

“jihoon-ah...” You whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. Jihoon froze. “baby, come here” His head snapped in your direction, and when he saw you looking at him, the crease between his eyebrows immediately disappeared. His rage had disappeared into thin air, immediately replaced with worry.

“hey, you’re finally awake.” He fell to his knees by your side, smiling weakly. His voice had taken a total 180 from how he was speaking to your manager just a few seconds ago (who was now trying to leave the room without making a single noise, afraid of what Jihoon would do to him).

“what’s going on..? why am I here..?”

“You passed out on stage.”

“I did?” You tried sitting up, but you felt too tired to do so. Jihoon noticed and placed his hand on your back to help you sit up, placing pillows on your back to support you. 

“yeah. everyone was worried. I was worried.” Jihoon breathed, resting his forehead against yours. That was a habit of his whenever he was stressed. You indulged him, letting him hold you for as long as he wanted, knowing how worried he must have been. The silence was broken by a small sniffle coming from your boyfriend. “Jihoon?” You asked, partially worried but also shocked. He rarely cried. “Why are you crying?”

“I can’t take this anymore. Do you have any idea how scared I was?!” He raised his voice a little, a few tears streaking down his cheeks. “You come home at 3 in the morning with barely enough energy to give yourself a bath! You barely eat, you barely sleep, and you barely call anymore. Day and night I worry if you’re okay because you’ve started getting bloody noses often and you have a hard time standing and you don’t even want to eat your favorite foods with me anymore! It’s killing me seeing you like this. The worst part is you won’t talk to me about it! I have to find out through the staff and your friends! Do you have any idea how it makes me feel to find out that my girlfriend’s health is deteriorating right before my eyes and I barely noticed?!”

“Jihoon... I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was affecting you this much.” You cupped his cheeks and wiped his tears “I’m fine, baby. See? I’m right here. I’m going to be okay”

“You say that but you haven’t shown me anything to back it up. You’re getting worse, y/n. I know your schedule has been hectic because of your comeback but you have to take care of yourself too. If you wont do it for yourself, at least do it for me... please...”

“I will, I’m sorry. I’ll fix it. I’ll make everything right.”

“we.” he corrected “I’m with you, remember? every step of the way. I’d appreciate it if you talked to me more. Let me know when you’re in pain, when you’re tired, or sick. I want to know everything.”

“I will, I promise. I won’t hide anymore. Thank you, love. For everything”

Jihoon didn’t say anything in reply and simply kissed you. He was very patient throughout your recovery and basically nursed you back to health himself. He would often push you but you knew he only wanted what was best for you. Every time you overcame a challenge he gave you he’d reward you with cuddles on the couch or a date. You’re so incredibly lucky to have him.

myungho!

“It’s not healthy, love”

“I know but I… I need to lose weight. I don’t want to disappoint the fans”

“You don’t need to lose weight. You’re perfect. Anyway, your real fans would love you no matter how you look. Just like I do.” He stroked your cheek gently, unable to hide the concern on his face. “and you know I’m your biggest fan, right?”

After minutes of constant reassurance, Myungho finally let you join your group to prepare to go on stage. He watched the performance with his lip caught between his teeth. He doesn’t remember the last time he was this anxious. He knew your group had a difficult choreography, and he scolded you a lot at home for starving yourself to this extent. Myungho had watched your mental health spiral downwards after one particular meeting with your manager, where it all started. No words could possibly express how he felt when he noticed you getting smaller and smaller every time he hugged you. The least he could do was try to reduce your anxiety by cuddling you when you got home, cooking you your favorite snacks, making you tea, or even slow dancing with you to your favorite songs on the record player. He did everything he could, but he couldn’t help you if you didn't want to help yourself, which made it all the more difficult for him to watch.

You were a very sharp person, heck, you were the main dancer. You were a perfectionist, so when he saw you falter on one of the dance steps, he knew something was definitely wrong. You managed to finish the performance, but you were more out of breath than you should have been, and Myungho especially caught the way you couldn’t stand straight while your leader was giving a speech. “Y/n!” He whisper-yelled, which you barely managed to hear. You turned your head and looked at him dead in the eyes “come to me” He mouthed, opening his arms to you. You wanted to walk to him and just rest your weight on him, but you couldn’t seem to feel your legs. All you could do was smile before your vision turned black. 

Myungho instinctively ran towards you and caught you before you hit the ground. He could hear the gasps and camera flashes from the audience but he couldn’t care less about them. “Y/n, baby, wake up.” He silently pleased, cupping your cheek in his hand. One of the staff approached him and said they had to rush you to the waiting room where the medics were waiting. Reluctantly, he let the staff take over, following closely behind.

By the time you regained consciousness you were already at home. Myungho was sitting on a chair next to the bed, holding your hand while he rested his head on a pillow. “Myungho...” You whispered, stirring him awake.

“You’re finally up” He smiled sleepily, moving his hand up to brush your hair back. “I was worried. I’m... really upset with what happened, y/n”

“What happened..?”

“You passed out on stage before I could reach you...”

“Before you could reach me..? Are you saying you went on stage?”

“Yes.”

“Myungho!” You jolted up, immediately regretting it once you felt a surge of pain through your back. Your boyfriend seemed just as surprised as you as he jumped forwards to place a pillow behind you to support your back. “So our relationship... It’s out?!”

“yeah. the public knows.”

“I’m sorry Myungho...” You sighed, letting him shift closer to plant a gentle kiss on your lips.

“You think that’s what I’m upset about?” Myungho stared at you with a mix of irritation and worry in his eyes. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

“Help yourself, y/n. Please. I can’t help you if you don’t help yourself. It hurts seeing you like this. Please let me help you.” His forehead rested against yours, he kept his eyes closed while he spoke gently. 

“Okay... I’m sorry...”

“You should be... Seeing you like that broke my heart, you know?”

It would be a slow process, but Myungho stayed by your side throughout the whole thing. When you couldn’t get yourself to eat, he’d support you, when you felt guilty for eating, he comforted you. He was always there, caring for you and whispering gentle reassurances in your ear until you were healthy again.

mingyu!

"Mingyu!”

“Hyung? What’s up?” Mingyu stared at Seungcheol who was panting by the doorway of the restroom

“It’s y/n.” The older male fought to catch his breath “She passed out on stage.” Mingyu, who was in the middle of drying his hands, froze. 

Everything after that was a blur. He could vaguely remember Seungcheol’s mouth moving as if he were speaking but not actually hearing anything. He could vaguely remember bumping into other idols as he sprinted his way backstage. He could vaguely remember tripping on someone’s foot and falling to the ground but immediately picking himself up and continued running to your room. Though nothing would ever make him forget the image of you lying on your waiting room couch with an oxygen mask strapped to your face.

“What happened?” Mingyu’s tone was low and dark. The only other person in the room was your manager, who placed a water bottle on the coffee table next to you.

“She fainted in the middle of her performance. The members are continuing without her but-”

“No, I meant what happened for things to reach this point? Cause I heard you put her on a 1 apple a day diet. Isn’t that right?” Mingyu towered over your manager with darkness pooling by his face as he looked down on him.

“I-I-”

“So it’s true? Now, why would you do something like that? What could you have been thinking, if you were thinking at all? Surely, you did think about the consequences, right? Of what would happen to her if you pushed her too far, and what would happen to you if she ever got hurt. Right? Do you see how skinny she is?” Your boyfriend harshly grabbed your manager’s shoulder, making him wince and groan. “Look. at. her.” Your manager turned his face to gaze at you, staring at your boney figure and feeling the remorse kick in. “Does the fact that you can see her ribs not concern you? What weight is there left to lose?”

“Gyu...” You groaned, slowly regaining consciousness. Mingyu dug his fingers into your manager’s shoulder and brought him closer.

“Leave the room, now. Y/n will take the rest of the day off to recover and she will not follow the ‘diet’ you’ve prescribed to her any longer.”

“but-”

“Did that sound like a request? You do whatever you need to do to let her have the day off. I. Don’t. Care. She will go home and you will do your job properly this time. Am I clear?” Your manager shook his head up and down frantically before Mingyu finally loosened his grip on him. Your manager practically ran out of the room, fearing to stay in the same room as your boyfriend for another second.

"gyu...” You called for him again, voice louder this time.

“I’m right here, baby. Don’t worry” He sat on the floor to match your eye level, giving you his signature sweet smile. “how are you feeling?” You felt his large hands over your own, rubbing circles at the back of your palm with his thumbs.

“Not so good... I’m a bit hungry...”

“how about this, once you feel better enough to walk, I take you to our favorite tteokbeokki place near home. what do you say?”

You smiled at the thought of going on a date with your boyfriend after stressful practice and passing out on stage, but reality hit you soon after. “I can’t... I’m on a diet... Sorry, Gyu...”

“Don’t worry about that. I had a talk with your manager and he said he’s taking you off that diet. You lost a lot of weight, it wasnt healthy.” He caressed your cheek gently and gazed at you with nothing but love and sincerity in his eyes.

“Are you sure..? Am I not too fat..?”

Mingyu seemed taken aback by the sudden question “Don’t be silly. You’re not fat, stop saying mean things about yourself. And quite frankly, I don’t care what you look like. Big or small, you’ll always be the woman I fell in love with. There’s nothing more I could want from you than to be healthy. that’s all, y/n”

“Do you really mean that?”

“of course...” He tucked stray pieces of hair behind your ear and kissed your cheeks. Mingyu began sensing your insecurity a couple of weeks ago when you didn’t want to wear one of the favorite dresses he got you because you thought your arms looked too big for it. He felt the best approach was to be gentle and supportive, making sure you knew he didn’t care about your weight. Judging by your reaction, that was the right decision.

You never found out about the small altercation between your manager and your boyfriend. That was probably for the best. He didn’t want your perception of him to change. He was still that soft, gentle, sweet boy you always knew, and he would continue to be that to you and the people around you as long as no harm came to you.

Your schedule lightened up and you spent more time at home with your boyfriend, rebuilding your confidence back up one piece at a time.

seokmin!

When Seokmin asked if you were okay, you replied with ‘sure’. He didn’t believe you. Those nights he’d find you awake in the kitchen drinking endless amounts of water, when you almost trip whenever you stand up didn’t slip by him. Still, he didn’t want to pry into what seemed your personal business until you wanted to tell him yourself. Still, he kept a careful eye on you while trying to cheer you up whenever you seemed tired.

Seokmin had many regrets. He regretted not asking what was causing you pain, and not convincing you to turn down that stupid diet. All because he knew he’d never forget how he felt when he saw you fall to the ground in the middle of your performance. He froze. His ears rung from the sound your microphone made when it hit the ground. He couldn’t understand or see anyone else but you lying on that stage while your members called for help. He didn’t care about the cameras. Seokmin got up from his seat immediately and ran backstage to your waiting room.

When you woke up you found Seokmin holding your hand in his palms close to his face with his eyes closed. “Seokmin?” His eyes burst open and he turned to look at you.

“You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“dizzy… and hungry”

He gave you a small smile. “Here, have this.” Seokmin fed you strawberries and opened a water bottle he bought for you. “Y/n.”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t scare me like this again.” He kept his eyes on the strawberries he was picking from the box while he said that. Seokmin felt too guilty to look into your eyes.

“I’m sorry, baby” you whispered, but he still didn’t look at you. “Hey, look at me” You placed your hand on his cheek and lifted his head. “It won’t happen again. hm? I’m sorry.”

Seokmin sighed and wrapped his arms around your waist, digging his nose into the crook of your neck. “I’m here, y/n. Please stop acting like i’m not. Tell me when you’re having a hard time. Let me take care of you sometimes. I know you view me as this cheerful and funny boyfriend but you can come to me when you need help too. okay? Im here for better and for worse.”

“Thank you, Seokmin...”

He’d (endearingly) nag you for probably the rest of your relationship. He made it a habit to text you to eat and check up on you. Whenever he was around, regardless of what either of you was doing, when his alarm went off he’d grab a banana, some milk, and walk to you and say “snack time! you need your energy.”

seungkwan!

Both you and Seungkwan were busy. With him going on multiple shows and you being in a hot new girl group, your meetings at home lessened and lessened. Seungkwan noticed you losing weight whenever he saw you, but he never really thought anything of it. That was until you fainted in the middle of your performance.

He’ll never forgive himself for not seeing the signs sooner. You two lived in the same house for god’s sake!

Seungkwan canceled all his schedules for the week and took you to the hospital. There he sat by your side, holding your hand while listening to the traffic from outside the hospital window. “I’m sorry. I should have known. I didn’t know you were getting this bad...” He sighed, placing his hand on your forehead, feeling your unusually high body temperature. You had a fever, were dehydrated, overworked, and burned out. You passed out from exhaustion and still hadn’t woken up after 13 hours. 

When you finally woke up, you found Seungkwan holding your hand while his head and arms rested on your hospital bed. He was asleep. “Seungkwan... baby wake up.”

“y/n, you’re awake...”

“What am I doing here..?”

“You passed out from exhaustion... you’ve been sleeping for almost a day”

It took a few sentences to process what your boyfriend had said. “Fuck... my schedules!” You tried tgo sit up in a panic but Seungkwan placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Slow down, baby. Everything’s okay. You’re on a break right now, I took care of everything. Just focus on resting okay?”

He rubbed your arms up and down, relaxing you. When you finally settled down again, Seungkwan smiled, kissing your cheek. “Hey uh... I’m sorry for not taking care of you better... We live in the same house but I didn’t even notice something was wrong.”

“It’s not your fault... I didn’t know I had already lost control of my health... I was too busy...”

“we both were...” You held his hand and intertwined your fingers with his own. “Listen, I want you to know that even if we both get busy, you can still talk to me okay? Tell me when you don’t feel well or need me and I’ll make time for you... I always will...”

“Thank you... I hope you know I’m here for you too. I know your schedule is tiring too...”

“You know, long days at work aren’t so bad either. It just means more excitement for when I get to go home and see you again” He winked, nudging your elbow in a playful manner

“Oh stop it~” You giggled, pushing his arm

You two laughed together for the first time in weeks. “Okay so here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re taking this week off and spending it at home. I’ll be attending less interviews, and your manager will be making your schedule more flexible. We’ll get you a dietitian too. Just so you can get back to a healthy weight.”

“That all sounds.... great, baby. Thank you.”

What happened to you traumatized Seungkwan, but he was also thankful for the experience. It was a wake-up call for both of you. Ever since then, you two spent more time together at home, talking about each other’s days and ranting and taking care of each other. Seungkwan never failed to make you smile with his daily checkups on you when he called. 

vernon!

Vernon, who had just returned to Korea after touring for months, was more than thrilled to see you again. He sat with his group, biting his lip in a weak attempt to hold back a smile while you were on stage performing. But as soon as he saw you walk on stage, his smile faded. When did you get so thin? and pale? Your hair looked like it’d gotten thinner too... His members all glanced at him, seeing his shocked and confused expression. 

“Yah, is Y/n okay?” Seungkwan nudged Vernon's elbow

“I... I don’t know... She sounded alright over the phone but this...” He couldn’t even form words to reply to his member. You looked like a different person. All the members took notice of how much you struggled on stage. You were out of breath, tripping, and faltering at every difficult move. It was a miracle that you made it to the end of the performance. 

When the lights shut off, everyone heard something drop. The gasps of your members had indicated to everyone that there was an accident. While the lights were still off, Vernon rose from his seat and quickly made his way backstage. By the time he got there you were surrounded by staffs who were fanning you, placing ice packs on your neck and making sure the oxygen mask was strapped to your face.

Vernon took a deep sigh as he gazed at your frail state. When your manager walked into the room and saw Vernon standing in the corner of the room, a shiver ran up his spine. He immediately asked the other staff to step out of the room and give you space. Before he was able to slip out of the room, Vernon grabbed his wrist tightly. “I’m having a word with you later. Don’t think you can run from me.” He growled, harshly releasing your managers wrist and letting him scurry away.

Vernon pulled a stool over and sat by your side, gently stroking your hair before resting his head in his hands. “How did i not notice?” “I should’ve asked how she was doing...” “I should’ve checked up on her more.” “i should’ve-”

“Hansol...” You weakly called for him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Hey baby” He weakly grinned, tucking your hair behind your ear. “You okay?” He asked. You obviously weren’t, but he didn’t know what to say with the adrenaline still pumping in his veins.

“I’m fine...” It was a weak attempt at trying to ease his nerves, because you both knew you were lying.

“bullshit.” Vernon said sternly “how long has this being going on?”

“How long has what been going on?”

“Don’t play coy with me. You know exaclty what I’m talking about.”

You took a deep breath, this was going to be tough for you. “About a week after you left for tour...” If it wasn’t for the sound of your breathing, the room would have been quiet enough for you to hear Vernon’s heart shatter. “I just lost control... I didn’t know it was this bad... I was too busy to notice and I just... I wanted to be pretty. Not just for my group’s comeback but I wanted to be prettier for you when you came back too-”

“Y/n what are you saying?” Vernon’s comment made you glance up to meet his confused gaze. His eyebrows were stitched together with his lips slightly parted in disbelief. “Do you hear what you’re saying right now? You wanted to be pretty? Pretty for when I came back? What does that even mean?” He sighed, cupping your cheeks. “You’re beautiful, y/n. You always have been. if thats not enough and you still want to take measures to help you feel more confident in your skin, the alright, I’ll support you. But never at the cost of your health.”

Tears trickled down your cheeks and Vernon was there to kiss each one away. “I love you, Hansol.”

“I know. Do you know I love you?”

He’d be very gentle yet persistent in your recovery. He’d make sure you ate enough food even if you whined and complained about it. After particularly large meals he’d spend hours cuddling you in the bedroom and kissing your arms, stomach and legs just to let you know that he loved your body no matter how it looked like.

chan!

“I’m not letting you go out there!” Chan sighed

“who are you to tell me what to do!”

“Your boyfriend, who cares about you a lot.” He tried to gently plead with you. “I can’t let you go on stage in the state that you’re in. You just threw up, you’re dizzy, dehydrated, exhausted and it shows.”

“I can’t, Chan. This is the last performance for this comeback, I can’t let everyone down.”

“Y/n-” Before he could try reasoning with you again, you were called onto stage to perform. Chan was pacing around while keeping his eyes on the screen your entire performance. Other idols approached him and asked him if he was okay, to which he just responded to with a wave of his hand and a brief nod. Even his members came out of the waiting room and tried to calm him down because he had been out for a while. He wouldn't leave. Towards the end of your performance, Chan was already waiting by the side of the main stage, waiting for you. You made a big bow, waved towards the cameras and glanced at him. His face was pale with worry and his hands couldn't seem to stay still. You weakly made your way towards him but collapsed right before you were able to completely exit the stage. The crowd saw the lower half of your body hit the ground and murmurs could he heard in the audience. 

Chan cautiously kneeled down and pulled your body towards his own, out of sight from others. He cradled your head gently in his arms “Y/n, baby, wake up.” After you didn’t respond, he quickly lifted you bridal style and carried you to your waiting room. The staff tended to you as well as they could before they gave you and Chan space. He didn’t realize he was going it, but when he was sitting next to you he started to gently massage your palms. Pressing on the soft flesh with his thumbs.

“That feels nice...” You whispered as you slowly regained consciousness.

“Y/n! You’re awake!” He smiled, pressing a tender kiss to your cheek. “You worried me...”

“Did I pass out?” 

Chan nodded gently “You need rest. Please, take a break. And please eat.” He tucked stray pieces of your hair behind your ear while he spoke. 

“What if i gain weight?” 

“So what? What matters is that you’re healthy, and happy. Let me help you, hm? Let me take care of you for once...”

He’d be very gentle and tender with you during your recovery. He’d talk to you sweetly and praise you for every achievement big or small.

authors note: to the person who requested this, im sorry this took literally forever but i hope you enjoyed it nonetheless <33

[deadgurlfilmz]

CHAPTER 1- “what. The. F*ck”

Ford pines x platonic!teenage!reader

Summary- Reader and their friends go out to the forest. When reader is looking for a secluded area to pee instead they find a creepy statue. That definitely won’t lead to nothing more… right?

Warnings- teeny bit of swearing, reader is gender neutral, this is probably the only time these friends will be in the story they are only here to add context for the chapter.

it’s been 4 months since stand and Ford returned from their travels on the Stan o’ War and for the most part life has been normal. fords house is still ‘The Mystery Shack’ Stan and Soos co-manage the shack, Ford still continues his studies of Gravity Falls even writing a 4th jornal (it’s more of a personal jornal just for Dipper) and best of all there is no Bill. The pines family is no longer being terrorised by demonic triangle. YAY!

Now for you a 17 year old kid living in Gravity Falls. You are very ordinary you go to high school, have a close group of friends, decent grades and like every other teenager in Gravity falls you want to get the hell out of there. Even with Gravity Falls weirdness for example the gnomes you’ve encountered (that tried to force you to become their wife), and the ghost that haunts you’re old hangout spot (the abandoned 24h convenient store) the weird and supernatural just never really interested you.

Now for the present. It is a Saturday afternoon July 2017 you and your friends (Maren, Rebekah, Owen, and Julia) All decided to go deep Into the forest just for something to do. Owen and Julia were walking ahead of you, Maren, Rebekah, and You were gossiping about some junior his name was something like Gary? Gideon? Definitely on those lines. You spoke about his criminal history what is insane as at the baby age of 11 this boy was in prison. You all continued walking until you shouted to the group.

“Wait guys! I gotta pee” you shout so Owen and Julia would hear aswell.

Rebekah turned to you “babe… where about are you gonna pee? We are miles away from any bathroom.”

You look around and see a patch of land totally hidden with thick trees. “I’ll go over there” you point.

“Cool. We’ll just be here” Owen nods.

You walk over to the “pee spot” you walk into the tall trees and as you do the vibe changes from ‘normal woods’ to ‘suddenly I don’t need to pee anymore’. You feel as if you are being watched. You walk further in trying to shake the feeling. That is until you see a stone statue sticking out from the ground. It’s triangle shaped. On the one hand it’s creepy but on the other how can anything look creepy when it’s wearing a top hat and bow tie? You take a quick picture of it muttering under your breath “ahaha this is cool” and quickly leave (without peeing). You head back to the group not mentioning the statue you saw. A few hours pass and it’s getting dark so all of you head home.

When you 5 make it back to main gravity falls you all go your separate ways saying byes. The walk to your house isn’t long just 5 minutes away from lazy Susan’s diner. You reach you’re home taking out you’re key from you’re pocket and letting yourself in, you heat up left over pasta in the microwave and go to your room. You place the bowl on your dresser when you see a black book sitting on your bed. You know for a fact you didn’t put it there. Curiosity takes over and you pick it up skimming through the pages and taking in it’s horrifying illustrations and stories.

Two things you notice about the book-

1) the book was covered in drawing of the statue you saw in the woods. (Strange)

2) there was one man who repeatedly showed up. You recognise his face from somewhere… you take a moment to think that’s when it hits you the mystery shack! This is the man who owns the mystery shack!! You need to talk to him ask him what the fuck is going on.

You close the book and toss it under your bed not wanting to look at it any longer the only thing you can say is

“What. The. Fuck.”

—————————————————————

Okay!!! Chapter 1 done. Yay!! I know the dates and ages of characters I’ve used may not line up with the actual plot of GF but oh well just try to ignore it lol

[forever1kay]

WASH DAY !!

Summary: Miles hasn’t had time to care for himself lately, so you take the time to do that for him.

Pairing: Miles Morales x Fem!Black!Reader (Best Friends to lovers trope)

Notes: I did age up Miles slightly in this fic, he’s 17. Please be prepared for a lousy description of facial and hair care, I’m not a professional and I only know what works for me. ALSO, there’s a picture at the very end and it’s not a faceless pic bc I couldn’t find one😔

Warnings: Non-sexual nudity, breaking and entering, Miles was very crusty for a lot of this fic, slander of Jehovah’s Witnesses, profanity of course, clueless Miles, mentions of death, a few nsfw lines… let me know if I forgot anything

You had just finished detangling your hair and were three seconds away from stepping into the shower when you heard a knock at the front door. You debated answering but ultimately decided against it when you realized it was probably the Jehovah’s Witnesses for the third time today.

Stepping into the shower, you hear a thud against the floor in the other room and all you can do is pause and hope you'll be okay. A few seconds later, the bathroom door opened and all you could do was scream and grab the shower curtain for cover.

"Oh Lord!" You scream as your legs give out and force you to sit on the shower floor. "Lord, help me! I'm being attacked!”

“It's just me, Y/n/n!" Miles shouted while frantically waving his hands. “To think you’d recognize your best friend when you see him.”

You stop thrashing and peak your head out from behind the shower curtain, staring up at Miles. “Hi there!”

"Hey," He says, stooping to your level on the other side of the tub. “That was an interesting show you just put on.”

"I was going through something.” You replied, clearing your throat, “When exactly did you get back to this dimension? You smell like booty juice.”

Miles stands up and shyly scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah, about that," he starts. "I just got back and I haven't had time to shower or anything."

“Seriously? You left a week ago!" You cried out while standing up but keeping your body hidden behind the curtain. "Why didn't you go back home and take a shower?"

“Forgot my key at my friend Hobie's.”

“Of course.” Grabbing your shampoo, you sighed and started to shampoo your hair. “I’ll tell you what…”

Miles nods, waiting for you to continue.

"I'll wash your hair after I wash mine. That sound good?”

Miles hums in approval.

“Good! Go shower in my sister’s bathroom.”

"I can't just come in there with you?" He asks.

“Miles, be for real.”

"Okay, okay!" He chuckles and raises his arms in surrender. “Do I still have clothes here?"

“Of course! With how often you’re here, it’d be weird if you didn’t.”

Miles hums. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I’ll leave your clothes outside of the door when I’m done. If you finish before me, just sit tight. It won’t kill you.”

He smiles and gives you a sincere thank you before leaving to take a shower of his own. You unexpectedly finished before him, so you made the decision to leave clean clothes outside the bathroom door for when he’s done.

You did your after-wash routine and wrapped your hair while you waited.

About 20 minutes later, he came back from the restroom wearing the clean clothes you had left for him and threw himself onto your bedroom floor.

“You ran all my momma hot water, Miles?” You asked him.

“Nah, I left some.”

You chuckled and got up, walking towards your room door. “Okay, come on.”

“Where are we going?” He asked, following closely behind you.

“To wash your hair.” You said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He raised an eyebrow. "How does that make sense when I just got out of the shower?"

Rolling your eyes, you grab a seat from the kitchen table. "You know how to stick your head in the sink."

"My neck gets hurt that way." Miles pouts and takes the chair from you, setting it in front of the sink.

“Everyone has that problem.” You respond, gently pushing him into the chair as you experiment with the water temperature then rush to the bathroom to get the shampoo, conditioner, and treatment.

When you come back, Miles is staring blankly at you.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I don't want my hair to be washed in the sink."

“It's either this or you wash your own hair.” You tell him. He shakes his head. “You sure? If you want your hair to be crusty, it’s up to you.”

Miles shakes his head again and takes his shirt off before leaning back in the seat and closing his eyes, wordlessly agreeing to get his hair washed in the sink.

“Alright!” You smile, starting to wash his hair.

Your arms eventually became worn out, and you briefly complained about it before choosing to sit on him.

He awkwardly cleared his throat. "What are you doing?"

"This lessens the stress on my arms."

“Oh.” He nods. "Yes, right. Okay, great. Cool.”

He suddenly started to draw shapes in your thighs with his eyes closed. You did your best to stay calm.

"How was your week?" He asked, his words starting to slur from fatigue.

“So good.”

“Yeah?” He challenged. "Tell me more about it."

Miles had stopped running his hands along your legs, but you were too busy telling him about your week-long college tour at UCF to notice.

You saw he had fallen asleep and was somewhat drooling when you reached up to rinse his hair. Before the moment was over, you immediately dried your hands and took a picture of him. After that, you washed his hair once more, rinsed it, and then used your preferred conditioner.

As soon as you were done, you cleaned your hands and tried to wake up Miles.

"Pssst,” You whispered, "I'm finished.”

"Five more minutes.” He said with his eyes still closed, gently pushing your face away.

“No, Miles.” You responded, "Come on.”

After hearing him snore in response, you reached for the sink faucet and extended it in his direction.

His eyes shot open before you could turn on the water, and he grabbed your wrist. “Alright! I’m up, I’m up.”

You pat his face and rise, placing the faucet in its proper place. “Good! Now stand up.”

“Where are we going?”

You place an oversized cotton towel on his head, grabbing his hand and pulling him behind you. “To the sofa so I can do your hair.”

“Do what to it exactly?” Miles asks, following behind you with your hand still in his.

You shrug as you sit on the sofa and set a pillow on the floor for Miles to sit on. “No idea. You have something in mind?”

Miles squishes into a comfy position between your legs. "Actually, yeah."

And after 45 minutes of Miles being tender-headed from his first set of braids, you finished.

"Calm down, you ass." You scolded. "We're finished. Go look at it.”

Miles went to look at his hair in the bathroom before excitedly running back to you and lifting you up.

"I love it!" He shouted, spinning y’all around. “How did you learn to braid like this? Thank you!”

When he became too dizzy and lost his balance, you squealed while wrapping your legs around his waist. Your back almost hit the floor, but Miles saved you by flipping over last minute.

"My bad…" He said apologetically.

After a few hours, your family came home and found you and miles sleeping on the couch. They asked you both to get up and move so that you wouldn't take up space.

You took this moment to your parents if he could stay the night and they pointed at the air mattress that you’d have to inflate for him.

About time the air mattress was inflated and the both of you laid down in your respective beds, neither of you were tired anymore.

“Miles.” You whispered.

“Y/n?” He replied.

"Wanna do a thing?” You asked, wiggling your eyebrows.

He sat up. “What thing?”

“Let me give you a facial.” You spoke, rolling over to face his bed.

Miles raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't the boy give the girl-"

You threw a pillow at him. "Nigga, not that kind of facial!"

He caught the pillow and threw it back, hitting your shiny ass forehead with it. “Then what are you talking about?”

You got up and walked toward him, reaching your hands out for his. “Cmonnnn, just trust me.”

Miles sighed and rolled his eyes, taking your hand. “Fine.”

He is then dragged into the bathroom where you force him to wash his face while you get all the supplies. Once he has finished cleaning his face, you lead him back into your room and give him a durag.

Miles sits on your bed, puts on the durag, and sends a worried glance your way.

“Don’t worry, I got this!” You reassure him, sensing his apprehension. “Now lay down.”

“Okay, okay.”

You straddle Miles when he lies down on your bed, pausing for a second before you do anything else.

“I would just like to let you know that i am not a professional and I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing.”

Miles smiles up at you. “It’s fine.”

You return his smile before picking up an under-eye mask for eye bags.

“What’s that?” He asks.

“An eye mask.” You reply.

“Where does it go?” He asks dumbly.

“Right under your eyes.” You chuckle. “Close them.”

As instructed, Miles closes his eyes. You place the eye mask under his eyes and then take the jade roller and massage the eye masks against his face.

After some time had passed, you threw the eye mask in the garbage next to your bed.

“Okay, you can open your eyes.”

Miles started to sit up. “We’re done? Already?”

“No, Miles.”

He laid back down.

“You can keep your eyes open for this one.” You told him, grabbing the lip scrub.

“What’s that one?”

“Lip scrub.” You tell him.

You take a scrub brush and generously cover it with lip scrub before placing it on Miles' lips and gently massaging it in. He stared up at the concentrated expression on your face.

About thirty seconds later, you went to get a damp towel to remove the lip scrub, but Miles beat you to it.

“This tastes good.”

“Miles no! Don’t eat it, the packaging says you could die!”

Miles gasps and shoots up, snatching the lip scrub container and knocking you to the floor in the process.

“Show me where it says that!”

“It doesn’t, I was just kidding.” You huff. “But now I should kill you myself for almost killing me.”

He shrugs. “It’s not my fault you told me I was going to have a premature teenage death.”

You roll your eyes and grab the warm rag, climbing back onto your bed. “Anyways, you can lay your head in my lap and I’ll finish this.”

Miles quickly lays down on your lap and looks up at you.

His lips are effectively damp after you wipe away the last of the lip scrub for you to be able to apply the desired lip serum. You apply a small amount, then rub it in. With a lovesick smile on his face, Miles looks up at you.

You raise an eyebrow.

“You’re so pretty.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“What?!” He counters. “I-I don’t know.”

You sigh and shake your head, applying a lip mask, then a jelly face mask, then facial serum, and lastly moisturizer on his skin.

By that point, Miles' eyes were closed, and you were unsure of whether he was asleep or not.

“Miles?” You speak softly.

“Yeah?”

“I’m all done, love.”

“Can we do another one?”

“No, sir. We cannot.”

“But I feel so relaxed.”

“We can go to sleep if you want?”

“No, let’s watch a movie.”

“Yes! I’ll go grab snacks.”

Ignoring the puzzled stares from your family, you run to the pantry to grab some snacks before returning to Miles, who had already decided on the movie.

“What did you pick?” You ask, setting the snacks down carefully onto the bed.

“Howl’s Moving Castle.” He replies, pulling out his phone and sitting at the foot of the bed. “Say cheese!”

While chuckling a little at Miles, you smile towards the camera while holding the straw's tip in your mouth.

“What are you laughing at, huh?”

“You’re adorable, Miles.”

“Thanks, I try.”

As the movie begins, you roll your eyes and set the drink down.

About halfway through the movie, Miles moves closer to you and lies in your lap, staring up at you.

You frown down at him. “You okay, Miles?”

“Yeah.” He replies, smiling a little before starting to watch the movie again.

About five minutes later, he breaks his silence by bringing up the facial you gave him earlier.

“You know, you should really try some of the lip scrub.”

“I will not eat the lip scrub that I paid money for.” You tell him, “So unless you have another way, then I won’t-“

Miles reaches out and pulls your face to his in the classic Spider-Man kiss, holding you there as long as you let him.

Six seconds later, you pull away from Miles and give him a confused look.

“I’m totally not complaining, but what was that for?”

Miles closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before looking back up at you. “I like you a lot, Y/n…”

“So your mom wasn’t trying to trick me?”

“SHE TOLD YOU I LIKE YOU?!”

“Yeah?”

“Ignore her from now on.”

“I did, that’s why we’re having this moment so late.”

“Does that mean you like me too?”

“Mhm.”

Miles smiles awkwardly. “Cool.”

You give him a pat on the cheek and resume watching the film.

He breaks the silence again a little while later.

“…That lip scrub tasted good, didn’t it?”

You giggle and peck his lips again. Before the movie was over, you both had fallen asleep.

BONUS:

The following morning when you woke up before Miles, you checked your Instagram and found a surprise waiting for you.

© forever1kay 2023 - please don’t translate, convert, copy, paraphrase, repost, or alter any of my works without my permission.

[corazondebeskar-reads]

you know you never stood a chance - chapter two

you know you never stood a chance series

two: call on me

series masterlist | prev chapter | next chapter

qz!Joel Miller x f!reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Summary: an injury leaves you struggling to make ends meet. you do what you swore you'd never do and take Joel Miller up on his offer.

Warnings: Sex as payment, technically prostitution, power imbalance, dub-con, canon-typical violence, canon-typical descriptions of injuries, breath control, oral (m receiving), masturbation (f-self)

Originally written for Kinktober 2023 - Day 17: blowjob/breath control, from prompts by @absurdthirst

also on ao3

You stand outside the door long enough that you become intimately familiar with the striations in its sickly ocean blue, eyes focusing and unfocusing until the steel peeking beneath becomes crests of the stormy sea. Your eyes flicked up to the rusty brass 414, as if it might have changed and become someone else’s apartment. But no, the second four still dangling by the singular nail jutting from the top corner. 

In the seasons that have passed since you fucked him for ration cards in a shitty motel room, you’d seen Joel a few times. Sort of. Usually the back of him, going down the stairs a few flights below you, or a fleeting glance if he entered the building while you were exiting. You had developed a sort of Joel Miller Alert System, enough to duck under the stairs or become really interested in tying your shoe any time you were within sight of him.

If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. Because he didn’t say anything to you, at all, even in the horrible moments when you’d pass each other on the stairs or the one really awkward time he held the door open for you and you couldn’t decide if you should speed up so you got in faster or pretend to turn and go another way so he stopped looking at you. 

You settled on half-hustling with poorly executed casuallness that ended with you brushing against his jacket when you tried to slip through the door and mumbling “cool” instead of “thank you.” 

Suffice to say, you don’t really want to be here. You could just go back to the brothel. He probably wouldn’t know. Except you’re still not sure how he knew the first time either. 

The evening breeze through the busted hallway window isn’t as bad down here, you think. Another perk to having a lower-floor apartment. Y’know. Besides not having to deal with all the fucking stairs. 

A spider crawls across the door frame, which is the most interesting thing to happen since you walked down here twenty minutes ago.

The door opens and you jump. “Fuck!” 

“Just get in here,” Joel says.

“If you’re leaving, I’ll just come back later, or never,” you turn to flee, but he catches you with a broad hand around your bicep.

“Wasn’t leaving, just tired of you lurk—” he stops and lets go when he’s turned you around. “What happened?” 

“Uh, nothing,” you scratch the back of your head with your good arm. Well. Your temporary good arm, given that your left arm is hanging bent in the makeshift sling your sister made from an old shirt. The long sleeves were knotted around your neck and your wrist was wrapped against a wood shim with a dish towel, cut into strips and tied tight. 

He pinches his forehead between two fingers. “Hurry up.” 

You shuffle in and hover just inside his living room, rocking back and forth on your heels. You’ve never seen Joel’s apartment before, obviously, but it’s just as sparse and shitty as every other flat in the building. Filled with broken, improvised furniture, filthy carpet over the rotting floorboards. 

He stalks off through a large archway to what you’d wager is the kitchen. You hear the pop of the fridge and wonder if you could slip back out the door while he’s distracted. 

“You comin’ or what?” Joel calls and you sigh. 

Resigned to your self-inflicted fate, you move to hover awkwardly in Joel’s kitchen, instead. He rolls his eyes and indicates the spindly wooden chairs around the oval table.  When you’re seated, he comes around the table, and you jump again, not expecting to find him so close when you look up.

He sets a glass of water on the table and pulls a chair up close, too close, caging you in with his thick thighs. He reaches out and you flinch.

He freezes. “M’not gonna hurt you.”

“I know.”

He doesn’t ask any questions, to your great relief. He just reaches out again, slower this time, and unwraps the sling. His hands are so gentle you can’t reconcile the touch with the man in front of you. He unties the splint and shakes his head at your shoddy workmanship.

His finger ghosts over the bruises. The nastiest of the purple and yellow blossoms are on your inner wrist, but a good two inch radius is dusky purple and angry, extending up the pad of your palm toward your thumb. You bite your tongue. It’s tender, but there’s no way you’re going to show it. 

“Um, I don’t want to be rude, but—”

“So don’t be,” Joel says, pulling a cloth bundle over and setting it on the worst of the swelling. He cradles it there, hands cupped around yours to keep it in place, and the cold burns through the thin rag. 

“It’s just, um,” and you hiss through your teeth as a particularly sensitive nerve makes contact, “I didn’t come here lookin’ for a nurse—”

“Didn’t ya see the big ole’ red cross out front? Why else would you come here?” 

It’s your turn to roll your eyes, but he doesn’t let you get in a retort.

“I know why you came here. But you’ll take what I give you. Drink your water.” 

The glass shakes in your hand, water sloshing. Your face heats, trying to just take a drink and put it down, and you pray he ignores it.

“Don’t move,” he stands up, chair screeching across the linoleum. He takes your right hand and puts it over the ice pack before pulling his hand out. 

He disappears again, and you stare at the peeling pear-patterned wallpaper, wondering if after you fainted at work, you woke up in a bizarre alternate universe where the apocalypse still happened but you were dumb enough to go to Joel Miller’s apartment.

Actually, you think, that makes sense without the alternate universe nonsense. You must have taken a bit of damage when you hit your head against the counter on the way down. 

Best not to mention that, you decide. 

When he comes back, he sets two oblong white pills on the table next to the water.

Maybe the alternate universe thing is still a possibility. 

“What’s that?” you ask. 

“Tylenol,” he says, sitting back down. He puts his hand back on the ice pack so you can remove yours. “It’ll take the edge off.” 

“I didn’t come looking for pills—”

He doesn’t interrupt this time, but he does fix you with such a withering stare that you trail off. 

“Right. Take what you give me. That’s, uh,” you give a little nervous laugh, “that’s funny, ‘cus you’re tellin’ me to take these and also your…” 

He raises an eyebrow and you hurriedly pop both pills in your mouth before going back for the water. Anything to shut yourself up. 

You sit in silence until he decides you’re done with the ice. He sets the melting cubes and washcloth in the sink and digs around in a drawer before coming back to the chair.

He has a large, wide serving spoon, which he fits to your palm, and carefully lines your wrist up with the handle. Using the fabric you had on before, he wraps and ties it tightly. 

“Holy shit,” you say, rotating your arm carefully to look at it. It still hurts like a motherfucker, but the difference in support from the shim is incredible. 

“How much did they cut you by?” he says, voice quiet. He’s leaning back in the chair now, arm sprawled on the table. The delicate curl of his fingers splayed against the faded yellow wood, nails scrubbed clean of the filth from the work day. 

“Half,” you mumble. “And nothin’ for today, I had to leave.” 

“Looks a couple days old.”

You nod. 

“Did you work yesterday?”

“Yeah. And the day before, when it happened. It makes me slow, so.”

“So why’d you have to leave today?”

Whoops. Fuck. “Oh, um.”

“S’it got anything to do with the dried blood in your hair?” 

“Shit,” your hand flies up to your head. Not that you thought he was making it up, but when you feel the hard globules stuck to your scalp, you groan. “I didn’t know it bled.” 

He opens his mouth to say something, but shakes his head instead, exhaling hard through his nose.

“Well, I didn’t! I was trying not to touch it.” 

“Gonna tell me what happened?”

“I fell. Twice. Two days ago and then today.” 

He narrows his eyes, scowling. “How’d you make it this long without gettin’ yourself killed?” 

It’s not a real question, but you answer anyway. “I didn’t used to be clumsy. I ran track in high school. And I only left today because they made me, I’m not going to slack off. I just. You said…” 

“They made you leave?” FEDRA usually didn’t care if people worked while sick or hurt. 

“Yeah, Carrie said I was gonna put someone out of commission if I keep faintin’ with a knife in my hand.” Irony of ironies, you worked prep in the fucking kitchens most days, butchering meat for proper portioning. 

“You said you fell.”

“I did!” 

“When you fainted.”

“Well, yeah.”

He stands up abruptly. “Go home.” 

“What?”

“You heard me. Go home. You’re not up for this today.”

You sit for a second, mouth agape. The rejection stings but it quickly boils over. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I could have been home from the fuckin’ brothel by now. S’past curfew.”

“Yep.” 

“Oh, fuck you, Miller.” You get up to leave, grabbing your jacket where you left it on the couch. You don’t even bother trying to struggle getting it over your useless shoulder, just tucking it under your arm and reaching for the doorknob.

He catches you by your good wrist. “Be back at 8 tomorrow.” 

You don’t notice the expired protein bar or little baggie of pills in your coat pocket until you toss it onto your bed and they hit the floor. 

That absolute asshole.

You want to be obstinate, but the earlier dose did help, and maybe if you take these in the morning, you’ll be able to get through the day.

The only perk to your job is that the closest distribution stand is right outside the building. Some people are always lined up already, but you hop in right at 5 when they open up and only have to wait fifteen or so minutes to get your food.  

You get home by 6:15 but with no free hands and unsteady balance, it takes you a long time to get up the stairs to your empty apartment, your sister sleeping over at her boyfriend’s again. By 7, you’ve flopped into bed fully dressed and you’re asleep by 7:03. 

Loud pounding on the door wakes you up at 9. Your head is throbbing in time with whoever has the damn nerve and you don’t remember to check the peephole before throwing open the door to yell at whatever poor soul is on the other side.

Joel takes one look at you and sighs. “C’mon.”

“Sorry,” you say while haphazardly shoving your bare feet into boots. “I didn’t mean to, I fell asleep.”

He snorts, but you can’t tell if it’s with derision or if he’s laughing at you. “You fall asleep or did you faint again?”

“I’ll have you know I have not fainted once since.” 

“Congratulations,” he drawls. 

You’ve reached the stairwell and you do a decent job keeping up, since you don’t have anything to carry. By the time you’ve toed off your boots, it’s fully dark outside. You should have been getting home by now, not just getting here. 

“Go sit,” he says, jerking his head to the kitchen. 

“We’re not doing this again,” you say on your way to take your seat. 

How was this your life? You were racking up enough debt to Joel Miller that you’d be paying him back for months. And everyone knew what would happen if you didn’t pay up in time. He hadn’t earned his reputation by being forgiving.

He comes into the kitchen and sets another pair of pills down before pouring you a glass of water. You take them without protest, even though it means another mark against you. But truth be told, you’d do anything right now to ease the pain. 

He doesn’t get out the ice pack again. Worse, he ladles a heap of boiled, unidentifiable meat and potatoes into a chipped ceramic bowl and places it in front of you.

You look at him but there’s no fight in you. Instead, you stare with sickening, desperate gratitude. He leaves the room while you eat but returns in time to pluck the bowl from your hands when you go to wash it. 

“I can do plenty of things with one hand,” you snap.

“I know.” He’s got you cornered against the cabinet, and his voice is low and quiet. The room shifts immediately and your breath sticks in your throat. He sets the bowl down on the counter and cups your chin, brushing his thumb over your lips. “Gonna have you do more than that, though.” 

When he pulls away, you follow him like a magnet. Not thinking about it, just tugged along in his thrall. He sits down on the couch and you notice there’s a cushion between his feet. You purse your lips and then try to relax them, which takes a lot more effort than you think it should. 

“You waitin’ for an invitation?”

You shake your head and drop to your knees onto the cushion. You put your shaky but unbroken hand on the eternally stained knee of his jeans. 

He doesn’t make you wait any longer, reaching down and unzipping his pants to pull his cock out. He shifts the jeans and underwear down his thighs.

Your mouth waters. He’s not fully hard yet but it’s still a beautiful cock. Your tongue darts out to wet your lips and he huffs a laugh.

“Here I was, thinkin’ you were scared. Thought you said you’ve never done this before.”

“I haven’t. Never had a chance to try.”

“None of the boys you been with wanted a blowjob? I don’t buy that.”

“Well. It, um. It was just boy and it was kind of over before it really started.”

He’s rubbing his temple again before you’re done speaking, shaking his head. “You told me—”

“I told you it wasn’t my first time. It wasn’t.” 

He throws a hand up. “Whatever. Well, get to it then.” 

His eyes have darkened, pupils wide. He’s got one arm sprawled across the back of the couch and the other on his leg. 

His legs are spread wide enough for you to comfortably situate yourself. You lean forward, careful to keep your injured wrist out of the way. You take a deep breath and press a soft, hesitant kiss against the tip. It twitches, which startles you back for a second, and Joel huffs another breath.

You pause to glare at him. “Don’t laugh at me.”

“Wasn’t laughin’. Keep going.” 

You don’t believe him, and it makes you bolder. Irritated. You’re not some little girl fumbling between football-dotted sheets with her scrawny, geeky boyfriend. You can do this. 

You press your tongue flat against the underside of his cock and lick a stripe up to the top. 

He groans and you swear, repeating the motion. “That’s it,” he croons, “you like that, huh?”

It’s your turn to moan, catching the tip between your lips and licking in lieu of a response. He gives you a while to explore, encouraging you with wicked words that get you wet. 

“Good girl,” he moans when you take more of his cock into your mouth, and it just about does you in. 

At some point, though, he decides he’s done letting you play around. “Alright, that’s enough teasing. Get it down your throat.” 

You pull back, and he catches you by the back of the head and holds onto a fistfull of your hair. 

“It’s too big. I’ll throw up.”

“You’re not going to throw up.”

“But what if I do?”

“You won’t. I got you.” 

You don’t understand how exactly he can prevent it, but the words spread something warm and electric through your body. “Okay,” and you bring your mouth back around him.

He loosens his grip on your hair, but keeps his hand there, feeling you start to bob your head. It’s sloppy, but you’re trying, and when he hits the soft palate at the back of your mouth on a slipup, you moan. 

He takes the opportunity to push your head down, filling you until you gag. He pulls you off and lets you sputter for a few seconds, blinking tears away. 

“That was good, try again.” As if he gives you a choice, hand pushing you down onto his cock again.

But you gag again. And again. And again. You get frustrated and the sharp prick of humiliation brings you closer to crying than choking on his cock had. 

“S’ok, darlin’, I know. It’s a lot.”

Your lip trembles. “I want to take it.”

His neglected cock twitches. “Then take it.”

This time, when you hit the point just halfway down where you’re struggling, he pinches your nose and holds your head down.

You struggle harder, and he moves his leg away from your hurt wrist so you don’t fuck it up more, but you do slide further down his cock with all your brain’s attention on getting air. 

He lets go and you pull off, coughing and clutching at your chest. “What the fuck, Joel?” 

“Worked, didn’t it?” He wipes away one of the tears freed by your efforts. 

Your shoulders are heaving and you look away. For a moment, he thinks maybe he did go too far. But then you square them off and look up at him with gritted teeth and steely eyes. 

“Yeah, see, you’re tough,” he says, working his hand back into your hair as you take him back in your mouth. He doesn’t try it again yet, just lets you lick and suck and try to work your throat open on your own. “Bein’ so good for me.” 

He’s noted the way you shudder a little when he praises you. He wouldn’t be this talkative if he hadn’t. 

You get more of him down, grim determination fueling you, and try to tense against yourself when you hit your limit. 

He pinches your nose again and you jerk, the soft walls of your throat clenching around him and he groans. You moan around him in response and he pushes into you a little more.

You’re not going to be able to take the whole thing. At least not yet. He knows that. So when you’ve gotten used to nearly three quarters of it stuffed down your throat, he eases up just a little so you aren’t at risk of throwing up.

Your jaw aches when he begins fucking up into your mouth. You can taste him, the way he leaks in you. The velvety heft of his cock is divine. 

“Relax,” he rubs a thumb against the hinge of your jaw. “Just take it now. Just keep that mouth open for me and take what I’m givin’ you.” He picks up the pace, still not forcing in any deeper, but rutting himself inside all the same.

Your eyes roll back and you realize you might cum from this. He watches you slide a hand down the front of your leggings, leaving his fist in your hair as your only support, and swears. 

“You touchin’ your pretty little pussy for me? Fuck, that’s a good girl, keep rubbin’.” 

You do, not quite because he tells you, but because you think you’d have to cut off your hand in order to stop. Your throat flexes around him as you whimper little desperate moans.

“Oh fuck. Hey,” he says, and waits for you to peer up at him. “Try and swallow it, okay?” 

Your eyes go wide but you don’t try to pull off. Your hand picks up pace against your clit, two fingers dipping into your soaked cunt. 

You startle when he actually starts to come, but try to hold still and drink him down. Your hand slows, losing focus.

“Fucking cum with my cock down your thoat.” It comes out in a choked snarl and pushes you over the edge. 

Your throat closes up around him and you forget about trying to swallow. He grabs his cock and tugs furiously, the rest of his spend decorating your face. 

“That’s a good look for ya,” he says with a smirk.

You rest your cheek against his thigh, and he lets you, stroking a hand through your hair for a moment. Too soon, though, he gives your face a tap so you lift it up and he stands, stepping to the side around you.

He brings back a wet washcloth, and you gratefully scrub your face with it. You reach up, and he takes your hand in his, pulling you up as your knees crack in protest. 

He reaches into his pocket and presses a little bag with two more Tylenol into your hand. “Now get goin’, and tomorrow, don’t make me come lookin’ for you.” 

You clutch the little baggie and shove your boots back on. You hesitate in front of the door for a moment, turning to look back at him, but you leave without another word. 

next chapter

[dreamlessimp]

— homemade

summary: sae noticed you’ve been off, and tried to help

warnings: established itoshi sae x gn reader, fluff, ooc sae, food/ eating, 0.9k wc

“that’d be great sae.” you spoke into your phone, pleased after finally agreeing on a place for your date. you were stuck at work while sae was just about to get ready for practice from your home.

“i can do it tomorrow or next week.” he said after consulting his practice and game schedule.

“tomorrow then.” you decided.

“okay. when?”

“uh.” you thought for a few seconds. “maybe 18:00?”

wait—you had a meeting at 18:00. you glanced at the clock next to your desk: 17:57.

“that work-“

“sorry! meeting!” you yelled into your phone before quickly ending the call and leaving for the large meeting hall where you were expected to be in a couple minutes.

sae was left surprised, phone still in hand. “damn.” he said to no one in particular, before rolling his eyes to no one again, and leaving to change into his practice gear.

“i’m sorry, i don’t think i can make it.” you said apologetically to the man in front of you.

he shrugged. even if he was disappointed, he didn’t feel like making it a big deal. “why?”

your voice caught in your throat, not wanting him to know the extent of the stress you were facing at work. 

your group had been assigned a large assignment meant to be observed by a large person at your company, and somehow almost all of them had managed to escape its responsibilities.

only you and 2 others were able to work on it, and each passing day brought it further from completion.

“they’re giving us more work, and i’m drowning.” you gave a guilty smile. “sorry, maybe in a few weeks?” you managed to forget the extent of how observant your boyfriend is.

a few weeks was a long time of this, sae thought. one date was one thing but that long was way too much time for you to be under the stress you obviously thought you were good at hiding.

“be home early tonight, okay.”

“i’ll try.”

“whatever, early.

sae opened his computer as soon as you left the room. after a crude text to his manager, he was able to get in contact with your company. 

it took even more crude language, but sae was quickly able to learn of the large project placed upon you.

he admittedly had no way to help you with the project itself, but wanted to contribute in at least one way.

regretfully walking over to the kitchen you’d banned him from, he had one idea.

immediately upon walking through the door of your home, your were surprised to be hit with the smell of cooking vegetables. sae of all people was cooking?

you knew full well he enjoyed cooking about as much as talent he had when it came to it. so for him to be doing so, you didn’t know whether to feel honored or worried.

hanging up up your jacket and slipping off your shoes, you walked into the kitchen to see sae standing above the stovetop, large oven mitts worn over his hands. you scoffed, though endeared. 

“sae? you’re cooking?” you said upon walking closer.

“yeah.” he breathed a silent sigh of relief that you were home early.

you tilted your head in confusion. “why? you never cook. i’m surprised you even know how.”

“well.” he said slowly. “i don’t exactly know how.”

you laughed and took a peek at the stovetop. he was cooking an assortment of vegetables, and behind you was your rice maker. 

“go get changed. i’ll be done soon.” he said, still focused on not burning the food in front of him.

“yep. be right back.” you spoke before happily doing as requested, and changing from your work clothes into something more comfortable. 

soon, you walked back to see the kitchen empty, and relatively uncluttered.

you quickly deducted he had set the table, and walked over to where he turned out to be.

it wasn’t much, but you knew the minimal portions of rice, cooked vegetables, and soup probably took him longer then he’d care to admit—you were right. he was aware of his lacking skills and began early for fear of mistakes.

you took a seat and gave a thanks for the food. “what’s this all for?” you asked. “is it a special occasion or something?”

“no.”

“then what? is it because i had to cancel on our date?”

he shook his head. “no reason.” 

that was a lie. if you couldn’t go out on a date then this was the best way of decreasing your workload while still spending time together. sae was proud to feel that he did live up to his ‘genius’ title.

you meanwhile, had begun to feel even worse. sae had cooked for you, and you planned to run to your room and work again as soon as you finished.

“sorry i’ve been so flaky, you know how much work they’ve been giving us lately.” you said, lowering your head. “i know you’re busy.”

his voice was bored. “it’s not like i don’t do the same thing. i’ve ditched you too many times to be mad when you do the same.” he shrugged. “and you’re busy too.”

you smiled. “thanks, sae.”

he nodded. “i talked to your boss, by the way. the project will be done by tuesday.”

[garbinge]

The Black House (Pt 1)

Sirius Black & F!Reader (Sirius's Daughter) Mention of a Neville Longbottom x F!Reader Pairing 30 Day Fic Challenge (17/30)

Word Count: 2.7k A/N: First time every writing for the Harry Potter Universe!

Warnings: All my fics are 18+ regardless of content. Angst, follows the timeline for Order of the Phoenix. Part 2

All Writing Taglist: @drabbles-mc @justreblogginfics @kmc1989

You heard the echo of his voice throughout the house and it was still shocking to you. While in the grand scheme, it had been years since your father, Sirius Black, had been back in the family house, this wasn’t the first time you’d heard the voice in the house. He had been here all summer with you but it didn’t stop your stomach from dropping each time you heard him speak. The sound of him discussing the Order downstairs currently should have been unsettling but it gave you a comfort you had been longing for for years. Him back home. 

It took you a minute to snap out of it when you heard your friends greet Harry in the room over. Despite you being in your room, the walls tended to be thin in all flat’s in London and this one, although magical, was no different. 

Harry might as well have been your brother, Sirius looked at him as such, especially since his parents had appointed the man his godfather. Harry had asked you questions about Sirius, about who he was, what he was like before everything. But before you even had the ability to bring Harry down from reality he knew you probably knew just as much as him since you were around the same age when he was taken to Azkaban. 

You didn’t bother getting up to go over, the three of them had a friendship that although they never intentionally left you out of it was easy to feel like the odd person of the group when it was just the trio. You didn’t mind, you had your group of friends, and when you didn’t, you knew you always had Neville. 

Being the first one in the dining room meant all eyes were on you when people entered and you got to see everything that happened as well. 

Sirius was beyond happy to greet Harry, it reminded you how long it had actually been since the two saw each other. You weren’t daft, the men must’ve exchanged owls, messages, Sirius was a fan of popping up in fiery places you had learned. But it was a reminder that he hadn’t spent the same amount of time with Sirius since he had been back like you did. That first summer after your third year at Hogwarts was a little hectic. There was no assurance that Sirius wouldn’t be caught and he couldn’t put anyone in that kind of danger, but this past summer, he moved back into the home he left to you and you got to create a lot of memories with him. He taught you magic that he’d use to prank his friends, spells that would get one out of a bind, he shared some of his favorite books with you, built you a new shelf to house them as well since yours were filled to capacity. 

“You know, you can enchant your shelves? You’ll never run out of room.” He pointed to the stacks upon stacks on the shelving in your room. 

“I know, but I rather like them this way, I can see each and every one whenever I want, with enchantment shelves, you never know what you have.” “Very well, I guess I’ll be building you a new shelf.” 

When he said that, you assumed he’d toss a spell at something and your shelf would be built but instead he took an old piece of furniture and created something new by hand. He ofcourse added the enchantment to it. 

“Just in case you need to hide a book or two.” He said before casting the spell on it. 

It was one of your most enjoyable experiences over the summer, but the biggest one was dinner, everynight. You’d talk about so many things, your days, the books you were reading, the books he gave you to read, and you’d both gush about your favorite parts, argue about your interpretations of them. 

“Well I’d like to think that the fade to black in the end was symbolizing that they both had moved on to the next obstacle in their life.” The wine glass was near his mouth as he spoke it. 

“I mean, I agree, I just think that next obstacle is death.” You argued taking a bite off your plate. “It’s quite literally a rip of Shakespeare, I thought it was obvious the two would end in tragedy.” 

“Quite literally a rip of Shakespeare?!” He boomed with a laugh, not even able to take a sip of his wine because he was astonished by your statement. “My dear girl, I have to get you some more cheery reads, you need to see the good in things.” 

“I never said I didn’t see the good in it, just because it was a tragedy doesn’t mean it wasn’t happy. I mean, isn’t that how things become a tragedy? You have to feel the good first?” 

You remembered Sirius’ face when you spoke those words, the smile on his face as you interpreted depth and emotion of a book at such a young age. 

“Perhaps in tragedy its the thought of what could’ve been good that hurts the most.” He added to your statement and to which you agreed. 

When he was your age he wouldn’t have been caught dead eating dinner with his family discussing books, let alone reading them the way you did, that was more a hobby he picked up as he got older, when he left Hogwarts and books weren’t forced upon him. 

“Very well, then I shall get you some books with far less of a depressing ending. How does that sound?”

“That sounds good, Dad.” 

It was the first time you’d let the title fall from your mouth, and you honestly hadn’t noticed it. Just like Sirius thought you wouldn’t notice the absolute grin on his face when the word fell from your mouth since he was hiding it behind the wine glass but when you looked up at him you saw it in his eyes. 

But now all those memories, they ached differently when you saw Harry and him. They weren’t just reminders that you had so much more to catch up on with your father, but reminders that you were way ahead of Harry, who really had no one. 

Before you could give it anymore thought, Tonks was sitting down next to you. 

“Hi darling.” She spoke rather abruptly as she placed her beer on the table. 

“Hello, Tonks.” You smiled. 

“Where’s Neville? Thought he’d be here by now, was practically here any chance he could this summer.” 

You smiled and felt your face get warm from a bit of embarrassment. 

“Now, now, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. When you find the right one, it just works.” She was looking off where Remus was standing, by Sirius and Harry. 

“He’s with his grandmother, I expect him to be here within a few days, before–” Your sentence was cut off by the group of Weasleys coming in and making themselves comfortable. 

The noise in the room got obnoxious between the lot of them, specifically Fred and George, and when the rest of the members of the Order came in there was no silence expected now. 

“Before what?” You heard Harry’s voice was suddenly behind you. 

“Harry.” Your legs shot up and moved to hug him. He embraced you back but you could tell he was looking for the end of the sentence you weren’t able to finish. 

“Before your trial.” It was hard to look him in the eye when you said it. 

“That’s enough of that,” Mrs. Weasly interrupted you both and a large amount of plates flew in between the two of you. 

“Harry, come!” Sirius called out for him to come closer to his side of the table. 

It was so like Harry to look at you, almost for permission, and despite it being your normal seat that Sirius was looking for Harry to fill, there was no jealousy or ill-will in your heart about it. “Go, I’ve listened to his stories all summer, I could use a break. Plus Tonks is my favorite dinnertime entertainment.” You pointed to the girl who was shapeshifting her face to different animals. 

The fun didn’t last long, and to your surprise, the room got quiet once everyone had pretty much finished eating, the main conversation at the head of the table taking a turn to more serious talk which let the room fall in respect. 

“What does the ministry of magic have against me?” 

As Harry skimmed over the paper that showed just how much the Ministry did have against him, you felt your insides turn. Everyone here had the entire summer to wrap their brains around this, except Harry. 

“We believe you Harry.” You felt that it needed to be said, but by the looks of everyone around you they thought best to leave the conversation to everyone else. 

“Well, we do, don’t we?” You took their silence completely different. 

“Of course we do.” Sirius backed you up with a nod. 

That’s when Sirius began explaining how Voldemort was suspected to be building an army, much like before, and that this group had done the same. That was another thing you had spent the summer doing, recruiting more members of the Order, helping Sirius find people who went into hiding, those who were a part of things before. That’s specifically what Neville had come to help you with when he’d come by. His parents were a part of the original Order, it felt like his duty to them to help see this through now. 

Despite the stress of the night, it ended pretty enjoyably. Molly Weasley served dessert, there had been laughs at the table again, but once it hit midnight you found yourself sneaking back off to your bedroom. 

“Waiting on an owl from Neville?” Sirius spoke as he crossed his arms in your doorway pointing to the open window. 

You shook your head. “That and it helps drown out the sound of the company, I’m still not used to this house having so many people in it.” 

“I’m sorry about that,” he was making his way to sit on the chair near your desk. 

“It’s not your fault. I’ve told you that.” It was said frustrated but only because you really wished Sirius could understand that you never blamed him. 

“I left you in the care of Remus, I know he’s not the most social, but Tonks, she’s a lot of fun.” It was like he was only speaking the words to convince himself that he had done the best he could. It was the only decent option, with him going away to Azkaban, your mother having passed when giving birth to you, it was either adoption or putting you in the care of a friend. 

“Remus and Tonks are incredible caregivers, they watched over me.” You agreed with him. It was the truth, they did everything for you that a guardian should. Remus had been your guardian since Sirius went away. It was rumored that he adopted you, and no one corrected the rumor, if just anyone knew you were really Sirius Black’s daughter, it would have put you in serious danger. It wasn’t until you had started school when Tonks came into the picture and became your other guardian. They kept you safe, they kept you fed, they made sure every book and necessity each school year was in your possession, each summer they’d make sure to stay at the Black house with you so you felt at home, you spent most holidays with them. But what no one knew was, some holidays, when you’d tell Lupin or Tonks that you’d be staying at Hogwarts you’d come to this house by yourself. 

“I used to come here by myself.” You spoke up to Sirius who looked at you confused. 

“I’d lie, tell Tonks that I was staying at Hogwarts, say a few of my friends didn’t want to go home so I’d just hunker down there with them, go to Hogsmead, prank Filch, I really sold it, you know?” 

“And you’d come here?” Sirius seemed shocked. 

“I would. I liked being here alone. I just feel like I’m home here.” You shrugged, bringing your feet to sit criss crossed. 

Sirius let out an astounded laugh. “I’m laughing because I absolutely hated it here growing up, I’m glad it could be a safe haven for you.“ He frowned as the next thought came to his head. “What did you do when Remus was at Hogwarts?”

“The year he was our professor, I told him I was going to the Weasley’s.” You chuckled. “I actually got caught that year. I didn’t realize him and Arthur were close.” 

“Can’t believe he didn’t tell me this when I was back.” Sirius was grinning seeing his troublemaking ways shine through in you. 

“We had many other things happening,” you spoke obviously, “plus, I didn’t make it a habit to lie or act out, I earned a couple along the way.” Your hand instinctively ran over the fresh tattoo you had on your arm. 

Sirius’ eyes dropped down to see what you were doing. “The skin won’t be raised forever. It’ll subside.” 

You quickly brought your sleeve down, completely unaware of what you were doing. 

“No need to hide it now.” He was sitting so his arms were resting on the back of your desk chair. “I sense that was one of the reckless bouts you earned from Remus.” He tried to get a look at what you had gotten tattooed. 

“Um, no. Remus, I don’t think knows about this. No one does, besides Neville.” 

The thought of Neville Longbottom knowing secrets about your body boiled Sirius’ blood in a way any father would feel, it truly had nothing to do with Neville, if anything he supposed he should be grateful it was a young boy like Neville who had stolen your heart and not someone with ill intention. That’s what made Sirius think. 

“You took Neville Longbottom to a muggle tattoo parlor?” 

“It wasn’t a muggle shop, it was down in Diagon Alley. Nearly fainted the poor boy.” You let out a laugh. “But he stayed there with me the whole time. Even told the wizard giving me the tattoo to lighten up his grip.” Your nostrils flared as you let out a sincere laugh this time remembering the moment. 

“I think I quite like that boy.” Sirius was laughing along with you. “Well, let’s see it then.” He was looking over the chair waiting for you to show him the tattoo. 

You raised your sleeve and the symbol that sat at his sternum was minimized and placed on your forearm. He stared at the familiar ink for a few minutes trying to understand why this one.

“I’ve been practicing my animagus form and I finally got it.” It was a mumble, you weren’t really sharing that information with anyone, again besides Neville, but this was different. 

Sirius was amazed, his face was full of joy. “You’ve gotten it down in such a short time?” 

“Two summers.” You shrugged, the idea was put into your head after you saw your father for the first time since you were a baby. 

“Merlin’s beard.” He whispered and then took another look at the tattoo. “And you’re a?” He looked down at your arm. 

“A wolf. An arctic wolf to be more precise.” 

Sirius was grinning. “You do know that this symbol means a gray wolf, right?” 

“What’s your excuse?” Your eyebrows raised clearly aware of the mistake but calling out Sirius for the same thing. He turned to a black dog, not a gray wolf.

There it was. That’s what Sirius was thinking at the quick witted response of the girl. There he was. 

Before he could say anything there was an owl arriving at the window. 

He was standing up knowing that was his cue. Looking around at the room, seeing photos of your life, the bookshelves, the tiny potions station that was next to the window for ventilation of course, and then back to you. He wished he didn't miss so much of your life, he felt like one moment you were a little baby and the next you were this teenager. It was sort of true, he missed the time in between. Now you were getting owls from boys, one boy, he had to remind himself. Neville. He liked Neville. He placed his hand on your shoulder and squeezed before moving to leave your room. 

“Tell Neville I say hello.”  

[https-harlow]

Fight The Feeling Part 17- Babies & Puppies

Summary- You and Jack have some downtime after you gave birth to your daughter, and Jack ends up coming home with a puppy even though you have a three week old.

The next couple of weeks were a whirlwind, everyone wanted to meet Madelyn, everyday you and Jack had family and friends coming over to meet her. Luckily, you had amazing friends and family who would help you out every time they came over. You and Jack did decide to introduce her to people slowly, more for your sake than hers.

Both you and Jack were slowly figuring out how to be parents, you were overwhelmed and stressed, plus you were recovering from a c-section which didn’t make anything easier. You were both exhausted, waking up several times a night to take care of Madelyn. After a few days of her being home, you and Jack, well Jack, moved her crib into your room to make it at least a little bit easier on the two of you. 

Jack had not been back to his apartment since you two came home from the hospital, so essentially he was living with you. Madelyn was now three weeks old, you and Jack were finally getting into somewhat of a routine.

You had just got done feeding Madelyn, you were sitting on the couch, gently patting her back to burp her. Jack had just got done taking a quick shower before he joined you on the couch.

“How has she been?” Jack asked.

“Good, she ate, that’s all we’ve been up to out here, super exciting I know,” You joked and Jack laughed softly.

“Is she getting better at latching?” Jack asked, and you nodded. Madelyn had troubles breastfeeding and Jack wanted nothing else than to be able to help you, but there wasn’t much he could do.

“Yeah, she did really good this time,” You said as Madelyn started whining.

“Oh, I know, being a newborn is so difficult, isn’t it?” Jack asked Madelyn, reaching over to rub her back.

“I think it’s time for her nap,” You said, yawning. “Maybe mine too.”

“I’ll go put her down for her nap,” Jack took Madelyn out of your arms.

“Thank you,” You smiled tiredly.

“You don’t have to thank me, she’s mine, and you’re still recovering from your c-section, I’d be an asshole if I didn’t help you as much as I could.” Jack walked her into her nursery, getting her ready for her nap. Jack made sure she was asleep before he laid her in her crib and walked out of the room, back into the living room. While Madelyn slept in your room at night, you wanted to get her used to sleeping in her nursery, so if you weren’t holding her, then she napped in her crib.

“Do we have more diapers?” Jack asked, and you shook your head.

“Not in that size. Did she go through them already?” Jack nodded.

“Almost, I’ll go get some so we don’t run out. Are you okay if I leave? I’ll be quick, I can order them if not.”

“Jack, I’ll be fine, I’m just going to hang out on the couch, and she just got put down for a nap, I’ll probably end up falling asleep too.” Jack handed you the baby monitor before leaning down to kiss the top of your head.

“I’ll be quick, text me if you need anything. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Jack got back to your apartment about 30 minutes later, a little longer than it should have taken, but you had fallen asleep so you didn’t notice. You were woken up to the sound of barking and Jack shushing the barking.

“You have got to be quiet, we discussed this in the car,” Jack said, and as confused as you were, you couldn’t help but laugh to yourself.

“Jack?” You called out, getting up from the couch.

“Shit.” You heard Jack scrambling in the entryway.

“Last time I checked, diapers don’t bark,” You said as Jack walked around the corner, a box of diapers in one hand, and a puppy in the other.

“Uhh, let me explain.” Jack set the diapers down. “There were someone selling puppies and I felt bad that she was the last one left, and I wanted to make sure she went to a good home. I know we have a newborn, and the last thing we need is a puppy on top of that, but I figured if we don’t keep her, we can at least make sure she gets a good home with one of our friends or families.” You watched as the puppy tried to wiggle out of Jack’s arms as he held her. “I’ll take complete care of her.”

“We’ll see how it goes. I can’t be upset when she’s this cute. Plus, I would have done the same thing. You can’t take her back, and honestly I think I’m too tired to be upset right now,” You laughed softly. The only reason you didn’t already have a dog was because of all the traveling, and you were going to be doing a lot less traveling for the time being.

“Thank god, I had already called Urban and told him he might have a dog tonight.” The dog finally wiggled free from Jack’s arms, running towards you on the couch. She put her front paws on your leg, giving you kisses and smelling you. Once she got bored, she got curious and started to explore the couch, running between you and Jack.

“Did you get any information about her?”

“She’s nine weeks old, she’s a poodle mix, she doesn’t have a name yet. I didn’t get much information. I’ll schedule her a vet appointment and have someone take her.” She whined, wanting to jump off the couch, but she was scared.

“Let me go close Madelyn’s door, then she can explore,” You said, and Jack immediately stood up. 

“I got it.” Jack went into the nursery, checking on Madelyn before closing the door, the caramel colored dog wanting to follow Jack, whining at the edge of the couch.

“Oh, you’re already his little shadow, aren’t you?” You asked, and the dog looked at you, tilting her head. You gently petted her, and she calmed down, until Jack walked back into the room, then she was right back to the edge of the couch. “She already loves you.” Jack walked over to the couch and helped her down.

“Did she tell you that?” Jack joked.

“Maybe she did,” You and Jack both laughed. “I should probably order her some food, maybe a bed? Some toys? I haven’t taken care of a dog since my families dog, and my parents did most of the work.”

“Jack, have you ever taken care of a baby before three weeks ago?” Jack shook his head. “And we’re doing a good job now, so we can do this, I can almost guarantee a dog is going to be easier than a baby.” You looked over at the dog, who was now running around your apartment, smelling anything she could reach.

“Okay, you have a point.” Jack said, sitting down on the couch next to you. You both sat in silence for a moment before he looked over at you. “Are we absolutely crazy for having a puppy and a baby at the same time?”

“Maybe,” You said, looking over at Jack, “But we’re crazy together.” 

Nothing had ever been easy for you and Jack, but at least this time your lives were becoming more difficult with babies and puppies.

Tag list @jackharloww @harlowcomehome @nattinatalia @hoodharlow @itsyagirljaz @heavyhitterheaux @harlowsbby @awhore4moree @harlowslefttoe @twerkforambrose @jackmans-poison @ilovenudy @taniapri @killatravtramp @easternparkway @macey234 @toocriticalharlow @lightsoutstyles @rachxc13 @iknowdatsrightbih @idktbh101 @blossomluvv @middlechild404 @hufflewhore128 @christinabae @lafavoritaangel

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

A Fresh Start [17]

Din Djarin x F!Reader

Warnings: losing tempers, arguing, mentions of alcohol and a bit of binge drinking, angst, people getting drunk

Word Count: 15k (i am so so so sorry, i know y'all said you wanted long but this is probably insane. i just needed to end it in that specific place to get the theme i wanted to touch on finished😭 i think you'll like the content if you can bear through it lolol)

Summary: When you made plans for your future they never involved being hired by a Mandalorian to baby-sit his adorable, green gremlin of a child. However, after your life fell apart in the span of one disastrous night,  you found it to be the only feasible option you had left. Nevarro was a  far cry from Coruscant, but the thriving community turned out to be  exactly what you needed. Every day you spend in Nevarro you  fall more  and more in love with your new life, but when your past rears its ugly head you find that perhaps peace wasn’t meant  for everyone.

#17: CLOSE YOUR EYES, NER KAR'TA

"to be in love with you is to know that even on the days you make me so mad i could scream, i still want to kiss the hell out of your face." ⏤Beau Taplin. "it's the way you wrinkle your nose when you're disappointed in me."

a/n: y'all would not believe the trouble tumblr gave me in posting this smh anyways sorry again this is stupid long (i did warn y'all im a mouthy motherfucker) but hopefully it can make up for the absolutely heartbreaking episode we all suffered thru today :)

.

“If I asked you to kick Karga’s ass, would you?”

“Without hesitation, ner kar’ta.”

You couldn’t help but snicker under your breath at his quick answer. Din was lying reclined in the cot beside you with Grogu napping on his chest. It was an entertaining contrast. The soft father rubbing his son’s back as the child snored while promising immediate violence at a single word from you. The awkwardness of yesterday morning seemed to have dispersed after your confession to him. Add to that the fact that Nima was sleeping in a medically induced coma on the cot you sat on the edge of, and you were on cloud nine. There was still a ways to go and you hated that your close friend⏤ your family⏤ had been injured in such a traumatizing way, but her arm would be saved.

The bacta tank had healed what it needed to. It fixed bone, muscle, and tissue nearly 80%. You didn’t want to risk letting the tank manage the injury to the full 100%. Repairing hand injuries was a tricky thing simply because the tendons and muscles in the hand were so complicated. You’d rather set her hand the old fashioned way⏤ make sure she didn’t lose any function. Nima would be devastated if her dexterity was compromised. Her job, her passion, relied on her hands.

“Anything else I can add to our to-do list today other than fighting the High Magistrate of Nevarro?” Din asked with a hum.

You grinned at him. “I’ll let you know if I think of anything.”

Din nodded his head once. Your eyes glanced down at the hardware holding Nima’s hand motionless so it could heal properly. You had already adjusted them, applied a healing paste, then wrapped it, but you couldn't help but re-check your work over and over again. Your obsessive behavior came in handy when Karga had stepped in ten minutes or so ago to check in on Nima. Though his ‘checking in’ had turned into offering you a job once more. It seemed like every type of denial you had he had a counterpoint.

Your main one being that legally you weren’t allowed to practice medicine. You still had a license because the trial questioning whether or not you were ethically to blame for Soran’s death had ended in your favor. However, one stipulation⏤ which had come from a psychological evaluation the hospital made you go through after you were attacked⏤ was that until Kurt’s trial was over you shouldn’t be in the position of making medical decisions. It had been something you were more than happy to abide by as you ran from your life.

Karga’s cheeky reply had been that he was the High Magistrate and as such he could allow you to do anything you wanted to do. Especially if that thing you wanted to do was be his city’s physician. 

A thought formed in your mind and you huffed out a sigh. You could see Din tilt his head toward you in question. You faced him, “Would I be crazy for considering taking Karga up on his offer?”

“I wouldn’t say crazy.” Din replied. “But why? I don’t want you to feel obligated because Karga won’t leave you alone.”

“It’s not that.” You said. The thought grew in your mind, a chaotic frenzy that wouldn’t leave you alone. “If I hadn’t been here, Nima would’ve lost her arm. She might have even died. I stopped that.” Din remained silent and let you think aloud. “I can keep making that difference. I have to. If I don’t then… If something terrible happens then isn’t that my fault?”

Din sat up, holding Grogu to his chest so the boy didn’t fall, “No. No, it’s not. Thinking like that, taking on that guilt, isn’t healthy.” He threw his legs over the side of the bed so he was sitting up and facing you. “Don’t make a decision based on guilt, ner kar’ta.”

“I guess you’re right.” You mumbled.

He stayed silent for a beat before reaching a hand out to you. You stood and took the singular step that would get you close enough to settle your hand in his. Din pulled you forward so you stood between his legs. The cot was on a lower setting which left you staring down at Din while he was forced to tilt his head to stare up at you. 

“Take guilt out of it. Pretend like you’re one of many that Karga is trying to hire for this job.” Din said. You lifted the hand Din wasn’t holding so you could scratch Grogu’s head. His mid-afternoon nap would be over soon and he’d be awake and bouncing off the walls with energy. “Would getting this job make you happy?”

You pondered over the question. There was a thrill in medicine. One you quite enjoyed when you weren’t forced to care for the people who meant the most in the world to you. Plus, thinking long term, you couldn’t be Grogu’s nanny forever. It wasn’t feasible. Not that you wanted out of their lives. You were so entangled in the web of their lives that that was hardly an option anymore. But, if you wanted a real relationship with Din one day, you couldn’t be his employee. You’d have to find a different way to make credits and support yourself. 

“I think so.” You nodded.

“As long as you're happy, then I think you should do it.” Din replied, but the sigh he released didn’t match the approval of his words. “I just don’t want you to make yourself sick with stress.”

“Worrywart.” You teased. Din chuckled and the rumbling in his chest must have roused Grogu. The boy began to rub his face against the metal he was lying on sleepily. You ran a finger alongside his ear. “Hi, baby boy. Was buir too loud? Did he wake you up?”

Grogu mumbled, then turned with outstretched arms. Din lifted him as you reached out. When you pulled the small child to your chest he leaned his head against your shoulder but you knew he wasn’t sleep based on the way he let his small fingers rub against your shoulder back and forth⏤ just like you and Din would do to him. Grogu was mumbling soft words you didn’t recognize.

“Mhmm, tell mama all about it.” You hummed.

Din’s hands had rested on your hips when he didn’t have Grogu to hold. His thumbs tracing circles over your shirt right above your belt. He nodded, “Do you want children of your own one day?”

Your eyes widened in surprise at his sudden question. It was the last direction you expected this conversation to go. Your jaw popped open slightly. “Uh, wh⏤what?”

“Just curious.” Din shrugged nonchalantly.

To be honest, you had never given it any thought. That was a future decision for future you to make. While in training, you told yourself it wouldn’t be something you needed to even think about until after training was over. Then when you were working in the hospital, you told yourself you needed to get settled in your job first. Finally, your life spiraled apart and during the last year that was hardly something that was on your mind. It was funny that you went full circle and all of that led you to standing in Nevarro’s clinic thinking about a future with children of your own. 

Taking care of Grogu was an experience that had given you more factors and variables to consider, but still you weren’t sure what to say. You shook your head and spoke the truth. “To be honest, I haven’t thought much about it.”

“You’re so good with Grogu, is all.” Din replied.

“What about you?” You paused. “Er, that’s not what I⏤ Obviously you already have a child. You have Grogu.” Din chuckled at your babbling. “I meant, would you want… more?”

Din tilted his head and a very casual nod. “I think so. I like the idea of a big family.”

“Do you have siblings?” You asked suddenly. “I’m realizing just now that I don’t know a lot about your life before Nevarro⏤ other than Grogu and the bounty hunting.”

“No siblings.” Din shook his head. “Not by blood at least. After I was brought in by the Mandalorians, as a foundling, I grew up with a few other kids I considered to be siblings on Concordia.”

“Wait, you were a foundling? Like Grogu?”

“Yes.” Din nodded. “I was born on Aq Ventina, but when I was young… My town was destroyed in a Separatist attack. Battle droids destroyed everything. They… I lost my parents. I would’ve been killed myself if a Mandalorian hadn’t saved me.”

You stepped around him so you could sit down on the cot beside Din. He followed your movements with his t-shape visor. You lifted the hand not holding Grogu to settle on his knee. “Din, I am so sorry. I had no idea, I⏤ I wouldn’t have asked⏤ I shouldn’t have asked⏤”

“It’s alright, ner kar’ta.” Din chuckled and set his hand on top of yours. “I knew you didn’t know, but I wanted you to know. Besides, I started this line of questioning.” He squeezed his fingers around your own. “I know you said you were from Naboo. Can you tell me more? Do you still have family there?”

You fell into a casual conversation with him telling him about the family you still had there. Sharing a few memories that couldn't help but slip out when they came to mind. You felt bad that you were talking about happy memories when Din had just admitted to a tragedy, but he continued to ask question after question leading you into them. Which led to him sharing a few memories of his own from both worlds that he walked. Din lingered on a story about his parents⏤ a happy one he held close to his heart based on the soft tone he spoke in.

“How much do you remember of them?” You asked.

“Enough to know they were good parents.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to spend more time with them.” You replied softly.

In response, Din lifted the hand on top of yours to bury it in the hair at the nape of your neck. He leaned you toward him and set his forehead against yours. The two of you only remained that way for a moment before Grogu sat up and rested one hand on your cheek and the other on his father’s.

“Skraan.” He blurted. Din and you broke apart, laughing, but Grogu was solely serious as he repeated himself. “Skraan, skraan, skraan.”

Din knew what he had to do. The part he was struggling with was the how. Oddly, in his mind, the first step was going to be the hardest bit. Steps two through whatever included taking the N1 out to Mandalore, find the living waters, bathe in said living waters, bring back proof to the Armorer, be redeemed in the eyes of his Covert, return to you as a full fledged Mandalorian rather than Apostate, and request to court you properly. Simple. Easy to remember. Din didn’t even need to write it down. However, step one involved telling you that he was leaving Nevarro and that was going to be tough.

At first he thought he’d just bring you with him, but then you told him you wanted to try being Nevarro’s physician. Din couldn’t pull you away from your home right as you had grown comfortable enough with your past to retry medicine. So, that was out. Then, when he had worked up the courage to say good-bye, Cara quit. That one had caught Din off guard. It happened days after Nima’s accident. Cara claimed she got an offer to be part of special forces with the New Republic⏤ an offer she couldn’t turn down. She even took the time to remind him that this was never a permanent thing anyways. 

However, Cara left in the dead of night without even taking the time to wait until Nima woke up. Din didn’t believe that was a coincidence. He was more than familiar with the concept of running from emotions. When Nima finally did wake up, the look of heartbreak on her features when he had to answer her question of where Cara was had been tough to handle. Din reminded himself that his plan was not the same as Cara’s. He was not leaving you to stay away. Din was not running from you. If anything he was running to you. He just wanted to be the very best version of himself before propositioning you, and Din wanted to do this right.

Before he left, he was going to explain this to you⏤ in great detail. And, if you truly meant what you said about allowing him to uphold his Creed, you’d understand. Din repeated that to himself over and over again like a mantra.

Regardless of how that played out, Din was stuck. It was one thing when he was leaving Nevarro short one marshal temporarily. Now the city would be missing him and Cara, and in good conscious he couldn’t let that be.

Mayfeld, hands laced behind his head as his feet were kicked up on his desk, called out. “Come on, Mando. What? You don’t trust me to hold down the fort while you’re gone?”

“Exactly.”

“Uh, ow.” Mayfeld complained. “You could’ve at least pretended to think about it before answering so fast.”

Din chuckled under his breath. Honestly, his relationship with Mayfeld had come a long way. How he felt now was a stark difference in comparison to how badly Din wanted to shoot him in the face when they first met. After what happened on Morak, after revealing his face in front of Mayfeld, Din truly respected the man⏤ trusted him. The truth is he would never forgive himself to leave Mayfeld here to deal with all the responsibilities alone. That wasn’t fair to his friend. All those facts didn’t deter Din from mocking and mildly bullying the man though. That was much too fun to give up.

“I have a friend flying in today to baby-sit you.”

“Nice. Got me a nanny too?” Mayfeld replied. “Hope she’s as pretty as yours.”

Din knew the man was only trying to rile him up, and he technically had picked the exact topic that could do it. But, Din didn’t take the bait. He shrugged. “He’s not really my type, but I’ll let you make the call on that.”

“Alright. So I’ll be the Marshal, and he’ll be my Deputy?”

“No. He’ll be Marshal, and you’ll still be Deputy.”

Mayfeld dropped his feet off the desk, hands falling to his side, and his jaw popped open in shock. “Hold on! The new guy gets to be Marshal before I do?? You’re just gonna promote him over me? Immediately.”

“Exactly.”

The man scoffed in response and crossed his arms like a petulant child. It reminded Din of the way Grogu would pout when you told him you couldn’t snack on cookies or cakes right before dinner time or when Din would wrestle a full sized critter out of his son’s mouth before Grogu could swallow it whole. Mayfeld shoved up from his seat to cross the room and pour himself a cup of caf. Din stayed where he was⏤ leaning against Cara’s old desk.

“You tell your girl that you’re leaving yet? Or is that still a secret?”

“I’m going to tell her.” Din said firmly.

Mayfeld slurped out of his mug, purposely trying to annoy him, “You said that four days ago, then three days ago, then two⏤”

“Keep talking and I’ll demote you from Deputy.”

“Is there even a level below deputy??”

“I can make one.” Din replied dryly. A wide grin crossed Mayfeld’s face and Din shook his head with a grumble. “Today. I’ll tell her today.” Mayfeld just stared at him from above the rim of his mug. Din pushed off the desk. “I’m going to do it.”

Mayfeld shrugged in response and Din resisted the urge to throw something at the man. He huffed and turned to leave. Mayfeld called out behind him, a teasing comment, and Din threw him a crude hand gesture over his shoulder causing the man to burst out in laughter. 

It barely took him any time to get from the station to the clinic. When he stepped through the front doors he was greeted by Aayla and one other worker he wasn’t familiar with. The Twi’lek waved him in and hit a button on the desk to unlock the backroom doors. It was the sound of your voice that greeted him first.

“⏤and if you pull those staples out, you’ll be dealing with me.” You stood at the end of a bed with your hands on your hips and your face drawn in concentration. Aayla had found and wrestled you into a white coat when you started and Din would be lying if he said he didn’t like the look on you. Din especially liked watching you take control of a room. You could command a scene with voice and stare alone, and Din really, really liked watching you do it.

“Baby girl,” A vaguely familiar voice chimed and Din frowned at the nickname, “Dealing with you would be my absolute pleasure.”

Din stepped further into the room to see that a worker from the hanger, a Trandoshan man he couldn’t recall the name of, was sitting on a cot with a long cut from wrist to elbow. A line of staples was holding it closed. Din crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Yeah? How about dealing with me?”

The Trandoshan looked to him at the same time you did, and he found it comical how different the reactions were. Your face split into a bright, gorgeous smile while the hangar worker stiffened up and averted his eyes.

“Well, hi there, Marshal.” You cooed and stuck your hands into the pockets of your white coat.

“Do we have a problem?” Din asked, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice.

You turned to look at your patient and raised an eyebrow in question. The Trandoshan glanced at him before looking back to you and shaking his head rapidly. You nodded and reached out to set a hand on Din’s forearm. “I think we’re okay here.”

“Can⏤ Can I⏤?” The worker pointed to the door.

“Yupp. Keep it dry. Come back in a week, and I’ll see if you’re healed enough to take the staples out.”

The Trandoshan jumped up but paused when he realized he was going to have to pass Din in order to get out. Even though Din was technically blocking the way, he kept his position so the man was forced to squeeze around him. When the man was finally out, your laugh filled the air and Din sighed in admiration. You shrugged, smile still in place, “That was kind of fun.”

“How’re you doing?” Din asked.

“I’m okay.” You nodded and then scrunched your nose once. “It’s so weird. I’m still not used to this, but at the same time I am?” You motioned around yourself. “It’s familiar, but it’s not. Am I crazy?”

Din shook his head, “Of course not.”

“Hmm,” You took a step closer to him so you had to lift your face to meet his visor, “I think you’re biased.”

He grinned under his helmet then shrugged. “Maybe.”

“So, what can I do for you, Marshal?”

“Have you had lunch yet?” He asked, and you shook your head in response. “Can I walk with you to get some? You aren’t busy are you?”

You shrugged out of your white coat and tossed it onto a cot. “That’s the beauty of working for a man who is super desperate to keep you around. I can do what I want.” Din chuckled and followed you out of the room. As you passed the front desk, you called out, “Aayla, I’m going. Just call me if any real emergencies come in. Okay?”

“You got it, doc!”

As you both stepped out, Din offered you his arm and you slipped yours through it. He nodded back toward the clinic. “Who is the new girl?”

“Miriam.” You answered. “Aayla is training her to work the front desk so I can train Aayla. She’ll be able to help me with little stuff. I think she’s got a lot of potential.” Din nodded toward a stand merchant who greeted him first. “We’ll be able to see more if I have an assistant, but we still can’t do any routine kind of work. Karga still needs to get another physician to work that side of things.”

Din hummed. “I hear he’s working on it, but I’ll… encourage him to work faster.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” You shook your head. “I can be plenty annoying on my own. You should’ve seen how much I bothered Admin back in Coruscant when I wanted them to buy the emergency department a whole set of ultrasounds.”

Din could imagine the scene and he wished he could’ve seen it. He’d have to make sure he had a front row seat for when you began to hound Karga for this. Without even discussing it, it seemed you both had the same sandwich place in mind⏤ the one that sold the cookies Grogu liked. Din didn’t bother ordering for himself. He wasn’t overly hungry. He mostly just wanted to spend time with you and make sure you took a break to eat. Din watched as you greeted the owners by name and after ordering your food you ordered a pack of cookies for Grogu as well. He could barely even pay attention to the conversation at hand because he was so busy watching you.

Even when the owners offered you the meal for free as a thank you for taking the job in town, you insisted on paying the full price. As you walked out, you frowned at him. “Are you sure you don’t want something to eat?”

“I’m fine, ner kar’ta.” He replied. Din planned finding a bench where you could sit and eat⏤ you had commented about how much you loved the current weather this morning⏤ but the sound of his communicator made him groan.

“What’s going on?” You asked.

Din lifted his vambrace to see he was being hailed to the hanger. “Oh. I have a, uh, friend visiting today. He’s here early.”

“Really?” Your eyes widened.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I have to go meet him.”

Din had begun to pull his arm away, but you kept your grip around it and briefly bit down on your lower lip drawing all his attention to the shape of the lips he loved so much⏤ the lips that haunted his every dream. You pleaded, “Can I please come with you?”

“You want to?” Din was surprised.

“Yeah!” You bounced in place. “I’d love to meet your friend. I mean, if that’s okay?”

“Always. You should start eating while we walk.” Din nodded.

You snickered. “Okay. Bossy.”

Din’s eyes snapped to you, and he chuckled. The two of you changed direction toward the hanger. 

It wasn’t like you weren’t going to meet Cobb Vanth eventually.

The week had gone shockingly well. Better than you could’ve hoped, but then again your expectations were incredibly low. Working in the emergency clinic was actually enjoyable. Karga had tried to rope you into doing everything, but you put a hard stop on that for obvious reasons. Nevarro was still relatively small so when it came to emergencies⏤ there really were not many emergencies. Only a patch up job here and there like with the Trandoshan this morning. Again the bar was low considering you started this job with Nima nearly losing her arm.

Nima had been doing very well physically, but, as much as she tried to hide it, emotionally she had taken a toll. You weren’t sure why Cara left so abruptly. Din and you had talked about it in depth one night after dinner and he seemed to think it was because she had cared too much for Nima too fast. The only opinion you had on the matter was that Cara had certainly gotten on your bad side. You were loyal to your oldest friend and it irked you beyond belief that the once deputy of Nevarro had left when Nima needed her most.

“Where’s your friend from?” You asked as Din and you neared the landing pad.

“Tatooine.”

“Ah, my neck of the woods.”

Din chuckled. “Were you even there long enough to call it your neck of the woods?”

“I lived in Mos Espa for at least half a year. In Tatooine years, that feels like a decade.” You replied and the laugh that left him made your cheeks warm. 

He glanced over at you, your arm still looped through his, “What made you choose Tatooine, anyways?”

“It’s kind of a depressing answer. Definitely a mood killer.” You winced. Din’s feet came to an abrupt stop and he turned so he was facing you entirely. You should’ve guessed he’d have that kind of reaction. You shook your head. “I took care of a patient who said Mos Espa was where lowlifes and runaways escaped to when they had no other world to call home. So…” You shrugged. “I went to Mos Espa.”

“Ner kar’ta⏤”

“I don’t feel that way now. A lot has changed, and I’m not the person who initially fled to Tatooine,” You said quickly, “But you asked why I went, so I said.” With your next words, you kept your voice low so only he could hear you. “I promise I’m okay, Din.”

Din gave you a curt nod. With an amused shake of your head, you slipped your arm through his once more and tugged him toward the landing pad. The Mandalorian warrior let you drag him along, and you could’ve swore he was dragging his feet on purpose to make it more difficult for you. The chuckle that left his helmet confirmed this for you. 

“How long is your friend staying for?” You asked, and Din stayed quiet. “And is his visit a social call? I imagine he’s heartbroken being away from the sands of Tatooine.”

Din’s feet came to a stop once more, but this time it came as a surprise. You paused with him and gave him a curious look. He tilted his head. “About that, I wanted to talk to you about⏤”

“Mando!”

You and Din both turned at the voice. Walking in your direction was a very familiar face. Cobb Vanth? The marshal of Mos Pelgo was a far way from home, but he looked no different than the day you last saw him. His signature red scarf around his neck acting as a homing beacon for your eyes. Vanth’s eyes were initially focused on Din, but then they dragged over to you and he shook his head in surprise.

“Little lady!? Is that you??” Vanth grinned. 

Din and you both snapped to look at one another again rather than the new arrival. At the same time, the same words left your lips. “You know Cobb Vanth!?”

Vanth spread his arms out as he continued to approach, a large duffel bag hanging from his back, “Well, ain’t this a surprise!”

The shock wore off and it finally occurred to you that Cobb Vanth was here. Right here, right in front of you. You let out a laugh and rushed to meet him halfway. He greeted you by wrapping his arms around you in a tight grin⏤ a laugh leaving him as well. What felt like another lifetime ago, you had met Cobb Vanth on your arrival to Tatooine. Though your plan had been to settle in Mos Espa you had accidentally ended up in Mos Eisley. In an attempt to get from one place to the other you got lost in the desert briefly after the land speeder you rented ran out of fuel halfway. It had been your fault for trusting the man you got the speeder from. Rather than dying you were saved by the man you were now hugging. Vanth had even been kind enough to get you to Mos Espa eventually.

You pulled away from Vanth. “It’s so good to see you! You look great.”

“Oh, I know, darling.” Vanth winked. “But still not holding a flame to you.” You chuckled and a hand settled on your shoulder. Din had walked over and you took a step back so you stood right beside him. Vanth motioned to the Mandalorian. “You never told me you knew Mando.”

“I didn’t back when I was with you, Vanth.” You glanced between the two men. “How do you guys know each other?”

Vanth readjusted the bag around his shoulders. “Now that, little lady, is quite the story.” He continued on talking about how Din came looking for a Mandalorian and found Vanth decked out in Mandalorian armor. He followed it by describing how Din ended up flying into a krayt dragon to kill it from inside out. A detail you did not love to hear. “We’ve been best buddies since. Right, pal?”

Din didn’t respond. You were still in awe at the coincidence of it all. You missed your Mandalorian by literal months. Din had swung through Mos Pelgo right before you had. What would’ve happened if you met him then rather than now? 

“Mando?” Vanth questioned. Waving his hand once in front of the helmet. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.” Din replied and you wondered where the tension in his voice had come from. You slipped your arm around his once more and he seemed to relax marginally. He cleared his throat before nodding. “How was your trip, Vanth?”

Vanth’s lips stretched back out into a charming grin. “Hey, I can’t complain. Gotta say Nevarro looks better than I thought it would. I’m excited to explore it.” He chuckled. “The weather ain’t too bad either. I was worried I’d miss that desert air.”

“Don’t worry. These lava plains are plenty hot enough.” You replied. “How long are you here for?”

“Suppose 'til Mando here gets back.”

It took a second for the words to register in your mind, but Din picked it up much faster based on the way his entire body tensed once more. Until he gets back. Gets back? You slowly pulled your arm away from so you could turn and look at him. Before your hand could fall away entirely, Din caught it with his own⏤ holding it against his arm. 

“Wait⏤”

“You’re going somewhere?” You furrowed your brow in confusion. He hadn’t mentioned anything about a trip. Din paused and somehow his hesitance irritated you. “Where?”

Din sighed. “Mandalore.”

Your eyes widened, “Manda⏤ The Mandalore that may or may not be poisoned still?”

“Um. Yes.”

“Okay.” You replied. “Alright.” You pulled your hand out from under Din’s hand and shot Vanth a quick, firm smile. “It was really good to see you, Vanth. Welcome to Nevarro! I guess I’ll be seeing you around.” Din took a step toward you, his nickname for you leaving his lips, but you took a step back. “I need to get back to work, but I’ll see you at home?”

You didn’t give him the chance to answer and turned to leave. If Din called out after you, you didn’t hear him. Your footsteps were rushed as you tried to wrap your head around the information you had just learned. Were you angry? Maybe. It wasn’t a clear cut anger though⏤ it was muddled. There were too many other emotions swirling in your head, but the main one that started to push to the front was disappointment. Every time you thought you understood where you stood with Din it seemed like something happened that made you question it all. Had he just planned on leaving the planet without telling you? Or maybe he wanted to wait until the last second and just wave to you as he took off, or hang a note on the fridge for you to find the morning of. Even if you weren’t in this weird back and forth romantic thing with him, as someone who literally lived in his home and helped care for his child you were incredibly involved in his life. If you were a team, then you needed to know the plan.

More irritation boiled up in your blood, and you found yourself changing direction from the clinic to a familiar house. Your fist was banging on Nima’s door before you fully even registered what it was you wanted to say. Nima opened the door, in her pajamas, and your eyes glanced at the metal brace surrounding her right arm out of habit. 

Nima deflated and whined, “Please, please, please, please tell me you’re here to clear me for work.”

“No. Two more weeks. I’m not changing my mind on that.” You replied and she groaned. “I’m here because apparently Marshal Mando is leaving the planet and hired a replacement marshal but didn’t think to tell me any of this.”

“Come on in. I have alcohol.”

“I told you! I told you⏤ didn’t I tell you??” Mayfeld cried then spun to look at Vanth who was leaning against the wall. “I kriffing told him. Days ago.”

“Please stop talking.” Din groaned as he hung his head back while slouching in the seat. Din thought that the worst part of learning you and Vanth already knew one another would be the tight hug you literally ran to give him. Vanth had pulled you up off your toes in the hug, and the primal side of him yearned for a fight. His hand literally twitched toward his blaster⏤ his kriffing blaster. As if he was going to shoot down his good friend Cobb Vanth who left his town to do him a favor. 

Din had a problem. He was a problem. Growing up the way he had, with the losses he faced, he tended to be possessive of what he considered his own. Din liked to think over the years he had gotten good at reigning that behavior in. He didn’t shoot Vanth, after all. Still, that side of him didn’t hesitate in rearing it’s ugly head in moments like when he watched Cobb Vanth hold you for what he considered to be a second too long. It wasn’t until your arm slipped through his, a soft smile on your face, that he felt the logical side of him slip back into control.

Then, of course, it all went downhill when Vanth accidentally admitted the thing he had yet to tell you. Watching that smile fall off your features, feeling you try to slowly pull away, felt like he had taken blunt force trauma to the chest. It physically hurt and left a raw, aching wound and it only got worse as he watched you walk away. Din put the pain pretty high on the list of ones he experienced, and this was coming from someone who had a job that led him to be stabbed repeatedly. 

“I am sorry about that, Mando.” Vanth spoke up.

“It’s not your fault.” Din straightened his posture and shook his head. “I should’ve told her ages ago. That’s on me.” Vanth had apologized to him multiple times during the walk from the tarmac to the station. He’d do so between asking questions about the town that Din was supposed to be giving him a better tour on. Din rested his elbows on knees. It dawned on him that there was a question he hadn’t asked in his distress. “How do you know her?”

Vanth crossed his arms. “It was a couple months after you left, actually. She got lost between Mos Eisley and Mos Espa.” Din’s eyes widened at the thought of you getting lost in that Maker forsaken desert. Vanth chuckled. “Her land speeder ran out of fuel. It was by pure chance I ran into her. She stayed in Mos Pelgo for a few days then I took her the rest of the way to Mos Espa. We stayed in touch though⏤ here and there.”

Briefly, Din wondered what his life would’ve looked like if the two of you had been in Mos Pelgo at the same time. It was a curious thought but he knew both of you had been different people at that time. Even if it, in the great scheme of things, wasn’t that long ago. Less than a year. Then again, as quickly as you had wormed your way in his heart he couldn’t imagine meeting you months ago would’ve been that different. Din sighed and stood, he grabbed a holopad off the desk remembering that despite his dilemma in breaking your heart today he still had work to do. 

“Yeah.” Vanth hummed. “Little lady and I didn’t see each other often, but she’d visit me or I’d visit her for the occasional hook up.”

Din’s head snapped to glare at Vanth and, in an attempt to ensure his hands were free, he slammed the holopad back down onto the desk⏤ ignoring the tell tale sound of cracking glass. Vanth’s lips curled up into a mischievous grin and Din was half tempted to drag him back to the tarmac and ship his ass to Tatooine. Mayfeld burst into laughter and Din just shook his head.

“Sorry, brother.” Vanth chuckled. “I saw how up in arms you got out on the tarmac. Couldn’t help myself.”

“Hilarious.” Din replied. 

Eventually, Mayfeld and Vanth wandered out so the newest temporary marshal could get acquainted with the town and meet Karga. It gave Din a couple of hours to work though he spent most of it internally spiraling over the moment your entire face fell. He hated that he had been the cause of that⏤ just because he had been too scared to fess up. His communicator began to go off and Din answered it.

“Hi, Marshal?” A woman’s voice said. Din confirmed who it was. “This is Ms. Wynn, I’m in charge of Grogu’s class. Everything's still fine, but class ended about twenty minutes ago and I haven’t seen you or Soran. Is everything alright?”

Din shoved up from his desk’s chair. “I’ll be right there.”

On his way out the door, he called Aayla at the clinic to see if you had just gotten caught up with a patient, but the woman claimed she hadn’t seen you since he took you out for lunch. The clinic had been quiet otherwise. Din’s stomach churned uncomfortably as he hurried to pick up his son. Were you alright? Or were you so upset that you refused to even care for Grogu? Din knew the moment that thought crossed his mind that he was wrong. Regardless of how upset you were with him, you’d never take it out on the little boy. Din just hoped you were okay.

You narrowed your eyes at Nima as she downed the last of her beer, “Is this all you’ve been doing all day? Drinking?”

“Well, I can’t work, so…” Nima shrugged. When she offered you a drink you had turned it down, technically still on shift as the physician, but she hadn’t stopped from drinking herself. You had come here to rant about Din, but as it turned out you both had plenty to complain about. For hours, you and her had sat on the back porch of her house . The last thirty minutes or so you were trying to pry information out of Nima about how she felt about the Cara situation, but the mechanic would simply shrug it away. You knew she was hurting more than she claimed though. “Do the skies look gross to you?”

“What?” You blurted and slumped down in your seat.

“The sky. It looks…icky.”

You peered up best you could, and in her defense icky was probably the best word. The day had started clear, but the sky now had a greenish tinge to it. It reminded you of the beginnings of a storm, but you couldn’t see any clouds. You leaned out further to look and by doing so it gave you a clear view of Nima’s kitchen through a side window where you saw a clock resting against her wall. 3:37. Dank farrik. You jumped up.

“Karking⏤ Grogu!” You panicked. Shit, shit, shit. “Stop drinking, Nima.”

She mumbled a confirmation that you didn’t firmly believe then started sprinting back to the center of town. You had never, ever been late to pick up Grogu before. Guilt gnawed at you imagining Grogu looking for you in a crowd of parents and not being able to find you. Maker, how could you lose track of time like that? You got to the school in record time to find that all the kids were gone. Ms. Wynn was cleaning up around a room and she said Din had come and picked him up about ten minutes ago. 

As much as you wanted to avoid Din for a little while longer, you needed to see Grogu so you could apologize to him. On your way in you passed Mayfeld and Vanth who were standing in the lobby. They both raised their hands to greet you and you blew past them without preamble. You were a woman on a mission. 

“Grogu?” You called out, searching the room. Faintly, you could hear Grogu calling back to you and he waddled into the room a second later. You breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down to scoop him up into a hug. “I’m so sorry, baby. I am so, so sorry.”

“No sorry.” Grogu hummed giving your cheek a small pat making you chuckle.

The sound of a throat clearing had you glancing up to see Din leaning against the doorway that would lead back to his office. You were in an odd position because you were still upset at him from leaving you in the dark, but you were also ashamed and embarrassed at missing Grogu’s pick up time.

“Hi.” You mumbled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry.” Din blurted. Your eyes narrowed. Was he not going to address the ‘you abandoned Grogu’ thing first? “I should’ve told you sooner that Grogu and I are going to Mandalore.”

You slowly stood up with the cooing child in your arms. “You and… You’re taking Grogu?? To Mandalore??” If he heard the rising anger in your voice, he didn’t show it. “The planet that, again, we don’t know is even habitable?”

“Of course. Where I go, he goes.” Din shrugged nonchalantly. You blinked once, and Din finally seemed to catch onto at least one of the thoughts you had. “I want you to go, but I can’t pull you away from Nevarro. Not when you just started working in the clinic, and if I did choose to leave Grogu here that would just be added stress for you.”

Right. Because worrying about Din and Grogu on some wasteland of a planet wasn’t a stress factor. You locked your jaw and let out a slow breath through your nose. The boy in your arms seemed to latch onto the tension faster than his father did based on the worried looks he was bouncing between the two of you. Finally, you found your voice, “I forgot Grogu at school. I lost track of time. I⏤”

“It was an accident, I know. I’m not mad.” Din said calmly. 

He wasn’t mad. Din wasn’t mad, and somehow that made you even angrier. A part of you wondered if he was purposely not showing any anger in an attempt to keep you from being angry. One mistake for another mistake. Tit for tat. Maybe he was trying to make up for the fact that he knew he upset you, but you hated the calm demeanor he still seemed to carry. It occurred to you then, that you wanted him to be angry. You wanted to argue. The Mandalorian in front of you was the picture perfect example of composure and it pissed you off.

“You’re not angry.” You enunciated each word.

“Of course not, ner kar’ta.” Din shook his head. He drifted closer. “We should talk more about this trip⏤”

“Why?” You shrugged and pasted a large smile on your face. If he wanted to be composed then you’d be composed too. “I should check on the clinic one last time before heading home. I’ll take Grogu with me. Get as much time with him as I can before you boys go on your little adventure.”

Din shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a nervous tic you usually only saw at home, “Yeah. I might be late getting back. It looks like there might be a volcanic ash storm rolling in soon. Nevarro hasn’t seen one since before the guild left here.”

“No problem.” You said. “I’ll see you at home.”

Din began to take a step toward you, but you turned on your heel to leave with Grogu. You knew you were being petty, but right now you didn’t really care. If the two of you were playing mistake for mistake then this seemed fair too. You were petty to him and he didn’t tell you that he planned to leave you alone on this planet without him or Grogu. Tit for tat.

Din watched you leave with the sinking feeling that the interaction between the two of you had not gone well. Mayfeld stepped in with an incredulous look while Din continued to just stand with his arms crossed over his chest.

Mayfeld scoffed and motioned behind him, “How in the hell did you make it worse?”

Din mumbled a string of curses in every language he was familiar with and pushed past Mayfeld to leave. The man fell into step beside him. As much as he wanted to chase after you, he needed to help get the city prepped for the oncoming storm. Mayfeld, never able to take a hint, shook his head, “I mean, geez Mando. How is it you can string up a quarry in seconds, but can’t figure out how to apologize to a woman?”

“Where is Vanth?” Din asked, ignoring Mayfeld’s own line of questioning.

“Walking your girl to the clinic then home.”

Din locked his jaw. That was good to hear. He wanted to be the one to walk you and his son back to the safety of your shared home, but considering the circumstance he was just glad you weren’t alone. Din ordered Mayfeld to take the eastern side of the city and warn all citizens to bring in or tie down their outdoor belongings while he took the west. 

He didn’t get it. Had you wanted him to be angry at you? Din was a little peeved, it’d be a lie to say that he wasn’t. He had to leave work to pick up Grogu despite you taking on that responsibility this morning. Since starting at the clinic, you and him had taken turns, but Din liked to know beforehand so he wasn’t just up and leaving the station. If an emergency happened, where you were needed with a patient, that was more than understandable, but that hadn’t been the case. You had just lost track of time. A very human mistake to make, and honestly it was your first when it came to Grogu. So, yes, Din was a little peeved, but he wasn’t angry.

Din pushed it out of mind. You knew the truth, and he could better explain himself tonight when he got home. Right now, he needed to focus on the task at hand. 

According to Karga, the volcanic ash storms were quick but deadly. The closest volcano would spew out a hot and devastating breath of ash. It’d roll over the city, blanketing everything in darkness, but it usually was blown away and gone in a matter of hours. Din had heard plenty about them, but they had never occurred while he was planet side. As long as there was proper prep to begin with then it should be a smooth transition. Karga, ever the planner, had built the city buildings with proper metal shields to roll down over windows and doors in the case of a storm. Everybody would stay indoors for a half a day, and then they’d spend the rest cleaning up.

Din wondered if his helmet was equipped to withstand the ash. It should be. The beskar and his flight suit would keep the hot ash from burning his skin, and if his helmet worked correctly then the filter should keep out most of the dangerous ash. He only wondered in case he needed to venture out to save a citizen or two. They were making the rounds to tell everyone that staying indoors was an order, but Din knew with his luck one or two people would ignore the warning.

It took hours to ensure the entire city was ready to be locked down and make sure that Vanth found his place and that it worked for the man. Din had simply housed him in Cara’s old place. It was still furnished and it wasn’t like Vanth needed anything permanent. The storm was still being estimated at being 24 or 36 hours out. It would give Din, Mayfeld, and Vanth time in the morning and afternoon to run through the city once more for final checks.

“Hey,” Din called out as he stepped into the house with a sigh. When he rounded the corner he noted that you were in the kitchen alone and cleaning up. He glanced around, “Grogu?”

“Bathed and in bed.” You replied without missing a beat. “It’s late.”

“Yeah, sorry, getting the city prepped took longer than I thought it would.” Din groaned. “How was⏤”

“I have leftover dinner for you.” You interrupted him and motioned to the stove. “But I figure you’ll want to clean up first.”

Din nodded in relief, “Thank you.” You gave him a tight nod, a smile that didn’t reach your eyes painted your lips, and he paused before heading back to the shower. “Hey, you’re not going to bed are you? I wanted to talk.”

“I’m not going to bed.” You shook your head.

“Good.” Din turned and hurried off. From the moment Vanth let slip that he was leaving, Din had been craving to sit down next to you and explain everything. He wanted to take your hand in his and reassure you that everything was going to be okay, they wouldn't be gone long, and it killed him to leave you behind. Din wanted to explain that he was leaving to find redemption and revenge. Though, he wasn’t quite sure how you’d handle that information.

As Din washed the day off of him, he wondered how you’d feel about that? If he told you the absolute truth that he planned to find redemption in part so he could court you. If he told you that he planned on tracking down Daelar to rip the man’s throat out. He wasn’t positive how you’d handle either fact, but he was positive that he needed to tell you. Din was human, he made mistakes, but he made it a mission in life to not make the same mistake twice.

After getting dressed, Din carried all his armor, sans his helmet, into the room to set aside. He paused long enough to check in on Grogu and tuck the blanket thrown haphazardly around the hammock around the boy’s small body. “Nuhoy morut'yc, adi’ka.” Din readjusted the stuffed frog in Grogu’s hammock with a smile and left the room as quietly as possible. A nervous energy settled along his skin and he rolled his shoulders once, “Ner kar’ta?”

The kitchen was empty and Din titled his head in confusion at the finding. His eyes landed on a plate of food waiting for him on the island counter and drifted closer. Sitting beside the plate was a small note with the most passive aggressive of all smiley faces he had seen drawn.

‘Went out with Nima. Don’t wait up’.

Din aggressively tore his helmet off and the only thing that kept him from slamming it onto the counter was the knowledge that the sound would wake up Grogu. His nervous energy melted into irritation. Sure, he hadn’t clarified that he wanted to talk when he asked if you were going to bed, but Din knew his intentions had been clear. That’s why you had deliberately answered his question in such a specific manner. His hands clenched and unclenched as he took a slow and steadying breath. 

He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t. Din repeated this under his breath in an attempt to convince himself of it.

It was funny. The last time you sat in this cantina with Nima, in these exact chairs, the two of you had also been talking about Din. The subject last time was how awkward it was to tiptoe around him in his own home. Mashal Daddy, is what Nima had called him last time.

“Marshal Dickhead.” Nima scoffed before taking the shot in front of her. She pushed your shot glass closer to you and you tossed it back as well. The liquid burned the entire way down and you grimaced. It had been ages since you drank to this degree⏤ you were a light weight now. “That’s what he is.”

You shook your head. “No, he isn’t.”

“Okay, I need you to work on your shit talk.” Nima pointed at you. “Defending the person you’re complaining about is kind of redundant.”

You tapped your glass and the bartender wandered back over to pour the both of you another shot which you took without hesitation. Nima tried to get them to pour another, but you shook your head and ordered two mixed drinks instead. At least those had something other than straight liquor in it. 

“I’m pissed at him, but I don’t wanna shit talk him.” You replied.

“Then what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” You sighed. “I want to fight.” Nima gave you a questionable look and you shook your head. “Not physically. Maker, I don’t have a death wish.” Picking to tussle with a Mandalorian could possibly be the stupidest choice in the galaxy. “But I want to argue with him.”

Nima narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“Because I⏤ I⏤” Your words got caught in your throat and you tried to wash it down with a large swig of your drink, to no avail. It was dumb to want to argue, wasn’t it? Couples tried to avoid that. Not that the two of you were an official couple. You groaned and buried your face into your hands⏤ already feeling dizzy from the drinks. You wanted him to be upset with you, to feel comfortable enough around you to show that he was upset. Up until now, the two of you hadn’t had any real arguments. Sure, there were little tiffs here and there about nothing important, and it typically always ended with Din conceding the point with a shrug. Despite what most people seemed to think, you knew that towering wall of beskar had emotions. He had a lot of kriffing emotions, and you wanted to see all of them. Even the negative ones. 

“I think I get it. The ‘wanting to argue’ thing.” Nima said softly. You lifted your head to look at her and she gave you a small smile. The Twi’lek reached out to set her hand on your shoulder with a comforting squeeze. “You want to have hot, angry make-up sex.”

Despite the sullen thoughts weighing you down, her words made a loud laugh slip from your lips. Nima look affronted that you were laughing at her theory, but you just shook your head and let the laughter die down to chuckles.

“I was serious.”

“I know you were. That’s why it’s funny.” You replied and took another sip of your drink. “But, I think I want to have not angry sex with him before I go for the other stuff.”

Nima’s eyes widened, “Wait, you guys haven’t⏤” You shook your head. “What the kriff are you waiting for!?”

“I don’t know.” You admitted. It was a fair question. “I think we’re going slow.”

“But, why?” Nima replied. “It’s obvious the two of you wanna jump each other’s bones. Half the city thinks you’re already married to him.”

You furrowed your brow, “Yeah, why is that? I get that the evidence stacked against us is damning, but to just assume we’re married?”

“Oh, I’ve been telling everyone the two of you are married.” Nima replied.

“What? Why??”

“I don’t know.” Nima shrugged. “Seemed fun. Figure it’ll be true one day.”

You scoffed, “Well, it won’t be if he disappears on the cursed world of Mandalore.” 

The words fell out of your lips with more pain than you meant to convey. Nima’s face fell and you lifted your drink to knock back the rest of it. That was a possibility, wasn’t it? Din and Grogu leave you to never return. Then what? You live in the house you shared with them alone? Listening to the ghostly echoes of where they used to be?

“Shots.” Nima called out to the bartender. “We need more shots.”

The two of you were four more shots in when a familiar face wandered toward you. Vanth leaned against the bar on your other side with a smile that you could tell was concerned. “Hey there, ladies.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy!” Nima drunkenly lifted herself from her seat, nearly toppling over, and pointed at Vanth. “We aren’t interested. She’s married,” Nima pointed to you then pointed back to herself, “And I like pussy.”

Vanth’s eyes widened and you dragged her back down into her seat. “First, stop telling people I’m married. Second, stop announcing to the bar that you like pussy. And, third,” You motioned for Vanth to take a seat beside you which he did, “This is Cobb Vanth. He’s a friend from Tatooine and the replacement Marshal while Di⏤ Mando is gone.”

In your own tipsy stupor, you had nearly said Din’s name aloud. Luckily, Nima was too gone to notice and Vanth didn’t seem to care. He leaned over to over his hand in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you…?”

“Nima.” She replied curtly and held her hand out like a queen offering it to a peasant. You rolled your eyes, but Vanth just changed the position of his own hand to take hers with a small shake.

“Nima.” Vanth said. “Can I buy you two drinks?”

“I insist you do.” Nima nodded and pulled her hand away.

You chuckled with a shake of your head and tossed back the rest of the one in front of you so Vanth could get you a fresh one. Nima was babbling about something mechanical that you couldn’t follow along with and directing her words to anyone who glanced her way. 

“I’ve already apologized to Mando, but I feel like I owe you an apology too.” Vanth said. “I’m sorry about what happened on the tarmac.”

You snorted. “It wasn’t your fault for assuming Mando wasn’t keeping secrets.”

“I don’t know if I’d call it a secret.” Vanth shrugged, catching the bartender’s eye and holding up three fingers. He turned back to you. “I think the poor guy was just scared.”

“Mandalorians don’t feel fear.” Nima blurted out from behind you, apparently a part of the conversation now.

You shook your head. “I don’t care if he was scared as long as he tells me that he is.”

“Fair request.” Vanth shrugged. The drinks were brought over and you took a small sip of yours. The tipsy buzz floating in your skull was slowly shifting to just plain drunk, and a sadness crept in alongside it. You suddenly wished you were at home curled in bed⏤ curled in his bed. Listening to the soft snores of both him and Grogu. “So,” Vanth’s voice snapped you out of Din’s dark and safe room and back into the noisy cantina, “Where does that leave the two of you?”

“She’s dropping his ass.” Nima barked.

“Nima⏤” You whirled on her.

“You don’t need him! He’s abandoning you!” Nima cried and you took in the way her lower lip quivered for just a moment. “We don’t need either of them! They can⏤ They can go explore the kriffing galaxy or join the New Republic’s special forces team or whatever it is they want to do! We don’t care. We’re better than that. We don’t need them.” She turned and shook her head before taking a large sip of her drink. “I’m better off without her.”

You reached out, wordlessly, and pulled her hand away from the glass so you could hold it. Nima tangled her fingers with yours and squeezed once⏤ hers eyes glistening with unshed tears. You knew she had taken Cara’s departure worse than she wanted to admit. Nima was right. She didn’t need Cara. Nima was strong and beautiful and smart and incredible. Cara had been a friend but she had also been a bump in the road. She left selfishly when Nima needed her most, but Nima was going to rise above it. However, she had been wrong about you.

You did need Din. That’s why the thought of him leaving Nevarro was so jarring and painful. Coming here had been a way to escape your past and hide out, but you had never expected to find someone who would grow to be so important. Honestly, it was a bit scary if you thought about it for too long, but the truth was that you needed Din in your life. Him and Grogu. Without them, you’d have a gaping hole in your heart and you weren’t sure there was anything else in the universe that could fill that. Din hadn’t fully explained his reasoning, you hadn’t given him the chance, but you knew he wasn’t leaving you. Nima had been blindsided by Cara and left with nothing. Maybe it would’ve taken him forever, but Din wouldn’t leave without saying good-bye and you knew⏤ deep, deep down⏤ that he’d fight tooth and nail to return to you. 

“I’m sorry to ruin your night, Vanth.” You said, “But I think we’re gonna call it quits.”

“Don’t be silly.” Vanth shook his head. He tossed back his drink before rising himself. “I’ll walk you ladies home.”

You gave him a thankful smile knowing you were in no state to navigate to Nima’s house in the dark, put her to rest, then find your way back home yourself. Vanth chose to help Nima walk considering you had at least a little better control over your legs. The three of you stumbled out of the cantina into the warm night air⏤ it was time to go home.

Din didn’t have the time to put all his armor on, it was nearing one in the morning when his communicator went off, so he had simply thrown on the upper half of his flight suit, gloves, and boots. It left him in one of the more ridiculous outfits he wore considering his sweatpants did not match any item he adorned, but he just needed to get the door.

When he swung it open, Vanth stood on his porch with you in his arms sleeping soundly. He nodded toward your figure, “She was wide awake when we dropped off her friend, and was doing decent on the way here, but by time I reached the end of you street she was dozing off on her feet.”

“Thank you.” Din mumbled. He was quick to step forward and take you into his arms⏤ not enjoying the way you were snuggled into Vanth. Though he did appreciate the man bringing you home. “I really do appreciate this.” You shifted so you could bury your head into the crook of his neck and Din sighed. “Was she… How was she when you found her at the cantina?”

Vanth didn’t answer at first. He stared at Din for what felt like a long moment before looking at you then back to him again. Vanth chuckled, “I know I’m new to town, brother, so take this with a grain of salt.” He shook his head. “But it’s obvious she cares about you as much as you care about her. A fight now and then is normal, but don’t let it go on for too long. You don’t get time wasted back.”

“Thanks for the tip.” Din mumbled. 

Vanth gave him a quick nod before turning on his heel and leaving. Din shut the front door with his foot and carried you through the quiet house until he reached your room. The thought that you spent the night drinking until you were too inebriated to get home yourself bothered him more than he wanted to admit. You were a grown woman who could do what you wanted, but you had gone to specifically avoid talking to him. He found that incredibly annoying. 

It was like you were purposefully trying to rile him into lashing out, and that’s the last thing Din wanted to do. Din had a temper, but back during his bounty hunting years that was easily handled. He’d get angry, he’d go hunt a quarry and burn that emotion right out of himself. Now, he was in a setting where he didn’t have an outlet and he worked hard to keep that temper under wraps. Din had lashed out at Karga a time or two since his arrival, but that was expected and Karga was no stranger to his anger. 

Din settled you on your bed and began to carefully take off your boots followed by your socks and pants. He kept his gaze off your lower half as his only goal was to make you more comfortable. He stood and pulled your covers up to tuck you in. Din paused for a moment before pulling his helmet off and tucking it under one arm. He ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed. Maker, you were driving him up the wall. You had no idea the kind of fire you were playing with. It’s not like you were in danger, Din would tear his own heart out before hurting you, but he didn’t want to yell at you. 

“Ni aalar sha yaim ti gar.” Din sighed aloud. A reminder. He leaned forward to press his lips against your temple. Din would not lose his temper with you because he could not afford to lose you. He turned off your automatic alarm sitting on the night stand by the bed and wished you the same farewell he had to Grogu earlier in the night. “Nuhoy morut’yc, ner kar’ta.”

The headache you woke up with was nasty, and you swore in that moment to never drink again. Probably a fruitless promise to yourself, and not the first time you had claimed it, but right now you were miserable. You groaned and rubbed your face in your pillow before sitting up with a grunt. There was a weird amount of sunlight in your room and not just in ‘my poor hungover eyes are overly sensitive’ kind of way. You rubbed your face, glancing around, and it was then you realized the alarm sitting by your bed was off.

“Shit.” You breathed and jumped out of bed. The sheets tangled around your lower leg and you hit the floor with a curse. First you forgot to pick Grogu up from school and now you’d be late to taking him to school. Maker, you were so stupid. As reliving as it had been to drink and talk to Nima last night, it hadn’t been worth it for this. The speed in which you got dressed was startling and you burst into Din’s room to find it empty.

Your hungover brain realized much too late that this could’ve been bad if Din were in here with his helmet off. “Grogu??” You hurried out of the room and into the hall. When you stepped into the kitchen you were met with the smell of food and the sound of babbling. Grogu sat in his high chair eating with his father right beside him dressed and ready for work. “Grogu.”

“Ma!” Grogu greeted briefly before diving back into his food.

Din turned to stare at you and you rubbed your face in embarrassment, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why my alarm wasn’t on.”

“I turned it off.” Din shrugged. “Vanth brought you home late. Figured you needed to sleep in.” Din rose from his seat and began to try and clean Grogu up from the mess he had made of breakfast. “You’re fine. I can take Grogu to school this morning.”

“What?” You gaped in disbelief. 

“What?” Din echoed. 

“You hired me to take care of Grogu while you worked and I am failing at that right now.” You spat.

Din scoffed. “Failing is a bit dramatic. You made a mistake. It happens.”

“I show up passed out from drinking on a work night, and your response was to tuck me in and turn off my alarm??” You said as your voice began to raise. “Seriously??”

“Wasn’t a work night.” Din replied calmly. “I wasn’t on schedule.”

You groaned in frustration, “That’s not the damn point, Din!”

“Then what is the point?”

“The point is you’re supposed to be upset! You’re supposed to be angry!” You snapped. Grogu cooed nervously from his seat and you bit back as much of your anger as you could. “It’s a normal human response. Why can’t you just admit that you’re angry at me!?”

Din set his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Why do you want me to be angry at you so badly?”

“Because I want you to be human around me!” You snapped.

Din stiffened, and as much as you hated the way you worded that, you thought maybe it would be the line that pushed him over the edge. Instead, he just gave you a tight shrug. “Sorry. I didn’t realize I wasn���t being human around you.”

“Really?” You laughed in broken disbelief. “You’re not even going to react to that shitty thing I just said?” Din remained silent. “Whatever. I’m taking Grogu to school.”

“You don’t have to do that⏤”

“Actually, I do.” You replied sharply and scooped the boy up from the chair. Grogu reached up to set a hand on your face and you sighed⏤ momentarily finding peace. When your gaze lifted up to spot Din once more the peace fell away. “It’s my job. Remember? Might as well do what I was hired to do while Grogu is still in Nevarro.”

Din didn’t respond. He stood stock still. Enough so that a stranger could walk in and confuse him for a droid. On your way out, you scooped up Grogu’s bag by the door and hurried out. There was a sharp, acidic tang in the air that greeted you and you flinched at the smell. The sky was uglier than it had been yesterday, but you were already late so you pressed on. 

The entire rushed walk to school, you spent it apologizing to Grogu for yelling at his father in front of him. You shouldn’t have lost your temper in front of the child. As if he understood the situation entirely, Grogu babbled along with you and continued to give your face small pats of reassurance. Right outside of the school, Ms. Wynn stuck her head out to greet you.

“Hey, Wynn. I am so sorry about yesterday and for being late this⏤”

“Hurry, get in.” She grasped you by the wrist and tugged you inside. She shut the door tightly behind you and you glanced around the room to see all the children being kept busy by the other school workers. You gave Ms. Wynn a confused look and she sighed. “The storm is coming sooner than everyone thought. The watch people are estimating it to hit city center in the next twenty minutes or so. You can’t be outside.”

You shrugged, “I can get to clinic in fifteen.”

Grogu wiggled and whined in your arms so you set him down so he could run off to play with his friends. Ms. Wynn shook her head. “No. It’s not worth the risk. Volcanic ash storms are incredibly dangerous. The entire city is locking up right now.” You still thought you’d be able to make it, but before you could argue further your communicator began to beep. “I’ll let you take that. I need to start class.”

You nodded and watched her walk off before activating your communicator. “Hello⏤”

“Ner kar’ta?” Din’s voice crackled to life⏤ panic evident. “Where are you and Grogu??”

“At school. Wynn just locked us in for the storm.”

“Good.” You heard Din breathe out a breath of relief. “Just stay there until the storm passes. It should be over by this evening.” There was an awkward pause of silence before he cleared his throat. “If you need anything, call me. Please.”

“I will.” You replied. Then added, “You’ll be safe at home, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” You hummed. “I’ll, uh, talk to you later.”

The call ended miserably and you wandered to the side of the room where you could drop into a chair. The good news was you wouldn’t have to worry about Grogu like some parents probably worried about their kids. Minutes later, the sound of strong wind and debris rattled the metal sheet covering the window you sat by. It made you jump in alarm and you silently thanked Wynn for stopping you.

That had come much sooner than twenty minutes.

You had to applaud Ms. Wynn and the other workers for their tenacity. The storm outside sounded miserable and terrifying, but the kids seemed nonplussed by it with the way the teachers distracted them. Around the end of the first hour, Aayla contacted you to ask about a few people who had wandered out into the storm and then stumbled into the clinic. Most of the injuries had been superficial⏤ the exposure short term as they came from nearby buildings. You walked her through how to mix some paste for burns.

It was during the second hour that the patients got too complicated for Aayla.

“I don’t know what to do, Doc.” Aayla’s voice shook. “I keep having him use his inhaler, but after a few minutes he ends up needing it again.”

“I’m worried he’s scorched his lungs. His asthma making it that much worse.”

“Do I mix a paste? Or⏤ Or make a solution?”

You sank in your seat. It was a solution that needed to be made, which you trusted Aayla to do, but that fluid then needed to be aerosolized. That way the patient could breathe it right into his lungs. Working with the machine that did so was tricky and even you weren’t the best at it. You hated the idea of getting Aayla to attempt it only to make a mistake and take on that guilt herself. She was still new to medicine. That kind of guilt shouldn’t be weighed on her conscience considering she hadn’t been trained for this.

“What’s his oxygen status right now?” You asked.

“It’s in the mid-80s and that’s with an oxygen mask on.”

Dank farrik. He might not make it to the end of this storm. The patient could crash much sooner than that. You gave Aayla a few orders to keep the man stable then pushed to stand. You caught Wynn’s attention and the woman drifted closer after helping a child with a small task. She gave you a warm smile, and you returned a skeptical one.

“Hi. So, I need a jacket, scarf, and some sunglasses.”

Wynn warned you against your idea, but you were dead set. You had no choice. So, ignoring her advice, you pressed on. You soaked the scarf in cold water then wrapped it a few times around your mouth and nose to use as a makeshift filter. The glasses would hopefully at least protect your eyes a little, and the jacket was to cover up the remainder of your skin. You were thankful you hadn’t worn shorts today. 

You had traveled to the back door to leave that way none of the ash would slip into the same room as the kids. It would take you 15 minutes to get to the clinic. It was now or never, you supposed.

Din was furious. His temper running hotter than the volcanic ash whipping around him. As it turned out, his helmet would keep out the dangerous conditions surrounding him. Grogu’s teacher had reached out to him to let him know that you had traveled out into the storm to reach a patient. She had done so to ensure that someone else was aware of the situation. Din had thanked her before rushing out himself. 

He asked one thing of you today. One. 

He just wanted you to stay inside the kriffing school with Grogu. It wasn’t asking a lot considering the literal fire and ash raining outside. It was common sense for someone to stay inside. Din was literally just asking you to follow common human survival instincts, yet you still left. You left, not protected in beskar as he was, but rather dressed in a wet scarf and jacket. As if that was going to help a karking thing.

Din tried to hail you over the communicator but it never got through. He told himself it was because of the storm. If even a little ash got into the communicator it’d glitch. That had to be it. Din refused to believe anything could have happened to you. Still, fear mingled with his rage, but he chose to ignore that for the time being.

Black and gray wind swirled around him, whipping his cloak in every direction, as flickers of burning ash drifted in the air. It was so thick that he could barely see a few feet in front of him. If he wasn’t careful, he could step right over you on accident and not even know it. The thick ash was beginning to settle on the ground in thick piles like the snow of Hoth. When he reached the clinic doors, he saw the metal shutters were down. Din didn’t hesitate to slam his hand against the metal as hard as he could.

If nobody opened the door soon he’d break through the shutters. Sure, ash would collect in the clinic lobby, but he’d deal with that problem later. Luckily for everyone, the shudders cracked open and Din quickly slipped through. Miriam, the new girl, had opened the door for him. Din didn’t mean to blow her off, but he sped past her. She was clever enough to open the second set of doors without him having to have asked. 

Inside the room, were a few people sitting on the cots or against the wall with a pink paste rubbed into splotches on their skin. Aayla stood in front of an older man who was struggling to breathe. A nebulizer, the same kind of machine that blasted a mist of medicine for Grogu, was being held up in front of his mouth.

“Where the kriff is she?” Din snapped.

Aayla nervously stiffened in place. She pointed out of the room, “There’s a small break room down the hall. She’s⏤She’s in there.” Din spun to leave, but Aalya called out to him. He nearly ignored her until she spoke again. “I think she’s more injured than she lets on. There’s some leftover pink paste from the last batch for her skin burns. Right now, she’s using the other nebulizer.”

Din huffed out a small thanks before snatching the jar off a side table and following her instructions out of the room. He wasn’t familiar with the back halls of the clinic, but he didn’t need any more clues to find you. Halfway down the hall he could hear a barking cough. Din picked up his pace then threw the break room door open hard enough that it slammed into the wall.

You startled where you were sitting at a table with a nebulizer mask held in front of your face. Your eyes widened in surprise and you opened your mouth to begin to say his name only for you to begin coughing violently. Just for a moment, his anger subsided. Din hurried over and set a hand on your shoulder to evaluate your injuries.

“Injuries. What’s wrong?”

“Just⏤ Just some burns.” Your voice was hoarse. “Worst of it⏤,” You began to cough again, “Lungs. In my lungs. Medicine will help.”

You took a few more deep breaths of the nebulizer and Din let his eyes trace your exposed skin. There were patches of mildly burned skin on your hands and on your forehead and upper cheeks. The pattern made it clear to see the shape of the sunglasses you had worn. Din tore off his glove and threw it aside rougher than he intended. Your eyes widened but you didn’t say anything. Din dug his fingers into the paste and began to rub it over every single burn he could see on you⏤ no matter how small. 

When he was appeased that he got every single injury, Din shoved the jar aside angrily and huffed, “Are you out of your damn mind?”

“No.” You replied. Your voice already sounding better. “It’s not like I had a choice.”

“Excuse me?” Din narrowed his eyes at you.

“I had a patient who needed me.” You shrugged. Then, you had the audacity to roll your eyes and mutter under your breath, “Just relax, Din.”

Din pushed to stand so fast that the chair he sat in went sprawling back and you jumped at the sound. He set his hands on the table and leaned toward you. “Relax? Did you just tell me to kriffing relax??” You stared at him silently, and Din took a step back with a shake of his head. He scoffed. “Relax.” Din felt his blood boiling under his skin. “Bic ni skana'din.”

“Din⏤”

“No.” Din snapped. “You’re going to sit there, and you’re going to listen to me.” He leaned in once more. “You wanted me angry? Well, now I’m angry! Dank farrik! What the kriff were you thinking!? I told you to stay in the school. I made myself very clear.” He slammed a hand down onto the table in frustration. “Do you realize how badly that could’ve ended?!”

You set down the nebulizer mask, “Din, I had to⏤”

He reached out to snatch the mask from the table where you set it and forced it back into your hand. Din shoved your hand up so it was holding the mask by your mouth once more. “No, you didn’t. Those patients look fine in there.”

“The old man wasn’t.” You snapped back with a glare of your own. “He might not have made it till the end of the storm.”

“Was there a chance he could’ve?”

“I mean, I guess, but there was just as equal of a chance that he wouldn’t. I⏤”

“Then that’s the risk that gets made.” Din yelled. “You don’t risk your life like that ever again. Do you hear me!?”

“I’m a physician!” You cried. “What would you have me do, Din? Risk him dying⏤”

“Yes.” Din reached out and wrapped his hand gently on the side of your face. Din was breathing hard, his rage making him shake, but he kept his touch soft as he forced you to face him. “That’s exactly what I would have you do. I don’t give two shits about him, but you I can’t live without, ner kar’ta. Is that not clear to you!?” 

You shook your head. “You don’t mean that. You wouldn’t risk him dying.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Din let out a harsh laugh. He wouldn’t risk one of the citizens of his city dying. In your shoes, he probably would’ve done the same thing⏤ but that wasn’t the point. Din sucked in a sharp breath trying to get back to the point he was making. “If I tell you to stay put, in order to keep you safe, you will listen to me. Do you understand?” Your eyebrows furrowed deeper and Din understood the immediate distaste for his words, but he didn’t care. “I said, do you kriffing understand?”

The nebulizer stopped on it’s own and you tossed aside the mask before standing up with a scoff, “I understand, but I’m not promising you I won’t do the exact same thing again.” You tried to walk around the table, out of his reach, but Din mirrored your movements and met you on the other side to block you in. You shook your head. “This is my job. Helping people is what I do. I’m not going to put people at risk just because you don’t trust me to be competent enough to succeed.”

Maker, you were the most frustrating woman⏤ Din’s hands found his hips as he leaned into your space. “You think it’s a trust thing?” He barked out an angry laugh. “All it takes is one mistake, one miscalculated step, and that’s it. It’s not about competence or about trust. It’s about gambling, and I’m not going to let you gamble your life away for a stranger.”

“As if you’ve never gambled your life for a stranger before?? I highly doubt that.” You spat. “Din, you’re a good man and if you think⏤”

“No.”

You narrowed your eyes. “What?”

“I said, no. I’m not.” Din said through clenched teeth. You were going to be the death of him. He was vibrating with frustration. Fear grabbed control of him at the realization that this was who you were. You were good, to your core, and this was going to keep happening. It was clear on your face that you didn’t believe his words. You weren’t getting this, and Din wasn’t good enough with words to get you to. Resolution settled in his mind, determination, and his next words came out in a low growl. “Close your eyes.”

You blinked almost owlishly. “Huh?”

“Close your eyes, ner kar’ta.” Din demanded, his hands traveling to his helmet without pause. Your eyes widened in alarm before shutting tight. It scrunched your features up. Din tore his helmet off and slammed it onto the table before closing the space between the two of you.

Din had never kissed someone before, which seemed ridiculous considering the other acts he had performed, but the idea of it seemed easy enough. His hands found your jaw and he tilted your head up enough that he could press his lips firmly against yours. Din held them there until he felt your entire body slowly relax. He pulled back just a bit and opened his eyes to see your features had softened though your eyes remained closed. Din’s nose brushed against yours, unable to bring himself to pull away from you any further. He mumbled the next words out, exhausted, but tightened his grip around your face in hopes to get his message across loud and clear, “I am not a good man. I’m a selfish man, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do⏤ no line I wouldn’t cross⏤ to keep you and Grogu safe.” Din leaned his forehead against yours and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I kissed you without asking permission. I just… Ner kar’ta, I cannot lose you and I didn’t know how to…”

“It’s okay.” You mumbled. “I‘ll forgive you on one condition.”

“And that is?”

“Kiss me again.” You breathed. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling yourself up to your toes, and Din didn’t hesitate to meet you halfway. His lips pressed against yours once more, but this time it wasn't so simple. It was messy, for lack of a better word. Your lips moved against his, furiously, and Din mimicked every action. It was as if the anger of your argument had shifted and transformed into this moment right here. Teeth clashing against teeth, tongue pressing against tongue. The kiss was desperate and felt like a battle. You versus him in a competition to devour the other, and Din was never one to back away from a challenge. 

He hooked his arms under your legs, lifting and turning, so he could set you on the table. Din’s hands shoved aside the nebulizer machine that sat in the way and he heard the device clatter against the tile floor. He’d buy the clinic a new one. Din pressed into you forcing you to either catch yourself by reaching back or continue clinging to him. You chose to keep your arms around his neck, wrapping around even tighter, and Din had to readjust and wrap his arms around your waist to keep you both from collapsing onto the table.

Din took a chance by nipping on your lower lip and the moan that left you was the perfect reward. He licked into your open mouth, a similar action you had done to him, and it deepened the kiss once more. Finally, breathlessly, Din was forced to pull back just enough to get air. You were panting as well⏤ the only sound in the room being the heavy breaths you shared between one another and the howling storm outside.

“I’m sorry I forgot to pick up Grogu.” You said and the disappointment in your whispered words made his chest ache. “I’m sorry I left last night instead of staying to talk. I’m sorry for yelling at you this morning.”

“No, I’m sorry.” Din replied. “All of this could’ve been avoided if I had just told you about Mandalore. I also promise to get more angry at you if you promise it’ll always end like this.” The soft, breathy laugh that left your lips was like a reassuring melody. You were safe. You were in his arms. You were okay. Din let out a breath of relief. “Ner kar’ta…”

You tilted your mouth against his to let a soft kiss linger against his. The exact opposite of the kind of kiss the two of you had shared. You sighed, “Why did it have to come to this? Why wouldn't you just admit you were upset with me?”

“I… I was worried about scaring you away if I lost my temper.” He admitted. “Things felt so good between us, so perfect, I didn’t want to ruin it.”

“Telling me how you really feel is never going to ruin anything, Din. I want that. I want to know what you’re thinking.” You replied. “Fighting isn’t always a bad thing.”

Din pressed his lips softly against yours once⏤ twice⏤ three times. “I can see that.” Maker, maybe taking his helmet off was a bad idea. After getting to feel your lips against his it was going to be twice as difficult to maintain his control. “I need to put my helmet back on, ner kar’ta.”

You chuckled and set a soft kiss against his cheek before releasing him. Din took one more second to stare at you, unhindered by his visor, and he loved the way your lips were swollen from his. He grabbed his helmet and tugged it back on. When it was back in place he let you know. It was cute the way you peeked out of only one eye, just in case, before letting both open. 

“I think I’m ready to talk about Mandalore now.” You shrugged. “Unless, you have something better to talk about?”

Din chuckled and gave you a small shrug. “We can talk about how you were my first kiss, if you’d like.”

“I am?” Your eyes widened. “Seriously?” He nervously gave you a small nod⏤ face burning under his helmet. “Oh man, I am so sorry. If I had know I would’ve⏤ would’ve⏤ I don’t know. Been gentler?” Din laughed at the concern drawn all over your face. Your lips twitched up but you gave him a small shove. “I’m serious! Maker, I was basically going for your tonsils…”

Din lifted a hand to hold your chin. “I’m not complaining.” He leaned his cold forehead against yours. “And by the way, I am proud of you. I’m so proud of everything you do. I… Can you promise to at least call me before you do something risky?”

“Yeah.” You nodded. “I can promise that.”

Din would take the victory where he could.

mando'a translations:

Nuhoy morut'yc, adi’ka

Sleep safe, little one.

Ni aalar sha yaim ti gar

I feel at home with you.  

Nuhoy morut’yc, ner kar’ta.

Sleep safe, my heart.

Bic ni skana'din.

Expression of being angry or repelled, i.e. ‘that really ticks me off’

@aheadfullofsteverogers @yyiikes @kneelforloki @c-ms1ut @sgt-morgan @luthienaliceisilra @fawn-kitten @missbabyjay @coldlamaspersonspy @dilfsaremyfavourite @jamesbuckybarnes @yorkeylover @teawrites01 @emily-roberts @djarinxore @impala1967666 @shelbyteller @faithrenner @dindjarindude @dankfarrick29 @rh1nestonecowg1rl @garbo-lesbo @anythingforattention @tearfulsolace @onceinamando @catharinaroxastovaova @uwu-i-purple-youu @modiddys-blog @harriedandharassedd @stagerightlauren @mini-bees @xxinvisblexx @adoringanakin @sagegreensensei @spidey-3 @sydney-1209 @thepascalofus @hrtsforpascal

[formulaforza]

miss americana & the heartbreak prince masterlist

charles leclerc x female oc —what's the point of it all if you're not going to fall madly in into love?

—00. prologue

playlist social media au teaser orange show speedway

—01. all american girl

"“Because.” He doesn’t really know why he can’t land on a message, why everything he types sounds entirely too casual or formal or nothing at all like what he would say to another human being. This isn’t a problem that he’s used to having. It’s the in-person flirting that fucks him up, not the texts and DMs and comments. She was just… he doesn’t know what she was. She was just. End of sentence."

—01.5 hey google, who is christyn elliott?

—02. over the ocean call

"Chris has one student, Quinn, whose family can’t afford reduced lunch prices but also won’t request for Quinn to qualify for the free lunch. She thinks it’s an ego thing, that Quinn’s mom just isn’t able to accept that the family needs help. It’s a single parent household and the mom works two full-time jobs to try and make ends meet. After a newsletter was sent home in need of parent signatures at the beginning of the year and returned with Mama written in sloppy green crayon, Chris learned that Quinn was living a relatively self-sufficient life. As self-sufficient as a five-year-old can be." 

—02.5 like real people do

—03. i think i fell in love today

"If there wasn’t something weird in the air before, there certainly is now. A new weird. A good weird. An implication of something in the air, weird. It’s out there now, just hanging above them. I want to kiss you. You can kiss me. Now all that’s left is for one of them to make the move."

—03.5 do the girls back home touch you like i do?

—04. every finger, every sigh

"She can feel eyes on her. Charles, she hopes. Charles, she can’t find in the chaos. When she does spot him, half-dead sparkler still in his hand, head drunkenly bobbing along to the beat, he’s looking right at her, grins a stupid grin and winks."

—05. monte carlo ave

"He shakes his head. “You don’t understand.” She can’t possibly understand it because he doesn’t even properly understand it, the way he feels about her. The fear he feels about losing all the indecipherable feelings. It’s just good, everything about her, about being near her. It’s all so sweet and nice and good and he really, really doesn’t want to screw it up."

—05.5 still so much I have yet to know

—06. quarter of the way

"As soon as they reach the cover of the trees, Chris is telling Hannah everything. Everything. She tells her about Austin, about how she met a guy who was just too charming to not get her number. About every nervous text and hours long FaceTime call and every picture and every conversation. She tells her about how crazy she feels, how insane she felt agreeing to fly across the world— “Wait,” Hannah questions. “You flew across the world?”"

—06.5 you're invited! welcome to dawsonville!

—07. homegrown

"It’s a twenty-three minute drive to Pig’n’Chik Barbeque in Northern Atlanta. Charles is visibly apprehensive of the little red building and the parking lot filled with the aroma of southern barbeque, but he keeps his commentary to himself. Chris knows it’s probably a little overkill, the hole-in-the wall joint being even a little too gimmicky for her taste, but that’s the whole point."

—08. it's so sweet

“I’ll be right back,” she says hurriedly, over her shoulder, letting the little girl pull her away. Charles nods and flashes her a quick wink before she’s properly whisked away, leaving him with nothing better to do than shove his hands deep in his pockets and analyze the artwork of primary school students. 

—09. sweet nothing

coming soon

—10. i saw the end

coming soon

—11. the bees envy me

coming soon

—12. if i tremble

coming soon

—13. see the world

coming soon

—14. yours to keep

coming soon

—15. yours to lose

coming soon

—16. the view between villages

coming soon

—17. heaven in your eyes

coming soon

—epilogue. for the worms to eat

coming soon

[hearrtsturns]

Tour - Matt Sturniolo

Pairing: Dom!matt x Reader

Summary: You are going to tour to meet Matt Nick and Chris and things take a wild turn

Warning: unprotected sex (no no), p in v, hair gripping, mouth fucking, public (kinda?)

Authors note: requested by anon!!

————————————————————————————————

You had just bought the last tickets for the Versus tour in Salt Lake City, you were so excited and thanked your parents almost every second of the day

You were doing your makeup and planning your outfit when you get a text from your best friend, who was also going to the tour

“Hey when are you leaving they open the doors at 3:30.” She texted

It was 10:30 so you were probably gonna leave around 11:30 just to get there early so you didn’t have to wait in a long line

“Around 11:30.” You replied

She left you on read and you assumed she was getting ready

You finished your makeup and changed into your blue shirt with the ripped jeans you’ve just bought for this occasion

It was 11:17 and you were sitting on your bed until your mom called you down to get ready to leave

You slipped your old dirty converse on and ran out the door to the car, you were really excited

- 2 hours later -

We just pulled into a parking lot, payed for parking, and parked

We started walking towards the building which had a line of people wearing blue, purple, and orange

We got in line and waited 2 hours to get in

Once it was our turn to get our wristbands I grew extremely shy, but you were also excited which made it really weird

After you got your wristband you walked inside and saw people waiting to see the triplets

You turned around for one second and heard a bunch of people screaming “oh my god!” You whipped back around and saw the triplets walking up the stairs you rolled your eyes

- 30 minutes later -

You’ve been waiting in a line to get in the auditorium for 30 minutes and you were growing impatient until it was your turn to enter

You heard they’re opening song playing and got excited

Once Matt, Nick, and Chris came out you screamed your heart out until they told you to settle down so they can pick people to come on stage

“Okay uhh, wait Nick wanna pick first?” Chris said

“Yeah, her.” He points to a girl in purple with brown hair and she walks up to the stage

“Ok I’ll pick that girl, you see her in the orange?” Chris says

“Dude there is so many people wearing orange..” Matt says rolling his eyes

“Anyways I pick..” he looks around for a moment

His eyes suddenly lock with yours “uh I pick you.” He says

“Me?” I say pointing to myself

“Yup.” Matt says

I look at my friend and run through he crowd to get on stage

Once we are all on stage they began explaining the rules

I was standing by Matt when he looked over at me and winked,

I began looking around to see if anyone saw it and obviously not

We began playing the games.

- 2 hours later -

Chris won but we weren’t mad we were more happy for him

I began to get off stage because everyone was leaving including Nick and Chris but Matt placed his hand on my shoulder and stopped me

“Hey..” he said

“Hi?” I said raising an eyebrow

“Meet me at the bathrooms.” He winked again and began to walk away

I walk to the bathrooms shortly after only to see Matt waiting there, once he saw me he started walking towards me

He grabbed my hand and lead me outside, I was confused when I saw him walking towards the back of the building where his tour bus was.

“Where are we going?” I asked

“Just follow me..don’t ask questions okay?” He replied trying not to be seen or heard. The last thing that could happen is you guys getting caught together especially because the tour is over and everyone is leaving now

I nodded and followed him to his tour bus

Once I was inside their tour bus Matt asked me “How old are you?”

“Oh im 19..why?” You said raising an eyebrow

Matt look me up and down and smashed his lips into mine

Passionately, we continued to makeout until Matt broke the kiss

He grabbed my head and pushed me down until i was on my knees, he looked down at me and said “help..?” with a grin he pointed to his pants specifically the zipper, I began to unzip his pants

I pulled his pants down along with his boxers, immediately he grabbed my head and i was bobbing up and down on his cock

His dick was hitting the back of my throat and i was sure that as fast as he was thrusting into my throat, the whole tour bus was shaking

I was practically crying from all the gagging and moving i was doing, it was just the feeling of his cock hitting the back of your throat so hard

He dick twitched and he immediately pulled out not wanting to cum just yet

My head fell back, spit was hanging from my chin and i was catching my breath when he grabbed me and helped me up, took of my pants and slipped my panties to the side, he bent me over a table and moved his tip through my folds

I moaned at the teasing action when he suddenly pushed into me, i groaned adjusting to his size

He began to thrust into me slowly and got faster pretty quick, my tits were bouncing and hitting my chest over and over again

He bit his lip and groaned, soon he brushed my g spot and i moaned slightly

“Right there?” He started thrusting in the same spot faster i moaned louder, he covered my mouth with his hand and said “we can’t get caught.” He chuckled

i felt the knot in my stomach build up, “im gonna c-cum!” I whined

“What?” He chuckled “im gonna c-“ the knot snapped before i would warn again

“Do you want me to cum inside you..?” He said smirking, still thrusting

I nodded, “use your words.” He demanded still thrusting pretty fast “God!, oh- oh, yes matt! Fuck!” He released inside of you still thrusting making sure his release was deep inside of you

He pulled out, buttoned up his jeans and “helped” you. The only thing he did was put your panties back and helped you up, you pulled your jeans up and he walked you to fridge and gave you a bottle of water as soon as you grabbed the water you felt paper you didn’t look but kept walking as he was leading you to the door of the tour bus

He let you out and waved goodbye as if he didn’t just fuck the shit out of a fan, as you were walking back to your car still in shock of what happened you looked at the paper it said “call me” with his number “xxx-xxx-xxxx.” With a smiley face

————————————————————————————————————

Part 2?… sorry for posting late babesss

Tag list- @hysteria-things @mattsleftnipple03 @tillies33ssss @ineedchriscock

[ericsprincess]

yours for the taking

nc-17, smut, boyfriend!Sangyeon, body worship, rimming (Sangyeon receiving), anal fingering, vaginal sex

~~~

part 2 here

~~~

A/N: dedicated to that one girlie who really doesn’t like Sangyeon. You will probably not read this, but I hope you will see the light one day :)

~~~

Finally, Friday. You sigh tiredly, dropping on your living room couch. You put your feet on the coffee table and huff. This week felt more like a month, with the mountain of work you had to do at your job and you couldn’t wait for it to be over. Having finally logged off from your work computer a few minutes ago, the only thing left to do was to throw yourself on the couch and wait for your boyfriend to come home, so you could decide how to spend your Friday evening. 

Maybe I can even sneak a nap, you ponder. Although Sangyeon’s shift at work ends earlier than yours, he also goes to the gym after work every day. Even on Friday, which only makes you admire your dedication, since your own gym visits are based mostly on how you’re feeling about it at that moment. Sometimes you find it a little bit annoying that he’s such a stickler about it, but you have to admit, his hard work pays off. He looks amazing and you can never have enough of his body. 

So you just grab a blanket, snuggle under it, close your eyes and rest. You’re more exhausted than you thought because it seems that you fall asleep immediately and suddenly you’re being woken up by the sound of the keys unlocking your front door. 

“I’m home!” Sangyeon yells from the hallway, kicking off his shoes and dropping his gym bag on the floor. “Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?” he peaks into the living room.

“Hi, baby, it’s okay, I was just napping. How was your day?” you detangle yourself sleepily from your blanket and sit up to welcome him. You’re about to get up and go hug him, but he stops you with a raised hand. 

“Y/N, I would not recommend coming close to me,” he smiles. “I did not have time to shower at the gym, because I wanted to come home earlier and I’m way too sweaty right now. I’ll head to the shower and you can nap some more, okay?” he says while already pulling his t-shirt over his head on the way to the bathroom. 

Uhh, what a sight, you let yourself drool a little over your boyfriend’s body. He’s been looking especially good lately, since he also got a bit of a tan and he’s still having some pump from the gym. You can’t stop staring at him and touching him and he seems to enjoy the attention too. Sometimes you’re sure he’s provoking you on purpose, just like he did right now - taking off his t-shirt in front of you with mildly exaggerated stretch of his arms over his head, putting his abs and chest on display. 

Once again, as it seems to be a habit these days, the more you are thinking about his body, the hornier you get. You look at the closed bathroom door. You can hear the faint sound of the shower and Sangyeon’s muted humming of some song. Could I…? You wonder. Well, why the fuck not.

You get up and march right into the bathroom. When you open the door, it’s already steamy there and you stop to admire Sangyeon’s muscular body behind the fogged up glass, as he’s washing himself. His shoulders are wide and his arms are thick with muscle and veins. His back is wide but waist is thin, with picture perfect six pack abs that make you want to just rub your pussy all over them until you come. And you can’t forget his beautiful full chest, only asking to be bitten and sucked on. His ass and legs are nice and muscular too, and you are really glad he’s not one of those guys who skip legs. You can count on Sangyeon to do everything correctly and properly. 

Not to mention he’s always perfectly waxed and shaved everywhere, making his body so much more…lickable. Especially now, when you can see rivulets of water running down his body.  

“Oh- hey,” he notices your presence almost immediately and smiles at you, with one of those warm smiles of his, so you quickly take off your clothes and leave them on the ground. You join him under the shower and he does waste a second to embrace and kiss you. 

“Did you miss me that much, baby? You had to come to my shower?” he teases you jokingly and you start kissing his neck and collarbones. You know he gets your intent clearly now, even though it amuses him, as usual. Provoking you with his perfect body is his favorite pastime lately, and he clearly enjoys the effect he has on you. 

“Yeah,” you whisper, and latch your mouth on his nipple while touching and squeezing his other pec. Sangyeon closes his eyes and leans back on the tiles, enjoying the feeling. You can feel his cock getting hard against your hip, so you just suck harder, knowing it’s one of those things he loves receiving, even though he wouldn’t admit it. 

You let his chest go and slowly sink on your knees in front of him, licking his abs on the way down. He takes his hard cock in his hand, positioning for you to suck it, but you only lick and suck on the tip, tasting his precum, while he sighs from the pleasure. You pull away and look up at him. 

“Turn around,” you order. 

“What? Why?” he’s confused, but instead of a reply, you grab him by his hips and try to turn him, which he obeys with a laugh. 

“Hands on the wall,” you speak silently, and he does just that, puts his hands on the tiled wall and leans forwards. You take both of his buttcheeks in your hand and squeeze them a little, enjoying the softness and roundness of the muscle. There is no point in wasting time, you’re sure Sangyeon already figured out what’s gonna happen either. You pull his buttcheeks apart and dive in with your whole face, licking at his hole immediately. You have never done that before, but you’re making up for your lack of experience with enthusiasm. You rub your tongue over it, teasing, almost as if you were making out with it. He’s clearly trying to hold back his moans, which pleases you, as you were not sure how he would react. But it seems that he’s into it, arching his back slightly to push against your face more, so you reward him by flicking your tongue over his hole quickly. 

You move one of your hands on his hip, to hold him better while you try to penetrate your tongue inside him. It’s not really possible, he’s too tight and your tongue is just a muscle, but it makes him whimper just at the insinuation of it. You move your hand to rub over his abs, feeling his quick aroused breathing, and how his core muscles move under your hand. It’s intoxicating to know you have such an effect on him right now. 

You slide your hand down on his cock and it's as hard as ever, slick, with copious amounts of precome. You’re wet too, you know it without checking - eating Sangyeon’s ass, his reactions and the taboo of it made you so horny it almost hurts. You want him in you immediately. 

You get up and press yourself over his back, kissing his neck while he breathes so deeply, as if he were running a marathon. 

“Lets go to bed? I really need you to fuck me right now,” you whisper and he can’t even speak, he just nods quickly with his eyes still closed. He looks like he could cum at any moment. 

You both get out of the shower and give yourself the quickest wipe down with the closest towels, just to not drip water everywhere and practically run naked to your bedroom, half-wet.  

You throw yourself on the bed and he jumps right after you, pressing you down, folding your legs up, now wasting a second and pushing his cock into you. You don’t need any preparation and having him inside you feels like a relief. 

“I’m not gonna last long, just so you know,” he chuckles and you huff. “Me neither, but start moving before I literally die.” 

He starts fucking you immediately with all the force he can muster, not bothering with any teasing or finesse, just trying to get you both to cum as soon and as hard as he can. You’re holding onto his back when you get a devious idea. 

You slowly move your hand down his spine as he’s thrusting into you, lower and lower until you stop at his ass. fingers just right at his asshole. You give him few seconds to refuse and when he doesn’t you slowly push a finger in, into his still wet and relaxed hole. 

He whines and his hips stutter, his face buried in the crook of your next, while you're fingering him gently. He’s still fucking you but it’s as if he can’t decide whether to fuck into your or fuck himself on your finger. You’re also close, high from the power you have over him, and how easily you were able to make his strong beautiful man into a puddle. 

He’s almost out of his mind from pleasure, succumbed to just his primal feelings to fuck, when you whisper into his ear. 

“Should I add another one?” and that’s what does him in, and he moans and cums in you, while thrusting into you hard, and it helps you come too, when you feel his cock pump you full of cum. You’re rarely having an orgasm at the same time, but when you do, it feels like you can experience the pleasure of yours and his at the same time, and it feels like you can't stop coming. 

It takes a minute to come down, to make the ringing in your ears stop and your breath slow down, and in the meantime he rolls off you and slumps on the bed next to you. He’s just lying half dead, eyes closed, face and chest red and sweaty. 

He finally opens one eye. “You know, if I knew you would like my body this much, I would have started seriously working out sooner,” he mumbles, face half-buried in the bed. 

You turn to him and weakly slap him on the arm, “Oh I’m sure you would,” you laugh. 

He moves closer to you and grabs you into a hug. You settle comfortably in his warm embrace. 

“Next time, let me show you how much I love your body though,” he whispers. 

Ooh. Can’t wait.

[sallage]

Red

The Unexpected Fight Series

Part 3

Warning: This is a tickle fic! - Crossed boundaries and ignored safe word.

Summary: With a renewed sense of determination, Bakugo prepares for his first round of training with Kirishima. Set up like an interrogation, Bakugo must try to withstand the pressure and make it through the full 20 minutes without giving in or giving up.

Pairing: Lee Bakugo, Ler Kirishima 

Words: 4,372

Reading Time: 17 Minutes 

A/N: So I lied and posted this earlier then I said I would which technically is still super late. I’ll admit I did not proof read this so it might be sloppy but I finished it and wanted it out there haha.

I'm going to sound like a broken record but I'm probably never going to be fully okay with the stories I post. I'll always be wishing I could either pump more into it, be more descriptive, stay true to characters, or add more dialogue. There will always be something I wish I can do or change, but then I wouild never post anything.

Anyways I hope you all enjoy! LOL

Read more ∘₊✧ Here ✧₊∘

Bakugo scowled at the clock as the minutes ticked by with relentless consistency. His gaze was unwavering in its focus as his eyes fixed on the hands, watching as they spun around the clock face in a slow revolution.

With each passing minute, the dread of meeting up with Kirishima for training weighed heavier and heavier upon his shoulders, and though he tried to resist, he could feel the pressure mounting for him to leave, sooner rather than later.

With the encounter in the forest still fresh in his mind, Bakugo felt a surge of renewed energy running through his body. There was a new fire burning within him, an intense and searing flame that would not be easily extinguished.

A knock at the door pulled Bakugo out of his introspective thoughts and set him on a trajectory for confrontation. He threw open the door, his aggressive eyes immediately finding Deku in the doorway, hand still stuck in the knocking position. Their gazes locked in a tense moment before Deku slowly lowered his hand.

“Hey,” Deku took a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I’m just reminding you about training. You should have left already.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Bakugo narrowed his eyes. “I know what time it is.”

He closed the door behind him and walked out.

Midoriya followed close behind. 

“We’re working on endurance today. We’re going to give you a code and you have to hold onto it for 20 minutes.” 

Bakugo’s scowl was his only response.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, the two rivals a healthy distance between one another before Midoriya worked up the nerve to speak again.

“I know this is… not what you’re used to,” Midoriya sighed, looking for words that wouldn’t get him pummeled. “Anyway, we’re all here for you.”

“Just… shut up.” Bakugo cringed. The lack of angst in his voice wasn't lost on Midoriya. His friend was nervous and didn't want to be catered to.

 After walking in silence for a bit longer, one sideways glance at the blonde told him all he needed to know about what his friend was silently wondering. 

“It’s at Ground Beta in one of the buildings towards the end of the campus. We got permission to use it and it’s far enough away that no one will hear you.” 

Bakugo scoffed but Midoriya swore he saw a bit of tension leave the blonde’s shoulders.

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

—

Once inside the building, they walked down a flight of stairs and entered the basement where Kirishima and Kaminari were lounging on a couple of bean bags playing Nintendo switches.

The boys paused their game and greeted them with energetic hellos. Bakugo looked past them and saw a random table next to a thick metal chair positioned right in the middle of the room with wrist and ankle cuffs attached to the arms and legs.

He resisted the urge to react as a bolt of nervous energy speared through him.

“Where’s Sero and Todoroki?” Midoriya wondered.

An irritated sigh sounded next to him.

“We figured Bakugo didn’t want people watching him get absolutely wrecked.” Kaminari teased with a smug smile, earning a growl from Bakugo. “Kiri lugged the chair up and I brought the bean bags and Switches. I guessed you were going to be late.”

“Besides,” Kirishima started before Bakugo could retort. “Todoroki’s got the next one, they’re going to be sparring.”

Bakugo’s lips quirked at that. He could already picture himself blasting that half and half bastard into oblivion.

“Bakugo!” Kaminari waved to get his attention. “You got your murder eyes on!” 

Bakugo looked at Kaminari and then back to Kirishima. “You idiots don’t expect me to sit in that.” He jerked his chin towards the center of the room.

Kirishima’s face tightened. “Yeah, sorry man. All that matters is that it can hold you without breaking or moving. It’s pretty heavy duty.” 

Bakugo clicked his tongue. “Whatever.” 

Midoriya clapped his hands. “I’m going to head back. I’ll see you guys after!” He waved as he exited the room. 

“Hey, wait up!” Kaminari put a hand on Bakugo’s shoulder, leaned in and whispered something into Bakugo’s ear. With another encouraging slap that earned a sneer, Kaminari disappeared up the stairs after Midoriya.

Once the sound of their footfalls faded, Kirishima turned to Bakugo.

“Alright!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands together and gesturing towards the chair. “Let’s get started!”

Bakugo stood firm in his place, defiantly staring down at the chair and refusing to budge. He couldn't explain it, but he just could not bring himself to sit down. His body refused to obey the mental command. It was as if his pride and stubbornness had taken over and would not allow him to surrender to that damn chair.

“Bakugo,” Kirishima tilted his head. “You need to-” 

“I don’t need you to tell me what to do.” Bakugo snapped.

“Okay, then what’s stopping you?”

Bakugo's pride and stubbornness continued to war within him, keeping him on the brink of either giving in or resisting even further.

On one hand, a part of him could not bring himself to compromise his pride and dignity by losing control and being reduced to a blubbering mess in front of one of the only people he respected. And on the other hand, standing his ground and continuing to resist meant giving up completely and admitting defeat.

He was finding himself stuck in this weird state of limbo where he knew what he needed to do but physically could not make himself do it.

Kirishima was quick to notice the internal struggle that Bakugo was grappling with.

“We don’t have to do this.”

No responce.

Kirishima recognized that Bakugo's desire to not participate wasn’t a complete one. The blonde still stood there within the presence of the chair, which meant there was still some potential in convincing him to follow through. Kiri knew that all Bakugo needed was a slight push in the right direction.

Kirishima adopted a more challenging tone and delivered a playful smirk, knowing Bakugo's pride was the key. “I get why you might not want to do it. It might be too intense for you.”

Bakugo met kirishima’s stare, uncharacteristically quiet.

“I saw how you were in the forest,” Kirishima continued, shrugging. “If I were you, I probably couldn't handle it either. Lets go back.” He began walking towards the exit, but a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that the other didn't follow.

Kirishima paused at the bottom of the stairs and crossed his arms over his chest.

Bakugo mumbled a few curses before walking up and plopping into the cold chair. Kirishima with a smile full of pride for his friend, rushed over to his side.

One look at the red head’s face and Bakugo was looking away with an eye roll. “This is just to prove your dumbass wrong.”

Kirishima shrugged and went to work, efficiently securing Bakugo's wrists and ankles to the four points of the chair. He took a few steps back to survey his work. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't resist letting out a slight chuckle at the scowl on Bakugo's face.

“Okay, try to get out.”

Bakugo grumbled and attempted to tug at the cuffs but the sturdy restraints didn’t give an inch. Bakugo's brows drew together as he wrenched at them harder. The cuffs were much sturdier than he anticipated, and he realized that the wiggle room he would typically get with thinner restraints was not an option due to the thick cuffs covering most of his wrists.

As he wrenched at them one more time, he was met with the same result and he realized that without the use of his quirk, he was truly stuck.

Bakugo felt a tug of uneasiness deep within him. It was an unfamiliar feeling, one that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Was it doubt? Nervousness? Anxiety? Or was it something else altogether? He couldn't quite place it, but he knew it was something that he didn't particularly like.

Kirishima nodded encouragingly. “Ready?”

Bakugo attempted to maintain a bored and unbothered demeanor. “I’m not doing this role play garbage with you.”

Kirishima took out his phone and started the timer. 

Twenty Minutes.

He placed it on the table so they both could see it.

“We’re not roleplaying. Kaminari gave you a code and you’re not supposed to tell me.”

Bakugo scowled and tested the restraints again.

“I’ll ask nicely first,” 

Bakugo's face warped into a mix of a cringe and a scowl as Kirishima moved to stand directly in front of him.

“What did Kaminari tell you?”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “This is stupid.” 

Kirishima just smiled and patted his shoulder as he walked around the blonde’s chair. Bakugo found himself feeling a small twinge of relief as he no longer had to look at Kirishima, but this small comfort was soon replaced with a sensation of unease as Kirishima pushed two strong hands through the little gaps between the blonde’s sides and arms, leaving them poised to strike.

His body tensed.

But his expression remained unchanging as Kirishima pinched his sides repeatedly.

Even though Kirishima believed the blonde was just saving face, he was still surprised by the lack of reaction. He thought back to the forest, trying to remember what it was that initially set him off.

Then, it hit him.

He stopped the harsh poking and pinching and changed his approach, softly tracing his fingers over the fabric of Bakugo's shirt.

Bakugo's body stiffened and twitched as his muscles convulsed under the touch of Kirishima's tracing fingertips, which the red head took as a small victory.

There it was.

He continued the gentle approach, moving his tracing and scratching motions inward towards the the inner edges of Bakugo's sides where they turned into his stomach.

Bakugo's jaw was tight, then he bit down on the inside of his cheek. The gentle touch and light scribbles were making him flinch as his muscles began to twitch in response. Every time Kirishima's fingers moved across his skin, Bakugo's body reacted, causing him to bite his cheek harder to suppress them.

Kirishima's fingers shifted lower to Bakugo's waist and began teasing the space above his hips, right above the waistline of his pants, prompting the explosive blonde to let out a small twitch and perform some subtle micro-movements which Kirishima was quick to notice. Kirishima then moved his hands down to Bakugo's hips and hovered over them, motionless.

Bakugo clenched his teeth. “Stop messing with m-” 

Kirishima pressed his thumbs deep into Bakugo's hips, moving them in slow, deliberate circles. The intense and invasive prodding caused Bakugo to let out a soft groan before jerking his wrists and tugging at the cuffs in a moment of weakness.

Kirishima smiled triumphantly.

“I’m barely touching you, man.”

Kirishima found himself almost giddy with amusement, knowing he had the perfect thing to push Bakugo's buttons. Of course, he was well aware of Bakugo's fiery personality and explosive nature, but nothing had ever come close to shaking his composure or forcing him to let loose.

This newfound knowledge was proving to be quite valuable, and Kirishima couldn't help but wonder just how effective it would prove to be in keeping the unpredictable blonde in check in the future. It gave him a huge rush of accomplishment and satisfaction to realize how much he had thrown Bakugo's composure out the window with just the slight twitch of his fingers.

“Shut up.” Bakugo growled. 

Kirishima increased the pressure on his thumbs and sped up the movement, digging harder into Bakugo's hips. Bakugo's legs strained in effort and he let out a quick gasp, his breath starting to come in shorter and sharper inhales.

Kirishima didn’t even try to suppress the smirk on his face. “You just gotta tell me what Kaminari told you.” 

Bakugo could hear the amusement in Kirishima’s tone.

“What the hell are you smiling about?”

Kirishima snickered behind him and the blonde’s face grew red.

“Wipe that smirk off your damn face!”

Kirishima tutted. “You’re not really in a position to be making threats, you know.”

“You think I give a shit? I’ll wipe that stupid smirk off yo- GAH!”

Kirishima teased his way up towards the bottom of Bakugo's ribs, pushing past his attempt to speak. Bakugo tensed up and gripped the chair, awaiting the attack that-

Didn't come. 

Kirishima shifted, bringing his fingers back to Bakugo's hips and starting again with the slow, subtle, and teasing touches. Each time Kirishima seemed like he was beginning to attack Bakugo's ribs, he would quickly and smoothly transition back to the hips.

The constant shifting between the two points was causing Bakugo to flinch and spasm each time Kirishima faked out an attack.

The repetitive tickling motion was beginning to have a cumulative effect on Bakugo. The constant upward jerking of his body each time Kirishima's fingers danced closer to his ribs caused Bakugo's temper to flair.

Bakugo shouted out an expletive when Kirishima baited him yet again. Losing a toehold on his temper.

"Stop fucking with me," he shouted, his rage boiling over, "You're pissing me off!"

Bakugo was already on edge from the teasing and prodding, so when Kirishima shrugged and suddenly launched into an outright offensive attack on his lower rib cage, he let out a loud shout of surprise.

“FUHUCK!” Bakugo bit down on his lip and gritted his teeth as he struggled to hold in his laughter while Kirishima continued to relentlessly strike the soft and sensitive points on his lower rib cage.

Bakugo tried to cover the area by turning in his elbows, but he was tightly confined in place. Bakugo let out frustrated gasps and grunts in lieu of giggles as Kirishima continued to hit those sweet spots.

Kirishima was playing for keeps now, his expression serious and focused as he relentlessly pursued Bakugo's lower ribcage.

With his eyes starting to water from suppressing his laughter and the relentless attack from Kirishima's fingers, he glanced frantically around the room, searching for some type of distraction that could take his mind off the tickling. He set his eyes on Kirishima’s phone. 

Fifteen minutes left.

He knew that he was running out of time to keep any sort of composure and preserve any scrap of dignity he had left.

Unfortunately, Kirishima couldn't let that happen.

Kirishima adjusted his grip and spread out his fingers to provide himself with more of a surface area to work with. He quickly began to viciously burrow his fingers into Bakugo's ribcage, aggressively rubbing and vibrating them in a large circular motion with speed and intensity.

“AHHHAhahahaha!”

Bakugo arched his back and let out a loud burst of laughter, his restraint nearly completely broken as he was unable to hold back his reaction, caught off guard by Kirishima actually following through with the attack this time. 

Kirishima finally succeeded in pushing Bakugo close to the edge, and the explosive blonde’s embarrassment was evident in the way he wrenched at his bonds.

The red head was determined to see this through to the end, inching further and further up towards the spot he knew would make Bakugo spill all the marbles. The laughter became louder and more desperate as Kirishima moved closer to the sensitive area, causing Bakugo to struggle against the cuffs even harder.

Instead, Kirishima suddenly dropped his fingers back down to Bakugo's hips and started applying as much ticklish pressure as possible, pressing hard into the sensitive areas on the inside of the explosive blonde’s hips. Kirishima felt like he was getting close as Bakugo bucked and tried and failed to contain his laughter, spluttering and trying pull away from the excruciatingly ticklish sensations.

“ShihIHIHT! YOU MAHTHER FAHAHAHAKER! AGHH! STAHAHAHAP!”

“You know what you gotta tell me to make it stop!”

Bakugo continued to buck and pull on his arms and legs, desperate to get away from the maddening sensations. Kirishima continued his relentless attack on Bakugo's hips, keeping the pressure steady.

Bakugo could only manage a few inches of movement and Kirishima kept pace, not letting his friend have even a moment of respite.

“STAHAHAHHAP, KIRISHIMA DAMN IT! FAAAHAHAHAHAK!”

“Tell me!” Kirishima had to yell over Bakugo’s laughter so he could hear him. “Give it up and I’ll stop!”

Bakugo shook his head and slammed it against the headrest, his movements getting more desperate and wild as he tried to find some type of relief. Kirishima shifted himself forward and pushed his arms further through the gaps in the chair before moving down to the spaces below Bakugo's hips at the top of his thighs.

He used four fingers on each side to really dig into the ticklish blonde’s pelvis. Bakugo groaned as if he was experiencing some type of pain and tried to fold in on himself, lifting his shoulders only a few inches off of the backrest.

“AAAHHH! KIRISHIMA! DAMN IT STAHAHAHAHAHAP! ILL KIHIHIHIL YOU! AAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHO!”

“The code-”

“FAHAH- FUCK YOU! I CAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHNT REHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!” 

His laughter spiked when Kirishima squeezed his thighs, his voice getting hoarse.

“NOHOHOHO! SHIT STAHAHAHAP! WHAHAHT THE FAHAHAHAK!”

Kirishima stopped. Bakugo slumped, he felt sweat pool around his head and slide down his back. His eyes closed and his breathing was fast.

Time must have been up.

“Was- Was that tiiIIMMMAAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH! NAAHAHAHAHA!”

Kirishima shoved his hands into the blonde’s armpits, causing his body to seize as if he had been struck by lightning. The intense and relentless rubbing and undulating of Kirishima's fingers caused a sensation that Bakugo did not expect, forcing him to let loose and release an unusually high-pitched scream as his body was overrun with intense, indescribable tickles.

The suddenness of Kirishima's move straight up overwhelmed Bakugo, and he struggled to clamp his arms down and move his body away, but the restraints simply would not budge. 

“AHHH! AHA AHAHAH NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

Kirishima watched Bakugo lose all composure. His laughter shifted to a grueling and desperate note, and Kirishima could see his resolve completely crumble when his eyebrows lifted and it looked like he was completely lost in the sensations. But Kirishima didn't relent, determined to tickle the information he needed out of his friend.

“RED! REHEHEHEHED! KIRISHIMA RED! I FAAHAHAHAHA- I FOHOHO- GAHAHAHAHA THAHAHA- NAAHAHAHA!”

Kirishima shook his head. Bakugo had the code and could easily end it at any instant, but he didn’t, instead using his safe word as a cop out.

Kirishima decided that he would have to give the code and only the code, admitting full defeat in the challenge, or Kirishima would continue until he truly gave up or until the twenty minutes were up.

He refused to give the blonde any kind of bragging rights, especially if he didn't deserve it. 

“Come on, man! You know you need to give up the code!”

Bakugo shook his head and repeatedly slammed his shoulders against the backrest. “STAHAHAHAHAP!”

Kirishima looked at the timer. 

Ten minutes left.

There was still time.

Kirishima moved his fingers downward slowly, and Bakugo's eyes shot open and his struggling intensified dramatically. The pitch of Bakugo's laughter began to rise in intensity and echo loudly through the basement, the sound magnified by the close walls and low ceilings.

Though he was moving his hands slowly towards the spot he knew Bakugo just could not stand, Kirishima was determined to reach the ultimate goal and cause his friend to completely give up.

“NO! NONONAHAHAHAHA! KIRI! WAIT- STAHAHAHP! AHH! NO DOHOHONT!”

When Kirishima finally hit it, the spot on his upper ribs right underneath his arms, there was a moment of silence as the blonde jerked violently in his restraints.

Then Bakugo screamed.

“AAAHHHHH AHAHAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

He banged his head against the headrest and violently pulled on his arms, the skin peaking through underneath the cuffs red and scratched. He bucked his hips and tried to twist his body. He clenched and unclenched his fists, baby explosions shooting out of them. But Kirishima kept going, knowing Bakugo was approaching his limit if not already there. He dug in harder and wiggled his fingers faster. 

“KIRIHIHIHHIHI———————— AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! REHEHE ——————————! STAHAHAHA——————————!  I CAHAH——————————!” 

As Bakugo's body was transported into the realm of silent laughter, tears flowed freely down his burning face. As if it were possible, the blonde struggled even harder against the restraints, his struggles becoming increasingly violent and frenetic as his body jerked and slammed around, slightly scooting the heavy chair. Bakugo's explosions grew in size, slowly expanding and beginning to sting Kirishima's skin.

For a moment, Kirishima regarded Bakugo’s dramatic reactions with confusion, wondering why he didn't just give up if it was that unbearable. Kirishima lightened his touch at the thought considering calling off the entire thing and giving his friend a break.

Then Bakugo took a rare breath and screamed.

“CEREAL! THE DAHAHAHAHMN CODE- IT’S CEREAL!’ NOHOW FUCKING STAAAHAAHAHAHHAHAP!”

Kirishima quickly backed off and dropped his hands. Bakugo dropped into the chair in a deep slump and breathed hard, his body exhausted and yet somehow continued to buzz with adrenaline. He kept his eyes shut and let out a loud and deep groan, attempting to collect himself as his aching body continued to respond with twitches and jolts to strong phantom tickles. His face and neck were flushed, and the small beads of sweat dripped off his hair, betraying the exertion he had just endured.

After a few minutes, Kirishima chewed his lip and spoke quietly. “You okay, man?”

Kirishima didn't receive any verbal response. 

He stood up and circled the chair, leaning over take a look at Bakugo from the side. The blonde looked horrible. His face and neck were all sweaty and he completely collapsed into that chair as if he were boneless.

Kirishima had a gut wrenching, agonizing feeling that he had inadvertently pushed his friend too far. It didn't feel like it even mattered at this point whether Bakugo was being honest or using the safe word merely as a cop-out in order to avoid a full concession of defeat. One look at his friend, and Kirishima knew he should have stopped. 

But why didn't he just give up the damn code?

“Why did you use the safe word instead of giving up the code?”

Again, no verbal response.

“Bakugo, answer me.”

“Don't give me orders.” Bakugo mumbled.

“Bakugo!”

“I forgot the fucking code.” Bakugo admitted coldly, spitting the words out like acid. 

Kirishima blanched.

There was too much going on, his mind must have been in shambles.

Bakugo regarded his look of sympathy with a disgusted scoff. “I ended up remembering it so it doesn't fucking matter.”

Kirishima was speechless. Bakugo had reached his limit long before he stopped, and he kept going. Guilt pounded into his chest like a jackhammer. Of course he would use the safe word if he forgot. 

It was a fucking safe word.

If Bakugo had any trust in him, Kirishima felt it dissolve like cotton candy dipped in water.

“I- I’m so-”

“Shut up. I don't want to hear it.”

“But-”

“I said to shut it, damn it!”

Sighing and turning his head, Kirishima understood that if he tried to push, it would only make things worse. Instead, he looked at his phone.

two minutes remained on the clock.

“You lasted a long time.”

Bakugo coughed, still looking exhausted. “No I didn’t, you idiot.”

Kirishima let silence hang in the air as he started undoing the cuffs.

Once freed, Bakugo stood out of the chair and stretched. 

Then they exited the basement together in silence.

—

 The air between Kirishima and Bakugo was thick as the two of them walked back to the main sidewalk in complete silence. Bakugo looked down toward the ground, keeping his hands in his pockets, appearing to be deep in thought. Kirishima kept side eyeing him, the expression on the blonde’s face unreadable.

Kirishima remained silent for the remainder of walk and allowed the tension to build and linger in the air, letting Bakugo stew in his own thoughts and emotions.

Once they reached the dorms, Kirishima whirled on Bakugo before he could reach for the handle on the front door.

“Look man, I know you don’t wanna hear it, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn't stop. I should’ve put two and two together and stopped the minute you said the safe word. It was dumb and a violation and-” Kirishima looked into his eyes, willing Bakugo to see his regret. “I’m sorry.”

Kirishima maintained his gaze, not breaking off for a second while waiting for Bakugo to make his decision. Bakugo's stare was filled with disdain and anger, as the flush on the blonde’s cheeks almost faded and his fists were clenched tightly in his pockets. They remained poised for a moment, before Bakugo gave a curt nod.

Kirishima sighed, the guilt he had been feeling still there, but less suffocating. He knew Bakugo was going to need time, but at least the blonde didn't completely hate him.

Kirishima turned and opened the door entering the building and holding it open for his friend.

The dorms were bustling with life and activity, as students settled in for the evening and gathered to partake in fun activities such as watching a movie and eating snacks. Kirishima sighed as Bakugo brushed past everyone and headed towards his room without a word, ignoring everyone who greeted him and offered an invite to stay. 

Midoriya turned to Kirishima a questioning look, but Kirishima could only shake his head in response.

Bakugo wasn't just mad at Kirishima.

He was mad because once again,

He’d lost.

[odiesdayoff]

So Undercover (2)

pair: Dark!Edward Nashton x fem!reader

summary: You get a little too caught up in an undercover job to unravel the Riddler.

warnings: stalking; intimidation; fear; name-calling; riddler is mean; double life of Edward Nashton/Patrick Parker

Part 1

Patrick’s visits to request records had become much more frequent to the point where seeing him was a weekly ordeal. Not that you minded. You had begun to warm up to the shy man, even moving forward to actually having conversations with him. It was something you started to look forward to.

He leaned against your desk as you scanned the record he wanted. “Are you busy Friday night?” You wanted to cringe at yourself. By his surprised look, you couldn’t tell whether or not that was overstepping in your relationship.

“I don’t think so, why?” He adjusted his glasses, his gaze fixated on you.

You sighed. “I have two tickets to the Gotham Philharmonic. I was supposed to go with this dude I was seeing, but that didn’t work out. Wondered if you wanted to go. With me.”

He stopped you before you could ramble on anymore. “I’d love to.”

~

You were fixing your lipstick in the mirror when you heard the chime of a new message. Checking who it was from was unnecessary. You already knew.

<?> Pretty girl.

<?> Got a date tonight?

<me> Not really.

<me> Going somewhere with a friend.

<?> I bet he just wants to get in your pants.

<me> That’s not true.

<me> He’s nice.

<?> Maybe I’ll go, too.

<?> You won’t even know it’s me.

<?> Just to make sure Patrick is behaving.

<me> Stay away from him.

<me> He’s innocent.

<?> Row E.

<?> Seats 17 and 18.

<?> Maybe I’ll take seat 19.

<me> I’ll have the police on you immediately.

<?> We’ll see.

He disconnected. Frustrated, you shut your laptop. The only thing you wanted to do was enjoy a night out with a friend and now the looming anxiety of where the serial killer who is seemingly obsessed with you is sitting in your stomach.

You weren’t going to let him ruin your fun. It was bad enough that you didn’t have a real date to go with. Might as well enjoy yourself.

Patrick was waiting outside the doors when you arrived. He wore a black dress shirt and pants, just a little bit more formal than what you were used to. He looked nice. It matched the little black dress you chose to wear. “You look beautiful.” He blushed as he complimented you.

While you took your seats, one eye kept looking around for any man that came close. Any one of them could be the Riddler. Anxiety spiked in your stomach when you saw someone look at you, but they quickly looked away to join their families. “I should probably tell you something.” His words caught your attention. “Most people use my middle name. Edward.”

“Edward? I like that.” The other guests found their seats and the lights began to dim. The Riddler, as far as you knew, hadn’t come. The seats directly next to you and Edward were still empty. The conductor walked on stage and the orchestra began to play.

This was a good idea. Edward’s arm was on the armrest in between the two of your seats. After several minutes of contemplating, you placed your hand on his. He flipped his hand around and intertwined his fingers with yours. You didn’t look at his reaction, but you were smiling.

At the intermission, Edward had left to use the bathroom. You stayed in your seat, allowing yourself to feel the warmth in your stomach that just holding hands brought. Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you nearly dropped it once you saw the message.

<?> The trombone solo was beautiful, wasn’t it?

<?> Not as much as you, though.

<?> Sitting all alone.

<?> Did your boy leave?

<me> Where are you?

The Riddler didn’t respond. You looked up from the screen and scanned the room. Any man on a cell phone rang alarm bells in your mind. He was here. In the same room. He knew exactly what you looked like and you were completely in the dark. You didn’t even notice that your hands were shaking.

<me> Please.

<me> Tell me where you are.

<?> Right next to you.

You jumped out of your seat when someone sat in Edward’s seat. You took a deep breath and faced the figure, who turned out just to be Edward. “Woah, are you okay? It looks like you’re on the verge of tears.” He placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

Riddler was just fucking with you. Of course, he was. You shook your head. “Yeah, yeah. Just a little anxious, I guess.”

He took your hand in his. “I’ve got you. Do you want to leave? There’s a diner close by.”

You bit your lip, then nodded. “Yeah.”

In a corner booth at the nearby diner, you and Edward laughed over a basket of fries and milkshakes. “A book?” You tried not to laugh into your straw.

He nodded. “Yeah. Gotham has such an intricate history and I’m piecing together the most important events and incidents. You’d be surprised what you uncover.”

You shrugged. “I believe you. It’s just interesting to see someone so passionate about this city.” You ate a fry, teasing him. Most people that lived in Gotham hated the city. They either loved to complain or were actively saving up to get out. “I just want to thank you for coming tonight. And being so understanding.”

He waved you off. “It’s no problem. I like spending time with you.”

You played with the straw in your milkshake for a moment. “My apartment isn’t that far from here. If you want to, I don’t know, go there?”

“Oh, Y/n. You don’t know how much I want to say yes, but I think you’re too special to move so fast yet. You deserve more than that.” Even though he was rejecting you as gently as possible, it was still a rejection. You tried not to react. “I don’t want this night to be a one-time thing.”

You pursed your lips. “Right. You know, that’s a good idea. We should go on a real date.”

“This doesn’t count?” He raised a brow.

“Well, I mean, kind of. But I haven’t got the chance to learn more about you. I don’t even know what you do as a job.” He knew much more about you than you did him. That was a bit hard considering that he met you at your job. Sure, he was writing a book, but that was a side hustle. 

He laughed. “I’m an accountant.”

~

Back in your bed, you took your makeup off and tossed the wipe in the trash. Now that it was after the fact, maybe it was a good idea that Edward had rejected you. Pure horniness took over, you presumed. He was someone you wanted to have a special night with and not a one-night stand.

You rested your head on your pillow, still wearing your dress. If you hadn’t already laid down, maybe changing into pajamas might’ve been a more feasible option. Sleep was your biggest priority. That was until your laptop chimed.

<?> Surprised you came home alone.

<me> We’re just friends.

<?> Whores like you don’t make friends with men.

<?> He rejected you, didn’t he?

<?> Knew that you were just a slut.

<me> That’s not true.

<?> Don’t get too defensive.

<?> I should show him who you really are.

<me> Stay the fuck away from him.

<me> He’s a good guy.

<me> You wouldn’t know what that’s like.

<?> I wouldn’t?

<me> No.

<?> That’s funny.

<?> He may be a good guy.

<?> But I’m the one you’re dropping your panties for.

You shut your laptop. He had some nerve. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to ruin Edward for you. He was your chance to actually have a semblance of a normal relationship. Whatever blackmail situationship you had with the Riddler didn’t count. 

Your laptop chimed with a new message, one that you ignored. Another. A third. The sound that caught your attention was your apartment door unlocking and creaking open. It was something you knew all too well. Someone was in your apartment.

You shot up. This was Gotham, you really should’ve kept some type of weapon in your bedroom. All you had was yourself. The self-defense classes you took a while back needed to come back to your head. You locked your bedroom door.

Best case scenario: you just get robbed.

Worst case scenario: you get killed.

The person walked slowly, with loud footsteps. Do you try calling the GCPD? No, you worked with them. You, of all people, knew how useless they were. Nervous, you opened your laptop again.

<?> I think you’re getting a little too comfortable.

<?> Maybe I need to come over and teach you a real lesson.

<?> Don’t worry, I have a key.

Your heart sank. He was in your home. He was probably armed. Maybe not with a gun, but he was known to use knives or anything that would do the job, really. There was no doubt in your mind that he’d been there before. His footsteps continued straight towards your bedroom.

His fists slammed against your bedroom door. You weren’t sure how long it might hold him back and you had to do something. He couldn’t win. 

You pushed open your window and climbed out onto the fire escape. The harsh mid-April air blew your dress up and littered goosebumps all over your skin. The fire escape didn’t reach all the way to the ground, so you had to jump a couple of feet once you got to the bottom. 

It was a bit humbling. You wore slippers with a fancy dress in the middle of an alleyway. Maybe that wasn’t so strange in Gotham considering people terrorized the city in crazy costumes once a week. It was better than being stuck in a room with him.

You dialed the GCPD.

Officer Thompson escorted you back into your apartment about twenty minutes later. It was trashed. Books were thrown from their shelves and clothes from your drawers scattered along the floor. Whether or not it truly was the Riddler that was here, he was mad. What was most important was that he was gone, for now.

It took about an hour to fix the mess he left. All you wanted to do was sleep. You pulled your sheets back on your bed and gasped. Drying cum pooled in the spot where you normally slept.

Sleeping on the couch, it is.

~~

On Monday, your head was everywhere but your job. After the lab came back with no matches to anyone in their database, your evidence was labeled as useless. Riddler probably knew that. Maybe it wasn’t even his and it was another trick he was playing on you. It wasn’t something you particularly wanted to think about. 

Thankfully, Annette, your boss, was finally back from her vacation, which brought you to your normal job of sorting and filing the records. It left you in the back office, covered in dust and the occasional paper cut. 

“Anything interesting happen while I was away?” She rolled slightly back in her chair, just enough to have a view of you from the open doorway. You did start to miss that nice chair as the back pain from sitting on the floor crept back up your spine. 

You shrugged. “Not really. Actually had someone come in and request a record, though.” No way you would mention that you went on a date with that person. 

She wasn’t your friend, or close enough to share information with. She’d only complain about her ex-husband and the horrors of dating apps within Gotham City. Even though she was in her early thirties, she loved to act like she was so much superior and older than you were. “Sounds like I missed a party, then.” Sarcasm dripped from her words. 

You might as well bite and waste some time listening to her yapping. Silence would only bring your mind back to Him. “How was Disney?”

Annette’s grating voice stopped you in your tracks before you could leave for the day. She had the same pitiful smile that meant she wanted you to do something for her. “The Gotham Public Library called. They said they had some records they wanted to move to the archive.”

“Okay, and?” You didn’t even care if it came off as rude.

She crossed her arms. “I have a doctor’s appointment and you need to pick it up right away. I don’t even have time for you to talk back right now. I’m the archivist, you’re the assistant. Am I getting that wrong?”

You simply nodded. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I’ll head over now.”

~~

The Gotham Public Library was probably the most salvageable building in the whole city. People worked hard to make sure it looked nice and was well-stocked with books. It’s really too bad the Gothamites stopped caring about enhancing their knowledge. Well, they probably were distracted by trying to stay alive.

You went straight to the backroom of the library, just as Annette told you to do. Hopefully, the box of records would be there and it would be an easy job. It was almost getting dark out and walking home in a place like Gotham at night was far too dangerous. 

The door creaked open and cobwebs fell from the ceiling. You made sure to position a small book to hold the door open. It locked from the inside and if you didn’t have a key, you were stuck in there until a librarian cared enough to answer their phone. The box labeled “GCPD” sat on the opposite wall of the door. 

You nearly bumped into the stray mop and cleaning supplies that sat in the middle of the room. Of course, important documents were kept in the janitor’s closet. A glance confirmed that water from the last clean sat stagnant in the bucket. 

The box was light as you lifted it, almost as if it were empty. Well, paper couldn’t be that heavy. You backed up to get away from the shelf and your shoe landed on someone else’s. The box fell onto the floor as a gloved hand clasped over your mouth. Your back was pressed against the chest of your assailant. 

“Fool me once, shame on me.” The voice was familiar, one that you could never get out of your head. If it weren’t for the mask over his face, you would’ve felt his breath against your neck. “I’ve got to admit, I didn’t think of the fire escape. I guess I underestimated you.”

He kicked the book that held the door open and it slammed shut. Flipping you around, he pushed you against the wall. You tripped over the box of files and fell into it, your ass firmly stuck in the box. “We’re both locked in here now, dumbass.” Your confidence surprised the both of you. 

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a key, one he made a replica of, you were sure. If he had so many replicas of keys, then he must’ve either gone to a store or had his own way of doing it. “You are. I came prepared.” You wondered if he planned for you to fall by the way he leaned over and looked down at you. “You still have yet to learn your lesson.”

You tried moving, barely busting the structural integrity of the cardboard box somehow. He pressed his boot against your chest, continuously adding pressure. “You’re no better than the dirt I walk on.” He dragged his boot against your chest, a trail of mud and dirt rubbing off on your blouse. Using his heel, he pulled the box closer. “How do you think I should deal with a pretty little thing like you?”

He knelt down to face you at eye level and pulled a switchblade from his jacket. The blade tickled your skin but didn’t go far enough to cut. “Why don’t I start by dressing you like the whore you and I both know you are?” 

The fabric of your shirt was so match for the blade, getting torn to reveal your bra. “I’m not a whore. Just because you think I am doesn’t mean it’s true.” He ignored you, cutting through your pants as well. 

“I won’t waste my time with you. I have much better things to do.” He stepped back, now standing. He almost left the room, but not before the bucket caught his eyes. He picked it up, struggling a bit to carry it over to where you sat, then poured it over you. It was barely water at this point, it was brown. 

You shut your eyes and mouth, only opening them when you heard the door slam. The cardboard of the box was much easier to move while wet and after a minute or two, it began to disintegrate enough for you to stand. The so-called file that you needed to get was somewhat dry. The most notable thing you saw was a large green question mark.

Tears fell from your eyes as you pulled your phone from your pocket. It was lucky enough that he hadn’t stolen it. The library went to voicemail, as per usual. A little desperate, you pressed Edward’s contact and it began to dial. This wasn’t the most ideal circumstance for a second date, but he was the only one you trusted enough to see you like this. He would never treat you like this.

Part 3

[rorywritesjunk]

I can’t tell where the journey will end But I know where to start

Prequel to my Kid Buggy fic, set about 11-ish years before that story.

Buggy meets you by chance when he needs his buttons sewn back onto his jacket. He’s young, up and coming, and he thinks everyone should cower before him wherever he goes, but all you do is smile at him.

Rating: PG-13ish just for some swearing. Warning: Buggy’s in his early 20s. He’s an asshole. He just is because I wanted to write him loud, demanding, everything. Also, I’m not nice to Buggy when he tries to flirt. I definitely write him as a bit of a disaster when it happens. It’s just going to get a bit worse from here. This chapter is just kind of fluffy. Buggy deserves it. A/N: I have no idea when Buggy became a Captain, so he’s a fresh faced captain in this. No clue how long this fic will be.

Title comes from “Wake Me Up” by Avicii.

TAGLIST: @lostfirefly @ane5e @kingofthemfingpirates @the-angriest-angel @tiredemomama @valen-yamyam16 @i-reblog-fics-i-like @plethora-of-fickleness @uhnanix

Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6 + Chapter 7 + Chapter 8 + Chapter 9 + Chapter 10 + Chapter 11 + Chapter 12 + Chapter 13 + Chapter 14 + Chapter 15 + Chapter 16 + Chapter 17 + Chapter 18 + Epilogue

Chapter 10

Miss Pins was kind enough to let Buggy upstairs to the living space to get dried off. The storm was pretty bad and she knew you would be dumb enough to walk him back to his ship like this, so she offered him a blanket and a spot on the kitchen floor to sleep, which he begrudgingly took while you came back to the kitchen in a pink fluffy robe with some towels for him to dry off with and a dry pair of clothes. You saw the blanket on the floor and frowned at him as your boss left.

“Does she want you to sleep on the floor, Buggy?” You asked as you unfolded a towel and started to dry his hair for him. “Because it’s too cold and hard. You’ll get sick.”

“I’ll be fine.” He replied, voice muffled from the towel as you dried his face next, being mindful of his nose. “Not the worst place to sleep.”

“My bed can fit two people.” You said as you handed him the other towels and clothes. “You can get changed in my room while I make us some tea.” 

He looked at you in surprise, face flush at the suggestion. Share a bed with you? Granted, you did before back on his ship when he was drunk, but he just confessed how he felt to you only twenty minutes ago and you were offering to share your bed with him? Really? 

You took his hand and led him down the hall to your room. “Come back to the kitchen when you’re ready.”

He was left alone after that. He stepped into your room and shut the door, taking a moment to check everything out. The dress you wore was hung up behind the door, drying out from the rain. There were some pictures on your dresser of what he assumed to be your parents and you, all smiling big. He picked up a photo of what he figured was you as a kid when you were still with your parents, and he squinted at it for a moment before setting it back down. It was nice to see you smiling in all the photos, and that you looked genuinely happy in every single one.

He stripped off his wet clothes and dried off, still looking around. There really wasn’t much in there except various articles of clothes hung up. Were they all yours or were these orders you worked on in your room? 

The clothes you chose seemed to fit him. He didn’t know what to do with his wet things so he opened your wardrobe and found some hangers, figuring he could at least hang them for you since you’ve been doing everything else for him. Once he finished he returned to the kitchen where you were getting two cups ready with some tea. You looked up and smiled at him.

“Feel any warmer?” You asked. “Probably feels good to get out of those wet clothes.”

He shrugged and sat down at the table, leaning back in his chair. You went over to him and leaned down to give him a kiss, startling him to the point where he almost tipped his chair back, but you grabbed the back of the chair to prevent it. 

“W-What was that for?” He asked, clearing his throat as he straightened up in his seat. You just shrugged as you went to the stove to pour the hot water into the mugs.

“Just felt like it.” You replied as you brought the mugs over to the table. “Let it sit for a few minutes, okay?”

He looked at the tea and back at you. “You’re not… upset by what I said?”

“Back at the lake?” You said as you sat down across from him. “About being in love with me? No.”

“Really?” 

“Why would I be upset, Buggy?” You asked, frowning as you tilted your head to the side. “I told you that I’m starting to fall in love with you as well.”

“Y-Yea, but…” He hesitated. The doubt was coming back. What if you just said it to be nice to him? Maybe you weren’t really falling in love with him, just putting up with him until he left again and you’d fall for someone else, someone better than him even. Taller, more handsome, didn’t have a stupid red nose on their face. 

“Buggy, why would I bring you to my home if I didn’t like you?” You asked as you reached across the table to take his hand in yours. “And if I didn’t like you then I wouldn’t be offering to share my bed with you. I’d let you suffer on the kitchen floor.”

He nodded slowly, looking down at his hand in yours, your thumb caressing his knuckles gently. That’s probably true, you wouldn’t be doing these nice things for him if you didn’t somewhat like him. 

“You’re sweet, Buggy, and I like that about you.” You told him. “But I would like to hear why you’re in love with me.” 

Oh. He didn’t think he’d want you to hear that. Where did he even begin? 

“You’re nice to me.” He paused and frowned. “Genuinely nice to me.”

“Oh, Buggy…”

“What? It's the biggest reason!” He insisted, but you just looked at him sadly as you gave his hand a squeeze.

“If you give me names of anyone who's ever hurt you, I'll make them pay.”

Well, he wasn't expecting that response. Did you even have a mean bone in your body? Buggy shook his head, trying to reassure you but it didn’t seem to be working. “No, no, it's fine. I'm fine.” 

“If you're sure…” You didn’t let go of his hand. The fact that you being nice to him was the biggest reason he fell in love with you made your heart hurt. You were raised to treat everyone with kindness, no matter who they were. 

“I also liked how you took care of me after my birthday.” He continued as he picked up his cup of tea. “You didn’t expect anything in return.” He took a careful sip before setting it back down. “You’ve helped me out a lot when you didn’t have to. You could have just left me at the restaurant and you never laughed at me.”

It was supposed to be sweet, his words, but honestly it just made you sad. Didn’t he ever have someone to help him out when he needed it? Why did it take you just being nice to make him fall in love with you like this? 

“Have people done that to you?” You asked, voice cracking just a bit. “Laugh at you when you need help? Why?”

“What? N-No, you’re not supposed to be upset when I tell you this!” He exclaimed, looking flustered. “I’m telling you good things, why I’m in love with you! It should make you happy!”

“I-I am happy, but Buggy, those are just… just things anyone should do!” You sniffed. “Things people do for people they care about.”

“... yea, well…” He crossed his arms and looked away. “I appreciate it, okay? It… means a lot to me.”

You suddenly got up and went over to him; he looked up at you, wondering what was happening, when you suddenly leaned down and wrapped your arms around him, hugging him tightly. He leaned into your touch and closed his eyes, hopeful that he could always get a hug from you. Honestly it was starting to become one of his favorite things whenever he saw you. There was just a feeling of safety whenever you held him, familiarity, and he wanted to be able to experience it forever.

You pulled away after a moment and he started to reach out to pull you back, but you put your hands on his cheeks and leaned down to kiss him softly. He was perfectly fine getting a kiss instead of a hug, leaning towards you as his hands went to your waist. The position was a little uncomfortable, so it wasn't surprising when you finally pulled back, looking down at him as your thumbs stroked his cheeks carefully.

“I want you to be taken care of, Buggy.” You told him. “I want you to know what it's like to be loved and cared for.”

“What? Why?”

You shook your head and chuckled softly. “Because anyone would want that, Buggy, and I want that for you.”

He sat up a bit straighter in his chair, praying it didn't suddenly break under him when he asked, “... Like from you?”

“Me?” 

“Yes!” He insisted. “If I want someone to love and care for me, I want it to be from you! I just told you I'm in love with you, Sunny! And, and I only want to be with you!”

You looked at him, tilting your head to the side with a bit of a frown before you smiled and chuckled softly. “Is this your way of asking me to marry you?”

Buggy was speechless for a moment before turning red and nodding quickly. “It is now!”

Shaking your head, you kissed him again before returning to your seat. “I want a proper proposal, Buggy, with flowers and a ring, but not yet, okay? Wait at least until I'm finished with my apprenticeship.”

“Fine.” He crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat, smirking over at you. “Gives me time to get you the best ring then.”

“I'll be waiting then.” You told him as you took a sip of your tea.

~

Buggy woke up the next morning convinced he had the best sleep of his life. You were still asleep, arms wrapped around him tightly with his head tucked under your chin. Normally he moved around in his sleep, tossing and turning, but he was content to be held against you instead. 

He should get back to his ship, check in on the crew so they knew he was alive, but he wanted an extra few minutes with you before he had to get up.

When you finally stirred, sighing heavily as you started to open your eyes, he tried to pretend to still be asleep, shutting his eyes and hiding his head under the covers. You kissed the top of his head, running your fingers through his hair lovingly as you held him.

“You’re so sweet.” You murmured softly as you rested your chin on the top of his head as you stroked his hair. “I’m sorry if others don’t see that.”

Oh, that was nice to hear, actually, and it made him feel better about how yesterday went with him telling you how he felt, and the stress and anxiety he was having over it and how you might actually feel about him seemed to go away just a bit. 

Buggy didn’t want to move just yet, he wanted to hear if you were going to say anything else to him while he pretended to sleep. You pulled the covers off him just enough for you to kiss him on the forehead, which he was okay with, he wanted you to just hold him and kiss him whenever you wanted, it was reassuring that you liked him, that you wanted him around you, and he felt pretty good about the fact that you seemed okay with him wanting to marry you. 

He just needed to be patient, wait like you asked him to do, and find the perfect ring for you.