#I also need 4 Minutes to come out like yesterday because yes please

[chibipandaao3]

Fics coming up — Pit Babe edition

When did this Happen? — The final chapter will be up no later than Sunday! It’s about 30% done atm

Charlie cries and Babe loses it — inspired by @themundanedumpling who posted about the idea a while ago. This will be posted tonight, assuming editing goes as planned

Pit Babe KinnPorsche crossover — inspired by @katerinaptrv — Jeff is sold to the family and Charlie is an extra freebie. Babe was rescued much earlier - lots of found family goodness, lots of angst. I’m working on Chapter 4. IF I can get chapter 2 nailed down (it was giving me grief so I momentarily jumped it) soon, I’ll begin posting weekly next week - likely Fridays. This one will likely be between 7-15 chapters 😅😅😅 I sometimes have a word problem.

What the hell am I writing — this is a mystery fic lol which…who knows. I’ll probably post it

After my KP PB cross over — I’m tempted to do a big AU project — ideas are welcome

[lo1k-diamonds]

How to Choose a Valentine 💜

PAIRING: idol!Jungkook x You (You can also read it on AO3)

SUMMARY: Who knew the best company for Valentine's Day would be a lovely Doberman? And who knew he'd get you a Valentine? Well, sort of.

WORD COUNT: 4.3k

GENRE: fluff and light angst

RATING: Teen (for cussing and drinking)

WARNINGS: drinking, kissing and making out while drunk (consensual), hangover, lapses of memory, misunderstandings, JK handles everything well, Bam is the center of this story, the cutest baby, and maybe a cupid, should fill your 💜 with fluff but wdik

A.N. I wasn't even supposed to write this. This is what happens when I wake up at 4 AM and can't sleep. Then I think, Hmm, I read lots of lovely fics yesterday about Valentine's Day. What would I do if I wrote one? X hours later, here we are. I just roll with it at this point, it's almost a way to deal with writer's block 😅 Enjoy 💜

Masterlist | Scroll my stories on Tumblr | Schedule and WIPs

You snorted at the reel playing on your phone while your hand petted gently between the black Doberman’s ears. One girl smashed the phone camera while repeating ‘Girls don’t want flowers for Valentine’s Day’, while another immediately shyly said that yes, she’d like flowers. You scrolled; another of a guy guiding his significant other over a trail of petals; you scrolled, another of a guy explaining how he asked a girl to become his Valentine. Another, with the type of girls on Valentine’s Day and you smirked. Which one were you? Definitely not the spoiled girlfriend, you were single. Not heartbroken, you hadn’t dated for a while, or a heartbreaker. You chuckled; the only guy in your life at the moment was that sweet Doberman sleeping on your lap and you weren’t about to break his darling heart. 

The next options were single and fine with it, anti-Valentine’s Day, and Galentine’s Girl. You supposed you were fine with it but had hoped not to spend it alone, hence why you were at your best friend’s apartment. What you thought could be a day of eating and having fun together turned into dog-sitting because she needed that favor. Something along the lines of the usual sitter being ill and her needing to find someone to do it, and you were available.

You could think of more depressing ways of spending your day. You put your phone down and petted the short fur between the dog’s closed eyes, knowing he was utterly relaxed under your touch. He was the cutest thing and you had a blast walking and playing with him all day. You checked his training and he was responsive, though testy of the limits, and you made sure he understood that he had to listen to you. During your second walk, he behaved so well and was rewarded so much that you thought he wouldn’t have an appetite for dinner, but he surprised you. And now he was sleeping soundly and you didn’t want to get up, but it was time for your own dinner. Maybe you could cook something up for you and—

Your phone buzzed and you checked it; speaking of the devil.

[It’s taking longer than expected so I’ll eat here. Treat yourself sorry see you soon! 💜]

You sighed. In the end, you were going to spend it with that cutie as your Valentine. You stretched your arms and shoulders, pressing your fingers to your neck before gaining the courage to slide under the Doberman. He wasn’t pleased and adjusted his head to get back on your thigh.

“No, Bamie. I gotta eat something, come on.”

You slid again and turned on the TV as background noise before getting to the kitchen and checking your best friend’s fridge. You decided to eat a bit of everything that you could find and got set to eat on the sofa in front of the TV. Not even five minutes in, you became sort of annoyed — stupid Valentine’s Day ads. You told Bam firmly not to even think about snatching your food before you focused on streaming something instead. A corny and sweet romcom should be fun.

And you had dinner as you laughed and cried with it until a scene came up where the main character cried her sorrows over a bottle of soju and you thought, Why not? You had nothing planned the next day, at least you could have a drink.

You started with a single soju bottle, but as the episodes played and the night passed, you didn’t stop. Eventually, there were empty bottles of beer and soju and you were feeling dizzy, despite being sat down on the couch. Your last reasonable thought was to turn off the TV, the only source of light in the room, before holding on to Bam as if he were a pillow and falling asleep.

It was the sound of bottles clicking that disturbed your sleep, and your instinct was to wrap your arms closer around the fluffy dog, “Bam.”

He was wiggling his tail like crazy, and in your haze, you connected that to the bottles falling over. Not to the extra dip on the other side of the chaise longue.

Perhaps it was the fact that you heard your best friend’s voice in the distance that relaxed you, not quite registering that it disappeared after the front door closed. It was only when a different scent hit your nose that you started connecting the pieces: Bam was squeezed between you and someone else, their hand touched your arm ever so slightly while they petted him, and that musky scent was from a man.

You opened your eyes, confused by your conclusions, but not at the top of your game — a quick nap was not enough to make you sober.

“Who are you?”

Bam’s tail kept wiggling as he seemed busy facing opposite from you, looking at the person who answered you, “Who are you?”

He sounded sleepy and you couldn’t see him properly. The city lights from the window were enough but you were still too hazy.

“I asked first,” you voiced, rubbing your eyes. He didn’t seem willing to respond quickly enough, but you could feel him still petting Bam, so you sulked. You wrapped your arms around the pet harder, “Bamie is mine!”

Instantly, a new set of arms did the same and tried to steal him away, “No, he’s not! I’m his dad!”

“And I’m his mom!” The man scoffed and you raised your chin proudly. “Don’t believe me? Look.”

You let go of Bam and scanned around, seeing where you could put your feet safely in between the bottles. Then you got up and walked a bit unsteadily across the living room, standing next to the window. You could see the shape of the man all in black, including his hair, looking at you from his comfortable position with the sweet Bam happily smelling around.

He could see your expression, your baggy tee shirt falling over you and covered with cartoons, but he only cared about Bam staying in his arms. Because of course, he would.

“Bam!”

He gasped when Bam jumped from his embrace to get to you, frantically wiggling his whole body before lying on his back over your feet. He gaped as his Doberman showed his belly, happily licking your face and squirming under your belly rubs.

“Such a good boy,” you cooed, grinning from ear to ear.

Then you straightened up and snapped your fingers and Bam got up too, easily following you back on the couch and splaying himself belly up in between you and the man.

“There you go,” you murmured, scratching his belly and up his chest much to Bam’s delight.

It was when Bam squirmed that his snout ended up under the man’s chin and you saw him clearly for the first time. Then he spoke and you smiled.

You woke up with a groan, drool all over the pillow, and a headache to make you want to run for the hills. But then you sat up, confusion still scrambling your brain as you eyed the bedroom.

“Bam?”

You waited but the sound of paws scratching the floor didn't grace your ears, so you got up from bed and searched for him. You looked everywhere, calling for him every few seconds, but he didn’t come out and you couldn’t seem to find him. In fact, there was no one else at home but you, which made you befuddled — where was your best friend?

Your hangover was deadly, it was trying to pull you down with a headache the size of the world. And so you beelined to the bathroom and stripped hastily to get your head under the water and try to wake up gently.

But there was no gentleness to be found when suddenly you remember something — there was a man. Yes, but— You— kissed?

Suddenly, you were flooded with the memories of you kissing, his gentle hand cupping your jaw, your trembling breath when your tongues touched. The foreign thing that ended up being a lip ring that you felt with your tongue. The way the kiss deepened, and your legs got tangled even beyond sweet Bam lying in between you.

You were hyperventilating, “What?!”

You did what?!

Did you kiss a random man? On your best friend’s couch in the middle of the night? Or did you hallucinate him because of the alcohol?

Suddenly, it came to you — he tasted of beer, and you told him as much.

You felt him smile against your lips, “And you taste of strawberry soju.”

You remembered chuckling before kissing him again, burying your fingers into slightly overgrown strands of hair that curled around your hand.

You rubbed your face under the water; you kissed him. You were both drunk, and you couldn’t remember everything, but you pressed your lips to—

You stopped breathing.

You were feeling his shoulders and pulling him close when Bam started licking both your faces, which made you both break away and laugh.

“I have to pee,” you had said, getting up.

Before you could be mortified about having said that to a random guy, you recognized that after you went to the bathroom, you forgot about getting back to the couch. Instead, you went to bed on autopilot and fell asleep. Because you were that drunk.

Well, thankfully. Otherwise, what could have ended up happening? You were not in your right mind, you could barely remember his face aside from his eyes and lip ring. You were crazy, nuts, and shouldn’t drink that much again.

You got out of the shower and got dressed quickly with more lenient thoughts. Since only kissing happened, it was okay. No harm no foul.

Your stomach was adding to the problem, but you still decided to take headache medicine before your phone buzzed and you grabbed it.

[Meet me at work and have breakfast with me?]

You agreed and got your stuff to go to her. The subway trip was twenty minutes but it was alright at that hour. The HYBE building was in a very busy area, so to already have a direct line there was a blessing.

You gave your name at the reception to get a visitor pass and went to the floor she indicated, smiling when you saw it was a cafeteria with breakfast all around.

She met you at the door and walked you through it before sitting down and watching you eat your broth carefully.

“Lots of people need caring for this morning. Funny what Valentine’s Day does to some people,” she was amused, though her expression screamed exhaustion. “If they’re in couple they drink together, if they’re single they drink alone. There’s no escape, is there?”

You were looking down apologetically until you could talk, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I… raided your fridge.”

She sighed, “I know, I saw the bottles on the floor. Hence why you’re here, to have a power breakfast.”

“What happened yesterday? Why didn’t you come home?”

Your best friend heaved a deep breath, her spirit hanging on by a thread, “My artist went to a friend's dinner last night and got drunk. I got his driver to get him home but they had an accident,” she sighed. Your eyes widened in alarm, but she raised her hand swiftly, “They’re both alright. This all to say that after my meeting got lost into late hours, instead of going home, I had to go and manage that situation.”

“That sucks…” You thought back to the previous night, unsure of how to introduce the topic.

“By the way, thank you for taking care of Bam. My artist and I really appreciated it—”

She was interrupted when a spot of black dashed for you, barking the instant you took a second to acknowledge his presence. You instantly smiled despite the horrid headache the noise was making and reached to pet him.

“No, Bam! No eating!”

“It’s not the food,” your best friend pointed out jokingly, dismissing the manager nearby who tried to admonish the pet.

You were happy to give him all the cuddles that were making him go crazy and whiny; you were happy to see him again too. It instantly pulled memories from the previous night into your mind and you wondered again how to bring it up with your best friend when a voice interrupted your thoughts.

“Bam.”

Bam was licking your hand happily, yet instantly darted away at the call, and you knew before you looked up. It was him. You recognized the longer hair you had gripped, the lip ring, and the eyes. The sweet yet searing eyes.

He got near your table and bowed to you both before starting a light talk with your best friend about the schedule for the day.

And you blinked, wondering why his eyes set on your best friend’s face, or rather why the whole situation felt like a gut punch. He must have been the artist your best friend was referring to, the one she managed. You wouldn’t know, she was secretive about who it was. But the way he was ignoring you couldn’t be mistaken. He didn’t acknowledge you more than that bow, but why would he? You knew who he was.

The moment your lips grazed in a slow kiss while his hand gently supported your jaw came to mind and you blinked in astonishment. You couldn't believe it happened. Even as you remembered opening your eyes the moment he pulled away a few inches to breathe and looked straight into your eyes. It was impossible. Even if you were both drunk, how—

“Excuse me.” The three of you turned to the lady in uniform. “No pets are allowed in the cafeteria,” she bowed respectfully.

It was easy for you to get up, “I’ll take Bam to the rooftop garden.”

You grabbed his leash from the man’s hand without touching him and he let it go, a bit startled. Not that you noticed; you stepped away and called for Bam, who followed you swiftly.

Jungkook stayed behind, eyes still on you leaving with his dog until you were out of sight.

“She’ll take good care of him.”

He turned back to his manager and nodded, “I know.”

His manager was ready to use every argument she had to convince him, so she chuckled, “Funny how yesterday you were borderline going nuts over a stranger taking care of him and now you’re so relaxed.”

He nodded and looked back at where you disappeared with his Bam. You were not a stranger.

“What’s that look?” She asked, eyebrows furrowing ever so lightly.

He pressed his lips and nibbled a bit on his lip ring, but then looked back at her, “When you left me at your place… something happened.”

A mix of fear and ‘oh no’ crossed his manager's face and he sat across from her where you had sat before, ignoring your tray and half-eaten food.

“We were both drunk,” he started, expecting her not to believe him, but she just nodded. “And Bam loves her. We just—” He filled his lungs with air, pushing it back out anxiously as his tattooed hand ran across his hair, “We joked around that I was Bam’s dad and she was his mom. Then, that we were both alone, nowhere close to having a Valentine, and that maybe Bam was our cupid. Instead of meeting and making a baby, the baby— made us—” He became crimson and hid his eyes for a second, then he faced her again, “We were drunk!”

“You said that,” she deadpanned firmly. She was his manager, she needed to know things in black and white. He knew that.

“So we joked. Maybe we should get together, and we kissed.”

Her eyes doubled in size, “Oh no, you didn’t!”

“We just kissed!”

Her features hardened, “Tell me right now. Tell me the truth.”

“It’s the truth! I swear, we kissed— for a while—” His ears were becoming red, “And then she went to the bathroom and I fell asleep.” His manager’s expression had not changed a millimeter, and his eyes became pleading. “You have to believe me. You woke me up and I was alone with Bam.”

“That’s true,” she acknowledged, finally heaving a breath. “Shit, this is my fault. Leave two drunk people alone, and see what happens.”

He frowned, “I don’t just go around kissing people, even when I’m drunk.”

She faced him, “That is also true.” It seemed clear to her, so he relaxed. “So what happened? Why did you kiss her?”

He blinked with wide eyes, startled by the question. “I… I don’t know.”

He looked down, containing the urge to look back at where you had left with his pet. He didn’t even know your name, he knew nothing except that Bam loved you and you tasted sweet.

His manager waited for a proper response, for any additional information. But when none came, she knew what she had to do. She sighed, “Well. I’ll have to contact our lawyers and draft an NDA. She’s my best friend”, she confessed, rubbing her eyes for a second. “Shit,” was all she expressed before getting up and rushing out.

Jungkook pressed his lips and let her leave. He was confused about the situation, about his actions. He knew so little… Why did he think it was enough?

He put away the trays you and his manager had used while he pondered this. In a way, Bam’s heart meant everything to him. The way Jungkook loved him was unexplainable, he was the only soul in the world he could ever love in such a way. His innocence and instinct were enough, and he listened to you like he only ever listened to Jungkook himself. That shouldn’t have been enough, but it was.

And he was drunk, he sighed, leaving the room. It was his fault, he knew that. He shouldn’t kiss people irresponsibly like that, and now his manager was in a tough spot.

He decided to head for the rooftop and sort this out with you. He didn’t know what to say, but he thought maybe it didn’t have to be a big deal. You two just did it and it was… freeing. There were no inhibitions or second thoughts. It was playful and innocent, and then your lips touched. He didn’t know it would feel like that, he hadn’t thought it through. But it felt so good. It created shivers, made him hot, curious, awake, alive. He had no questions, no doubts, it was like jumping out of an airplane and freefalling. It was like the wind was guiding him to fit together with you, there was nothing in him telling him to fight it.

He got to the rooftop and immediately saw you across the garden sitting on a bench with his manager, and your best friend, next to you. Bam saw him too and raised his head and ears, but he was busy grabbing a stick that had just fallen on the floor and bringing it back to you. Jungkook could have expected him to drop everything to greet him, but Bam didn’t.

His manager was explaining something to you and your eyes were glued to the floor, expression closed except for the line between your eyebrows. Only when Bam brought you back the stick and you threw it again, did you look up. Jungkook was walking closer yet slowly, not meaning to intrude, and you had thrown the stick almost right into his path. That was why Bam happily gave it to him instead, and he crouched to pet his baby while his eyes stayed on you.

Your eyes turned away when you said something. He couldn’t hear it from there, but he knew the words out of your mouth were cold. He recognized his manager trying to have you reconsider or change your mind, but your eyebrows drew closer as you bit something back and just got up and away.

You didn’t look at him as you walked in his direction towards the exit. You planned to pass by him without a word, a mix of emotions inside you that you preferred not to address. And yet Bam was what forced you to change your mind when he lit up at your presence. He looked for a pet from your hand and you immediately halted, unable to punish that sweet pup because of his dad.

Still, the words slipped the seam of your lips somewhat bitterly, “Are you a baby?”

“What?” He blinked, eyes wide as he straightened up.

“You kiss someone and your first instinct is to threaten them with NDAs?” You were frowning with a hint of contempt, but your eyes were glistening. You continued before he could say anything, “I won’t sign it. I don’t care what any of you think, this isn’t normal. You regret it? Fine, but then act like a fucking adult.”

He was at a loss for words and movement behind you had him glancing, and so you turned. Your best friend had a serious expression on her, something you imagined was her work persona. Well, too bad you had no sympathy for it.

“No,” you raised a hand before she could say something. “You’re doing your job, and I’m standing up for my principles. I’ll go to your place and get my stuff.”

You passed by him at a hastened pace and the second he turned to say, “Wait!”, the heavy glass door was already closing behind you, muffling every trace of a sound.

He turned to his manager then, seeing the tiredness, sadness, and frustration all over her face as she heaved a deep sigh and hid the tears in her eyes.

His lips twitched with a question, but she spoke instead, “She thinks I’m choosing my job over her.”

“But you’re not,” he instantly said, confused. “This isn’t necessary.”

She sighed, “I’ll deal with this, ok? Get to your shoot.”

She also passed by him quickly inside and Jungkook looked at Bam, who was lying on the floor chewing on the stick with a hard focus. Why were they so eager to get anything done without a proper conversation?

He took Bam with him across HYBE and got inside the car with other managers and assistants. They were waiting for him to continue his schedule, chatting about Bam. It would be difficult to have him on the set, but they’d contact a sitter on the way—

“Take me to Manager Kim’s place.”

“What?” His manager frowned, “Now?”

“Yes, now. To drop off Bam,” he offered, though he knew it was a lie. His manager agreed though because he knew Bam had stayed there the previous day, and being late to the shoot was fixed with a simple call giving them a warning and an apology.

Jungkook left the car first, saying that he’d go and come back quickly, and the team agreed, to his relief. He was upstairs in a beat in front of the right door, yet before he could ring the doorbell, the door opened in front of him and something crashed into his chest. His heart jumped and his hands darted to support your arms as you recoiled back, and then you looked up at him. Such beautiful big and expressive eyes, and he knew then he would have wanted to kiss you anyway.

You broke away from his arms and moved to go around him. He didn’t miss your frown, but he didn’t hesitate, “Can we talk?”

“I’m not going to sign it,” you insisted as you turned to him, adjusting your backpack over your shoulder. “But you don’t need to worry, that doesn’t mean I’ll talk about it. I’m not like that.”

He nodded once, “Okay. But that’s not what I want to talk about.”

You paused, “Oh.”

Your features smoothed in confusion and he was happy he caught your attention, “Can we go inside?”

You shrugged but walked back inside. You petted Bam gently between his ears then put your backpack down on the floor. By then, Jungkook had released Bam’s leash and closed the door. The sweet baby darted to the water bowl and your lips curved before his dad drew your attention away.

“I don’t regret it,” he said, and your eyebrows jumped. “You keep saying that, but I don’t. And I didn’t ask Manager Kim to do this either, I suppose it’s standard procedure or something. I wouldn’t know. But she’s just doing her best because she feels responsible.”

You were skeptical, “You wouldn’t know?”

“No.”

You found that hard to believe, but you didn’t insist. It had nothing to do with you. “Why would she feel responsible?”

“Because she’s in charge of me, I guess. Managers tend to feel like that even when we are, in fact, not babies.”

Your lips twitched at his choice of words.

“So don’t get mad at her. After this, I’m going to tell her to stop it. I don’t want this NDA thing, and neither do you. It’s not necessary,” he sighed. He had told his manager that before, but maybe if he insisted, she’d get it.

You nodded.

“And thank you for looking after Bam,” he finished with a smile. The Doberman had jumped on the couch a bit carelessly, but he was calm. “He’s usually nervous around strangers, but he loves you. You might really be his Mom for all he cares,” he smirked, watching as you stepped to the side to pet Bam. “And I wouldn’t… separate him from a person he loves. If you’d like to see him again.”

Your cheeks instantly caught fire as you looked at him. He held your gaze calmly, the only hint of nervousness in his fingers fidgeting. You didn’t think you were misunderstanding him, then.

“I can make time.”

He smiled, “Good.”

[sugarsfics]

Messing Around In IKEA

Summary: Your pregnant with your second child, with your husband Steve. You have recently moved into a new house. Time to get furniture at the best store there is IKEA. 

Trope: Dad!Steve x Mom!reader 

A/N: I have never been in an IKEA store before :/ so bare with me. Also sorry I thought this posted yesterday and it didn't

Warning: BIG FLUFF, kissing 

Word count: 1.0k 

30 Day Challenge: Day 4 Send Request <3

The Harrington Clan pulled into the big blue store IKEA. “blue” your son Grayson said “Yes baby it is blue good job” your husband said. Grayson squealed at the praise his dad gave him. Steve pulled into a parking spot, turn off the car then quickly got his carbon copy, Grayson out, “no I want to go with mommy” Even though he was Steve’s twin he is the biggest mommy boy there is, that scared you and Steve a little bit because you weren’t sure how he was going to reattract when the baby comes. After he put Grayson into the cart, he helped you out of the car “My wife” he said taking your hand to help you out “My husband” you said back giving him a kiss, even after years of being with each other your kisses still make him blush. “hi mommy” Grayson chirped “Hi my baby” you said kisses his forehand “My boys ready” you asked “Yes” Grayson eyes went huge coming closer to the store “big” he mumbled. The store was huge, long, tall aisles, many displays, many colors. This was going to be hard.  

“Ok where should we start first” Steve asks “Ummm......let’s look for the living room” You had in mind what you wanted a nice big couch to fit all your friends and family, you and Steve want a big family and the house you just brought was going to be your family house. It was a beautiful house it was a light gray with white windows and a lovely porch, 2 story house with 5 bedrooms, a nice big backyard with a pool. It was on the outside of Hawkins, Steve wanted a fresh start and a clean slate to his name, but always wanted to be near his friends just in case they need anything. The gang love coming over at your old place, the harrington house was always so cozy and welcoming, and Grayson loved his aunts and Uncles, especially Uncle Will.  

You had some furniture from your old place but the living room is ten times bigger so you need a new couch to match with your old lounge chairs. Grayson was getting fussy in the cart “down Grayson wants down” he started talking in third person a month ago “Ok hang on "Steve told him as he stopped the cart and brought him down “Hold mommy’s hand ok” he nodded and grabbed your hand “mommy hand” you kept walking till you were met with couches “wow that is a lot” you said row and rows of couches were in front of you, so many colors, shapes, and size. “This is going to be harder than I thought” after spending a good 20 minutes looking at couches “Ok this is not working” Steve said “We need a new strategy” he continued. He grabbed Grayson and walked up to a couch and plopped down on it “STEVE” you pointed at the sign Please no seating on the displays “It says no sitting we are laying down” “Steve” “We need to find out of comfortable the couches are because it will be in our house forever and I don’t want an uncomfortable couch so” he patted the spot next to him “Come sit let's find our couch” 

Every couch you sat on Steve and Grayson made a pros and cons list “This one is very big, but it feels like carboard” “This one is cool but as sharp corners, and we don’t need them hurting you or the baby” “blue” Grayson said for every blue couch he sat on. At about the hour mark of sitting on couches there was a light gray big couch that got your eye “Let’s try this one” Steve helped you off the yellow couch you were sitting on the you waddle on to the light gray one. “Oh, this one is nice” he said “Just imagine movies nights on this” “I am going to 100% fall asleep on this” “It goes with our chair too” “I think we found it” he said smiling at you. Grayson wasn’t making a sound which scared both of you so you quickly looked over at him “Just like his daddy” you whispered he had fallen asleep mouth open on the couch “I think he likes this one” Steve giggled “He looks so comfortable makes me want to take a nap” you leaned your head on Steve admiring you son as he rubbed your belly “I can’t wait to have our house be filled with little Harringtons” he whispered into your ear while kissing your temple “Me too” you sigh  

You don’t remember how it happened, but you were suddenly woken up by a worker “Excuse me um... You're not supposed to be sleeping let alone on the displays” “I'm so sorry it was just such a nice couch and-” “Don’t worry about it this happens all the time would you like to purchase the couch” “Yes please let me wake up my husband” you shook Steve which startled him “What happened” you nodded toward the work “Time to buy the couch” “Oh ok” They wrote down our information and were going to deliver the couch to the house. After paying Steve scooped up Grayson and brought him to the car, he buckled him in then kissed his forehead. He walked over to your side seeing you struggling to get in “I told you, you can’t be getting up and down on things without help” “But you were busy with Grayson and I didn’t want to be a burden” “Babe you are my wife the mother of my kids literally carrying my second child into you there is no way that you are a burden you are my everything” he said sweetly kissing your lips then bring you into the car “Now let's go home I am beat from couch finding” You walked into the house and remember “Babe we didn’t find a dinning set or anything else we needed” 

Tag list: @thefreak0fhawkinshigh let me know if you want to be added

[hum-suffer]

Of course, you'll hurt me 4 (Rajneeti)

When Amrita wakes up three hours later, it's dawn. She gets ready for the day as quickly as she can and for the first time in months, makes an Americano for herself.

She has a feeling she'll need it.

And she's not wrong, because ten minutes later, her phone rings and it's Prithvi bhaiya calling. Amrita looks down at the empty mug of coffee, the taste of it turning bitter on her tongue and braces herself.

"Amrita, I need you to pick up some books from the district library." He says, not bothering to greet her as he yawns. "And pick up my clothes from the laundry, please."

Amrita frowns as he rattles off a list of self help books. "Finally understanding that you need help, are you?"

Prithvi scoffs. "It's for Virendra. He'll need it, he's going to be panicking."

"I'm not going to let you ruin your career by being petty to Virendra," she says tiredly. "I'll bring the records that are necessary and your clothes. And what about the lawyers?"

"What lawyers?"

Amrita grits her teeth but instantly relaxes as Dev comes into the living room, yawning dramatically as he walks. She flashes him a smile and gestures for him to sit down as she goes to make him tea and pack some lunch for him.

"Lawyers who will make the documentation of the power shift, bhaiya. Chandra uncle is the acting president and you are the secretary." Amrita says, putting the call on the speaker she began boiling milk. "You saw Virendra bhaiya yesterday. He may as well try to prove something wrong."

She can hear the downturn of his mood as he speaks,"Don't give him so much respect, Amrita. And yes, I'll talk to Mamaji about the lawyers. I do think he's already contacted his lawyers, but it doesn't hurt to ask."

"Alright. And the rally we planned? Are we going through?"

"Of course," he says indignantly. "Bade papa would have wanted the party strong."

Amrita wants to groan. She doesn't have the energy for this bullshit, not today, not with so less sleep. She serves the tea in Dev's mug— he has more than three and this one is his favourite, with a print of Ninja Hattori on it. He'll refuse it with his life if asked, but he has a soft spot for the cartoon.

She sighs instead,"I'll be at your house in an hour and half. And, I'll take my lunch break later, I'll spend my lunch with Dev."

Prithvi hums. Amrita absolutely dreads whatever he will want to ask her and she hopes it's nothing about Sharma. If it is, she'll have to cross her boundaries and pull out all the stops. This situation is even more precarious than the last. A singular mistake like Sharma could cost them everything.

He ends up murmuring a quick goodbye and hanging up. It's unusual for him, but not unusual enough that she might investigate. Let him be. Amrita needs to focus more on herself and Dev, rather than the messy affairs of the Prataps. That's another job to deal with.

When she goes to Dev, he's pushing some books into his bag. "Thanks, Didi," he mutters, sitting down instantly. Amrita sits down beside him, serving both of them some snacks for breakfast. When they were younger, their mother had tried to instill the habit having fresh warm breakfast in them but Amrita's stomach couldn't agree with such heavy breakfast and Dev refused to eat alone— if his sister wasn't eating with him, he wasn't eating anything. Amrita had to restort to a compromise of dry snacks in order to get some food in the boy and also make sure she doesn't throw up her breakfast everyday.

"What's going to happen now, didi?" He asks, sneaking a chocolate cookie from her plate. "Bhanu Pratap is a huge leader. If he dies, who'll handle the party?"

Amrita shrugs. "I honestly don't care much about that and neither should you. As long as we get the money, I don't care who handles the party. Though, I am hoping Prithvi bhaiya becomes the Chief Minister from the elections. There needs to be some progress in my life. It's getting boring."

Dev shakes his head and smiles like he doesn't know what to say. "True enough. But I don't like the way Virendra bhaiya seems so distressed about Prithvi bhaiya. It feels off."

Amrita hums quietly. "That's true. Whatever happens, if push comes to shove and we need to choose, know that we'll choose Prithvi. He's reckless but he's been kind to us."

"And Samar bhaiya?"

Amrita gives Dev a side eyed look. "What about him?"

"You've never said anything to him after he's come back. I don't know what happened, but he broke contact with you and left you hanging. Are you sure you want to side with him?" Dev asks, frowning at her as he finishes the last of his tea. "Is he the person you can support, even indirectly?"

Amrita purses her lips and shrugs. She carefully sidesteps the dangers that Dev has planted in his words. "Eh. I don't know him all that deeply anymore, I don't think so. And who cares about him? He'll go back to America, I think. He's kept out of politics for a reason. Let's pray the reasons persists."

He doesn't look convinced but gets up and quickly washes his hands while Amrita grabs both of their bags and gets out, starting her Jupiter. Dev grudgingly sits behind her, muttering about how she never lets him drive. She pointedly doesn't start driving until he wears the helmet she's offering.

Amrita grins and elbows him and starts driving,"Be glad I'm babying you so much. Once you graduate, it's a cutthroat world. Let me treat you like my baby for a while. You've just started your college."

Dev— still a teenage boy, no matter how much she teaches him to show affection— keeps his hands on his thighs as he answers back to her snarkily. Amrita thinks this is the most powerful feeling that she has. She owns no power more important than the power to spend time with her brother, who loves her. Whom she taught how to love and be loved.

As soon as they're at the gates of his university premises, Dev gets off and removes the helmet, bending down and shoving his face between her and the side mirror to tame his hair. "This helmet always ruins my hair," he whines as she pushes him away with her fingertips on his forehead.

"Try mine next time, then." She rolls her eyes at his dramatics. "Come here, you idiot." She pushes his hair out of his eyes and helps him set it in the way she knows he likes. "I'll take you for ice cream after college, deal?"

"I desperately need blueberry ice cream. That's the stall I was talking about." He points at a stall across the street and Amrita shakes her head at his choice but doesn't comment on it regardless.

His watch beeps and he smacks his own forehead in a punishment that Amrita knows won't last anyways. "I'm about to be so late because you drive so slow! Bye, see you!" He pushes his helmet in her hands and turns around, starting to sprint.

She chuckles at him and calls back. "See you!" She knows she's embarrassed him, the poor fresher, but she can't help but enjoy it.

Everyone in the university knows Amrita Arya is an alumnus. And her name is engraved in the lore of the college. Their shared last name and Dev's sheer charm will protect him from any ragtag bullies, if there exist any.

»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

When she reaches his house with his clothes, Prithvi is talking to one of his bootlickers. Amrita gives Bharti aunty a smile and puts the clothes on an armchair for their house help to later pick up.

"Eat something, now that you're here. You were rushing a lot yesterday, you must be tired," Bharti aunty says, gesturing her to sit down.

Amrita shakes her head. "No, thank you, aunty. I'll feel nauseous if I eat anything this early. How are you? How is Chandra uncle?"

"Arre what will ever happen to me?" She waves off nonchalantly. "Your uncle left for the office headquarters today very early for some emergency meetings. The inner politics in the party needs immediate attention, apparently."

"Stop worrying, Maa," Prithvi says, finally off the call. "Papa knows how to handle everyone. They trust him to make the right decisions."

It's easy to manipulate old men in greed of power.

"Everything ready for the rally?"

Amrita nods. She brings out a file, to show him the route that she's prepared. Ideally, she'd be showing this to him 24 hours prior but Prithvi likes to stall too much. When she turns back to him, Samar is walking into the room. His eyes catch her for a moment and Amrita looks away instantly.

"We'll have to go Ramnagar first and continue down to Azadnagar. Strong seats but we do need to reinforce their belief in us, especially after last night." Amrita says, showing him the city plans. "These are the stats of the last time's election, from these areas."

Prithvi waves her off. "I don't have time for stats. You read through them?"

Amrita rolls her eyes but nods, keeping her eyes trained on Prithvi even as she feels Samar's eyes practically boring into her. "Yes. I've also talked to some people I know and it seems like Azadnagar has a change of views in politics but otherwise, the other areas are still under our influence. Especially, considering the employment drive we did a couple of years ago."

Samar yawns. "And this Azadnagar? Didn't people get employment there?"

"The elderly people of the area got medical benefits but no, we had some disagreements with the company who got the tender for road building and they didn't give us the same ratio of employment reservation for the people of Azadnagar." Amrita says, sighing. She remembers the shit show that particular spat was. Bhanu uncle handled it, but honestly, it was a shit show.

Samar hums, quietly picking up a mug of tea.

(Amrita remembers he prefers tea with mint and Tulsi.)

Samar takes one sit from the mug and his lips purse but he doesn't say a word. The kitchen has no smell of mint or Tulsi and Amrita can guess that Bharti aunty made ginger tea. She's always insistent on how good it is for health. She always griped about how using tulsi for tea is just an unfair way of using the pious plant.

(Amrita feels an unpleasant ache between her ribs when she realises she's right about his preferences still. That she remembered it correctly. Samar Pratap has always sunk into her veins with ease like he's always belonged. Vindictively, passionately and absolutely. Like he belongs.)

Samar decides not to come to the rally, even as a background face. Amrita envies his autonomy that he can say no to this circus. Amrita wishes she could.

»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

The rally, predictably, goes like shit.

Amrita literally has to take a pill for a brewing headache and plug her earphones in both ears. The overly loud and bright crowd does her no favours and the beginning of a migraine isn't something she wishes to welcome. Both Harsh and Prithvi see her rubbing her forehead every five minutes, closing and opening her eyes to keep the brightness at bay as long as she can.

"You okay there, assistant?" Prithvi asks ten minutes before they're about to enter Azadnagar. His voice is cajoling but she can see the worry in his frown. (Where was this concern yesterday, when someone was staring at her inappropriately?)

Amrita swallows the words and blows out a breath to relax herself. "Just, everything is too bright and loud. I'm okay, bhaiya, don't worry."

Harsh passes a water bottle to her and she grins at him, silly,"Aw, you do care!"

"There's poison in it," he deadpans. "Drink and die."

"Careful there, your wife will get jealous of me if you show so much love!" She teases back and even the mention of his wife brings a smile to his face. "Lovesick." She mutters under her breath with a smile, taking a sip from the bottle.

Prithvi passes her a pair of Ray-Ban aviators. Amrita raises her eyebrows at him in concern and question. He's never been one for sunglasses, says they make him look cheap. And she's not going to use some random bootlicker's sunglasses. Ew.

"They're Samar's," he explains, seeing her disgusted face,"he forgot them in the car when we went out for a drive early in the morning."

Oh, that makes sense. Samar has always liked to watch the sunrise and sunset.

Hesitantly, Amrita puts the aviators on. On an average day, she'd swear up and down and never wear them, but today isn't her day and she'd rather be seen in too big sunglasses than have a migraine.

Prithvi outright laughs at how big the sunglasses look on her face. Before she can realise anything, he clicks a picture of her, scowling.

"I literally hate you." She says without any heat in her words.

Prithvi blows her a mocking kiss and starts to stand up in the jeep. "Keep hating, assistant."

____________________________________________________

Tagging: @akshinayak (sorry for being so late!!)

[f10werfae]

Hiii, Can I do a request with Henry Cavill?

Here’s the situation, yesterday was my birthday and from 15 only came 4 (all of them had already confirmed that they’ll be here and also they gave a “joke” gift and made feel really humiliated) I want Henry comforting the reader in that situation. Because God knows that hurt soo much and I really wanted someone to comfort me. Angst but with lotsss of fluff please 🥰🥰🥰

Birthday Cake ☁️

Pairing: Boyfriend! Henry Cavill x Reader

Word count: 1,863

Summary: Request tells all ☺️

Warning: Slight Angst in terms of the reader being humiliated, other than that it’s fluffy

(Hope I fulfilled the request ☺️)

—————

Requests are open!

Likes, Comments and Re-blogs are appreciated♥️

—————-

(Y/n's P.O.V)

'jeez y/n you are lookin fine tonight, 26 and still gorgeous’ I said to myself, my hands running up and down my dress clad body, this dress had definitely boosted my confidence. For the first time in weeks I had finally gotten a week off of work, BUT for a very good reason, it’s my birthday week.

(The dress)

Henry and I decided to celebrate just him and I later on during the week, allowing for my friends and I to go out tonight. A dinner at the restaurant, followed by a few drinks at the club.

For the first time in weeks, I felt pretty and happy. Something work had very much bogged down.

I had already received a gag gift if you will, from these friends and honestly I didn’t know how to feel at all. They had decided to gift me a massive cardboard cutout of one of Henry's exes, writing on the back “the original”

Now of course when I saw it I laughed it off, but deep inside I knew that they had hit a massive insecurity of mine.

Trying not to be rude I just stored the cutout in my clothes closet, thinking of the best time to throw it at the dump.

When all of a sudden a ping of texts vibrated my phone from the nightstand, it slowly shifting with each sound, interrupting my train of thought. Humming to myself I walked over to the table, instantly seeing a flood of notifications from the group chat.

The Girls 🍷

Stephanie: Hey Y/n, looks like I can’t make it this week, just found out my boyfriends throwing a party and you know i’ve just gotta keep an eye on him

Monica: Yeahh that’s what I was coming here to say, today’s date is just really inconvenient for us to be honest. Hannah told me to say she can’t make it either soz xx

Leah: Y/n let’s reschedule another time?

Chloe: Yeah soz can’t make it, promise next year tho yeah? 😂😂

Y/n: I don’t get it? I asked you guys if you were free today?

Chloe: Don’t get an attitude Y/n jus cus its ur bday

“From 6 to 1, within 5 minutes” That genuinely must be a record for me.

Looking at myself in the reflection, all energy and confidence, gone. Huffing out, I grabbed my phone again, deciding to phone up the reservation at the restaurant, the one Henry had made for me.

(Phone Call)

Random: Hello this is ** Restaurant, how can I help you?

Y/n: Yes hello, uh I’m calling about the reservation for Cavill, at 6:30pm?

Random: Ah yes, hello Mrs Cavill, the reservation for 6?

Mrs? I swear Henry needs to stop introducing me as his wife, it’s going to make me blush to a point where it’s permanent

Y/n: Yeah unfortunately something has came up, so would I be able to cancel the reservation. I’m so sorry about this

Randomer: Oh no, it’s not bother Mrs Cavill, thank you for calling to let us know

(End of Phone Call)

Putting down the phone, I could not be bothered to even get unready, deciding against it and heading towards the kitchen.

Pulling open the fridge, I picked up my chocolate cake and set it onto the counter. Getting up to grab a fork, and sitting back down again, my feelings still numb.

Without thinking I started stabbing the cake with the fork, whilst continuously scooping parts into my mouth. Tears unwillingly slipped down my cheeks, my vision clouded.

Why am I always the one left in the end? Even on my f*cking birthday and all I wanted was to see my so called “friends”

Sooner or later it’s going to be Henry leaving me, I can already feel it.

Then it’ll just be me, again.

I guess you could say my thoughts are a stretch, but in times of hardcore emotion, it’s hard to control the type of thoughts you get.

In the middle of a massive bite of cake, there was a series of rapid knocks at my front door. Wearily I walked over, opening the door, to see Henry?

“Bear?”

(Henry’s P.O.V)

Sitting with the lads at the club, I watched the clock mindlessly. Y/n had sent me out for the night so she could have her girls night, but honestly I didn’t mind, I know how much she’s been needing something like this.

When it finally reach 6:30, I suddenly had the idea of calling up the restaurant to send her table a batch of their finest wine. If I couldn’t be there for her, I will be there another way.

(Phone Call)

Random: Hello this is ** Restaurant, how can I help you?

Henry: Hi there, I’m asking about the Cavill reservation?

Random: Yes the one your wife cancelled tonight?

Henry: She cancelled it? Why? When?

Random: At around 5:30? She said something had come up, sir.

Henry: Okay thank you, bye

(End of Phone call)

“Who was meant to be there tonight?” I said out loud to myself, leaning my head back.

“Ah yes stephanie” I said to myself, instantly going to her instagram to see a new story was put up.

what the hell was going on, why was all of

Y/n's friends out at this dude's party? Where was Y/n?

Instantly standing up, “I gotta go lads, somethings up”

Hearing a chorus of goodbyes, I jumped into my car and drove back home; Y/n's car was still in the driveway and the lights were on in the house. Knocking on the door rapidly, my heartbeat ringing in my ears.

“Bear?”

(Y/n's P.O.V)

“W-what are you doing here?” I asked, swallowing the last bit of cake in my mouth.

“I should be asking you that babe, why are you not out?”

“This is why” I said passing him my phone, seeing his face start to furrow as he read through the group chat texts.

“Oh pup, i’m so sor-“ Hearing his voice, I could feel the tears starting to build up again, rushing to his arms for comfort.

His arms instantly surrounding me, his lips pressing kisses to my head.

“Why didn’t you call me? You know I would have taken you out instead” He said cupping my face to look at him, placing another kiss onto my nose.

“I-I just didn’t wanna look like a loser with no friends Hen” I said sniffling, wiping my tears with the back of my hands, before his hands pulled mine down. Wiping my tears with his thumbs, he placed soft kisses on my rosey cheeks.

“You’d never look like a loser to me love, you deserve much better than those people you call friends. How about this, lets get you more comfortable and we can have a night to ourselves?”

“Yeah okay” I said smiling slightly, seeing his eyes peer down at me with so much love.

“You look absolutely amazing tonight, lord have I got the hots for you” Henry said laughing slightly, slapping my ass as we walked up the stairs to our bedroom, giggles being heard along the way.

“Alright i’m going to pick you out some soft pyjamas, you just sit down on the bed and don’t do anything. Tonight is all about you”

Nodding my head, he walked into our closet before walking back out again.

“Why is my ex in our closet? With that written on her” He said looking at me confused.

“Oh the girls gave me that as a gift, nice right” I said sarcastically, seeing his face fall again. “Those b*tches, love I cannot stand to see you with them again if they’re treating you like this”

Henry pulled the cutout out, folding it smaller and shoving it into the corner beside our bin where he claimed it “belongs

Walking back into our closet he pulled our our matching velvet pyjamas, putting his set on first before walking over to me.

“Sorry Hen, I know you were out with the lads tonight” I said putting my hands in the air as he helped pull the dress off me, his hands unclipping my bra for me, before putting on the warm pyjama top.

“Sweets I can go out with them anytime, your birthday is once a year”

He held the trousers out for me, letting me step into them before patting my thigh softly, then standing up to his full height again.

“Meet you down at the sofa okay? i’ll be two minutes”

“Ok but don’t take too long bear, might miss you too much” I said winking at him, feeling myself starting to lighten up a bit.

Heading downstairs to the sofa I sat down, turning on the T.V to put on anything for background noise. Hearing Henry grunt, I turned my head seeing him carrying at least two comforters and five pillows in his grasp.

Just before throwing them all on top of me before running back upstairs again, leaving me to settle into the pillows and blankets, transforming the sofa into a massive bed.

Running back down the steps, he jumps in next to me, putting a box in my lap with a number “1” written on it. His arm going around my waist to pull me into his side, his lips kissing my temple, his hand tucking the hair behind my ear.

“What is this bear?”

“It’s your first gift of course, out of 26”

“Are you serious? 26?”

“Well yes, now go on, open it poppet”

Untying the ribbon, the box fell apart into its different layers, photos throughout our relationship littered the sides.

“Oh Hen” I started, tears brimming my eyes, but for a good reason this time.

The first photo, however, caught my eye bringing a bright blush to my face as I picked it up. Henry's fingers tracing shapes into my side as he watched my reaction.

“H-hen when did you take this?”

“Well, you were just so cute, snuggly and warm. At that point I just fell more in love with you babe”

The picture was that of Henry and I in bed, specifically me laying half asleep on his chest after a very intimate night. My eyes looking up at him, half open, my breasts hidden by his hand reaching the whole way around me.

“I don’t know what to say bear”

“How about 'cake?' “

“Oh yeah, there’s some in the kitchen if you want” I said caressing his bearded face, his hands playing around with the hair on my neck as I turned towards him.

“Okay i’ll be two seconds then love” He said getting back up and returning with the whole cake platter and a fork in his hand.

“Open wide” He said, getting a piece of cake onto the fork, before feeding me it.

“Do you not want a bit?” I asked confused.

“Oh i’ll get some, dont worry love” He said quirking his brow at me, before smashing his lips onto mine. The kiss getting passionate as he set down the plate, his kisses getting slippery and more heated with him then pulling away.

“Red velvet cake? Almost as sweet as you baby”

[imekitty]

Star Error VII

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Star investigates Danny’s glowing freckles.

-----

"Star, where have you been?" asked Kwan.

Star took her normal seat at the A-List table in the cafeteria. "Nowhere. Sorry. Just had a thing I needed to take care of."

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Paulina, taking a bite of her chicken salad.

Star looked down at the empty table space in front of her. "Oh. Uh, actually, I already ate."

"What did you eat?" Dash grinned, chewing his food as he spoke. "Fenton's face?"

Star balked. "What kind of a question is that?"

"He walked in literally a minute before you did," said Dash, looking over in Fenton's direction where he was sitting with Manson and Foley a few tables away. "His loser friends were here on time as usual, so that means he was also 'taking care of something.' That 'something' probably being you, right?"

"So you and Danny are really hitting it off, huh?" Paulina playfully elbowed her in the side.

"No!" shrieked Star. "You guys have got it all wrong."

"Star, you don't need to keep denying it." Dash took a huge bite of his burger, a glob of ketchup smearing above his lip. "Paulina's dated him, too. Clearly that nerd's got something going on you girls like."

Paulina made a face. "I don't know what you're talking about, but could you please use a napkin, Dash?"

Dash wiped his mouth with his hand. "Paulina, we all remember that week when you were attached to Fenton's hip and we had to temporarily kick Kwan out of the A-List to make room for him."

"I could never forget," sighed Kwan with a pout.

"You're all crazy," said Paulina. "That never happened."

"Come on, Paulina." Dash took another bite, even more ketchup dribbling down his chin. "Just tell me what that nerd's secret is already. I mean, why would you date him of all people before me?"

Paulina pursed her lips. "Well, for one, he's not gross."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Stop talking with your mouth full, Dash! See, Danny's not a pig like you are."

"That's because Fenton barely eats at all. He's a twig."

"He's not a twig." Paulina looked in Fenton's direction and twirled a lock of her hair. "He's put on some muscle this past year. Don't you agree, Star?"

Star rolled her eyes. "Who's keeping track of that?"

"Look, all I'm saying is, I could kick his ass from one end of this school to the other." Dash sighed. "God, I actually kind of miss whaling on him. Coach said I had to knock it off or I'd get kicked off the team."

"Does Fenton know that?" asked Kwan.

"No, and I'm not gonna tell him." Dash smirked. "I'd rather him live in fear that I could pound him any day now."

"He's not afraid of you, you know," said Star with a shrug.

Dash furrowed his brow. "What did you say?"

"Fenton's not afraid of you," said Star more slowly.

"And just how do you know that?"

"He told me."

"Oh, did he tell you yesterday on your little date?"

"It wasn't a date, as I keep trying to tell you, but yes, it was yesterday at the cafe."

"He was probably just trying to impress you." Dash laughed. "You know, act like he's tough for his new girlfriend. But I think it's real cute that you two are starting to get to know each other so well."

Star wrinkled her nose and pouted.

"So how is he?" Paulina nudged her.

"What? How is who? What do you mean?" asked Star irritably.

"Danny," said Paulina. "I mean, is he a good kisser?"

"Shouldn't you know, Paulina?" asked Dash. "Surely you sucked face with him at least once when you were dating him."

"Shut it, Dash." Paulina glared at him. "I'm asking Star a question."

Dash rolled his eyes and stuffed the last bite of his burger into his mouth. "Yes, Star, please tell us what it's like to kiss one of the biggest geeks in school. We're all dying to know."

"I just want to know if he's better than me," said Kwan anxiously. "He's not, right?"

Everyone looked at her expectantly, waiting. Star chewed the inside of her cheek as her eyes darted between them.

And a few tables over, Fenton was chatting it up with his friends, all smiley because he had the upper hand again.

And then Star got an idea.

"Well, actually…" She put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. "We haven't kissed yet. Fenton—I mean, Danny says he wants to practice a little more first. You know, to make sure our first kiss is perfect."

"Practice?" Paulina tilted her head.

"Yeah," said Star, grinning. "He has all these dolls and pillows in his room that he likes to practice on. They all have pictures of girls at our school taped to them. He says it makes it feel more authentic."

"Ew, are you serious?" Paulina crossed her hands over her chest and shuddered.

"No way, he doesn't do that, does he?" Kwan's eyes were wide.

"He's got at least a dozen of them," said Star. "He mostly uses pictures of cheerleaders."

"Oh, I have to tell everyone right now." Dash whipped out his phone and began furiously typing out a text message.

"Cheerleaders, so does that mean he has a doll or pillow with my picture on it?" asked Paulina.

"Oh, yeah." Star nodded. "I think he might practice with yours the most."

"Ugh, gross." Paulina stuck out her tongue. "But is it at least a good picture of me?"

Star's smile dropped. "Is it—what?"

"Just tell me it's not that picture of me after I ran that marathon last semester, is it? Where I'm all sweaty and my eyeliner is running?"

"Uh—"

"I know it's been circulating between all the boys, so please just tell me he's not using that one because I really hate it."

Star rolled her eyes. "He's using a great picture of you, don't worry."

Paulina sighed. "Okay, good." She also pulled out her phone. "The other cheerleaders are going to want to know about this, though."

Star smirked triumphantly as Dash and Paulina busily typed away on their phones, then she turned to look at Fenton across the way, catching his eye after just a few moments. She waved at him and flashed her most dazzling smile. Fenton's brow furrowed, his bottom lip sticking out slightly in a puzzled frown.

Star flipped her hair over her shoulder as she turned away. The game was back on.

Part 8

[winter-soldier-vibes]

You’re not going to work (Bucky x Reader)

Bucky x reader

Word count: 1612

Summary: Bucky comes back from a long mission so excited to see you. Little does he know, you have a full schedule that day. At least, you planned to. No way is he going to wait any longer. 

Warnings: no explicit anything this is mainly just fluff. The ending hints at a few things but really, Bucky just wants cuddles. 

A/N: This is just a fun one I had an idea for. One night right before I fell asleep I was like ‘Bucky would be cute begging for cuddles’ and voila. It’s a bit of a change of pace for me but I hope you enjoy it!

A/N 2 : This is my first time writing something like this so I apologize if it’s not fantastic. 

Tags: @abitgryffindorky @buckys2thicc @buckfics @thatfangirl42 @freigeistundanderes

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

Bucky nearly collapsed back into his seat on the quinjet after boarding. He might have had the serum, but that didn’t mean he was immune from exhaustion and soreness. He’d be fine by tomorrow but for right now, all he can do is lean back and close his eyes.

He was fine with going on missions. It was a part of the job, and he enjoyed helping people. Beating HYDRA’s ass was also a nice plus. He was also able to plan for it: he knew when a mission would be and approximately how long it would be. He knew what to expect. 

For the most part, mission briefings were pretty accurate. Some are overestimated.

Some are gravely underestimated. 

They expected to be home later the night they left. Bucky scoffed now at the idea of that. They had been fighting for a few days, with roughly a few hours scattered throughout to regroup. He had prepared himself to not see you for 12 hours at most. 

It had been 4 days. He was exhausted, he was sore, but more painful than that, he missed you. 

He wanted nothing more than to come back to the compound, ignore all traffic laws on the way to your shared apartment, and spend the entire day with you in his arms.

He sighed contently. He couldn’t wait. So when he arrived back and saw that you were dressed for work, his heart stuttered. 

He was meant to get back Friday night. It was now Tuesday morning, and you had a day full of meetings. 

You still had your back to him as he entered. When you heard the door close, you turned around, a smile spreading wide on your face.

“You’re back!” you said excitedly, staying in your place. You were so happy to see him, but your smile faltered slightly when you saw how worn out he looked. He smiled back at you, but you could tell the mission had been brutal on him.

Still he walked toward you and moved to hug you and you stepped back. Bucky looked like you had kicked him. 

“Sorry, I just… I have work.” you said, looking down at your white blouse. 

“Too bad,” he said, pulling you in for a hug. 

“Bucky!” you exclaimed, trying to pull back. Bucky wouldn’t budge though, and you were no match for the grip of his bear hug. He held you tightly and closed his eyes, despite your squirming.

“Bucky, please, I have to go. I’m gonna be late.”

“I don’t care. I was 4 days late coming home, you can be a day late to work,” he said.

You laughed a little, trapped in his embrace. It was a nice place to be, but not when you had a meeting starting in 30 minutes. “Bucky, I want nothing more than to stay with you, but it doesn’t work that way.”

“Doesn’t it?” he asked, pulling back to look at you while still holding you tightly. “Call in, tell them you have a personal emergency.”

“And what would that emergency be?”

“You have to take care of your sick boyfriend,” he said innocently.

You bit back a smile and a laugh. “And what’s the diagnosis?”

His eyes darted away for a second before he shook his head slightly. “Irrelevant. All I know is that you’re the cure. There’s no way to tell how sick I’ll get if you leave.”

“Ah, I see,” you said, playing along with it. He was giving you his puppy eyes. The ones you never used to be able to say no to. Damn those eyes - they could kill or get you to fold to anything. You had gotten better at standing your ground though, saying “Well, I am all yours tonight, but right now, I need to go to work,” as you finally wrestled out of his embrace.

You were used to puppy eyes, but that didn’t mean you were used to his kicked-puppy eyes. 

You sighed. 106 year old ex-assassin in full tactical gear, covered in mud and a few scrapes looked like he was about to cry because you wouldn’t call in sick to give him cuddles. It was cute, and you felt bad. But at some point you had to stand your ground.

“Please?” he asked, borderline whining but he didn’t care. All he cared about was keeping you from walking out of the door.

“Bucky I -”

“Fine,” he said, dropping the puppy eyes and walking towards you. You looked at him confused. “Bucky what are you -” you yelped in surprise as he picked you up and threw you over his shoulder. “You’ve been kidnapped. Your boss can’t blame you for missing work due to being kidnapped.” 

He brought you into your shared bedroom and sat down, positioning you so you were on his lap, his arms not allowing you to move. You down at him, sighing. “You’re not going to let me go are you?”

He shook his head giving you a slight smirk. “Not a chance doll.”

You looked at him for a few seconds and shook your head smiling a little, biting your lip slightly. He leaned forward and captured your lips in a kiss, you wrapping your arms around your neck.

“I missed you,” you breathed out.

“You have no idea,” he responded before kissing you again.

You pulled back much too soon for Bucky’s liking, and stood, saying “Let me call my boss really quick, okay?”

“Nope,” he responded, pulling you back on his lap. “You’ll call her later and apologize for the delay, and that your boyfriend was violently ill and you called at the first moment you could. But right now, we are going to go shower.”

“You can shower alone, and I’ll go call her”

“No,” he pouted.

“You are an adult Bucky,” you said, laughing slightly at his ridiculousness.

“Exactly, I’m too old to be showering alone.”

“Oh my god,” you said, breaking out in giggles. “Bucky, it’s going to take me 10 seconds. I’ll be in by the time the water’s warmed up and then we can shower together, okay?”

He studied you for a moment. Then he stood up, carrying you bridal style with him back out to the main room where you had left your phone. “Call her,” he said, still holding you.

You bit back a smile at how clingy he was being. You grabbed your phone and dialed your boss’ number holding your breath as it rang. 

“Hello?”

“Hi Valerie. I’m sorry for the late notice but my boyfriend is really sick and I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it into work today.”

There was a moment of silence before your boss responded with “He got back this morning didn’t he?”

You closed your eyes for a moment, looking down. You had been worried at work yesterday because he hadn’t gotten back yet. She must have overheard “Yes.”

She sighed but on the other end she was also smiling a little. “Alright. Just be here tomorrow.”

You let out a small breath of relief. “Thank you.”

“Yep. Tell him I hope his separation anxiety improves,” she said, hanging up the phone. You tried your best not to burst out laughing. When Bucky looked at you questioningly, you shook your head. “Work joke,” you said, still trying to hide your smile. 

Bucky nodded, walking back towards the bedroom and into the attached bathroom. He set you down on the counter before turning on the water. He walked back over to you and stood between your legs, wrapping his arms behind your back. You wrapped your arms around his neck in return, and the two of you rested your foreheads against each other. 

It was a nice quiet moment of peace, before you felt the warmth of Bucky’s hands leave their spot on your back, and travel lower to your -

“Bucky,” you laughed a little, “Did you miss me, or my ass?”

“Yes,” he answered quickly. 

You laughed some more and Bucky loved it. God he missed that sound. He laughed a little with you.

“Really, I missed everything about you,” he said, pulling back to look at you. “I love your voice, your laugh, your ass,” he kissed you before adding “the amazing neck massage you’re about to give me.”

You looked up at him. “Oh really, yeah? That’s how this is gonna be?”

Bucky looked down at you innocently. “Mhm”

“I hate giving you massages”

“You love it”

“It hurts my thumbs”

“It helps my neck”

“Your muscles are too hard”

“Your hands are too soft.”

You looked up at him and smiled, laughing a little as you asked “You really want a massage?”

“Yes I very much would like one.” He said nodding enthusiastically and smiling. 

“Ok, fine.” you said, still laughing. “The hot water will help. But we should probably take our clothes off first.”

He stepped back and gave you a smirk. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

[talesofstyles]

Drs Styles

paediatric heart surgeon harry, husband harry and dad harry. honestly the holy trinity.

warning: they did it in the car. bloody animals.

Harry

“Move your car, please!”

“What are you going to do? Write me a ticket?”

“This is in the interests of safety for the children!”

I look at the time in the car. I’ve still got about twenty to twenty-five minutes to watch this drama unfold at the school gate. I just wish we had popcorn because drop-off and parking situations at the school gates are always more entertaining than Good Morning Britain. 

The school gate is a strange social scene, and honestly, I don’t blame my wife for trying to avoid it like a plague. Sometimes, you don’t even have to talk to these people to know everything about their lives and more. I swear there are more gossips in the class WhatsApp group and daily playground chattering than in the copies of The Sun and Daily Mail combined. You know who’s married, who’s getting a divorce, whose husband shagged the au pair again, whose party you haven’t been invited to, even who’s looking for a builder. 

I see the school caretaker chuckling to himself as he sweeps the autumn leaves off the pathway, no doubt also enjoying our morning entertainment. 

“Why is Mrs Chambers screaming like that?” Alma, our eldest daughter, asks from the back of the car. 

“Because that man parks his car in a drop-off zone,” I reply, still watching him as he removes a child from his car seat. “Do you know who that is?”

“I think the boy is your classmate,” Alma turns to her sister.

Fiona, our youngest, peers over to inspect. “Oh yeah, that’s Rufus and his dad.”

“Do we like Rufus?”

“Not unless we like boys who pee down the slides,” Fiona scrunches her nose up. “He stood at the top and peed down like a waterfall. I haven’t gone down the slide ever since.”

I shake my head and let out a chuckle. “M’sure they’ve cleaned it up since, button.” 

Did you know that choosing a school for your child after nursery can be a head-throbbing, stomach-twisting, heart-pounding experience? Well, it can. How is one supposed to choose a school anyway? According to the proximity? Leavers Results? Adorable uniforms? Parents’ agendas?

After many, many discussions and visits through more schools than I can count, we ended up with Thomas’s Kensington. It’s a great school, and only ten minutes away from our home, making school runs easier. The downside of this school is the fact that it costs us an arm and a leg and that they’re always trying to rip us off any chance they get. Also, they only take the kids until 11, so after that, we’ll have to look for other schools again. But since our girls are only seven and five, we can worry about that later. 

There’s a strange mix of parents at this place. I went to school up in the North and the school gate scene is nothing like this. Here there are more au pairs, fancy cars, nicer clothes and people coming with impressive tans from their last weekend break in Antibes. The kids here are suited up too: the PE kit is the size of a small weekender bag, and we put them in uniforms that make them look smart, hoping that will increase the size of their brains. A child walks past our car with a cello case, another with a hockey stick. It’s a different land here. One that my socialist in-laws constantly tease us about and one which my mum was hysterical about because she was scared her grandbabies would be little Tories. I promised her I’d keep them grounded by only giving them plain hobnobs. None of those luxury chocolate covered ones.

Jokes aside, my girls are happy here. They’re thriving. They learn French and Spanish and Mandarin, even if they share a class with kids who have ridiculous names like Kitty and Archibald. 

A knock at my window calls me to attention. I wind it down.

“Are you Fiona’s dad?” A mum asks me.

“I am.”

“It’s about Ophelia’s riding party this Saturday at the riding stables.” 

Like I said, it’s a different land here.

“I thought we RSVPed to that?” I look at her in confusion.

“Yes, you did, but we have to change the food options as one of the partygoers is allergic to nuts. I’m making everyone aware and we need to let the guests know that they can’t bring any nuts on the day.”

A dirty joke is right there on the tip of my tongue and I’m trying my hardest to keep it in. My wife would definitely find it funny though, I’ve got to remember this and tell her later. 

“Noted,” I mean, I wasn’t going to send my daughter to a party with a packet of cashews anyway but I nod politely.

“And just gift vouchers for gifts please. Smiggle, if you can.”

Again, I nod, biting my tongue at the presumptuousness. But then I suddenly panic, because we haven’t entered the realms of pony riding just yet. Do I have to buy jods and boots? If I don’t, will my daughter be the odd one out? But Ophelia’s mum saunters off before I’ve got the chance to ask.

“Do I have to go to that party, daddy?” Fiona asks. 

“Well, we’ve already replied, poppet,” I tell her. “Did you not want to go?”

“I’ll go if I have to.”

I don’t answer because I get distracted by a vacant space. I edge the car forward so my girls can hop off. 

“I love you both. Have a good day, make good choices.” 

“Bye daddy! We’ll see you after work!”

***

Evelina London Children’s Hospital is our second home. Of course, as a children’s hospital, we try to make the place as fun as possible as not to freak those little patients out at being ill. It is bright and primary coloured, and each ward is decorated according to its own theme with different colours and lovely artworks. There are televisions and toys almost in every corner. We have a giant slide on the ground floor, and even the bins are shaped like red London buses. The aim was to help the children to forget that they’re in a hospital and take their minds off their sickness.

Since my wife and I are in the same department, our offices are next to each other, both overlooking the Thames. It’s nice up here. Would’ve been nicer if we could sneak in a quickie, but that’s practically impossible with our shared secretary’s desk sitting literally in front of our doors. 

Speak of the devil.

“Good morning. Here’s your tea,” my secretary follows me into my office with a cup of tea and a tiny plate with a couple of rich tea fingers. “Clinic until 3 pm, scheduled PDA ligation in the laboratory for 4 pm and then evening rounds on the wards.”

“Mornin’ Rhonda, you look lovely today,” I greet her cheerily. She’s a stern-looking woman who definitely likes her tea as strong as tits and who has probably never cried in her life. With such severity, she runs a tight ship, but she secretly has this affectionate side in her too. Not only is she a great secretary, but she also takes care of us in a way as a grandma does. She makes us tea, feeds us in between surgeries with biscuits or nice baby cheeses and crackers just so we wouldn’t starve. 

See that sofa over there in the corner of my office? Rhonda got me that. It was around the time when I had just become a new father with the sweetest, most gorgeous little baby who did not sleep. Alma wasn’t a fussy baby though. For some reason, she just wouldn’t go back to sleep after her midnight feed for months. Believe me, I tried everything. I changed her nappy, I swayed and jiggled and rocked and sung her to sleep. Odd nonsensical songs like, ‘Alma darling go to sleeep. Sleepy sleep sleep. Pleeeeease. I’m so tirrrred. My eyeballs may actually exploooode. I don’t want you to see thaaat.’ And she would just look at me all wide-eyed like I’d lost the plot. Those were song lyrics? That was rubbish. Please don’t give up your day job. Also, it’s not sleeping time. I’m awake. I’m ready for life. Come on, entertain me, old man. Isn’t this nice, just you and me? Tell me everything you know. EVERYTHING. 

Except of course she didn’t say all that. She would just stare at me and I had no idea what was going on in her little head. 

I took over my wife’s patients at the hospital during her maternity leave, so I had longer hours at the hospital. One day Rhonda found me napping on the floor between surgeries, so she sweet-talked some porters into looking for any old sofas on the go and paid to have this one reupholstered. She even bought me a fleece throw for it too. We really don’t deserve her.

“You hittin’ on me?” She deadpans. “Yer wife not doing it for you these days?”

“It’s the blazer. I’m a sucker for a blazer.”

“If I’d known, I would’ve worn it more often,” she replies. “Did my nice dress yesterday not give you the fanny flutters?”

“It’s schlong shiver for me,” I roar with laughter. “And it’s the tartan, makes you look well old.”

“YN, yer husband’s a bloody git, did I ever tell you that?” Rhonda says loud enough for my wife to hear, and I can hear my wife’s laughter from her office next door. “Drink your tea. Your first clinic appointment is in twenty.”

“Yes ma’am,” I salute her. 

***

The Arctic ward in the Evelina is home to many of our imaging, heart and kidney services. The name is probably giving it away, but everything is decorated in blue and white to go with the theme. We have several zones, and since paediatric cardiology clinics are held in the Walrus zone, I spend a great deal of time each day looking at walrus and snowflake decals. 

“Doctor Styles!” I hear a little voice shouts in excitement as I walk towards the waiting room in the outpatient ward. I smile, because I recognise that voice even before I see the little person.

The waiting room is very open here compared to other hospitals. There’s a sea of noise, snacks, tiny juice boxes and colouring pages. There’s also always a look of expectation, judgement on the faces of parents and guardians every time I walk in. They want to see if their doctor is old or qualified enough to see their children. There’s always one child who has the whole gang with them; parents, two sets of grandparents and even several aunts and uncles, and there’s also at least one child running around in circles out of boredom. 

This little lad bounces off his chair and hurls himself at me in a way like a little puppy would when its owner comes home from work. I put an arm out, hoping that he’ll apply the brakes but no such luck and he bundles himself into my arms. “Nice to see you, mate.”

His parents smile as they watch their son’s antics, who then runs off as I shake their hands. I turn around to see what caught his attention, and I can’t help but chuckle when I realise it’s my wife. 

“Doctor pretty Styles!” He exclaims excitedly as he bundles himself into her arms. She gets a mouthful of curls in the process. 

“Hi Rory,” she greets him as she runs her fingers through his curly mop. 

“Oi,” I pout as I walk towards them. “You don’t think I’m pretty?”

“Your wife is prettier,” he says with a shrug, his tone matter-of-fact.

She laughs and gives him a high-five. “Rory, you are officially my favourite patient.”

She is right. Rory is one of our special patients for sure. We’ve both known him for about six years now, ever since Rory’s mum gave birth to this tiny human next door at St Thomas and his heart was literally broken. I remember watching proudly from the theatre when my wife replaced two of his valves when he was born. It was in our early years of training. Long time patients like Rory almost always feel like family. We’ve seen all their parents’ tears and watched over their children throughout the years. They send us cards and wine every Christmas and despite all attempts to keep a professional distance, their kids do feel like our own.

Rory shrugs off his dinosaur rucksack and unzips it, pulling out a drawing of a blue whale and an opened packet of KitKat. I like that the whale wears a top hat and appears to also don a moustache. 

“I drew you both a picture. Only one though, because I figure you can share,” he says with a big toothy grin and hands the packet of KitKat to my wife. “And I’ve got half a KitKat here. Do you want it?”

“I’m good for now. Keep that KitKat for later on the tube,” she smiles and waves at Rory as she begins to walk away towards the fetal cardiology ward just down the hall. “Bye Rory, thanks for the picture.”

“Bye doctor pretty Styles,” Rory replies, making my wife laugh as she walks away. I give her a wave and a wink. 

“Hey Rory, did you know a blue whale has a heart the size of a small car?” I ask him and his eyes widen.

“No way! That’s mega!” He exclaims. “Do you think you could operate on a whale heart?”

“I would need a very big ladder,” I tell him. “And a wetsuit. I’d give it a go though.”

A senior nurse from the outpatient ward, Florence approaches us with a junior nurse trailing behind her. “Dr Styles, always a pleasure.”

I smile at her. “Florence. How are we today?”

“Busy as usual,” she replies. “We’re about twenty minutes behind I’m afraid. We had Dr Goodridge in this morning and you know he likes to talk.”

“He always runs over,” I chuckle. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll skip lunch and get us back up to speed.”

“I’ll make sure to send some snacks for you. Here’s your chart, your files are already in your office. And this is Alice, your nurse today. She’s newly qualified so might need some instructions.”

The new nurse looks terrified so I smile at her to try and calm her fears. I totally get that. When you work in medicine, unfortunately, you’ll realise that there are a lot of rude self-important wankers. 

I look down at my chart and find Rory’s name on the top of the list. “Well, look who’s coming with me to the exam room.”

Rory reaches out to hold my hand and we walk towards the examination room. His parents follow us closely, carrying the usual coats and devices that people do when they know they’re bound for a hospital waiting room. I see them inside and sit behind the desk.

“So, young man, I hear we’ve had a touch of drama with you. Can you tell me what happened?”

I’ve actually already got the information in the file, but I like the way this kid tells a story. He reminds me of my youngest. 

“So… I was at school and we were doing PE and I wasn’t really feeling it because it was cold and really we should have been inside but Mr Witter makes us go outside because he used to be in the Army apparently and he says we should get used to the cold but that’s what they do in prisons.”

I smile. “Go on.”

“And then my heart started running.”

“You mean racing?”

He nods firmly. Racing isn’t even the word. It sprinted to the finish like Bolt at 252 beats per minute, three times the speed it should.

“It felt like bubbles in my chest and then the school went crazy panicky and they called the ambulance and they brought me to the hospital but not this one, it was another one and it wasn’t as good because you weren’t there and they had really bad biscuit.”

His mum adds. “And they gave him some drugs to bring it back to a steady rhythm; they were close to shocking him.” Her voice trails off and both parents’ faces look drawn and pale remembering the incident.

Rory looks absolutely unbothered by this. To be fair, we have put this little man through everything. We’ve cut his chest open more times than is necessary for someone so small, we hook him up to machines and put him on treadmills. His resilience and character amaze me, and I really can’t imagine what it feels like to see your child so vulnerable and helpless, to be paralysed and weighed down with such worry.

“Alright then, little man, we need to make sure that your heart is working as it should. This is Alice, and she is going to take you over for an ECG and we just need to make sure your tick-tock is in good shape.”

Rory nods and jumps off the chair. His dad offers him a piggyback, and his mum smiles at them. I can hear Rory offering that half KitKat to Alice as they leave the room. 

His mother turns to me as the door is closed, her shoulders relaxing, allowing herself to breathe. “And how are you?” I ask her.

“You just think it’s done and then something like that comes along to scare you,” she says with a sigh.

“Let’s have these tests and then see if it’s anything major to worry about,” I try to calm her. “Episodes of rapid heartbeat is quite common in Rory’s case, and we can look into drugs to remedy that if necessary.”

She smiles, nodding.

“Did you have any other questions for me?”

She studies my face for a moment too long. “I… well, it will show up in Rory’s records soon, but my husband I are… I mean we’re getting a divorce.”

I pause for a moment. Of course, I know these things happen in life, but I’ve known this couple for years. I’ve seen them at their lowest ebb, bound by friendship and their love for that boy. I really do feel sorry for them.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I mumble.

“We just… we’re terrified about telling Rory.”

“He doesn’t know?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “We’re scared of breaking him. I mean, look at him. All of this stuff he’s been through and he carries on like nothing has happened. We don’t want to upset him.”

“It took a team of us the best part of six years to build Rory’s heart. There's a warranty on that workmanship,” I reassure her. “Have that chat with him. He’ll be fine.”

***

“Have we got time for dinner first?” I turn to my wife as we walk out of the hospital. We don’t normally have the luxury of ending our shift at the same time, but today is exceptional. We have parents’ evening at the girls’ school so Rhonda made sure to clear up our schedule after our evening rounds at the ward. 

“No, but we can raid M&S and eat in the car?”

I’m starving and I almost cry with relief at the suggestion. “Always knew I married the right woman.”

She chuckles. “Damn right you did.”

We leave the car at the hospital and she drags me along the walkways to Waterloo, the breeze biting at our cheeks. I pull her into M&S, dodging the marching commuters and grab a basket. 

“I’ll look for some wine,” she says before she saunters off. “Oh and I want sushi. None of that crap with the mayonnaise please.”

“Alright.”

I skipped lunch today so the whole place calls to me. I start taking very random things off the shelves: a packet of raspberry iced buns. That’ll do. I also take some hummus for my wife because she bloody loves hummus. I’m not even joking, I’ve seen her down a whole pot of it. Then I take some sushi as requested, some coleslaw, a family bag of mature cheddar and red onion crisps and a trifle. I hope I don’t bump into Rhonda. Next are cheese twists, noodle salad and cocktail sausages. 

It takes me a while to notice that there is a man right next to me with a roll of yellow stickers in their back pocket. Hello there, you are one of my favourite people tonight. Have I managed to find that sacred hour when all the food is being marked down? He labels some prawns with dip and even though I get a little squeamish about eating fish near its expiry date, I put it in my basket. I then follow him around the corner. Now, this is dinner. I put all sorts of random food in my basket and smile at the thought.

Ooh, knockdown pizzas. I should get a pizza. That’s tomorrow’s tea sorted, the girls will love it. Although I can’t help but wonder, what’s the limit for us to feed our daughters frozen pizza in a week before they get taken away from us? But eh, we might be able to get away with it if we give them frozen peas on the side. 

“Look at you,” says my wife, depositing two bottles of red in the basket. 

“Yes, it’s me. I’m the yellow sticker bitch.”

She snickers as we turn to head for the tills. “Excellent work.”

***

“Mr and Mrs Styles, welcome.”

“Mrs Ebner, always a pleasure,” I shake the headmistress’ hand who’s standing at the door. 

“Busy evening?” My wife asks her as she shakes her hand next.

“Always,” the headmistress replies with a smile, then proceeds to speak like she’s reading out of brochures. “But such a wonderful opportunity to connect with our parents and build on the special relationships we have with our school community.” 

Two uniformed minions appear.

“Lewis, Maggie, could you please show Mr and Mrs Styles through to the drinks reception?”

They both nod in unison. The boy holds his arms out like a waiter showing us to our table. We follow them through the school’s grand corridors to the main hall. It’s the one thing I like about this place. It’s very Hogwarts-like with hefty engraved name boards and sepia photos of successful sports teams. In the hall, a throng of parents mill around waiting to see respective teachers. It’s the same every year. We all dodge the people from the PTA trying to sell us quiz tickets, and the bowls of crisps out of hygiene concerns.

“Red or white?” Asks a lady in an apron.

This right here is the very reason we get through parents’ evening. From the look of the bottle, it’s decent wine too. I think that’s where a good proportion of our fees is going. 

“Red, please.”

We both take our glasses and walk to the corner of the hall. It’s essentially a holding area without the background music. The idea is that all the parents will get on and create a party vibe but it just becomes a strange family gathering. As terrible as it sounds, it’s sorted into cliques: parents who know each other via NCT groups, the international expat brigades who keep to themselves, the parents who’ve ostracised themselves by gossip, the ones who you know regularly brunch and ski together.

The boy from earlier suddenly appears in front of us. “Mrs Hughes is ready for you.”

I put my hand on the small of my wife’s back as we walk towards the classroom. Fiona’s teacher first and then Alma’s straight after. Right, we can do this.

“Mrs Hughes, we meet again,” I shake her hand. I’ve got no qualms about Mrs Hughes. She’s a seasoned teacher who likes a slack and sensible moccasin and we’re familiar with her since she taught Alma two years previously. When we enter the classroom, Lewis bows in reverence, taking his leave and I wonder whether to tip him. 

“It’s always lovely to have another Styles girl in my classroom. Fiona is a particular delight.”

My wife and I smile proudly. I’m sure Mrs Hughes says this to every parent here about their child, but that’s always nice to hear. 

“She talks a lot about you,” my wife says. “She seems to have settled in well.”

Mrs Hughes opens up a couple of books and it’s classic Fiona. Alma is ordered and neat—if she makes a mistake then she erases it completely and she underlines things with a ruler and listens to instruction carefully. She gets that from her mum. Fiona though, on the other hand, she’s all me. She has more wild abandon about her; no rulers, no rubbers. She puts giant crosses through things that don’t work and likes her bubble writing decorated with doodles of many, many cats.

I glance around the classroom as Mrs Hughes talks to us about standardised scores. The theme of the school is to show you how smart and educated these children are. Look at the copperplate handwriting, their reproductions of Van Gogh and our languages corner where they’ve all had a go at telling us what they like in French. I spy a contribution from my girl. J’adore les chats et le gâteau au chocolat. 

I’ve lost track of the conversation so I try to catch up.

“So to push Fiona into those top scores, perhaps we can look into tutoring? For maths, in particular, so she can grasp some of the concepts a little more tightly,” says Mrs Hughes. 

My wife and I look at each other confused. “Uh, I don’t think there’s a need, right? She’s only five.”

“It’s never too early,” replies Mrs Hughes. “We run an after-school tutoring club on Tuesdays that would help.”

Back when I was a youngster, clubs were fun endeavours that involved matching baseballs caps or were a chocolate biscuit that you had in your lunchbox. Maths tutoring session was not a club.

I ask her. “Is it free?”

“It’s fifteen pounds per session.”

See? My point being this should be a parents’ evening, not a sales session.

“Well, then it’s something to think about,” says my wife. “It could be that Fiona catches up with people throughout the year.”

“Possibly,” Mrs Hughes nods. Still, though, she proceeds to go into her folder and passes me a form. Sneaky. “Fiona has also shown great interest in languages and art. Her pictures have been a joy.”

Mrs Hughes goes to a file and pulls one of Fiona’s drawings. I glance down at it. It’s a standard child piece of art. The grass and sky are strips of colour to the top and bottom. It’s a family portrait, and we are as tall as the broccoli style trees. Wait, hang on a second. I count the number of people in the picture again. Is that-

“And Mrs Styles, I gather congratulations are in order,” she says with a smile. “Such lovely news.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Fiona told me it’s a boy,” she adds, and the sheer terror on my wife’s face at the realisation is priceless. “You must be very thrilled.”

I study the picture. There’s a house in the middle, and standing in a line in front of the house is our family. The one slightly taller than the broccoli tree is me. I’ve got my white lab coat, and I look like a serial killer because I’m holding a scalpel with the size of a butcher’s knife. Next to me is my wife, also with a white lab coat, but instead of a scalpel, she’s holding a very chunky baby who rather looks like a basketball with a head.

“Oh dear,” I chuckle. “Guess now we know what she’ll ask for Christmas.”

“Yeah,” my wife shakes her head. “We’re not expecting.”

“Oh, I apologise,” Mrs Hughes says with a sheepish smile.

“No worries, Mrs Hughes,” I tell her. “So, what else has our girl been up to here? Besides gossiping of course.”

Mrs Hughes laughs under her breath. “Well, in class, Fiona is attentive, bright and very helpful. She is a credit to you both.”

***

“I swear your daughter, Styles.”

We’re sitting in the car now. Finally done with parents’ evening, still laughing at the slightly creepy, chunky basketball baby in Fiona’s picture and the fact that three people, including Mrs Hughes, have congratulated us for the ‘baby’.

“You haven’t called me Styles in years,“ I turn to her with a grin. “Not since medical school.”

I can’t help but flashback to the good ol’ days when we had matching university hoodies and we’d test each other on the parts of a kidney whilst walking into lectures, sitting next to each other, sharing pens and cans of Lilt. 

“Well, after that I became a Styles too,” she chuckles. “Would be confusing then, wouldn’t it?”

“True,” I laugh under my breath, then I grab her hand and pull it to my mouth so I can kiss her knuckles. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For being a Styles.”

“Aw, aren’t we soppy tonight?” She smirks. “Alright, stop the car.”

“What?”

“There,” she points to a dark empty spot and I oblige. 

Then, before I can even ask her why, she reaches over and grabs me by the collar. Pulling me close to her and gives me a kiss. I kiss her back, and I smile when she bites gently on my bottom lip.

“Oi, oi. Something’s got you randy.”

The next thing I know, she undoes her seatbelt and then rolls her trousers down her legs along with her knickers, fumbling and giggling at the awkward movement. I push my seat back and pull my trousers down. 

“Don’t fall on gearstick now,” I joke as she climbs over to straddle me. “Well, unless you want to, of course…”

She laughs as she lowers herself over my lap. I really can’t believe what’s happening here.

“Mrs Styles, we’re about to have sex in a car. Around the corner from our daughters’ school.” 

“I know,” she says with a smile before she runs her tongue along my neck. “Not our first rodeo though.”

“Oh right, we did it in our Volvo years ago, didn’t we? Thought the suspension couldn’t take it.”

“And it turned out fine. Told you that you needed to have more faith in the Swedes, they’re a reliable breed.”

“I love it when you talk about Sweden.”

“Ikea.”

“Fuck.”

“Meatballs.”

“Billy Bookcase.”

She throws her head back in laughter and I take this as an opportunity to run my tongue along her collar bone. She gasps. I reach down to lift her before I slowly lower her over my cock. We both sigh as I enter her, a long exhalation with our lips barely touching. 

“Viggo Mortensen.”

“Isn’t he Danish?”

“Tomato, Tomahto.”

I smile at my wife and push my hips up, silently telling her that we don’t need to talk about Swedish people anymore. She grabs onto the car seat and levers herself up and down. I look at her in the eye, a goofy smile still plastered across my face.

But then I squint. Light. Bollocks, what’s that? Where’s that light coming from? Crap, that’s bright. Shit. I see the flash of a hi-vis jacket, a knock at the window and someone shaking their head.

Oh sodding fucking bollocking shit wank.

[patd--phan]

Wanna Be Yours

Pairing: Dadsbestfriend! Bucky (mid/late 40s) x reader (in early/mid twenties)

Summary: Y/N surprises bucky on a business trip and he promises to be hers.

Warnings: SMUTTY stuff (18+ only pleasee), unprotected sex, creampie, oral sex (m receiving), riding, teasing, significant age gap, reader takes charge, “Doll/sweets/baby/sweetheart”, some cute ass shit at the beginning and end tho

WC: about 3K im sorry I was really H*rny yesterday and I was unable to do anything about it as i was stuck in the car all damn day

Note: So I was really h*rny yesterday and this happened lol I’m sorry. Loosely based on the song wanna be yours-arctic monkeys. Also this will probably be the only smut I ever write bc I don’t wanna become an 18+ blog or make anyone uncomfortable (not that 18+ blogs are bad tho lemme set that straight, most of my fav blogs are)

PS thank you for the love on my first ever fic with Peter Parker x reader, it made me so happy that ppl didn’t think I suck lol ( and i guess i lied saying i would probably never write another one shot lol)

You do NOT have my permission to repost this anywhere, I will come for u if you plagiarize ok bye

It was no secret that Bucky liked to be in charge in the bedroom, and you had absolutely no problem with that. After all, he was older and more experienced; he knew how to make your body sing. But this week you were craving something a little different. Bucky had been away on a business trip all weekend and you really missed him, not just the sex (but I mean…) but just cuddling and talking to him about your day; you were feeling clingy. You decide to text bucky even though you knew he couldn’t answer right away because he was currently in a meeting.

Y/N: I mis youu :( when will you be back tomorrow?

You just wandered around your apartment for the next 20 minutes, casually checking your phone about every 30 seconds just in case bucky was able to sneak in a text. He finally replied after 30 minutes, right as his meeting was ending at 3.

Bucky: Hey doll, I miss you too <3

Bucky: unfortunately one of the investors this morning had to push their meeting to late tomorrow afternoon, so I’m not gonna be home until very late tomorrow night :(

Y/N: dammit :(

Y/N: well good luck at the pitch meeting tomorrow, I love and miss you <3

Bucky: don’t gimme that pout I know your making doll, ill see you tonight on facetime! :)

Y/N: haha u know me so well, and yes you’ll see me tonight ;) (but I still miss u)

Bucky: I know doll I hate it too, see you tonight. Love you <3

Y/n: love you too <3

You didn’t know if you could go until late Monday without seeing bucky. As you laid on the couch smiling sadly about missing your love, an idea popped into your head. He was only two and a half hours away, and he wouldn’t be back at his hotel for another 4 hours at least. Fuck it, you were gonna go drive to his hotel and surprise him. You couldn’t be away so long, you felt super clingy this weekend and you needed to be on top of with him.

You quickly ran around your apartment, packing an overnight bag and you saw the package that arrived earlier on your floor that you completely forgot about because you couldn’t stop thinking of Bucky. You remembered its contents e(a completely evil lingerie set) and threw it in the bag with a smirk on your face.

The drive to Bucky’s hotel felt like forever and you had to remind yourself to stop speeding because you were so excited. When you finally got to his hotel, you had to convince the manager to give you a key to his room, proving that you were the man’s girlfriend with several pictures on your phone which was slightly embarrassing because in almost every picture, at least one of you was half-naked. Worth it. You thought. When you arrived in his room you quickly went into the bathroom to change into a little black dress (with a surprise underneath). Then as you were sitting on his bed waiting for him, you realized it would still be a while before he would get back, so you decided to tidy up his things, packing his clothes and organizing his suitcase. Pleased with your work, you sat back down on the bed and looked at your phone for a while. You finally got pulled out of your Instagram daze when you heard Bucky’s voice in the hallway laughing at something a coworker said. You quickly threw your phone on the dresser, straightened up you dress, and sat at the edge of the bed with a huge smile on your face, giddy to surprise him.

As he turned the doorknob he was still looking behind him talking to the man. When he finally said goodbye and turned his head around, his eyebrows raised up and his jaw dropped, which was quickly replaced with a smile even larger than yours.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, running towards you and throwing his briefcase on the floor.

He picked you up in a tight hug and you squealed, legs immediately wrapping around his waist.

“I told you you’d see me tonight!” you said, still clung to him like a koala.

“W-what?” He replied, still in shock. Letting your legs fall back to the floor.

“I just missed you too much” you shrugged.

If any human could embody “heart eyes” it was Bucky at that moment- he’s such a softie for you. He pulled your face towards him and gave you one of the most loving kisses you’ve ever had in your life. You were expecting it to be passionate and rough, but it was soft, delicate and loving, and your heart melted into a puddle. After your lips parted, you gazed into each other’s eyes before being pulled up in another tight hug. You giggled and wrapped your legs around him again.

“I guess you missed me too huh?” you laughed.

“Oh doll, you have no idea.”

You wrapped your hands in his hair, massaging his neck and he moaned loudly.

“Mm, that feels nice.” He hummed.

“You tired baby?” you asked, he seemed like he needed some TLC (and you were ready to give it to him).

“I am so exhausted.” He replied, making you frown behind his back.

You slowly slid down his body, back onto your feet again, and kept massaging his head. He looked at you lovingly before looking around his hotel room, his eyebrows pulled in confusion.

“Did you clean up in here?”

“Yep, while I was waiting for ya,” you replied, smiling.

His whole face softened.

“Oh, I really don’t deserve you doll.” Making you smile and shake your head.

“Oh yes you do.” You replied making him smile and his heart flutter in his chest.

He pulled you in for another kiss, this one with more fire and longing in it than the last one. His large hands grabbed you ass to pull you closer to him and you moaned into the kiss. You pressed your body against him even tighter and ran your hands through his hair making him moan. You could feel his pants tent start to grow against you and you smirked and moved you lips down to the side of his neck making him groan.

You pull back and look at him, hard and eyes half lidded, it turns you on so much you feel your panties dampening.

“Hey Buck?” you whisper, lips mere inches apart.

“Hmm?” he hums in response.

“I have another surprise for you.” You whisper into his ear before pulling back to look at his face.

“What’s that, doll?” he whispers.

You smirk and step away from him, noticing the confusion on his face before you pull your dress over your head and throw it onto the floor.

Bucky’s jaw drops, making you bite your lip and smirk even more. This was gonna be fun.

“Oh, fuck me,” He groans.

“Oh, I fully intend on it, Buck” you smirk.

He just groans and starts walking towards you.

“Buck?”

“Yeah sweets?”

“Wanna be mine tonight?”

“Fuck, I’ll be yours forever doll.” He says, making you whimper. You pull him against you by his tie, pressing your bodies together.

Your lips crash and tongues swirl together fighting for dominance. Hands moving up and down each other’s bodies like animals. Bucky squeezing your ass so tight you know there’s gonna be marks.

You both pull back enough so you can shimmy off Bucky’s tie and throw it over his head before unbuttoning his shirt and peeling it off him. You then sink to your knees and undo his belt quickly before slowly unzipping his pants, kissing the outside of his member though his pants making him exhale a breath sharply.

“Fuck” he breathes out.

You don’t want to tease him too much (yet) so after another kiss, you shove his pants off and lay down on the bed, his body caging you under him.

The passionate makeout session resumes with Bucky still hard in his boxers pressing against your clothed core. You suddenly remember what you wanted and pull back from the kiss.

“Wait, no” you whisper.

Bucky pulls back, confused and nervous he did something to hurt you.

“What’s wrong?” he whispers.

You take advantage of his confusion and roll him over so you were straddling him with a smirk on your face.

Bucky moans at your actions, core pressing tight against him.

“You said you’d be mine.” You breathe over his lips. Moaning as being in charge is giving you a whole rush of feelings and confidence.

You kiss him, and he lets you dominate the kiss this time, biting his lips and grinding on him. He bucks his hips onto your and you pull back.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll take care of you, I’ll make you feel so good.”

Bucky moans at your words as you start to kiss all the way down his body, leaving little hickies down his chest. When you get towards his boxers he thinks your gonna kiss his member or pull down his boxers, but instead you go back up his chest, licking a stripe from his belly button all the way to one of his nipples, up his neck, to his lips.

Bucky moans, loud. You give him one more kiss before deciding to stop teasing him (kinda). You quickly kiss down his chest again and then plant a few kisses on his aching cock through his boxers. He bucks his hips and is whimpering under you. Fuck, that turns you on. Your big strong boyfriend who could probably crush you with one arm, whimpering and practically begging under you. Your panties are fucking soaked and you don’t think you can deny your own pleasure too much longer. You pull down his boxers and his cock is throbbing and dripping precum.

“Shit” you moan at the sight.

You lick the precum off him and he gives a high pitched moan that goes straight to your core.

“Baby please, I- I can’t.”

“Don’t worry baby I got you.” You reply as you take his full member into your mouth, sucking lightly.

Bucky moans and bucks his hips into your mouth. You push them back down and suck a few more times before getting off of him. He looks worried for a second before you slide your panties off and straddle his cock.

“Still wanna be mine?”

“Always” he replies.

You sink down onto him, jaw dropping and eyes closing at the feeling. You don’t think you’ll ever get used to him no matter how many times he’s been inside you. You both moan as his whole cock is finally buried inside you.

“Fuck Bucky, you feel so fucking good in me.” You moan, starting to rock your hips.

“God, I’m so fucking wet for you.”

Bucky continues to give low moans as you start to ride him.

“Fuck baby, I love you like this.” He says, making you start to ride him harder, moaning at his words.

His hands come grab your hips to help you ride him faster, harder.

“Baby- shit I’m close already.” He pleads.

“All for me? Shit baby aren’t I the lucky one?” You moan.

Bucky’s grip on your hips tighten and he starts to fuck up into you. He was about to blow.

You moan loudly at the feeling. “Cum in me baby please I need it.”

After a particularly hard thrust into your wet pussy you feel him spilling inside you. He lets out one of those vulgar high pitched moans and grunts that make your brain short circuit and your eyes roll back while your pussy clenches around him. You feel yourself getting close, but you want to give him another orgasm, so you sink down on him fully and slowly ride him, hearing him whimpering and moaning. You feel him get hard in you again (thank you supersoldier serum) and you rock back and forth on him. You reach down to rub your clit, but Bucky sees it and swats your hand away, replacing it with his metal one.

“Oh fuck” you moan at the cool sensation.

You start to bounce up and down on him again, the knot in your abdomen building and heating up. You feel yourself close to being undone as you ride him and his other hand runs up your body and squeezes your nipple through your thin lace bra. You moan and feel yourself clench around him, making him moan.

“Fuck- I’m gonna c-“ you get interrupted by the white hot explosion of your orgasm. Your eyes roll back, jaw hangs open and toes curl as you feel that release knock throughout your whole body, making you shake. You let out those high pitched moans and whines that only Bucky makes you feel.

Feeling you clench around him and watching your completely fucked out face, you feel Bucky’s thick cock twitch inside of you, and you moan as you feel him release in you again. Fuck that makes you feel good. So good you can’t think or move and you start to collapse on top of Bucky, but he slightly catches you and lays you down on his chest, both breathing heavy, with his cock still inside you, cum dripping all down your legs and onto Bucky.

You can’t speak, can’t think, the pleasure totally ruining you. After what feels like forever, you feel your breathing start to return to normal, as does Bucky’s, and you feel his hand rubbing up and down your back, grounding you back to earth from wherever on cloud nine you were.

You hum as you feel yourself finally calm down.

“Holy fuck, doll” you feel him lowly whine in your ear. You can only moan lowly in response.

“Baby that was fucking amazing.”

“Mmhmm.” You hum.

“…but I think I’m gonna lose my mind if you keep clenching around me.” He chuckles.

“oh shit, sorry,” you mumble out. You try to push up off of him but the farthest you got was placing your hands on his shoulders before your body gave up on you.

“Oh my God, I can’t move” you whisper. You’re so fucked out, your body won’t respond to your brain anymore.

Bucky moans at your words and slowly rolls both of you so youre on your side facing him. He reaches down and pulls his soft cock out of your pussy, moaning when he sees a burst of cum leaking from you.

You moan at the feeling of him exiting your body. You look him in the eyes and give him a lazy smile. His eyes sparkle back at you and his hand comes up to rub your cheek.

“Mm” you hum at the feeling.

“That was fucking incredible” he says, making you smile wider.

“I’m not disagreeing” you quip.

He chuckles lightly before saying “you gotta do this more often.”

“What, surprise you on business trips?” you question.

“No” he rolls his eyes and smiles, “Well yes actually, but I was talking about you absolutely taking charge tonight.”

“Oh yeah?” you smirk.

“Fuck yeah doll, I don’t think I’ve ever cum as hard. You looked so damn sexy in charge.”

You look away from his eyes, shying at his words, but also they were giving you the confidence to look right back into his eyes and say “I agree” with a smirk.

“I love hearing those high pitched moans you make, It turns me on so much” you admit.

“You know, only you can get those noises out of me, doll” he chides. You blush and smile at him.

He chuckles and you bring his face towards yours and kiss him deeply, tongues meeting together. You both hum into the kiss as his hand rubs down the side of your body.

When you break the kiss, both of you needing a breath, he pulls your body towards him, resting your head on his chest. You hum in peace as he rubs your back.

“I love you so much Y/N” he says and you feel your heart absolutely burst in your chest.

“I love you so much too Buck,” you reply, lifting your head to peck him on the lips before placing your head back on his chest.

You lay in silence for a minute before your mind begins to wander again.

“Did you mean it?” you ask.

“Mean what, doll?”

“That you’ll be mine forever?” you ask. “I mean not just in the sexy way but that you’ll be with me forever?” you ramble out.

“God yes sweetheart, you’re the one for me.” He responds and you didn’t think your heart could explode anymore, but it just did.

You squeeze his shoulder with your hand before coming up to kiss him passionately again, almost crying at all of the love going though you.

“I promise I’m all yours forever too, Buck” you smile at him.

“Good,” he smiles back, and you rest back on his chest, eyes getting droopy.

“Night-night sweetheart.” You feel yourself smile in your sleep.

“Goodnight my love.” You reply, further cuddling into his chest. Bucky feels his heart combust in his chest. God, wasn’t he lucky to have you. He didn’t know what he did to deserve you, but he knew that he was going to assure you that you deserve the world every day for the rest of his life. He kissed the top of your head before falling into a deep sleep, content with his favorite person tight in his arms.

[queenshelby]

My Friend’s Father (Part Seven)

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Warning: Age Gap, Smut

Words: 4,498

Notes:

I have decided to make this into a series.

Alright, no judgment. This was a dream of mine and I felt like I had to write it down. Everyone in this Fic is over the age of 18 and this Fic is in no way based on Cillian’s real family life. It’s pure filth.

*********

Throughout the entire night, you couldn’t help but think about Cillian. You dreamed about the kiss you shared, the touch of his hands on your face and even the scent of his skin.

You knew you shouldn’t think this way about your best friend’s father but it was something you couldn’t control even though you were angry with him.

But there was one person you who you were even more angry with and this was Connor, the man you were actually dating.

You got up early that morning to confront Connor about his behaviour at the art gallery opening and the truth was that you were pretty much done with him. You never had feelings for him in the first place and the truth was that he had simply become a distraction for you. You wanted to distract yourself from having taken a liking in your best friend’s father which, in itself, you knew was wrong.

Connor embarrassed you in front of your friends and Cillian was right when he said that he was acting controlling, even though you didn’t want to hear it, especially not from him.

You knew you had to end it and you knew that it wasn’t going to be a difficult task for you. You had always been a strong woman and you didn’t want to be with someone like that and, just when you arrived at Connor’s house you took a deep breath and did what had to be done.

‘It’s your loss Y/N’ were his words when you eventually left his house after a ten minute conversation but you didn’t feel like you had lost anything. In fact, you’ve gained something and that was experience in standing up for yourself.

***

Just after you encounter with Connor that morning, you went to have breakfast with Denise and her friends at the G Hotel in Galway.

They were all staying at the five-star hotel, courtesy of Denise’s father who had organised the weekend for Denise for her birthday and as a reward for her achievements after she had worked so hard on her project.

‘Happy Birthday’ you said as you greeted her and the others and Denise immediately told you off for being too loud as her head was pounding. It was obvious to you that she was rather hungover from the night the before.

‘You had too much champaign, huh?’ you giggled before handing her the present you had bought for her.

You usually didn’t spend much money on each other for birthdays but, since she was your best friend, you had spent a few hours’ worth in wages and gotten her something meaningful.

She was collecting vintage tea-cups and you had recently found a beautiful Royal Dalton set in a second-hand shop which you knew she would adore.

‘This is absolutely beautiful, thank you so much’ Denise said as she unwrapped it before hugging you gently.

‘You are welcome. I knew you would like it’ you said with a warm smile and, just as you did and sat down next to her, your mobile phone went off.

You received a text message from a number that was unfamiliar to you and when you opened it, you were none the wiser.

‘It was good to see you’ the message said and you were rather confused by it. You had some job interviews recently and wondered whether this was sent by one of the interviewers. Or perhaps someone from university, you wondered?

‘What is it?” Denise asked as she saw the look of confusion on your face when you glanced at your phone.

‘Someone just send me a message saying that it was good to see me’ you chuckled before explaining to her that you didn’t know the number.

‘Maybe it is this guy from university you were talking about a few weeks back? You know, the lecturer in the science department?’ Denise wondered before suggesting to you that you should text back and ask for a name, but you already knew it wouldn’t be him. There was no way he would have your number and you certainly were no longer interested in getting to know him after you had found out that he was married.

You texted back to the unknown number, enquiring who this was and, within a couple of seconds, your phone went off again and you almost choked on your coffee.

‘Cillian’ the message read and you quickly changed the angle of your phone so that Denise wouldn’t see it.

‘And? Who is it?’ she asked while trying to look at your phone.

‘Uhm…just a guy I met a few weeks ago…I ran into him again yesterday morning and I totally forgot about it…’ you stammered quickly but Denise didn’t buy a word you were saying.

‘You forgot?’ she giggled, winking at you as she did and your cheeks blushed almost instantly. ‘Well, he obviously didn’t and you must have given him your number for a reason. Is he hot? What’s he like? I need to know everything…’ she went on to say as, suddenly, without you haven’t sent anything back to Cillian, you received yet another text message from him.

‘For what its’s worth, you looked beautiful’ the next text read and you couldn’t help but smile as you continued to sip on your cup of coffee and Denise most certainly noticed the look on your face and asked you what he said.

‘Just that I looked nice’ you stammered, feeling awful about lying to her about who texted you but there was no way that you could have told her that it was, in fact, her father who you were texting with.

‘Uh, he likes you’ Denise then giggled before carrying on. ‘Well, since you ditched Connor now, you should go and meet up with him and have some fun. After Connor’s one-off ten-minute performance, I have no doubt that you really need it’ Denise said and, just as she did, the conversation across the breakfast table took a turn. Like so often, it now was all about sex and you realised that dissatisfaction was a common occurrence in women your age.

‘I believe that the whole talk about the female g-spot is load of rubbish. It’s a myth’ Amalie observed eventually after everyone across the table complained about the lovers that they had.

It was at this point that you mentally checked out from the conversation and, whilst you thought about the one pleasurable experience you had in your life when it came to sex, you certainly didn’t want to talk about it in front of Denise. Especially not Denise.

Instead of engaging in talks about vibrators and the male anatomy, you decided to respond to Cillian’s text messages after you had received yet another one, telling you that he was sorry. Clearly, he was desperate to hear from you.

‘I see, you kept my note?’ you responded quickly, ignoring his compliments and apologies, and, just moments after you sent it, you received a response from him.

‘Kept it in my wallet. Can we meet?’ Cillian asked and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes just before you received yet another message from him which read ‘BTW this is not a booty call. I just want to talk with you. Please.’

His message made you laugh but you agreed to meet him nonetheless.

‘I have an apartment at the Docks. Can you come there?’ Cillian asked in his next text message.  

‘Alright. How does 4 o’clock sound? Text me your address’ you texted back and it wasn’t long until Cillian sent you the address of his apartment.

‘And?’ Denise asked as she watched you text with the mysterious stranger and you simply blushed again and responded with a short and somewhat embarrassed ‘nothing’.

‘Oh common, tell me Y/N. I am your best friend’ she then said and you confirmed that you would quickly meet up with him this afternoon before Denise’s birthday dinner.

‘Oh la la, you are having a date’ Denise then said somewhat excitedly.

‘We are just catching up to talk Denise. It’s not a date’ you then said.

‘Sure…whatever you say Y/N’ she then said sarcastically which is when, finally, she backed off and you received yet another text message from Cillian.

‘Looking forward to see you, xx’ it read and your heart skipped a beat pretty much then and there.

***

After you went home to have a shower and get changed into some nice jeans and a black shirt as well as some nice lingerie (just in case) you made your way to Cillian’s apartment.

You parked around the corner and walked the rest of the way just to be sure that no one would see your car being parked there.

‘Jesus’ you said somewhat surprised when you walked into the lobby of the apartment building and took the elevator to the top floor after Cillian had buzzed you inside. You had never been to a building like this. It was luxurious and right on the harbour.

When you arrived on the top floor, Cillian already waited for you, glancing through the door of his apartment.

‘Wow, these are some good views. Do you own this place?’ you observed as you stepped inside and set your purse on the desk by the door.

‘Yeah, bought it a few years ago’ Cillian said as you began to shrug off your jacket, but Cillian came up from behind you, and caught your hands. You looked down at your hands, noticing that yours dwarfed in his. They were warm and soft.

‘Let me take this for you’ he said like a gentleman and you were somewhat surprised by his gesture. This was not something you were used to but you liked it, a lot.

‘You know, I didn’t expect that you would text me, especially not after last night. So, what is it that you want to talk about?’ you asked nervously and, just as you did, Cillian cut straight to the chase.

‘I wanted to tell you, in person, that I am sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have lectured you about this guy who you are seeing and the truth is that, yes, I was jealous and I know that I had no right to be jealous and for that I am also sorry. I should have acted differently, especially knowing that you are my daughter’s best friend’ he admitted just before you cut him off.

‘Well, for what its worth, I ended it with Connor this morning because I think you were right about him’ you said with a nervous smile, causing Cillian to cock an eyebrow.

‘I can’t say that I am not happy about that’ he said jokingly before continuing on. ‘But, regardless of this, I think that we need to talk about how we move forward from what happened between us for Denise’s sake’ he then said, causing you to nod.

‘Yeah’ you then said somewhat disappointed before building up your strength in order to say something else. ‘The thing is, Cillian, I know what I want. I just think that you don’t’ you said, cheeks blushing.

‘And what is that you want Y/N?’ Cillian asked curiously as if he didn’t already know the answer to his question.

‘You’ you then admitted and, just as you did, Cillian’s hands caressed your face and he pulled you close and kissed you yet again.

The kiss was slow and passionate and, unlike the night before, you allowed yourself to give into it until, eventually, your lips drifted apart.

‘Are you sure Y/N? Because, I am much older than you and you probably have better offers with more assurances that I simply cannot offer you’ Cillian then asked as he was standing directly in front of you and held you against his body.

‘The fact that you are older actually turns me on’ you admitted before pressing your lips onto his again and then pulling away. You adored his wrinkles and greying hair and you were surprised that he had no idea how attractive he actually was.

‘But what is it that you want Cillian?’ you then asked as you felt his firm chest against you while his warm breath fanned against your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

‘Honestly, I don’t know Y/N. I have never been so fucking confused in my life’ he explained reluctantly, not knowing where to place the feelings he had built for you. You were over twenty years younger than him and his daughter’s friend and this clearly bothered him. He knew that this wasn’t something he could easily overcome.

‘Well, I am confused too but I like you, a lot’ you admitted, also unsure about what this was that you were feeling for him but, what you knew was that you wanted to give whatever this was a chance. You were curious and you were filled with desire for this man standing there right in front of you.

‘And I need to know that you feel the same and that this isn’t going to be just another mistake you are making because, if you are going to walk away after we have sex, then I am not up for it’ you then explained, wanting to ensure that he wouldn’t pull away from you this time.

‘No more mistakes Y/N. I like you and I want this’ Cillian whispered as he pressed his lips firmly right under your ear, slowly kissing down your neck.

‘I want you’ he then said as his breath tickled your skin and the firmness of his kiss made your stomach flip.

‘Then that’s good enough for me’ you huffed out in a laboured breath and just, as you did, Cillian used his hands to spin you around, causing you to face away from him.

Then, his hands dropped to your waist where his fingers gently edged themselves under the hem of your shirt, barely touching your skin. His lips moved, and he left a trail of kisses down your shoulder and towards your arm.

‘I knew this was a booty call’ you teased as you couldn't help but move against him.

‘Do you want to stop?’ he asked as your hips rocked and shifted while he gently brushed his fingers against your skin.

‘Hell no’ you giggled before you lifted your arms and he began to pull your shirt up.

You felt like you were performing some secret dance that we both knew, but that you'd never realised you'd known.

Cillian lifted your shirt inch at a time up off you, and let it fall to the floor. He sighed in satisfaction as he looked down at your breasts.

‘Why are you so fucking perfect?’ Cillian asked and you opened your mouth to answer but it came out as a sigh as his hands tightened around your waist.

‘Let’s take this off’ Cillian said determined as one of his hands inched up towards your breast, and he squeezed it gently. Then, his hands came away from you, and unsnapped your bra.

You practically shook it off of you, and then dropped your hands to your jeans. You needed his hands back on you again as soon as possible and turned to watch him as you kicked your shoes off and shoved down your jeans, your underwear coming with them.

‘Eager, are we?’ Cillian chuckled as he quickly began to undress himself as well after you had given him a look full of hunger and anticipation.

‘We are short of time’ you said as you were momentarily distracted by the sight of him unbuttoning his shirt, but you hurried to kick off the fabric wrapped around your ankles.

‘We’ve got at least two and a half hours Y/N’ Cillian then said as you finally stood there in front of him completely naked.

‘Exactly’ you chuckled as Cillian was still fighting with the buttons on his shirt, and you grabbed the fabric of it and pulled him against you, crushing your mouth against his.

Cillian made love to your mouth with his lips and his tongue. He was firm, slow, and demanding.

You breathed together, tasted together. He dragged a soft moan from your mouth with a caress of his lips. He explored you, letting his tongue run along the roof of your mouth. Your teeth crashed. He sucked your tongue into his mouth, and your stomach clenched and you let out an embarrassingly desperate sound.

Before your first night with Cillian, you'd never been kissed like this. The kisses you shared were more intimate and more sensual than anything you'd ever experienced in your life.

As you were kissing, you finally managed to unbutton his shirt and shoved it open. Your hands ran up and down his chest, exploring his toned body all the while he was relentless in his kiss. His arms wrapped around you, one hand pressing into the small of your back, and the other working his fingers into your hair.

With a small tug of your hair, he pulled your face away from him.

‘I could kiss you all day Y/N, but you said that we are short of time so you better get onto the bed’ he winked and you snaked your arms around his neck and kissed him while he walked you back into his bedroom and towards the bed.

As you were moving towards the bed, he fought with his belt and his pants all while his lips never left yours.

You shuffled awkwardly backwards until the backs of your knees hit the bed, forcing you to sit down. You kept your arms behind you to prop yourself up, smiling as you watched him finish undressing. He was just gorgeous and so goddamn perfect.

‘You are so sexy, you know that?’ you said full of desire while you watched as he pushed his pants down, kicking them off his ankles and standing in front of you completely naked, and... Sweet. Baby. Jesus…your mouth watered at the sight of his hard cock.

‘So are you’ he winked and, just as he did, you met his eyes again after having stared at his cock for a little while. That terrifying intense stare was back, and he looked like he was going to eat you alive. For all you knew, he would.

Without breaking eye contact, Cillian bent down and went to his knees at the foot of the bed, grabbed your legs, and pulled you closer to him, spreading your legs wide as he did so.

‘Lay back’ he ordered and you couldn’t help but bite your lip in anticipation.

‘What are you going to do to me?’ you asked as he was still staring at you. A slow smile graced his face.

‘I am going to make love to you with my tongue until you cum’ Cillian smirked and the idea of his face between your legs made your breath catch.

‘Oh, Sweet Jesus’ you moaned as he let go of one of your legs and put a hand on your shoulder. He pushed you back and then he lowered his lips to you.

Sweet bliss washed over you in an instant. You gasped, and moaned, and shivered. Cillian lapped at you like you were the sweetest treasure he'd ever put in his mouth. A slow, deep rumble from his chest travelled straight into your body through his lips, shaking you to your core. His tongue dove inside you, exploring you. He sucked on the lips of your sex, and the circled his tongue around your clit, sending powerful shocks of pleasure straight to your centre.

He was building you up to something big. Something beautiful.

He eased off right before you exploded, and you cried out.

‘Cillian, don't stop, please’ you moaned and, just as you began to plead with him, his fingers began to gently run through your wet slit.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t’ he said as he slowly pushed two of his fingers inside you before his tongue resumed its work on your clit.

Curling his fingers slightly upwards, he reached an unfamiliar spot deep inside you and, as soon as he reached this spot, you cried out in pleasure.

‘Oh god, fuck, Cillian’ you moaned as his fingers began to gently thrust in and out of you while he made love to you with his tongue.

With his skilled tongue and fingers working you, it didn’t take you long to reach an orgasm. Your legs began to shake almost violently as a wave of pleasure erupted through your body and your walls tightened around Cillian’s fingers.

When you finally came down from your high, Cillian stood up, pushed his hands against your hips, and slid you farther onto the bed.

‘You sound so fucking sexy when you cum like this, without having to hold back’ Cillian observed as he climbed onto the bed. He crawled towards you like a wolf stalking his prey.

‘I want you inside me, please…I am aching for your cock’ you moaned, spurring him on and, without losing any time he spread your legs wide and pressed the head against your slit, gently working the tip in and out, teasing you.

‘Oh god, please, stop teasing’ you whimpered, trying to wiggle against him. You wanted to feel all of him so badly.

‘Be patient, we will get there’ he whispered, and leaned forward so his arms were on either side of your face.

You felt him push a little deeper into you.

‘Oh god yes’ you gasped and winced and Cillian tilted his head and took your mouth with his, kissing you slowly as he rocked in and out. His lips and his tongue matched the pace of his thrusts, and you felt overwhelmed with desire as he slid deeper and deeper inside of you.

‘Fuck you feel so good Y/N’ Cillian groaned as he stretched you and pushed you until he was all the way in, and he pulled his mouth away from yours just long enough to let out a string of curses before he took your mouth again.

You couldn't breathe. Everything about him was amazing. The way he felt inside you was just perfect.

He held your head firmly in place as he kissed you, thrusting into you and grinding his hips so that he hit every single spot you didn't even know you had. Right as you were nearing your climax, he pulled all the way out and pushed himself off of you, pausing to catch his breath.

‘No…don’t stop…I was so close’ you whimpered.

‘Don’t worry, I am not done with you yet but I do enjoy teasing you’ he gasped and you could tell that he enjoyed edging you which is something no other man you have been with had ever done to you before. Unlike them, Cillian had amazing self-control which you thought might come with age.

Almost an hour later, after he edged you numerous times and made you change positions on several occasions, you ended up with Cillian on top of you once again. He slid back inside you, resuming his relentless pace. With every thrust, he ground his pelvis against your clit, and with only a few careful movements of his hips, you exploded in pleasure around him. There was no way you could have held back any longer as waves of heat and ice crashed onto you, and you fought to breathe through the intensity of your orgasm.

‘Fuck Y/N’ Cillian groaned shortly thereafter, feeling your walls contract around his shaft. He collapsed forward onto you, and you could feel him pulsing inside you and filling you with rope after rope of his warm cum.

You loved the feeling of him cuming inside you and his breath was hot against your neck, and he kissed your neck and your mouth again as he pulled back and out of you, giving you a chance to breathe.

***

‘Cillian’ you whispered, barely able to speak even after five minutes had passed since you came down from your high.

‘Yes Beautiful?’ he said, and moved slightly so he could wrap his lips around your nipple. He sucked and tongued at it, and pulled at it with his teeth.

‘Careful’ you laughed, and shifted under him slightly. ‘I’m super sensitive now’ you said.

‘I certainly hope so’ he murmured. ‘Although, I am not done with you yet. We still have an hour before dinner’ he smirked and your eyes widened immediately.

‘Oh really?’ you asked surprised and, when you looked down on him, you noticed that his cock was already hardening again just after a short five minutes of relaxation.

‘Really’ Cillian then chuckled as he rolled you onto your stomach, spreading your legs and crouching behind you.

Without losing any time, he lined himself up with your entrance and pushed back inside of you, eliciting a loud groan.

After doing you from behind for what felt like forever, he'd hauled you up into his lap and made love to you with his arms around you and our foreheads pressed together. You'd watched his eyes widen and roll back in his head as he came inside you again just after you reached your own high as well.

He then kissed you as he slowly pulled out of you, and then carried you in his arms like a bride into the bathroom where he'd showered you, washed your hair and your body, and treated you to another mind-blowing orgasm with his fingers.

‘I am fucking sore Cillian’ you huffed out as you were standing in front of the mirror and retouched your make up with a white towel wrapped around your body. You had only limited supplies with you in your handbag but were somewhat lucky that Denise had kept a few items in one of the bathrooms in the three-bedroom apartment.

‘I am sorry’ he then said as he stepped behind you and applied some more aftershave before kissing your neck.

‘Are you?’ you asked, looking back at him before pressing a gentle kiss on his lips.

‘Not really’ he then smirked before buttoning up his shirt.

You knew that you couldn’t arrive at the dinner together and, after you got ready, you decided to walk to the restaurant first so that Cillian would allow you a ten-minute head start.

But walking was difficult in itself and Cillian had a slight chuckle when he watched you waddle out of his apartment.

Your core was stinging but it was defiantly worth it.

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@peaky-cillian​

@severewobblerlightdragon​  @ysmmsy​  

[ah-ga-seven]

No More Pain | Jung Jaehyun

Pairing: Jung Jaehyun x Fem!reader 

Synopsis: The lingering wounds of your miscarriage have reopened. Now that you are broken up, an unforseen change in Jaehyun’s life has brought him back to your doorstep. Will he be able to fix you this time? Or will he fail just the same as before?

Genre: Angst, One Shot. 

Warnings: mentions of the reader having a miscarriage, depression, alcohol addiction and heartbreak.

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: Probably one of the heaviest angsts I’ve written. I know the subject is rough but the idea came from a dream so I just had to write it down.

This was a different kind of pang to your heart.

You’ve had your fair share of tragedies, heartbreaks and disappointments, but this…

This feeling was nothing like anything you’ve ever felt before and quite frankly, you wouldn’t wish this upon your greatest enemy.  

It was a Thursday night, one like many where you decided to stay in and recharge from a busy day at your demanding job.

You were seated on your couch with a hot cup of tea as you mindlessly scrolled through your Instagram feed. Completely wrapped in the warmth of your favorite fleece blanket. But even the thick fluffy material couldn’t protect you from the cold shivers that ran down your spine.

You blankly stare at the post your best friend forwarded to you via dm and stiffened.  

Memories of the night you miscarried 4 months into your pregnancy flood back to you as you stare at his comment.

You remembered how broken he looked when the doctor couldn’t find the baby's heartbeat anymore.  

You remembered how he held you as you cried in his arms, promising that he’d love you just the same as he tried to console you to his best ability while suffering himself.

You remembered the pain and the relief of having Jaehyun by your side through it all. Glad that even though your life was about to change forever, he’d be the one constant thing you could rely on.

You remembered all of these moments like they happened yesterday, wishing future you could mentally prepare past you for what was going to be the hardest time in your life.  

The man who swore never to leave you did just that, and not even 6 months into his new relationship, your biggest insecurity was made into a reality.  

He had moved on for good, and even though you have no ill feelings towards him, you can’t help but feel anger over sadness right now.  

It was that easy to replace you. And that easy for him to find someone that could give him what you couldn’t.

Even though your miscarriage wasn’t the direct cause of why he left, the effects of the incidence on your mental health dragged him down with you. So both of you felt it’d be better to part ways for the sake of not wanting to hate or resent each other in the end.  

But God…you hated and resented him now more than ever.  

It didn’t matter to you that both of you started to date new people, because a part of you always held on to the fact that you’d somehow find your way back to each other, though the probability of that ever happening again turned to ash.

Your miscarriage broke you.  

No appetite for weeks, no motivation to get yourself out of bed and no cure for the monsters in your head who told you that Jaehyun was only sticking around out of pity for your broken state.

That same insecurity is what drove him into the arms of the women he told you not to worry about, and now they’re having a fucking child together.  

Knowing that that should’ve been you was a thought that was just too much to bear right now. You suddenly feel sick to your stomach, tears prickling your eyes as you rub the spot on your belly where the mini bump used to be 8 months ago.

You were finally doing better, thriving in your job and social life. Meeting new people and dating a few loose ends here and there, but you can already feel yourself spiraling back into old depressional habits as you stare at the picture once more.  

You pettily decide to like it, hoping it would spark interest from none other than your ex, and much to your surprise, it did.

Not even 20 minutes later your phone started to buzz on the counter as you poured yourself a glass of wine. You mindlessly retrieve it, expecting it to be your best friend but when you see his name as you take a sip you almost choke.

Is he serious?

You try to come up with what to say for the next 3 to 5 minutes but nothing in your head seems to translate your exact feelings to your fingertips.

You sigh in agony while leaning over on your kitchen counter with your phone still in your hands, reading his messages over and over again. You subconsciously start to bite your lip in deep thought, getting startled by your ringtone as your phone starts to ring in your grasp.

“Fuck,” you mumble to yourself, taking a big chug of the alcoholic beverage in front of you, putting on the bravest face and straightest posture to make yourself feel better before accepting the call.  

You knew you didn’t have to answer, but you were dying to hear what he had to say under these circumstances.  

“Y/N? Is that you?” His voice was unchanged. You didn’t know why, but you expected him to sound different, be different. Yet the same worry he’s always had for you was evident in his tone this time as well.

You clear your throat to avoid a voice crack and sigh. “Congratulations,” you tried to sound as genuine as you could, but you knew you sounded like shit.  

You start to play with the ends of your hair out of anxious anticipation, waiting for him to respond on the other end of the line.  

“I meant to tell you,” he starts. “I just…I didn’t know how and Chaeyoung suddenly uploaded the picture and-”

“Jae…please spare me the details,” you interrupt him. Saying his name like you used to felt like speaking a foreign language. He stayed quiet upon hearing your voice again and let out a frustrated sigh.

“Do you still live in the same apartment in Itaewon?” he suddenly asks, immediately alerting you to stand up straight because he could only be asking for one reason and one reason only.

“Y-yes.”

“Good, I’m on my way.”

Just like that, he hung up and just like that your heart rate starts to race uncontrollably.  

You down the remnants of your wine glass and hope he’s isn’t too close because your place looked far from neat. For the next 15 minutes, you run around, shoving things into random cabinets. Whether those items belonged there or not was the least of your concern and just as you fluff the last pillow on your couch, your doorbell rings.

You take a deep breath, calming your nerves as you walk up to your front door, taking it off the lock before you open it with a dramatic swing.

There he was. Jung Jaehyun.

As beautiful and put together as he always looked, no matter the circumstance. You forget how to breathe when you lay eyes on him and gulp. It’s actually him.

His big dark orbs widened as he laid eyes on you after months of not seeing you. His facial expression softened, slowly parting his lips to speak but you beat him to it when you broke out of your trance.  

“What are you doing here?” your shoulders fall as you look into his eyes for answers. The same eyes that once looked at you with so much love and adoration, but right now his pupils were stressfully darting back and forth, trying to read you like he used to be able to but he had no idea what you were feeling right now.

“Because I feel like shit y/n. Please let me in and let me explain,” he pleaded with a defeated tone.

You scoff, rolling your eyes. “What is there to explain? You knocked up your girlfriend and finally got what you wanted. Why bother coming here? To rub it into my face?”  

Your plan of staying calm and collected went completely out the window just now and you could tell by the shock on his face that he did not expect you to be angry with him.

He took a step forward, backing you into your own hallway. His height towered over you when you stepped back and without looking back he closed the door behind him.

“Y/n. I would never purposely do that to you. Ever.” You ignore his statement, narrowing your eyes at him.

“I don’t remember inviting you in Jaehyun. Does she even know you’re here?”

You hold your ground, crossing your arms over your chest as you wait for him to counter your attack, but he simply shook his head. Knowing damn well that you’re acting tough just so you won’t get emotional.  

As he’s scanning the premises, his eyes linger on the red wine bottle on your kitchen counter and with a look of utter disbelief, he averts his attention back on you.

“You’re drinking again?” he asks with an almost condescending tone.  

“Did you come here to practice your parenting skills because no thanks Jae, please leave,” you bite back as coldly as you could, but he wasn’t having it.

“That shit almost killed you and you’re just casually drinking again?” He runs his hand through his locks out of pure frustration, not knowing what to do with the misplaced feeling of still caring for you just the same, while also knowing he has no business to tell you how to live your life.

The truth is, Jaehyun had no idea what he was doing here. Everything about the situation felt wrong and he couldn’t lie to himself any longer. Ever since Chaeyoung told him she was pregnant; he couldn’t be fully happy about it. He couldn’t commit to fatherhood knowing how much it broke your relationship. How much it broke the women he loved most to this day.

“A little red wine didn’t hurt anyone,” you mumble under your breath and that comment alone send Jaehyun’s emotions into overdrive, unable to hide his disappointment and worry for you any longer.

“IT HURT YOU Y/N. DAMN IT!” He raised his voice at you as he roughly grabbed your arm to make you look at him, which is the last thing you expected. He wasn’t mad at you. He was mad at himself. Mad at the fact that he wasn’t there when you needed him most and mad at the fact that this is what your lives had come to.

You might have previously dealt with your pain by drinking, and you might have mindlessly mixed your anti-depressants with your drink once, which…just might have earned you a trip to the hospital, but that was your lowest low and you made sure it’d never happen again.

You beat your demons by yourself when he had already moved on, so he had no place to waltz back into your life when he felt like it, just to judge you.

You’re absolutely fuming by now because of that same reason and much to your dismay you feel new tears well up in your eyes.  

“NO, YOU HURT ME!” you yell back at him as you smack his chest, the salty droplets streaming down your face as you kept hitting his chest to make him feel your pain. “YOU LEFT ME.”

Your knees got weak and you knew you looked absolutely pathetic as you crouched down in front of him. Shock took over his features as he got down on his own knees just as quickly, pulling you into the comfort of his arms. The warmth that you used to call home and the warmth that always seemed to calm you down engulfed you completely, a feeling your favorite fleece blanket from before could hardly imitate.  

He patted your head with assuring strokes, whispering sweet nothings to you as he held you on the floor of your apartment. Letting you sob the pain away in his black shirt. “Shhh, it’s okay…” he kissed the top of your head, caressing your cheek as he wiped away your tears.

You calmed down slowly, ignoring the suffocating ache in your head and heart while he made you feel safe and sound like he always did. You sat there like that for God knows how long, letting your minds go into overdrive as silence comforted the both of you.  

Ironically enough, this scenery was the exact same as the one in the hospital 8 months ago. You cried in his arms just like this when you had lost your child, but now you were crying because you had lost him. For good now.  

“I would never purposely plan to have a baby this quickly y/n, you have to believe me. Chae was on birth control but it just…happened,” he whispers, finally breaking the agonizing silence.

You stay quiet, closing your eyes to the sound of his low voice, letting his words register. “I was going to tell you. I was planning to ask you out for a coffee but as soon as she passed her first trimester, she was just so excited and made the announcement…it was just bad timing.”

“All of this is bad timing,” you mumble, which made him nod in agreement. He sighed into your hair as he continued to explain. “Y/n, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care for you anymore. I wish things were different, but they simply aren’t and I’m sorry.”

You sniff, dabbing your tears and your nose with the sleeves of your blouse before looking up at him through your lashes.

“You don’t have to apologize for moving on and being happy Jaehyun. It’s all I ever wanted for you.” You wipe the single tear that remained on the corner of his eye, not having realized that he shed a few tears himself too.

He leaned into your touch as he looked into your eyes before closing them, leaning his forehead onto yours while taking a deep breath.  

“I just want you to be ok.” He says suppressing a sob. “I can’t live this picture-perfect life knowing that you’re in pain y/n. It makes no sense; you deserve so much more it’s not fair.”  

Your lip starts to quiver as his words hit you, and you build up the courage to look at him again.  

He stared at you longingly and lovingly for the first time since forever and you knew a mistake was about to be made when he inched his face closer to you, but it was too late.

His lips made contact with yours and you completely gave in. Letting him lead you into a slow yet passionate kiss that took both of your breaths away.  Before things could get more heated, you realize what was happening and froze.

You take a hold of his wrists as you pull away, your eyes staring into his equally electrified ones as you recompose yourselves.

“I-I’m sorry,” he started. “I should’ve never confused you like that. Fuck. What the fuck am I doing.” He covers his mouth as he got up. Frustrated with his own behavior, he digs his fingernails into the palms of his hands to suppress the urge to swing at your door or any other object in sight for that matter.

You get up just as quickly as well. Straightening out your clothes before shaking off the nerves of what just happened.  

You take a deep breath followed by a shaky exhale as you opened your front door, turning around on your heels to look at an equally distressed Jaehyun.

He was about to speak; about to confess that he still loved you, but you stopped him by raising your hand, motioning for him to keep whatever he was about to say to himself.

Your eyes find his own and you take one last glance at the man that was supposed to be the pillar to your family. The man you used to call yours, and the man that you had hoped to still have a future with, despite everything.  

But you knew better.

You knew what was right and you knew what you had to do before things would start to spiral out of control again.

You stepped aside so he could pass by you, trying to avoid eye contact all while you could still feel his burning stare lingering on your fragile state.

You swallow harshly, licking your lips before you spoke as clearly and steadily as you could.

“For the sake of your family, please leave Jae…and never come back.”  

[izzieg3987]

chapter 3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

If you ask Percy how her relationship with the sun was, she would simply say, not good. When she was little, she didn’t like it because it hurt a lot. When she got older and visited a doctor she learned that she had Solar Urticaria, a rare allergy to sunlight that causes her to have hives on her skin when it’s exposed to the sun even for a few minutes and can last for hours. Just another reason for her to be nocturnal, and she had been successfully managed to keep up that habit for 14 years, but all good things come to an end she guesses.

That was what Percy was thinking as she was walking the path that was leading to the Main Street, towards the seven different statues of various figures, trying to stay in her parasol’s shadow as much as possible, with both her shoulders occupied by Mimikyu and Grim, while Cinccino was on her sunhat, the rest of her Pokemon in their Pokeballs. Since Crowley didn’t give her any cleaning tools or products, the best she could do was have Cinccino dust them and then make Vaporeon hose them with Water Gun.

“Wow, so this is Main Street, huh? This is incredible!” Grim admired. “I didn’t get to see much of it yesterday. What’s the deal with these seven statues? All their faces look pretty scary.”

Percy frowned and studied the statues, “I can’t see what’s so scary about them, seems like just some old statues to me.”

“This lady here,” Grim pointed at the statue at the end of the line on the right. It was of a large woman, wearing a dress and a crown, and holding a heart scepter. “Looks like she’s got some reeeal anger management issues, see?”

“You don’t know the Queen of Hearts?” a voice joined in.

The four turned towards the owner of the voice and saw a boy standing behind them. He, as his uniform suggested, was a student. A ginger with eyes of cherries, also he had a heart over his left eye.

“The Queen of Hearts?” Grim asked. “Is she some kinda big deal?”

“She was a queen who lived in a mazelike garden of roses long, long ago.” The ginger explained. “She was a strict woman who prized order above all. She wouldn’t tolerate a rose being off-color, or her playing-card soldiers being out of step. She basically ruled over a kingdom of madness, but not one of her subjects dared to defy her. You wanna know why? Because the punishment for breaking a rule was immediate decapitation!”

“Ccino Cinccino!” The scarf pokemon said while shaking and buried her face in her trainer’s hat in fear. (That’s horrible!)

“Wah! That is seriously messed up!” Grim whimpered.

“Yes, absolutely,” Percy agreed, as someone who always enjoyed living according to her own rules, which was unfathomable chaos, that queen’s kind of lifestyle sounded unbearable to her.

But apparently, the ginger boy thought different, “Pretty cool, right? I’m a big fan. I mean, who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?”

“Yeah, true. A leader needs to be strong.” Grim nodded.

“Yes, strong. Not a tyrant, it just sounds like she’s abusing her power to me.” İntercepted Percy, if you try to rule only with fear, there would be nothing to stop people from rebelling against you once the fear is gone.

“Anyway, but puttin’ that aside… Who’re you, now?” her feline friend finally decided to ask.

The ginger boy grinned a little too widely, “Name’s Ace. I’m a first-year student here, as of… today! Pleased to meetcha!” he introduced himself while he had a black leather glove-clad hand on the back of his head, then he held out his hand.

Percy was still pondering upon whether to shake his hand or not, but Grim didn’t wait for her to talk.

“I’m Grim! I’m a prodigy who’s plannin’ to be, like, the greatest mage who ever lived. Then there’s my far less interesting henchwomaaa—MEOUCH!” Mimikyu pushed him down Percy’s shoulder before he could finish, he already didn’t like sharing his spot with the mangy monster, he couldn’t idly stand by while he belittled his trainer.

Percy didn’t mind that, she herself was getting fed up with the feline monster’s disrespect too. But that wasn’t what she was thinking. She was studying the ginger boy in front of her right now. She lowered her sunglasses on her nose a little to see him a bit better and eyed him up head to toe.

His smile was too wide to be genuine, he looked amused rather than pleased, and she could see the mischief in his eyes. Her instincts were telling him that this boy was a troublemaker. On the other side, the boy in question was starting to get uncomfortable under the gaze of her emerald eyes.

While the girl was trying to estimate him, Ace made a quick observation himself. She had a smooth posch Accent, there was just this aura of elegance around her. She was average height but still very petite looking, her blonde hair was cut just above her shoulders, her face was very dollish with a tiny nose and ruby red lips, and her eyes were a very deep shade of green. She was beautiful in every meaning of the word. He actually never talked to a girl this gorgeous before nor one that looked like she was trying to escape the sun like a vampire.

Percy studied him a few seconds more, then she narrowed her eyes but still gave him the benefit of the doubt, she pushed her sunglasses up on their original position and slowly reached out her and shook his hand. “Persephone Remmington, call me Percy. Pleasure, I’m sure.” She then pointed at her right shoulder, “This is my partner Mimikyu,” Pointed at her sunhat, “and Cinccino.”

“’Percy’?” Ace said as he shook her hand, “Huh. Name’s got an odd ring to it.”

“Might be, I’m not from around here.” She retracted her hand and glared at Grim, who was just picked himself off the ground. “And I’m not anyone’s hench-anything.”

Grim waved his hand at her carelessly and pointed at the next statue beside the Queen. Which seemed like some type of variation of Pyroar with a scar on his left eye. “Whatever. So tell me, Ace. Is that lion with a scar in the eye a famous ruler too?”

And they did this brief history lesson for 10 minutes, back and forth. Grim pointed at a statue and asked who it was and Ace talked about them, while Percy silently listened. Normally she loved learning about new cultures and history but each of these people seems like terrible people to her. One was a Pyroar wannabe with a scar that got his throne through schemes, one was a half Octillery, half Drag Queen opportunist loan Sharpedo, one was a backstabbing usurper that only got his power from a magic lamp, one was a shallow psychopath who poisoned the people that are prettier than her, one, well okay the last two was okay, the lord of the underworld was basically her male version and even had a wife named ‘Persephone’ what a coincident, and the Thorn Fairy could turn into a dragon, how cool is that?

“Pretty cool, huh?” Ace said suddenly his smile turned to a wicked grin, “Not like some piddling weasel.”

“Myah?!” Grim was caught off guard.

But not Percy, oh no, she just thought ‘yup, here it is.’ She saw this coming from a mile away, still, it was still infuriating beyond compare. But she didn’t act, she just crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him, not that he could see it through her sunglasses.

“Pfft… Ah ha ha!” Ace pointed at them and laughed at them. “I can’t hold it back anymore! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Come on,” he kept laughing and laughing. “You’re the ones who turned orientation into such a fiasco, right? The girl who was summoned by the Dark Mirror who can’t even use magic, and the monster no one summoned at all. It took everything I had not to burst into laughter right in the middle of the ceremony!”

“H-hey! You don’t gotta be a jerk about it!” Grim gritted his teeth and his ears burned hotter with anger. He was basically growling just like the rest of the Pokemon, Percy could feel even Vaporeon, Phantump, Unfeazant, and Sebastian hissing in their Pokeballs.

“So in the end, neither of you got admitted, and now you’re janitors? Ah ha ha! SO lame!” Ace was still running his mouth unaware of the trouble he put himself in.

“What did you just call me?!”

“And you’re both so clueless you don’t even know who the Great seven are. Not one of them! Maybe before you try getting into the Academy again, you ought to take a second crack at kindergarten? Anyway, just thought I’d tease you a bit. And man am I glad I did. It’s been a blast! Unlike you, I actually have classes to get to, so I’ll let you get back to picking up trash. Bye!”

“Ha ha! Oh no, you’re not going anywhere, you two-faced prick.” Percy finally talked, she did not walk through deserts, jungles, and volcanos in six regions and battled countless trainers and mythical Pokemons to let a high school brat jest with her. “Mimikyu, Psychic!”

“What the hell?!” Ace gave out a squick as he suddenly became outlined in light blue, lost control of his body, and start to levitate. Then he turned upside down and started to shake up and down, then suddenly stopped. Which was good news because he was about to throw up everything he ate at breakfast.

“Yeah, Mimikyu! Show this asshole who’s the boss!” Grim cheered.

Percy took off her sunglasses and looked at Ace right in the eyes with a glare that sent chills down his spine, “Listen here, ginger nuts, you dare to tell ME to go back to kindergarten when you yourself have the manners of a toddler, which makes me pity your mother because Arceus knows, that poor woman surely raised you better than this! On what earth do you think it’s okay to insult strangers out on the Street, you sniveling imbecile! So shut your mouth or I will shut it for you, and believe me once I shut it, it will stay shut.”

Then Ace heard the snapping of a finger and he fall to the ground immediately after, with a painful thud.

Percy put her sunglasses back on and turned away from the ginger, “Come on guys, he’s not worth our time.”

“What?!” Grim argued, his anger still burning hot, “That’s it?!”

“Grim, let us not concern ourselves with the actions of this wretched boy. Our focus should remain steadfast on our duties at hand.”

And he was, even though begrudgingly, gonna leave it IF only Ace stayed silent. “Yeah! Go back to cleaning, you freaks.” He muttered.

Unsurprisingly, Grim who heard this, exploded with anger. “That’s it! I’m not gonna let him get away with this! Myaaaaah!”

“GRIM NO!” Percy shouted, but it was too late.

He took a deep breath and spat out a trail of blue flames across the pavement. Technically Percy should stop this but she did warn Ace not to run his mouth, he made his bed and now he’s gotta lie in it. So she just sighed and step out of the fire’s way.

The fire blocked Ace’s way and made him grab his magic pen, “Whoa,”

Grim smirked. “No one makes fun of Grim, Master of Fire, and his henchmens! I’m gonna make that explodey-head of yours explode all over again!” and he let out another wave of flames.

But to give him credit Ace was quick enough to run from it, “Explodey-head?!” he asked now very irritated. “You wanna throw down with me, shorty? You got some guts. You wanna talk hair, huh? I’m gonna shave you like a toy poodle!”

“Myaaaaah!” Another wave of fire erupted from Grim's mouth as he snarled. At their feet were blue flames flickering as the street was ablaze.

Ace was nimble enough to dodge it quite nimbly, waving his pen around in one fluid motion. “Oh-ho! Let’s see how you like this!” The wind blew furiously along the path as Grim stomped down the path, redirecting the fire.

“Cinccino, Protect!”

All grim saw was a fast blur of grey and white shape and the next moment he was with Cinccino, surrounded by a green force shield that protected them both from the flames. The two looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing on teamwork.

Cinccino climbed on Grim’s back, keeping the force shield on, while Grim kept on throwing fireballs at the boy. But the ginger blew them away with the same spell. “H-Hey! His magic winds are blowin’ my fireballs off course! No fair!”

The other students who saw the commotion were starting to make a crowd.

“What’s going on over there? A fight?!”

“Oh, sweet! Get ‘em!”

Percy shook her head, this was getting too far. “Guys, stop it! You’re making a scene!” but they didn’t listen to her.

“Awww… Can’t hit me with your little fireballs?” Ace taunted the feline fire monster again.

“Grrr… You better believe I’m about to! Take that!” Grim growled and launched another fireball, but Ace continued to look smug.

“Pfft. All it takes is a little gust to—Hah!” In doing so, the flames were redirected toward the Queen of Hearts' statue, which caught fire.

Percy facepalmed, “Good job, you imbecile!” she scolded as Ace finally looked worried.

“Oh no! Now the Queen of Hearts’ statue looks like it’s been flame-broiled!”

“That’s your fault for tryin’ to divert it!” Grim yelled, trying to pin the blame on the ginger, while Cinccino let him go and quickly run to her trainer to climb onto her vacant shoulder, “You shoulda just let it burn you to a crisp!”

“Who in their right mind would ever do that?!” Ace snapped back.

“What is going on here? Cease this at once!” the headmage’s booming voice scattered the crowd of teenage boys in seconds.

“Oh no! The Headmage!” Ace yelled in fear, there wasn’t a hint of his tough boy act anymore.

“Not more lashings of love! We gotta get outta here!” they tried to run but soon both of them were groaning in pain on the ground with a crack of the masked man’s whip.

“Myaaaaah! And I’m still sore from yesterday, too!” Grim whined.

“As if the likes of you could ever flee from me! Haaah…” the Headmage glared at the boys, then turned to Percy. “Did I not just warn you, ‘no more incidents’? and now you’ve charred one of my statues?! You were specifically told to keep Grim under control!”

“The ginger started it first, he’s the one moronic enough to taunt a fire type!” Percy took off her sunglasses and defended Grim. “I told him to stop but he didn’t listen, if you mess with the tauros, you get the horns. He got no one but himself to blame.”

Crowley nodded slightly, still mad though. “Very well, that I understand.�� He then turned to Ace, “It’s almost as though you WANT to be expelled though!”

“No!” Ace begged the man, “Forgive me!”

Crowley sighed and shook his head, “State your name and grade.”

“Ace Trappola… Freshman.” He answered reluctantly.

“Then listen well you three. As punishment for today’s infractions, you are hereby ordered to wash a hundred windows!”

“Myah?!” Grim argued. “That’s what you get for makin’ fun of us! This is all your fault!”

Ace looked just as shocked. “Whaaat? I have to do it too?!”

“Mimikyu.” Percy simply said, and her partner knew exactly what to do. He smacked the ginger in the back of the head, hard. ”Thank you, darling.” She then turned to the boy, “Of course you do! This whole ordeal was your fault from the beginning, maybe now you’ll think twice before you try to make fun of people you don’t know!”

Ace shrunk under Percy’s fierce glare. Her green eyes glowed eerily, it also didn’t help that Mimikyu and Cinccino were gleaming evilly from her shoulders, wanting to beat the boy to a pulp.

Crowley remained firm. “You will meet in the cafeteria after class. Are we clear?”

“Yes sir.” The two humans agreed.

“Ugh, I just can’t catch a break!” Grim whined.

“Welcome to my life.” Percy agreed, but she remembered to stop Crowley before he left. “Um, sir?”

“Yes, Miss Remmington?”

“Where can I find cleaning tools?”

“Oh, right let me…”

It seemed to Percy that all she did since she stepped into this place was cleaning.

Crowley led them to a broom closet in the library, where they could find cleaning products, she and her Pokemon had been working tirelessly ever since. She got Phantump, Vaporion, and Sebastian out of their Pokeballs, and they started by swiping the area between and Library. After that, the bubble jet Pokemon filled a bucket with water, and Percy added the soap, and then they started to scrub every nook and cranny of the statues, especially the statue of the Queen of Hearts. Percy and Sebastian did the bottom half and Phantump floated and did the top half.

By lunchtime, Percy was spent. When she arrived at the Cafeteria, she quickly closed her parasol,  found an empty table, and throw herself onto the seat. She took off her sunhat and sunglasses, and put them in her bag, then buried her head in her arms, she stayed in that position for a few moments. The rest of her Pokemon and Grim hop onto the table, Mimikyu petted her hair, while Phantump hugged her from behind.

"Sebastian, my dear, would you be so kind as to fetch us something to eat?” she requested without raising her head.

“Dee dee Indeedee.” Percy heard the pitter-patter of his little feet until they faded away. (Right away mistress.)

“Yes! Food! Please! I’m so tired and hungry!” Grim groaned and immediately got slapped by Vaporeon with her tail.

“Why are you tired? You didn’t do anything, it was just me and my friends that did all the work,”

“Even watching you was tiring.” He kept whining, while he melted on the table.

“No wonder you’re so plump! Ha ha ha ha!” suddenly said a cheery voice and finally, Percy lifted her head.

“What? Who said that?!” Grim quickly got up and looked around for the owner of the voice.

“Oh, I know who,” Percy opened her bag and a purple-cased phone flew out of it, "I must admit, I was beginning to wonder if your energy had depleted, for you seldom remain silent for such an extended period."

The phone flew up to her face and the face on the back of the cover started to talk, “I thought you might appreciate it if I didn’t make unnecessary comments while you weren’t in the right mood for them, my queen.”

Percy smiled and reached to grab it, “Why thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you Rotom.” She caressed the phone, while Grim’s ears perked up in interest. He might strongly deny and say that he’s not a cat, but he was naturally curious like a Glameow.

He walked up to Percy and pawed at the strange new device, “Henchwoman, what is this? How does your phone talk to you?”

Percy glanced at him and smiled warmly at the feline monster. yes, he might be infuriating but he was really cute sometimes, “It can talk because it’s one of my Pokemon.”

“What? How can this be one of your beasts? It’s a phone.” Grim asked in wonder.

“It’s Pokemon,” Percy reminded him, “And its name is Rotom, also it’s not the phone, it’s what’s inside the phone.”

“Rotoms have the ability to possess certain machines. Depending on the machines they possess, they get different abilities. And when one possesses a phone or a special Pokedex they get the ability to speak human languages.” She explained.

“Hmph, your monsters are so weird,” Grim said, crossing his arms while trying to mask his interest. Everything about this human girl was new, confusing but intriguing too, she wasn’t afraid of ghosts one bit, on the contrary, she greeted them like they were old friends. She somehow could control all of these new scary monsters he had never seen before, but while talking to them she was kind and not bossy. She even defended him against the Headmage and managed to convince him to let him stay. She protected him from the ginger human’s attacks. Nobody has ever done something like that for him before, he only just met her but Grim felt weirdly safe around her.

Percy noticed that and smiled knowingly at the feline monster but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she turned her attention to the Rotomphone, “Can you connect to wi-fi in this place Rotom?”

“Hmm, there seems to be a wi-fi server but it’s password protected. Let me see if I can crack it, hold please.” on its screen three dots appeared, and five seconds later it changed into a green tick. “I’ve connected, your majesty.”

“Rotom you’re the best, thank you!” if she was going to stay in this World for a while Percy need to understand how this world worked. Is the proper etiquette the same? What is the Money currency? Is gold valuable here? What are its prices per kilo? And where can she sell it? You know things like that.

She has a Perrserker that knows Pay Day, so she will have no trouble with money.

While she was researching she felt a tap on her shoulder and she automatically corrected her posture, in doing so she made Phanthump float into her lap, then looked behind to see the Oshawott boy from last night, with a boy with long dark hair.

“See Jamil that’s her, that’s the girl and the monsters, who saved me at the orientation ceremony.” He told his long-haired companion but turned to the blond girl without letting the boy speak. “Hi! how are you? Do you remember me?” he waved at her.

“Hey, hello! They’re Pokemons and yes, you’re the Oshawott boy whose arse was on fire.” Percy genuinely smiled at him, she liked this boy’s energy.

“Yes, that’s me! I don’t know what an Oshawott is but I’m sure it’s nice. Um, can we join you?”

“Oh, of course. Ladies can you make room, please? Thank you.” She asked the bubble jet and the scarf Pokemon, who was laying on the table and gestured to the now open seats across her. “Help yourselves, gentlemen.”

With her permission, the Oshawott boy didn’t waste any time taking the seat right in front of her, but the long-haired boy, Jamil, eyed her Pokemon warily before doing the same next to his master.

The Oshawott boy then pointed at Vaporeon and Grim, former was now sitting with a smile from the joy of seeing him again, with wide eyes. While the latter muttered something about food “A look that’s the very monster who saved me and the one who attacked me.”

“Yes, Kalim. You didn’t stop talking about it all night.” Jamil said with a very good masked annoyance. Well, not good enough to deceive Percy, but apparently enough to fool Kalim. She didn’t really like him as much as the Oshawott boy. He reminded her of a Seviper.

The boy with the ruby eyes turned to the blond and smiled, his smile was like a beam of sunshine. “I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself at the ceremony, my name is Kalim al Asim, the Housewarden of Scarabia and this is my vice-Housewarden Jam-Ouch! Why did you do that?!” he squealed when the Seviper boy elbowed him.

“Don’t talk for me!” he glared at the boy for one second, then turned to Percy who was frowning at him, and his face suddenly got an indifferent expression. “I’m Jamil Viper the vice-Housewarden of Scarabia.”

Percy kept frowning at him, something about this boy was really rubbing her the wrong way. She then slowly turned to the Oshawott boy and smiled. “Hello, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Persephone Remmington, but you may address me as Percy.”

The lack of handshaking from the two boys pleased Percy. It is not a well-known fact but boys shouldn’t initiate a handshake when they greet a lady. A true gentleman wouldn’t assume a lady would want to make physical contact and wait for her to reach her hand. And Percy really wasn’t in the mood to make physical contact.

“And this is my partner Mimikyu.“ she introduced as she scratched her partner’s chin, then she gestured to the Stump Pokemon on her lap. “This is Phantump,”

The ghost type waved and smiled brightly at the two boys, but only one of them waved back. “Phantump!” (hello!)

 “Cinccino,”

The Scarf Pokemon smiled and gave them a friendly nod, “Ccino.” (Hi.)

“You know Vaporeon and Grim from last night already.”

The Bubble Jet Pokemon skipped to Kalim and rubbed her head on the boy’s arm, asking for scratches. “Pore! Vaporeon Vapo!” (Hi! It’s so good to see you again!)

“Hello.” The Oshawott boy giggled and scratched behind her… fins?

Percy watched the two interact for a moment, “She likes you, little Oshawott.”

“I like her too,” he exclaimed happily while he kept petting her Pokemon.

The seviper boy was a bit warier than his friend, “But what exactly is she? I’ve never seen familiars like yours before.”

“She is a Pokemon, they all are,” Percy answered. “That’s what we call the animals where I’m from.”

“Ohh and where are you from?” Kalim finally turned away from the Pokemon,  “Jamil and I are from the Land of Hot Sands.”

“I’m from Lavender Town in Kanto” she then remembered that Kanto didn’t exist in this dimension. “It’s too far away you wouldn’t know.”

“Huh, why is it called the Lavender Town?” Kalim asked genuinely curious.

“Because the atmosphere there is perpetually shrouded in a thick mist, casting a mesmerizing purple hue throughout the surroundings."  Percy described, she missed her home. To be honest, Percy could never imagine herself living permanently anywhere besides Lavender Town. It was almost always foggy so she didn’t need to worry about the sun and the perfect size for her to have a quiet life without feeling claustrophobic. It wasn’t much but it was enough for Percy and her friends.

“It sounds beautiful,” Jamil said, for the first time since they sat down being genuine.

“It is. It’s mostly known for its Pokemon gravesites and ghost sightings.”

Before the seviper boy could ask what she meant, a lunch tray outlined with light blue floated in front of Percy and the sound of the male Indeedee’s little feet got heard right after. The Emotion Pokemon then passed the containment of the tray out to each person in their group. Tuna sandwiches for Grim and Vaporeon, a garden salad with lots of cheese and croutons for Cinccino, grilled cheese for him and Phantump, and a big bowl of fruit salad for Percy and Mimikyu. “Dee dee Indeedee,” (There you go Mistress, please enjoy.)

“FINALLY! FOOD!!” Grim stuffed his face into the sandwich right away.

“Thank you very much, Sebastian.” Percy thanked him as she grabbed a fork and gave Mimikyu a strawberry. “Go ahead, sit down.”

She then turned back to the two Scarabia students, “Sorry, you were saying,”

“Is he one of your familiars too?” Kalim asked, now fascinated with the newcomer Pokemon, who can lift objects with his mind.

“Oh, yes. This is Sebastian, my male Indeedee.” She introduced her friend after she swallowed the peach in her mouth.

“Do you use them as servants?” the seviper boy asked with an unreadable expression.

“Well, it’s how Indeedees feed,” Percy simply answered, she didn’t feel like going into detail for him.

“It’s wha—“

“I can explain!” Rotom floated up again.

“Rotom!” Percy yelled but before she could stop it, Rotom had already tapped into its Pokedex app.

“Indeedee, the Emotion Pokémon. A Psychic and Normal type. Indeedees are highly intelligent, sensing emotions through the horns on their heads. These Pokémon willingly serve people and other Pokémon, as they derive energy from feelings of gratitude. Male Indeedees are loyal to their Trainers, and female Indeedees are skilled babysitters.”

“Wow! That’s so cool!” Kalim exclaimed loudly, “Oh, oh do Vaporeon next!”

“As you wish,” Rotom obeyed him, “Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon. A Water type. Its form is adapted for movement in the water. The cells of its body resemble water molecules, so it can hide itself in the water as if it had melted into it. Its long tail is ridged with a fin which is often mistaken for a mermaid's.”

“Your familiars are amazing!”

“They’re not that impressive,” Grim talked now that he had some food. “I’m pretty strong too,”

“Yes. Yes, you are.” Percy giggled and reached to carefully scratch behind his flaming ears. “And another thing you are is very cute.”

“I’m not cute, human!” he tried to look intimidating but soon enough he surrendered to the human girl’s scratches and even started to purr.

“If you’re not a part of any dorms,” Jamil started interrupting them, gesturing to Percy’s regular dress, “Then why didn’t the Headmage send you home already?”

"The Dark Mirror's influence couldn't reach my home, unfortunately. So, until the Headmage discovers a means to transport me back, Grim, my loyal Pokemon, and I have taken up residence in the unoccupied building on the Campus." She simply answered.

“But isn’t that place like, ancient?” Kalim asked concerned.

"Currently, it may not be in the finest condition, but I believe it holds great promise." Percy reassured him, "I have previous experience in revitalizing spaces, so this won't be my first endeavor of this kind."

Just then the bell rang, informing the students that lunchtime was over.

“Aww, already? But I wanted to talk a bit more.” Kalim whined but started to gather his belongings anyway.

“Come on, Kalim,” Jamil said while he got up with his tray and dragged Kalim with him. “I’m sure they got other things to do.”

“Bye Percy! Bye, little monsters!” Kalim said while the seviper dragged him away, “Come to visit us sometime!”

“Goodbye Oshawott,” Percy waved, “’til we meet again.”

One by one, all of the students left, leaving the seven alone in the cafeteria to wait for Ace.

 And they kept on waiting.

“I’m already exhausted from a full day of cleanin’.” Grim groaned as they waited for an hour, “I can’t believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows!”

“And whose fault is that?” Percy reminded him, while she pets Mimikyu’s stuffed head, “Try and learn from this experience.”

“What’s buggin me is, Ace ain’t even here yet! To make us wait, after what he did… Grrr!” he growled and crossed his arms.

And they waited.

Percy had a nice chat with the kitchen ghosts while holding Mimikyu like a plush toy.

And waited.

The Pokemon played among each other.

And waited.

Okay, this much waiting was too much.

“And now he’s super late! I bet he up and bailed on us!” Grim yelled.

“And I’m going to bail him out of life.” Percy growled, then grabbed her bag, “Come on let’s go find him.”

“Yeah! Ain’t no way am I doin’ his punishment for him!” he hopped on Percy’s left shoulder as she put Mimikyu on her right, Cinccino climbed on her head, Vaporeon and Sebastian followed on land, while Phantump floated behind them.

“I don’t care if I have to drag him kicking and screaming, he’s washing those windows!” she stormed out of the Cafeteria to the Classrooms.

“Hey! Ace! Get over here!” Grim called, as they got into a one. “Try to hide from me, will ya!”

“Thump… Phanthump Phanthump.” The Stump Pokemon said as he looked around the room. (Huh… Maybe there’s really no one here.)

"You're right, Phantump. It appears that there is no one here at the moment." She sighed.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I’m here.” A voice replied.

“Bwaaah! That painting just talked!” Grim screamed.

“Yes, and…? Is a talking painting really such an oddity at this school?” the painting asked. “The lady in the portrait on that Wall talks too. As does the gentleman in the portrait on this one. As long as a painting has a mouth, why wouldn’t it be able to talk? Is that really so strange?”

“Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve seen.” Percy shrugged. “Terribly sorry for bothering you Mister, but we’re searching for a boy named Ace Trappola. He’s got messy ginger hair and a heart drawn on his left eye. Is it possible that you’ve seen where he’s gone to?”

“Ah, a young lady! Pardon my manners ma’am.”

She smiled. “It’s alright, sir. I’m aware that my situation is quite extraordinary.”

“Someone with good manners, at last. I know the one you’re speaking of. A new student, I believe? Today was his first day at school. I think he went back to his dorm a while ago.”

“Myaaah! So it’s true! He’s tryin’ to ditch us!” Grim snarled, “Do you know which way he went?”

“The door to the dorms is in the eastern building.” The painting simply said.

“Let’s chase after him, henchwoman!”

“Thank you very much, sir. It was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to seeing you again, goodbye.” She ran out of the room towards to Hall of Mirrors.

“What a well-mannered and beautiful young lady.” The painting of a lady said after Percy left.

“I think it’s going to be an eventful year,” said another painting of a gentleman, and all the rest of the portraits hummed in agreement.

True to the painting’s words, one of the many school buildings littering the grounds opened to a wide display of Mirrors just as large as the one that had declared her unfit for the school. It was similar to the second-floor hallway in that it was purple and buzzing with magic. Though Percy couldn't feel it, she could still see the ripples of light in the mirrors.

“Where are you, you little brat?” Percy muttered, adjusting Grim on her left shoulder, who stared around at the circular hallway in wonder. Seven gigantic mirrors surrounded them with a gleam and were carved with crests and multiple unique designs. They were seated on a few steps in the middle of alcoves.

“Yeah right, like I’m gonna wash a hundred windows.” She heard a familiar voice say. “I’m just gonna go back and—”

Ace was near the Hall of Mirrors, when a white tree stump with a wavy branch on each side, that had a wispy black body cut off his way. Its blue eyes were visible through two holes in the stump and its mouth appeared to be on the stump itself. There were two small red leaves near the tip of each branch. And it looked angry.

He slowly stepped back until his back collided with something. He turned back and saw four sets of angry eyes.

“Hello there, Gingernut.” Percy greeted him with a deadpan voice.

“Ah! How did you find me this fast?!”

“I have my ways and you will take your punishment; you prick.” Percy glared at him and walked around him while keeping eye contact until she blocked his way to the mirror with the playing card design.

“I really don’t have time to talk!” he took a few steps back and then bolted the opposite way. “See ya!”

“No way are you getting’ out of this!” Grim jumped down and sprinted after Ace, with Percy right behind him. “You think I WANNA wash windows?”

They chased him for a good while, occasionally throwing fire and shadow balls at him, till a blue-haired poor bystander got involved.

“Hm?” he turned and saw the ginger boy running his way, but he was too slow.

“Outta my way!” the ginger shouted.

“Hey! What gives?!” the blue-haired stranger yelled in surprise, his teal eyes going wide in shock.

They almost bumped into each other, but Ace dug his heels and hit the brakes just in time, giving Percy enough time to do this.

“Mimikyu, Thunderbolt!”

The Disguise Pokemon jumped out of his trainer’s shoulder, on the air his body became surrounded by yellow electricity, and he fired a beam of electricity at the ginger boy. The boy screamed and fell on the stranger, now paralyzed.

The blue-haired boy grunted as he landed on the cold, hard floor with Ace lying limp on his body, “Can you please get off of me?!”

“Oh Arceus, sorry about that.” Percy said, now catching up to them, “Here, let me help you.”

She rolled the ginger off of the stranger and helped him up.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but when he got a good look at her his eyes widened and he just froze.

“I— uh…” the boy stuttered and blushed but honestly Percy thought he was having a concussion.

“Are you alright? Did you hit your head when you fell?” she asked, she didn’t want to deal with that too.

“No. No. I’m… okay.” He finally could speak in complete sentences. “It’s just that I don’t talk to girls that often.”

“Oh, I see. I apologize that this, dirtbag—” she gave the boy on the ground a little kick, which made him twitch with a spark of electricity. “Fell on you. That was my bad. I’m Persephone Remmington, please call me Percy.”

“I know. I was at the orientation ceremony too.” The boy blurted out.

“Oh, right.” Percy raised her eyebrows and nodded while reaching down to place her partner on her shoulder once again. Soon enough the laughter of the flaming feline ended the awkward silence.

He got close to Ace’s face and smirked. “That’s what you get if you try to mess with my henchwoman, you’re no match for her beasts!”

“Isn’t that the monster who wreaked havoc in the orientation? And why is he calling you henchwoman?” the blue-haired boy asked.

“Yes, this little menace is Grim, he has a tendency to indulge in wild delusions from time to time, much to our dismay.” She introduced the little feline.

The stranger looked at the ginger on the ground and asked, “So, what’s the story with this one?”

“Oh, he? Well, he was shirking detention.” Percy simply explained.

While she saw Ace move around a bit. “Hmm, the effects of the paralysis seem to be wearing off.” She turned to the blue-haired stranger, “You’re a magician, right? Can you please do something, so he doesn’t try to run again?”

He suddenly seemed nervous again and began to mumble, “Oh, sure. Uh, but how to stop him? Like, freeze his legs? Or bind them with a rope? Or maybe I could… Hmm… No…”

“Anything would do really,” Percy tried to calm the boy.

“Anything? Anything, huh… All right! Here goes anything!” he grabbed the jeweled pen from his breast pocket and pointed it to Ace. “I summon thee… something heavy!”

And suddenly a giant cauldron fell on Ace, trapping him where he lay.

“Wwaaah?! Wha?! A pot?!” the ginger screamed now completely out of the paralysis.

“Ah ha ha ha ha! Look, Percy, look! That Ace guy got crushed beneath a giant cauldron! It squashed him flat! Aha ha ha!” Grim cackled.  

The stranger looked a bit guilty. “A cauldron?! I wasn’t expecting that. I may have overdone it this time…”

“Rest assured, it was a punishment befitting his actions, duly earned and justly administered, thank you.” Percy giggled leaning onto the cauldron.

“Ahh I can’t breathe! Get off!” the ginger begged.

“I never heard you apologize for your hurtful words to us this morning,” Percy crossed her arms.

“Are you serious?!” Ace cried out from under the cauldron.

“I’m waiting,” the Pokemons and Grim were still cackling.

“UGH, FINE! I’M SORRY! NOW GET OFF!”

Percy decided that he suffered enough and stopped leaning onto the cauldron and gestured for Sebastian to lift it off of him with Psychic.

“What are you bothering me for?” Ace complained as he escaped the weight of the cauldron. “You guys coulda just banged out the work yourself!”

“Mimikyu,” the blonde commanded, her partner knew what she wanted him to do and smacked Ace in the back of the head. “Thank you, darling.”

“There’s no ‘banging out’ a hundred windows!” the trainer scolded him, “And I’m not going to let you slack off when it was you that started it by picking on us!”

“You picked on a girl? Dude, what’s wrong with you?” the blue-haired boy looked at him with disappointment. “And you have to wash a hundred windows as punishment? What the heck did you do?!”

“I was just screwing with that furball a little, okay?” Ace crossed his arms and shrugged. “And the statue of the Queen of Hearts got a teeny bit charred. Sue me.”

“You damaged a statue of the Great Seven?! No wonder the Headmage flew off the handle at you!” the stranger took a step back in shock, “After you managed to get into THIS school, how could you get in trouble on the very first day?!”

“Oh, shut up.” Ace snapped at the stranger. “Who are you, anyway?”

“My name is Deuce. Deuce Spade.” Newly named boy, Deuce crossed his arms. “Don’t you remember your own classmate? Uh…”

“You don’t remember my name either, do you?” Ace snapped back with a deadpan impression.

“That’s not the point!” Deuce quickly said with embarrassment, “You shouldn’t try to shirk an order from the Headmage!”

“Yeah, yeah, message received… Fine, let’s bang out the windows already. Huh…?”

Ace started to look around and this made Percy notice something.

Grim sure has been quiet.

“The furball!” Ace gasped. “He’s gone!”

“Oh, no he’s not! GRIM!!” Percy yelled towards the way the little feline was running really loudly. So loud that the two boys wondered, how a girl this small could make such loud noise. “Get your little furry arse back here, you little Impidimp!!”

“Ah ha ha ha! I’ll let you two handle the rest!” Grim taunted them from the Main Street while running towards the school. “See ya, suckers!”

Percy’s left eye started to twitch while she was seething with anger at this point.

“You caught me so YOU could run yourself?!” Ace shouted, “Hey! You there! Uh… Juice?”

“My name isn’t ‘Juice’. It’s Deuce! With a D!” the blue-haired boy spluttered.

“This is partially your responsibility, you know! So, help us catch that little furball!”

“How is this my responsibility?!”

“Grim’s janitor friend can’t use magic, so she’s useless!”

“Speak for yourself, you ginger twat!” she yelled at Ace while she put her bag back on and put her hat on her head. She then reached for her Pokeball belt, “Unfeazant, after Grim!”

[hockeywhy]

caught in the middle (1); m. barzal

SYNOPSIS: For the sake of your friend’s wedding with Tito, you and Mat agree to maintain the facade of still being the happy couple everyone sees you as. But the act comes with its consequences, one more taxing than the other. WARNINGS: language. WORD COUNT: 11.2k A/N: I am so excited for this because it contains some of the tropes I enjoy seeing in fics, and I was dying to also put out some new content as opposed to only reposting my old writing. I wish I wrote this when I was still decent at doing the thing, but I hope that this is still an enjoyable read that makes you look forward to the next part! Title is based off Alexander 23′s Caught in the Middle which is such a good song and I really recommend. Sections in italics represent flashbacks. 

PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

“We’re getting married!” 

You gasped, bringing both hands to cover the lower half of your face as your jaw dropped at the announcement. It shouldn’t be so surprising – you would’ve bet even your most prized possession that this was bound to happen at some point eventually – but knowing this was actually now a sure thing sent a thrill through you. It didn’t take long for the shock to wear off and in place of it, your expression mirrored that of your best friend’s: the wide grin, the bright eyes and of course, the giggles of sheer excitement as soon as the news sunk in. Elise was glowing and next to her, Tito embodied the idea of what the world’s proudest man would look like. 

“Oh my god!” you gasped, and Elise burst into laughter, not hesitating to jump out of her seat at the same time you did so that the two of you could embrace. Among your squeals and giggles, you could faintly make out the sound of hands being clapped, then caught sight of Mat and Tito hugging. Over Elise’s shoulder and over Tito’s, you and Mat exchanged smiles and you couldn’t help the chuckle that left your mouth as soon as he winked at you. “Congratulations!” you said as soon as you broke apart, though the two of you still held hands. Immediately, your gaze fell down to her hand where a ring now rested, and you couldn’t help but wonder how you hadn’t taken notice of it earlier. “Just—when? How? Where? Who else knows?” 

“We don’t have a date or venue set yet, but we wanted you and Mat to be the first to know,” Elise informed you as soon as you took your seats again.

“We have a favour to ask from both of you,” Tito supplied. As soon as he said it, you felt Mat’s hand wrap around your own and the two of you exchanged a brief look during which he squeezed your hand gently, before diverting your attentions back to the soon-to-be newlyweds. 

Newlyweds. The immensity of the word sent a discrete shiver down your spine. 

“I can’t imagine asking this of anyone else: I want you to be my best man,” Tito directed at Mat.

“You shouldn’t even think of asking this of anyone else,” Mat responded immediately, and the two shook hands on it. You couldn’t help but think that if they weren’t as comfortable as they were now, they’d probably hug again, do their typical pats on the back or fist bump as they usually did, but Elise’s head now rested on Tito’s shoulder and Mat’s hand was so warm, so firm atop your own. 

“Be my maid of honour, please?” Elise asked. “I can’t think of anyone more suitable than you and Mat as best man and maid of honour. We’ll return the favour of course,” she added playfully. 

“I’ll hold you to that,” you warned without hesitating because after all, you had no reason to – and you knew Mat would agree with you. 

Although the two of you hadn’t touched on the subject yet, there was an unvoiced knowledge shared between you that eventually, this would also be you. Eventually, Mat would ask you and your heart would grow and your soul would warm, and you would say yes. Yes, yes, yes. 

As you all settled down to hear a replay of how Tito popped the question and Elise accepted the ring, Mat’s thumb began caressing the back of your hand. Though the gesture wasn’t a novelty, you couldn’t help but take notice of the way your heart fluttered each time he seemed to linger more on your ring finger. It wasn’t difficult to imagine a ring wrapped around it but neither of you were in a rush: you simply waited for the right time to take your relationship to a point in which it would become a forever thing, fully confident it wasn’t a question of ‘if’ but rather, ‘when’.

*

This was anything but the right time. 

You frown as you cast a glance down at the phone resting on your lap, eyes narrowing a little at the name which brought the display to life for the second time in the space of less than a minute. You click the side button twice, silencing the vibrations of it and from your side, your colleague leans in to whisper to you. 

“You can take it if it’s urgent. I’ll fill you in afterwards.”

“Thanks,” you whisper back. “I think it can wait until the meeting wraps up though.” 

Luke gives you a well, if you’re sure look as he leaned back in his chair and you flash him a grateful smile. 

Still, it is difficult for you to settle comfortably in your seat again and much to your chagrin, you find yourself crossing and uncrossing your legs as if the call had sent some sort of signal to your entire body kickstarting jitteriness you can honestly do without. Not long after you find some comfort and energy to draw yourself back to the present, your phone buzzes again – only once this time, indicating a message. 

I’m waiting for you in the lobby.

Fuck, you curse inwardly, locking the phone in frustration. As quietly as you can, you gather your notebook and work tablet then lean in towards Luke who met you halfway. “Have to run but let me know if I miss anything important.”

“At the current rate, I wouldn’t count much on it but will do anyway,” he states as quietly as he can and the two of you exchange sly, conspiratorial smiles before you excuse yourself quickly and very quietly while making a swift exit. 

Internally, a string of curses follow without a break in between, and you have to physically bite down on your lip out of sheer fear one might unconsciously slip out. If anyone would be in your shoes, though, they wouldn’t blame you for it. You are the type of person to stick closely to any plans and agreements made, so the fact that he just chose to turn up so unexpectedly doesn’t sit right with you. Not anymore, that is. Besides, you had both agreed to do this after your workday ended as opposed to midday and definitely not in this place. Now, you have to brace yourself for coping with a foul mood on top of whatever else the rest of the day would throw at you. 

“You’ve got a visitor,” Rachel announces quietly in a sing-song voice from behind the reception desk as you approach. She doesn’t bother masking the giddiness in her tone and you struggle to work up as genuine of a smile as you can when she nods her head towards the waiting area.

“Thanks, Rach.”

“Bet he must be so happy your redeployment to the Baltimore offices was cut short so quickly,” she coos. 

“Sure is. We’re still on for tonight?” you ask quickly in an attempt to drive attention away from the subject before she can try to lead into it too far for your own comfort at the moment. 

Rachel’s smile falters a little, her expression somewhat quizzical. “Don’t you want to postpone so you could spend some time with him? You only just got back yesterday, after all.” 

You swallow uncomfortably before shrugging. “We’ve got plenty of time to do that. So tonight, okay? I’ll catch you later.” 

“Your call. See you then, Y/N!”

You only had just a split second to brace yourself for what is ahead of you, so you draw in a breath then slowly exhale it as discreetly as you can while cutting your way across the lobby. Since agreeing to this meeting, you prepared yourself as best as you could, imagining every single scenario and devising the appropriate plan for it: from the way you presented yourself to what you said, you had a mental plan for everything including a few backups just in case. The only thing you hadn’t factored in, apparently, was how little was under your control and you hated that. Each step you take made you feel less and less prepared for what is ahead, and the thought rattles you. If you were swift enough on your feet, you could just about make a quick turn and dip into the hallway leading to the visitor restrooms. All you need is just a few more seconds. A little alone time for you to run over your lines in your head. 

Except—

Mat looks up at the same time you take a step sideways, ready to bolt towards temporary safety. His eyebrows rise a little as if surprised by the sight of you, but you refuse to appear outwardly deflated by the turn of events. Instead, you square your shoulders, tip your head back a little and arch an eyebrow. You can do this. You note he is dressed casually, and his hair is pushed back underneath a black cap. 

Unless there was a change in schedule, Thursdays were scrimmage days. 

Your jaw clenches ever so slightly as you recall that with so much ease. Then again, you basically built up a collection of information that was practically helpful or useful to exactly no one over the course of the past few years. It’ll probably take just as much or maybe more to replace that with something different, so you try cutting yourself some slack whenever you are willing to.

“I thought we agreed on five thirty,” you state coolly, pitching your voice at just the right tone to also express surprise.

Mat pushes up from the armchair, returning whatever magazine he’d picked up back on the nearby glass table. “Sorry, I tried calling earlier this morning to ask if we can reschedule but it went straight to voicemail.” 

Oh. You mentally curse yourself for not charging your phone as soon as you made it home from the airport the previous night or bothering to check the voicemail message you’d been notified of once it did begin charging earlier this morning at your desk.

“They rescheduled the viewing of the new arena for this evening, and I was in the area, so I thought I’ll drop by just in case,” Mat continues, throwing a cursory glance around the place though to you, it seemed more like a way of having a break from the eye contact. You don’t complain; you welcome that. 

You open your mouth, ready to berate his poor timing but even you could admit you carry some fault here too. Only a little. You bite down lightly on the tip of your tongue, before nodding towards the seats though you didn’t wait for Mat; you sit, deciding he could make up his own mind if he wanted to follow or not. 

“How was Baltimore?” he asks after a few moments of awkward silence while settling in the same armchair he previously occupied. 

“Mat,” you say, hoping it comes across as more of a warning than a plea. You can’t deal with small talk and a part of you thinks that’d make the entire deal even more difficult to go through with. He presses his lips together into a thin line and you take that as your sign to continue. “Elise told me she’d like us to be at the venue a day in advance of the rehearsal dinner if we can. I’ve already arranged my leave for that, so it’s not a problem for me. I’m planning on making my way there sometime tomorrow afternoon.” 

“We can go together then. I can pick you up after work.” 

“There’s no need—”

“Y/N.” The sharpness of his tone catches you off guard and you can swear Mat was equally surprised by that, though only for the briefest of moments. He slides forward a little in the seat almost as if he is more than ready to leave but Mat has  never been one to back down so easily and you doubt any of that changed during the course of the past three months or so. “You were the one who insisted we go through with this and I’m trying. I really am, but you’re not giving me anything to work with. So please. Let’s just put everything to the side, do what we need to do and then it’s done.” 

Done. Like it is a task, like it is something you needed to cross off a to-do list, scrunch it up then trash it.  

The finality of the word is so heavy that it feels as if it had managed to knock out all the air in your lungs. You and Mat were running headfirst towards a fork in the road, and deep down you knew that was truly it. If until now the two of you have been dancing around each other, playing pretend as if you were kids living in a world of fantasy, you know that eventually, you have to let light shine on the truth: whatever lay ahead, you and Mat could no longer walk the same paths. It is just a matter of admitting it not only to yourselves, but also to the people you were lying to. 

Lying for, you prefer. 

Defeated, you slump in your own seat a little, legs crossing and fingers tapping lightly against the back of your notebook. “Be at my place by two. I’ll have everything that I need ready the night before so we won’t need to wait around.” A pause, and then, “how’s Tito?” 

Mat lifts a shoulder in a casual shrug. “Excited. Nervous. It’s the only thing he talks about in the locker, outside of it, on ice and off ice. How’s Elise?” 

“Same deal with her. I never knew there were so many shades of blue before, but I’ve been proven wrong before.”

A pause follows that could easily be attributed to the group of people rushing into the building and allowing noise from the street outside to filter in while the doors were kept open, but you can tell there is more to it than that if you are to go by the shift in Mat’s expression. His expression changes and you find you can’t quite read into it or guess what could be going on through his head. You try not to focus much on the little voice inside your mind that was bothered by it but find it takes a considerable amount of effort to do so. Force of habit, you conclude. 

“You don’t say,” Mat finally responds. There is a hint of accusation in his tone. Or regret. Maybe both.

Your lips press together firmly, a light frown forming on your face but chose to let that slide. Not only is the lobby of your workplace the least suitable place to have an argument about the two of you, but you find that even those short moments of seeing Mat face to face months after you called it quits appears to take a toll on you. You feel tired, worn out and willing to be the first one to back down for once. 

It is cruel irony that a big red neon EXIT sign is visible from the corner of your eye.

You release a quiet, long sigh then stand up from the seat. “Well, I guess we’re done here? I do have another meeting to prepare for, so…” You trail off, already backing away a few steps.

Mat opens his mouth as if ready to say something else but promptly presses his lips together, deciding against it. He gives a swift nod of his head then stands up. It’s then you notice the two Styrofoam cups in front of him and the neon EXIT sign imprinted in your mind starts flashing temptingly at you. Mat is a step ahead. He holds out one of the cups towards you and you are ready to tell him off for it, but he cut in.

“Thought I wouldn’t drop by empty handed.” When you don’t make a move to accept it, his eyes briefly peek behind you. “Rachel’s all eyes this way, by the way,” he informs you and a brief glance over your shoulder confirms Mat hasn’t been lying.

As soon as you turn to look towards the reception desk, Rachel grins, waves quickly at you then turns back to her computer screen. Begrudgingly, you accept the cup of coffee and force a tight smile. 

“See you soon,” you say by way of greeting and didn’t wait to hear a response from Mat. 

It isn’t until you scan your pass to cross the security barriers and make a turn out of sight that you take a sip from the drink and almost immediately wish you didn’t. It’s your order to a T. The two of you even brought a coffee machine that would let you replicate it on days when you didn’t feel like leaving the comforts of your apartment, especially days when Mat didn’t need to get up early for practices or scrimmages or evening games. It stayed with Mat when you left and the memory left a bitter taste in your mouth, despite the gentle sweetness of the beverage. 

Without thinking twice, you throw the cup in the nearest trash can. 

*

As soon as your order is set on the table, you ignore the basket of fries and reach straight for your glass to take a long sip from the straw, letting out a content sigh as soon as you felt satiated enough.

“Long day,” you state in response to Rachel’s raised eyebrows but she seems to accept that by raising her own glass. You clink yours against hers, take a smaller sip then set it back down on the table. “What time do you think you’ll make it over to the hotel?” 

“Well, I was thinking of trying to get there by midday on the day of the rehearsal dinner but it’s starting to look more like late afternoon. I’m…” She trails off, and you can just about pick up on her hesitation and the way her gaze shifts over to the side momentarily as if avoiding something or considering whether to continue that. You move in your seat, peeling your back away from the plush backrest to lean in a little closer.

“You’re…” you trail off, voice peaking just a little into a question in an attempt to prompt her to continue.

Rachel takes a deep breath in, shoulders visibly drooping and when she looked back at you, she did so with a look that could only reflect…shame? Embarrassment? 

“Luke and I are sort of thinking of coming along together.” At the sight of your widened eyes, she quickly adds, “just as friends! We’re still working out through a few things and we’re taking it slow. As in, much, much slower than the first time around.”

“No way! That’s… Rach, that’s so good. I’m happy for you both, seriously.” 

You find that you truly believed that, though it wasn’t a surprise to you. You had introduced Rachel to Luke while she visited you in Baltimore and at the time, he worked with you there also. Initially, you didn’t think much of it - you simply invited her to come along to a few after work drinks and the two kicked it off easily that night. Very easily apparently, because as the night started coming to an end, Rachel prompted you to go ahead without her. Ready to say you weren’t going to leave her own her own, you shortly found out exactly why: you watched with plenty of amusement and fascination as she and Luke climbed into a taxi together and whizzed off to his place, undoubtedly. That was pretty much their start and continuation. Her visits to Baltimore were more frequent and though you were seeing her often enough, it definitely wasn’t as much as Luke saw of her. And you were fine with that. They fit almost perfectly and it only took a few more meetings for them to label themselves as a couple. 

Things began crumbling as soon as Luke had moved to the New York office just a few weeks before your own return. While he seemed fine with the idea of Rachel working in the same place, that wasn’t also her take on things.

“It’s weird,” she told you through the phone. “It just… It’s so weird. I’d be seeing him at my place or his and in the office? No thanks. That’s way too much for me, you know?” 

It made sense, of course, and though you rooted for them, you didn’t want to push her into something she wasn’t comfortable with. Yet, there was a tremble to her voice, a sort of uncertainty that made you think otherwise. It wasn’t that Rachel didn’t have any feelings for him - maybe she was simply shocked to see him walk through those glass doors one morning to pick up his brand new ID and claim what would soon become his permanent desk across from yours. 

“Thanks,” she tells you, pulling you back into the present. “But like I said, slow and easy does it. We’ve been talking more and that makes a huge difference.” 

“For sure. If communication isn’t the backbone of a relationship, I don’t know what is,” you agree and wasn’t that ironic? You’re hardly in the position of giving any relationship advice at all or saying what is good for one and what isn’t. Not anymore. Not when your own had fallen apart. 

Rachel grins. “You’d know. You and Mat have been together for… how long now?” 

You should’ve seen it coming a mile away. You swallow uncomfortably, take another sip of your drink and take a few fries just to buy yourself a little more time. “Maybe four years? Don’t really keep track of that anymore,” you said as casually as you could muster, lifting your shoulders in a shrug. 

“I think I’d stop doing that eventually too at the rate you two are going. Honestly, I would’ve bet anything you would’ve been the first to tie the knot. Actually, thinking about it,” she says, clicking her fingers in recollection, “Elise said the same thing to me the other day when we caught up on the phone. She went—“

You don’t really register her words. There is a low ringing in your ears and an uncomfortable draft sweeps in the locale as the entrance door somewhere behind you is being kept open, no doubt a large group making their way in; it sends shivers down your body, but really, you are pretty sure you can’t only attribute them to a brief gust of wind. After all, your sweater is keeping you sufficiently cosy and warm. In front of you, Rachel continues praising your relationship with Mat, talking about how anyone took a look at you both and would say, whatever they have going, I want it too and you are trying so, so hard to block out as much as you can of it. You can stop her, of course; distract her with whatever random topic and you know she’d go with it but your jaw is locked in place, teeth clenched uncomfortably. You blame that and the way your nails dig into the palms of your hands on the sting behind your eyes and the sudden heaviness weighting down on your chest. 

It isn’t so much the pain of your relationship ending that was rendering you in a state of daze, but the shame of what you and Mat agreed to do: pretend the two of you were still the happy couple Elise, Tito and everyone else thought of you as just to not spoil whatever luck they thought you’d be passing on to them by being their main witnesses. And then, once the event passes and they would return to New York from the honeymoon you and Mat would soon gift to them on their wedding day, you’d tell them the truth. Or part of it anyway. Definitely no mentions that the two of you were childish enough to play pretend; just a simple, clean break timed just perfectly with your request to be permanently redeployed elsewhere. Preferably, as far from New York City as possible so that you no longer have to walk the streets you once both did or yearn to once again visit that perfect pie place the two of you once dubbed your own.

“We’re not together anymore.”

The words stumble out of your mouth in a desperate now or never manner. Despite the anxiousness that came with the act, you find relief in it also. It feels freeing to be able to admit the truth to someone that isn’t only yourself though perhaps you should’ve thought of this more carefully: the idea of now needing to come fully clean to Rachel is somewhat daunting, mostly because of what she might say in response to the front you and Mat are trying to uphold. But for the first time in what feels like too long, you no longer feel like a fraud; like a person lying to everyone around them.

“Wait.” Rachel frowns, and it was obvious she doesn’t quite know what to do with that information or how to best process it. Her head tilts a little, palm idly rubbing against the side of her neck so you take the initiative to come across as unbothered by this as possible by leaning into the seat, legs crossing as you fiddled with the drink’s straw. “What? I’m confused. Didn’t Mat just drop by earlier? You two seemed okay. He was…fine when he came in. We didn’t talk much, sure, but he was all smiley and just…normal.” 

You laugh quietly and shortly. “It’s been a while now. Maybe two or three weeks before I left for Baltimore, I think. It’d be pretty worrying if he was still hung up about it. After all, we both agreed on it. And this,” you add, a little more disheartened and embarrassed. “This…thing we’re doing. We promised Tito and Elise we’ll be there for them on their big day and we will. But they had this… I guess, idea of us being an ideal couple. Whatever that is,” you continue more quietly and with a roll of your eyes. “He wanted to tell Tito, but I didn’t want to spoil Elise’s day, you know? So he agreed. Took some convincing because it feels so… Gosh, it sounds so stupid, doesn’t it? Pretending we’re still together just to spread some fake cheer around.” 

“Oh, honey…” Rachel whispers and you read the sympathy in her voice. Not that she makes it particularly difficult to take note of. “But… I thought everything was okay. Actually, way more than okay. Perfect, even. What…uh—“ She trailed off awkwardly, but you could easily fill in that gap.

What happened?

You bring the beverage to your mouth, this time drinking from the glass directly as opposed to using the straw. The mixer stings your throat this time around but the small ice cube you take into your mouth numbs it away pretty quickly. Slowly, you chew it to small pieces and speak only when you finish it.

“I thought long and hard about this the first few weeks after we called it quits,” you admit. “We always talked about what bothered us or if there was something on our mind, but at one point we just… We stopped wanting to compromise. When I was put forward for Baltimore, it was going to be a permanent thing. Mat was happy, sure, but I could tell he wasn’t being entirely honest with me, you know? When I called him out on it, he asked me well what about us? And I said we’d be fine. Baltimore isn’t a different continent. It’s not even a different timezone. He could come over when he had free time and if he didn’t, I’d always spend weekends in New York anyway. It’s Baltimore, Rach. Not fucking San Francisco or whatever. Eventually, he told me exactly what was on his mind: he couldn’t do long distance. Not even for a short period of time while I figured out if Baltimore is really what I wanted. Isn’t it a bit hypocritical, though?” You question, but it’s clear Rachel feels a bit awkward about giving her take on it right now, so you make it easier for her by responding to your own question. “I felt lonely too when he was on the road. I was worried he’d find someone different, someone much better while away. He never gave me a reason to doubt him, but a small part of me still thought what if. This happened right before he was on the road again, actually. We didn’t call, barely even texted those weeks and then when he returned, we decided it’d be best to break up. Didn’t take us a long discussion to get to that conclusion because at that point, it just… I don’t know. It felt like we didn’t have much to say to each other.”

Rachel presses her lips together, the frown still on her face and hesitantly, she asks, “who said it first?”

“I did,” you respond without hesitating. “He wanted a break while we work it all out but come on, Rach, a break? Look me in the eyes and tell me people really believe in breaks and they come back to each other as if nothing happened.” 

“I mean…” she trails off, pointing at herself by way of explanation. “Look at me and Luke, I guess.”

You shake your head. “Nope. Not the same thing, trust me. This was for the best, Rach. It’s much neater to call it quits. That way, neither of us will feel obliged to hold back if life puts something different ahead of us.” You pause for a moment, teeth biting into your lower lip. “They said they’ll always have me back there if I decide on it, so who knows. Once I wrap up the project their called me back for, I might just take them up on it. Not quite a promotion, but it’ll be a good sidestep and maybe a change of scenery is what I need.”

“And do you think it’s good? What the two of you are doing right now?” Rachel questions, not at all deterred by your weak attempt at trying to divert conversation to a more work related topic. “And I don’t mean it just for Elise and Tito’s wedding, but for you and Mat generally speaking. I mean… the two of you have been together for a pretty long time. Doesn’t it… Isn’t it odd?” 

“It’s not normal, that’s for sure,” you confirm. “But it’d be weirder for everyone if we were to tell them we’re no longer together given we’ve been asked to do what we need to do. Rach, promise me this stays between us, okay? Promise. I know how it sounds, I know how it’ll look but trust me on this, okay?” 

She fixes you with a sceptical stare, a look that holds yet more questions than certainty but eventually, she nods her head and relief washes over you at the gesture. “I’m sorry it happened, Y/N,” she offers, voice warm and sympathetic as she places a hand on the table palm up. “And I’m sorry you went through it alone.”

You smile softly and reach for it, returning the squeeze she gives you. There is comfort in the gesture, comfort in her words and you find yourself rooting for it, so grateful to have received it. “The worst part is over, but thank you, Rachel. “It means a lot.”

“Feel like carpooling with Luke and I?”

“I’m good,” you assure as you both relax back into your seats. “Elise wants us there the day before the rehearsal. I guess just to have some familiar faces around that aren’t just wedding planners, so Mat and I agreed to go together tomorrow. Promise I won’t lose my shit if our song plays on the radio,” you add jokingly and find yourself laughing along with Rachel. 

“What song’s that?” 

Too many, you think, although one in particular stands out to you. “Brett Young’s In Case You Didn’t Know.”

*

A tray containing an assortment of dishes is set on the table and shortly after, an ice cold pitch of sangria accompanies that. Eager to cool down, you reach for one of the empty glasses to pour yourself a drink but Mat’s quicker. He takes them both, filling your glass first before his own. You laugh to yourself and Mat grins at that, briefly looking towards you as he fills his glass. You’re about to take a sip, eager to both quench your thirst and cool down but Mat takes the initiative of initiating a toast by raising his glass a little, elbow resting on the table. 

“What’re we toasting for tonight?” You ask, imitating his pose by leaning forward a little. “To our first holiday together? To how perfect the weather’s been so far? To how I mastered paddle boarding way before you did?” 

Mat laughs, lowering his head as he did so but when he looked back up at you, he clinked his glass against yours and held it there. “To all of that. To one of the many, many holidays we’ll have together. To this moment right here, to us, to you.” He pauses and the strobe lights of the bar switch from dark blue to hot pink, and the way Mat stares at you in this moment makes your heart race inexplicably. “To how much I love you.” 

He takes your breath away. Draws it right out of your lungs and you feel heady. It’s the first summer with Mat, the first  I love you from him and it suddenly feels as if this bar is too small for the both of you. You love him, and he loves you too and the only thing you could imagine doing is jumping in his arms but there’s a table between you and sangria topped wine glasses in your hands, and he’s wearing a pristine white shirt that looks incredible against his tanned skinned and there’s a lot of people around (the majority significantly older than both your age and Mat’s combined) so you simply grin and carefully lean forward more, pressing a kiss to his mouth. 

“I love you,” you murmur against his lips and even if your voice is low compared to the loud, cheesy country music blasting through hidden stereos, you know Mat catches on to that. 

“I love you,” he says right back and before you pull away, he bumps his nose against yours gently, making you giggle.

You both take a sip of your drinks and you smack your lips together, content with the turn of the night. 

You and Mat had been dating for a few months, but this was the first time the two of you will spend back to back nights and days together without needing to rush somewhere. Of course, a part of you was anxious about it - while it was easy to spend a few hours together now and then, maybe even the odd night together, it was entirely different being together pretty much all the time. There were habits and quirks you each had that might get in the way, but your worries were soon put to rest. You and Mat had wonderful chemistry together, easily able to spend your time together but also still enjoy each other’s company while doing separate activities. You didn’t want to rush into things and you made no move to do so, but it was ever so easy to imagine what living with Mat would be like. And sure, you were well aware of the fact that it wouldn’t always be sunshine and rainbows; the two of you would eventually transition out of this honeymoon-type period of your relationship, but something told you life would Mat would never bore you. It’d never make you wish for anything different. 

“Give me a second,” Mat says and before you could ask him what he meant, he’s out of his seat and you follow him across the bar, a little confused. 

He makes his way past the bar, past the pool tables and stops in front of what is undoubtedly a jukebox. Curious, you arch an eyebrow and watch as he fiddles with finding the right amount of change before inserting the coins in the slot. It takes him a while before he finds whatever song it is he wants and it takes enough time for him to make it back to your table before the jukebox and sound system registers the request. You don’t recognise the first few notes at all, much less the accompanying guitar strings but you don’t have time to search your memory for a title. 

Mat stops by your side, holding a hand out to you. “Dance with me.” It’s more statement than question and under any circumstances, you may have felt a little awkward about doing this, but it’s the heat of the moment and your giddiness that pushes you to your feet, hand in Mat’s. 

The two of you are beaten to an emptier area in the establishment by two other much older couples that were closer to it anyway, and you find that gives you a bit more of a boost also. Mat pulls you to him, wrapping one arm around your waist while holding on to your free hand while you hold on to his shoulder with the other. Your fingers lightly clench and unclench the soft material of his shirt, lowering your head a little and you smile against the back of your hand. It’s so painfully cheesy and there’s nowhere near enough other people dancing along to the song but you love it much more than you thought you ever would. 

“Know what I’d invest all my money into?” He asks you suddenly.

You pull back a little, still swaying along with the song. “Cryptocurrency seems like a safe bet right now.” 

Mat laughs, that big hearty laugh of his that makes your smile wider and when it passes, he presses a chaste kiss on your forehead. “Well, I’m glad one of us has a good head on their shoulders, but no.” He shakes his head, then laughs again, shorter and quieter as if recalling your response. “A time machine. I want to stop time right here and right now so that we can be as we are for a little while longer.”

“Cheesy,” you joke, despite the warmth coursing across your entire body and the jelly-like feeling forming in your knees. “But perfectly understandable.”

“Eventually, we wouldn’t need it, but it’d be nice to have one for tonight.”

“Eventually? How so?” You question, then narrow your eyes a little, the gesture playful. “You plan on getting bored of me and breaking up?” 

“What!” He exclaims and pulls you in just that much closer. He lets go of your hand only so he could bring his to your chin, tipping your head back a little. “Never,” kiss, “say that,” kiss, “again.” The final kiss you share with him is a little longer and you take the liberty of bringing your hand to his chest, palm pressing against it to feel the thump of his heart against his ribcage momentarily. Then, slowly, you graze the tips of your nails along his exposed collarbone and peck his lips once more before pulling away. It’s then that the song’s name and artist comes to your mind, almost as an afterthought. From hidden speakers, Brett Young declares I couldn’t live life without you and Mat gives you a pointed stare. “Damn, he said it before I could.” 

“It’s the thought that counts,” you assure him. “Either way, I think I prefer hearing it from you, Barzal.” 

“I’m pretty sure I couldn’t live without you,” he recites and wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a hug. He sways you both in a more exaggerated manner that makes you cling to him more out of habit than necessity. You’ve known you’d trust Mat with anything, but each day, he seems to do something that makes that thought solidify more and more in your mind. The comfort and safety that brings wraps around you like a warm blanket.

Be it the hot weather, the somewhat stifling interior of the bar, the sips of sangria on an empty stomach, the euphoria of the moment or all things combined, you nod quickly. And from somewhere in the depths of your mind, the very bottom of your heart, you respond with, “I can get used to this day after day. So don’t let me go, baby.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he whispers, tone full of care and love and warmth. He gives you his promise without hesitation and you know it’s bound to stick.

*

Your phone buzzes once. 

I’m downstairs. Need help with your bags?

You push up from the comfort of your couch and make one last round of your apartment to make sure you had everything you definitely needed from where it was placed. 

I’m good. Will be down in a minute, you text back but don’t pocket your phone right away. Instead, you stare at the screen for a little while longer, half tempted to scroll through the thread of messages. They’d provide a stark timeline of when things started going wrong and you would probably be able to see exactly how things changed between the two of you from the moment you suggested a mere break wouldn’t do it. But doing that would be like breaking a streak you had going for sufficient time to earn a pat on your back. The journey of getting to a point where you were sufficiently okay with being in Mat’s presence without any other company was a long one and the last thing you needed was to recall how it once was. 

You and Mat started out as friends after Elise introduced the two of you just a short while before he started his professional career with the Islanders. She talked about how the two of them met in school and how great of a guy he was; real down to earth, funny and incredibly ambitious - traits she also assigned to you, and therefore thought the two of you would get along great. She wasn’t wrong about it. You knew a little about hockey, going to games every now and then mostly whenever Elise dragged you along but you found that Mat made the game more enjoyable. He explained it to you in a manner that didn’t make you feel belittled or as if it should be something you already knew of, and didn’t mind explaining some things more than once. On the other hand, you introduced him to your own hobbies and the little world you created for yourself in a city as big and busy as New York. You showed him the more lowkey but homely establishments, including your favourite pizza place that - unbeknown to you at the time - would become yours and his, and even took him to a few student bars where you regularly beat him at pool while he showed off at darts. Occasionally, it felt weird to watch him unwind in such…normal places and ways while on other days, he shone on ice and was easily one of the best rookies emerging from one of the country’s most well known sports leagues. Yet despite that, you found that athlete Mat wasn’t all that different from Mat the person.

He never put a front and his genuine manner was refreshing to you, particularly during a time when you were still a college student and a good portion of the guys around were textbook frat boys. Being around Mat was comfortable and safe. You didn’t feel the need to speak a certain way or be a different person, and retrospectively, the way you felt towards him developed almost organically. You felt yourself gravitating towards him and were pleasantly surprised by the moments when he’d seek you out first. A day off here and a day off there until eventually, you found yourself spending much of your free time with him and vice-versa. 

Falling in love with Mat was easy. Being without Mat was difficult. But, thankfully, not impossible apparently. 

Convinced you packed everything you needed, made your way out with a duffle bag on your shoulder and a suitcase at your heels. 

True to his word, Mat was parked in front of your place and as soon as you pushed open the building’s door, he looked up from his phone and made his way over to you. The last thing you needed was to make the journey any more awkward or difficult for the both of you, so you didn’t argue when he took the bags from you to stow them away in the trunk. 

“Are you going across the country?” You ask, peeking into the trunk while he plays Tetris with the bags. 

“What?” He questions, evidently distracted by the task at hand but straightens up when you delicately place a hand on his arm, pushing him to the side a little. 

“You’d think you’re going across the country for like, two or three weeks rather than a couple of days,” you repeat. “Maybe put that smaller bag sideways? That might let the bigger suitcase fit.” 

He follows your guidance and sure enough, that does the trick: the suitcases fit perfectly in the trunk and you grin to yourself, triumphant. 

Mat steps back, closing the trunk and brushes his hands together. “Thanks,” he says and you nod, heading towards your seat in the front. He follows you inside just as you click in your seatbelt. “I don’t think it’ll take us more than two or three hours to get there if traffic’s as good as it was when I checked it a little while earlier. Got everything?” 

“Everything important that is. Everything else, I’ll just worry about and pull my hair out when we get there,” you tell him and you can’t help feeling proud for being able to keep conversation light and as normal as you can. 

After all, you’ve known life before Mat and you’re rediscovering it after him too. 

Mat laughs ever so quiet, and from the corner of your eye, you catch him brushing his hand across his mouth though he’s a few seconds too slow in trying to mask his smile. 

“I think I’ll need to fill up soon, but let me know if there’s anywhere else you want to stop along the way,” he tells you while pulling out of the parking spot. 

You nod even if he probably might not see it and take the liberty to scroll through radio stations. Mat doesn’t seem to be against it, so you continue switching to them until, a little frustrating that nothing seems to work for you, you connect your phone to the car and play one of your playlists. A mix of upbeat pop and an assortment of viral tracks fill in the silence for a while, and the act of singing along in your head takes your mind away from how it almost feels as if you’re sitting on needles. It takes a conscious effort on your behalf to remind yourself to loosen your shoulders and stop fiddling too much with your hands, and you’re glad Mat seems to be plenty preoccupied with driving. Once upon a time, he would’ve immediately picked up on even the most mild of your discomforts and tried to do anything he could to alleviate them. You don’t know how much, if at all, Mat changed during the time you spent apart but you want to think that you no longer wear your heart on your sleeve as much and your emotions are much more guarded, especially in his presence. 

Apparently, though, there’s only so much he can take with silence filled in by music because once he’s off busier streets, he leans in his seat more comfortably and you can tell he very briefly turns his head towards you. “Think they’ll like their wedding gift?” 

You direct your gaze away from the flashing scenery outside to Mat. “Absolutely. Who wouldn’t like it? Trust me when I say Bali’s been a place Elise always wanted to visit and I can’t think of a better time than now,” you assure him.

“If they don’t, it’s on you,” he says and it takes you a beat longer to realise he’s just joking so you huff out a laugh, relaxing back in the seat. 

“If they don’t, they can give one of the tickets to me and I’ll happily go there.” You cast a glare out at the scenery ahead, eyes narrowing upwards towards the overcast sky. “I don’t think summer will ever come at this rate. I’m starting to hate it here.”

“Doubt Baltimore was any better,” Mat points out.

“Hardly,” you sigh. “Maybe I’ll ask them to send me to Miami instead. That’d be much better.” 

Mat clears his throat quickly, shifting a little. “So, are you planning on going back to Baltimore or... Why are you back?” You catch sight of the frown forming on his face, and he quickly shakes his head as if trying to rid the hint of accusation from his voice. “That sounded wrong, sorry. But just genuinely curious. I thought a permanent move was on the table?”

“It was. Still is, but they needed me back here to wrap up a project. It was a pretty bad move on their behalf to send me there before we had that wrapped up nice and neat, bow and all, but I guess…” You trail off, shrugging a shoulder. “Guess we’ll see what’s next after that. They do want me back there, though. It just depends how long it takes for things here to fall into place.” 

“Fair enough.” Another pause, another moment for him to press his lips together in silent deliberation. He did that often, and you wonder if that remains a habit still. “Was it a promotion? I forgot, sorry.” 

“All good,” you assure, brushing off the apology. “Not a promotion per se, but a sidestep with just a slightly bigger paycheck. The office there is a bit smaller than the New York one so maybe there’s a higher chance of getting promoted sooner, but I don’t want to jump the gun on that yet. How did things work out for you guys this season?” 

The Islanders had a good season, making the playoffs but fell just short of making the semi-finals, you knew that. After all, you hadn’t removed the Islanders game and news alerts from your phone and you put that on your laziness. You wouldn’t shy away from admitting to him you still followed the team’s progression, but you preferred not to. 

“Could’ve been better but there’s lots to learn from it,” Mat tells you and there’s a trace of excitement and determination in his voice. “Next season will be even better, I guarantee.” 

It’s a staple Mat response, one he always gave if he felt a game didn’t end in their favour or he didn’t do as much as he thought he should have. Sometimes, it took him some time to accept it. Usually, it came to him after pushing himself in training, after going that extra step in the gym, after re-watching highlights or coach videos and always - always, you’d assure him that it takes a team to move forward, not a single person. Always, he’d kiss you and tell you he loves you and always, you’d spend those moments wrapped up in each other’s arms, more often than not with Mat’s head resting against your chest and your leg slung around his hip. 

“Plenty of time to lift that cup, Barzal,” you assure him. “Sure, the sooner the better but there’s always a right time for everything.”

“I hope so,” he agrees pensively, and lingers on that thought. 

You let him to it, directing your attention back to the view outside and only now and then picking up your phone either to switch songs or browse through a few applications. A part of you feels almost obliged to try and push for conversation but you avoid doing so. The last thing you need is to make it painfully awkward for the two of you and you figure Mat could always do that himself if he feels like it. So, you let your mind wander to better things - to the upcoming rehearsal and the wedding itself, to how good Elise will look and how Tito will be so proud to watch her walk the aisle towards him. You imagine their reaction to the gift you and Mat contributed towards and smiled to yourself, knowing it was a perfect pick for them both. 

You don’t think about telling Elise you and Mat had lied to them. You don’t think about passing this hurdle - the final one before you two will become strangers to one another. You don’t think about how the next time you might both see each other again, you’ll both have such different lives that for a brief moment, the surprise of it will knock the air out of your lungs before you remember: that’s him without me, and this is me without him. And you won’t be the first or the last people to break up, but a part of you is certain what the two of you had was unique and could’ve been grand. So much grander.

You become more alert to your surroundings when he starts slowing the car and you notice you’re pulling up into a gas station. As much as space allows you, you stretch out a little and Mat stops right by one of the pumps.

“Want something for the road?” You ask him, unplugging your phone and taking your card from your bag. 

“Hold on, I’ll come with you,” Mat tells you and it doesn’t take long for the refill to happen before you both walk into the station’s store, beelining for the snack aisles even if you have only two hours or so until you reach your destination. 

“Oh gosh, those are going to be a nightmare to clean up if you spill any in the car,” you groan quietly as he browses through the variety of Nerds flavours. 

“But they’re so good though,” he shoots back and flashes a smile that is nothing short of sly when he picks up two boxes instead of one. 

“Yeah, until the flavour runs out literally two seconds after you put them in your mouth. I mean, enjoy that but I’m different,” you boast and pick up a bag of sour candy. 

“You just like obliterating your taste buds.” 

He’s not wrong. Sour candy and spicy foods are your guilty pleasures, and have been for the longest time. You don’t try to look into how easily he recalls that because, you tell yourself, there’s nothing to look into. It’s a mere fact that anyone who knows you would easily recite. 

“You’re wrong and you know it, but admitting that is difficult so it’s fine, Barzal. No hard feelings,” you throw back, snickering as you head over to the fridges for a bottle of cold water. Instinctively, you grab another for him and instinctively, he takes your candy and the water to pay for them but you still tag along with him in the queue. 

“No shot. I like some spice but to the point where I literally can’t taste anything else? Hey, remember that one time when you made something… Can’t remember what it was but it was so…” He purses his lips and you laugh because yes, yes you remember it so clearly. 

“So good you ended up crying over it?” You offer. 

“More like, I wasn’t crying but it was so fucking spicy, Y/N, holy.” 

“You survived though, didn’t you?”

“I only did because there isn’t a thing you do I don’t like,” he says and then, seems to catch himself but a second too late. “Didn’t like,” he corrects quietly but the damage is done. 

You swallow uncomfortably, directing your gaze away from him but don’t hesitate to nod towards the outside. “I’ll head over to the car. I’ll text Elise to tell her we’re close.” 

“Y/N—“ 

But you’re already taking steps towards the exit and out of ear shot, making a beeline for the car. Your heart thumps rapidly and uncomfortable in your chest and find that pressing a palm to your left side doesn’t make it any better. You know it’s an innocent mistake and there are some habits that die hard, but the way he phrased it triggered your fight or flight instinct instantaneously and despite yourself, you leaned towards the latter. You enter the car and take the time to compose yourself as much as you could. The last thing you need is to have a conversation with Mat about this because you didn’t want to have it - it shouldn’t happen for the sake of avoiding making the situation even more uncomfortable. It was an innocent slip up, no doubt, and you should’ve braced yourself to speak of Mat in present tense as opposed to past tense in the presence of others but it comes to you harder than imagined. 

It’s odd how you both once knew so much about each other, everything even, and now the two of you are reduced to dancing around all that and making conscious efforts to keep your conversations as short and banal as possible. 

You try and busy yourself with formulating a message to Ellie, one that’s long enough to try and make you seem as busy as possible by the time Mat returns to the car, but every line you wrote, every mini paragraph going into dull details about the trip and where you guys currently are seemed like an overthrow. So, you delete that also and simply text her an OTW just as Mat sets the sweets on the centre console and the bottles in the cup holders. 

He doesn’t start the engine immediately and your mood quickly switches to frustration. Sure, you hadn’t handled it in the best way possible but trying to have a conversation about it wouldn’t make it any better. Or at least, it’s just something you didn’t want to have to think about for the remainder of the journey. 

But he does just that, because that is what Mat always did: he talked with you.

“I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable,” he begins, “I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did. It’s force of habit more than anything else.”

“It’s whatever, Mat, so just move past it. I did, simple as that,” you tell him neutrally. 

There’s something in that response he must have not liked because you pick up on his small huff and shortly after, the car starts and you’re both on the road again. This time, with silence between you and an atmosphere so heavy it makes you wish you weren’t speeding down an Interstate just so you could open the window and let some of the air in.

-

The hotel the wedding will be held at lies in front of you, sprawling and secluded and perfect for an event like this. Tito is already at the entrance and when he spots Mat’s car, he waves quickly while Mat quickly flashes the headlights before pulling into an available parking spot.

“There they are!” Tito says by way of greeting and you walk right into his outstretched arms, hugging him. “Can’t believe so much time passed since we last saw each other. What is it, two months? Three?” 

“Three,” you confirm once you pull away so that Mat could hug him also. “It’s good to see you too. Where’s Elise?” 

“She wanted to check on some small details and said she’ll meet up with you guys in a bit. So here I am, the welcoming committee,” Tito explained and when he and Mat stepped apart, he reached out to give you another short hug which you accepted. “So how was Baltimore? Don’t suppose you liked it all that much if you’re back so soon. This guy was happy about it,” Tito adds, nodding his head towards Mat who was already busy emptying the trunk. 

You press your lips together, displaying a small smile. “Baltimore wasn’t too bad but they missed me here, apparently. Can’t complete a damn thing without my two cents so here I am for now.”

Tito frowns, but the expression is very brief. “For now? We’ll need to talk more about that later so Barzy doesn’t mope around as much as he did back then.”

You throw a quick glance towards Mat but he’s looking away towards whatever interesting spot on the ground he found, pointedly ignoring you. “I’ll have a word with him about it later,” you tell Tito lightly and together, the three of you make your way inside, towards the reception. 

“I think Elise is in the room at the end of the corridor if you want to say hi,” Tito informs you and you jump at the opportunity. 

You follow the corridor, making a right turn and continuing along the dimly lit hallway leading to what the signs informed you to be Conference Room 1. The door is slightly ajar and you begin picking up on the buzz of activity coming from within and soon enough, you’re face to face with a spacey room boasting an array of flowers and various arrangements tastefully decorating tables and drooping down from the ceiling. No doubt, the effect will be lovely during the night when colourful neon lights can be turned on. You spot Elise easily: she’s in the midst of the room with what is undoubtedly the scrapbook of ideas she’d been carefully putting together since Tito asked her to marry him. Outwardly, she’s all smiles and laughter but you can imagine the amount of effort and planning putting all of this together and working with planners takes. 

When she spots you, she squeals in excitement, sets her book down and dashes across the room to engulf you in a hug, making you stumble a few steps back. 

You burst into laughter and wrap your arms around her, squeezing her with just enough force to try and communicate how much you missed her but not so that it was uncomfortable. 

“I missed you! You’re here!” She exclaims, stepping back to look at you in disbelief then hugging you again. “Oh my gosh, I’m so happy you’re here! Where’s Mat? Is he here too?”

“Of course he is,” you assure her with a laugh. “I missed you too.” You throw a curious glance towards the room over her shoulder, nodding your head towards it. “How’s it going? Need me to take over for a bit?” 

“Maybe later. Definitely later. Come on.” She wraps an arm around yours and leads the way out of the room, undoubtedly back to the reception area where you left Mat and Tito. “Please tell me Baltimore is off the table. FaceTime is fine, sure, but it’s not great, you know? I need the real deal next to me. Besides, I’m not sure if you heard, but Mat wasn’t Mat without you.”

“So I heard, but forget about us!” You said in a desperate attempt to try and steer attention away from the subject. “Tell me about how everything’s going. Are you still nervous about it? Because trust me, Elise - you have absolutely nothing to be nervous of. What I’ve heard of so far and what I’ve seen will make it the absolute best day, surely.”

“Of course I’m nervous,” she tells you and to demonstrate, she holds her free hand in front of you and sure enough, there’s just a slight tremble to it. “Please lend me some of those nerves of steel of yours, Y/N, I’d do anything to have even a small percentage of them right now.”

“Pft, as if. Those are all show, trust me.” 

“I’ll take even that. Oh, Mat!” She greets as soon as the two of you reach the reception area and Elise spots Mat.

Much like you and Tito, they hug and when she steps back, she immediately stands next to Tito who doesn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. They exchange a quick kiss and you smile at the happiness and bliss they’re clearly surrounded by. 

It’s the slight pressure on your lower back that makes you jolt a little on the spot and it’s then you realise Mat had gently placed his hand there to encourage you a little closer. It takes effort on your behalf to follow his guidance but you move towards him, though you wish you could physically wince at how undoubtedly stiff the two of you must look. Or hopefully, not greatly so because neither Tito nor Elise comment on it or shoot you any funny looks as the four of you engage in brief conversation, mainly surrounding the trip here and any other guests they expect to receive today. 

You don’t hang around much, though. Elise’s phone begins buzzing incessantly and she’s whisked away by the message received, but not before she fixes you with a pointed stare and demands the two of you have drinks later in the evening. Tito follows her also, even if he informs you and Mat that he feels as if he’s running around in the right places only because of Elise and the wedding planners, but you encourage him on by joking he could maybe turn a few candles on the tables this way or that for some extra oomph. 

“I can’t imagine how she does it,” you admit to Mat once the elevator doors slide shut soundlessly and the car begins moving upwards to your floor.

“Pretty sure it’s not that big of a deal to her, given what all this is leading to,” Mat tells you and you detect a hint of detachment in his voice. 

You don’t welcome it, of course you don’t, but you choose to not point that out to him. The last thing you want is an argument to break out the relatively okay mood the two of you have managed to hold, recent events that could be erased from memory aside. Instead, you simply stand back quietly, eyes glued on the red digital numbers aside until they come to a halt on the ninth floor where the elevator stops and you’re both left in a silent, dimly lit hallway. 

Mat has the key to the apartment Elise told you the two of you would be in and just before tapping in, he hands you your own copy of it. Up until this very moment, you hadn’t thought very much of the overnight arrangements. You were pretty sure you meant to ask Elise a bit more about them at some point but both your attention and hers were pulled in different directions and here you were, stepping into your place for the next couple of nights, Mat trailing a little behind you. 

You stop, arms folding across your chest and you feel Mat stop somewhere close behind you, looking into one room.

“I didn’t think this through,” you state neutrally. 

Ahead of you lay only one bed. 

[juletheghoul]

Oblivius Chapter 4

Am I insane for posting another chapter? Yes. Am I doing it anyway? Yes. Should you message me about how you feel about Spills & Francis? YES!

(Got a song you want added to the playlist? send it to me!)

I've gotten so much love over this series and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that you guys love these two idiots as much as I do. <3

(Feo means ugly in Spanish but it can be used as a term of endearment between [male] friends)

Likes & reblogs are appreciated

Frankie Morales x F!Reader

Pairing: Frankie x F!Reader

Word Count: 2.2K

Warnings: Angst, yearning, 18+ language, alcohol (Spills gets wasted)(Please let me know if I forget anything)

Masterlist Series Masterlist Part 3 Part 5 Playlist

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Age: 17

“No Francis I don’t wanna watch this - I’m gonna get scared.” It was late, you were both sitting in his cozy living-room, a big shit-eating grin on his face.

“Why, are you chicken? It’s just The Shining, it's not even scary.” He put it on and despite your protests, he settled and let the movie play, You gave him a pout.

“Okay if you really don’t want to I’ll change it you big baby.” He rolled his eyes to grab the remote but you stopped him.

“Promise you’ll walk me home?” You knew it was one of his favourites. He smiled wide.

“Of course! If it’s too much I'll change it.” He gave you most of the blanket that was draped over his legs and you sat very close to him. He was taller than you remembered him being, having gone through a growth spurt over the summer and he towered over you now. All knees and elbows.

When the room scene came on you burrowed your face into his neck and he wrapped an arm around you, you were so pretty. Your hair smelled so good and he buried his nose into the messy bun you wore. You practically clawed at him, trying to get closer - he made you feel safe.

“Is it still scary?” You spoke into his neck.

“Yes - don’t look yet, just a little longer.”

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

**Present Day**

Pope was holding up a shot-glass full of something and there were shots lined up for the three of you when you walked in.

“Catfish, I never thought it would happen for you feo, but I’m glad it did. Claudia, he’s lucky to have you.” He raised his shot glass and a chorus of ‘To Frankie and Claudia’ rang out before everyone tipped the liquor back.

The burn in the back of your throat couldn’t just be from the tequila, you’d swallowed a lump. You’d forced back the tears stinging your eyes when he dipped her back to kiss her. With her laughing and grabbing his neck they were the picture of romance and the smile you had plastered to your face must have looked manic. Popes eyes caught yours then and his eyebrows raised, a question in his features that you couldn’t quite read but he looked away and left you with your thoughts.

-

You got very drunk. Fall-down drunk. Forget about everything drunk.

“Spills, I think you should stop - you’re going to feel like hell tomorrow.” He was softly taking the shot out of your hand and you tried to fight him but his grip was iron.

“St-op t-telling me wh-what to do Francisco.” You tried to take it back but it seemed like the floor was coming up to say hi. An iron grip around your middle stopped you from losing a couple of teeth.

“Jesus Spills, okay - that’s enough. I’m cutting you off.” He held onto you and you wanted nothing more than to turn around and kiss him but you also wanted to throw up. Decisions decisions.

“I-think-imgonnabesick…” you brought your hand up to your mouth and part of you expected him to let go but he didn’t.

“Take a deep breath, it’s okay, Pope can you get me some water?” He was holding onto you, rubbing soothing circles onto your back and you tried to focus on his hands on you as the whole room spun dangerously. A few minutes later he was holding a cold glass of water to your lips. “Drink the whole thing, I'm going to hold it because if you spill it I'll kill you.” You chugged it down and he put it on the table.

“When did you get so strong, Francis?” Your words were slurred and you felt his chest rumbling with laughter at your question. “You smell so good.” You said it lower- more to yourself, but he heard and the laughing stopped.

“Oh no! Are you okay Spills?” Claudia was there now, her hands pulling your hair away from your face and before you could succumb to the urge to tell her never to call you that Frankie spoke up.

“She’s okay, just need to get her home. You’re okay right, Spills?” His voice was lower, so soothing you could fall asleep to it.

“Hey Frankie, you and Claudia should stay, tell me where she lives and I’ll get her home.” It was Pope, Frankie must have trusted him immensely because before you knew it he was putting you into the front seat of Pope's rental and buckling you in. Claudia was tying your hair back and putting your purse into your lap.

“Be careful please - this is her address, just make sure she gets in and lays face down. There should be a bucket somewhere in her bathroom - water and some aspirin on her night table.” Frankie was talking as you closed your eyes. When you opened them you were parked in front of your place.

“Hey honey, come on let's get you inside. I’m just going to look for your keys, okay?” Pope was taking your purse out of your lap. You nodded vaguely.

He helped you in and guided you to your bed. You could feel him taking off your shoes and throwing the blanket over you.

-----

Someone is driving an ice-pick into my skull.

The light was intense and you swore out loud when you cracked an eye open. You stretched and felt a piece of paper beside you on the bed.

“I locked your door - keys are in your mailbox. Drink the water - take the ibuprofen. Let Catfish know you’re okay when you wake up- he was worried. - Pope”

You groaned.

[Francis]: Spills, are you okay?

[Francis]: Can you answer me please?

[Francis]: Don’t tell me you’re still asleep? What, are you a teenager? Getting drunk and sleeping until 4pm????

[Francis]: Sorry Spills, just worried - can you please let me know you’re okay before I show up?

You could see the three little dots signalling that he was in the middle of typing another message and you quickly called him to stop him.

“Jesus, it’s about fucking time.” He sounded worried and relieved and it pulled on your heart strings in a way you both loved and hated.

“Stop yelling Francisco, I am begging you.” You threw your arm over your eyes to block out the light as you lay there, in yesterday's clothes. You didn’t even want to know what you looked like right now.

“Feeling all that tequila aren’t you? I haven’t seen you that drunk for a long time.” You could hear the faint smile in his voice.

“Yes yes I know - so fucking embarrasing. Did I do.. Or say anything..?” You were trying to ask him without asking him.

“You almost threw up, but if you’re asking me if you started table-dancing you’re good.” He laughed and you sighed with palpable relief. All you needed was for him to tell you that you’d confessed your love or told Claudia to fuck off.

“Thank god. That would have been all I needed. Can you tell Pope I said thanks? Okay, I'm going to go shower for a million years now.” You wanted to hang up, your head was pounding and you needed a few hours of silence and about a gallon of water.

“Okay - see you in a few hours.” You didn’t want to deal with both of them together, not with how you felt right now.

“No Francis I don’t want to entertain, I already embarrassed myself enough yesterday.”

“It’s just me coming and I’ve seen you much worse. I haven’t been home in a long time so, take a shower and do what you have to do and I'll be there at seven.” He hung up and you could have thrown your phone across the room.

Fuck.

---

The knock at the door at exactly seven didn’t surprise you.

What did surprise you was how nervous you were that he would be coming over.

You were literally attached at the hip at one point, he’s seen you at your worst.

“You’re looking much better than you did last night, Spills.” He laughed as he walked past you and into your home.

“Oh god.” You groaned as he laughed, why had you been nervous? You watched him as he set down the bags of what looked to be way too much food on your kitchen counter. Grabbing napkins and forks - completely at ease within your space. “What did you bring?” moved to peak into the bags.

“Chinese - “ He looked to see your eyes wide and the big toothy smile you were giving him and laughed. “Did you think I’d forget you always get Chinese when you’re hungover?” He laughed as he took out what looked to be all your favourites.

“You’re a lifesaver Francis, truly.” You were practically bouncing on the balls of your feet as you served yourself.

“I know, I’m practically a saint.” He walked over to your couch and plopped down, an egg-roll in his mouth as he turned on your TV and looked for something to watch. This was it - this was how it was supposed to be.

This was easy.

He had come over in comfy clothes and seeing him on your couch in sweats and a soft flannel was almost too much. His hair had gotten longer than he had worn it before he went away and it looked so soft; practically begged for your fingers.

“Are you still a baby about horror movies?” He asked without looking at you, you saw that he had put on some cheesy zombie movie. A big smile on his face.

“No, I’m okay, as long as you check every single corner of this place before you leave.”

“God I love horror movies, Claudia hates them so we never end up watching.” He sighed. Her name cut through the air like a knife. An ice cube casually dropped into your shirt.

“That’s too bad.” You quickly shoved food into your mouth, stopping yourself from saying anything you’d regret but he knew you too well. He looked at you then, eyes narrowing a fraction.

“Do you like her?” He asked, point blank and your eyes widened at him.

Fuck, don’t make me answer this right now.

“Yeah, she’s great.” To your credit, you tried. You really tried to sound genuine.

“Why don’t you like her Spills?” He sighed heavily, putting his plate down onto your coffee table to face you properly.

“What are you talking about? I said she was great!” You could feel the flush creeping up your neck and licking at your face at the lie. She was great, that wasn’t a lie - you just didn’t like her.

“Seriously? You’re going to act like I can’t tell you’re lying through your teeth? Just tell me! I’m going to marry this girl. I have to know why you don’t like her.” He had a little frown on his face and you could see that he was worried, but what would he have to be worried about? Worried you’d picked up on something he’d missed maybe?

“I just don’t know her, Francis, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with her, you know I'm just weird. She seems really nice and I’m sure I’ll like her once I get to know her better.” You smiled at him sadly, you didn’t want to talk about her anymore.

He smiled back at you and picked up his plate, happy with your explanation.

---

It always seemed to happen this way, ever since you’d been teenagers. He’d put on something scary and you would end up with your face buried into his chest.

“Oh god - that is disgusting!” You shut your eyes as he laughed, his chest rumbling underneath you at a particularly gruesome scene. You felt his hand rubbing your arm, and it was such a comfort that you sighed lightly. The words bubbled up without your permission.

“I missed this.” You felt him rest his chin on the crown of your head.

“Me too Spills, I always missed this while I was away, missed you.” He spoke into your hair, you could feel his breath ghosting along your scalp and your heart raced, you wanted nothing more than to turn and kiss him. His hand stilled, and you felt his heart beating under your ear. You wanted to do it, your whole body seemed to tense with want and you turned slightly to look at him through your lashes. He was already staring at you, his mouth was so close.

His phone rang, snapping him out of his trance and you moved away from him reluctantly.

“Hey babe, what’s up?” He smiled apologetically. “Just take a deep breath, it’ll be okay. I’m on my way.” He hung up and gave you a look that said I’m sorry. “Gotta go, wedding emergency.” He sighed heavily as he got up, taking both your plates to the kitchen with him.

You wanted him to stay, you wanted to grab him and sit him back down on the couch and straddle him. Grab the soft material of the flannel while you kissed him but you didn’t. Instead you smiled and thanked him for coming and for the food.

He made his way through the apartment before he left, opening every door.

“Just checking every corner, so you can sleep.” He smiled.

I love you too.

————————————

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[renjiokumura]

Poor, Unfortunate Me:

Chapter 3

Summary: What if Ben didn’t fall in love with Mal? Find out the answer in Poor, Unfortunate Me. A story about the lesser known and evil second daughter of Ursula and how she gets the love she has been searching for her whole life.

A/N: I'm doing this off my phone so if the formatting is funky, it's because I'm not on my laptop. Also I didn't add a collage this time, and I might not in the future, because I think y'all understand the look I was going for and have a great imagination for these things.

Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 (You're Here) / 4 (Coming Soon)

As soon as you got back to your dorm and Evan saw you crying, she asked what was wrong and tried to calm you down. You told her what happened while twisting the truth to protect the others. She just held you and told you everything would be better. To make you feel more relaxed, she broke out some hidden treats and some self spa tools, saying she was going to pamper you.

15 minutes into the mini spa, you already felt 100 times better.

“Thanks Evan. This is the first time I've ever done a spa.” you say with an avocado mask on your face, laying on your bed with Evan right next to you.

With the same avocado mask on her face and 2 cucumber slices on her eyes, Evan says, “I can't believe you’ve never done this before. Not even with your sister?”

You sit up and look at your lap, taking a moment before you answer her question.

“No, she can't stand me, because I'm too soft. Family is not the same on the Isle as it is here. Just cause we're related doesn't mean you have to love or care for each other. You got to look out for yourself.” Your voice is heavy with years of loneliness. When you don't hear anything from Evan but a sniffle, you look to the side to see what's wrong.

Evan, with her adorable self, has tears running down her face full of avocado while she sticks a cucumber in her mouth. She sits up and while chewing the cucumber slice, she says, “That's so sad! I'll be your new sister!” you don't want to laugh, but the scene in front of you makes it hard.

“Why are you laughing? I mean it. I want to be your sister!” She says with the other slice of cucumber in her mouth. It makes you laugh harder, which results in her pouting like a little child.

After a minute you finally calm down enough to talk to her. “I'm sorry. I've never seen something so funny,” she gives you a look, “And sweet. I want to be your sister too. Come here.” you open up your arms for a hug and she takes it.

When you guys pull apart from the hug you both look each other up and down then bust out laughing. During the hug, you guys got avocado all over each other. It was all on both of your clothes. “I trust that you won't freak out when I do this.” Before she can question what you mean, you say a little spell, flick your wrist, and all the avocado is gone.

“OMG, you have magic!?” she excitedly said. You nodded ‘yes’, which resulted in a squeal from her. Her excitement was infectious and made you giddy too.

The rest of the night you guys played around with magic, until you guys fell asleep. But during your good time, the others were making a love potion cookies among other things.

After Lonnie left the kitchen, Mal put the cookies in the oven. In the silence of the kitchen the tension between the group was almost palpable, but Carlos soon broke it.

“Mal, what you said back there to Y/N was very uncalled for. Just because you and her sister have beef doesn't mean you can take it out on her.” Evie and Jay nodded to what Carlos said.

Mal is trying to hold her ground by staring Carlos down, but the guilt is too much. She huffs defeated and looks to her feet. “I know! I know… It’s just we have a mission to complete and if we don't,” she pauses looking up at the others equally frightened faces, then continues, “I don't want to think about if we don't.” The air is heavy with emotions.

The same thoughts all go through their minds in the silence of the room. They all started liking Auradon, but they wouldn’t say it out loud to each other. Here they could do and be whoever and whatever they wanted to be without worry of judgment or consequences. But when they thought about it they don't belong here. They had to remind themselves they were evil and belong to the Isle. Though, in reality, none of that was true.

They had been so lost in their thoughts, that when the timer broke the deafening silence, they all collectively jumped in surprise. They all shared a look before they all walked over to see how the cookies came out.

Mal takes out the cookies and places them on the prep table. “I think these are ready. So do we all know what the plan is for tomorrow?” They all nodded in unison.

After cleaning up, they make their way back to their dorm rooms. Jay and Carlos get to their room first, which leaves Evie and Mal to still get back to their room. When they finally get back, Evie stops Mal before she enters the room.

“You are going to apologize to Y/N, right? Just because we are evil doesn't mean we don't have manners.” Evie can understand where Y/N is coming from and hopefully Mal can too.

“Yeah, Yeah. Only so we can make her our ally again.” Evie knew Mal was actually doing it because Isle kids stick together, but if it helped Mal sleep at night she wasn't going to say anything.

When morning rolled around you felt like something good was going to happen, but it was going to have bad consequences. Letting that thought linger in the back of your mind, you thought about how first period would go after what went down. At least you knew that if Mal came after you again, Evan was coming after her. Yup, reassuring.

Evan was nice enough to walk you to your first period class, since you usually went with the others. When you got there, everyone looked at you, with sorry written all over their faces. Evie put her hand on Mal's shoulder, which prompted Mal to get out of her seat and walk over to you.

When she was finally standing in front of you, Evan stepped forward eyeing up Mal like she wasn't Maleficent’s daughter. “If you hurt my sister,” she points her thumb over her shoulder at you, “I’ll hurt you.” Your surprised by the protective nature of Evan, but let her do her thing.

Mal’s surprised too, but also impressed, so she tells Evan she understands. With that Evan hugs you goodbye and walks to her class. Once Mal has you alone, she says something you'd never expect from her. An apology.

“I want to say sorry about yesterday. What I said was not cool. Can you forgive me?” she asks, looking at you expectantly.

“Water under the bridge. Now let's get to learning.” She smirks at you, and you guys walk to your seats.

During break the group tells you about the love potion plan and you agree to help as much as possible. It hurts you to help destroy any and all chances of getting Ben, but you still feel obligated to help them and something is telling you to do so too. They tell you the plan is going to happen after school at Mal’s locker, so you just wait till then.

When the bell rings ending school, you shoot up out of your seat and run out of class since Mal’s locker is on the other side of school. This causes Evan to follow you, though. You guys always walk from 5th period back to your dorm, so she thought something had to be wrong

By running, you made it just in time. Ben had just taken a bite out of the cookie, when something roughly bumps into you, sending you into Ben’s arms.

Ben is looking down into your eyes and is holding you against his body to keep you from falling.

“Y/N, are you okay?” You nodded too speechless and dazed to verbally answer. The next thing Ben ask you truly knocks you out more than the mystery object that got you the first time.

“But did it hurt?” his slight pause gives you a chance to be confused, then he finishes. “When you fell from heaven?” At that cheesy pick-up line, everyone's jaw dropped, especially yours. You honestly couldn't believe your ears.

“Ben, Are you okay?” You ask ,being able to finally stand on your own legs, but Ben still has his arms wrapped around your thick waist.

“I'm fine, but not as fine as you, sweet thang.” he says with a love struck smile on his face which you promptly covered with your hands so he would stop flirting.

“Jay can you pull him off me, please?” Jay comes to your rescue and gently pries him off of you. Once Jay has him, he asks Ben, “Has your world been worked?”

The answer to Jay's question comes in the form of a song lyric. Looking you in the eyes, Ben sings, “You know you do.” (quoting one of Michael Jackson’s songs). At that you become flustered and turn around, not wanting to drag out your embarrassment.

When you turn around to see what pushed you into Ben, you see Evan.“Evan, what are you doing here?” she opened her mouth to answer, but you interrupted her. “Wait, were you the reason I fell into Ben?” When you said that, she became a little sheepish as she answered.

“Yes,” she whispered, “But I was only running in behind you to see if you were Ok because you left class so suddenly...sorry.” Hearing her explanation only made you smile. You could never be mad at her.

“There's no need to be sorry. You were concerned about me and I appreciate that you care enough to check up on me.” With that said you hugged her. During your talk with Evan, the boys left to get ready for their game.

Once you pull out of your hug, you look towards Mal and Evie and see they both have an urgent look on their faces. “Uh, you want to go to the field and save us some seats in the bleachers?” you ask Evan nervously. She nods ‘yes’ and runs off to the game.

“What was that?!” Mal asked incredulously.

“I’m so sorry guys. It was an accident. I tripped,” you said apologetically, “But you can fix this right?”

“No, there is no time. You’ll just have to become his girlfriend.” She said nonchalantly.

“Wait, what?!” your jaw was practically hitting the floor.

You guess this was the good thing that you felt coming, but unfortunately you knew it was going to end badly.

[austarus]

Nash Wells x Reader - Prodigal Son (4/4)

*A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me. It belongs to its rightful owner.

**Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

***I’d also like to thank @grimtamlain-writes​ for being my beta reader.

Word Count: 8610

MASTERLIST

Part 1   Part 2    Part 3

***Day 2***

An audible yawn tore through your lips as you screwed your shut eyes tighter, your body stretched tightly as you started to wake up. Your ears had picked up on Jenna’s fussing from the baby monitor you had placed in the guest room just in case she needed anything in the middle of the night. Blinking away any sleep from your eyes, you languidly got up and cracked your back. Who knew taking care of a baby would be so much work? Especially all those diaper changes. You were kinda surprised when Cecile asked you to babysit, confused on whether she knew that you’ve never taken care of a child before. Not wanting to be rude, you accepted – especially with how desperate she looked to just have some time with Joe away from the city. How could you say no to those innocent eyes of Jenna? Yeah, Cecile used Baby Jenna’s cuteness powers on you. Looking down at yourself, you registered what you wore. Huh, I’m still in my clothes… must have forgotten to change after putting Jenna to sleep. Easy fix: no wonder I was getting too hot at night.

You yawned once more, wider this time as the dark spots at the corner of your eyes dissipated. You brushed the tears out of your eyes. Stepping over to your bag of clothes, you pulled out a fresh set then sniffed yourself before making a disgusted face. Jenna’s baby barf was still on you. Gross, I shouldn’t have passed out like that. A shower is definitely in order. Taking a 10-minute shower was easier said then done, you tried your best to hurry in scrubbing yourself with the baby monitor by the shower curtain should Jenna start wailing in hunger… Or the dreaded diaper change. Please don’t cry, please don’t cry, please don’t cry. Almost done~. With one step out and your hand shutting the shower nozzle, you almost slipped moving out of the tub. You let out a breath in relief when you caught your footing to balance yourself. Drying yourself fully, you listened to the monitor’s static noise with vigilance as you got dressed – a towel wrapped around your head.

“Stop squirming around.”

A frown set on your face at the hushed voice when you stepped out with the baby monitor in hand. Nash’s voice… What is he doing in Jenna’s room? With wide eyes, you rushed to Jenna’s room to see such a site. Nash snapped his head up, seeing the towel fall of your head and onto your shoulders. Traces of water droplets trickled from your hair down your neck. He resisted licking his lips at the site of your post-shower self. The explorer set down the diaper and baby powder that were in hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Changing her diaper, well at least I would if she would just stop moving.” Nash sent a softer glare to the baby who only gurgled at him and continued to wiggle her tiny body. You stifled a laugh at the two of them.

This is certainly a change from yesterday’s prickliness. “Nash, she’s a baby. Of course, she’s going to be squirming and fussing around. She’s uncomfortable sitting in her soiled state.”

“Yeah, well, fighting off giant starfish is easier than… than this.”

“Then changing a diaper? Fighting monsters is much easier than taking on a 4-month baby?” You padded forward to stand beside him with an amused look, an eyebrow raised and all. A look he didn’t like, but secretly liked because it egged him on.

“Yes.”

“Yeah? Let the master handle this.” First you exited the room, leaving Nash confused as hell. Coming back, you shooed the taller man away to give you some space while having him set the powder and new diaper to the side. “First, I needed to wash my hands. That way Jenna doesn’t contract any germs that I have.  Babies are still developing their immune system and everything,” you explained as you unfastened the diaper tabs, gently taking Jenna’s legs to hold her lower body a bit up to slide the dirty diaper away. You crinkled your nose, folding the diaper in a way that no urine or poop would fall out before disposing the diaper in the nearest diaper trash can. Nash eyed you as you worked on cleaning Jenna up with baby wipes, how you cooed at the child and how Jenna was responsive to you while she’d look at him with mild curiosity. Or… at least he thinks it’s mild curiosity. Sliding the clean diaper under Jenna, you slowed your movements a bit as your brain tried to process how to do this again. You raked your teeth a bit over your bottom lip as Jenna started to squirm against your movements, wanting to remain diaper free. “…”

“…”

“I think you have the diaper on the wrong way.” Nash’s voiced, folding his arms as he watched you struggle to put on the diaper.

“Shh.”

“Don’t ‘shh’ me.”

“Shhh!”

“You’re insufferable.”

“And you’re an ass.”

Nash paused for a moment, missing how he used to rile you up just to get those witty comebacks and that smile of yours. A smile only he wanted for himself. So of course, he couldn’t help his next words as you concentrated on Jenna who thinks this is all a game. “Harry says you’re doing it wrong,” Nash snickered as he stood closer to you. The explorer felt tempted to brush your hair from covering your eyes.

“NO, I DID NOT. DO NOT INVOLVE ME WITH WHATEVER IS GOING ON BETWEEN YOU TWO JACKWAGONS.” The brunette ignored the rough voice that shouted at him from the back of his head. Jenna would glance at Nash a few times, to which he made a face at her having a bubbly gurgle leave the baby. She’s such a happy baby. Are all babies like this?

You tried your hardest to suppress your smile as you applied baby cream on Jenna’s body. “… Well, Harry can keep his comments to himself unless he wants to be the one to come out and handle this.”

“I think that would be insulting on both our parts,” Nash deadpanned as you ignored the look he gave you.

“Yeah… more so on yours.”

“What? How?”

“You just suck.” You responded slyly, sticking your tongue out at him as you finished up that had Nash holding himself back.

I know something I’d like to suck on right now… No, no, I can’t be- I shouldn’t be thinking that. God damn, why does she have to look like that? Be like that?

With Jenna now sporting a new, correctly worn diaper in her pajama’s, you stuck the pacifier between her gums gently for a bit knowing that she’s likely to be hungry around this time according to Cecile’s timetable for feeding. “Why didn’t you get me if she was being fussy?” You questioned, picking Jenna up and holding her close; one hand underneath her bum and the other on her back to steady her against you. You were oblivious to the light tint on his ears from his thoughts.

“Would it be so wrong to believe that I didn’t want to wake you up?”

“Yes,” was your immediate response as you turned to look at him with a hand on your hip and a look of mild disbelief in his words.

“Rude.”

Says the one who’s been rude to me since Crisis. A sigh left your lips as you trailed out the room and down the stairs to prep her bottle. “Next time, just ask me that way Cecile doesn’t have our heads on pikes.”

“Dully noted.” Nash only rolled his eyes at you, sitting on the couch with nothing else better to do than to watch Jenna play while you made her meal. Your phone chimed after you situated Jenna in her little play area, baby teething toys and soft plushies on a fuzzy blanket that wouldn’t irritate her skin. Frowning you picked up the phone to see a text – your heart hammered hauntingly in your chest at the written words. Swallowing thickly, you felt that familiar numbing feeling return as your eyes narrowed at your screen. That… that darkness that taunted you as you walked alone through your life. Those neglectful reminders. Nash looked over at you as he picked up a tool for his gauntlet, instantly seeing your change in demeanor in your silence and the way you stood there rubbing your wrist with your free hand. The bitterness that was welling up inside you in utter turmoil. Nash had picked up on your habit – a nervous one; one where you initiated overthinking. You let out a shaky exhale as you got up to get Jenna’s bottle ready. Thoughts raced through your mind, voices that you had long silenced had returned to seek vengeance on you for moving on.

Upon returning to the living room, you were still lost in your thoughts as you held the hot formula contents. Shaking it a few times in attempts to cool it down. Nash waited a moment, licking his lips before bringing the question up. “What’s wrong?”

“My sister just got proposed to. I got an invite… from my mom.” You didn’t even spare him a glance. You didn’t want to see pity in his eyes, nor do you want to acknowledge it. I give up. Gritting your teeth, you slowed down your movements to let the bottle’s contents settle. The explorer remained silent, his eyes scanning you while you seated yourself on the ground near him, gripping the bottle with dulled eyes. “Of course, she did. She gets everything, doesn’t she?” You mused to yourself with a cynical laugh. Nash heard the little tremble in your voice, the pain that strained inside you. His insides hurt at seeing you like this. “She gets everything that I’ve ever wanted.” The job, the man, love, the wedding, the money… all of it.  You couldn’t help but whisper that to yourself as you scooted closer to feed Jenna. The baby sucked on the formula happily in your lap while you looked on with indifference. “After all, I was never worth it.” I was never enough for anyone The pain stung your heart, shattering any hope you had in the world because the man that you were hopelessly in love with that was in the room with you, that was just bantering with you earlier had made it clear before that he wanted nothing to do with you. This babysitting situation was temporary so he wouldn’t have to bother with you anymore until Cecile and Joe returned.

Your last statement broke something inside Nash. Sed pluris es, quam quemvis pretiosum thesaurum in universum aspexi. But the dark-haired doppelganger held his tongue as melancholy colored you, his gloved hand clenched tightly into a fist that you couldn’t see. Soror tua non omnia, avicula, lustrasti. Only… it was because he was in your life that horrible things had happened to you. And while he had his fun upstairs and that moment of weakness the other night, Nash couldn’t allow himself to get close to you again. If only you could see that… if only you knew how you made me feel every day. The thrill of being in a dangerous situation with you, the want to be the one around you. The need to make you smile even if it was lured out, only I wanted to do that. But Nash had that doubtful inkling; those who end up getting close ended up getting hurt. All because he was selfish in the first place. As much as the dark-haired doppelganger tried, memories of you fighting for your life in the med bay from the Citadel incident resurfaced to his mind. He knew you still had your powers – another reason he stayed away. Nash didn’t want you to be swayed to use them. Ever. Not on him. Not on anyone. Because he doesn’t do well with loss after all. Flashbacks from the Desolate Land returned as well; the tears in your eyes, how he hopelessly stood there while you got hurt because of him, how the world ended with that one kiss. How could he forget something that made me feel such warmth in the last moments of the multiverse? If only you knew just how hard it’s become day by day to stay away from you, little birdy.

The quiet air that fell over you and Nash soon became tight, harder to fully breathe for you. His silence was like putting salt on the wounds in your heart, the wounds that continued to fester over the years of how your sister was better than you in every way. “Here, I’m just going to…” You trailed off, handing Nash the infant child to continue feeding. Your eyes refused to meet his concerned baby blues, or that would be what you had seen had you looked at him properly. Instead, you only suspected that he didn’t care for your situation. Why should he? The Wells doppelganger watched you trip as you hastily made your way to the stairs; made your way out of his reach. The voices in his head screamed at him to stop you, to bring you back. But he sat there with Jenna in his arms, slurping her breakfast. Shutting the door and face-planting into the bed didn’t help the static-like feeling that surrounded your heart. I, at least, wanted him to say. ‘You’re more than what you think you’re worth’ or ‘Don’t be stupid, has your sister broken into a fortress before or set off booby traps?’ Something. One by one, tears started to fall. You choked back a sob as the darker voices in your own head grew louder, malicious. Utterly ecstatic to return to torment you once more.  Anything. He could have said anything. But he chose not to. His silence amplified every doubt that rang true in your heart. He did hate you; he was just taking pity on you from taking care of Jenna. Just when I thought maybe things were going to be ok between us. Your body quivered as your tears soaked the pillow.

*** 3 Days later***

Days had passed since that morning, your thoughts kept you plenty occupied – the silence grew whenever you were around the taller man. Your thoughts had taken hold on your feelings for the explorer and the moments you’ve had with him. I wish I could just be in his arms and pretend that everything’s all right in the world. You sent a glare to your hands, mentally noting that you should consult Caitlin and Cisco about your decision with their metahuman cure. You’d contemplated it; would the removal of your powers mend things between you and Nash? You didn’t know. What I would do to just be by your side again. For you to not hate me…

Nash was well aware of your silence; it had been suffocating day in and day out. He’d only hear you speak when you’d coo to Jenna as you fed her, he’d only see you smile when you were only with Jenna. His heart ached greatly in his chest as he weighed his thoughts on what to do. The little glimpses he’d get of you, being in earshot just to hear you talk and laugh. The pain was becoming unbearable in his heart, the desire to revert back to how things were had haunted him – driving him mad.

It seems that… the distance has grown ever larger, just as I had wanted it, but… I should have said something to her. I’m such a fool, I should have consoled her. I should have talked to her. Nash looked up at the stars in the sky, currently residing on the roof of Joe’s house. The dark-haired explorer was laid back on the tiles, the clouds crawled slowly through the sky. The stars twinkled above him, and Nash is reminded of how your eyes twinkled as you responded to his comments with cheeky remarks. That fiery spirit in your personality that had him drawn like a moth to a flame. That brilliant smile that had his lips twitching up as well – how sick he felt with the absence of your voice. I miss you. Nash harshly rubbed his face with a hand, gloveless as he had been wearing it all day. I love you. A sigh left the tired man, how long had he been up here just staring at the sky lost in the memory of how your lips touched his back on the Waverider. The memory of Thawne trying to squeeze the life out of you, but you were able to retaliate with what he had taught you. I want to be the one to protect you. Nash’s insides twisted, his fingers rubbing his lips as he shut his eyes. He remembered how you snuggled right into him as he carried you to bed from Jenna’s room. I want to have you up here with me, but…

A chilly breeze blew past the Wells doppelganger, a sign that it was time to head inside for the night. Sitting up, Nash ran a hand through his hair as his knee was bent close to his chest. HR’s words echoed in his mind, the idea that you could wake up and choose any other man wounded him deeply, but it was what he had wanted, right? For you to not choose him to be safe… Right? Pushing himself off the roof platform Nash’s foot took an unsteady step, causing his body to lose its balance. With nothing to hold on to and how the roof was already slanted, the brunette tumbled off the roof and down into the prickly bushes in Joe’s yard. His back screamed in pain; groans left Nash’s lips as his head spun.

“Nash!” The explorer barely registered a voice calling out to him. You ran out the front door, your feet carrying you to where he had landed in the bushes. You had just put Jenna to bed when you heard a tumbling noise following by something colliding against the house. Your body was on high alert as you peeked out the window only to see Nash in the bushes. “Are you ok?” The adventurer blinked the blurriness away in his vision, spotting you looming over him with concern riddled all over your face. His heart skipped in his chest as you tried to help him up from where he was.

“Mm, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not, you’ve got scratches and probably bruises all over you. Let me patch you up, I-”

“No! It… I can’t. I’ll be fine.” Nash flinched from your outstretched hand. “Don’t…” Don’t use your powers please. Flashbacks of your blood on his hands surfaced to his mind, your body limp in his arms. The weak breathes you stuttered to take in. The hair at the back of his neck stood up. Languidly, the adventurer removed himself from the bushes, stubbornly refusing your help to stand tall. Thorns and bristles pricked at his skin.

Biting down on your bottom lip as you assessed the damage he had taken from his tumble, you reached out to hold his hand gently before he moved any further. “… I have a first aid kit inside. We can use that.” Nash’s eyes met yours, seeing that gentle flame still residing in it – that your thoughts hadn’t fully consumed it satisfied him. “Please.” A second passes and Nash nods, letting you lead him inside as the ache continues to claw at his back. It hurt to move, but he did his best to keep quiet.

Removing the thorns and splinters from Nash’s exposed back was no easy task. Each pull drew blood followed by the stinging of the rubbing alcohol in order to disinfect the wound. You did your best without losing focus, secretly swooning at how lean Nash was – the color that you tried to suppress from showing on your cheeks. It didn’t help that the muscles in his back flexed a bit whenever you added rubbing alcohol to the wounds, his muscles and nerves responding to the stinging. That little hiss that would leave his lips left you imagining some unintelligible things that you’d wish he’d do to you. Though the various scars that marred his skin coaxed your curiosity to come out.

“Did you-“

“I’m sorry.”

You were taken aback at his sudden apology. Confusion laced your features at Nash’s ever-changing moods. You knew he wasn’t good with admitting his feelings outside of general cockiness, ‘smoothness’ and over-exuding confidence, but… First, he was all fun and teasing, then all sulky and distant, and now apologetic? What is going on? “About what?” You tested the waters with your question, wanting to see exactly where this was going.

“For existing.” Your heart stopped for a moment, the thrum echoing in your body as you lowered your tweezers. How many times had you thought that to yourself? You wanted nothing more than to turn him around and throw your arms around him to comfort him. But then what? Would he go back to treating you with indifference? Nash ran a calloused hand over his face, covering his eyes as both his elbows were on his knees while you worked on his back. “I’ve hurt you so many more times than I can count.” It was my fault that I took advantage of your healing capabilities without… without truly understanding how it worked. How it affected you. How it hurt you because of me. I was so mad at you. So so mad. Why didn’t you tell me that it hurt you just as much? Why would you willingly accept the pain, the wounds over and over again for me? Then Crisis happened and you couldn’t stay away after I tried putting up some distance. You lost your voice because of me, you stubborn woman. I told you to stay away, to stay back. He would hurt you. And he did, to get at me. Crisis was over and it ruined me when I returned to see that you still didn’t have your voice – that stupidly sassy tone you’d have whenever you had something to say to me. So the walls continued to go up. And then…. Thawne hurt you while using my body. And I could only watch helplessly. So why? Why still stick around? Why after I’ve hurt you so much? Do you not value your life? Have you not seen what happened to Maya? “If I hadn’t stepped into your life, you wouldn’t have suffered through all that. You and the others are worth more than my life.”

Your eyes softened at him as he remained looking ahead. Not once had he turned to look at you, the guilt in his words riddling him. Guilt from so many things. The distance made sense, but the pain from it still echoed in your mind and heart. “…” You didn’t know what to say, so you resumed your work on taking the last remaining thorns. You had placed bandage after bandage on the longer, deeper cuts to ensure an infection wouldn’t happen. Nash was right, he’d hurt you so many times, yet... Why do you go back to him after everything? Because I’m just foolishly in love with you, Nash. You just don’t see it. A sigh left your lips. “You underestimate the people around you Nash,” you started, picking up the plate of thorns and splinters to dispose of them. Nash’s eyes never left you as you moved to throw them away. Pivoting your eyes met his briefly as you placed a hand over your heart. “The pain will always be there; it comes with living, growing. But there’s more to just pain, you just need to find the right person to overcome it for.” Whether he understood what you were trying to say or not was overturned by the intense feelings of sleep. Your eye twitched up a bit, your body craving the sleep it needs from the adrenaline rush you had earlier. He knew you didn’t have to tell him to ease up on his back for the next few days for it to heal properly. “Goodnight, Nash,” you whispered with a quick step to head upstairs.

“I’ll check on Jenna,” Nash’s voice stopped you before you got too far. You threw a puzzled look over your shoulder, speechless as to how he knew you’d be checking up on her. Something odd had settled in his eyes as he looked at you. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but it caused the growing heat to intensify in your cheeks. “You don’t need to tonight. Sleep well, avicula.” 

With a nod, you headed upstairs to sleep with your heart steadily beating. Nibbling on your bottom lip, you hid your face in your pillow. Nash seemed… gentler with you. His apology seemed sincere - is sincere. I’m the fool that chose you to be my person to push through all that pain. You just seem so worth it to me. . I wonder what goes on in that head of yours Nash. You took in a breath, listening intently to the baby monitor before sleep overtook you that night. Maybe… maybe things will be ok, maybe we’ll be okDreams of waking up beside Nash where that ache in your chest would finally subside and you wouldn’t have to worry about those feelings of self-hate because the person you love beside you showed you your worth. 

***Day 8***

Ever since Nash’s apology and your little talk while patching him up, he’s been inclined to helping you with Jenna. He said it was the least he could do. However, that look in his eyes that night resurfaced to the forefront of your mind, how he flinched from your touch when he wasn’t sure that you’d use your powers or not. It would have been a gamble, but… with everything right now, no one really has the time to figure things out with you. So, you stayed silent. The adventurer still had that rugged charm to him as if things had gone back to the way they were before Crisis, but you still refused to ask him about the kiss. The one memory that haunted you – you’d stare off into space thinking what it would be like to kiss him again, to just be his. Of course, you’d push those thoughts aside when the brunette was around. You didn’t need him poking fun at you for staring off into space. I wonder how he’s doing with Allegra. Her attitude towards him kept bothering you, but it wasn’t your place to intervene no matter how much you wanted to hurl her into the sun for being so sour towards the Wells doppelganger. You wondered about Maya, hesitant to ask him if he were to start pushing you away again. Cisco had briefly mentioned things here and there, but it was ultimately Nash’s story to tell. You understood that completely. You didn’t want the brunette to push you away again.

The distance that created such a rift in your heart to the point of numbness. Were you content with how things are now? A little, things have started to mend between you and Nash. Could things have gone better? Of course, there’s a handful of ways that things could have unfolded in a more pristine way. But you could only manage with the hand that you’re dealt with. I don’t know if I can let go of him or not… Am I a fool for thinking that I shouldn’t? Probably. He doesn’t see me the way I see him. But the hope that somehow, he’d reach out to you the way you have made your heart jump. In a sense, that he’d reciprocate the feelings you were hesitant to say out loud.

Nash had been currently out getting a few things, you had asked him on his way back to buy some formula and some baby diapers a few hours ago. You had shown him which formula flavor along with the baby size in diapers in hopes that if he doesn’t remember then Harry should be able to step in to help him. I miss talking to Harry and the others. They must know what goes on in Nash’s head since they’re in there and everything. Your phone chimed, alerting you of a text in hopes it was your the dumbass. Putting down the toy you were holding, you took a hold of your phone and checked the messages while Jenna moved about on her stomach.

Ciscito: So, how’s it going with playing house? 😉

You: … What?

Ciscito: You know? 😉😉

You: No, I don’t. Care to elaborate, Ciscito?

Ciscito: I thought we agreed not to use that name.

You: I never agreed to anything, my fingers were crossed.

Ciscito: Rude, how can I call you my friend after this?

You: Don’t worry, you still will. :P

Ciscito: As I was saying: you + Nash + baby Jenna = ???

You: NOTHING IS HAPPENING

Ciscito: Uh huh, care to express your thoughts to how you always have those lovesick looks whenever he leaves the room?

You: I do not.

Ciscito: Yeah, you do. Do you know how hard it is to keep Frost quiet from yelling ‘JUST FUCK ALREADY’ whenever you two are in the Cortex?

You: …

You: It’s complicated.

Ciscito: It’s really not. He loves you and you love him, make babies.

You: Ok, no. No babies. I don’t want to have kids. Taking care of Jenna is an exception.

Ciscito: Yes, yes. You’ve already given me a rundown on your reasons why.

You: And he doesn’t like me. He’s just tolerating me at the moment.

Ciscito: You two are so blind. Also, I call bullshit.

You: What do you mean ‘you call bullshit’?

Ciscito: I call bullshit. Every time Nash comes in he’s all moody in the labs and it’s because of you.

You: Because he can’t 100% stand me… I think.

Ciscito: No because he’s an idiot who doesn’t know how to express his feelings for you and instead tries to push you away to protect you.

Ciscito: You guys are stupid.

You: Hey! Don’t be fucking rude.

Ciscito: I can be rude when you two are being blind. Hella blind. Where is he anyway? He isn’t here terrorizing me… yet.

You: He went out to buy a few things, so I had him grab some stuff for Jenna.

Ciscito: …

Ciscito: You two give me a headache. Just make-out or something.

You: He doesn’t like me! Especially not like that!

Ciscito: Then what???

You: I don’t know.

Ciscito: You love him.

You: And? That shouldn’t sway how he feels about me. If he can’t stand me then he can’t stand me.

You: Urgh, I don’t know Cisco. I just don’t know. We’re… ok right now. Just tolerating each other – coexisting until Joe and Cecile get back.

Ciscito: Whatever helps you sleep at night, man.

You rolled your eyes at his last text before you set your phone down to tend to Jenna who has started getting angry with you for not giving her any attention. She had that cute little frown and everything that you couldn’t help but smile at her adorable pouty state. “Jenna, do you think there’s hope for me?” The child only looked at as if to say ‘bitch, you’re talking to a baby. I can barely process my reflection. Ask someone else.’ “You could have just yelled once for yes and twice for no. Geez, tough crowd,” you deadpanned.

“Are you talking to Jenna again?”

A strained scream left you at the abrupt voice. Turning around you found Nash walking around the couch and placing a larger grocery bag on it. You threw a glare at him, one which he waved off with his trademark smirk. “How many times have I told you to use the door?? We have doors.”

“I prefer windows; it’s much sneakier.” You know that.

“Did you get everything?” You rolled your eyes and raised an eyebrow at him before directing your gaze to the bag.

“Next time, I’ll stay with Jenna, and you can do this menial shopping thing.”

“Well, you were going out anyway so...”

“Avicula, do you know how humiliating it is to stand just dumbfounded by the selection that they have for baby formula??”

“What does that even mean? Never mind, I showed you the exact ones that she has.”

“Well, they ran out.”

“What do you mean they ran out?”

“They ran out. What? Do you want me to say it in Latin? De illo sapore fluebant.”

“How can they run out? They’re usually in stock.”

“Well, they did so…” Nash just pointed to the big bag on the couch that he had placed. “I bought one of each.” You just blinked at him, to which he looked back at you with a plain face. A sigh escaped you as you tried processing how to deal with this much baby food.

“It’s fine, we can work with this. We just have to ease her into the new flavor since she already has a sensitive stomach.” Pulling the formulas out one by one to observe them, you hummed to yourself. “At least you got the right brand.”

“Never again.” The myth-buster put such emphasis in his words while taking his jacket off and cracking his neck. You only laughed at his response, a soft look in your eyes that the brunette didn’t catch as he flopped onto the couch. A little smile slipped from Nash at your giggle before shutting his eyes.

No wonder he was out for three hours. “Thank you for buying these,” you whispered, impulsively leaning down and kissing his stubbly cheek in thanks before running into the kitchen with one formula flavor in hand. You promise the heat in your cheeks was making it hard for you to think straight. What the hell was I even thinking??  You face-palmed to yourself in the middle of the kitchen, needing to lean on something for support before making Jenna’s bottle.

His baby blue hues had snapped open right as your lips left him, wide with feelings. The brunette wanted you to do that again; wanted to pull you into his arms and never let you go.  Nash laid there with a lovestruck glaze in his eyes, completely enchanted by you while the heat rushed to his face. The man chewed on the inside of his cheek as he rubbed his shut eyes, inwardly cursing to himself about you. His guts were twisting weirdly and doing things that they anatomically should not be doing. These feelings were getting intoxicating.

Damn.

***Day 11***

Taking in a little breath, you pulled out the spare keys you had received from Cecile to unlock Joe’s house. Upon entering your ears perked up at the silence and the little tune you had been humming trailed off as the door creaked open. The whole home was blanketed in absolute quiet. Furrowing your eyebrows, you shut the door with a little click and the idea that Nash must have put Jenna to sleep ran through your mind. But where would he be lurking around? I hope he changed her diaper though. You took off your sneakers by the front door and with socked feet you moved your body to place the grocery bags into the kitchen. Pulling out all the bags contents, you stocked up the fridge and mentally noted what items will be used for dinner. It wouldn’t be fair to Cecile and Joe if you didn’t stock up their fridge while you used their home to babysit. Your hand reached for the phone you had pocketed earlier from leaving the grocery store, setting the volume to vibrate just to avoid waking up Jenna. You disregarded Frost’s texts on if you and Nash had banged yet. I swear they’ll be the death of me. Honestly, babysitting Jenna these past couple of days was a ride in itself. Playing with her and watching her try to get up made your heart melt the most. No, watching Nash hold her and tease her with little pokes made your heart melt indefinitely. 

Most infants' sleeping and feeding habits become more consistent and predictable after three or four months is what you learned. Which is a good thing that Cecile had her on a strict cycle that you can manage being an experienced mom of now four. But there was one other thing that fascinated you the most was how Jenna went about sleeping . The baby sleep cycle consists of active sleep and quiet sleep. During active sleep, the newborn may move, groan, open their eyes, cry out or breathe noisily or irregularly. During quiet sleep, they will lie relatively still, and their breathing will be more even. After the first few nights you had gotten used to not responding or waking Jenna up when she was in active sleep mode, instead giving her a few moments to enter deep sleep. 

She’s honestly the cutest thing, but diaper changes are the things you dread the most. Ugh, the smell and the mess. Now, where could they be? You tiptoed up the stairs to Jenna’s room to find it empty. There’s no way Nash took her out, he would have told me, right??? Babies aren’t meant for adventuring! Although the image of Jenna in a baby carrier strapped to Nash crossed your mind with lasers happening in the background. You calmed your climbing nerves, peaking into every room until you stood outside Nash’s. The door was already cracked open, so you pushed through gently only to see the most precious scene in your life. Taking in a breath through your nose, you couldn’t help the smile that grew on your face. Jenna was sleeping beside Nash, but with a fort of pillows all around her just so the Wells doppelganger doesn’t roll over and crush her. Biting down on your lower lip, you mentally framed the image before softly stepping over to where Jenna laid. With careful hands and steady breaths, you picked the infant up gingerly with the intention of placing her back in her room. After tucking her in with a few plushies surrounding Jenna, you took the baby monitor in hand, but a wave of fatigue hit you. Your head throbbed for a moment; discomfort written on your face as you closed your eyes. You needed proper sleep.   

Stepping away from Jenna’s crib, you exited the room and stood in the corridor for a moment. Your eyes wandered back to Nash’s room, the open door inviting you in. Enticing you. Goosebumps slowly littered your body as your feet carried you back to him. You raked your teeth over your lower lip softly as you approached the man, careful to not wake him up for what a disaster of an explanation that would be. Heat formed in your cheeks as you eyed the man you had fallen in love with, so at peace. No traces of the burden he had carried or hints of that cocky-ass smirk that made your insides twist in the best of ways. You licked your lips and placed the baby monitor on the dresser before leaning down to place a feather-light kiss against his forehead. Your eyes flickered to his lips and before you knew it, the temptation had drawn you closer to the explorer. Your lips melded with his as if they were meant to be – relishing in this little moment that you knew would never occur again. Craning your neck back you sent him one more meaningful look then stood up straight, turning your body to make your way out his room only to be stopped by a hand latching on tightly to your wrist. A gasp left your lips as you were pulled back, the world spinning in your range of vision.

In a few seconds your mind finally registered the softness of the mattress and the sturdy arms that wrapped around your body. Well fuck, this isn’t how I imagined him holding me would be… Um, so how am I going to get myself out of this one? Blinking a few times, you found that you wouldn’t be able to break free of Nash’s iron grip, especially while the adventurer slept. Your head rested against the pillow, the hair at the back of your neck stuck up as his breath caressed your skin. A shiver ran down your spine and you tried to not move as much. What the fuck am I going to to do? A sigh left your lips as you laid there in your compromised state, just contemplating. This wasn’t unwelcome, but… I’ll just throw some jabs at him when he wakes up. You yawned, your eyes drooping from the need to sleep. It was only the evening; a little nap won’t hurt anyone. Shutting your eyes fully, you snuggled back into the welcoming warmth that Nash provided, your mind whisking you away to the dreams that you wish to become true.

A languid smirk crossed Nash’s lips as his eyes remained closed. His firm chest pressed closely against your back, his grip tightening on you as you proceeded to sleep soundly in his arms. The brunette had in fact woken up when you walked in the first time, he just waited to see what you’d do. Initially, Nash was going to scare you to piss you off in order to see that pouty look you make with flushed cheeks. Instead, what he received was even better. His heart sang in contentment; his lips tingled from your not-so-secret kiss. The Wells doppelganger breathed out in relief before burying in face in your hair. Tranquility washed over the brunette. This is what he had been craving. Your touch, your closeness.

And you were none-the-wiser.

***

A groan left your lips as your mind registered your ears had picked up, static noises of crying and fussing. A little noise escaped your throat as Jenna’s cries continued. You breathed in a slow breath, turning your body around with eyes half-lidded. Your hand reached out to poke Nash’s face as your resting heartbeat picked up. How can you look so fucking sexy while being asleep? How? It’s like he got 100x more rugged like this. The cocky bastard. “Nash.” No response, so you poked his cheek once more while drawing his name out sleepily. “Naaaash.”

“Hm.” Came a curt response, one that fueled the flame inside you. So you continued to pester him by poking his cheek repeatedly.

“Wake up,” you pouted, eyes fluttering open the more you moved and talked.

“Mm mm.”

“Go check on Jenna, she’s crying.”

“No, you do it,” Nash murmured in a roughly deep voice that had your insides twisting in the most inopportune time.

It’s your turn, dipshit. “Please~”

Nash’s eyes cracked open to see you, a drowsy confrontational expression on your face. The brunette yawned before poking your nose to which you slightly flinch at the contact; his tired bones aching as he got up to check on the little troublemaker. Nash threw one look at you over his shoulder, his mind mentally framing the image before him as he licked his lips. Stubborn little bird. A lazy grin plastered itself on his face as his mind began to turn the lights on in his head. You frowned but didn’t say anything as you were too tired to process anything else, instead snuggling back into the covers in the chilly air of the room. Nash normally kept a window open to fall asleep to the sounds of the nightlife outside. Getting off the bed and stretching his limbs, Nash turned to see you shut your eyes with every intent of falling back asleep. Cute.

The Wells doppelganger trudged over to Jenna’s room, sleep still on his mind as another yawn rolled out of his mouth. Nash crinkled his face at the volume of Jenna’s cries who gradually lowered her voice upon seeing the lights turn on and the brunette looming over her. “You just wanted to play, didn’t you? That’s why you’re all fussy,” Nash remarked, seeing her eyes twinkle with the little noises she made. As soon as the myth-buster picked up the child, he smelled the other reason she’d woken up all upset. “Someone needs to get changed too.” Padding over to the changing desk, the older man got right to work with de-diapering the baby and cleaning her all up, even adding the necessary oils and lotions, he sealed the diaper efficiently. Sure, it took Nash longer than you to change Baby Jenna’s diaper, but at least he got it done correctly. This time. The Wells vessel was proud of himself, more so with the fact that Harry hadn’t been popping in recently to ridicule him for doing it wrong. That was oddly reserved for you, which he didn’t mind because then you were around him for longer. His chest warmed thinking back to you as he held Jenna close to his chest. Rocking her gently always made the older man feel awkward, something he had never been accustomed to since helping you with taking care of the child. His hands that had always been used for rougher objects was able to handle the softness that came to an infant. It amazed him.

Once Jenna’s breathing slowed and eyes fully shut for a good few minutes, Nash gently placed her back in her crib while tucking her in for the remainder of the night. He couldn’t help but hope that she’d stay asleep so he can slip back into bed beside you before having to pretend that the night hadn’t happened. Toggling the white noise monitor, Nash crept out of Jenna’s room with minimal noise before leaving the door cracked open should something more urgent arise. Walking back to his room, Nash felt that wave of sleepiness hit him again. Checking the clock in the corridor he had been with Jenna for about an hour and a half, making sure she’s all taken cared for. He liked the child, she entertained him as much as she entertained you. He found his heart flipping whenever he’d catch you playing with Jenna or whispering little compliments to her and words of encouragement to try to crawl. It pleased Nash greatly that Jenna was keeping that smile going on your face.

Rubbing the back of his neck, the dark-haired explorer entered his temporary room and slipped back into bed. Nash found you facing his direction, the covers were over your shoulders tightly. She’s cold. Rather than shutting the window, Nash scooted his body closer to you, his arms diving under the covers to wrap himself before encasing you in his arms. He kissed the crown of your head then shut his eyes, dipping his chin slightly to breathe you in. “I love you, stubborn little bird,” a whisper Nash couldn’t help but let slip out in the darkness of the room as he held you closer to him.

“Aww, you love me??”

Nash pulled away with wide eyes and an incredulous look directed right at you while you gazed at him with curiosity dancing in your eyes. “You’re awake?!”

“Well yeah, just in case you needed me or something.”

“… you thought I was going to fuck up, huh.” It wasn’t phrased as a question, but more of an accusation.

“… nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.”

“Liar!”

“Can you blame me?”

“Aha!-”

“-You’ve said it yourself that you’re not a baby tamer. And you’re not exactly good at changing diapers.”

“Neither are you.”

“Yes, but I’m a cut better than you at it.” You poked his exposed bicep to prove your point. You really did love it when he wore short-sleeve shirts, but that’s another thing you’d be taking to your grave. Nash rolled his eyes at you, while you wiggled your eyebrows at him in mock victory.

“Shut up.”

“Make me.” Nash paused for a moment, giving you a hard look that had you giggling all over that you didn’t see his eyes flicker with a dark hunger. He chewed the inside of his at the cheeky grin that adorned your face, resisting the urge to do something rash. “Ah, see you can’t m-” Before you could even finish that statement, Nash’s lips pushed against yours. The shock wore off in a second from the kiss, your eyes slipped shut right as he pushed his tongue into your mouth. A little mewl escaped your throat when he sucked harshly on your tongue, nipping at your bottom lip when he wasn’t intensely kissing you. His hands were on your cheeks while your free hand gripped his shirt, pulling him tightly towards you to further deepen the kiss. Once the two of you broke away, the Wells doppelganger relished in your flushed, dumbstruck look. He licked his lips, amused at how he had rendered you speechless so easily.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since Crisis. The only way I know how to shut you up properly.” Nash eyed your swollen lips, that smug-ass smirk tugged at his lips. “What’s that look for, little bird?”

“What look? I don’t have a look.”

Nash chuckled at how you averted your eyes, bashfulness taking over you while he held you. You pouted at him, lightly slapping him on the chest. He was unaffected, his smirk growing wider. The adventurer peppered kisses along your neck, your body moved without thinking – your neck tilted back the more he kissed your skin. Shutting your eyes, you relaxed at the feel of him while your mind scolded yourself for succumbing to his touches so easily. But they were touches you had craved; a certain closeness that you had desired to have to yourself. Your heart had already almost burst out of your chest at his confession, yet… you felt more so at peace with Nash. Nash, the dipshit smug-ass adventurer that pestered you like the plague who had you falling in love with him over and over again. He really was unlike any other man you had fallen for.

You sighed pleasantly, running a hand through his messy brown locks. Nash shut his eyes as your fingers carding through his hair, the sensation calmed him as he buried his face into your neck. He held himself back from doing anything more tonight, especially if Jenna was in the other room. You swore that he could hear just how hard your heart was beating. Beating for him. Beating for this precious moment. “I love you too,” you whispered softly, your cheeks flaring up even more.

“Ah!” You felt a sharp pinch on your neck, stinging and throbbing. He just fucking bit me! You pushed Nash’s face away from you, sending a glare to the adventurer who was snickering at your reaction. “What was that for?”

“No, reason. I just wanted to see if you squeaked like a toy.”

This handsomely smug fox. “I hate you.”

Witty bunny. “I hate you too,” he mumbled before kissing your pouty lips, a sincere smile on his face as you kissed him angrily.

***

Latin Translation:

Sed pluris es, quam quemvis pretiosum thesaurum in universum aspexi. - But you are worth it, more than any valuable treasure I've laid eyes on in the entirety of the multiverse

Soror tua non omnia, avicula, lustrasti. - Your sister would not amount to everything you had gone through, little bird.

Avicula - little bird