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presumenothing · 4 years

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FMAB: Daughter of the Dusk – Chapter 8: A Gunshot Through Hope

(A little late, but here’s my non-fic contribution to the fandom in honour of FMA day! The game is quite long overall, so this covers just the first part, which I figured people might be curious about since it ties up the cliffhanger from Prince of the Dawn. Not sure if I’ll do the rest of the game yet, but in the meantime – enjoy this chapter!)

Daughter of the Dusk is the sequel to Prince of the Dawn, which covers Chapters 1-7 of the story, and has a English-subbed playthrough by EnvyPlays (which you should watch first before reading on, obviously). I don’t have either game, so this summary is based on this playthrough by チキンオレ, starting from video 9 in the playlist.

The game is set before the Briggs arc, and picks up directly from where the previous one ended: at the Amestris-Aerugo peace treaty signing ceremony in Central City, with Bradley and Prince Claudio shaking hands onstage. Ed spots Scar in the audience, but he vanishes before Ed can give pursuit.

Meanwhile, up on the radio tower, Hawkeye prepares to snipe Claudio (on Bradley’s orders) with Black Hayate by her side. She takes out her pocketbook to check the ceremony map, and a photo of the team falls out, leading to this moment as she looks at the photo…

HAWKEYE: [silently] I pull this trigger of my own will. [aloud, at Hayate’s worried expression] It’s alright. [aims the rifle at Claudio as he begins his speech] The Hawk’s Eye does not miss. Goodbye, Colonel.

[sound of gunshot, cut to black]

[flashback to before the signing ceremony]

CHAPTER 8: A GUNSHOT THROUGH HOPE

NARRATOR: Central City gladly welcomed “Envoy of Peace” Prince Claudio, whose arrival marked the end of a long war. But the gunshot that rang out at the climax of the festivities – the peace treaty signing ceremony – abruptly turned the celebratory cheers to screams. The beginning can be traced back to several hours before the fated time……

FUHRER’S OFFICE: Envy leaves to bring Hawkeye to the sniper spot. Greed arrives. Bradley assigns him to bring Hawkeye’s rifle from the armoury (G: “How could a sniper forget her rifle?” B: “She couldn’t carry it and get past security.”), and gives him an ID for a weapons dealer so he can get in.

[player character: Greed]

CENTRAL COMMAND - RECEPTION: Greed bluffs his way past (G: Lying is against my creed, but I did promise to do this…), mainly because it turns out Bradley informed them beforehand of his arrival.

CENTRAL COMMAND - ARMOURY 2: Greed notices something odd about a large box, but dismisses it as his imagination, and takes the rifle. Bradley appears, having “coincidentally” passed by. Greed realises this was a test. (B: “This is a tactic that will shake the nation. Who knew if ‘the prince’ would make a racket.”) Bradley then reveals Greed’s next task – blowing up the sniper spot after the deed is done, to erase the evidence and silence Hawkeye.

[PC: Mustang, who is implied to have been hiding in the box Greed noticed]

Mustang thinks about what he overheard – the assassination and silencing of Hawkeye afterwards. (M: “My instinct was spot on, to have picked this as the meeting place! [beat] Time is running out. ……I’ll have to cancel my date. Hang in there.”) He heads out to search for the sniper spot.

CENTRAL COMMAND - LOBBY: A soldier tells Mustang that Hawkeye has gone out, and someone at the entrance might know where she was headed.

At the entrance, best boy™️ Black Hayate barks and proceeds to tug Mustang’s uniform. (M: “What’re you doing! I don’t have time to play with you now…" BH: [growls] M: “Ow ow ow! Let go! [beat] Fine, I’ll follow you! Lead me to where your master is……")

Mustang spots Envy in the city, and deduces that Hawkeye is somewhere nearby. He arrives at the train depot, followed swiftly by Ed looking for Hayate (this scene was seen from Ed’s POV in the previous game, at 13:20 of Part 18). Mustang decides to return Hayate and make Ed leave so they won’t get caught up in this. He reflects on how Hawkeye has been given nothing but tasks opposite to him ever since Claudio arrived, likely because the higher-ups wanted to separate them so he wouldn’t find out about the assassination plan… which didn’t work out, clearly. Hawkeye then arrives (their confrontation was also previously seen from Hawkeye’s POV, at 7:08 of Part 19).

[PC: Fuery]

Fuery wrings his hands over having lost sight of Mustang, Ed, and Hayate. He decides to track down Mustang since something about him had looked off, by asking around if anyone’s seen him.

ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT: Fuery runs into Vanessa, who is Peak Angry at Mustang for passing by without noticing her at all. She says that he’d headed towards the abandoned factory.

[PC: Mustang]

ABANDONED FACTORY: Fuery finally finds Mustang, who asks what he’s doing here. (F: “Please stop saying such stand-offish things. Something happened, right, Colonel?” M: “You’re no longer under my command. Whatever I do has nothing to do with you.” F: “It does! I’m worried of my own accord!” M: “One after another… I really did get some strong-willed subordinates, huh.”) Scar then appears out of… seemingly nowhere, causing Mustang to dimiss Fuery over his protests, telling him to contact Breda and Falman. Scar and Mustang both declare they don’t have time for this. Scar activates his disintegration alchemy, but Mustang makes a smokescreen with flame alchemy and runs off.

[Time left until the fated moment – 00:59:59]

Having explained the situation to Falman, Breda, and Fuery, Mustang tells them it’s not too late to return to their posts, but of course they reject this offhand. Mustang then says that he’s going to meet Claudio and try to stop the signing ceremony somehow.

[Time left until the fated moment – 00:51:28]

Mustang asks Claudio to not appear at the ceremony, as he is being targeted. Claudio says he was prepared for the danger all along, and a mini-game follows where you have to choose dialogue that will convince him. Mustang says that it’s a plot by rebels within the military (another option says it’s by mysterious aliens, lol) with a sniper known to be a crack shot, though he claims their identity is still under investigation. Claudio then asks the real reason why he’s so determined to stop this, since it might even endanger his standing in the military, and Mustang answers that it’s out of his personal wish of peace. In the end, Claudio declares that he still won’t stop the ceremony just to protect his own life, but he will bear Mustang’s words in mind. Mustang acknowledges this determination, and says that he will do everything he can to foil the plot.

[Time left until the fated moment – 00:32:23]

[PC: Fuery]

Fuery sneaks into the communication room to eavesdrop on transmissions from Bradley’s allies to Hawkeye. After some false alarms (including a report of a woman being detained for carrying a rifle-shaped object and blunt weapon, who turns out to be Winry with automail case and spanner), he catches an exchange between Envy and Hawkeye, and finds out the sniper spot is outside the ceremony area and informs the rest. An emergency report then comes in about an intruder at the back door – it’s Scar.

[PC: Scar]

Scar barges in and destroys things while… monologuing darkly about various things, including his comrades and “that man”. (I’ll be honest, I do not like this Ishvalan terrorist subplot at all so I paid about zero attention to it.) He leaves. Falman and Breda arrive under the pretext of providing backup.

[Time left until the fated moment – 00:24:45]

[PC: Falman]

Falman and Breda head towards the watchtower to look for Hawkeye’s sniper spot. Just to be on the safe side, Falman memorises a guard assignment map of the ceremony area, which turns out useful when a suspicious soldier gives them a literal pop quiz to prove they’re really here as backup. Falman aces it, and Breda sneaks off while he proceeds to distract the soldier… with a long, long, long monologue on the founding of Amestris. Which continues even as the screen fades to black. Who ever said history wasn’t useful?

[Time left until the fated moment – 00:15:22]

[PC: Breda]

Breda sneaks up to the watchtower, and spots Hawkeye through a telescope, at her sniper spot atop the radio tower. He’s then discovered, but manages to send word to Mustang before he’s knocked out.

[Time left until the fated moment – 00:04:48]

[PC: Mustang]

Mustang hears Breda’s message but can’t get any further response from him, and rushes off. Fuery also radios in to warn that Bradley has ordered Mustang’s arrest, saying not to reply before he’s seemingly arrested too. Mustang is then surrounded, but spots a certain gremlin.

[Time left until the fated moment – 00:03:11]

[PC: Ed]

Unsurprisingly, Ed is furious, and proceeds to furiously kick ass via alchemy. Mustang warns him about the plot before leaving. (M: “The Hawk’s Eye is aiming for the stage. She’s being used by them. I don’t want to ask anything of you, but–” E: “Leave it to me.” M: “You’re not surprised? ……so you already noticed.” E: “No. I didn’t know until now.” M: [shrugs with excessive sass])

Other soldiers try to stop Ed, on account of him being Mustang’s ally, leading to an entertaining obstacle course as he dashes towards the stage. (E: “Hah, as if they could keep up with me! [beat] …wait, this isn’t the time for that!”)

We’re now back to the start, at the moment where Claudio begins his speech. From offstage, Ed spots a flash from the radio tower. He rushes forward to tackle Claudio down and gets shot……… on his automail, so it’s all fine!

It gets much less fine a moment later, when the radio tower blows up. Hawkeye pulls Hayate into a hug, trying to shield him as the tower falls onto them, but the entire thing goes up in flames just in time, metal and all. Stunned, Hawkeye turns around amidst the drifting ashes to see none other than…

MUSTANG: Sorry I kept you waiting. You ended up bearing all this alone. HAWKEYE: I chose this myself. MUSTANG: You were trying to protect us, weren’t you? Leave the rest to me. [Hawkeye inhales sharply] Protection is my job. HAWKEYE: Understood.

Meanwhile, back at the ceremony:

AL: Brother! ELENA: Brother! WINRY: Ed! AL: [silently] “Brother”!? Elena definitely said that just now……!

ED: That was close. CLAUDIO: …time to change plans. We’ll retreat for now. [leaves] ED: What was that about……?

There’s a bit more aftermath: Scar talks with another Ishvalan, Envy chews Greed out for letting Hawkeye escape (until Father bitches them out for sibling quarrels), and Bradley says he’ll release Mustang’s team.

We cut to Mustang and Breda right outside the ceremony area:

ED: Is everyone okay!? BREDA: Everyone was let off without censure. Sergeant Fuery, Officer Falman, and Lieutenant Hawkeye are fine too. MUSTANG: “In recognition of heroic actions to save the prince’s life”, apparently. ED: And what about the ceasefire treaty? MUSTANG: It’s taking everything we have just to handle the fallout. About the treaty, or the prince… none of it has been decided. ED: That prince……

AL: [narrating] The prince’s life was saved with Brother’s involvement. It seems that the Fuhrer and his allies had planned from the start to worsen the war by killing the prince. Unaware of all this, Prince Claudio remains in this country, and is said to be hoping to start over on the treaty. But there’s something I’m far more bothered by–

[flashback to Elena shouting “Brother!”]

AL: The word Elena shouted while looking at Prince Claudio… and yet, I wasn’t able to ask her anything. Because it felt like Elena would vanish somewhere, if I did ask……

To be continued.

And last but not least… the trailer for the next chapter!

WINRY: Oh no, it’s terrible! There’s been a case! A locked-room murder! The name of the case is “The Murder of Colonel Roy Mustang”! ED: So you died without achieving your goal… go to your sleep in peace, Colonel. ROY: Hold it right there! I’m still alive! WINRY: I’ll solve this case for sure! I definitely will! Next time, on FMAB: Daughter of the Dusk, Chapter 9 – Automail Mechanic Winry Rockbell’s Splendid Casebook! ROY: Like I said, stop progressing the story however you like! [gets elbowed(??) by Winry] WINRY: Well then, who’s the culprit!?

#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fma #fmab #fma wii #prince of the dawn #daughter of the dusk #fma daughter of dusk #what the heck IS the tag for the game #mine #fma translation #long post #i hope this is a somewhat readable format at least #it was the best i could do within limits of tumblr formatting without making it ridiculously long #ANYWAY YEAH these games do get quite ridiculous at times but i enjoyed watching em more than i expected #especially this part because mustang team shenanigans are always yes #(and also the last part of prince of dawn because riza)#also it's telling that the one line i got seriously stuck on was ed's in the next chap trailer #unsubbed audio will be the actual death of me basically

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buckys-black-dress · 3 years

Text

see through

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

a/n: i dont have much to say other than that it's 1 am and i needed to get this out of my system. chapter 4 of play the game is underway, i promise. also, there will be a pov switch in this fic!

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. = POV change!

wc: 4.1k words

[ neighbor!bucky barnes x fem!reader ]

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Every Friday night, without fail, you saw the light filter into your apartment.

Notice how you said night?

Yeah, it was almost two in the morning, by the way.

And why was there light coming through the chiffon curtains you had hanging on the rod above your window?

(Great choice on your part, by the way.)

Well, because of your neighbor.

You've seen him a few times, actually. Usually on the street outside your buildings, or just out and about. Never spoke to him, though. He was quiet, kept to himself. Didn't seem very friendly or willing to exchange a greeting if he ever saw you.

But you never took it personally. Maybe he was having a bad day. Every time you saw him.

But that's besides the point. The point right now is that you can see the lights blaring in your room. From the apartment across from yours.

Should it even be possible for light to travel that far? I mean, we don't even live in the same building. You think to yourself as you watch the colors dance in the dark.

You debate getting up and yelling out your window to tell him to shut that shit off or to invest in some blackout curtains. You were tired of sacrificing your sleep every week.

But then you decided against it, because you quite frankly could not be bothered to get up from the warmth of your bed. You'd tough it out for the night, but the next time you saw him, you'd have a few words for him.

The next morning, it was almost ten when you woke up. You didn't have your shift at the coffee shop you worked at until three, so you took your time in making your way out of bed.

You noticed the curtains of your neighbor's apartment were still open, but you could see his figure moving across the room. He was clearly on the phone with someone, and he didn't look too happy. You wondered what could have him so angry at such an early time of the morning. He seemed like a person who could use someone to talk to, someone who he could vent to.

But before you let your thoughts get ahead of you, you turn away from the window, heading back into your kitchen to eat breakfast and get ready for the long day ahead of you.

"Hi, what can I get started for you today?" You ask as brightly as you can muster at the moment. You were halfway through your shift, another three hours until close.

"Uh, just a large black coffee." The gruff voice says, and it takes you a second until you look up and look closely.

It was him.

"O-okay, that'll be $3.27." You say, and he hands you a five dollar note before grumbling,

"Keep the change."

"Thanks, and your name?"

He gives you a look that's asking, 'what the fuck do you need my name for?'

"For the order." You try and salvage your dignity, because it feels like the stare shrunk you to a speck of dust.

"James."

That's all he all but growls before turning back to find a seat.

As your coworker takes over the cash register, you grab the biggest cup and fill it with his desired coffee.

You try to not think about it too much, but the anxiety you feel rising up inside you and just calling his name to give him his coffee feels absolutely ridiculous.

"Are you just gonna stare at the cup or give it to the customer?" The voice of your coworker, Jenna, rings in your ears and you look up at her, snapping out of the trance you were in.

"Sorry, I'm just a little out of it today, I guess."

"Everything alright?" She asks, and you nod.

"I'm fine, it's just... that's my neighbor." You nod your head towards where James is sat, in the corner by the window as he watches the raindrops run down the expanse of the glass.

"The one who doesn't let you sleep?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he'd take it too kindly if I tell him about that. He seems to have a lot on his own plate anyways," You explain, and she just nods.

"Well, that sucks, but you still need ta' give the guy his coffee." Jenna smiles and walks back to what she was doing before.

You gently slide out from your spot behind the counter and walk to his table.

"Here's your coffee, James. Enjoy, and- uh, let me know if you'd like anything else." You tell him while placing the steaming cup in front of him.

He murmurs a thank you that you barely catch, but you don't quite have the time to sit and wait for more of a reaction.

For the next several hours, James sits right where he was. He doesn't do anything in particular, either. He just watches outside, as the rain continues to pelt down on New York City, and as people come and go from where they were.

Eventually, about an hour left until close, you offer another cup of coffee.

"Do you want a refill? On the house." You ask gently, waiting to see if you'll get brushed off again.

"Uh... are you allowed to do stuff like that?" He asks, and you're a bit taken aback at the sudden concern.

"I don't think you should worry yourself too much, James. Free coffee's free coffee." You smile lightly, and grab the cup before filling it up without his confirmation. You could tell he wanted to say yes but didn't want to seem rude.

"You didn't have to..." He grumbles, and you simply shake your head.

"I know, but you've been here a while, and what kind of employee would I be if I let a customer sit here without any sustenance?" Your lips ply into a tiny smirk, trying to get him to loosen up a bit.

He seems so guarded, defensive. Like any moment, he's ready to run if need be, you inspect to yourself.

"You'd just be a regular employee, Y/N." He says, but the way he says your name makes a shiver run down your spine; and you can't tell if it's a good or bad one.

You unconsciously look down at your name tag, pinned to your black apron that's branded with the café's logo.

"Well, I felt like being nice. I hope you can deal." Your voice comes out short, but he knows you mean no harm.

As you walk back to the counter, you see a small smile playing on his lips, but he doesn't allow it to manifest on his face. You take that as a small victory for your last hour of work.

(bucky's pov).・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The girl who works at this café is annoying.

But she's got a nice smile. And she's nice to me, Bucky thinks to himself.

He sips on the new coffee you'd just poured for him, without his consent, he thinks bitterly.

But it was a nice gesture.

Why can't you just take a nice gesture?

Because your brain's been scrambled eggs for 70 years. You don't know what to think about anything these days.

He watches you fiddle with the espresso maker, cleaning it with a rag, which you then dip into a bucket.

You look extremely familiar to him, but he can't exactly pin where he's seen you before.

Bucky closes his eyes for a moment, trying to recall where he'd seen you, but for a moment, he comes up with nothing.

Ever since he's been living back in the real world, he hasn't been outside too much.

He goes on the occasional walk, or goes to the tower to see Steve and Sam.

But other than that, he spends a lot of time in his Brooklyn apartment. He watches movies that Steve suggests, or he invites Steve and Sam over to have beer and watch TV with him.

He hates how lonely it gets, though.

Bucky wishes that he had someone.

Someone who could understand.

And don't get him wrong, he loves Sam and Steve. They fill in the gaps in his days, and they make them better.

Sometimes, thinking about having something to do that day is what makes it. He likes having something to do, something to plan for for when his friends come over.

But it feels like a teeny, tiny part of his life is missing. A person shaped-hole in his heart.

But Bucky doesn't spend too long thinking about it, or it'll send him into a spiral about failure and how he needs to 'push himself to get out there more.'

Or that's what his therapist says.

"Hey, we're about to close, and we usually throw the pastries out at the end of the day. Do you wanna take these home, by any chance?" Your voice rings in his ears, snapping him out of the impending slippery slope of his lack of love life.

He hesitates to answer for a second, looking at the brown paper bag pinched between your fingers.

Bucky can tell you were nervous when you spoke to him. He knew he made you uneasy, and it killed him inside.

He hated that. He just wanted to have a normal conversation with someone. But everyone seems to know who he is.

Who he was.

"Uh, what is it?" He croaks, unsure of what to say at your gesture.

"It's a few cookies and a chocolate croissant."

"Sure, I'll take 'em." Bucky simply answers, watching as you hand the bag over with a soft smile and watches you walk back.

You sweep up the floor and put up all the chairs, except for the one Bucky's sitting on. You leave his table alone, and bid farewell to your coworker who was scheduled to close with you.

Bucky doesn't know what drives him to do it, but he gets up after he sees you walk out the door, and follows you home.

Damn, if you like a girl, you usually ask for her number or somethin'. Not follow her home to make sure she's safe, you idiot. Bucky's inner voice speaks and sometimes, he wishes it would just shut up because he knows he has no game nowadays, but this is all he knows to do.

He realizes the way you're walking is familiar, and not at all of the way he was supposed to be going. That made him feel a little better, less like a creep. He's about half a block behind you, and when you turn onto the same street he lives on, he's really confused.

Did you know he was behind you? Are you trying to play a trick on him?

But before Bucky can speak up or say something, you walk right past his building, and into the one right next to it.

All of a sudden, images of you right on the street in front of your buildings flash through his head. He's seen you because you're his neighbor. Bucky's seen you right there, getting ready to start your run through the neighborhood, or probably on your way to work, now that he's seen where you work.

But he feels like there's somewhere else he's seen you; somewhere familiar.

He shakes his head, wondering why he's so caught up in you. He thought you were beautiful, but he feels a pull to you that he's never felt with anyone else before.

Bucky's hands move to unlock his door, sliding the key in and twisting the lock open.

He enters, staring at his dark apartment. It's moments like this, when he spends a long day alone, that he wishes there was someone.

Someone to come home to, to hug, to kiss, to share dinner with.

Some to fall asleep with at night. Someone to keep the terrors of the dark away.

But there was no one.

And then his mind thought back to you. Your hair, your face, your warm hands that touched his while you passed him the brown paper bag of treats.

Bucky wishes he was man enough to ask you out. Not even that, just to talk to you. Have a normal conversation, to get to know you.

But that wasn't in the cards for him anytime soon, he thinks.

For now, he focuses on taking things one at a time. And right now, all he wanted was a nice, warm shower and to get at least three hours of sleep tonight.

He's in his room, forgoing the lights for now, before he looks out his window.

For a moment, he believes his eyes are playing tricks on him.

There's absolutely no way that you are standing right there, right outside his window.

Well, in your own apartment, of course.

And there's absolutely no way in hell that Bucky is watching you undress right now.

As soon as you pull off your top, Bucky turns around before he could get more than a peek of your black lace bra, and he feels a burn in the pit of his stomach.

He can't tell if it's shame, guilt, or arousal.

(y/n's pov).・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You couldn't stop thinking about James all day.

After yesterday, you wondered why you couldn't shake this feeling about him.

He'd made it quite clear that he's not a people person. Or maybe he just wasn't a you person.

But again, you tried to not take things too personally these days.

Sometimes, you wondered, though, as you looked through your bedroom window to his some nights.

You imagined what it would be like, watching one of those movies with him at night. Making dinner with him. Having coffee in the mornings before work, wondering what he did for a living.

You chastise yourself for your thoughts, thinking that you were crazy for these ideas you were coming up with out of nowhere.

As you pull off your clothes to get ready for bed, you feel the same emptiness fill your heart when your head hits the pillow, and another day has gone by where you're all alone.

The next day, your shift was at ten in the morning so you were up early.

You took your time in rolling out of bed. The warmth of your duvet was holding you down, and you couldn't help take a peek out your window.

You see that the room facing yours is finally housing a body in the bed. In all the time you'd been living across him, you've only seen him on the floor.

You feel a warm flutter at that. Whatever reason led him to actually sleep in the bed last night was, you hope you played a role in it.

You make your way to the café, and although walking in the rain wasn't ideal, you made it, somehow.

You clock in and head to the register, ready to take the millions of orders that come in through the day.

"Hi- oh! Welcome back. What can I get you?" Your tone of voice made it clear you were surprised, but was trying to not let it show.

"Uhm, just the same as yesterday, and... Can I get a chocolate croissant?" Bucky's gruff voice tells you.

You ring him up, wondering if you should say something about him being your neighbor. Although, he didn't seem too keen on looking you in the eye right now, and you wonder if you did something to make him uncomfortable yet again.

He seems to have this issue quite often.

Little do you know, this time, it isn't because of you or anything you did.

Well, nothing you did on purpose.

Nothing you were aware of at the time.

Anyways, you tell James to go take a seat and that you'd be right out with his order.

"Here you go, James," you place the plate and mug on the table, and this time, when you hear him say something, you turn around with furrowed brows.

"Sorry, I didn't catch what you said." You apologize, waiting for him to repeat himself.

"I- nevermind, it was stupid anyways. You probably have to get back to work." He mumbles while looking back down at his pastry.

"James, whatever it is, you can tell me." You offer with a kind smile. "I can come sit with you during my break, if you don't mind?" A hopeful smile crosses your face.

"Uh, I- yes, yeah, that would be nice." He struggles for a moment, but finally nods his head in confirmation along with his words.

"Alright, James. I get off in an hour for my break." You simply tell him with a soft grin, and you can practically feel his eyes burning into you as you walk away.

The blush creeping up your cheeks also stays there until the remainder of your shift.

As you plop in the chair across from James, you inspect him for a moment.

He was attractive, you'll admit.

Okay, he was more than attractive.

"So, James, where are you from?" You ask, your own cup of coffee in front of you on the table.

"Well, I'm Brooklyn born 'nd raised. Never was a time I didn't live here. You?" His lip twitches, looking out the window fondly.

"That's nice. I moved here when I was nine, so I guess I've been here a while. But no matter where I go, there's nowhere like home." You smile.

"There really isn't, huh? This place is irreplaceable." He gives you a crack of another smile, and you find yourself yearning for more from him. Just a tooth, something.

"Well, do you live around here?" You ask, deciding to play coy. You wanted to see what he'd say.

"Uh, yeah, actually. Over on DeKalb and Clinton." He clears his throat, the hint of a smile on his face melting right off.

"Huh, that's so funny. I live on those streets too." You grin, waiting to see his reaction.

"O-Oh really?" James doesn't really know what to say without giving away that he knows where you fucking live.

"Yeah, isn't that funny? Which building?" You're pressing, and you know he knows, but you're having your fun right now.

"T-the uhm... I live in the Washington." He's now making zero eye contact with you, and you're close to breaking.

"What a coincidence! I live in the Oakley!" You're in a fit of giggles when his face drops, you just can't help it anymore.

"James, can I tell you something?" You ask in a coquettish manner.

"Yeah, I suppose you'll tell me even if I say no." He gives a tight smile as a joke.

"I don't wanna sound like a creep, but I knew you lived in the Washington."

"Oh," James releases a breath of relief, "thank God. I knew you lived in the Oakley, but I didn't wanna sound like a stalker either." He says.

You laugh, sliding a hand on top of his resting on the table.

"Y'know, you do this really annoying thing where you leave your movies running on full brightness on your TV, and I can see it through my windows at night." You laugh at the incredulity of the situation.

"Oh... I never even thought of that. I'm sorry, Y/N." He looks genuinely remorseful, and now you feel bad for any bad thought you've had about the man that lives across from you.

"It's alright. No big deal." Your smile does a good job of convincing Bucky that you truly weren't bothered by his actions, but he still felt bad.

"Y'know, maybe I could make it up to you?" He asks, and you feel a blush moving up your chest. "Like, maybe over dinner?" His voice is timid, you can tell by the way he tilts his head down while speaking.

"James," you slide your hand into his this time, your smaller one resting in his large metal one. "I'd love to go out with you sometime."

Before he could react, you stood up from the chair.

"My break's over, but I get off at 3." You lean down and pull a pen from your apron, scribbling your number onto a napkin. "Here."

You walk away before he could say anything, but there's something about him this time that you notice.

He's blushing, too. And he's smiling. A bright, white, blinding smile.

You think of that smile throughout your whole shift, until you see he's still waiting for you when it's time to go.

"So, do you like Chinese or Italian better?" He asks with a crooked smile.

bonus scene:

six months later

You and Bucky are laid across your bed, the TV blaring a movie that neither of you are paying attention to. Your head is resting on his shoulder, leg thrown over both of his, and his hand running through your hair.

"You wanna know somethin' doll?" Bucky asks, and you feel his chest rumble under your head.

"Yeah, everything okay?" You ask while leaning up on your elbow to get a good look at him, trying to gauge his mood.

"Everything's okay, just remembered something." He laughs, his hand moving to hold your jaw in it. You shivered at the touch, but smiled fondly at the action.

"When I first saw you at the coffee shop, that first day when you gave the free coffee and pastries... I followed you home."

Your brows furrow and it's clear that you were confused as to why.

"I wanted to make sure you got home safe, and then it turned out that you lived right next to me. So I went up to my apartment and wondered what I'd done right in a past life to have you live right next to me, and then I saw you lived right across from me." His face was tipped upwards, like he was replaying that night in his head.

"You followed me home just to make sure I was safe?" You asked in disbelief that he did something so nice for you, when at the time you thought he hated you.

"Of course, sweetheart. It was dark out and there 're some real jerks out there, y'know." One corner of his mouth lifts up in a soft smirk. "Didn't want anything to happen to ya."

You lean down and press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, appreciating his gesture.

"I really thought you didn't like me back then, so this is a nice little secret you've been hiding from me." You giggle when he pulls you back in for a real kiss.

"Yeah, well, I don't think I could'a hated you if I tried, baby. You're too sweet. And at the time, I was still getting used to being out in the open without being a national security threat." You both laugh lightly, dropping your head down.

A moment passes where you bask in his words, letting them soak in. And then a thought hits you, and you can't help but become more curious. Now you need to know the answer.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, hon." Now Bucky's brows are pulled together, and you reach up and smooth out the wrinkle with your thumb.

"Did you ever... see me doing anything in here? Like, I usually keep the curtains open, and even if they're closed, they're pretty see-through..." You trail off, giving him time to craft his response.

You have a feeling you know the answer, considering how he turns red like a tomato in an instant as words leave your lips.

"I... there was this one time, but I swear, I wasn't trying to peep on you or anything, it was the same day I followed you and I just so happened to look into your window, and you were getting undressed, but I swear, I turned away as soon as I saw what you were doing, baby-" He was rambling, trying to save himself from sounding like a complete creep after all he's just told you.

"Did you like it?" You ask, innocently, but he knew what you were trying to do.

"I-I- You were getting undressed, sweetheart, of course I liked it... are you kidding me?" Bucky's grasping for the words, trying to make you understand.

"Well... we could always recreate it, but maybe in the same apartment this time?" You cock your head to the side, your doe eyes stirring a feeling in his abdomen.

"I think that's an excellent idea, honey." Bucky's hands grasp your waist as you slide on top of his lap. "After all, I am a hands on learner."

fin. i hope you enjoyed!

#bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes smut #bucky imagine #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky fic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes reader insert #neighbor!bucky #bucky barnes au

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diavolosthots · 4 years

Note

How do ya think the brother would react to like a nurse/medical practitioner Mc?? 👉🏼👈🏼 if ya don’t mind. Like say Mammon r Beel got a super deep cut (probably from messing around while makin food r fighting) an like in an attempt to freak out Mc they show it to them but all Mc does give em light stitches and a lil lollipop. Thank uuu 💞💞

I kind of tweezed this a bit so everyone had a different injury lol sorry if this strayed too far away from the original. ALSO FUN FACT: lucifers was inspired by real life events that happened to me in like 3rd grade :)

Warning: mentions of blood, stitches, and broken bones

THE BROTHERS with a nurse MC helping them with their boo-boos

Lucifer:

To say he feels absolutely ridiculous right now is an understatement. His pen rolled off the desk and he tried to catch it before it hit the ground; however, he caught it in such a way that the pen actually pierced his skin and got stuck inside his hand. Moral of the story? Don’t try to catch a pen full force. Anyway, he’s now sitting in his chair, frowning, while you dab away at his bleeding hand and put some antibiotics on it. “MC, I’m fine.” he’s really not, that shit hurts like hell, but he’s putting on the tough boi actTM for you. He’s just thankful that you’re using regular bandaids and not something childish. He’ll keep it on, too, surprisingly, at least until the bleeding stops, but he won’t stop working.

Mammon:

Oh boy this was funny. Well, not for him, but definitely for you. He stole money from Levi, again, and as he ran away from the third-born, he managed to, somehow, trip and fall down the stairs, ending in a broken foot. He’s been big baby ever since, but honestly, you enjoyed it. Were you worried for him? Yeah, of course. But now he has a cast and you keep drawing silly faces on it when you check up on him and it’s fun to watch him try to walk away from you with a broken foot. Really fun, actually.

Leviathan:

Oh boy, here we go. Levi literally thought this was the end of it. The end of him. He slept wrong and his neck muscles kind of froze up to the point where he couldn’t move his head without pain. Nothing that won’t fix itself but this is your time to shine and get onto him for always falling asleep in that damn gaming chair! The tub isn’t even that uncomfortable, so he can at least sleep in that! But it’s okay because as stiff as he was anyway when you massaged his neck better and gave him a kiss for his little boo-boo, at least you got some nice alone time out of it. Even if you’re not *technically* certified for this, he still makes you do it.

Satan:

Are you serious right now? It was nothing like… bad, but he got all 4 of his fingers while turning the pages in his books and not only is there blood on some pages now, he also has 4 bandaids and a smug eating grin staring back at him. You kissed each of his fingers though, but he’s scared to admit that he actually likes the attention, like… it’s just… nice to be cared for you know? He won’t admit it because it’s still embarrassing that he cut 4 of his fingers but… at least he’s got cat themed band aids on now.

Asmodeus:

Okay, truthfully, this isn’t really that bad and your skills aren’t really needed here, but to Asmo it was the end of the world. So, there he was, plugging his eyebrows, when all of a sudden, he noticed that he was plugging way too much and now his left eyebrow is thinner than his right one. No big deal right? Just fix the other one to match the left. NOPE! No can do, because that one is ugly. Now, how are you helping in this? Ah, you got a few tricks up your sleeves concerning drawing your eyebrows. You did a damn good job too and now he’s calling you his hero. Just take it, I would.

Beelzebub:

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Even though Mammon is the Avatar of Greed, Beel can get quite greedy too when it comes to food and he just couldn’t finish cutting his steak before he bit in. Sadly, he was also too eager to notice that he wasn’t cutting his steak at all, but his arm, and now he has a pretty deep wound with blood pouring from it that he’s half hissing, half crying about. “HOW did you not notice?!” “I don’t know MC, it hurts…!” You can see the tears in his eyes and you feel so bad. Good for you, it’s nothing that a few stitches, some antibiotics, and a care-bear band aid won’t fix. He seems pretty happy with the band aid, too.

Belphegor:

Honestly, no one knows how this happened. Somehow, someway, Belphegor managed to not only hit his head in the middle of the night, no. He also managed to split his eyebrow and tear out half his finger nail. The best part? He didn’t notice ANYTHING until someone pointed it out and now you’re cleaning up his finger nail and wrapping it up while he jokes about his new emo look. “It’s not funny Belphie!” He doesn’t even feel it so he doesn’t understand why it’s not funny. Why is it not funny? He could go back to sleep right now and he probably will never notice it again.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me scenarios #cheys headcanons #asmodeus obey me #belphegor obey me #mammon obey me #obey me lucifer #leviathan obey me #satan obey me #obey me beelzebub #tw blood #stitches #broken bones

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sansmania · 4 years

Text

its o VER WHY WAS THIS SO LONG?

part 1 | part 2 | art that goes with the fic

Title: Your Man

Ship: Boss [ @bonelyheartsclub ]/ GN Reader

Descrip: take it im drifting out to sea because HES GONNA BE A COWBOY thE END

Willie had taken his time to take in the damage done to the beloved boots, tutting and frowning at the holes and shredded leather.

"Oh yeah, I can fix 'em for ya, but it'll take a few days, Mr. Boss. That lil' dog did a number to these." Boss exhaled through his nasal bone with a silent nod. It seems 'Toby' had also managed to dislodge some of the pins that held the heels in, which would mean the boots needed to be completely stripped and rebuilt from the sole up.

"That is fine, I suppose. They mean a great deal to me, so take the time you need to get them back to perfect condition." He seemed a bit emotional about leaving the boots behind, and you gently assured the skeleton that they were in skilled hands. Leaving his contact information, the two of you turned to leave.

Until a bony hand grabbed your neckline again.

"You said this store specializes in leather and boots, correct?"

"Yes?" You held the word out longer than necessary, red pinpricks looking down at you, then to the fluorescent shoes between you.

"I would like to peruse them, then. It would not hurt for me to have a few more sets, anyway. And I am beyond done with these sneakers. I feel like one of those fictional circus clowns."

You bit your tongue at his presumption, knowing Boss wouldn't listen to a word you had to say on the subject, and accepted your fate in the tobacco and wood lacker scented hell.

After a bit of searching, pausing only to laugh at some of the ridiculous 'southern fact' signs they had decorating a shelf, the pair of you found the boot section of the large store.

"Human, I highly doubt if Texas were real, that it would home ninety percent of the planet's spider population." You couldn't help the snort that came out at Boss' comment as he walked over to the wall of shoes.

His eyelights were transfixed on the detailed stiches in some of the leather boots. His phalanges traced over a pair that had some gaudy gems placed into them- a pair that had studs- red stained leather- black snake skin. He was strangely silent as he looked over each set with wonder.

You didn't think any of them were Boss' style, to be honest. They were about classic as classic cowboy boots get- you could have sworn you even spotted a pair made of alligator skin.

"These." He finally spoke, pulling down one of the only sets that seemed to be ankle high. They were a deep maroon, black stitching along the sides and folds, and a very obvious steel toe embedded inside. There were a few gold embellishments and you felt they were gaudy as all hell.

But, that expression of wonder in Boss' eyes made him look like a child on gyftmas morning.

It was cute.

He was cute.

"I mean, sure, if you're into red, black and gold-" The skeleton flicked his eyes towards you, making your mouth snap shut. He took a seat on a nearby bench, listlessly kicking off the offending accessories to try the new boots on.

Boss became silent once again, taking in the shine of leather as he tilted his feet and legs to get a good look at them.

"There is a mirror over there." You mention, pointing a few feet away, and he stood up to admire the shape of the shoes. And while he did so, you also found yourself admiring him.

Boss was very tall- even without the help of his stiletto heels- and his broad shoulders squared in perfect posture made almost anything he wore look breathtaking. His choice of attire today fit snuggly against his ribcage, tapering down his spine- making Boss look, pun intended, skeleton thin. Tight, but soft, leather pants hugged his narrow hips and bony legs, perfectly shaping his body.

"Hmm. A bit lower than what I am used to, but they are quite fetching on me. What do you think, human?"

He caught you staring, once again, in the mirror- just as your eyes had been slowly trailing down his legs, brain becoming grey mush. You curse quietly, turning your head away with a mutter of agreement.

"Sadly, they do not match the rest of my attire. I should see if they have apparel here to compliment my figure and accessories." He made an amused sound when you cocked your head at the suggestion, cheeks burning with new fervor.

Oh. He knew exactly what he was doing now. Boss wouldn't even play with the idea if any of his family was around, but since it was just the two of you, he was going to continue his sadistic game.

When you had first met Boss, you would have sworn he didn't have a playful bone in his body- the serious tone and way he carried himself made it seem he was all work and no play. But, as you got to know him, his true colors seemed to blossom forth. Yes, he hated puns, that didn't mean he had no sense of humor. His humor was dry and a little cynical- and you had nearly soiled yourself in laughter when he cracked his first joke around you.

He also found Blue and Nox's rivalry amusing, egging them on at times just to get under their skin.

And when then two of you were alone, he was much more relaxed, allowing more of his jovial side to come out. Sometimes it was a welcome blessing and sometimes it was not.

As it was at your expense today, it was one of those times that his sense of humor didn't delight.

"Uh, s-sure. Why not? Let's find you a nice pair of chaps-" Boss' amused smile caught you off guard as he held a hand up to stop you from moving. You had hoped he would allow you to help, maybe in a way save yourself from this horrible fate.

"No, I believe I can handle dressing myself just fine. Though, I will listen to your opinion after I have chosen an outfit." The smirk didn't go away as you made a noise of disdain. The skeleton sauntered off on his own, leaving you to scream internally at being caught red handed and was going to make you suffer for it.

When he turned a corner, you were on your feet- tossing the old converse in your inventory- and did your best to sneak around the store behind the him. Occasionally, Boss would turn his head out of suspicion, causing you to duck behind a shelf, while he thumbed through the racks of clothes.

He was enjoying teasing you like this, smirk still apparent on his face. You were by no means subtle, so Boss knew you were tailing him around, and that only added to his amusement.

You peeked over a row of jackets that were fastened with tassels while Boss sifted through some button up shirts. His foot tapped along to the music with perfect rhythm, though, you were more shocked when his low voice was barely audible.

He was quietly singing along to the tune.

Boss Gothic Serif.

Was singing country.

And he knew you were watching and listening.

The next time he glanced over his shoulder, Boss caught your reddened face as a devious smile curled on his skull. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"Human, I have picked out a suitable ensemble. Feel free to wait there for me to change." You didn't hide this time when he spoke up, accepting defeat, stepping out to follow the monster towards the changing rooms.

You knew from the first day of meeting these skeletons that they would be the death of you. You just didn't expect it to be in a dime store cowboy shop in the city.

Flopping down on another bench, you waited for death to finish his wardrobe swap and drag you to the dark depths- knowing now that he was going to be dressed like a cowboy with Shania Twain playing gently to send you off.

The shuffle of cloth behind the barn themed doors caught your attention, the soft click of bones on wood as a lock was lifted and the doors swung open.

Words choked in your mouth as it hung ajar, Boss stepping out of the small room with the most smug look on his face you had ever seen him muster.

His head was tilted down ever so slightly, burning red eyes shaded by the black hat atop his skull. Your eyes dragged down to the crisp maroon and black button up, gold skull bola tie strung in the collar and rested on his nearly bare breastbone.

The shirt was rolled at the sleeves, showing off his battle scarred hands and arms, and the tail tucked neatly into a pair of tight black dyed jeans; adorned and held up by a red leather belt that had a large gold skull buckle to keep it all together. The jeans hugged the skeleton's frame all the way down to the coordinated boots.

Boss leaned against the doorframe, taking in your reaction with sadistic glee; How you couldn't form a single word in appreciation to his wardrobe selection. How your face was red enough to put his shirt to shame. How your eyes lingered over the single undone button at his clavicle.

How your reaction made his soul thrum with pride.

"Comments?" He finally spoke, beyond amused at the way you startled to his rough voice- dropping it an octave or two, successfully getting further reactions out of you. Finally, you managed to swallow the hard, dry lump that formed in your throat, tearing your gaze away to look back to Boss' expecting eyes.

You coughed and looked away

"Yee. Haw?" Was all you could manage as he stepped forward, boots loudly clacking against the hardwood floor. The terrifying skeleton you called a friend, and obviously waxed red towards, stopped mere feet before you, dragging your attention back to him.

"Is that all you have to say? I would appreciate some feedback, maybe I should make another selection if this doesn't suit me-"

"No, don't!" You found your voice as Boss turned heel to find something else to fluster you with. He quirked a brow ridge at your outburst, returning to his previous position, arms crossed as he awaited to hear your real feelings.

"You. You look good, Boss." You did your best to hold your voice steady as his gaze made you shrink into the bench, like you were going to become a permanent fixture in the store.

"Just ‘good’?" Oh, he was going to make you suffer. Breathing hard through your nose, you looked back up at him. Boss already knew how you felt, so this was just torture to feed his ego.

And you may as well feed it.

"Fine." There was a pause as you found the words. “You look amazing. Handsome. Stunning.” You could feel your face and neck darkening with each admission- at this point, had you even been referring to just how he looked now? He seemed to preen at each compliment, all too pleased to drink in your words of praise.

"Then I do believe I will purchase these items. They may be in start contrast to the rest of my wardrobe, but some variety in life never hurts."

It was interesting to watch Boss fannagle with the cashier about buying all the clothes items while he was still in them- but he managed to do it, and in style, if you were honest.

With his boots squared away, clothes tucked into his inventory, and you at his side, Boss literally strutted out of the store- leading you both back to his car.

"Human, you make it so easy to fluster you, you do realize that." Boss' smile from before had not left his features, even as you pulled into the culdesac in which you lived.

"Yeah, I'm aware, Boss." You heaved a final embarrassed sigh as the car came to a stop at your curb. Gathering your belongings, and what little bit of pride you had left, the car door swung open and you turned back to him. "Tease the human that has feelings for you. Ha, ha."

"But, uh." You pause, leaning on the door to look Boss in the eyes.

"Have fun getting into your room before Red or Stretch see you, Cowboy."

#bhc #kisa writes #bonelyheartsclub #theres a reason i dont write fanfic anymore

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kristoffs-lullaby · 4 years

Text

A Guide on How to Not Confess to Your Best Friend

(Hi!! This is late I’m so sorry ;; but here’s my part for the exchange! @ninjago-valentine-exchange) [ Plasma B | 2.9k words] Kai was awful with feelings. He might have played himself off as cool (or at least tried to) but when it really came down to it.. he was a mess. He could dish out flirty comments all he wanted but that didn’t mean that he knew what to do with them if the other party ever decided to retaliate. And that’s not something he figured about himself until Skylor. Maybe that’s why he’d liked Skylor so much. No he didn’t entirely enjoy the moments where his brain staggered and he looked like an absolute fool, but it made him want to try to keep up. If there was one thing he hated, it was being stunned into silence because that just meant he was losing. And Kai didn’t lose.

While things didn’t really work out with Skylor relationship-wise, he still learned something about himself. And maybe their whole dynamic and the loss of it was what led to the chain of events that he still couldn’t quite believe even as he was living through it.

Kai didn’t think much of it at first. That’s just how he and the other three Were. They teased each other. Poked fun at one another. Cracked jokes. And sometimes it would be at one another’s expense. Sometimes they’d take it too far and one of them would get pissed and the other wouldn’t understand Why until they had a much needed conversation about limits and boundaries.

But that never came up when this particular brand of teasing and banter kicked off and maybe it should’ve been obvious way back then that he didn’t mind Jay crossing this one specific boundary. But Kai was stupid and Kai was oblivious.

It started as an off-handed comment about how maybe Jay had chosen the wrong sibling to date when Nya refused to side with him in a very heated debate about cake. Like the traitor she was, she took Cole’s side on the whole thing. Kai was at least glad to see that there was no bad blood between the three of them when Jay struck an, admittedly, low blow by bringing up how Nya was backstabbing him for Cole again just like in their former relationship.

That didn’t mean he didn’t want to witness SOME sort of drama. So he sided with Jay. Which led to an uproar. Which led to Jay saying what he did.

And it was a joke. Kai knew it was a joke. Nya and Cole knew it was a joke. And Jay had obviously meant it as a joke. There was that buffer though and he couldn’t understand why.

He reasoned with himself that he was having trouble keeping up with all three yelling at each other. All the while he was stuck in the middle and that was why he didn’t say anything immediately and instead took a swig of his soda. But even those few seconds he bought himself apparently weren’t enough because he didn’t even have the time to register the words he planned to say before his mouth had made the decision for him.

He was playing along apparently.

“Obviously. I’m much better looking than Nya anyway. Don’t know what you ever saw in her.” Kai hung his head and shook it in disbelief.

“HEY!”

It’d been months now and that one moment had spurred on their little unspoken challenge. A competition of sorts.

Really what they were doing was full on flirting with each other but they’d play it off as if it were a game between them to see who could fluster the other first. Until it wasn’t a game anymore. But neither of them was willing to admit that it wasn’t. And it grew to be a frustrating occurrence because everyone else knew what was up except those two idiots apparently.

Kai was currently winning though and that’s all that mattered. Yup. All that mattered.

“Hey Romeo!”

Kai’s head snapped up at the nickname. (There was something to be said about the fact that they’d gotten used to using them but he wasn’t about to be the one to bring it up). He watched as Jay jogged up to him before the blue ninja leaned over to catch his breath as soon as he was at a closer distance. Kai wanted to laugh at the fact that the guy was a whole Ninja and still ran out of stamina a lot quicker than Dareth. It was kind of sad, actually, but he couldn’t help the fond eye roll it got out of him.

“Hey Sunshine.” Kai supplied as he draped an arm over Jay’s shoulders lazily when the other boy finally stood his full height. “I’m guessin’ you have some big news. That or you’re dying to see me and I just took your breath away.”

Jay snorted and shoved at his chest before ducking under Kai’s arm and side-stepping away from the touch.

“No. And if you’re about to detail whatever daydreams you have about me it’s gonna have to wait-”

“Shit. Is there danger?” Kai’s face dropped instantly as a million and one bad scenarios ran through his head. Geez being a ninja was hard.

“No, no, no.” It was sort of cute the way the blue ninja waved his hands around frantically. He was so animated when he spoke and it wasn’t something that was lost on Kai. If anything it was something he found endearing. He couldn’t tear his eyes away. How could he? Jay made it incredibly hard to ignore him. That’s probably why most people he came across labeled him as ‘annoying’. And maybe Kai had used the word against him in the.. not so distant past. But it wasn’t exactly right. Jay just had that sort of presence that demanded attention and sometimes it was a bit overwhelming but.. it wasn’t exactly a bad thing either.

Jay tapped a finger against his chin and looked him up and down. ”Your fashion sense might be a danger to society.. but other than that?”

“You take that back. You’re just jealous I rock everything I wear.” Kai crossed his arms over his chest and squinted. The absolute nerve. This brat was asking for a beatdown during training later.

“Not jealous. Buuut. I do appreciate the view you’re right.”

“Why you-”

“Here.” Jay interrupted and shoved something in his direction.

It was wrapped haphazardly. It reminded Kai of something he’d whip together when he was like nine. Back when he hardly knew how to use scissors and the tape dispenser was one of the greatest enemies in his life. Ah the good old days. The longer he looked at it the more ridiculous it looked. It didn’t even look like it had been wrapped with the same wrapping paper all the way through. More like Jay had scraps of various different ones and decided to stick ‘em together. Which.. Actually suited him. This very much screamed JAY. But why was he giving this to him..?

“C’mon dude I know your favorite person in the world just gave you a kickass gift but you don’t gotta stare at it like it’s the best thing you’ve ever seen in your life when I’m standing right here.” Jay sounded nervous. It was subtle and he played it off well (too well. Since when was Jay good at hiding it?) but Kai could tell in the way his voice rose just a decibel above its usual tone. It was also in the tic. Jay had a habit of looping one of the drawstrings of his hoodie around his finger when he was anxious.

“My bad. Hold on let me get a good look at you,” This was totally payback for earlier. “Yeah. How could I even question it. Nothing compares.” he determined with a wink to send it home.

Jay scoffed and was bordering on the edge of giving up this round too if the light pink dusting his cheeks was anything to go by, but in the end it looked like he was going to stand his ground this time. That was fine. This little exchange wasn’t over and Kai had plenty of time to sweep up a tally for the score from right under him.

Or so he thought.

Nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

Which sounded a lot more dramatic than it really was but what the hell was he supposed to do with this?

Kai had spent that night restless. A restless night wasn’t foreign to him in any way. From time to time the red ninja had trouble sleeping. If he spoke out about how occasionally he’d lie in bed and just mull over every little detail from the past week, one of the other ninja would make some smartass remark about how Kai only found time to actually use his head at the worst possible time. Or maybe they wouldn’t and they’d understand. But he wasn’t going to try his luck. He’d rather protect himself than be vulnerable in a way he knew would hurt if they didn’t take him seriously.

But this time he wasn’t lying in bed thinking about all the morbid things that came with being a ninja. This time he was glaring daggers at the stupid red bracelet tied neatly around his wrist. Because what the hell?

It was so nice and sweet and yet.. Still the most sinister gift he’s ever received. Because while it left him with this feeling of hope and joy, he was also afraid that the same hope that was so innocently sitting on his wrist would burn him. He was the fire ninja and he was afraid of getting burned. How ironic was that?

Kai draped his arm over his eyes.

..And the smug look on Jay’s face when Kai couldn’t fight back the rising heat in his cheeks. Ridiculous.

It was fair when they stood on equal ground. When they met on a mutual battlefield. But now Kai’s gone and dug himself into a trench. No. He’d fallen into it. He liked Jay. Dammit. And he let him win.

Kai kicked his legs in the air in frustration before sitting up. That’s it. If Jay thought he was going to get away with this he was sorely mistaken. It was on and he was going to go all out. Go big or go home right? Right.

And a month later the plan was kicking into motion.

“Can you remind me why we have to dress up again?” Jay asked.

“We’re going undercover, I already told you.”

“Oh okay.”

Kai wasn’t sure if Jay actually believed him or not but he was going to take it. On the one hand that could’ve read as a sarcastic remark because no Kai wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed and didn’t think this plan all the way through BUT Jay was also the type to just take things as they were.. For a bit. At least until it finally settled in that he didn’t actually know what he was doing then he’d start questioning again. Which Kai was banking on it not being for a while.

“Well are you ready?” Jay looked up at him expectantly.

Kai would have loved to say ‘Yes’. He really would have. Except..

“I just realized I don’t know how to tie a tie,” his lips drew into a thin line. What he’d done certainly wasn’t right. He knew Jay wanted to laugh. He knew it. Kai didn’t even have to look up at the dumb amused smile on Jay’s stupid face to know that. But he did anyway. And sure enough there he was trying his hardest to hold one back.

Kai rolled his eyes and looked down again, the embarrassment washing over him just a little too roughly.

“What, really?”

“Yeah. Never really been invited to events and stuff growing up and well I mean who was gonna teach me anyway even if I had been?” his mouth snapped shut as soon as the words left his mouth. Sure he had a streak of not knowing when to hesitate but god damn since when had it gotten this bad? Probably a while ago. This was not the time to bring up his fucked up childhood and admittedly he wanted to move away as quickly as possible before he could get any sort of response dripped in pity.

But in true Jay fashion, the comment was the last thing he was worried about. And in true Jay fashion.. he was also full of surprises.

Before Kai could even apologize or change the subject, there were hands slowly guiding themselves around Kai’s neck. They were Jay’s, that much he could process before his brain started buffering. He couldn’t say anything or even react to the extent that he was internally. Which was absolute chaos.

Kai’s eyes flickered to the red fabric of the tie and lingered there for a second as he watched it being carefully tied in a way he knew would take him a while to master. His eyes wandered to the soft hands at work and he briefly wondered how they weren’t rough and scarred considering all the tinkering Jay did on top of ninja work. And then finally his eyes landed on Jay’s face and the way it was too adorably scrunched in concentration with his tongue sticking out and all.

It took him far too long to realize when Jay was finished and he begrudgingly added another point to Jay’s side of the scoreboard in his head.

Kai had to stop letting him stun him into silence.

..Some other day.

Because now they were staring at each other with Jay’s hands frozen in place on Kai’s chest and suddenly Jay was leaning in too close and- It was a kiss. It was a little messy and not at all how Kai imagined this going if it ever happened at all. But it was a kiss. And it was still perfect.

Kai had wondered before if he’d feel a spark of electricity or if Jay would be able to feel the hot fire that burned Kai’s body without mercy on his lips. Now he had the answer. Or at least half of one. But suddenly it wasn’t important anymore. Suddenly it couldn’t even come close to it being his first thought when he could taste the sweetness of Jay’s favorite banana yogurt on his tongue. Or when he tried to imagine literally anything softer than this moment but only came up short on that end as well. Or when his hand cupped the other ninja’s freckled cheek and it fit there like it had always meant to be there.

They pulled away after a few beats and Kai’s eyes snapped open and all too suddenly he was pointing an accusatory finger at Jay.

“You ruined it!”

“..Huh?” Poor Jay looked so lost and a little dazed.

“Your ruined it!” Kair repeated as if that helped any. “I was supposed to trick you into this whole “mission” thing,” he threw up air quotes “but really I was GOING take you to this very nice dinner that the whole team helped out with and surprise you!”

“And.. why can’t we still do that?” Jay looked at him like he was crazy and like he didn’t understand a damn word Kai was saying. Which.. fair.

“Because the whole point was to eventually tell you how I feel tonight and you were supposed to be so shocked by it and I’d get to see the look on your face and revel in it and finally get my revenge!”

“Huh..? Revenge for what?”

“THE BRACELET!” Kai held up his arm and pointed at his wrist where, sure enough, the red bracelet was still clinging to.

It took Jay a second or two but soon enough the realization was starting to dawn on him. And he laughed. The bastard laughed while Kai was fuming and beat red from the whole thing.

“But you beat me again,” Kai dragged a hand down his face and clasped his hand over his mouth trying to hide his blush as much as possible. “You got me. You beat me. I’m the most flustered and I-” he choked trying to form a coherent thought. Feelings were hard, how did he ever think he’d be able to push out an actual confession that night?

“You were one step ahead and I look like the fool again for letting this affect me so much.” In true Kai fashion he didn’t understand immediately that Jay having kissed him first meant something very very important. He wasn’t smart and he never claimed to be in his defense.

“Kai.”

“WHAT?”

Jay looked like he was considering something before eventually huffing a breath of air through his nose and shaking his head in disbelief.

“You know I gave that to you on Valentine’s Day right?”

“What?”

Jay pointed to the bracelet.

“Valentine’s Day. I was goooing to ask you out but. You kinda just stormed off like the whole thing pissed you off so.”

Oh.. OH. Kai was an idiot. He didn’t know how many times he’d have to repeat to himself that he was just flat out stupid until his braincells got the memo and actually did their job.

“I’ll give you twenty bucks if you agree to never talk about this again.”

“Throw in a kiss and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Deal.”

“Now how about that Dinner?”

Jay would later make fun of Kai for perfectly timing his whole scheme to fall on White Day. To which Kai would slide him another twenty to have the blue ninja pretend like he thought Kai had done it on purpose.

Next year he would get him back on purpose.

#ninjago valentine exchange #Plasma B #plasmashipping #ninjago #this is super nerve wracking geez

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sirowsky · 4 years

Text

The Flowers Always Know

Description: When a mad scientist uses you as an experiment while you’re on holiday, the Heroics only just manage to save you. And in your recovery you become very close to the leader of the group. (Slow burn)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Language.

Link to Masterlist

Comment: Another day of side-effects where my head really hasn’t been in the game. But a little fun stuff to pass the time has managed to crop up.

So sorry for the tease ending... I blame the headaches.

Chapter 27

The Chef, Greg, had personally brought you extra leftovers during the five weeks you were living in the cell, training and learning about your abilities. He knew about your abnormal energy-consumption, and had become concerned when you never ordered more than a double portion of food, no matter how exhausted you were. So, he’d come to give you the leftovers one evening, and you’d explained that it felt like you’d be stealing from others that might need it, if you ordered six or even eight portions. After that, he’d begun saving all the leftovers every day, and bringing you that for the extra portions you otherwise wouldn’t have ordered.

“I may have to make Greg my Best Man.”

“He’d probably decline. He’s nice, but he does have standards.”

“Ouch…”

“He doesn’t know you, Cujo.”

“Okay, seriously, what is up with that?”

“It’s just an accurate description.”

“I am not a fucking dog.”

“Yes, you are. It’s just that, ordinarily, you’re a puppy. You just have that lovable puppy-face, with the eyes and the grin that can melt the coldest of hearts. And then, you bare your teeth and growl, and you look fucking terrifying.”

“I do?”

“Um – yes. Unequivocally – yes. It’s amazing.”

“Wait… you like my Cujo-quality?”

“I like that you have that side, when you need it. I like that it comes out almost exclusively to protect the things you love. And I have to admit that I like the fact that even the remotest possibility that William actually had tried something, elicited that kind of a response from you.”

“I was a little shocked at how strongly I reacted to that. Just the thought… I would’ve killed him, if he had. Not because you… belong to me. But because you were weak and unable to stop anyone that might have tried. Thank god William’s even more of a puppy than I am.”

“Will is more of a Greyhound.”

“What?”

“Yeah, you know – sleek, effective, streamlined.”

“Okay, let’s just drop the whole dog-topic already.”

“And, just for the record – of course I belong to you. Ass-hat.”

He practically beamed at you.

“Ditto. Mama bear.”

You’d been talking while walking back from lunch, and when you got back to your office, Anita was there. Just standing in the middle of the room, with her signature scowl in full effect.

“Hi, mom. Wow, you’re actually in the office, it must be serious.”

“Fifty noise-complaints in the last hour – is serious.”

You both stopped smiling, and threw a nervous glance at one another, but she just huffed and turned to you.

“Have you had yourself checked out by medical, yet?”

“No… why would I…?”

“Because human beings don’t possess the biological imperative to breed, to the point where their libidos take control of their bodies.”

You had actually checked both your offices for cameras and microphones a good while back, and found nothing. And there weren’t any fucking flowers in your office!

“How the hell do you know that? Seriously… How?”

She just rolled her eyes.

“Get your ass down to medical. Now.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“Whatever it is, I feel fine now, which means they probably wouldn’t be able to detect anything abnormal, so I’m gonna finish my work for the day, and then I’ll go to medical.”

You walked over to your desk as you spoke, and as you sat down, you remembered something.

“And by the way, where you in charge of selecting my substitute while I was gone?”

“Yes. Petra wasn’t ideal.”

“You don’t say. If I’m ever gone for an extended period of time again, no one sets foot in my fucking office. Got it?”

“Did you just try and give me an order, loco?”

“I’m not trying anything. I’m telling you. No one.”

She threw you a kinda skewed smile and then turned around to leave. But as she crossed the threshold she stopped and looked back at you with pure steel in her eyes.

“4pm. If you’re not at medical by then, I’ll drag you there by your ear.”

“Try it. Please.”

She left and you sighed and looked at Marcus, who had sat down on the couch again, one arm draped over the backrest while he’d watched you take on Máma.

“Are you absolutely sure you feel fine? Because I’m all kinds of hot and bothered right now.”

“50 noise-complaints, Marcus. That’s half the damned building.”

“And like I said: fuck ‘em.”

“Please go away so I can think.”

“Only if you promise to call me the moment you feel any amount of craving. I’m serious.”

“You think I want to feel like that again? Of course I’ll call, and you’d better pick up. I don’t care if HQ’s on fire.”

“You have my word, famb.”

“You know, your list of nicknames is getting a bit ridiculously long.”

“Oh, I haven’t even started on the real one’s yet.”

“Real ones?”

“Prometida, esposa, amada, mi corazón…”

“Okay, okay, have as many as you like, jeez.”

“Which one’s your favourite?”

“You already know.”

He got up from the sofa and came over to kiss you before he left. His lips lingered long after the kiss ended.

“Hermosa…”

He was intoxicating. You put a hand up on his chest and pushed him away gently.

“Get out of here, gorgeous. Mama’s got work to do.”

“Oh, that’s mean. You know how I love it when you talk all husky like that.”

“I’ll call you if I need you.”

He walked away looking disappointed, but also kind of expectant, like he was looking forward to getting you back later. You smiled and shook your head after the door closed behind him.

You did get a lot of work done after that, and even if you were still miles behind from catching up to where you’d been 7 weeks ago, it still felt good to have gotten back on track. Especially on what had been possibly the weirdest day of your life. Which was saying something. Your libido stayed calm and behaved for the rest of the workday, but you did see Anita’s point in getting yourself checked over, and so you were planning on going to the med-bay. But at 3:30 you were working on your computer, looking up rare metals for an upcoming build, and you sort of stumbled over a site for wedding-rings. You were just gonna take a quick peak, scrolling through the various options, and getting progressively more worked up as you saw the price-tags. You were just about to leave the page and go back to work, when an ad in the corner popped up.

Wedding-dresses.

Fuck.

You clicked.

“If you thought I was kidding about the ear, you were sorely mistaken.”

You startled at the sound of her voice, and a puff of energy escaped you, sending papers flying everywhere.

“Thanks a lot, Anita. Why don’t you give me a heart-attack while you’re at it?”

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not my fault you were so engrossed in that screen you didn’t notice me. What were you looking at, anyway?”

Had half an hour already passed? You just clicked on that ad a second ago… And why was she looking at you like that?

“Just research.”

“Mhm. Let’s go.”

“Alright, just let me get these papers off the floor.”

As expected, since the event seemed to have passed, the medical exam didn’t reveal anything, and Anita seemed unnecessarily peeved about that.

“What are you so upset about? What exactly did you think they’d find?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

“Never mind, my ass. You all but dragged me to this exam, and now you’re disappointed. So, spill. What’s the deal?”

“I just hoped that maybe… you increased enthusiasm was…”

“Was…?”

“Alright, most women experience increased sensitivity when they’re pregnant. I just wanted to be sure.”

You sort of half froze midway through pulling your pants back on, and your hands involuntarily went to your abdomen.

“Oh… I never even considered…”

“I’m sorry, niña. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, I’m not upset. God, I don’t even know what I am.”

You finished dressing and sat down on a chair, letting your head fall into your hands.

“Eight months ago, I was just a designer, going on a fucking vacation. Now, I don’t even know what the hell I am anymore, much less what to do. Every time I think I’m starting to get a handle on things, something else happens and I’m lost again.”

She tapped your leg with her cane, ushering you to look at her.

“What you are, is my son’s fiancé. My granddaughter’s adoptive mother. You’re smart, highly capable and stubborn, kind and caring, but abrasive when the situation requires it. You’re everything you need to be. And that’s all you ever really need to know about yourself.”

You drew a deep breath.

“Do you think he made the right choice? With me?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Thank you.”

You called Marcus to let him know how the exam had gone, and he was just about to pick up Missy, so since you had your own car you told him you’d race him home. But you decided to stop by Amanda’s house on the way. You wanted to talk to both of them, but her place was closer.

When you walked in at home, Missy was in the living room playing a video-game with Noodles, A Capella and Wild Card. It had been a while since she’d had any friends over, and you smiled when you saw how much fun she was having.

“Hey, Alma! Wanna see me crush these guys for the second time?”

“Any day of the week, angel, but I gotta talk to your dad right now.”

“Okay, suit yourself!”

You laughed and walked into the kitchen to find him opening pizza-boxes and distributing slices onto plates.

“Hey, sweetheart, sorry, this wasn’t planned, they just spontaneously asked if they could come over as I was picking her up.”

“Honey, why are you explaining yourself?”

“I don’t know… it’s just, with the weird day you’ve had and how you seemed a little down after the exam, I thought that maybe you weren’t quite in the mood for a house full of teenagers.”

“No matter how I feel, Missy’s entitled to enjoy herself with her friends. I would never wanna deprive her of that.”

“No, I know. I just worry about you.”

“Yeah, I do too, sometimes. But that’s usually when I remember I have you, and it all feels better.”

He smiled and asked you to help him carry out the food to the living room, and once you’d done that, you sat down at the dinner table to eat yourselves.

“So… I may have googled wedding-dresses today.”

He beamed.

“Really? Did you manage to narrow down any preferences? Don’t give me any specifics, by the way.”

“I did, I think. Or, at least, I found a lot of stuff I didn’t like, so I guess that helps. I don’t know, I feel like I need to see them, touch them, to actually get a sense of what I like.”

He beamed even more.

“I really like the sound of this. I’m sure Amaire would come with you if you asked.”

“Yeah, I kind of already asked them to, this weekend.”

He was fucking radiating joy at that point. He got up and took your hand, leading you to the bedroom and closing the door behind you. Then he reached into his pocket and fished something out. His smile turned just a hint of insecure, as he held up the ring he’d chosen for you. It was gold-plated steel, with a single row of small diamonds sunk into the centre of the band all the way around. A sturdy and solid piece that wouldn’t break or lose its shape. While you admired it, he started trying to explain his choice.

“I know you’re not much of a jewellery-girl, so I figured we’d skip the whole engagement ring plus wedding-band. You can wear it right away if you want and then just take it off before the ceremony, or you can wait and put it on then, either way is fine with me. That is, if you like it? If you don’t, we’ll take it back and you can pick something else. It just felt right as soon as I saw it. You’re not the frail silver band type of person, and I know you’d only get annoyed with a big rock getting in the way and getting caught in stuff. You work with your hands and so I figured something sturdy but elegant. I have a matching one just without the diamonds. Please say something before I pass out from oxygen-depravation…”

“I love it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

You both beamed.

“Can I put it on you?”

“You better.”

He slipped it on your finger and it fit perfectly. And for the first time it really sunk in that you were gonna marry this man. The love of your life. It felt like a really long time until the kids went home and Missy went to bed, with her headphones on.

“I totally forgot, we need to go bed-shopping, honey.”

“I don’t know, a mattress on the floor might be preferable until we know the extent of your ‘heat-situation’.”

“Mm. Good point. Although, breaking in a new bed is always fun.”

“Hermosa.”

“What?”

“Stop talking and get undressed. I’ve been waiting for this all night.”

Authors’ Note: I love criticism, don’t be shy to let me know if there’s anything you like/don’t like/have questions about.

@blueeyesatnight @farfromjustordinary @allmyspideys @hrk-fic-recs @strawberryperegrine @lucrezia-thoughts @computeringturtle @sarahjkl82-blog

#marcus moreno #marcus moreno x reader #marcus moreno fic #we can be heroes #we can be heroes fic #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal characters

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alipeeps · 4 years

Text

New tag game: Post pictures of your first ever (fictional/celeb) crush to the latest one and tag five others to continue the game

Thanks to @minmoyu for tagging me and ooof, are you sure you’re ready for this?!! :D I have been around/in fandom for a loooooong time and at first I thought, okay, no way I can list all my crushes, there have been SO many and we’ll be here all day but then as I started compiling a list I found I was having fun reminiscing and decided, what the heck, yeah, let’s do em all... or at least all I can remember! :D

There have absolutely for sure been other more minor crushes and passing fancies along the way, but these are the big ones that I remember (and that, in more recent years, I can track by going through my posted fanfics on AO3 and even *shudder* FFNET and seeing which shows I was into enough to want to write fic about the characters).

[Quick note: with rare exceptions, for actors I am listing them by the character they played rather than just the actor. Whilst there are actors that I like in multiple roles (and conversely, characters who on paper I would normally be into but are played by actors who do nothing for me, and hence the character generally does nothing for me either), for the most part it is the character I really have the crush on.]

I’m going to put this under a readmore cos it has gotten ridiculously long:

So... without further ado:

1. MORTEN HARKET from a-ha - OKay so, dating myself badly here but... I had the *biggest* crush on Morten Harket when I was a teenager. Pretty much the entirety of my side of the bedroom I shared with my sister was covered in posters of a-ha, and Morten in particular. I even had a heart-shaped Morten Harket pillow! :D I loved a-ha’s music (still do!) and I wanted to go see them in concert when I was 14 but my parents wouldn’t let me (*sob*). I did finally get to see them in concert in the early 2000s and they were BRILLIANT live (and Morten was still very very pretty)!

2. RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON as MACGYVER - MacGyver is the first tv character I remember being really into and having a crush on, to the extent that I would record episodes of the show off the tv (onto VHS tape - yes, I am *that* old!) so that I could rewatch them (especially the ones where he got hurt - yeah, I was a whumper even then! :D)

3. KEIFER SUTHERLAND - One of my rare exceptions. I think I first saw him in Lost Boys (and loved him in that film) but it was his role as Doc Scurlock in Young Guns that really made me fall for both the character and him. I definitely remember seeking out any and all films he was in and buying any magazine he was interviewed in (and knowing far more facts about him than was probably healthy! :D) and even drawing a fanart portrait of him. :)

4. KYLE MACLACHLAN as SPECIAL AGENT DALE COOPER - I remember hearing about Twin Peaks before it started airing in the UK and it sounded so different and interesting... I watched it from the very first episode and very quickly developed a crush on Coop.

5. BRENT SPINER as DATA - I think ST: TNG had been airing for a while before I stumbled across it but I quickly became hooked and Data was my favourite character right from the start. I definitely remember at one point buying an (unofficial) episode guide book so that I could look up which episodes were good Data-focused ones (especially ones where he got hurt! :D) so I could go out and buy the videos that had those episodes on (at the time the show was available to buy on VHS-tape with 2 episodes on each tape).

6. DAVID DUCHOVNY as FOX MULDER - Another show that I heard the buzz about and started watching right from the start and, like so many others, I immediately developed a crush on the snarky, enigmatic, troubled FBI agent with the weird name. The X-Files was the first show I ever tried writing (one, never-finished) fanfic for.

7. PAUL GROSS as BENTON FRASER - Man, Due South was such a good show! It was so quirky and clever and funny and Benton Fraser, with his huge heart and his serious demeanour and his gorgeous blue eyes, was just so darn attractive! He also got whumped a fair bit too! :D Due South was also the show that introduced me to the music of Sarah McLachlan (I was enough of a fan that I bought the show soundtrack on CD).

8. HUGH LAURIE as DR GREGORY HOUSE - This was a bit of an odd one for me because I had grown up knowing Hugh Laurie solely as a comedian/comic actor, known mostly for playing buffoons and genial idiots. And suddenly here he was with stubble, an American accent, and a limp, and he was hawt AF! :D It caused quite the feedback loop in my brain for a while which pretty much went “Wow, House is hot.... but it’s Hugh Laurie... but he’s hot... but it’s HUGH LAURIE!!1!”

I *loved* House (the first few seasons, at least) and oof a character with persistent pain (and a self-destructive streak a mile wide!) was a whumper’s dream. House was the first show for which I wrote - and published online - completed fanfics.

8. JOE FLANIGAN as JOHN SHEPPARD - Stargate Atlantis was my first proper online fandom, the first show I prolifically and repeatedly wrote fanfic for, and the first time I ever met in person an actor I was a big fan of (and while the show was still airing, to boot!). It was also my first introduction to the online community of whumpers! A bunch of us from the Shep Whump thread on Gateworld heard that Joe was going to be at a convention in London and we decided to book hotel rooms and meet up and go to the convention together and it was AWESOME! I can still remember seeing Joe *in person* for the first time and just,,,, struggling to believe he was actually here, in person, in front of me! He was super super lovely and humble too and took time to chat to everyone at the signing table and I clearly remember my brain just pretty much fritzing out during the photo session and being intensely aware of the sensation of Joe’s hand on my shoulder....

It was also super lovely to meet fellow fans, and online friends, in person for the first time and we had so much fun, and it kickstarted me going to lots of other conventions, including specific Stargate/SGA ones where I got to know lots of other lovely fans and online friends. I’ve met Joe about 4 or 5 times in total now and he’s been lovely every time.

9. PAUL BLACKTHORNE as HARRY DRESDEN - Gosh I loved the shortlived tv adaptation of The Dresden Files. I loved the fantasy aspect, the stories, the humour, and I especially loved Harry Dresden and how often he got whumped! :D

10. DAVID TENNANT as THE 10TH DOCTOR - I had watched the Christopher Ecclestone revival of Doctor Who and enjoyed it well enough but I can clearly remember watching David Tennant’s first episode as The Doctor - on Christmas Day, at my brother-in-law’s house - and being aware, as I watched it that... ooookay, yes, I’m in trouble here... I like him... I like him a lot... :D I mean, I’m sure the fact that he got whumped so thoroughly in his very first episode had nothing to do with how quickly I fell for him... right? :)

11. ALEX O’LAUGHLIN as MICK ST JOHN - Another show that ended far too soon and just as it was getting *seriously* good. But also a prime example of my point about having a crush on the character not the actor. I looooooved Alex as Mick St John... and yet in Hawaii 5.0 he pretty much does nothing for me (the character is too stoic and the whump often too unrealistically glossed over). Anyway, in Moonlight he was my favourite kind of character - angsty, brooding, dangerous AF when he needed to be... and essentially immortal so you could whump the heck out of him and he’d recover so you could whump him again! :D

12. SIMON BAKER as PATRICK JANE - There is so much to love about Patrick Jane... his smarts, his sass, his angst... and Simon is a rare “against type” blonde crush for me (you may have noticed by now that most of my crushes follow a similar physical aesthetic - tall, slim/wiry, and dark-haired) and again here I think my crush is almost all to do with the character rather than the actor.

12. BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as SHERLOCK HOLMES - I’m almost ashamed to admit it, given the clusterfuck that both the show and its fandom became, but in the earlier seasons I had quite the crush on Benedict’s Sherlock (and okay, a little bit on Benedict himself - I did definitely enjoy some of his other roles too). It helps that I was already a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes character (I’ve read all the stories and novels multiple times and was a big fan of the Granada adaptation starring Jeremy Brett - whose Holmes would definitely count as one of my more minor/passing crushes) already. Benedict is another crush that I have met in person, at a (actually, the first!) Sherlock convention and he was lovely in person - very genuine, very articulate and thoughtful.

13. TOM MISON as ICHABOD CRANE - I was excited for Sleepy Hollow as soon as I heard about it and I was SUCH a fan for the first couple of seasons (before TPTB completely destroyed it and it inevitably got cancelled (I didn’t even watch the last season and a half)) and Tom’s Ichabod (and his amazing chemistry with Nicole’s Abbie) was a large part of why. I also quickly became a big fan of Tom himself as he came across as so witty and self-deprecating and *fun* in all the behind the scenes/convention clips etc. I was lucky enough to also meet Tom at a convention and he genuinely is that witty and charming and lovely.

14. TOM WISDOM as ARCHANGEL MICHAEL - I think Dominion was possibly the first show that I got sucked into by seeing whumpy gifsets on tumblr! :D It was such a great show and also to date the most immersive, welcoming, cast-and-crew-interactive fandom I have ever been in. The cast and crew regularly live-tweeted the episodes, and interacted with fans on Twitter, and it was SO much fun. And Tom’s Michael was my favourite character right from the start - seemingly aloof but so much going on under the surface... and some really nice whump, especially in season 2! I was heartbroken when it was cancelled after only 2 seasons (and just as the plot was getting *really* interesting).

15. OLIVER JACKSON-COHEN as LUCAS - I was hooked on Emerald City right from the first episode. It was visually stunning, so atmospheric, and really intruiging. I love love loved Adria Arjona’s Dorothy (ngl, I had a bit of a crush on her too) and she and Lucas together were just... *chef’s kiss*. I mean... what an introduction to a character... she finds him crucified, bleeding, his wrists tied with barbed wire, and amnesiac.... and the whump only gets better and better from there on in! Like the entire first two episodes are just... Lucas whump! :D And his devotion to her... Emerald City was honestly the first show where I really got into a ship. I was *invested* in Dorcas, dammit! Aaaand sadly another excellent show that never made it past its first season.

16. JASON RALPH as QUENTIN COLDWATER - Another show that I watched right from the start, was heavily invested in.... and that the writers absolutely tanked and destroyed in later seasons. *cries* Quentin was such a brilliant viewpoint character for the show and I loved his awkwardness, and his angst, and his enthusiasm, and his adorable floppy hair... and how often he got whumped!

17. COLIN MORGAN - I fell for Colin in Merlin (which I stumbled upon late, long after it had finished airing, and hence was able to binge-watch the entire 5 seasons!) and liked him enough to seek out his other works, such as The Fall, and Humans, and The Living and the Dead, and he was brilliant (and very pretty) in all of them... and his characters also seem to get whumped quite a lot! :D

18. MATT LANTER as WYATT LOGAN - Wyatt was another of my favourite archetypes... absolutely badass and competent... but also tortured and angsty and capable of intense devotion. Another show that I watched because of whumpy gifs on tumblr and the second ever show where I actually got invested in a ship - Lyatt all the way, baby!! :D - aaaaaand yet another show cancelled before its time.

19. NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM from FINAL FANTASY XV - my very first video game crush! I was recommended to play FFXV by fellow whumpers on the whumpshire discord because it was whumpy... and they were not wrong and I loved the game and I absolutely adored Noctis. FFXV is one of very very VERY few video games that I have actually played right through to the end. And possibly the only video game that has ever affected me to such an extent... I became so invested in the characters and their world and I actually found the last couple of chapters really hard to play because it was actually upsetting me emotionally. I had to take a break for a couple of weeks before I could go back and finish it!

20. CONNOR from DETROIT BECOME HUMAN - and from there I jumped straight into another video game crush! DBH was another game recommended to me for its whump potential and I, and many others, immediately fell in love with the quirky, sassy, self-sacrificing (if you play the game right!) “android sent by Cyberlife”. The game itself is really good too... although, I have tried to play through all the different endings to the story but have never yet managed to make myself play the machine Connor storyline.... I want to complete all the story branches... but I also just want Hank and Connor to be friends and to be happy! :D

21. ZHU YILONG - Ahhh... the beginning of the asian drama arc of my fandom life! I first came across Zhu Yilong after getting sucked into watching Guardian because of pretty (and whumpy) gifs on tumblr... and I’ve never looked back. He is one of the rare entries where I am pretty much guaranteed to like him in pretty much anything he does and my crush extends beyond Shen Wei, or his other characters, and into reblogging his fashion shoot photos, and keeping up with news of his work in general. He’s just... so darn pretty! And also so... blur! :D And the behind the scenes stuff and interviews of him with Bai Yu, during the Guardian era, just made me fall for him all the more. He’s also ridiculously talented - not only a fantastic actor, but a really good singer (I love his singing voice), he plays guitar and piano, and he can paint too!!

He’s also pretty much what made me start learning Chinese... because after Guardian I went seeking his other dramas to watch... only to find that many of them are only partially, or not at all, subbed. So I thought... why not try learning Chinese and then I’ll be able to watch his other shows? :D

21. JI CHANG WOOK - My first kdrama crush, and what a good one to start with! Healer was the first drama I ever watched and can you blame me for falling for JCW... especially when I followed up Healer with The K2?! I’ve liked him in pretty much everything I’ve watched him in. Although I do wish he would go back to doing more action-based shows as he is sooo good at them... but he seems to prefer the romcom genre these days, which is something I am nottt always a fan of tbh.

22. JAKE HSU as MENG SHAO FEI - Yet another show that I got sucked into by tumblr - and also one with a great, fun fandom through which I met lots of lovely people who I still follow/am mutuals with to this day. I just *adored* Jake’s character in History and I also loved the ship - Tang Fan and Meng Shaofei were awesome and adorable together and I was totally invested in both the ship and the gangster/cop/what happened years ago story happening alongside the ship. And Jake is just all kinds of cute.

23. XIAO ZHAN - Aaaand we are pretty much up to current day now... where The Untamed took over my life in the summer of 2019 and has yet to let me go. Xiao Zhan is another disgustingly talented human being - a fantastic singer and a really good actor, and also an artist - and he also just comes across as a genuinely sweet and charming person, and a very thoughful and earnest one too. And lbr he is ridiculously pretty, and his smile is just pure sunshine.

24. LEE DONG WOOK as LEE YEON - The most recent entry to the charts.... a Korean actor I was aware of but whose work I hadn’t watched and whose looks didn’t particularly seem to grab me... until I watched Tale of the Nine Tailed and fell head over heels for Lee Yeon (and daaayum does red hair suit LDW!!) and very quickly began to find LDW’s looks very appealing (and oh my, does Lee Yeon whump well!!). And yes, I have now started watching Goblin. :D

Phew! Aaaand we are done! I’ll admit, I did think of a few more as I was compiling this list but I decided to categorise them as more “minor” crushes and not include them... otherwise we really could be here all day!!

I’m going to tag: @sarah-yyy, @arlothia, @howdydowdy, @thepromiseweheldforlife and @the-wandering-whumper!

#meme #fandom #crushes

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nicole-lynne · 5 years

Text

Cold Houses Cause Confessions

Description: Lip’s defensive about reader wanting to put in money for the gas bill. Confessions and feelings are spilled. (Set in Season 1).

Warnings: Swearing

Pairing: Lip Gallagher x Reader

“Jesus, why is it so fuckin’ cold in here?” You exclaimed as you strolled into the Gallagher kitchen, wrapping your sweater around you tighter.

Fiona looked up at you and opened her mouth to answer when Carl leapt down the stairs.

“Turned it down so I could see your nipples, sweetcheeks.” He said as he blew you a kiss and a cheeky wink.

You wrinkled your nose at him. “Piss off, Carl. Fi?”

“Gas bill was late, ew Carl, don’t put that up your nose, anyways so now they won’t turn it back on unless we pay the whole thing.” Fiona said as she frantically cleaned up the kitchen table. She wiped some grime off her face and glanced over her shoulder with a ‘same fuckin’ shit’ look.

“Oh damn, that sucks.” You turned to dig through the laundry on the top of the washer. A small smile slipped as you found one of Lip’s hoodies and tugged it on. “How much is the bill?”

“Like 530 bucks. Debbie, go check the cushions. That should be good for at least 5 or 10 bucks. Has anyone seen Ian or Lip? Carl, please stop melting things in the microwave. ”

You watched the girl who was practically your sister as she ran around the kitchen, picking things up and setting them back down as she got distracted. She looked stressed to the max and you knew that this gas bill was just another card on a trembling tower.

“I’ve got $120 from winning a couple games of pool from some losers at the Alibi, let me put that in.”

Lip stomped down the stairs, his boots hitting the floor loudly, “no, keep it. We’ve got it covered.” He barely glanced in your direction as he crossed to the fridge and buried his head in it.

You scowled at his back and crossed your arms angrily, “You can’t tell me what to do, Lip. I may be your best friend but you’re not the boss of me. I’m here all the time so it’s only fair for me to pull my own weight.”

“I said, you’re not giving us any fuckin’ money.”

Lip slammed the fridge, he brow scrunched together with frustration. Automatically, you glanced down to watch his hands flex and curl together. He had a cigarette dangling between his lips and your heart sped up with desire. Finally, you cleared your throat and forced yourself to focus back on the current conversation.

“Are you even listening to me right now, Y/N?” He spat out.

“Lip, can you please stop? She’s the nicest girl that’s ever stepped foot in this house and she’s never gonna come back if you keep being mean.” Debbie whined from the living room.

You rolled your eyes with exasperation. “Debbie, I’m not gonna stop coming around just because Lip is an asshole.” Lip gave you a deep frown. “Besides, I like you and Fiona so much better than him.” Fiona flashed a grin at you from across the kitchen.

Lip opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by Steve slamming open the door. He waltzed in with a big goofy smile on his face and his eyes brightened as they landed on Fiona. You waved lightly at him before looking back at Lip. He was leaned against the counter, glaring out the window.

“Hey guys, we’re going out with V and Kev tonight. Think you can handle watching the kiddos?” Fiona asked, a begging smile sent in your direction.

Lip sighed loudly and crossed his arms tightly over his chest but you jumped up to block him. “Yeah of course, Fi, I’ll watch em. No promises that Carl won’t blow a hole in the wall, but he’ll have all his limbs at the end of the night.”

Steve grimaced, “god, please don’t give him any ideas.”

You laughed at the look on his face as he imagined Carl laughing maniacally in the middle of a giant hole in the side of the house. Fiona yanked a tank top off the washer and threw it over her head, shaking out her wild hair. She giggled as she stumbled to put her heels on before grabbing Steve’s hand.

“Fucking hell...” Lip muttered under his breath.

“Y/N, are you sure you guys will be good? Liam should be out already and Debbie just needs to-”

“Fi,” you wrapped your arms around Debbie as the little girl padded into the room and placed your chin on her head, “can you just go have fun, please? I’ve handled these heathens before and I will handle them again.”

Fiona gave you a look of relief and Steve mouthed a ‘thank you’ from the door behind her. You shoo-ed them both out the door. Fiona hollered out goodnights to Debbie and the door slammed shut.

“Okay, kiddo, why don’t you go grab a few comforters and bundle up on the couch. I brought us some microwave popcorn and feature flick.” You winked at her and she squealed excitedly. You chuckled as she dashed into the living room. “Oh, and put on another sweatshirt!”

You whirled around to smile at Lip but immediately frowned when you found the kitchen empty. Your heart sank into your stomach. The sleeves on Lip’s hoodie dropped over your fingers and you rubbed the worn edge nervously.

Debbie yelled from living room that she was ready, so with a turn on your heel, you headed into the living room to snuggle with her.

“Carl! Get your ass down here, we’re watching The Hangover! And put on a couple pairs of socks, we can’t afford you losing a toe from frostbite.”

Carl thudded down the stairs and jumped over the back of the couch. You tucked the blankets around the three of you tightly, in a slight attempt to keep the chilly air out. You pecked a kiss on Debbie’s cheek, rolling your eyes when Carl puckered up for you, instead you leaned forward and clicked on the movie.

~~~

The credits started rolling and you shifted slightly just in time to catch the clock flipping to 12:30am. Softly, you tugged your arm out from under Carl to rub your tired eyes. You twisted and turned and slipped up from under the two little bodies, shifting them onto the couch better.

You kissed both the kids heads and whispered, “Goodnight kiddos, I’ll be right upstairs.”

Straightening up, you stared up the stairs and gulped. You hadn’t seen a glimpse of Lip for the whole night and your anxiety was growing more and more by the second. You pulled the hoodie over your nose and took a deep breath in.

There was a flutter in your heart at the smell of Lip and there was a tug at your being to be with him. The corners of your mouth fell again thinking of how angry he looked earlier tonight. You couldn’t figure out what you’d done or said to piss him off so much when you were just trying to help the people you considered family.

You released another large sigh and drug your feet up the stairs. It was as quiet as it could be in the Gallagher household but you always felt comfortable surrounded by these walls. You shimmied in between the crack of Lip’s door, glancing at Ian’s sleeping body.

For a moment, you considered passing out in Carl’s empty bed but the draw to Lip was overwhelming. Silently, you slipped your pants off, dug through Lip’s drawers to find a pair of sweats, and tugged them up.

Hestitanting for just a moment longer before the cold settled on your skin and you heaved yourself up the bunk bed. Lip was facing the wall but you watched him shift to give you room to crawl under the covers.

Quickly, you cuddled against his back trying to soak up any bit of warmth, noting how tense he was. You traced shapes on his shoulder blade with your fingers for a few minutes, trying to decide how long you should wait before you passed out.

“L? You still awake?”

He was quiet and you were positive that he truly was asleep. Just as you closed your eyes, he rolled onto his back. His eyes were wide open and he was staring at the ceiling.

You peaked your eye open to look at him and then closed it again, promptly deciding to ignore him. He rolled again and suddenly his arm was flung over your waist and his legs tangled with yours.

It was dead quiet between the two of you.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you tonight.”

You looked over at him. His icy blue eyes were filled with regret and you felt your heart soften just a little.

“I didn’t deserve that, Lip. And I’m not quite sure why you were so mad at me for wanting to help out.”

Lip lifted his hand and stroked his thumb against your soft cheek. “I know. I know that, Y/N.”

“Then why’d you do it, L?”

“Because you shouldn’t have to waste your money on us. You shouldn’t have to be to be brought down by the Gallaghers.”

Your mouth gaped open in shock. That hadn’t been what you were expecting. You had thought maybe he’d gotten screwed out of some money or Karen had been a bitch that day, but not some ridiculous thought like the family being a bother to you.

“Are you an idiot, Phillip Ronan Gallagher? This is my family and you are not some deadweight that’s bringing me down. Where would you even get such a shit idea?”

Lip’s eyes fell, “I’ve seen first hand the destruction that we can cause. I just don’t want to see you caught up in it all. You should be saving your money instead of spending it on our gas bill. That money could pay for your college.”

You twisted your hands into Lip’s shirt tightly. “Lip, I love yo-all you guys. I don’t give a shit what happens, I’m with you through it all. Even if that means having to beat a few more dickbeaters at pool to throw in some cash.”

“But what about-”

“No, L, not even then. Not after anything.” Lip started to relent and gave you a small smile. “Besides, I think I might have a future with Carl.”

Lip growled and smacked you in the face with a pillow. You erupted in a fit of giggles as you tried to escape his grip. Lip was laughing with you, tickling your sides, enjoying the sight of your smiling face.

“Can you two lovebirds shut the hell up, I’m tryin’ to sleep over here.” Ian’s voice rang out in the room.

You and Lip froze, wide eyes looking at each other before bursting out in laughter. Lip pulled you in a little closer and slipped his hands under your shirt. You squealed loudly as his ice cold fingers ghosted over your stomach.

“Fuckin’ christ, it’s colder than a witches tit in a brass bra.”

“God, you’re such a fuckin’ weirdo, L.” You giggled.

Lip pinched you lightly, “you’re the weirdo who stole my sweatshirt, babe.”

You stopped squirming and looked up at him, your cheeks red with embarrassment or cold, you couldn’t tell. “Um, I’m sorry. I was just freezing and it was the first thing I saw. I’ll give it back-”

“Y/N, stop, I don’t want you to give it back. It looks way better on you, you should keep it.” He paused, sitting up and resting on his elbow. You rested your head against his pillow and watched the curve of his neck, his bicep tightened, and the rise and fall of his chest.

“I really appreciate how much you do for us, Y/N. You...you help keep the house together when Fiona’s stressed, Debbie loves having another girl to hang out with, Ian thinks you’re the only funny one, and hell, you’re the only one that Carl doesn’t try to explode.” He paused. “I just want to protect you from bad things, and I know how bad the Gallaghers can be.”

Your set a hand over his forearm, “newsflash, L, you’re a Gallagher too. And you’re the best guy I’ve ever known. I love that you want to protect me, but you can’t protect me from your family because they’re my family too.”

Lip’s eyes were shining brightly, taking in everything about this moment.

“I love you, Y/N. Like I’m in love with you.”

You pinched your brows together and the breath was caught in your throat. You must be dreaming, this cannot be real life. The person you’d loved for years was saying the words you’d longed to hear for so long.

“Wh-what about Karen?” You stammered.

“Fuck Karen. She’s nothing to me, she hasn’t been for a long time. I’ve just been ignoring what was right in front of me for so long.”

You were hypersensitive to the feeling of Lip’s fingers on your skin, rubbing back and forth. It was hard to think of anything else then his body against yours. The sound of your heartbeat was pounding in your ear. You were positive that Lip could hear it too, maybe even Ian across the room.

“I-I don’t know what to say...”

“Tell me that you love me too. I know you do, Y/N, I can see it in your eyes. Every day, you look at me with your big beautiful eyes and I can feel how much you care about me.” Lip inched a little closer. “At first, it scared me. It really did. The thought of having someone, my best friend, who loved me after all this fucked up shit, that I could fuck up and lose the one person I relied on...”

“Lip-”

“No, let me finish.” He rested his forehead against yours.

You placed your hand on his cheek, encouraging him to continue.

“Y/N, you’re the person that I know I can count on every day. I wake up in the morning and my day, my life is chaos, but you always know exactly what to do to make things calm. I’m tired of pushing away my feelings. I’m tired of you not being mine...” He trailed off.

You paused to see if he was finished before taking the leap and smashing your lips against his. Your heart was singing at the feeling of Lip tightened his arms around your body and kissed you back hard. His tongue traced along your bottom lip, asking for permission. You opened your mouth and his tongue swept in against yours.

Lip rolled on top of you and slipped his leg in between yours, swallowing a moan that came from you. You ran your hands through his hair and pulled slightly, your legs wound around his waist. Your lungs were burning for air and you finally separated, both of you panting heavy.

“God, I’ve been wanting to do that for so long.” Lip mumbled.

You smiled at him lovingly. You could feel his heart beating against your chest and you had this urge to be even closer to him.

“I love you too, Lip. I’ve always loved you. I-I just never thought you could love me back, so I’ve never said anything. Every girl you’ve been with... None of them have ever deserved you.”

Lip pecked a big kiss on your lip. “Now I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you.”

“Stop saying that, L. You are amazing and I’m extremely lucky to be here with you.” You nuzzled against his chest.

Lip bent his head down and pressed his lips to yours again. This was a more gentle kiss than the first one. This was the one that felt more real, something that wasn’t only fueled by lust and passion. This kiss felt like it would be the beginning of a happy story for you two.

“I swear to god, you two better not fuck while I’m here. I’ll smother you both in your sleep.” Ian groaned loudly before shoving his pillow over his head.

You and Lip broke your kiss in shock before starting to laugh again. Lip tipped over to your side and tugged you in tight against him, smoothing your wild hair down.

“Get the hell over here and warm me up, babe.”

You grinned to yourself before shoving your face into the crook of his neck. “We are so paying that gas bill tomorrow, I can’t have you losing any important parts.”

#lip gallagher #lip gallagher x reader #lip x reader #shameless #phillip gallagher #shameless season 1 #fiona gallagher #ian gallagher #debbie gallagher #carl gallagher #reader insert #x reader #fanfiction

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the-blueish-trashcan · 5 years

Text

He’s in Charge; Chapter Eight

Pairing: Henry/Bertrum

Warnings: Slight body horror, mentions of homophobia

A/N: Hoo boy, took me an awful long time to get this out, didn’t it? Ah well, technical difficulties happen. In this chapter, we get a little insight into just what goes on inside the head of voice actresses- and what’s been happening behind closed doors at Joey Drew Studios.

Chapter word count: 2,331

{First part} {Previous part} {Next part}

Chapter Eight; Inner Demon

Once the studio was back to running normally again, it was already Thursday. Joey had evidently returned to work against doctor's orders, but he, like everyone else, was anxious to get back to work. Joey summoned Henry to his upstairs office almost immediately that morning.

As he stepped into the cramped room, Henry's heart was solidly lodged in his throat. He forced a neutral look onto his face, though. Joey sat behind his desk with a pen in his hand, scribbling notes on… something, Henry couldn't tell what. With his other hand, one wrapped completely in thick bandages, he gestured to the chair across from him.

Sitting down only gave the animator a better perspective on the extent of his injuries; Half of his face was an odd purple-yellow, the bruises trying their best to heal. From his eye down to his jaw on the right side, his skin had been dyed that almost sickly color. A gash across his cheek on the opposite side was still healing, but he obviously hadn't bothered dressing it. What really shocked- and to some degree, worried- him was the wheelchair Joey had been placed in. That, for the most part, was probably what was making him look so angry.

“G'morning, Joey.” Henry tried hesitantly.

“I hope you've enjoyed your time off, we're all going to have to make up for it around here.” Joey practically ignored his greeting, speaking through a scowl. Henry was able to see where he was missing a bottom tooth as he did. “You've got to start on the storyboard for the next short, the writers already have the script downstairs. That's all, just get going. Please.” The please he added as an afterthought.

Henry nodded, already standing from his seat. “Right away, I'll get that going.” He made his way to the door.

“And Henry?” Joey stopped him just as he was about to close the door. Henry poked his head back in. “For the love of God… Stop seeing Bertie. He's dangerous. He'll end up hurting you, look at what he did to me.”

“If you say so, Mister Drew.” Henry accepted what he said, then shut the door. As he made his way to the writing department, he shook his head. Bertrum would never hurt him, that he was sure of.

*****

Saturday night, Henry stayed at Bertrum's house again. Bertrum had offered to visit with Henry instead, but the animator knew his run-down apartment would be nothing compared to where Bertrum lived. He made his way back home Sunday afternoon to take care of some housekeeping, and to make sure he had enough clean clothing for the upcoming week.

When he got to his desk that Monday, almost exactly on time, Joey was already waiting for him. He'd parked his wheelchair right in front of Henry's chair, preventing him from getting to it. Henry stopped at the end of the hall, on edge.

“Good morning, Joey.” He greeted.

Joey slowly rolled the chair up to him, pushing him back against the wall and glaring. His bruises had already started to clear, but the gash on his cheek wasn't healing as well. “You. You need to stay away from Bertrum. Do you know what I'll do if you don't?”

“Dock my pay? Fire me? Out me? Honestly, Joey… your threats are… getting a little old.” Henry voiced. Of course he was still terrified of Joey, he didn’t want to show it.

“You're distracting each other. Work isn't going as fast, and that's costing us some serious cash. Do you really want this whole place to go under because of you and your little game? Because you wanted to have a little ‘harmless’ fun?”

Henry took a moment to calculate his response. “Do you really expect me to believe that? If things are really so bad, you wouldn't be-”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Henry could see the shade of his boss's face change. His jaw clenched and the inside of his eyes caught fire. Before Henry even realized what was happening, Joey was up on his feet, wincing as he slammed his hands into the wall, one on either side of the animator's head. The man towered over him. “You have a job to do, Stein! And I'll be damned, if you won't do it, I'll make every aspect of your existence a living hell!” Joey roared, spit flying into Henry's face as he flinched. He hadn't even noticed the whites of Joey’s eyes beginning to darken. “I'm in charge here! What I say goes, no questions! No what if's! No maybe’s! This is my studio! My company! My animations! Behind the scenes, I own you! Do you understand me?! You and your work belong to-”

Joey was suddenly interrupted by his own ragged, shuddering cough. He backed away, falling into his wheelchair as his body continued to seize. He pushed a hand over his mouth to muffle himself and the longer it went on, Henry realized he'd begun spitting up a thick black sludge. It seeped between his fingers and started to drip from his nose, also pooling in the corners of his eyes.

All Henry could do was stare, horrified. “Joey-”

“Leave!” Joey's strained voice commanded, prompting Henry to do so. He practically ran from the hall, past the exit and down the stairs to the music department. Only then, at the foot of them, did he stop for a moment.

The first person to catch his eye was a violinist- he recalled her name being Ellie- standing by the door to the music hall, who waved. She made her way over to him with her instrument in her hand, frowning. “You look like you've seen a ghost, mister. You alright?”

Henry hadn't realized he'd gotten so pale. He swallowed and nodded. “I'll be fine, thank you, Ellie.”

The curly chestnut hair resting on her shoulders moved as she shrugged. “If you say so. What brings you down here? Mister Lawrence and Mister Fain are in their office if you need ‘em.”

Henry figured that would be as good an excuse as any to be away from his desk for a few more minutes. “Are they? Thanks.”

“No problem!” She waved again as he moved off down the hall.

As he did, through the huge glass window in Sammy and Jack's office, Henry could see the music director pacing back and forth, clearly ranting about something. When he got up to it, he knocked on the glass. Sammy froze, glancing at him. Henry shifted to push the door open, taking a step inside. “Hey, how are things down here?”

“Could be better.” Sammy and Jack spoke in unison, throwing each other a look. Both groaned, Jack lifting his hat enough to push his hand through his frizzy hair.

“These demands are getting ridiculous! How are we supposed to have a full score in two months?! He’s fired half my orchestra! Without even consulting me, I might add.” Sammy explained.

Jack turned to him, dark marks evident under his eyes. “I just don't understand the logic here. Does he know how writing music works?”

Henry crossed his arms and shook his head. “I'm not sure he knows how any of this works.”

“Amen to that.” Sammy scoffed.

“Is there anything I can do to help you guys?” The animator offered.

At first, Sammy shook his head. “You have your own assignments to worry about, I'm sure.”

“Actually…” Jack perked up. “You used to play piano, right? Think you could do one of these songs?”

“Well, I still sort of remember how to play… Can I see the keys?” Henry asked, looking to Sammy.

Sammy, knowing which one Jack referred to, picked a few papers out of the stacks on his desk. He held them out. “Here, it's fairly simple. We're still trying to teach one of the two bassoonists left to play piano, I'd appreciate your help.”

Henry took the papers, looking over them. “Hm… I'll take some time to practice on my lunch hour, if that's okay with you two, but it does look pretty easy.”

“Perfect.” Jack and Sammy spoke in unison again, glaring at each other with mock annoyance.

“I'll see you then, Henry. Thank you for this.” Sammy clapped him on the shoulder, only briefly.

“Yeah, of course! See you guys later.”

“Bye, Henry!” Jack raised a hand as a send off, his back already to Henry as he continued his work.

Henry pulled the door closed behind him, figuring it had been long enough for Joey to compose himself. He was almost back to the stairs when a man walking out of the department “lounge” caught his attention. He recognized the man as a trombone player, but also one of their voice actors. “Oh, hi. Harry, right?” Henry asked.

“Nah, Harrison, actually. Mistah Drew insists on Harry.” Harrison spoke with the twinge of an accent Henry couldn't quite place.

“Right, sorry. Is something wrong?”

“Nah, Miss Susie was lookin’ for yah. C'mon.” Harrison gestured for Henry to follow him and disappeared back into the lounge.

The room itself wasn't so much of a lounge, more like a small room with a beat up pool table and some crates stacked up in it. Leaning over said pool table lining up her shot was Susie, aiming a green ball towards a corner pocket. Two other musicians stood to the side, watching and talking quietly. Henry couldn’t for the life of him remember their names, though.

“Uhm… Susie?” Henry tried to get her attention.

She took her shot, which she’d evidently calculated perfectly. Then she stood up, turning to him. She offered a small smile. “Hi, Henry.” She moved to the other side of the room, away from the pool table, and Henry followed. “Look…” She made her voice soft, though the others weren't paying attention to them anyway. “I'm… sorry about the other day. The way I reacted to you… wasn't the best. I wasn't expecting it, especially from you.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Henry raised a brow.

“Well, look at you!” She indicated him as a whole with one hand. “You're adorable, I would think you'd have girls all over you, I never would've thought that's not the team you play for. But regardless of that, I'm sorry for how I acted. After what Joey did to you for it… I feel awful for letting it slip to him.”

Henry bit his lip. “Oh. You're the reason he knows…?”

“I am, and I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea he'd threaten you like he did, I…” Susie trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

“I guess it's… fine. All Joey wants is to blackmail me with it, I don't think he's really going to out me. Or, at least, I hope.”

“I hope, too. So… are we okay? You don't… hate me?”

Henry shook his head. “I don't think I'm able to hate anyone, really.”

“Oh, good.” Susie opened her arms for a hug and Henry accepted, though neither made it a very strong one. “I'll see you around, Henry.”

“Yeah, see you later, Miss Campbell.” He gave her a small smile and wave, exiting the room and going back to the stairs. Thankfully, that time, he was able to do so uninterrupted.

The hall to his desk was another story, though. He had nearly made it back to his workspace when he spotted a sandwich board, the letters “floor is wet” crudely painted on it. The sign wasn’t exactly blocking the space, it was plenty small to move past easily, but it brought a small smile to his face. As he came around the corner, he spoke. “Hi, Wally.”

The janitor paused to wave and grin, mop still held in his other hand. “Mornin’! Say, did ya spill?” He indicated the spots he’d mopped already with a tilt of his head. “Was pretty hard gettin’ the stuff up, is it a new brand?”

“Of ink?” Henry questioned, and Wally nodded. “No, it…” He glanced around, making sure no one else was within earshot. His voice dropped low. “It was Joey. I… I don’t really know what happened, he was talking to me and he started to get upset… and then he started to cough, and… This black gunk started coming out of his mouth.”

“Ya tellin’ me tha’ crazy bastard was coughin’ up tar? It looked like tar, there was a lot of it.” Wally matched his volume.

“I’m not sure what it really is, it started happening and he told me to leave, so I did. I wasn’t even sure he’d be gone by the time I got back here.”

“Huh. Y’know, he stays hea’ pretty late at night, I got the feelin’ he was up ta somethin’.”

“You don’t think he’s just sick?”

“Not a chance. Listen, Henry,” The janitor reached over to put a hand on his shoulder. “Stuff’s goin’ on hea’ tha’ you’ve got no idea about. Really, I shouldn’t even know, but I do! I got keys ta everywhea’, so Drew can’t keep secrets from me!”

Henry’s expression became concerned at the statement. “You know what Joey’s done lately, you really should be careful snooping around like that.”

Wally waved a dismissive hand. “Pff, I’m not snoopin’, I’m cleanin’! Drew wants this place spotless, I gotta get everywhea’!”

“Well… if you say so…” Henry still didn’t sound convinced.

“I do! Hey, I’m gonna get outta hea’ and let ya do ya work, looks like Drew left somethin’ on ya desk.” As he spoke, Wally stuck his mop back into a water bucket on wheels, starting to move off. “Lata, Henry!”

Henry gave a small wave to his back, then shifted his attention to his desk, where a thick packet awaited him. He could see already that they were his sketches- some he’d never given to Joey, he noted- and they were covered in red chicken scratch. He sighed, taking his seat.

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ezilyamuzed · 4 years

Text

Ten Years Gone- The Beginning

Description: Ten years ago, your world had changed. Ten years ago, you had met him, leading your life to never be the same again. Time is running out, but is it too late after all these years?

Word Count: 7775

Warnings: Language, Parent’s death, PG teen “cuddle” time.

A/N: This is the prelude of a new series. I was listening to Led Zeppelin's ‘Ten Years Gone’ while watching the early episodes of Supernatural and got some ideas... Enjoy.

Any grammatical mistakes are all my own, because I am human. Remember all comments and feedback are welcomed! If you want a tag in future posts regarding this series or other writings please send an ask! As always thank you for reading! Enjoy!

TEN YEARS GONE MASTERLIST

*Picture and lyrics used are not mine. Led Zeppelin is Amazing.

Changes fill my time, baby, that's alright with me In the midst I think of you, and how it used to be

Your legs were sprawled out along the back seat of your uncle’s ‘70 Chevelle as you hummed along to the guitar rhythm and stared out the window. The trees and scenery were whooshing past in a blink of an eye, but it all looked pretty much the same no matter where you were. The autumn quickly changing the leaves that were now falling to the ground. Trees, trees, dirt, and grass. Hey a rock. Sometimes you turned your sight seeing into a game to see how long you could stare out without blinking before you either got dizzy or your eyes dried out. Your record was to the second chorus of The Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker”.

“We almost there? I gotta piss,” you whined up to the front.

Your uncle Danny let out a laugh as he turned his head to the rear-view mirror to see your turnt up nose.

“We’re about 5 minutes away. You can hold it until then. If not, I’m sure there is a bottle or something back there.”

Although he was not longer looking you still give him an evil glare in response.

“You know it doesn’t work like that Uncle Danny.”

“Well if you’re going to keep talking like a rude little boy instead of the proper lady like I know your momma raised you to be, I’m going to keep treating you like it,” he replied back, turning the radio down as he spoke.

“She tried. It didn’t stick,” you rolled your eyes in a humph.

“If only she could see you now. Hell, 14, starting up high school…”

“Yeah, how many schools will I go to this year? The standard 4 minimum?” you added with sarcasm.

“One, smartass,” you could see him smiling as he looked to you in the rear view mirror. “I’ve worked out a deal with a buddy of mine while I go on a business trip.”

“Ya hunting plants, fruits, vegetables, or minerals this time?” You laughed at your own dumb joke.

“Don’t you worry about that missy,” he replied. “You just keep your head while I’m gone. No getting into trouble.”

“Who ya dropping me off with anyways? They in the business too,” you asked while making air quotes.

“Yeah, but recently he has stepped back a little. Actually, he’s been watching two teenage boys around your age while their dad also goes out on the road,” he replied before looking back to you again in the mirror. “And I don’t want to hear about you getting into no trouble with those or any other boys. Ya hear me?”

“Ew, no,” you face twisting in disgust.

“Yeah, you say that now. Soon enough though, you’ll be just like the rest of us and find that special someone that turns ya all stupid enough to want to spend the rest of your life with em.”

You rolled your eyes again as you slumped back further into the seat, keeping you eyes on the road signs as the passed by. Sioux Falls, North Dakota 10 miles ahead. Ten more miles until you can finally stretch out properly. Ten more miles until you might get to sleep in real bed, in a real house, something you hadn’t done for almost three years.

It had been an unusually warm fall that year. With your birthday approaching, your mom and dad were busy setting up everything for your party. Uncle Danny had taken you out to pick out whatever gift you wanted- a butterfly knife with dusty rose handles. He of course argued with you, but with his vast collection of knives that you had always admired, he agreed as long as it stayed a secret between the two of you. He even had an interesting symbol etched into the blade. It was a little star that looked like flames were coming out of every corner. He said it was extra protection, whatever that had meant. After grabbing ice cream he had driven you home, only too see the door wide open with no answer. He told you to stay in the car, but of course after a few minutes you stopped listening. It was your home. Why would you have to wait outside? That’s when you saw what he wanted to protect you from. Both of your parents, ripped to shreds by what looked like an animal. There was no animal in sight though. You don’t even remember exactly what else happened that day. There were sirens and people in uniforms everywhere. Neighbors of course being nosy and gawking at the scene. What you remembered was your Uncle Danny holding you close and telling you that everything would be okay. And you believed him.

Up until now, he had tried his best to juggle everything- his job and raising you were not easy tasks. You got into fights in school quite a bit, but with the fact that you were leaving it in a week or so to go to another, who really cared? There were nights when you were all alone, waiting patiently for him to return, always wondering in that back of your mind if this was the time you’d lose him too. He always came back though, a little beaten a bruised perhaps, but always with a smile.

Eventually he finally told you where he was going during all of his trips. Fighting ghosts and other monsters sounded ridiculous to you, but eventually you realized he wasn’t kidding. He was a hunter- he saved people. And that made him that so much cooler. Over the summer he had started teaching you how to shoot and what things to look for. You had already became really good with a knife, learning little tricks and that with the one he had bought you. He had an old notebook that was filled with drawings and descriptions that you tried to memorize, the ink wearing away with each use. You asked if you could join and help on a case, but he would always tell you that it was no place for a kid to be which was complete bullshit. You could handle yourself. You weren’t scared. But with all your protests, he would not budge, thus bringing you to here.

“About 5 more minutes until we’re at Bobby’s,” he stated while turning left down the road. “Hold on to your bladder just a little longer.”

You re-positioned yourself to stare out the window to see if anything was at least interesting around this guy’s house. Nope. Trees, fields, and a couple houses every once in a while. Great - middle of fucking nowhere U.S.A. You caught the sight of what looked like the after effects of a tornado. Cars and junk everywhere with a little house in the back.

“Welcome to Singer Salvage yard.”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” you moaned.

“Hey, language.”

“Sorry,” you muttered before speaking up again. “But seriously, you are LITERALLY leaving me in a garbage dump. What the hell am I supposed to do here? Get tetanus?”

“No, you’re going to get an education and have a normal childhood,” his voice sounded angry. “Now I know it’s not pretty, but Bobby is a good friend. He will watch out for you and make sure you have everything you need.”

“I’m going to need a bath,” you mumbled under your breath.

When the car finally came to a complete stop and the dust from the ground settled you were able to get a better view of the place. It was alright, probably looked better on the inside. Well, at least you hoped. Still a shithole. There was another chevelle parked alongside it that was just like your uncles, but more on the run down side. Next to it, a sleek black Impala. That was probably Bobby’s car. Hunters always have a thing for muscle cars. Sturdy, reliable, fast, or “American made” as your uncle liked to state. Whatever the reason, they were nice to look at.

Two men walked out of the house with solemn looks on their faces with two teenage boys trailing behind. You followed your uncle's lead and climbed out of the car to the fresh air.

“Danny, it’s been a long time,” the dark haired man with a gruff voice stated while extending his hand for a shake.

“ Way too long Johnny,” he replied while shaking his hand before moving to the bearded guy with a baseball cap. “Bobby, thanks for doing this.”

“It’s no trouble at all. There’s already two hellions, what’s another?” He chuckled as he looked over at you staring down to the ground, pushing your chucks into the dirt. “You must be Y/N.”

“Yes sir,” you replied with a tight lipped smile.

“This is my boy Dean, he’s just a little older than you and my boy Sam who is just a bit younger,” John stated, while guiding the boys closer with his arm, although they clearly could care less.

“Dean, could you and Sam help Y/N inside?” Danny spoke up. “I know I’ve been making her wait to use the restroom, so I’m sure she’ll be grateful to know where it is.”

Dean nodded his head and grabbed at your two bags in the backseat before walking past you to go inside. Sam following. You rolled your eyes to your uncle and trailed behind to your new life- at least for now.

You were wrong about it possibly being better on the inside. Nope, it was a shithole too that was covered with books and empty liquor bottles. The decor covered by a pound of dust and cobwebs resembled something like a real house, something someone used to care about.

“Toilets over there,” Dean nodded down the hall while tossing your bags down before he flopped himself on the couch.

“Thanks,” you mumbled as you walked down the hall.

Surprisingly the toilet was at least semi clean, although there was enough hair trimmings in the sink to resemble a small animal.

After finishing in the bathroom you walked out to the living room area. Dean was sprawled out on the couch with a comic book and Sam was sitting on the floor next to him with an old worn down book. Out of place and unwelcomed were the nice ways of saying how you felt at that moment. After grabbing your book bag, you sat down at the kitchen table all alone, not knowing what else to do, but to stare at the walls.

“You boys helped Y/N find her way,” you heard your uncle's voice say as he entered the room.

Dean nodded as he turned the page on his book. Sam looked back at him, following his queue. Your uncle approached you, sitting himself down at the seat next to yours.

“See, it’s not that bad, right kiddo?”

Even though your head was down, you looked up to him through your lashes, rolling your eyes just a little towards the two boys.

“You’ll be fine,” he smiled. “Just give it a little bit and I’m sure you will all be getting along just fine when I come back.”.

“How long?” You asked although you could guess the answer already.

“Not sure kiddo,” he grabbed your hand and held it gently. “But I’m going to call every Sunday night after dinner time to check in on you. Okay?”

“Okay,” you nodded before wrapping your arms tightly around his neck. “Just come back to me okay Uncle Danny?”

“You be good Y/N;” he said as he returned your hug back before standing up again. “I’ll see you soon kiddo.”

He never promised that he would come back. It was a promise that he couldn’t make. He knew it and you knew. He always said that he would never make a promise to you that he couldn’t keep. That didn’t make it hurt any less.

You watched as he shook Bobby’s hand by the front door, turning to give you a loving smile before leaving out the door to go to the next job that awaited him.

“So, how about you boys actually show Y/N where her room is.” Bobby stated firmly, causing Dean to roll his eyes as he slapped the comic book shut. “You two know how it goes around here. We’re not savages. Now get going.”

“Yes sir,” the two of them mumbled as they got up from their spots.

Both boys each grabbed one of your bags, still not saying anything really directly to you as they walked up the stairs. Bobby was standing with his arms crossed watching them closely as you followed behind them.

“This one is where Bobby sleeps,” Sam informed you while pointing to a door. Dean and I are in this one, and you’re the last one down the hall.”

“Yeah, lucky you,” Dean scoffed. “You get your own room.”

“Lucky me,” you stated back with sarcasm. “I get to live here with you.”

Dean turned his head to you with a glare before he opened the door and switched on the light. It was a simple room, surprisingly organized and clean. It was almost like someone had cleaned it recently.

“This was Dean’s room,” Sam informed you, making you feel a little guilty about displacing him. It wasn’t like this was your choice though.

Dean tossed the bag he was carrying down onto the bed with a thud. Sam chose to use the gentler approach of setting the bag he was carrying on a chair in the corner.

“So what’s your story,” Dean asked as he sat down on the corner of the bed.

You shrugged, as you moved through the room, checking out the view from the window.

“You travel with your uncle,” Dean stated. “So where’s your parents?”

You turned and looked back to him silently, not really wanting to talk about the tragic backstory of your life.

“Okay, don't talk to us then,” Dean rolled his eyes as he stood up.

“Dead.”

He paused in his steps and turned to look at you, mouth agape. You returned to look out the window again before continuing, hoping you would see your uncles car any moment again to take you with him.

“It’s just me and Danny;” you continued as you looked over to them. “So what’s your story?”

“Mom’s been gone a long time and dad is in the business,” he stated with some sort of pride. “The family business.”

“Doesn’t a family business typically mean that more than one member of your family is doing it?” You snarked back.

“I’ve gone out on hunts before,” he stated in defense. “I’ve seen a ghost before.”

“Good for you,” you rolled your eyes again. “So why did he leave the two of you here then.”

“Dean got in some trouble on his last hunt,” Sam spoke up.

“What, did you act like an ass to the monster too?” You smirked to Dean.

“That’s a long story,” he said as he started rubbing the back of his neck. “So how long are you here for?”

“Who knows?” You responded. “Hopefully just a few days, maybe weeks.”

“And you’re like what 13?”

“Fourteen,” you corrected him. “I’ll be fifteen-.”

You stopped yourself short, not wanting to discuss or even think about the fact that you had a birth date like everyone else. It was a day you’d rather forget. You finished your sentence with the word “soon” popping off your lips.

“Are you going to be going to the high school with Dean then?” Sam asked.

“I guess so,” you shrugged. “So What is there to do around here anyways?”

“Read,” Sam replied with innocence, Dean rolling his eyes in response.

“There ain’t much to do, but there’s always something you can find to at least pass the time.”

“Like what?” You asked.

Dean laughed while nodding outside.

“Well, you like cars?” He asked as you gave him a side eyed glance. “We got tons of em out there.”

“What do you do? Try to fix em up or something?”

Dean shrugged as you all heard Bobby yelling up the stairs to start getting ready for dinner.

“Don’t keep him waiting,” Sam said as he walked out the door.

“Is Bobby strict?” You asked Dean who was still standing there, waiting for you to go downstairs as well.

“He’s alright, can be strict at times,” he replied back. “He does his best to make sure that we have some sort of normal in our lives.”

“What’s normal?” You rolled your eyes. “Being dropped off with some strange dude in a shit hole.”

“Give it time,” Dean laughed. “It’s not that bad. It’s better than staying in a crumby motel every night alone. ”

You paused your steps to the door as you heard those words leaving his lips. Motel and alone. Well that summed up the last three years of your life. Guess you did have more in common with these two boys besides being dumped off. If they could handle it, maybe it wasn’t going to be that bad after all.

The next couple weeks weren’t that bad. You had started high school with Dean showing you around. The fact that he became somewhat protective of you was probably why you didn’t seem to have any trouble with the other kids. The boys seemed to be scared of him, and the girls seemed to be in love with him. Each Sunday as promised your uncle would call to check in, consistently avoiding the topic of when he would be coming back. It was alright though. You had become so busy with your school work and hanging out with the boys that you didn’t mind it so much. Bobby’s house was slowly becoming your home.

“So to find the slope, you take the difference from the two Y points and divide by the two corresponding X points,” you stated to Dean as the two of you sat at the kitchen table.

“Why do I even care?” He grumbled.

“Well, slopes give you an idea of the rate of acceleration. Like in a car,” you stated. “Say you know that if you start at the end of the driveway and move to the other end in 60 seconds, you can determine how fast you were going.”

“Or I could just look at the speedometer,” he grinned.

“Smartass,” you laughed as you shoved his arm. “Okay, so you see a Rugalu, and they move from point A to point B in so many seconds. How fast do you have to move your ass to get the hell out of there?”

“Who says I wouldn’t stay to fight?”

You rolled your eyes to him again. Clearly at this point he was just being a smartass.

“Fine, you don’t run away. So how much faster do you have to be to gank him then Winchester?” You asked with a cocky smile.

“Just got to be faster,” he replied. “Who cares how fast?”

“Well, let me give you a little insight into physics and biology. You expel more than enough energy for a task, you deplete your energy storage. Making it easy for the other Rugulu to take you down.”

“Okay, point taken,” he laughed. “Math is important. So how did you become so smart in this shit anyways?”

“My dad was a science professor,” you shrugged, before realizing that you had mentioned him for probably the first time ever to Dean besides the fact that he was dead.

“And your mom?” Dean prodded a little further.

“History professor,” you replied while taking in a deep breath. “Guess it just rubbed off on me. Anyways, do you get it now?”

“Oh, I got it about a minute after you decided to try and help me,” he smiled. “I just wanted to see how far I could get you frustrated before you gave up.”

You smacked him lightly on his arm as he laughed in response.

“You’re a dick,” you laughed. “Why did you want to see me get frustrated?”

“Because I think it’s awesome that even when you don’t know how to help someone, it gets to you so much that you don’t quit,” he smiled. “That and when you realize that you did in fact help someone, your eyes kind of light up a little. You’re a good person Y/N.”

The way that Dean was looking at you as he spoke was so genuine; no one besides family had ever done that before. It made you feel something at that moment. What it was, you weren’t sure. You bit your lip nervously as he leaned over, pulling his text book back over to him.

“So question 4, find the y-intercept,” he read from the pages.

“You helping Dean with homework there Y/N?” Bobby stated as he entered the room with Sam, both carrying bags of groceries that could probably feed a small army. Or in this case, the Winchester boys for a weekend.

“Just making sure he gets it,” you smiled back while standing up to help them put the groceries away.

Peering into the bags, there was an item that you had told Bobby in secret that you needed that you didn’t see. He had either forgotten, or was too embarrassed to pick it up.

“Um, Bobby,” you muttered. “Ya forgot something.”

He looked at you with furrowed brows until it dawned on him. He mumbled ‘crap’ under his breath before exhaling loudly.

“I suppose you need ‘em soon,” he sighed, you nodding in response. He looked over at Dean finishing the last question of his homework and closing the book. “Dean, take Y/N and my car to the little corner store. Be back in twenty for dinner.”

Dean squinted his eyes in confusion as he grabbed the keys from Bobby. You rolling your own eyes that now Dean was going to be very well aware of the gross part about being a girl: your period.

You trailed behind Dean after Bobby handed you some cash, muttering an apology as you walked away. In less than 3 minutes, with Dean obviously ignoring anything that resembled a speed limit sign you were at the store.

“So what did you need? Make-up, hair stuff?,” he inquired as he followed you in, making you give him a funny look. “Didn’t know if all of the sudden you were trying to look like those other girls in the school.”

“I’d rather live forever in my comfy jeans and t-shirts then to ever be like them,” you snarked back, as you approached the feminine section.

Dean’s eyes followed where yours went, staring at the boxes of tampons with little flowers printed on them. It was not something he knew a lot about, but he knew enough. He reached over and grabbed a box, staring at the packaging.

“I don’t know why they try to make it all fancy,” he pondered out loud. “I mean, a girl can bleed for a few days and still kick your ass. They should have something more fierce on the box. Like a warrior princess.”

You shook your head with a laugh, catching on that Dean was trying to make this would be awkward situation into a joke.

“My dad used to say that they used these for bullet holes,” he stated while grabbing two more boxes. “We should probably stock up knowing our luck. Who knows, maybe I’ll need some.”

Your laughter died down as you followed Dean to the register when you saw a group of guys looking and nodding over to the two of you with smirks.

“Looks like Winchester isn’t getting laid this week,” the one stated out loud. “Unless he’s into walking the red carpet.”

Johsua Adams. A notorious prick that thought he was God’s gift to women. First day at school and he had already tried, and failed, to have you,the new girl cozy, up behind the bleachers with him. Dean just sat the products down on the counter, clenching his jaw as he turned to him with a grin.

“No, that’s what your girlfriend is for.”

Josh’s smile faded quickly, his face hardened now approaching Dean rapidly with you standing next to him. You felt Dean’s arm push you back by your waist, surprising you for a second until you saw what happened next. Josh yelled a ‘fuck you’ as he swung his fist towards Dean’s face, Dean almost effortlessly caught him by the wrist and twisted his arm behind his back.

“Now you’re going apologize for your remarks and you're going to go back to your little circle jerk,” he seethed, holding him steady as he tried to break free.

Josh’s friends all moved from their spot, clearly pissed off that their friend was being hurt. Dean shook his head stating ‘uh huh’ as he twisted Josh's arm more to make him yell out.

“Now I’m going to let you go,” Dean instructed the Josh in his ear, loud enough for everyone to hear. “And you all are going to leave me and my friend alone, or next time I won’t be so nice.”

Josh nodded his head, giving Dean the queue that he was going to comply. His friends all stared the two of you down hard with anger as they walked out of the store. You had almost forgotten the fact that you were in a store until you heard the onlooking cashier behind you.

“Your boyfriend there is a good guy,” she stated. “Those boys are nothing but trouble. It was about time someone showed them their place.”

You didn’t argue what she had called him: your boyfriend. Definitely not. Probably not ever. But she was right, he was a good guy. You handed her the money as you lead the way out the door to Bobby’s car. The two of you opening the doors and setting yourself in.

“Where did you learn how to do that?” You asked with enthusiasm, the whole act was something you had only seen in the movies.

“My dad,” Dean replied. “And Bobby a little. Why?”

“Teach me,” you said as your turned your body to him with intrigue in your eyes.

“What?” Dean exhaled audibly. “Why?”

“You really have to ask?,” you sounding surprised. “Come on Dean! There are tons of assholes out there like that, plus knowing how to take care of myself would definitely help with, you know...those other things that we aren’t supposed to talk about.”

“There is no way in hell I’m teaching you any of that,” he looked at you directly with seriousness on his face. “You haven’t had to know what it’s like to fight for your life; you’re lucky and blessed. And I will be dammed if I ever let you get mixed up in that shit.”

“It’s not like I’m not already mixed up in it Dean! Something supernatural killed my parents. Hell, I’m being raised by hunters! Do you really think I will ever just get on with my life and not have that following me?”

Dean growled lowly, as he shook his head.

“Fine,” he stated as he turned the key in the ignition to bring the engine to life. “But this is between us. If Bobby knew, he’d kill me.”

“I promise.”

“And leave Sam out of it too. That kid is going to be a doctor or lawyer someday.”

“No problem,” you agreed. “Thanks Dean, for you know, what happened in there.”

“ Anytime,” he said as he pulled out of the spot and drove down the road. “He had it coming to him anyway.”

“And I know why you’re scared to teach me how to fight Dean.”

He glanced over at you with confusion, making you smirk in return.

“Because you know I’ll be able to kick your ass,” you replied with snark.

“Oh darlin,” he shook his head with a laugh. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

The next week, Dean and you had figured out a routine on when he was able to teach you. Most of the time it was right after dinner when Sam would be caught up in a book and Bobby would pass out drunk at his desk.

The garage light was enough for you to see what you were doing, and far enough away from the house so they couldn’t hear you.

“Okay, so again,” Dean stated, making you follow his directions in the sequence as he rattled them off. “Left punch, right punch, left uppercut, and a right hook.”

You did as you were told, until he stated to go faster, and then faster again. Dean shook his head in disapproval as he watched.

“You’re locking your arms too much,” he said as he gripped your right elbow. “You’re going to break something of yours, not theirs.”

His hands moved to reposition your arm, tickling a little as he touched your skin; making you flinch back with a giggle.

“Ticklish huh?” Dean smirked as his eyes grew wide.

“You wouldn’t dare,” you laughed, as you noticed the devilish look in his eyes.

He reached over as you tried to move out of the way, and furiously tickled you all over in an instant. Your laughter echoed through the room as you tried to get away, but he was not stopping.

“Stop Dean! Stop,” you gasped out in between your laughter, tears now rolling down you eyes. “I’m going to piss myself!”

He continued with his own laughter as you twisted yourself and started to fumble backwards; grabbing onto his arms to bring him down as well as your back hit the ground.

“Ow,” you laughed again, Dean propping himself up on his hands next to your sides, staring down with a grin. “See what you did?”

“Rule number one,” he smiled. “Know your opponents weak spots.”

“Uh huh, and where’s yours?” You smirked as you started to tickle his rib cage.

Dean moved swiftly and pinned your hands down on the ground with a smirk. Your breath caught in the moment, with your chest rising and falling deeply to catch it. He stared down at you as you looked up to him. The feeling that arose was different, and by the looks on his face he was feeling it as well. He paused himself for a moment, before leaning down and pressing his lips onto yours gently. An act that surprised you at first, but it felt right. Your first kiss. Your first real kiss was happening with Dean on a dirty garage floor, but you didn’t care. You found yourself returning it, moving your lips along with his, opening them just a little as you felt his tongue glide across them. You didn’t really know what to do. It’s not like this was really covered in health class, but you glided your tongue with his, moving them together in sync. It felt smooth, sending a warm feeling down your body as you felt his hand now touching your face, bringing you closer and deeper into his.

“Whoa,” you heard Sam gasp aloud, causing you to both break away and look over at him in panic.

“What the hell Sam!” Dean yelled.

“So that’s what you two are doing,” Sam smiled. “You two are making out every night!”

“Get out of here Sam before I kick your ass!” Dean yelled again.

“Whatever,” Sam rolled his eyes. “Just don’t let Bobby, dad, or her uncle catch you. They just called.” They’re coming back.”

“He’s coming back?” You sat yourself up, knocking Dean back a little in your action. “When?”

“They said they’d be here after school tomorrow,” Sam answered. “So that probably means we will be moving on too.”

Dean sighed out loud and nodded as he stood up, shaking the dirt off of him before extending his hand to you to help you up. As you got up you felt the mixed feelings of dread and excitement. You were going to see your uncle again, but at the same time you were now probably going to lose Dean. You stared down to the ground as you followed the boys back into the house. Dean instructing Sam to keep his mouth shut about what he had seen. You went upstairs to your room, trying to ignore Dean’s glances as you shut the door and flopped down on the bed. The feeling of his lips still lingered on yours as you gentled touched them with your fingers. What was going to happen next?

You awoke from your deep sleep as you heard the sound of your door opening. Glancing at the clock it was just a little after midnight. You sat up and turned to see Dean walking in with a solemn look on his face.

“Hey, didn’t mean to wake you,” he apologized.

“Yes you did,” you smiled in the dark room, the only light peaking through the curtains from the moon outside.

“I just thought, since tomorrow we might be parting ways, maybe we should talk about what happened?” He nervously replied.

You nodded as he sat down on the edge of your bed, you sitting up straighter and pulling the covers up to your chest. You could see the hesitation in his face, unsure of what exactly to say. The silence was lingering, only growing with anticipation of what he was about to say fiercely within you.

“I’m sorry Y/N,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

You were confused for a moment, but you laid your hand on top of his in reassurance.

“Hey, it’s alright,” you replied softly. “It was nice. Unexpected of course, but I don’t regret it.”

“I’ve just, I don’t know,” he paused again. “I just was trying to keep you away from knowing how I felt about you.”

“How do you feel about me?”

“I like you Y/N,” he confessed as he looked at you. “I mean, it's hard not to. You’re someone who genuinely cares about people, and I didn’t want you to get hurt when I had to leave again.”

“What makes you so sure that you will have to leave?” you asked. “I mean, maybe they’ll let us stay here for a little longer.”

“Doubt it,” he sighed. “You don’t know my dad. He won’t care. The only thing that matters to him is taking care of Sam and finding what killed my mom.”

“But what about you Dean? I’m sure he cares about you.”

Dean shook his head, you catching the sight of a lingering tear fall down his face.

“I was happy once before, not too long ago. I had a semi normal life away from them with someone I cared about, but he didn’t care and I couldn’t leave Sammy.”

“Dean,” you found yourself reaching for his face to look at you. You searched in his face to find whatever guilt he was holding back. “Tell me what happened.”

He sighed again as you dropped your hand down. His eyes searching for an easy way to tell you, possibly scared at your reaction.

“You know how Sam told you I had screwed up on a hunt? Well that isn’t true. I got myself in trouble and found myself at a boy’s reforming home. I got to go to school, do normal teenage things, and I had met someone there that I think I might have loved.”

You just found yourself nodding, although the last part hurt just a little, but you could tell it was still something he was still hurting from.

“Anyways, my dad showed up after months even though he knew where I was the whole time and made me come back. He was angry and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then of course I thought of Sam. I’ve been protecting that kid my whole life. I couldn’t walk away from him.”

“I understand,” you whispered. “But Dean, you do know that you can be happy again. No one knows what tomorrow will bring.”

“How is it that you always know the right thing to say?” he chuckled softly.

“Because I’m awesome,” you smirked back with a soft laugh.

“Yeah, well I’m going to get back to my room before Sammy realizes that I’ve left,” he said as he started to get up, but you grabbed his hand to stop him.

“If this is really possibly the last night I get to see you, I don’t want you to go,” you confessed as you let your grip fall. “I don’t know exactly whatever it was that I felt earlier, but I don’t want to give it up yet.”

Dean looked deeply into your eyes as he moved to crawl under the covers with your assistance of pushing them back to allow him access. He laid his head down on the pillow next to you, gazing at you, moving the hair out of your face as you mirrored him. You nuzzled your face into his hand as he cupped your cheek. He was hesitant, but you moved your face closer to his. Biting your lip a little before you leaned in and felt his soft, full lips on yours once again. He followed your lead and before you knew it, you felt the same warmth as you did before now hitting harder as your lips moved together by the light of the moon. It was a feeling you never wanted to let go of as you pushed your lips on his harder. His hands now resting on you, one holding your head steady, the other caressing your hip. It tickled a little, the way his hand touched your skin, making you moan just a little, wanting more. His lips moved from yours, trailing along your skin and down to your neck as his hand moved from your hip to your heaving chest. Through your clothes you could feel him grasping your breast gently, not wanting to be rough. You didn’t know exactly what had pushed you in the moment, but you pulled away from him and lifted off your shirt to leave your chest expose to him. You wanted to feel his skin against yours as he watched you with wonderment in his eyes before crashing his lips against yours once more. His hands were now all over you, feeling every inch of you as you continued. His lips moving to discover new spots on your body and the pleasure-filled reactions they ensued from you. It could have been only minutes that it continued, but it felt like forever until the kisses and touches started to slow down. Dean looked into your eyes, as he pulled away with a deep breath.

“I think I love you Y/N,” he confessed. “And I don’t want us to do anything that neither of us are ready for just because we may never see each other again.”

“I think I might love you too Dean,” you smiled back. “And I agree with the one part, but I know this; we will see each other again. When we’re both ready, perhaps a bit older, things will be different.”

“You always know just the right thing to say,” he smiled again as he pulled you into his arms to lay your head on his chest.

“Goodnight Dean,” you yawned as you nuzzled into him.

Dean placed a kiss on top of your head, not allowing himself to fall asleep right away. He wanted to hold on to this feeling just a little longer as well because tomorrow, he knew it was all going to change.

“Jesus fucking christ,” you heard Bobby yell out loud, snapping you awake in an instant.

Dean sprung himself up from the bed, leaving you to cover yourself up with the blanket. A look of fear and panic in his eyes.

“What the hell is going on here?” Bobby demanded.

Dean held out his hand to try and calm him down, but it was not working.

“Bobby, it isn’t what it looks like,” Dean pleaded. “We didn’t do anything. We were just talking and I fell asleep.”

“Her shirt was off, and you just fell asleep?” Bobby looked at Dean with disappointment. “Do I look like an idjit to you? Now the two of you get dressed, in your own rooms. You have school and then your dad and your uncle will be here after.”

“You’re not going to tell them are you?” you asked in a panic.

Bobby glared at the fear in Dean’s and your eyes as you awaited his answer.

“I’m supposed to be watching the two of you, and Dean you know better,” he glared at him hard. “I for sure ain’t saying shit to them. But you listen to me, this stops now or so help me I will kick both of your asses into next Tuesday.”

“Yes sir,” you both nodded in reply, feeling a little sense of relief.

“Now get dressed,” Bobby stated as he walked out the door.

You took in a deep breath and exhaled out as you turned to Dean who was almost out the door.

“Dean?”

“You heard him, get dressed,” Dean said gruffly before walking out, shutting the door behind him.

Dean hadn’t said anything else to you as you silently ate your breakfast and on your way to school. He was completely ignoring you now, even when you tried to speak, he chose to go the other way or say something to someone else. How he was acting was hurt, but you tried to just let it go, knowing he probably was just protecting himself and you from what awaited when you walked through the door after school.

You saw your uncle and John sitting there waiting with Bobby. None of their faces really looked happy.

“Dad-“ you heard Sam say as he walked in behind you.

“Time to pack your bags boys,” he instructed. “We’re moving on.”

“Yes sir,” you heard Dean state as he started for the stairs.

“Where are you going?” You asked out loud, making them all look at you in disbelief that you would even question what was happening.

“Say goodbye to Sam and Dean, Y/N,” Danny stated as he stood up and gave you a small hug. “It’ll be awhile before you see them again.”

“This is bullshit,” you exclaimed. “Why do any of them, any of us have to go anywhere? What to live in the back of a car or a crappy motel, not knowing if any of you will ever come back?”

“Danny, settle down that girl there,” John advised.

“No, fuck you, ya prick,” you spat out, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. “They’re happy here, we all are. Bobby may not be our family, but he’s been here. He is at least trying to give us a normal life. Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

You felt guilty after hearing your words leave your mouth, as you looked up to your uncle. He had tried to be there, he just couldn’t. You now realized why he had brought you here in the first place. He knew he couldn’t do everything you needed. He was really trying to give you the life you deserved.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” you cried to your uncle before you ran out the door.

You plopped yourself down on the ground, tears flowing down your face. You heard the sound of gravel moving under someone’s steps, but you didn’t flinch.

“That was some speech you gave in there,” John’s rough voice stated as he sat himself down next to you. “I can see you’ve really become attached to my boys and this place.”

You just nodded your head, feeling anger and resentment towards the man next to you.

“Me too,” he confessed. “That’s why they’re coming with me.”

You looked at him baffled, not understanding why he was even talking to you after what you just said.

“Your uncle is a strong man. One of the best guys I’ve ever known. He is doing right by you in letting you stay. I’m not as strong,” he sighed. “I need them around. I look at them and on my weakest days I can see my Mary in their faces. It’s what keeps me going as I try to figure out what happened to her.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I feel like everything has been sugar coated for you for probably way too long,” he replied. “What happened to her, what happened to your parents, well someone has to stop it.”

“My parents…”

“We’re not sure if it’s the same thing, but we sure as hell won’t stop until we find it and kill it,” he answered back. “I know it’s a tough life for all of you kids, but you’re getting older now. You should know. Dean, he has been in this for so long, he knows what is expected. Sam, well although I’d like to keep him out of it, this has been his whole life. This is just what happens. You say your goodbyes and move on.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“You will,” he smiled.

You both heard the door of the house swing open and shut, Dean walking out with a green duffel bag with Sam behind him. He paused as he looked at you both, unsure of what was happening. John looked over at you and Dean staring at each other, as Dean put his head down and helped Sam into the car.

“They’ll be alright Y/N,” John stated, making you turn your head to him. “And so will you.”

He got up from his spot and brushed the dirt off of him as he walked towards his sleek black car.

“You boys all set?” He asked.

Dean nodded as he stood there with the car door open, looking at you with sadness in his eyes. John turned to see you doing the same as he opened up the drivers door.

“Let’s get a move on it,” he said as he sat himself inside.

Dean looked down again, before looking back to you. You mouthed the word ‘goodbye’ as he nodded and got inside the car. The trail of dust they had left behind took minutes to disappear, but as it went down slowly and was gone, you knew they were now as well.

John’s words with everything that had happened replayed in your head. ‘You will’ he said, and at that moment, you hadn’t realized or known just how true that really was.

Tags: (Let me know if you don’t want added!) @snffbeebee @waywardnerd67 @waywardbaby @dean-winchesters-bacon @jaylarkson @ladywinchester1967 @wildefire @i-hear-crazy-calling-my-name @hobby27 @iamabeautifulperson18 @19agbrown @sonotalice @drakelover78 @aloneanddesperate @pisces-cutie @biawol @jamielea81 @fallininjapan @justkending

#supernatural #supernatural series #supernatural fanfiction #Supernatural fanfic #ten years gone #ezilyamuzed #dean winchester #john winchester #bobby singer #dean x reader

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the-girl-in-the-band-tshirt · 6 years

Text

You’re Killing Me, Swan - Chapter 1

You’re Killing Me, Swan

Rating: G

It’s reveal day! Woo! So, yes, the Sandlot AU fic is mine. I hope you all love it because I really enjoyed writing it!

The @fallforcs project is a marvelous idea, and it is wonderfully run. If it’s around next year, I’m in. It was an absolute delight to work with everyone. @theonceoverthinker was my beta, and the universe must have intervened to match us up. She’s one of my greatest friends irl, and her vastly different takes on my story improved things. I wouldn’t have a piece to be proud of if not for her. I owe her more thank yous than I can get out.

@sailingcaptainswan: Do you know how excited I was when I saw your name on my artwork?! Seeing that I got lucky enough to get another piece done by you made me ridiculously happy. You continue to be one of my favorite people ever, and I'm glad to hear you liked this even though baseball isn’t really your thing. Your artwork is just too cute! I smile every time I see it. It’s so well done. Thank you so much!!!

And now, Chapter 1 of “You’re Killing Me, Swan.”

Also on Ao3

There is one all-time greatest moment in the history of sports, and it happened in the 1932 World Series. The story goes that in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, a full count and the tying run on base, Babe Ruth raised his arm and pointed to the center field bleachers. No one believed it, because nobody had ever done it before. But The Babe was calling his shot. On the next pitch, the Great Bambino hit a towering home run. And even though he'd been a hero before that, that's pretty much how he became a legend. Sixty years later, a kid named Killian Jones was a neighborhood legend. We met in the greatest summer of my life when he taught me to play baseball, and he became my best friend, and maybe a little more than that.

-----

Killian Jones was always going to do great things in the world of baseball. Emma knew this from the first moment she saw him. She had just moved in with a new foster family, the Swans, and was sitting on the porch of her new house with a book. Killian was 15, tossing a baseball in the air and catching it in his glove as he walked along the street. Emma was 13, but she was instantly drawn to him. He stopped in front of her house inexplicably, looked over at her, and smiled. She smiled back. He nodded and went back to walking, tossing the ball along the way. Emma watched him walk away, then went back to her book.

------

Emma had long, light blonde hair. She had green eyes with hazel flecks in places. She liked to wear oversized flannel shirts, T-shirts, and jean shorts. She was a pretty girl, but she never emphasized her beauty.

Killian was a tall and lanky teen. He didn't look like he had power, but he had the best swing of anyone. His eyes were always the brightest, clearest blue. He had a mop of chestnut brown hair atop his head. He always looked curious, like he wanted to learn more.

------

In all her foster homes -- out of all seven of them, no one had ever taught Emma how to play catch. And it didn’t bother her most of the time, just when she got put in homes in neighborhoods with lots of kids. They all played in clearings and backyards, and she would watch from the window in her room. She didn’t even know how to catch a ball, or throw one for that matter. At the rate she moved, no school would put her in a gym class because they figured she wouldn’t be around long enough to buy a uniform. And no gym uniform meant that she couldn’t participate in PE. Emma did feel lucky she never had to take gym class, as that would most likely involve a ball of some sort. But in general, to save herself the embarrassment, she had fun doing other things. She liked to read, and she was very artistic. Still, she longed to be able to run around with all the other kids her age, and to maybe even make a couple friends.

So far, moving in with the Swans was no different than any of the other homes. Emma would often sit on her porch steps with a book, which she used as a cover as she watched the neighborhood kids riding bikes and playing soccer in their yards. From her foster father’s office, she could see a clearing behind her house where some kids were in a perpetual game of kickball. Emma never felt comfortable asking to join. Even if she could kick the ball, she could never play in the field. They’d laugh and she’d never be invited to play ever again. So she would just watch.

-----

“Emma, honey.” Emma looked up from her book as her foster mother, Ingrid Swan, came into her bedroom. Emma bookmarked her page and sat up against her headboard.

“Hi,” Emma smiled at her new mother.

Ingrid hesitated before sighing and asking, “have you made any friends yet?”

Emma shrugged in response.

“I love that you love reading, and I love how creative you are,” she gestured to the pictures Emma painted taped on wall and the library books littering her desk, “but I think it would be good for you to make some friends with kids in the neighborhood. Maybe you can play outside with them every once in a while. A little sun is good for you.” Emma opened her mouth to respond, but Ingrid beat her to it, “and, yes, I know you read outside, but we both know that’s not what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know.” She thought for a moment. “I’ll try.” That’s what Ingrid would hope to hear, and Emma felt she needed her new mother to be happy. If Ingrid wasn’t happy with Emma, she could send her back, and that was the last thing Emma wanted.

“There’s more to this, isn’t there, hon?” Emma bit her lip and nodded. “Emma, you can tell me.”

“It’s just,” she hesitated. Ingrid looked so caring, and Emma really wanted this to work. So she took a deep breath and continued. “I don’t know how to catch a ball. Or throw one.” She muttered the words quietly, but Ingrid appears to have been able to hear her. “I never had anyone to teach me, so I never learned.”

Ingrid smiled. “Well, let’s fix that.”

“What?”

“Did you know your father used to want to be a baseball player?”

Emma smiled. “Really?”

“When he was little, he would draw his own baseball cards. Arthur Swan, pitcher. I bet he’d love to teach you.”

Emma was excited by the thought. She was actually going to learn how to play ball like the other kids. “Yeah, okay. That sounds great.”

-----

“Alright, Emma, I’m going to throw this baseball to you. You’re going to catch it in your glove.” Emma nodded. Arthur nodded back and threw the ball underhand, right for her glove. She recoiled away from it.

“Sorry!” She grabbed it, worried he’d give up on her.

“It’s alright, kid. You don’t need to be afraid of the ball. It doesn’t hurt to catch.” She nodded. “Okay. Now throw it back to me.” She looked at the ball, then at her foster father, then back at the ball. “Just bring your arm back, then guide it forward and let go.”

Emma brought her arm back, but she let go too soon and the ball went behind her. She let out another “sorry” and went to grab the ball. This time, she ran it back to Arthur.

“Let’s work on catching first then," Arthur started, a determined grin on his face as he held the ball in front of his right eye. "Keep your eye on the ball, and don’t back away. Got it? They key to this game is keeping your eye on the ball. No matter whether you're in the field or at bat, eye on the ball, okay?”

He looked to Emma to see if she understood, and Emma nodded sheepishly even though she had just about zero confidence in her ability to catch a baseball.

Staring across the yard at her foster dad, only one thought circled through her mind: How was she going to catch anything?

"Trust me, Emma," Arthur said, seemingly sensing her apprehension. "I used to be so good that my friends called me The King. Thought I was gonna be the next Bambino." Emma stared blankly, clearly not getting the reference. Arthur waved his hand dismissively. "That's a lesson for another day. Anyway, what you've gotta know is where the ball goes, your glove should go." He paused before asking, "got it?”

“Yeah, okay."

Arthur nodded at her, confident that he could help his new daughter catch a ball.

“Okay, alright,” he said before giving a final nod to Emma to let her know he was about to throw it. When she held her glove up in front of her, he sent the ball her way.

Apparently, Emma took his advice quite literally because in one moment, she saw Arthur toss the ball, and in the next, there was pain in her eye as her glove went into it.

“Ow!" she cried. "Oh, my eye! Ow! Ow!”

Out of her good eye, Emma watched Arthur drop his own glove and run over to her, calling for Ingrid as he did so. Ingrid ran out to find them both struggling to get Emma’s eye open so they could assess the damage.

However, despite the pain and temporary blurred vision in one of her eyes, Emma was able to see a silver lining.

“I kept my eye on the ball!” She laughed as Arthur pried her glove off her hand.

“You also caught the ball!" He held up her glove, newly pulled off her hand, the ball snugly inside.

Ingrid was not waiting around for Emma and Arthur to finish their bonding conversation when Emma was injured. “Emma, let’s go inside and get some ice on that before it swells more.” She followed Ingrid inside, Arthur trailing not far behind. Ingrid grabbed an ice pack from the freezer, wrapped it in a towel, and placed it over Emma’s eye.

“It’s going to bruise. I’m sorry, Em.”

“Arthur, how did this even happen?” Ingrid crossed her arms as Emma took over pressing the ice pack into her own face.

“I - uh,” Arthur stuttered, seemingly confused himself as to how such an event managed to occur. He looked at Emma, standing between her foster parents with an ice pack covering half her face. “It'll still be black, but it won't swell. Sorry.” He looked nervous, like Emma would up and run away because of an accidental black eye.

“It’s okay. I caught the ball.” And when all three Swans started to laugh, Emma finally felt like she might actually be a part of a forever family.

-----

Walking home from the library one day, black eye still present, Emma stopped by the field in which the neighborhood kids were playing baseball. She watched them day after day as she passed the field, but this is the first time she stopped. They played every day, the game seemingly never-ending. Every day, they picked up where they left off. They didn’t keep score. They played because they loved it.

Tightening her grip on her book to bring her back to reality, she became aware of voices yelling in her direction.

“Hey!”

“Can you get the ball?”

“Throw it back!”

Emma looked around quickly trying to find their ball. She spotted it a few feet to her left. She ran to grab it, then froze.

“Hey, just throw the ball!”

“What’s taking you so long?” “Throw it back!”

She didn’t know how to throw properly, but she was overwhelmed by screaming boys. Against her better judgment, she pulled her arm back and threw the ball. Only, it didn’t go more than three feet. The screams that had just overwhelmed her quickly turned to laughter, and she scanned the faces of the eight boys a few times before muttering a “sorry” and running the rest of the way home. She was upset her unfortunate eye on the ball situation halted her lesson. She needed to learn to play, and she needed to get redemption.

-----

Emma sat on her front porch reading her latest recommendation from the librarian. She was getting lost in the novel, her senses to her actual, physical setting seeming to dull as she digested the words on the page. It would take her two days maximum to finish this one.

Emma was snapped back to reality when her peripheral vision picked up on a figure sitting next to her. She bookmarked her page and and turned toward the intruder so she could get rid of whoever it was. She quickly lost sight of that goal when she saw Killian Jones -- that kid with the baseball and the team -- smiling at her. He was something of a neighborhood legend, whispers about him fluttering through the kids at neighborhood parties she attended with Ingrid and at the community pool when she went to cool off. And being a part of a neighborhood, it was easy to catch gossip as she read or drew quietly outside. She was a near-expert eavesdropper.

“The Outsiders?”

“What?”

“Your book.” He pointed to her lap. “The Outsiders. We read it in school last year.”

She let out a quiet, “oh.”

“It’s a fantastic read. Are you enjoying it?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s pretty good. I’m not really that far yet.” She held up the book so he could see the ratio of read pages to unread. She hoped he’d understand that she wanted to read uninterrupted.

He didn’t take the hint. “Would you like to play baseball with me? I’ve got a whole team -- well, almost. I was kind of hoping you’d be our ninth player.”

“I - I can’t play baseball. You saw me.”

He didn’t let her finish her thought. “Sure you can.”

“I really can’t.”

“It’s instinctual.”

“I don’t have those instincts.” Emma could already tell this wasn’t going to be an easy victory. They were clearly both stubborn.

“Could you just show up? Take up space? There’s a gaping hole where a player should be.”

“And if the ball comes to me?”

“You’ll know what to do in the moment.”

“I really won’t.”

He stared at the lawn for a few seconds, seemingly considering his next move.

“I’m Killian Jones, by the way.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Oh, so you’ve heard of me?” He quirked his eyebrows in such a way Emma couldn’t help but smile.

“Emma.” She held out her right hand. He took it in his own.

“You’re the new Swan kid.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He let go of her hand and smirked. “Welcome to the neighborhood, Swan. I’ll be by tomorrow, and we’ll walk to the sandlot together.” He stood up and started walking away. Emma’s jaw was nearly on the ground.

Pulling herself together, she yelled after him, “I didn’t say I’d join your team.”

He stopped walking but didn’t turn around. “Something tells me you will. I promise you’ll have fun.” He turned around, smile already planted on his face. “Dress comfortably.” He took off his baseball cap and threw it to her. It landed on the ground at her feet. “And wear that.” He turned back around confidently and began walking away.

In that moment, staring at Killian Jones’ back disappear, she knew he had won.

-------

“Alright, guys. This is Emma Swan. She's our ninth man. Now we have a full team.”

“Why did you bring her, Jones?”

“Yeah, she can't play.”

“She ain’t game.”

“Come on, Jones. We were fine before.”

“Look, I want a full team. Now we have it.” Killian glanced between Emma and the boys.

“We had a full team before Booth moved away.”

“Yeah, and we never filled in Booth’s spot. Why now?”

“With her, I get to rotate eight positions instead of seven. I need the practice, guys.”

“You're the best on the team. You don't need any practice.” All the boys groaned but the one that said this. He stood with his arms crossed, seemingly studying Killian. His gaze barely lingered on Emma. That was different from the other boys, all of who are shooting daggers her way.

“No, you don't.”

“You're the best, man.”

“Come on, Jones, man. The girl is…”

“...A weenie!”

“Yeah. Oscar Mayer even. Foot-long!”

“What are you laughing at, Scarlet? You run like a duck.” That shut the boy - Scarlet - up real fast.

“Look, man, you saw the way she throws. She can’t play.”

“It's not like you were all great players when you started. So give her a chance. She's got it. I'm telling you.”

The kid -- Scarlet -- spoke up again. “Guys, don’t you see Jones only brought her here because he wants her to be his girlfriend?” Emma felt her cheeks warm immediately. She felt her hand sweating in the glove Killian gave her before they arrived at the field, on the correct hand after Killian had corrected her when she initially put it on the wrong hand. There were snickers across the group until Killian flashed them all a glare that not one of the other kids dared to challenge.

There was silence among the boys as they continued looking Emma over. Killian took Emma’s elbow and pulled her closer to the rest of the group.

“Swan, this is Liam, my older brother. He’s 18, but he hangs out with us while he works part-time so he can get a car.” The tall, curly haired boy -- man -- was the one watching Killian instead of her earlier. He failed to hold back a knowing smile as he looked between Emma and Killian. Emma crushed an ant in the dirt under her shoe.

Killian, either oblivious to the situation or just trying to ignore it, continued the introductions. “This is Eric. We call him Squints because he's blind without his glasses. This is Will Scarlet, David Nolan, Robin Locksley. This is Grumpy and Sneezy; they're twins. Grumpy’s got an attitude and Sneezy has year-round allergies.”

There were a few muffled “hey”s and some barely intelligible “hi”s. There was a rogue sneeze. Emma bent her elbow slightly in attempt to wave. She croaked out a soft, “hi,” as she avoided eye contact with any of the boys. She tucked some hair behind her ear and looked at Killian as the silence got unbearable.

“Alright, guys.” Killian looked them over for a second, eyes landing on Emma, “team,” he corrected. “Let's play ball!”

The boys all screamed as they took their positions.

“Swan, left field!” Emma nodded and made her way over to where she approximated left field might be. From the laughs that followed, she figured she was wrong. “More to your left, Swan.” She did what she was told, looking at Killian for a cue that she was in the right place. When he smiled and nodded, she stopped and let out a deep breath.

She shuffled her feet as Killian tossed the ball in his hand for a few moments before stepping up to the plate.

“Swan, catch this and throw it to second!” Robin waved her glove at her from second base.

“Jones, why?” Will groaned.

“She's not going to catch it, Jones!” Squints punctuated the accusation with a stomp of his foot.

“She's a square, Jones. The girl's a square!” That was clearly Sneezy, as he sneezed between sentences.

“Hey,” everyone turned to look at Liam when he spoke. “Killian brought her here for a reason. I'm sure she'll be great.” He sent Emma an encouraging smile over his shoulder, and she smiled back in appreciation.

Liam seemed to shut everyone up, and there were only inaudible grumbles as everyone took their places and turned their attention to home plate, where their captain waited to get the game started.

David pitched the ball, which Killian hit easily. It landed right next to where Emma stood in the field. If Emma could catch, it would've been easy. But Emma did not know how to catch, so she watched it fall to the ground.

“Swan, what the hell?” Will was the first to comment.

“I knew it.” Squints sighed.

“You didn't even try!” David chimed in.

“What was that, sister?” Grumpy crossed his arms.

“I told you, Jones!” Sneezy’s comment followed his brother’s.

Emma watched the group of boys switch their gazes between Killian and her.

“Alright, alright. Calm down, guys.” Killian jogged over to Emma in the field. “Hey, Swan, you okay?” He kept his voice down so only she could hear it.

“I- um, I don't know how to catch. I was learning. The glove went into my eye, and that's how I got my black eye.”

Killian nodded in understanding.

“Just hold your glove out, and I'll take care of getting the ball there.”

“Yeah, okay.” Emma dropped her gaze to her glove.

Killian turned to head back to the plate when he noticed Emma didn't exactly look confident.

He lifted her chin so their eyes met. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” Emma nodded.

“Just keep your glove out. I promise you'll catch it.”

“Okay. I'll do it.” She smiled at him, causing him to smile back. And then another realization hit her as Killian went to head back to home plate once again. “Killian, wait!”

He raised his eyebrows in question.

“I don't know how to throw either.” Killian watched her cheeks turn pink as she blushed in embarrassment.

Avoiding Killian's eyes, she noticed Liam watching his brother help her out with approval. She took her attention away from Liam and put it back on Killian.

“Hey, hey” he started softly and gently. “You think too much.”

“What?”

“You know how to throw.” Killian looked confident.

“I really don’t.” She pulled the bill on her hat down slightly.

“Sure you do. You just need a coach who knows what he’s doing.”

She looked at him skeptically.

Killian crossed his arms in amusement. “I bet you get straight A's and stuff, don't you?”

“I got a B once. Well, it was an A-, but it should've been a B.” She felt embarrassment wash over her. Why was her achievement in school suddenly a bad thing?

Killian sighed, but it wasn't condescending. “You're killing me, Swan.” He paused. “Alright. Well, this is baseball. You need to stop thinking and just,” he took his baseball cap off, ran his hand through his hair, then put the cap back on, “have fun.”

“I am having fun,” she retorted defensively.

“If you were having fun, you would've caught the ball.”

“There's got to be more to it than that.”

Killian thought for a moment before moving to stand behind her rather than across from her.

“Okay, Swan, don't jump. I'm going to take your hand for a minute.”

“Okay,” she croaked out, barely a whisper.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and raised it over her head until her hand was behind her head. She was too young to understand the reason she instantly broke out into goosebumps at his touch, but she would look back later and realize that she felt sparks at that moment.

“You just raise your arm like this,” he positioned her hand until it was at the highest point in an arc, “and when your hand gets to here, just let go.”

“Just let go,” she repeated.

“That's all there is to it.” He let her arm drop as he moved so he was facing her again. “You can do it. Just have fun, and just let go.” He smiled at her before heading back to his position. Emma looked at the glove on her hand as she extended her arm out.

“About time, Jones. My clothes are going out of style.”

“They already are, Squints. Shut up.”

David doubled over with laughter as Killian lined up his stance.

“Ready, Swan?” Killian yelled from home plate.

“Yeah!”

She watched Killian throw the ball into the air, then heard the crack of the bat as he hit it. Next thing she knew, the ball was in her glove. He was right. She just had to stop thinking so much.

She beamed with the realization that she can actually catch a ball when she heard Robin yelling her way.

“Over here, Swan!” His glove was over his head. She pulled her arm back, brought her arm forward and just let go. And Robin caught it just a couple feet before the base.

“I knew she could do it!” Liam gave her a thumbs up as the other boys cheered for her.

“Alright. She's alright.” Will smiled approvingly.

“Told you so, man.” Killian smirked.

“Alright, team,” David shouted, “let's play ball!”

------

Emma had just made it through her first game on the sandlot.

“Wait, Killian.” She jogged the couple feet to catch up to him when he stopped on his way jogging to his house.

“Aye?”

“Why did you bring me in the game? I’m not stupid. I know the rest of the guys didn’t want me there. And I know Scarlet was just pushing your buttons when he suggested,” Emma trailed off so as to not actually repeat Will’s idea that there might be something more to the new friendship.

Killian smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He let the thought linger for a moment before countering the idea. “I know what it’s like to be the new kid. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not from around here.” Emma laughed as he emphasized his very British accent.

“The thought may have crossed my mind.”

“Well, you were new..” There was more to that. They both knew it. “And besides, we needed a ninth man,” he paused, “or woman, I guess.”

“Thanks, Killian. I…” Emma stopped mid-sentence and decided to leave the emotions off the field. “It just means a lot.”

“Of course, Swan.”

-----

As the summer went on, Emma and Killian increasingly snuck away from the group to play catch by themselves. As much as they loved the full-team games, they realized more and more how nice it was to spend time just the two of them.

“So how did you get so good at this?” Emma threw the ball, and it landed directly in Killian's glove.

“At what?”

“You know,” Emma gestured between them, “this.” Killian laughed and raised his eyebrows for clarification. “How did you learn to play baseball?”

“Well, baseball didn't entirely catch on in the U.K.”

Emma held out her glove. He threw her the ball, which she caught. She still felt a surge of pride whenever she caught a baseball. Emma held out the hand holding the baseball in question, silently asking if Killian was ready for her throw. He motioned for her to keep it and walked to a tree in the clearing and sat, leaning against it. Emma followed.

“When I was young, around 4, my father started dating a woman, even though he was still married to my mum. But this woman, she was married and involved with a man with access to much of London's financial assets. And with money comes power.” Emma watched as Killian stared at the ground throughout his story. “When the man found out about the affair, he paid off some detectives and government officials. My father got into a lot of trouble for nothing really, since you can't really get arrested for cheating on your wife. Anyway, he fled to escape the charges.” Killian let his head rest against the tree, closed his eyes, and rubbed his forehead. After taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and looked at Emma. “He left one night and never came back. My mum was ill at the time. If she hadn't recovered, I don't know where I'd have ended up.”

“Hey,” Emma said gently, “you don't have to tell me.” She was no stranger to the sob story, what with parents who left her on the side of a highway when she was barely more than a year old. She didn’t like to dwell on her own past, so if Killian didn’t want to share, she’d absolutely respect that.

“No. It's - it's okay. My mum got better. Even though we were too young, Liam and I still got part-time jobs while she recovered. We knew a couple people in our apartment complex willing to hire us to help us out. When we saved enough, she moved us here.”

“To Storybrooke?”

“Aye,” he nodded. “It was unheard of. My father would never find us here. And it's a small town. My mum just wants Liam and me to be happy and have a real childhood. She still feels bad I was working at 7 years old.”

“So where does baseball come in?”

“Liam is only three years older than me, but I idolized him growing up. He was more of a father to me than my real dad ever was. Liam - he came home from school with a baseball, and he taught me to play. He learned at school, and I learned from him. We played, just the two of us, for months. Then I met Robin and David. I’ve always felt - I don’t know - different from everyone else. Liam and I would never be like other kids, even though our mum recovered. But when we hung out with Robin and David, I learned that baseball was universal. No matter our beginnings, all that mattered was what was on the field. I’m not a near-orphan who started working at 7. When I play baseball, I’m a baseball player, same as everyone else.” By the end of his story, his eyes had moved from Emma’s to the distance, and he stared at the horizon as he spoke. He only returned his gaze to Emma’s after he was done talking.

Emma smiled at him. “And look at you now.”

“Look at us now.” Killian smiled back at her and nodded toward the ball in her glove, “you appear to be a natural.” She laughed, and Killian looked at her meaningfully. “I don't mean to upset you, Swan, but you're part of the team.”

-----

Private games of catch became a regular thing for Emma and Killian. Every so often, they'd escape to play and talk while getting to know each other.

“Who's your favorite player?”

“What?” Emma threw the ball back to Killian. He caught it easily.

“Baseball -- who's your favorite player?”

“Um.” Emma held up a hand to signal him to wait to throw it. Killian raised his eyebrows.

“You don't have a favorite player?” he asked in disbelief.

“I - uh, I've never seen a real game.” Her voice was quiet with embarrassment.

“Really? Never seen a real game?! You're killing me, Swan! They're on TV all summer.”

“My last foster home didn't have a TV. And the group home I stayed at between families certainly couldn't afford a TV.” She stared at a strand of hair between her fingers.

She was expecting Killian to apologize for her past or to mention how bad he feels for her. To Emma's delight, he didn't linger on her history. “You have to come over and watch one!”

“What?” Emma laughed. She was so used to people treating her differently when they learned about the conditions in her group homes and foster families, but Killian was more concerned with getting her to see a game. It was refreshing.

“Come over! We'll watch whatever game is on now.” He held his hand out to her. She took it and he led them to his house. When they got inside, Liam was already on the couch watching baseball.

“Hey, Emma. Hey, little brother.”

“Hi, Liam,” Emma smiled at him as she sat on the couch at Killian's signal.

“Younger brother,” Killian muttered under his breath as he sat right next to Emma.

“What game is on?”

“Red Sox-Yankees.”

“Ooh,” Killian leaned forward, closer to the TV. “Swan, this is a great game to start with.”

Liam looked their way. “First baseball game?” he asked. Emma nodded. “Killian's right. This is a great start. This is one of the biggest rivalries in baseball.”

“Check these guys out, Swan! I want to be just like them when I get older.”

“You will,” Emma said. You're the best player on the team. Like, you're way better than the rest of us.” Killian's cheeks were tinged pink and the tips of his ears burned red as a result of her compliment. She found she liked having that effect on him. Emma tried to keep her eyes trained on the game, but she couldn't quite help it as her gaze repeatedly landed on Killian.

“Hey, Killy,” Liam started. Killian grumbled at the nickname. “What do you say we take Emma to a game this summer?”

Both Killian’s and Emma's eyes lit up.

“That'd be awesome, Liam! She'd love it!”

“You guys don't have to do that.” Emma didn't want them taking her because they felt bad for her.

“We want to, Emma,” Liam assured “You're one of us.”

“Would you come, Swan?” Killian looked at her with such hope in his blue eyes.

Emma shrugged. “Yeah, okay. That would be amazing.”

Liam told her, “I'll talk to your parents later to work out a good day to go.”

“Thanks, guys. I'm really, really excited!”

“It'll be a pleasure to have you with us, Emma.”

“You'll love baseball even more going to an actual, major league game.” It was clear Killian had such a deep love for the game. Emma was fascinated by his infatuation with baseball. She was delighted to see him so excitable and passionate. “Swan?”

She snapped out of her thoughts. “Yeah?” Emma stared at her lap. That clearly wasn’t the first time he tried to get her attention.

“Do you still want to watch the game?” She had totally been watching him watch the game rather than the television screen itself.

“Yeah, totally.”

Killian seemed satisfied with that, pointing to the screen at different moments, explaining to her who the players were and giving their stats. And in the corner of her eye, Emma noticed Liam watching the two of them interact. He always had this look on his face like he knew something no one else did. Emma shook it off and turned back to the screen, paying attention so she'd understand all Killian's explanations. Once she really got into it, she found herself really engrossed in the game. She was able to understand some of the terms for the plays, and she even started calling them toward the last couple innings. Killian looked immensely proud, which made her even happier with herself. In the end, Emma loved watching the game, and was really looking forward to getting to go to a real, live game with the brothers Jones.

-----

Killian was always down for a game of baseball.

He would've played ball all day, all night, rain, shine, tidal wave - whatever. However, the other kids were not so willing to play when the temperature and humidity partnered to make it feel well over 100 degrees. But of all the things the group ever did besides baseball, going to the pool was what he tolerated best.

On the days it was too hot for the rest of them, there was nothing the group loved more than spending the day at the Storybrooke community pool. And Killian was happy to join his friends there if he absolutely had to leave the sandlot.

It was Emma's first time at the pool with her new friends, and they were all having the greatest time swimming around, splashing each other, and trying to outdo each other's wacky jumps. Well, all the kids were in the pool but Eric.

“What's Eric's deal?” Emma swam over to the wall Killian was leaning against. Killian glanced in Eric's direction, but Eric paid no mind to his fellow teammates.

“He only comes to the pool to stare at Ariel.” Killian chuckled and crossed his arms.

“Who's Ariel?”

Killian pointed at a redhead sitting in a lifeguard chair. “She's here every day, all day. I've never seen her anywhere but watching over this pool.”

Emma looked back at Eric. He looked absolutely smitten. He was sitting on a pool chair, knees to his chest. His chin rested on his knees as he stared at the object of his affection.

“He doesn’t know how to swim,” Killian revealed. “Sometimes he comes in as far as he can stand. But most of the time, he just does this.”

Will swam up next to Emma and Killian and followed their gazes. “Hey, Squints! You going to come in or what?”

Eric glared at Will, then glanced back at the lifeguard. She was smiling, probably laughing at the scene below. With a loud huff, Eric stood up, took his glasses off and put them on his towel, and walked towards the diving board.

“Squints, what the hell are you doing?” Killian's face dropped with concern as Eric made his way onto the board.

“Oi, mate! You're going to fall off the board without your glasses!” Robin shoved himself against the wall between Emma and Killian.

Eric shook his head and took a tentative step forward.

“Eric, stop!” Emma screamed.

“You can’t swim, Squints!” Killian reminded him.

He looked in the general direction of the group, unable to see clearly without his glasses, and smiled. “Trust me.” And with three more steps forward, he cannonballed into the water.

“Did he tell anyone about this?” Liam stared down the group as if someone knew something.

The whole group shook their heads no. There were a couple voices shouting, “no,” and Sneezy, well, sneezed.

“Guys, he hasn't come up yet!” Grumpy yelled.

Emma yelled “help” to get the attention of the lifeguard. Hearing her cries, Ariel dove into the pool, spotting Eric at the bottom and swimming down to grab him. She pulled Eric up, and noticing he was unconscious, she laid him on the side of the pool and started administering CPR.

“Oh, god.” Emma climbed out of the pool and stood above Eric. The rest of the group was quick to follow, and they soon formed a circle around where Ariel was still trying to get Eric to breathe again.

“Come on, Squints. You've gotta pull through.” Killian looked as worried as she felt.

“Come on, Squints,” David added.

“Wake up! Breathe, would you?” Sneezy yelled at Eric as if that would make him regain consciousness.

“He looks real bad,” Will chimed in.

Scooting slightly closer to Killian, without thinking, Emma grasped his hand. He gave her hand a squeeze as they shared a glance before returning their attention back on Eric.

With no sign of improvement thus far, Ariel moved on and started to perform mouth-to-mouth on Eric.

“Lucky bastard gets to make out, and he's not even conscious,” Grumpy grumbled. There were a few chuckles, but it was hard to laugh while Eric was still ghostly pale.

As Ariel continued breathing for him, Eric opened his eyes and winked at his friends out of Ariel's view.

“He's okay!” David couldn't hold back his reaction.

When Ariel went down for her next breath, Eric grabbed her head and kept it pressed to his as he kissed her.

There was a chorus of “ooooh” from the boys and a gasp from Emma. When Ariel ripped herself out of Eric's grasp, she started shouting, banning the group for the rest of the summer, when they all grabbed their towels and took off. Laughing along the way, Emma ran right along with them. When they got back to the sandlot, Eric had his glasses back on and was receiving quite a few pats on the back from his friends.

“How long have you been planning that, man?” Liam had his arms crossed as he shook his head in amusement.

“Months,” Eric answered proudly.

There were more cheers for Eric as the group sat around and dried off in the sun.

On that day, Squints became a hero.

-----

So Ariel banned them from the pool for the summer, although she would later tell Emma she was welcome to come back as long as she left the team on the sandlot. Girls have to stick together. After all, females felt terribly outnumbered in this town. But despite Ariel’s initial anger, she was witness to how the group was more like family than just friends and teammates. She saw they had something special. The boys may have been banned from the pool for the rest of the summer, but they had to walk past the pool on the way to the nearest 7-11 for Slurpees and candy. And every time Grumpy ran out of bubble gum or Scarlet decided he was going to mix all the Slurpee flavors and down the largest size in less than 2 minutes to see how bad his brain freeze could get, the team went by the pool, right behind Ariel’s lifeguard chair. And Emma couldn’t help but chuckle as she noticed Ariel turn toward them and smile at Eric every time they walked by.

-----

The team was in the middle of gameplay when all the boys suddenly stopped playing. Emma stopped herself mid-run on her way to third and looked around at all her friends.

“What’s going on, guys?”

Liam, who was standing next to her as shortstop, pointed to the fence behind home plate and just said, “Cassidy.” She looked up at him for clarification, and he, sensing it wasn’t enough, looked down at his newest team member. “That’s Neal Cassidy. Killian used to play ball with him. They got into a fight one time when Cassidy said some things about,” he trailed off. “Well, he said some things about our father, and Killian just couldn’t brush it off.”

“He never told me about Neal,” Emma said quietly.

“He’d rather forget about Cassidy.” Emma caught Liam watching Killian. “Ever wonder why we play in some open clearing rather than a real diamond?” Emma shook her head; she hadn’t really thought about it before. “Cassidy is rich. His family has tons of money. His friends get to play on the real field in town. After their fight, Cassidy made sure Killian wouldn’t be able to play on a real field again.” Before Emma could say anything, Liam continued, “ever notice that scar on the back of Killian’s left hand? He busted his hand open on Cassidy’s face. Needed 16 stitches. And there’s the one on his cheek from where Cassidy got him back -- 7 stitches. The two really went at it. They hit each other real good, kept punching even when they both fell to the ground. It took six of us to break it up.”

“Wow. I didn’t know.”

“Killian and I and our mum -- we might not have much, but Killian is proud of what we do have. He’s proud of the life we have, and I know he’ll never forgive our father for what he did.” He looked at her as if to ask if she knew what Brennan had done. She nodded in response. He continued, “and he’ll always defend his family and friends.”

To his credit, Killian did not approach Neal. It was the latter who initiated. All the boys, still in their places on the field, groaned in unison as Neal and his posse made their way into the sandlot. David and Robin were the first to head over to Killian and stand on either side of him. Will, Eric, and the twins all took spots. Emma looked over at Liam as she tentatively walked toward the forming wall of boys. Liam followed her.

“Gee, Killian, how are you supposed to get better when you’re stuck playing with a bunch of rejects?”

“Shut your mouth, Pan,” Killian said through clenched teeth.

The kid in the middle - Emma assumed that was Neal - murmured something after that, but it was unintelligible.

“What’d you say, Cassidy?” Will asked.

“I said you shouldn't even be allowed to touch a baseball. Except for little Jones, you're all an insult to the game.”

Grumpy chimed in, “oh, yeah?”

Sneezy added a sarcastic, “you think so?”

Killian spoke up next. “Come on! We'll take you on right here, right now!”

Robin yelled, “come on,” as the rest of the guys shouted in agreement.

“We play on a real diamond, Jones.” The leader - Neal - spoke again.

“You ain't good enough to lick the dirt off our cleats,” Will crossed his arms.

“Watch it, jerk,” the tall kid - Pan - stepped toward Will.

“Shut up, idiot,” Will stomped his foot.

Emma stood there as the boys passed insults back and forth, some boys joining in with “oohs” as the insults got harsher and harsher.

“Moron!”

“Scab-eater!”

“Butt-sniffer!”

“Pus-licker!”

“You bob for apples in the toilet, and you like it!”

Neal laughed as he noticed Emma for the first time; it was a jarring sound against the backdrop of exchanged insults. “You got a girl on your team? Makes sense since you all play like girls!”

Everyone got real quiet at that. For a group of adolescent boys, there was no greater insult. Cassidy had crossed a line. It was clear no one had an answer to that…

...until Killian spoke up, getting nose-to-nose with Cassidy as he asserted, “you wish you played like Swan!”

“Yeah, right.” The boys next to Emma all laughed; Neal didn’t have a good comeback. Emma would’ve laughed, too, if she wasn’t still bug-eyed from Killian standing up to Neal to defend her.

Killian smirked as his team cheered his apparent victory in the insult war. He winked at Emma.

“Tomorrow at our field, noon,” Neal interrupted the celebration.

“We’ll be there,” Killian got even more in Neal’s face. Neal narrowed his eyes, gaze lingering on Emma as he smiled mischievously, before gesturing for his team to follow him away from the sandlot.

The chorus of cheers got louder when David yelled, “we’re going to kick their butts tomorrow!”

#fallforcs #fallforcaptainswan #fallforcs 2018 #you're killing me swan #thegirlinthebandtshirt #captain swan #cs ff #cs fanfic #once upon a time #sandlot au #there is baseball #and very young cs #and cs falling in love #I hope everyone loves it #sailingcaptainswan #theonceoverthinker #classiczebra

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cheekygeek05 · 6 years

Text

The Impossible Impostor (Part 3)

Summary: Alexus King is a FBI Special Agent of the BAU who is uprooted from her home and sent to London to work for Scotland Yard. Upon arriving she quickly loses what little enthusiasm her naivety had allowed her. Turns out the British don't take too well to imposing Americans. Who knew? Kind of a Xover, mentions Criminal Minds maybe some guest appearances!

Words: 2376

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Previous Part

Alexus watched Sherlock leave. Maybe she had been a bit mean…After all there was no need to make enemies so soon. Though she could already feel Donovan's eyes boring into to her as she stomped out. At least she had Greg. Speaking of which, where'd he swan off to? Walking outside she found him talking to Sherlock looking quite exasperated. This man must have the patience of a saint. Alexus thought to herself, as she approached them.

"Gentlemen." Alexus greeted.

"Alexus I was just going to see if you were ready to go." Lestrade responded.

"Whenever you are toots." She answered accompanied with a smile.

"Are you accustomed to speaking to near strangers with such familiarity, or is that is reserved for a special few?" Sherlock grunted.

"Aww. Sweetie all you have to do is ask, I'll be happy be flirt with you. Just don't go falling in love with me because I have no intention of following through." This was said with her most flirtatious wink she could manage. She was pleased to see his composure shift, becoming a bit more flustered.

"Please stop embarrassing yourself." He retorted.

"Oh love, I'm not the one blushing. It's getting cold, how bout we take off?" Alexus turned to the DI who was currently staring, surprised at his new partner's boldness.

"Oh yes. Of course." Lestrade said offering her his arm. He didn't miss the snort that escaped Sherlock.

Taking his arm, she began her walk back to the car. Smiling to herself. Alexus was starting to think she would be alright after all. She would still miss her old job and team, but she could see herself enjoying her time here. She would most enjoy the game she had started with the obnoxious Sherlock Holmes.

"You were fantastic earlier." Lestrade complimented once they reached the car.

"Thanks. I was taught well. I'm afraid not everyone was as impressed as you."

"You just have to give them time to get use to you. They will, fairly quickly once you prove you're nothing like everyone's favorite consulting detective."

"I'm just used to saying whatever I see. Back home that's what we did. We said what we saw and waited for our team mates to see something we didn't. That's why we were so good, everyone contributed. All-stars sell tickets, teams win games." Alexus quoted her mentor since childhood. He had told her that when she joined the team and it never left her.

"Unless the all-star is Sherlock Holmes." Lestrade scoffed

Alexus smiled although she completely disagreed. Her team could beat Sherlock. No question. She could see Lestrade cared for Sherlock. She admired him for that. She was quickly coming to realize there was a lot she admired about this man. Maybe being partners wasn't such a grand idea. She could easily see herself liking him. She looked at him again. He had such a kind face. Worn and weathered, but kind. He looked over at her and smiled.

"Eyes front soldier." She teased grinning.

"So, did you always want to be a detective?" Greg asked once the laughter died down.

Alexus was surprised by the question. Her childhood was not something she enjoyed discussing. She wasn't sure how to answer. He apparently noticed her hesitation. He quickly added.

"Because I have since I can remember. There was a two-year period where all l wanted to be was 18." Chuckling nervously after.

Bless him.

"Really? I can't imagine you as anything else."

"Oi give me a chance here I'm not completely two-dimensional!"

"That's not at all what I meant. All my favorite people in the world are law enforcement." Alexus' mind went back to her team. She had some phone calls to make when she got back to her place.

Lestrade pulled up to her place and stopped the car.

"I know it's not exactly home, and I'm not your team. If you ever need anything you can tell me. I mean it."

"Thank you." Alexus' only reply before exiting the car and walking to her door. She waved one final goodbye to her favorite Detective Inspector.

i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i

Alexus put water on the stove. She had already tried the whole English tea thing but decided it wasn't her thing. She had discovered long ago, the best thing in the world for just about anything was a steaming cup of hot coco with whipped cream and marshmallows. After everything was ready she picked up her phone and played phone roulette.

"Hey! How's my girl?" Of course she would get Derek.

"Oh, you know just the normal, corpses, blood, murder, sociopath and hostile coworkers. You?"

"I thought you didn't start till tomorrow."

"Yeah my boss called and asked if I wanted to start early he'd just gotten called in for a case. It went pretty well." Alexus let it end there.

"You can't hide things from me baby girl. What's wrong?"

"It's just different. It seems they're not close like us. They just all seem to wander and do their own thing. It's strange. Then there's this guy who calls himself a consulting detective. He actually seems like fun."

"And by fun you mean?"

"Not like that. He just seems really uptight and callous. I definitely am looking forward to messing with him."

"Be careful sweetheart don't be cruel." Morgan couldn't help the smirk he wore. He knew his girl, she could be quite the heartbreaker.

"Yeah, yeah. Trust me he's in no danger of that. He'd first have to acknowledge someone other than himself. Lord knows that'll never happen."

"So, I'm bored and now more than a little interested. Tell me about it."

"What?"

"Everything. Start with this guy. Talk me to sleep baby."

"Alright. Well he's your typical smartass. He tried to profile me. He said I going off my age I was inexperienced and therefore less than incompetent for my position. He then insulted my clothes saying they meant I didn't take my job seriously. Luckily, I'm good enough to feel I don't have to prove it so I ignored him for the time being. It took everything in me not to profile him right then and there. It was really amusing though, seeing his face when I completely disregarded him. I guess he's used to get a reaction. Probably why he does it. Wait I almost started a profile."

"You know what I said earlier, about taking it easy one him?"

"Yes?"

"Give 'em hell baby girl!"

Alexus couldn't help but laugh. God, she loved this man.

"Will do. So how are my favorite profilers?"

"They're good. It's weird not having you though. Hotch called on you several times yesterday. He even told Reid to go to the crime scene with you. It was awkward. He misses you. We all do. Spence refused to let anyone in your room. He's decided it stays exactly the same for when you come back. He's pretty down about the whole thing."

"So am I, trust me. You have no idea how empty this place feels. I'm going to see if anyone needs a roommate. Or whatever it is they call it here. It's so quiet I'm pretty sure I'm going to go crazy. Besides rent is insanely high here it's just not practical to live one my own."

"The rent is too damn high!" Derek declared, doing his best Jimmy McMillan impression.

The two friends burst into laughter.

"Derek Morgan I am going to miss having you here like it's nobody's business!"

"I already miss you like it's no one's business baby girl."

Just then there was a knock on Alexus' door.

"Hey Derek there's someone at my door. I just texted you a number to call if you hear trouble ok?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah it's just nobody but my partner Lestrade knows where I live. Did you get the number?"

"Got it ready."

"Alright I'm gonna answer it."

Alexus went to the door, revolver in tucked away on her person.

"Sherlock?"

"Obviously!" Sherlock replied dryly. Walking in completely uninvited.

Sherlock pranced around the house looking for anything clues to help in his quest. While Alexus couldn't seem to fully comprehend what had just happened.

"It's very rude to remain on the phone when receiving company." He reprimanded.

That was all it took for Alexus to snap out of her momentary shock.

"Good thing I'm not receiving company tonight." She said grabbing him by the arm and dragging him towards the door. Where she quickly pushed him out, shut and locked it.

"That was weird…" She finally said.

"Who was it?" Derek asked expectantly.

"Oh shut up you heard the whole thing. I put you on speaker just in case."

"How?"

"No idea."

"What?"

"I got nothing."

"Why?"

"Drawing blanks here." She answered, pondering the same questions. "Anyways. Is Garcia there?"

"Do you think I could keep the fact I'm on the phone with you from her?"

"Spence?"

"They went to seem some local production."

"What language?" Knowing Dr. Spencer Reid was involved, said production would probably be in a foreign language.

"Russian. I'll never understand why you went with him to that stuff."

"He didn't like to go alone. Once I started going he went more often. He deserves to enjoy himself."

"Uhuh…right. And that's the only reason right?" Morgan asked smiling.

"Listen here seniorita! We have flushed that topic out,"

"Says you,"

Alexus could almost picture him sticking out his tongue at this point. She couldn't help but grin at that. She must have looked ridiculous sitting on her kitchen counter drinking hot coco and smiling all by herself. The thought made her smile grow wider. She looked over to her left and noticed a red light flashing on her mantle place. She wouldn't have seen it from any other angle. Oh that mother of a camel!

"Listen babe, I gotta go and take care of some stuff." Or shank someone. It could go either way.

"Alright. You all good?" He asked concern leaking into his voice.

"As John Wayne in a western."

Morgan laughed at that.

"Goodnight then baby girl!"

"Goodnight. Kisses to all my lovelies. Tell Hotch hi and I'll call him soon."

"Will do. Peace"

"Peace."

With that she ended the call, grabbed the bug from the mantel piece and stalked to her door. Opening her door, she found none other than Sherlock on the curb with headphones. Alexus walked over ripped them out of his ears and dragged him into her apartment.

"Rule #1. Don't mess with me when I'm happy."

Sherlock looked at confusedly. Not understanding her meaning.

"I won't always be able to call home and when I can, I don't want to be interrupted for petty games!" She said losing her will to be angry but having no intention of letting him know that.

"The next words out your mouth better be an apology followed impossibly quickly with an explanation."

Sherlock was not one to back down from confrontation, but the on her eyes told him she wasn't fooling around. So, he tried his very best to find a happy medium. Okay maybe happy was stretching it. A satisfactory medium.

"I want-"

At which point he was interrupted. Rude!

"Apology first."

"I apologize if I scared you." He said hoping that would suffice." By the glare he was receiving he imagined it wasn't. "And for unwittingly interrupting your phone call."

She had better be happy with that because there was no way in hell he was going to give her anything else.

"Apology accepted. It needs work, but it'll have to do for now."

Sherlock was beyond himself. This woman is impossible!

"Now for that explanation."

"I wanted to ask you if there was anything I could do to help you settle in to London. I know this place better than anyone."

"And where does the bugging my apartment factor in to 'helping me settle in'?"

"I…" Sherlock faded out not knowing how to get out of that one. "How did you find it anyway?" genuinely curious. He made sure and put it somewhere she would never see it.

Alexus was not about to admit it was completely luck. She didn't want to risk him trying it again.

"Come on sweet cheeks. What's a girl without her secrets?" She said leaning into his personal space. Completely aware of the discomfort it caused and loving the blush that came with it. "I'll tell you. Boring."

Sherlock grunted. This was not at all going how he imagined.

"So now that you're here let me be clear on one thing. Bugging my apartment, never going to happen again. Capiche?" She said, for it was in no way a question. "If you want to know anything about me you can ask me or observe it. Bugging is cheating. Cheating means you're incapable. Are you incapable Mr. Holmes?"

Sherlock did not like her implication at all. He was completely capable. He wouldn't, for one minute, have her believing otherwise. So, he did the only he could think to do.

"You will find there is nothing I am not capable of." His answer assertive and much too sure of itself.

"I'm glad we're clear. Now the sirens who inhabit my bed are singing a song that is much too beautiful for me to ignore. Are you planning to stay the night or will you be showing yourself out?"

Sherlock considered taking her up on her invitation, if only to snoop. John would tell him to leave. No question. Then again, when did he ever listen to John? He looked up and saw a question in her eyes. He saw a lot more to her question than he first thought. Maybe John was right.

"I can show myself out." Sherlock turned to leave hoping he had made the right choice. Before he got far he felt her pull him back. She gave him a hug, kissed her hand and hit his forehead with the same hand. He had no idea what that meant, but it made him want to smile all the same. Luckily he still maintained some of his senses, with which, he held it back. Just barely.

"Goodnight Mr. Holmes." Before he could respond she was gone.

Oh, the game is, most definitely, on!

#sherlock x oc #sherlock x reader #sherlock #sherlock holmes #john watson #mrs hudson #molly hooper #gregory lestrade #mycroft holmes #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid #aaron hotchner #penelope garcia #emily prentiss #derek morgan #jason gideon #jennifer jareau #fanfic #fanfiction

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collecting-stories · 7 years

Text

Birthday pt. 3 - Alfie Solomons

Request: The third part of Birthday; the reader’s present to Alfie is some alone time and telling him that she’s pregnant. But things don’t go according to plan. (This is a rewrite of Another because I didn’t like how it turned out before.)

Kit Masterlist | Peaky Blinders Masterlist

“Alright, Ollie’s come and picked up Kit, Peg’s even gone with ‘em and you’ve been in the fucking bathroom for ten fucking minutes at least so I’m wondering right, when is I get this birthday present you been telling me about?” Alfie shouted. He was sitting in the bedroom, right at the edge of the bed, shouting across the hall to the closed bathroom door. Or rather to you on the other side of the closed bathroom door.

This was quite a significant difference. Nine years ago you were telling Alfie you were pregnant in his office, with Ollie waiting right outside, expecting the worse. Now you were going to giving him the same news, only this time it was Alfie’s birthday and you weren’t afraid of being disappointed. This time you were the one who needed convincing.

You pushed the door open and caught sight of a disgruntled looking Alfie sat on the bed, frowning. “I thought I told you to strip. Being full clothed is not stripping Alfie.”

“I’m not fucking stripping till you give me my present.” He replied.

“Fine I’ll wait til my birthday, it’s a gift for both of us anyway.”

“You gonna give me a blowjob?”

“That’s not a present for both of us, that Mr. Solomons is a present that you, and you alone, enjoy.” You retorted.

“You should enjoy it to, you’re making your husband happy.” He grinned at you, the same dumb smile he always used when he was being a smartass.

“Well since your happiness is clearly all that matters,” you began.

“Oh fine okay, fucking hell woman, it’s my birthday. Why do you have to be mean to me on my birthday?” He whined.

Alfie stood up and made quick work of his clothes, getting fully undressed while you stood by the door. He could still remember the first few times seeing each other without clothes in the way. You were always comfortable with yourself, even after Kit was born and the pregnancy left some added weight in your stomach and thighs. You’d still come in from being out all day and strip down fully and just lay in bed without a care. Alfie loved that, personality aside he was very much in love with your body. So it hadn’t gone unnoticed that you were shying away from him.

You’d kept him close last night so he couldn’t see your body as a whole and even this morning you had angled yourself away from him. He found the change odd and decided to comment on it as he realised that you didn’t intend to join him in the bath you drew.

He sunk down in the hot water, letting the herbs you’d added do their job relaxing him. Alfie wasn’t one for your special, expensive (according to the almost weekly argument you and he had), herbs for the bath but he would admit that on this very special occasion they felt wonderful. The only thing that didn’t was having an empty bath. What was the point, he figured, of special ordering a bath large enough for two people if you were not also in it.

So he nudged the thigh that was mostly supporting your weight on the edge of the tub and frowned at you, “get in then.”

“It’s your birthday Alfie, it’s supposed to be relaxing for you.”

“It’d be even more relaxing if my very beautiful wife was in here with me, preferably naked. Though I will pull you in clothed if I have to.” He stated.

“Fine,” you stood up, turning your back to him the same way you had this morning but Alfie reached out and grabbed your wrist.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing at lately but this ‘oh don’t look’ shits gotta stop, if I wanted to look at your back I would’ve asked.”

“I’ve…gained a bit is all,” you lied, still with your back to him.

“The fuck would I care about that for. You were blown up like a fucking whale when you were pregnant with Kit, still wanted to fuck you all the time.”

“Charming.” You laughed. You knew if he saw you, if he really looked at your stomach he’d know. He wasn’t a stupid man and if anyone knew your body besides you it was Alfie. He could tell when you were going to get sick in winter just from the way your cheeks turned red.

You pulled your wrist from his hand and sighed, giving in because you did intend to tell him anyway. That was his birthday present from you. That nine years after Kit you had rather unexpectedly gotten pregnant. When Kit was young still, 3 or 4, you and Alfie had talked about having another child but that didn’t seem like something life was going to give you. That was, perhaps, why this pregnancy was so bittersweet. Your gut reaction had been happiness, just the thought that you and Alfie were expanding your small family of four (including Peg). But your head was not so easily convinced, because Kit took so much time and you didn’t want to bring a child into the world only to neglect them.

You turned to face him and slowly unbuttoned your dress, glancing up every few seconds to see Alfie with his arms on the rim of the tub, leaning so he could watch you. Knowing you were spending the day at home you had neglected getting fully dressed, instead opting for only a slip and a dress. So when the slip fell to the ground you were exposed completely.

“I fucking knew it!” Alfie cried, smacking his hand against the tub. “I told Ollie you were acting fucking weird and I said it was same as with Kit and he says you couldn’t be pregnant but I was fucking right.”

You’re whole face went red and you climbed into the tub, sinking down until just your face above your nose was exposed. You said nothing in reply.

“I’m right aren’t I?” He asked, hands going underwater and touching your stomach, more protruded than typically. It was not just the remains of baby weight from nine years ago still hanging on.

“Yes Alf, I’m pregnant.” You replied, “if you knew why didn’t you say?”

“Why didn’t I say?” He leaned back against the tub and gestured for you to follow. You did as requested, manoeuvring so you were laying somewhat sideways with your head resting on his shoulder. “Why didn’t you say?”

“I was saving it for your birthday.” You replied, hoping that was believable enough but knowing that it wasn’t.

Alfie burst out in laughter so much that you sat up to look at him properly. He leaned forward, holding his stomach as he laughed. “That’s the fucking funniest thing I’ve ever heard.” Alfie stopped laughing abruptly and moved closer to you, water sloshing over the edge of the tube. He got right in your face, the way he might when he attempts to intimidate the men at work. “Now what’s the real reason?”

“That is the real reason.” You replied defensively.

“Yeah alright,” he replied, though you knew he didn’t believe you, “come on then love, I wanna relax with you.” He held his arms out and you resumed your previous position laying against him.

You closed your eyes and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, right about a scar he had gotten in the war. He rarely talked about his life before you and he never talked about the war. You were certain he never would. As you laid there Alfie’s fingers ran up and down your side, a feather light touch that always surprised you coming from a man who couldn’t even walk quietly. He kissed the side of your forehead and you hummed in response.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked when he realised you were awake.

“Alfie, do we have to talk about this on your birthday?” You asked. You sat up and then stood, stepping out of the tub and grabbing a cloth to dry with.

“I’m just trying to understand why you’re upset.” Alfie replied, following you into the bedroom.

“I’m not upset! I just don’t want to have an argument when it’s your birthday Alfie!”

“Then you should’ve fucking told me you were pregnant!” He shouted.

When Kit was home you had one rule, that you and Alfie did not yell at each other when you argued. Kit already had problems with aggression and you didn’t want him to grow up thinking that yelling was normal or okay. But Kit was out of the house tonight so you and Alfie were taking the opportunity to be as loud as you were angry.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to be!” You yelled.

Then everything went silent. Alfie didn’t speak, he looked as if the breath had been knocked out of him. He just stood there, stroking his beard the way he always did when he was deep in thought. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his bare feet not even registering the cold of the floor. You stood there, robe on tightly, arms crossed under your chest. You hadn’t meant to say that out loud. It was a secret that you never intended to share.

Alfie sat still, trying to think of what else he wanted to say. This wasn’t the news that he wanted to hear, especially not when his birthday had started out so unexpectedly wonderful. His brain felt like it was swarming with all the possibilities that would explain why you didn’t want to have another child with him. He thought maybe you were scared that you would have another child like Kit, someone who would require care unlike a normal child. Or that you were unhappy with this life in general.

“Is it me?” Alfie asked finally. He didn’t know exactly how to word his question. Alfie was not a man who liked to be vulnerable. He reacted to everything in either anger or jest.

“What?” Of all the things you expected Alfie to say that the furthest from your list.

“You don’t want the baby with me? Because of how Kit turned out?” Alfie asked.

When you and Alfie had first taken Kit to the hospital and the doctor suggested institutionalising him Alfie had been certain that your son’s condition was his fault. It was God punishing him for all the bad deeds he had done through his life. You had told Alfie that you thought his logic was flawed, bad things happened to everyone and this didn’t have to be a bad thing. But now he thought maybe you hadn’t meant it.

“Alfie that’s ridiculous.” You replied.

“Were there others?”

“What?” You looked over toward him, confused by the question.

“It’s been nine years, were there other times you were pregnant? That you didn’t tell me about?” Alfie asked.

“No, Alfie-“

“But you weren’t going to tell me about this.” He replied. “If you had, if you had would you have told me?”

“No.” You said, “No, I wasn’t going to either way.”

“Is that why you didn’t say you were pregnant?” He asked, “you’ve not decided?”

“I really was saving it for your birthday Alfie,” you replied. “I wanted it to be a good surprise.”

“It might’ve been.” He stood up finally and moved to the wardrobe in the room, opening the door to get out pants and a shirt. You watched him get dressed but didn’t say anything.

Before Kit was born, when you were still pregnant with him you and Alfie used to fight constantly. Whenever you did he would go to the bakery and spend the night sleeping on the couch in his office. You knew as he walked out of the room that he was going there now. You could remember the last time you and Alfie had fought so bitterly. He had spent days at the bakery until finally he had come home and apologized. This time he had nothing to apologize for. It was you who had the apologizing to do.

You didn’t stop him from walking out though. You just stood there in the bedroom and listened for the inevitable slamming of the front door. There were things you wanted to say. You knew you were the one who was wrong. Nine years of trust had gone out the window when you hadn’t been able to honestly tell him how you felt. Why you were scared. You let him believe that it was him.

It took less than an hour for you to follow. You only made sure the door was locked before heading to the bakery yourself. Nine years had taught you a lot, most importantly that letting Alfie sleep away from home was not good for either of you. The lights in the bakery were off and you felt eerie walking through the warehouse in the dark. The only light you found was in his office. Through the frosted glass you could make out his silhouette. You didn’t bother knocking on the door, instead just quietly opening it. His back was to you.

“There weren’t any others.” You watched his back muscles tense at the sound of your voice. This was a record for how quickly you and he apologized, usually a few days would go by before either came around.

“I’m sleeping here tonight.” Alfie clarified. “Sleeping in my fucking bakery on my birthday because my wife’s being a fu…”

“What am I being?” You asked when the sentence died off.

“Why’d you wanna get rid of it? You were fucking set on having Kit but this one don’t matter? You just don’t want any more or you just don’t want any more with me?” Alfie asked.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what’s it like cause I’m not fucking psychic you’re gonna have to explain to me what the fuck it’s like thinking after nine years of saying you want another kid to just fucking decide you might want to get rid of it. Please enlighten me. I’d love to know.”

“I’m fucking scared okay because it’s not you who has to deal with Kit’s tantrums. He doesn’t scream at the top of his lungs and kick with you. I love him to pieces but my whole fucking life revolves around him and you’re asking me why I don’t know if I want to add a baby to that. Healthy or not Alf I’ll have two babies in the house then; Kit doesn’t act like a nine year old should and you know it.” You shouted. “you want to fucking help sometimes and not just pop in after dinner right before bed then be my guest but otherwise I’m entitled to my reservations that having a second baby isn’t necessarily a good idea.”

“I didn’t-” Alfie began but you cut him off again.

“But I’m having the baby. It was a surprise for your birthday, I wasn’t lying. You didn’t need to know that I had doubts though, that wasn’t important.”

“That is important. Any fucking thought that goes through your head is important. I know I’m shit at being there when I should be but I want Kit and this little one to have a good life. I want to provide for them.”

“I can’t be alone raising two kids though. I need help.” You stated, “we’re meant to be parents together.”

“This mean you’re not going to flinch when I touch you?” Alfie asked.

“I didn’t flinch.”

“You would’ve fucking thought I was a stranger the way you jumped away from me!” He laughed. The laugh only died down when he realized you were still in your robe. “Did you walk all the way here in that fucking robe?”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Stay the fuck home! Walked here in a robe in the middle of the night. You know who’s out in the middle of the night? Not nice folk or the type who are smart enough to know I’ll kill ‘em for touching you. Fucking hell woman, you get pregnant and you get stupid.” He groaned.

“Well I’m sorry for being so upset over you that I rushed here to explain and convince you to come home!” You replied.

Alfie was quiet for a moment, taking another look at your robe before speaking, “have you dressed under it or you still just in that robe?”

“I am exactly as I was when you left.”

“Well then, allow me to convince you to stay here.” He replied, a boyish grin on his face.

“I’m not having make-up sex in your office.”

“What if we call it birthday sex but you get to lounge on the desk while I do all the work?” Alfie asked. He went around and sat down in his chair, patting the section of desk in front of him for you to come sit down on.

“Fine, but rings off this time."

tagged: @weirdnewbie @ducks-are-kwl @crowleyismybabycakes @photograiphy-00 @clairyfaiiry @thinemineours @holy-minseok @yourenotmytype @sceawere @smashablepieces @araceli91103

#alfie solomons imagine #peaky blinders imagine #collecting stories imagine #kit series

200 notes · View notes

5hfanfiction · 8 years

Text

Wicked Games (Chapter 14)

We won the game the next day by only 5 points. Redding gave us more of a fight than we anticipated. Luckily, my team bounced back and finished the game strong. Our play was pretty sloppy in the first half. Away games were always subject to some lethargy, but espescially one right before Thanksgiving. I think we were all more mentally focused on the holiday than our opponent. Coach Tommy bluntly pointed this out at halftime and demanded better from us (with a few expletives). We responded and we got the win.

Once again, Lauren was indifferent towards me. I guess this was how she was going to act from now on. All about me at night when we’re alone, but totally uninterested in me during the day infront of everyone else. If that’s how she wants to handle the situation, fine. I need to focus on basketball anyway.

I slept peacefully in my bed that night, exhausted from the current day’s events and excited for the next day’s events. My family was flying out to “celebrate” Thanksgiving with me. We didn’t really celebrate the holiday itself, but we always took advantage of an excuse to have a big family feast.

I ran down the stairs when I got the call that my family had arrived. I swung open the door and little Sofi ran into my arms. “Mila!” she shouted happily. I grinned, picking her up to place on my hip. “Ugh,” I groaned. “You’ve gotten bigger.” It definitely wasn’t as easy to pick her up as it had been before I left for school a couple months ago.

“I’m more sophisticated now,” Sofi boasted. She emphasized each syllable of ‘sophisticated’.

I chuckled, “Learn a new word?”

“Yeah, cause I’m more sophisticated,” she repeated.

“Alright,” I laughed, “I get it.” I kissed her cheek and turned to look for my other family members.

My grandmother came up to me first with a breezy smile plastered across her weathered face. We embraced and then a booming voice arrived at my ears. “Mi hija!” the voice yelled proudly. I looked up to find my father rushing towards me with wide-open arms. He eneveloped me and Sofi in his arms and gave me multiple kisses on my cheek. I loved when he did this, although I wouldn’t admit it. I giggled and then shoved him off playfully, “Alright, Dad, calm down.”

There was one more member I was anxious to see. Once my dad backed away, she finally came into my line of vision. A dopey grin spread across my features. I set Sofi down and then fell into the arms of my mother. I buried my head into her shoulder and let myself get reacquainted with the embrace and the smell of the woman who is my rock. Once I pulled away, my mother looked at me affectionately, her palm against my cheek. We exchanged the usual greetings and 'how are yous’. Once I was satisfied, I looked at my mother dearly, knowing she was the one who could answer my question.

“How’s Emma been doing?” I carefully asked her.

My parents were incredibly accepting of who I am. They never judged me, they never looked at me differently. They simply opened their arms and told me they were happy to understand me better. Emma was not so lucky. Emma’s parents went ballistic when they found out about me. They told her that she was a disgrace to their family, that she was disgusting. To this day her parents refuse to help her pay for college, or anyhing really. Luckily she’s on an academic scholarship at a small school in Miami that covers all of her tuition and books. With help from my parents and working most days, she is able to pay for rent and food.

Her parents still refuse to accept Emma for who she is. They totally cut her out. The worst-case scenario that every LGBTQ member fears, came true for Emma. She only occassionally speaks to her mother, but otherwise there is zero contact. Thankfully, my parents adore her. My mom especially thinks of Emma as another daughter. She took it really hard when Emma and I seperated over the summer. Almost as hard as I did. Emma’s parents were overjoyed when they found out. They actually started talking to her again. They thought Emma was going to stop the 'homosexual nonsense’. When she stood her ground and told them that she is still very much homosexual, they grew angry and ceased contact with her again. My mom has a very difficult time understanding how a mother could turn away from her child as Emma’s has done. She’s cried to me multiple times about it since she loves Emma so much and hates to see her in pain.

Emma has been a part of my life since the seventh grade. My best friend and then my girlfriend. That’s about 9 or 10 years of being over at my house constantly if we’re not in school. She’s an important part of my life and piece of who I am today. I can’t blame my mother for loving her. From the moment I met her, I never stood a chance but to love her too.

Since I went to school all the way in California, both my mom and Emma grew exponentially closer. They helped eachother deal with the distance. My mom helped Emma deal with basically losing her parents. Emma helped fill the hole that I left for my mom. She’s as much of a mom to Emma as Emma is a daughter to my mom.

Sofi adores Emma as well. She doesn’t understand quite yet what Emma is to me, but she loves having the girl around. Em babysits Sofi a lot and although she always tries to refuse to take it, my parents pay her for her services. Emma is also like the mediator between me and Sofi while I’m away. Emma sends me cute pictures and then she tells Sofi the little messages I want to tell her. In some ways, I feel like Sofi loves Emma more than me. Again, I can’t really blame her.

Emma is ingrained in our family. She’s become one of us now. She may not be blood, but she’s about as close as you can get.

It’s amazing to have a girlfriend the whole family loves and approves of. It’s extremely validating. It makes it harder though when things go wrong in the relationship. The disappointment in my family’s eyes when I had to explain to them that we were broken up was difficult to take.

My parents never stopped taking care of Emma though. Emma still comes over to see them constantly and my parents still watch out for her and make sure she stays stable and out of trouble.

Being all the way in California and with my busy student-athlete schedule, it’s difficult to keep tabs on Emma. The girl could also very easily lie or omit the truth so that I wouldn’t worry. My mother would know best if something was wrong with Emma.

My mother looked back at me kindly. “Oh, I think you should ask her yourself.”

My brows creased in confusion. “Huh?”

My mom turned and waved at the car, which only confused me more. Then the car door reopened, and white vans shoes appeared. A girl with light brown hair stepped out and I recognized her immediately.

I side-stepped away from my mother and crashed into the body of the new person. “Emma,” I exhaled softly.

Emma’s arms wrapped around my neck and she hugged me tightly. A wave of tranquility swept through me. She was warm and she was safe. “Camila,” she spoke slowly and lovingly.

A thankful smile spread across my face. I squeezed her tighter for a few more moments and then pulled away so I could see her face. I had a front row seat to those ocean blues again.

“I thought you weren’t coming until Saturday,” I said.

“Well, I knew your family was coming up for Thanksgiving so we figured I might as well come with them.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” I giggled happily.

I helped Emma and my family bring all of the cookware into my home and up the stairs. Once it was all put down on the counters, my mother walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Camila, are there any teammates that don’t have anything to do for Thanksgiving?”

I knew where she was going with this. “Yeah, there are a few I believe.”

She seemed pleased by that information. “Invite them!” she instructed. There was really no point in arguing. My mother enjoyed hosting big dinner parties.

“Ok, Mama, I will,” I said quickly before she could get too high-strung about it.

I excused myself to get my phone out and quickly type out a message to my teammates letting them know they were more than welcome to join us for dinner.

Just after I hit send, my whole body froze. I suddenly recalled overhearing Lauren tell Ally that her parents wouldn’t be able to come up to visit. No doubt she has no plans. No doubt she won’t turn down a piece of home since we’re both from Miami. No dount she’ll show up at my house.. and I will be confronted with having both Emma and Lauren in the same room together.

'Well, shit. I’m fucked’. It’s too late to turn back now. The excitement I had been feeling about the day instantly turned to anxiety.

It’s no big deal right? Lauren and I aren’t serious and she knows fully well what Emma is to me. She wouldn’t try anything with Emma around right? And as long as I act normal, Emma won’t know anything about Lauren.

The real challenge will be hiding this from my mother. No matter how good I think I am at keeping secrets, my mother always knows when something is amiss. She’s always been good at reading me so I have never been able to keep a secret from the woman. She knew I was gay way before I ever came out. She always could tell whenever I started crushing on someone and she always knew when I had a bad day no matter how hard I tried to hide it. She’s got incredible intuition I guess, atleast about me.

I slumped back into the kitchen and laughed as my mom was already bossing people around, directing them to where she wanted her kitchenware to be. She came prepared as there were multiple sets of equipment at the ready to make the feast for the day.

I shared knowing smiles with Emma as we watched her fret back and forth. My dad and her ended up bickering because he forgot one of her favorite mixing spoons. It was so ridiculous and over the top. I couldn’t help but laugh. I had almost forgotten what it was like back home and the nostalgia was starting to hit me hard. When I started laughing, both of my parents’ heads shot towards me. A flash of realization went across their faces and then we all laughed together. That was one thing I always appreciated about my family. We had no trouble laughing at ourselves. We very rarely took ourselves seriously.

The next few hours consisted of a shit ton of grocery shopping, getting ready for the meal, and then of course, cooking the meal. In my family, everyone helps out with the cooking. Not just one or two people. Everyone. Even little Sofi. Though we keep her with the simple stuff, like bringing us salt and pepper or setting up the table.

The time rolled around for my teammates to start arriving and my anxiety upshooted once again. The business of the day had distracted me enough to forget about it for awhile. Then the doorbell rang, and I could feel my heart sink.

“Ay dios mio, go get the door!” Mama shouted over her shoulder as she was stirring a spoon around in a pot.

I went downstairs and stopped infront of the door. I could hear the chattering on the opposite side of the wall. I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. I was confronted with 6 sets of smiling faces.

Missy, Micah, Emily, a freshman named Kyla, Normani, and.. Lauren were all huddled together on my small front porch. Pretty much all of them were those of us not from California, so we didn’t really have enough chance to fly home for the holiday since we only get a day off.

I greeted them with a pretty disingenuous smile, struggling to mask my apprehension. “Hey guys,” I said, stepping aside to let them in. I led them upstairs and my mom immediately rushed over. Excitedly she hugged and introduced herself to every girl, although she was already familiar with Lauren and Normani.

“Miami girl, right?” she asked after hugging Lauren. Lauren nodded with a smile and my mom smiled back. “I think you’ll like the food then.”

We had your standard spiced turkey and mashed potatoes. My grandmother made her specialty, pork and rice and beans. There was Cuban spiced griled corn, long lines of fruit, and a dessert table that nearly made me cry it looked so good. Sweet plantains and flan! Mami knew what I would want. There was so much food and my stomach grumbled in anticipation.

I wanted to dive right in, but I knew my mom would smack me if I wasn’t a good hostess. I directed my teammates to the plates and told them to get started. I didn’t have to tell them twice. They all rushed over with excited murmurs. Lauren smiled at me as she walked by. “Plantains,” she said, putting her index finger and thumb together as an O and holding the other fingers up, conveying that she thought it was quality.

“I know,” I laughed. As a fellow Cuban, I knew she would appreciate it.

I peeked over at Emma after the exchange and she hadn’t been paying attention whatsoever. She was playing hide and seek with Sofi at the moment and I sighed, relieved. My plan was to ignore Lauren as much as possible. That would work right?

The chaos in my heart did not match the welcoming and comforting party going on around me. It was starting to get loud as people conversed with one another.

I could not steady the pace of the organ in my chest. The two girls in my life were both here, with my family, and Emma is none the wiser about the other. Plus a handful of my teammates who are none the wiser about Lauren and I. I could not relax. What if I gave myself away? What if Lauren says something incriminating? My shoulders started to ache because I was so tense throughout the entire meal. I could hardly even enjoy the food I was so worried.

Emma was sitting to my right. My mother was sitting to my left. Lauren just so conveniently had to sit across from me. Emma kept trying to engage in conversation with me, but I was highly uncomfortable and was unable to really focus on much of what she was saying. I could feel the green eyes on me. I couldn’t help but glance at Lauren more often than I should’ve. The light was hitting her just right and her face was practically glowing infront of me despite her dark eye makeup. I didn’t want to look at Lauren too much though because my mom would figure it out. It usually doesn’t work if I try to keep something from her. Yet, I’m still hoping I can fool her about this.

“Mrs. Cabello, the food is wonderful,” Lauren suddenly enthused. There were murmurs of agreement all around the table.

“Oh, please, call me Sinuhe, and thank you for the compliment Lauren,” my mom replied cheerfully. She loved getting compliments on her cooking so I just knew her day was made. Lauren just upgraded her approval status with my mom to a substantial level with that one statement of praise.

Lauren didn’t stop there. She started asking Emma about what part of Miami she was from, where she was going to school and what she was majoring in. My appetite was leaving me the more Lauren continued to talk to Emma. My stress levels were rising and I could feel nervous perspiration developing in my armpits. I started to zone out, just wanting to block out this terrible situation altogether when Lauren said something that shook me to my core.

“I’ve gotten to know Camila a lot better this year and I can definitely tell you, you got yourself a catch,” Lauren expressed to Emma.

“Oh.. well.. thanks,” Emma responded, clearly caught off guard by the comment. “But we’re not together.. right now..” she trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

“Oh, right,” Lauren said. She diverted her eyes to me and blithesomely continued, “I almost forgot.”

I stared daggers into her as I felt my cheeks getting warm. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Emma moving her head to look in my direction so I quickly turned towards her. I forced a light smile on my face, hoping she wouldn’t start questioning things. I was so mad at Lauren. What was she doing? Was she trying to expose me? Why couldn’t she just sit there and enjoy her freaking food in silence? In my rage I blurted out something really stupid. “Maybe we’re not together now, but maybe we will be again soon.”

It worked. My desired effect arrived successfully.

Emma’s puzzled expression went away. In its place came bewilderment. Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed slightly. I peeked at Lauren and she wasn’t smiling any more.

My mother gasped behind me. “What did you say Mila?”

The full reality of what I just said sunk in. I cursed myself for letting Lauren get under my skin. “Nothing Mama.”

Emma’s eyebrows knitted together, clearly perplexed by my conflicting words. I didn’t know how to resolve the situation so I did the only logical thing. I escaped. I excused myself to my room and went to the bathroom.

Once inside, I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror, trying to regain my composure. I splashed some water on my face for good measure.

After a few minutes, I decided to text Lauren. I needed to nip this in the bud before Lauren incriminated me.

Camila: Come to my room, we need to talk. Tell them you need to go to the bathroom.

Once the door shut behind Lauren, I stepped towards her.

“What are you doing?” I hissed at her.

She looked back at me with an amused expression and then nonchalantly said, “I’m just making conversation.” She ran a hand through her hair which only made me more mad. She knew she looked sexy when she does that.

“Can you please stop?”

“Stop what?” she asked as if she was completely unaware and completely innocent.

“Can you please just be normal?” I pleaded with her.

She tilted her head to the side, “Why?”

I pursed my lips and decided to just tell her. “Emma doesn’t know,” I confessed, being extra quiet.

Lauren’s eyebrows raised lightheartedly, “Oh.” She cracked a smile, “that’s pretty obvious.”

I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation.

“Maybe you should be honest with her,” Lauren shrugged, like it was no big deal. It was driving me insane how apathetic she was being about this whole situation.

I snorted. “Why should I tell her about a one night stand that meant nothing?” I jibed in a hushed tone. I really didn’t mean it, but I was so angry I was trying to say anything to wipe that arrogant look off her face.

Her eyes narrowed, but only for a moment. Then she smirked, “It wasn’t just one night.”

I groaned, seriously frustrated. I dismissed her comment entirely. “Lauren fucking Jauregui, if you give a crap about me, please just act normal the rest of the night, ok?”

She was clearly taken aback by my outburst, but she nodded, relenting. “Ok, I’ll try.”

“Thank you,” I sighed wearily. I stormed past her and put my hand on the doorknob, ready to do damage control now that I know Lauren won’t cause me any more trouble.

“Just one more thing,” Lauren suddenly piped.

I turned with an eyebrow raised and was knocked back into the door. More trouble was exactly what she gave me. A pair of soft lips were tugging on mine emphatically. Just like usual, I couldn’t help but kiss her back, despite how frustrated I was with her. A part of me wanted to take her to my bed and show her just how angry I was with her, but then Emma flashed across my brain.

I shoved her off of me. “What the hell Lauren?”

“I’ll act normal, don’t worry,” she winked at me. “If you don’t want to look suspicious, we better go,” she added, nodding towards the door.

I wiped my mouth, fumingly angry with her, but mostly I was ashamed of myself for letting her get my guard down once again. Emma was in the other room and I had just kissed another woman. Worse, I didn’t want to stop kissing the other woman. I felt almost nauseous thinking about how she’d feel if she knew.

“I’ll go first. You wait a few minutes and then come out,” I instructed her before slipping out the door.

The rest of the night went on without a hitch. Lauren kept her distance and didn’t speak to me nor Emma the rest of the night. I didn’t leave Emma’s side after me and Lauren left my room. I didn’t even want Emma to have a chance to get curious and start asking questions. I did my best to compliment Emma and make her laugh, trying to ensure that she’ll stay comfortable and forget about Lauren’s suspect comments.

My teammates eventually filtered out and we started cleaning up the kitchen. At the sink I was cleaning dishes and humming to myself. I think I actually did it. I think I got through the dinner without making anybody suspect anything. I was seriously about to pat myself on the back when my mom called my name.

“Mila, can we talk?” she requested softly.

'Nevermind’ I sighed internally, my shoulders drooping.

—-

Wattpad: munkeytutu

#UPDATE #series #AU #slash #camren #based on song #angst drama #family #submission #Wicked Games

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