#I went on a trip which stressed her out More but I’m back and she’s like oh ok maybe life can move on

[athena-thumbellina]

You got games on your phone?

[acotarxreader]

Stress Relief

Azriel X Reader

Synopsis: Working for the Night Court has become near impossible with Azriel determined to drive you out the door but can a camping trip arranged by Rhys smooth things over.

Warnings: Angst, fluff, smut, frenemies to lovers, lots of dialogue, if you see a typo no you didn't

A/N: Hehe this kinda long but I wanted to keep the chaos to one part. I'm finding writing since Other Worlds a bit stressy so I think posting this nonsense will help with that and we can return to out regularly scheduled programming. Let me know what you think!

Requests open! (I am working on your Cass request if you see this anon👀 )

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“YN you need to fucking relax”

“I suggest that you keep quiet Azriel if you'd like to keep your head attached to your shoulders” Azriel rolled his eyes at you from the couch as you paced up and down, trusty list in hand. 

“I’m just saying you’ll give yourself a heart attack”

“Hey! Do you want me to add your name to this list!”

“Az would only want to be on it if it's your To Do list” A pillow flew from alongside Azriel right at Cassian as he howled. 

“I’ll relax once we get there”

“Why do you get so fucking neurotic when it comes to travelling?”

“Why are you so fucking anno-”

“Okay okay stop it you too! We promised Feyre no fighting on Rhy’s big camping trip, she’s already upset Elain won’t come, just don’t add to her stress” You and Azriel groaned like scolded children at Cassian’s words. You counted the bags again, checking off your list as you went. Azriel stood to grab his bag, coming chest to chest with you before pushing past.

“I’m flying ahead because I can’t be around her uptight ass anymore”

“Aw you look at my ass” you smiled sarcastically as Cassian laughed in the background. 

-

You all finally arrived deep within the woods of the Night Court, luggage crashing down around the group. You couldn’t stop thinking that you had forgotten everything, glancing from the list to the pile repeatedly, your friends happily unpacking. The night had already begun to creep in, Azriel and you delaying the group by fighting about which was the fastest route to take. You busied yourself fixing up some of the tents as Azriel dug through the pile of bags in search of his own. 

“YN, what’s the plan for us sleeping together?”

“Excuse me?” you deadpaned to Azriel. 

“Sor-Sorry I meant the plan for sleeping?” he quickly corrected himself, his shadows doing their best to cover his rosie cheeks. 

“Well, Feyre & Rhysand, Cassian & Nesta, Amren & Mor and then I guess you and Lucien and then I get my own tent” you beamed, shaking a sleeping bag from its case. 

“Funny how that worked out isn't it” he remarked and you rolled your eyes but the group agreed to the sleeping arrangements, with further prodding for Lucien to agree. 

You gathered around the fire, feasting on the fire-roasted food Cassian did his best not to cremate, trading life stories in pure unadulterated ease, everything Rhysand had wanted for this trip. You swaddled yourself deeply into your sleeping bag as the fire began to sink beneath its tinder. 

“Do you regret leaving Summer Court for us YNN?” 

“I think I love the Night Court more than I ever could Summer” You smiled in reply to Cassian, your eyes flashing to Rhysand briefly before he launched into his favourite Tarquin story, Azriel noticing the fleeting glance seemingly tinged with an element of sadness. 

“You like it even though being an emissary to the Seasonal Courts clearly makes you want to pull your hair from your head?” Azriel whispered to you. 

“You and your antics are the only thing that causes me to do that, I seriously think you need a refresher training on diplomacy” you bit back to his sharp whisper. You had shared the job with Lucien but soon found yourself taking on the brunt of the work as Lucien was lost in Elain.

“You need to stop being so uptight seriously, I think you need to be fucked or something, anything to get you to relax” Your head whipped towards him, the group laughing at Rhysand's story, choosing to ignore the two of you, assuming it was an argument. You huffed out in disgust at Azriel, he watched your chest release the full capacity of air from your lungs before taking another deep breath. You shuffled slightly in the sheet, wrapping the sleeping bag tighter around yourself and facing back towards the fire. It was then Azriel realised he was fully staring at your chest. 

“I didn't…I didn't mean that I want to be the one to….fuck you…I meant …” 

“Just stop talking Az” you scoffed, choosing to listen to Rhysand instead as Azriel mentally cursed himself for losing his edge over you. The fire sank until it went out, the laughter from the group lighting the forest. 

“Okay, it's like 2am, time for bed kids especially if we’re going for the hike tomorrow” Rhysand stood, pulling a sleepy Feyre to her feet. The group said their good nights as you climbed into your canvas home. You stretched along the fabric floor and sank into sleep easily, tired from the day as you balled up in your opened-out sleeping bag. 

-

“Hey! YNN! Wake up!” 

“I swear to the Gods you better be a super polite Naga about to rip my head off otherwise you’ll wish you were” you breathed out without opening your eyes, the sound of your tent zip worse than a blaring alarm to your sleepy state. 

“It’s Az, I need to sleep in here, push over” he collapsed next to you without invitation, your hand sailing outwards to clock him flat into the chest with a thud. 

“Az, what the fuck? It's like 3am, get the fuck out we’re not braiding one another's hair!” you whisper-shouted at him while you sat up. 

“Lucien is snoring like he’s trying to deafen me and I don’t fancy interrupting Mor and Amrens beauty sleep and as for the mates, I don’t need to explain why I don’t want to go in there” you sighed at him as he gave you a look that said he wasn’t going anywhere. You sank back into the canvas, Azriel pulling the sleeping bag from you. 

“Az” you bit out. 

“I’m not going to freeze to death because you’re a blanket thief”

“You’re going to find yourself on the other side of the zip if you don’t go to sleep” you said, rolling into the slack of the sleeping bag, pulling it fully from Azriel. He almost grunted at the action, catching the end and whipping it from under you, sending you rolling into the wall of the tent. 

“Az!” you barked and he raised his hands up in surrender. You sank beneath the cover again, moving closer to Azriel to spread the sleeping bag more evenly. Azriels eyes fixed on the mesh vents on the tent roof, the sound of the night filling the tent.

“Do you ever think you’ll go back to the Summer Court?” Azriel broke the silence that filled the tent, you sighed before replying. 

“If you keep being a prick then maybe” you deflected the question successfully.

“I’m a prick because I care” You laughed at his joking tone, rolling to your side to face him more, hands tucked in under your cheek. 

“As much stress as you and Cass and your antics cause me, which is a lot might I add, I would find it very hard to leave you freaks” you half laughed, eyes still heavy. 

“We’d miss you” he admitted

“I mean who would keep your secrets from one another if not me” you teased. 

“What secrets?” you tapped the side of your nose lazily and Azriel nudged you slightly in annoyance at your grin. 

“Fine fine emmm.... Cass is the one who told all those females in the Rita's where to find you when you were home” you yawned into a light laugh. Azriel felt annoyance grow in him at this revelation, that had caused him months of being harassed by all sorts from every walk of life. 

“I swear I’m going t-”

“Just leave it Shadowsinger” you gave a small laugh, grabbing his hand as he went to leave the nest you’d both made, pulling him back down and forgetting to let go, you lost your fight to sleep then, entirely drifting back off. Azriel glanced at you sleeping peacefully next to him and found himself surprised at enjoying holding your hand beneath the sleeping bag. 

Azriel stayed awake for half an hour, staring up at the canvas above him, torn between the growing pain in his shoulder and not wanting to let go of your hand. The nerves felt like they were screaming as the muscles went dead in his arm, an idea coming to him. He quickly rolled towards you while releasing your hand and grabbing the other but he greatly misjudged the distance, sending his head straight into yours. You almost immediately dropped his hand to place it on the bump growing on your head, Azriel feeling regret for waking you but more so for letting you go. 

“You're such a freak Shadowsinger” You laughed half asleep before rolling in closer to him and draping your arm across his waist, pulling yourself closer to him softly, resting your head between the pillow and his chest. Azriel felt such an unfamiliar level of comfort at the movement but also a new level of confusion. 

You moved from next to him then, leaning on your elbow to prop yourself up and look at him as puzzled as he looked at you. 

“Sorry I-I don't know why I did that”

“Emm it’s okay YN…it was actually kinda comfortable…I’m ok-ay if you’re okay with it” he spoke the words with caution and you found a sigh of relief leave you that you didn’t know you had. You rolled away from Azriel to face the tent wall, his face slightly greying with nerves, had he been vulnerable to the wrong person? He braced for your rejection only for it not come, instead you shuffled slightly down and laid your back flat into his chest. Azriel cautiously moved his arm across your waist, only to have you catch hold of his hand and move it across faster, forgetting to release his hand again. 

Azriel nestled his chin on top of your head, pulling you in as close as he could as you both tangled your legs together. He felt so entirely comforted by how close you were to him…too close he thought suddenly. He shuffled in the bed a little to try to hide the part of him betraying any sense of secrecy he had about his changing feelings towards you. You just moved back to where you were, leaving him no place to hide. Azriel felt your whole body smirk against him as you traced little circles along the back of his hand with your thumb, he hated how you were winning. 

“You’re not hard for me to read Azriel” he definitely heard the smirk from you. He refused to let you win, he tried to push the embarrassment from his voice before speaking again-

“Well I hardly think that's surprising, I already told you what I think needs to happen for you to relax” he barely whispered, your body's turn to stiffen in the bed alongside him, he smiled with the point he won. 

Azriel slowly moved to hover his mouth above your neck, both so still in the movement that he could almost see the hairs on your neck stand on their end. He gave little thought to his next movement, now acting on his instinct as he met your neck almost painfully softly. He kissed you there until you found your neck flexing to allow him more access. A betraying soft moan of approval escaped you as Azriel smiled into the nips he gave you, gaining a further point advantage. 

You couldn’t let him hold the win for long as you began to push yourself into his growing length, a low growl escaping him before he reburied himself in your neck, more feverishly this time. Your hand wrapped tighter around his as you began to grind into him, encouraging him further. You rolled onto your back, Azriel now almost hovering over you and moved without thinking. He leaned down and met his lips with yours. Electric, you were electrifying one another. This night was going further than you both thought it would. Sex was one thing but kissing someone like that and feeling such overwhelming desire as a result was another thing. You both separated almost surprised at the waves of confusion mixed with yearning. 

“I-I didn’t mean to… I shouldn’t have…” Azriel didn’t know what he was saying, almost begging you with his eyes to say anything. 

“I-” you were cut off by the sound of Lucien's loud sneeze from across the fire pit causing you both to almost jump. It hit you both then what you were about to do, with all your friends mere metres away. 

“Night Azriel” was all you found yourself saying before rolling back to face the wall of the tent, not taking his arm with you. Azriel cursed in his head before lying back down on the canvas. He didn’t sleep for the rest of the night, the thought of what could have been controlling his thoughts. He didn’t think you were asleep either but didn’t challenge you on it, what had you both done?

-

You rolled over to find the space next to you empty as the sun leaked in the thin canvas the next morning. You ran your hands down your face, cursing your actions from the night previous. You got dressed haphazardly, removing a mirror from your pack to braid your hair back, your eyes falling on deep maroon markings on the side of your neck. You traced them gently with your fingertips, a small smile escaping you at the memory. 

“YN! Get up! We’re leaving in 10” Cassian's voice accompanied him banging on the top of your tent, chasing your smile away. You ran your hands through the loose braid, separating it out again to cover the evidence of your lapse in judgment. 

You hauled yourself out through the soft door once you were dressed to find your friends all laughing at one of Cassian's stories, ready and waiting for you to set off. Your eyes landed on Azriel as he tilted his head back laughing before his eyes met yours, he almost instantly tore them from you and looked back to Cassian. 

-

The group set off bounding along the mountain in total ease, Nesta winding Rhysand up ahead of you and Cassian. 

“So YN…you gonna tell me why Az won’t look at you?” 

“How am I supposed to read that pain in the ass’s mind?” you replied almost too quickly to him as he raised an eyebrow, catching your hand and helping you up a steeper part of the path. You looked at the back of Azriel’s head ahead of you as he lead the group along the path to the waterfall. 

“Hmm likely story YN and tell me why I could have sworn I heard Az leave your tent this morning?” he couldn’t bury the teasing tone as you sighed. 

“Lucien was snoring so Azriel just stayed in my tent, no big deal” You could see the thoughts race through Cassian’s grinning face, you tilted your head slightly forward, ensuring the truth was still covered by your hair. 

“Interesting, I don’t know Lucien to be a snorer” He gave a small laugh as you raised your eyebrow, only getting a playful shake of the Illyrian's head in return. A sudden slap of mud met the side of Cassian's face. 

“That’s for Rita’s!“ Azriel shouted back the path, his hand having just released the ball of mud. 

“You told him YN!” Cassian’s head snapped to you as you howled with laughter.

“Must have slipped out?” you tried your best to lie, only to have the broad male throw you over his shoulder as you screamed in hysterics. He ran with you, the group all roaring laughing as they followed. You suddenly couldn’t feel Cassian under you as he flung you from his arms, landing with a splash into the large lake. 

“Cassian! I’m going to kill you!” you shrieked, the cold water bursting through you sending power coursing. You sent a tendril of water, playfully pulling Cassian from where he stood straight into the water alongside you, the group following suit in fits of laughter, leaving Azriel to watch from the rocks. Azriels eye caught the slight glimpse of his handiwork beneath your soaked hair, a pang of pride beating through him then replaced by panic. A shadow met the side of your face, draping your hair back to cover the markings. You looked towards Azriel and found yourself laughing at the action, he returned a smile. 

-

After a day of hiking and swimming and being a bunch of fools, you all came back to the campsite ready to feast on whatever you could scrounge up. 

“Okay everyone, it’s time to announce the reason behind this little trip” Rhysand announced to his family gathered around the roaring fire. 

“Well, as you know, YN has been with us now for some months now-”

“Unfortunately” you hit Azriel into the chest at his sarcasm.

“Anyways-” Rhysand threw a warning glance “-YN has helped to negotiate many our trade agreements and cleaned up many of our messes-” Cassian raised a glass to you at Rhysands words, the group laughing “-But anyway, I’m sorry to announce that I have failed as your High Lord in convincing her to stay with us” the group turned to face you in almost shock. 

“I know everyone I said-”

“-You said you wouldn’t leave” Azriel cut across you, semblances of pain dripping from his quick words. 

“I know Az but-”

“-No, you said you wouldn’t leave” his words turned to tones of anger, the group looking amongst themselves, feeling as though they were intruding. 

“Yes but Az, I’m needed at home, they’re still recovering from Amarantha and Tarquin needs m-”

“-But I- I mean we need you!” He stood from the log to look down at you, your sad eyes meeting his. Suddenly aware of the scene he was making he dissolved into shadow as you tried to call after him. 

“I better go-”

“No Cass, I'll go” you winnowed out of the clearing. 

-

Azriel crashed into his room in the House of Wind. Mixtures of emotions spinning in his head like the shadows around his heels. 

“Az” he whipped around to see you stood with your hands up chest level in surrender. 

“Here to pack your bags?” he chewed out. 

“Oh fuck off Azriel, don’t actually pretend you want me to stay” you matched his tone. 

“And why do you say that?” he snapped back.

“Because you’re the reason I’m leaving!” he took a small step back in shock at your sharp admission. He sat down on the edge of his bed, brow furrowing in thought. 

“What have I done to you?”

“What haven’t you done!? You go out of your way to make my job difficult, every motion I put forward you try to shoot down, you’re constantly following me watching every move I make waiting me to fuck up! Now you have what you want, I’m leaving!” you paced up and down in front of him, releasing the tension you held in your shoulders. 

“I don’t want you to leave” he sounded almost offended that you thought so. 

“What?”

“You really think I want you to leave…especially after last night” he stood from the bed, stepping in front of you to stop your pacing.

“I thought that especially after last night you’d want me to leave” You half laughed.

“At least I guess I’ve given you something to remind you of me” he gave the smallest smile, his hand sweeping your hair off your shoulder to look at his busy work as you felt yourself blush.

“Don’t leave YN, who would I play with?”

“Cass maybe” you grinned, something seemingly darkening in his eyes. 

“I don’t want to fuck him” he breathed out.

“That’s not what Rhys told me” You laughed again before noticing his serious eyes. 

“Please don’t leave me YN”

“And what will I tell Tarquin?” you chuckled, unsure what to do with Azriels edgy tone. His hand found yours, hazel eyes fixated on you.

"Tell him you're preoccupied" "With what exactly" he moved closer to you with your words ever so slightly rattling out of you.

“Az if we kiss…this might become more than what either of us wants”

"What if its what we both want?" he was mere millimetres from you now, unable to fight against this magnetic force pulling you forward. Something bubbling between you both, the electricity coursing through the space between you both again as you kissed so sweetly. Your eyes snapped open to find his eyes meeting yours, gently pulling back from one another. Mate. Mate. Mate.

“YN- you’re my-”

“-Mate” you breathed while looking at him with such unadulterated love. Azriel burst into laughter with you following suit.

“Now you really can’t leave me”

“How convenient” you smiled, running your hands through your hair, Azriel tracing the bitemark's outline with his heated gaze.

“Care for some stress relief YN?” Azriels hands went straight for your hips, the feeling of the small calluses meeting your soft sides sent pulses down you both. He met your neck, the same place he had last night, cupping his hands beneath your lower legs and lifting you from the ground, your legs wrapped around his waist

“Why can't I keep away from you?” You breathed, the hairs on Azriel’s neck standing on their end.

“Why does that make me so happy?” Was all he could manage before reconnecting to your neck. Azriel carried you to the bed before throwing you down and closely following in pursuit. You knotted your fingers through his hair and forced down the moan trying to escape at the pleasure of having him nip you. You tugged his hair until he pulled from you to face you.

“I want all of you”

Azriel cautiously lowered his mouth to yours until they met again. Much like the first time electricity coursed through both of you but unlike the last time, neither pulled away, only growing hungrier.

You could feel him hardening against your thigh, no longer able to fight the little victory you were going to give him, you moaned gently. He smirked hard into the kiss before it became more feverish. Your hand ran across him beneath the fabric of his trousers, his turn to groan.

“You're wearing too many clothes” he rasped as you smirked and pulled your shirt from over your head, he gently caught your jaw as he kissed along it. 

“I want revenge for these” you smirked, wrapping your leg into his side to flip him so you straddled him on top. Your teeth grazed his neck with heat as he sat up in the bed with you on his lap. He pulled his shirt from over his head, his hands replacing on your hips to support you, his groaning encouraging you on.

“Enough teasing YN, I need you” he said darkly, flipping you onto your back and yanking your trousers free from your legs to discard them. Azriel kissed you sweetly before moving down the shape of your body, peppering kisses along the trail to your entrance. You felt your legs begin to tremble under his touch, begging for more as his fingers began to play with your clit, your hands tangling in his hair with a moan. 

“You’re so ready for me YN, its intoxicating” he began to kiss around you and slowly his fingers began to move in and out while he sucked your clit. You felt the tension build in your abdomen, the greatest realess you ever had just a few movements away until he stopped entirely. You looked down between your legs to meet his eyes as he moved to hover above you again, discarding his own trousers in the process. 

“You’re so beautiful YNN” Your hand met the side of his face softly before pulling him back down into a searing kiss. Your fingers began to drag up and down his bear back before tracing the spines of his wings as they began to splay in their relaxed state. 

“Is that okay Azriel?” you whispered watching his eyes close with the building pleasure. 

“Nothing has ever been more okay” he leaned his head towards your hand, taking the waves of pleasure in his stride before lowering back down to meet you sweetly. 

Azriel slowly then began to enter you, you both almost meeting your release at the feeling. He slowly began to drag in and out as the sensation grew with its addictive nature, he increased his speed, spurred on by your hitching breath. The pressure growing and growing and growing, your fingers digging into his shoulders as your back arched until the band snapped sending you into overdrive as every nerve in your body stood to attention and then exploded. You practically screamed his name sending him over the edge, returning the sentiment by moaning your name, collapsing next to you while riding out his high. 

“I had no idea how much I needed to hear you say my name like that YN” Azriel finally found some composure to rasp out, his arm wrapping around you, pulling you in. You tried not to cringe in embarrassment as you buried a laugh into his chest. 

“Don’t go shy on me now” he laughed, kissing the top of your head. You rolled onto your elbows to look into his eyes as they lit up for you. You hauled the duvet up around you, leaving a small corner for Azriel to tug at.

“Why must I be mated to a blanket thief?”

“Why must I be mated to a pain in the ass?”

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Whatcha think friends!

[kamaluhkhan]

COMPLICATED

LUST — part iv of we'll write sins like tragedies

pairing: luke castellan x nemesis! reader (afab) word count: 8.9k summary: the lives of demigods are never simple. why would your relationship with luke be any different? or: four moments of tension + one moment of release. featuring a trip to montauk with percy, grover, and annabeth warnings: a decent amount of reader backstory (mention of dad having cancer); multiple POVs (percy, grover, annabeth, luke, reader - obv nothing suggestive/smutty until luke and reader POV); luke + reader get into arguments and are v stressed so their relationship is a bit strained; reader has tattoos; reader is on birth control; rough smut (protected + unprotected p in v, oral f+m receiving, biting, scratching, slight choking, slight breeding kink, etc...); also slight dark + possessive luke! (18 + MDNI); major angst — we all know how this story ends ;( author's note: this was meant to be a blurb but...here we are! this is basically another chapter of my spill ur guts series lol. i've been gone for much longer than i planned to, but hope u enjoy possibly the angstiest, smuttiest thing i've written so far ♡

♪ "complicated" by avril lavigne

i. 

in the span of a few minutes, percy went from pure joy — being greeted with cheers from all the campers was great, sure, but truthfully the hug from annabeth alone sent him to elysium — to feeling like his heart dropped all the way to tartarus.

which is definitely not a place percy ever wants to visit again. he was happy to be back at camp with his friends, knowing that his quest was completed, his mom was safe in new york, and a war between the gods was prevented.

it should be over….but there’s something in the back of percy’s mind that’s telling him it isn’t. seeing a certain someone in the crowd earlier didn’t do anything to ease that feeling.

"can someone explain to me why clarisse is still here?" 

you raise an eyebrow at luke, and he shrugs in response.  it seems neither of you had decided who should break the news, and neither of you seem particularly excited to do so, even after dragging percy, along with annabeth and grover, into the empty hermes cabin for some privacy.

after another beat of silence, you take the lead.

“look, kid, i know you and clarisse got off to a rocky start —”

“she tried to drown me, and then basically kill me during capture the flag,” percy points out. he hears an ocean roaring at the memory, but that could have also been from his duel with clarisse’s dad, the god of war, more recently.

a duel that percy had won, for the record. luke trained him well.

“and i’m not defending that,” you clarify. “i’m just saying that we’ve known clarisse for much longer. she’s not perfect, maybe a bit aggressive sometimes — trust me, she and i have had some major disagreements, too — but i can’t see her doing something like this.”

“why would anyone at camp want to steal the bolt? to join kronos’ army against the gods?” annabeth wonders. to herself or to the group, percy isn’t sure, but he has a feeling that the wheels in her mind are turning.

“revenge, maybe?” grover suggests. 

almost instinctively, grover glances at you, and so does annabeth. percy wants to kick himself for doing the same. 

with you being the daughter of nemesis, he imagines that it's not the first time you’d been blamed for something just because of who you are. it’s a feeling percy knows all too well. and, for better or for worse, like percy, it seems like you’re not one to accept these things without a fight.

you straighten your shoulders, ready to snap back, but before you can, luke declares:

“it’s not her.”

he then knocks the toe of his shoe against your combat boot. you smile and return the gesture. the tension eases out of the room.

for a second, percy wonders if he’ll ever have someone like that: someone to defend like it’s second nature, to share that sort of secret language with, to smile at him like nothing else in the world matters. 

according to annabeth, the two of you weren’t technically dating — but percy is pretty sure that aphrodite is swooning over you. 

“see, grove? if camp half-blood’s golden boy can vouch for me, then i’m in the clear.” your tone is playful enough — no hard feelings — but the tips of grover’s ears still turn red. “i didn’t steal the bolt. sure, the gods and titans can tear each other apart for all i care — " 

annabeth stiffens at your bold statement, and grover starts to nervously chew on an empty diet coke can he had stashed in his pocket. luke watches you with the hint of a smile on his face, and percy —

well, percy can’t help but admire you even more. 

"— but it's everything else that i have an issue with.”

“everything else?”

you look at percy like the answer is obvious. 

“when have the gods ever fought their battles without us as collateral damage? doesn’t seem worth it to me, to betray my friends.” 

that itch in the back of percy’s brain gets harder to ignore.

“the oracle warned me, betrayed by a friend.” 

“prophecies don't always come true,” annabeth reminds him. “at least not in the way we expect them to.” 

“annie is right,” luke adds, nodding at his sister. “mine didn't. the oracle said i would die a hero.” 

you turn to luke then, your eyebrows furrowed. 

“what? you never told me that.” 

“it doesn’t matter,” luke insists. “my point is that i came back from my joke of a quest, alive and a definitely not a hero —”

“fuck what the oracle said.” you roll your eyes. “dead or alive, you are a hero, tiger.”

you move to place a hand on luke’s arm. to percy’s surprise, though, luke brushes you off.

“i’m not a hero. at least not the one my dad expects me to be.”

again, percy is taken aback by how luke snapped, at you of all people. you huff, and percy can tell that you’re a bit agitated now, too. 

“okay, but that doesn’t mean —”

“my point is.” luke turns to percy, effectively blocking your presence for the time being. “you completed your quest, fought a god, and stalled kronos’ plan. you’ve been through it — all three of you have — but now you’re back. let’s just enjoy the rest of our summer, yeah? whatever happened out there, whatever the oracle said, it’s in the past.”

percy wants to believe luke, he really does. one glance in your direction, and it seems like you do, too.

deep down, though, percy isn’t entirely convinced. there’s that dread in the pit of his stomach, that voice in the back of his head. something in him, warning that this isn’t quite over. the worst has yet to come.

he wonders if — or maybe just hopes — you feel the same.

—

ii.

if you of all people can’t get luke’s attention, grover is pretty sure that the world is ending.

“luke,” you try again, foregoing your usual nickname for him. your arms are crossed and you tap your foot against the floor. it makes grover slightly anxious, feeling your frustration threaten to boil over.

“i’m busy,” he grunts, and flips over another page, scribbling something on the other side. 

“grover wanted to talk to us about something.”

“i-it’s fine, we don’t have to —”

“no, it’s a good idea, grove,” you insist. you smile at grover then. he remembers that, despite the deadly glares you can deliver, like the one you were just giving luke, you have a gentle core. you just guard it behind sharp edges. 

“tell him that i’ll talk to him later.”

“or, you could tell him yourself,” you huff. grover waves awkwardly, even though luke doesn’t realize what’s happening. “he’s right next to me.”

luke looks up briefly, and then back down at the pages in front of him just as quick. he looks tired, exhausted even. 

“sorry, man. didn’t see you there. i gotta finish these reports.”

“no worries. i tend to be quiet on my hooves.”

in the moment of silence that follows, and with luke still not giving you the attention you’re asking for, you walk over to the desk where luke is working. what you see seems to make you even more annoyed than before.

“these reports are for september. why in the name of nemesis are you filling them out now?”

“i just want to be prepared.”

“prepared for what?”

luke hesitates. “just….the future.”

“oh!” you laugh, sharp and sarcastic. “i didn’t realize that the future required you to neglect your friends.”

“i’m trying to help my friends,” luke huffs. he taps his pen impatiently against the desk. “if you didn’t keep interrupting me —”

“oh my fucking gods — ”

grover watches the two of you argue. it had been easier to step in whenever something bubbled up between annabeth and percy, because they were just kids. but you and luke — you were adults. 

when grover met luke for the first time, he was already taking on way too much responsibility for a kid — keeping thalia and annabeth alive, protecting them from monsters, taking care of them. in a lot of ways, those responsibilities didn’t go away: as a senior counselor and resident older brother, a hero for the older campers to admire and the younger kids to aspire to be. camp half-blood’s golden boy, as you liked to call him. 

and, like you, luke is good at hiding. for him, its heavy burdens behind easy-going smiles. 

lately, though, those smiles seem to be strained, his shoulders slowly bending under the weight of it all. the other day, grover asked you if everything was okay with luke. you had looked back at him sadly, shrugged, and said you didn’t know.

that’s when grover decided that everyone just needs a break — an escape. he had been sensing that things weren’t quite right with the others, too. percy seems a little on edge, and so does annabeth.

then, of course, there was you and luke. finding out that the two of you had actually started dating was huge news for someone like grover who had painstakingly watched the two of you dance around your feelings for years. so, it was more than a little weird that you’d barely been speaking this past week. the rare occasion you did was tense at best, and explosive at worst. 

like now, when you pick up one of the reports luke was working on, and threaten to burn it. luke dares you to do so, even suggests, albeit sarcastically, that you use it as your next offering to the gods. 

“oh, a handwritten document from luke castellan himself? they would love that,” you snort. “admit it: you’re doing all of mr. d’s work just to suck up to some gods who don’t even give a shit about any of this. you’re practically olympus’ lapdog.”

luke, blushing a furious shade of red, gets up and yanks the paper from your hand.

“at least my parent is important enough to actually have a seat on olympus and an actual cabin for his kids to stay in.”

you look like you could just about throw luke into a fire, and vice versa. grover had never seen the two of you like this, but it made sense: each of you knowing just where, and how, to hurt the other.

and, he thinks it’s about time to step in before the damage is irreversible. so, grover starts slowly clapping. the clapping gets faster, and he manages to get through the first few lines of the consensus song before you stop him.

“alright, alright,” you sigh. you push past luke, steal his chair, and put your feet up on the desk. luke scowls at you, but you put your hands up in surrender and jut your chin out towards grover. “just listen to what grover has to say and then we’ll let you get back to your precious reports.”

grover tells luke his idea. luke actually agrees, and grover can’t help but feel a little bit of a victory. 

he’s a protector, after all. it’s his job to make sure you’re all alive and happy and thriving. and not burnt to a crisp over some petty argument.

—

iii. 

annabeth had missed home when she was away on their quest, but being back and seeing everyone being taught to worship the gods without question, to believe that the only things that matter are power and glory….well, after everything that happened, after percy, annabeth can’t just go back to doing the same. at least not entirely. 

all this to say, she was totally on board with grover’s idea: the five of you, renting a cabin in montauk to get away from camp for a bit.

unfortunately, the trip starts off less than ideally. you and luke bicker the entire way here — and not the playful jabs you usually throw at each other. 

annabeth remembers the first time she saw you together. it was during breakfast, their first morning at camp half-blood. annabeth had spent the night trying not to cry over thalia, and already missing luke even though he was only a few cabins away. she was still a kid, surrounded by strangers, told that she was safe now, but didn’t quite believe it yet. one look to luke at the hermes table, and annabeth could tell he felt the same way, too — not quite settled in this new place that was supposed to be home, and with these people who were supposed to be family.

she watched as the hermes table went to burn offerings to the gods. when they sat down again, luke looked even more unsettled than before.

but then, you leaned in and whispered something in luke’s ear, and he actually laughed, just a bit, which was a nice change of pace. luke was always the one making annabeth and thalia laugh when they were running from monsters, always the one trying to keep everything together with a smile or a joke.

as she devoured her breakfast, annabeth couldn’t help but keep glancing at the two of you. she heard warnings from her half-siblings, about your mother being the goddess of revenge, and you living up to that name. 

luke either didn't know, or didn't care about whatever reputation you had. sitting there, next to you, annabeth didn’t think she’d ever seen luke so, genuinely happy, so at ease.

all these years later, neither you nor luke seemed particularly happy. you’re obviously avoiding each other, and annabeth doesn’t understand why.

you and luke are a new puzzle that she can’t wait to solve. 

annabeth had finished constructing the most elaborate sandcastle in history, just for percy to accidentally splash it when he was trying to surf a wave; so she decides that playtime is over. it’s time to figure out what exactly is going on between you and luke.

luke is in the cabin doing gods know what. you're on the deck painting your nails, so annabeth decides to start gathering information from you, first. 

“hey." you finish painting your pinky a dark purple, and set the bottle down next to you. "having fun?”

annabeth nods once and sits next to you. she asks if you could paint her nails, and you pull out a bottle of silver polish you said you thought she might like. 

as you work, careful with each stroke of polish, annabeth surveys the tattoos on your skin. you’re wearing a bikini top, so there are some that she’s seeing for the first time. there's one of a knife on your sternum, and annabeth distinctly remembers seeing a similar one peeking from underneath the collar of luke’s shirt. she wonders when you got it, if you had to travel to a tattoo parlour in the city, how many other adventures you'd gone on without having to consult the oracle beforehand. 

maybe that’s a good place to start. 

“have you ever thought about leaving camp? like, long term?" 

"sometimes," you admit. "it would be nice to have some normal early-twenties experiences."

"would you go to school?"

you smile as you keep painting annabeth’s nails. “maybe. i might have seen legally blonde too many times, but i think about law school sometimes.” 

“what about luke?”

your smile fades at the question. “i...i don’t know." your once precise nail-painting falters, and you mumble a curse when a drop of silver lands on annabeth's skin. you swipe it away before continuing. "luke's one of those people i can't really see away from camp half-blood for too long; pretty sure it would burn down without him. there's a reason he feels responsible for everyone there...in a way i respect, obviously, but, it's not the same for me. nobody needs me."

"luke needs you."

you sigh, and annabeth wonders if you even realize how you shake your head slightly. she thinks you're about to disagree with her, but instead you ask: 

“what's this about, annie? are you thinking about your dad’s offer?”

and annabeth’s completely thrown off her line of inquiry. 

“how did you —”

“perce told me that you’ve been talking about staying with him for the year,” you explain. you gesture at annabeth to give you her other hand, and she complies. the silver polish on the hand you just finished glitters in the sun. 

“well, nothing’s confirmed.”

you look up at annabeth, one eyebrow raised. “it's okay, you know — if you just wanna….be a kid for a bit.”

annabeth is silent, prompting you to ask another question.

"what's holding you back?"

“well….at first, i thought it would be a definite no,” annabeth admits. “obviously, it didn’t work out last time. i don’t know if i want to risk it again — if i can trust him, you know? how do i know he actually cares —  that he’ll be there for me when i need him?”

“you don’t.” you pause for a second. “but i’m gonna tell you a story that i think might help.”

you're done painting her nails, so you put everything away. you sit cross-legged next to annabeth, looking out at the ocean.

“my dad never wanted me to go to camp. he wanted to raise me in the city, just like he’d grown up. he’d take me to rock concerts all the time. i was so young, he’d make me wear earmuffs and carry me on his shoulders so that i could still see the band.” you smile softly at the memory. “and then….my dad got sick, he couldn’t take care of me, and monsters started to show up, so he brought me to camp for safe keeping." 

"you've told me all this," annabeth remarks. 

you start fiddling with your camp necklace. annabeth isn't used to seeing you so unsure, so nervous; it throws her off even more. 

"what i haven't told you is that even when my dad got better, he….he didn’t give me a choice of where to stay.”

"oh," is all annabeth can say. 

“yeah, oh," you scoff, but there’s not really any malice behind it. you seem…sad. defeated, almost. your fingers move to play with the hem of your shorts, which causes the fresh nail polish to smudge. you don’t seem too concerned about that at the moment, though. "i told everyone that i chose to stay. the truth is that i stayed because my dad didn't want me anymore. he said that the universe gave him a second chance, so he wanted to live his life without having to worry about monster attacks or taking care of his teenage daughter."

annabeth wonders if luke knows the truth about this; though, considering how difficult it seems for you to admit, she doubts it. 

before, annabeth had a theory that you decided to stay at camp because of luke.

luke was away when you got the news that your dad was in remission. annabeth remembers how happy you were, how excited you were to be back in the city and living with your dad again. you started packing right away.

when luke came back from his failed quest, you had just gone into the city the day before, having promised to visit in the summer and stay in touch. someone – chris maybe, or beckendorf — must have called you, told you what happened, because you came back to camp right away, your bag still fully packed. you never left again. 

"that sucks."

“yeah.” you let out a hollow, breathy laugh. “and, i was angry at first. of course i was. but now, i don’t know. i think that maybe my dad does care about me. like, he still sends me mixtapes with old punk rock songs he thinks i’d like. he actually calls me on my birthday, and we have a 3 minute conversation about nothing important." 

"right…" annabeth furrows her brows. this conversation had definitely not gone as planned. "no offense, but what's —"

"i'm getting to the point," you tell her, bumping your shoulder against hers.  "i realized that sometimes people can only love us in a way that works for them — and it sucks. it really, really sucks. but then sometimes…. sometimes people do actually try. and, i don’t know, it seems like maybe your dad is willing to try.”

“so you think i should take him up on his offer.”

the sun starts to set. you get up, brush sand off your legs. 

“i think it's time for a swim. i also think that you’re smart enough to know what’s best for you, and who deserves a second chance. just know that whatever you decide — we’ll be there for you.”

you leave without another word, but with the return of your usual confident smile, off to the shore to take advantage of the last bits of daylight. 

"she's right, annabeth." luke appears a few seconds later, takes the spot next to annabeth you had just occupied.

annabeth hums.

"how much of that did you hear?" 

luke doesn't answer. he just stares at your form, disappearing in the distance and diving under the waves.

—

iv.

you clear your throat and luke turns around to see you freshly showered. you’re wearing a pair of shorts and one of the oversized band tees the two of you constantly exchange. you've lost track of whose is whose at this point.

luke resists the urge to shamelessly check out your legs, and turns his back towards you once again. that bikini top you were wearing earlier was bad enough. thankfully, the heat from the stove was enough to cover up his blushing cheeks at the sight of your exposed skin. 

“i thought we were ordering pizza,” you say, moving to peer over his shoulder, chin hovering just above. luke had the sense that you were avoiding physical contact, and as much as it drives him crazy, he knows that he’s the one who’d dug his own grave. pushing you away and whatnot. 

“didn’t know that you knew how to cook.”

“not much,” luke shrugs. he keeps stirring the vegetables — broccoli and carrots and baby corn. he’ll add the red peppers once the broccoli turns green so that they don’t become too soft. he’s pretty sure that’s how he remembers it going.

“i could have helped you.” you reach over and hand him the peppers right on time. you shift to lean your back against the counter next to the stove, arms crossed over your chest and eyes following luke. 

luke throws in the chicken he cooked earlier, and then the sauce he had also mixed. he waits a few seconds, lets the sound of everything sizzling fill the space between you. 

“it’s an easy recipe.” luke turns off the stove to punctuate his point. 

and it had to be. something quick he’d make with his mom after she had one of her episodes, before waking up and realizing that she had a son to feed. the sounds, the colors, the smells — it all, overwhelmingly, reminds him of a childhood he once had. one that was never as simple as the food he just made.

none of the bitterness in his throat is caused by his mom, of course. just his father who calls himself a god, and left them both alone to fend for themselves. 

you start getting out plates from the cupboards as you ask: “where are the kids?”

luke checks the pot on the stove to see if the rice is cooked. “told them to go rent something from the video store.” 

“they went alone?”

“they’ve literally been to hell and back,” he replies and sits down at the table. “i think they can handle a blockbuster.”

“i don’t care if they get attacked by monsters,” you state, setting down the last plate in front of him. “i know they can handle themselves. they just better choose a good movie.” 

luke doesn’t mean to snort, but he can’t help but remember all the arguments you’d gotten in with chris over your tastes in movies. 

 “don’t laugh, castellan. i’ve saved movie night on more than one occasion and i’ve never gotten so much as a thank you.” you roll your eyes, but luke notices the ghost of a smile.

it fades just as quickly as it appeared, and luke already misses the small moment of levity that’s passed. 

“what’s been going on with you, tiger?”

you hold his gaze, and luke knows that you’re hoping for a real answer, for the truth he can’t give you. 

“nothing,” he answers instinctively. 

“don’t give me that,” you sigh and turn away from him, returning to your position against the counter. 

“i said it’s nothing,” luke insists, a bit more assertively. “why can’t you just believe me?”

“because you’ve been distant, moody.” your tone is sharper now, too. “you’ve been avoiding me. you’ve barely been eating. the side of your bunk has been empty, which means you haven’t been sleeping, either. gods, i can’t even remember the last time you kissed me —”

“you’re really mad at me because we haven’t fucked?” 

it’s a low blow, and he delivers it as if he hadn’t missed seeing you underneath him. or on top, or beside. luke isn’t picky. 

“you’re impossible!” you groan, and cover your face with your hands. you take a deep breath  before returning to glare at luke. “do….do you not want to be together, anymore? because if that’s what’s happening, i’ll survive. we can go back to being friends.” you clench your jaw to make up for the tremble behind your question. always a tough face, even in the face of potential heartbreak.

of course, luke knows you’ll be fine without him. he’s the one who might have difficulty surviving when you part ways.

“that’s not —” luke sighs and runs a hand through his hair, avoiding your gaze. “that’s not it.”

“then what is it?”

“noth—”

“i will send you to elysium if you tell me it’s nothing one more time, because i know it’s not!” you’re shouting now. “i might not know what it is, but i know you well enough to tell that something is bothering you. so i’m asking you, one more time, what is going on?”

the thing is, luke can’t tell you — about what he’s done, about who he’s aligned himself with. he can’t lie to you, either, at least not to save his life.

so, he’s basically stuck in whatever the greek mythology version of limbo is. 

for now, he’s saved by percy, annabeth, and grover, who walk in with a stack of DVDs and armfuls of movie snacks. 

dinner is fine, especially with the kids providing a good enough buffer. luke even catches you smiling and laughing along with them a few times. you approve of their choice in movies, starting with mulan. it’s one of luke’s favorites, too, but he can’t help but let his attention wander. 

the two of you have known each other for a long time. luke has felt your anger. he’s felt your frustration. you’ve been on opposing sides of explosive arguments, of brutal sparring matches. 

but, despite everything, luke’s never been hated by you. it’s unavoidable, given what he’s done and the path he’s on; it's just not something he's particularly eager to feel.

working for kronos….luke won't pretend he regrets it. something had to be done, to take back the poisonous world the gods created. 

he did it for you, even if you won't understand.

he'd do anything for you.

so, for now, he’s willing to endure the daggers you stare at him from the other side of the couch. 

—

v. 

in another life, you might have taken advantage of the queen bed and private room. both hard to come by at camp half-blood, if you’re not willing to risk zeus’ wrath for the latter.

gods, it feels like forever since you and luke snuck into cabin one because couldn’t keep your hands off each other, curses and lighting strikes be damned. 

you almost wish lightning would strike — at least then the bed would be warm. 

“i can feel you being mad at me,” luke whispers. 

“sorry, thought you’d already be gone by now,” you respond, sarcasm dripping through your words. “off to see whoever else you’d rather sleep with.”

“so, you are mad because we haven’t fucked in a while.”

a stupid slip of the tongue. you can practically hear the smirk in his voice, and your entire body feels on fire for giving him any leverage on you. that was definitely not the warmth you were hoping for. 

“whatever,” you mumble, shuffling closer to the edge of the bed, your back still towards luke. 

for the record, you’re mad because of whatever distance luke was forcing between you, or whatever wall he was putting up, for a reason you don’t understand. you’d always known luke well, but lately you haven’t been able to read him. 

and, sure. maybe you are…. frustrated. the two of you hadn’t been intimate in a while, yes, and your fingers are nothing compared to luke’s, but more than that: you just miss actually feeling him close to you. in any sense. 

you’re not sure how much time passes, and there’s nothing but silence. then, you hear his voice again, gentler than before, no cocky attitude laced through. 

“you never told me about your dad.”

ugh. of course, luke had overheard your conversation with annabeth earlier. damn those sly hermes’ genes.

you stay silent to give off the illusion that you’d fallen asleep, but luke doesn't fall for it. 

“we’ve shared a bunk for years, karma. i can tell when you’re not sleeping.” 

you pause for a few more seconds, but you know that luke is persistent.

“it didn’t matter,” is all you offer before he asks again.

“it did,” luke insists. “why didn’t you tell me?”

“it’s not like we tell each other everything,” you scoff. “like, why didn’t you tell me about that prophecy? and why won’t you tell me whatever’s going on with you now?”

“that’s….that’s different.” 

“not really. i bet that it’s all for the same reason.”

“which is?”

 you debate telling luke the truth. 

it was no surprise that you had a certain reputation around camp: cunning, hot-tempered, brash. you were fine being the angry girl whose mother wasn’t enough of a god to warrant a cabin, but enough of a threat to be wary of. you didn’t want to be the one who was also dropped by her father, unwanted and too much of a burden. so, you swallowed the reality of the situation; pretended that nothing broke your heart, and that nothing ever would.

“i didn’t want you to look at me differently,” you admit. 

another pause, this time from the other side of the bed. 

“if it makes you feel better, i was glad that you stayed.”

you can’t help it; you let out a sardonic laugh.

“that’s not much of a comfort, since you haven’t seemed very thrilled with me lately.”

“that’s not….” luke falters. “i just mean that i don't know who i’d be if you left.”

in spite of the situation, the ongoing tension between you, you find yourself smiling. 

“always so dramatic,” you tease.

deep down, you know you’re not much better.

luke was part of the reason you might have stayed at camp, anyways. he was the reason why you didn’t fight harder to get back to your old life, and you always did like a good fight.

it was scary though, that one person had so much power over you and didn’t even know it. you tried to convince yourself that you stayed because luke had needed you, after his quest and everything. but, once you’d known how it felt to have luke in your life, you didn’t want to go back to a time you didn’t. 

truthfully, it still scares you.

“i don’t like fighting with you,” you admit softly, swallowing a lump in your throat. “especially when i don’t even know why we’re fighting in the first place.”

you wonder if you’d just thought that instead of saying it out loud because luke doesn’t respond, until you hear the sheets behind you shuffle, and feel luke position himself behind you.

"i'm sorry that we're fighting. it's my fault."

he settles a tentative hand on your exposed hip, where your shirt had ridden up. luke starts to trace circles onto your skin with his thumb, the way he sometimes does when he's nervous or having a bad dream.

"i’ve just been so….in my head. i don't want you to worry about what's going on with me, okay?

"luke —"

"i have to sort it out on my own.”

"you don’t, though,” you insist. “if you just tell me what’s going on, instead of pushing me away.”

another pause. you can feel him breathing down your neck, and in turn you inhale the spicy citrus of his body wash. it’s all so excruciatingly familiar as you wait for him to say something, anything. 

eventually, luke sighs, deeply, and confesses:

"it's just….we've known each other for so long, but this — us? so much of it is new. i don't want to fuck it up." 

"well, congratulations," you quip. "you're one step closer to getting there."

you meant it as a joke, something to lighten the mood, but you feel luke stiffen at your words, his grip on your hip becoming almost painfully tight as if he's worried you'll slip away.

"i'm kidding, tiger." you weave your fingers through his to loosen his hold on you, and reassure him even more that you're not going anywhere, any time soon. "for better or for worse: you’re mine, and i'm yours. no matter how much either of us might fuck it up."

luke shuffles closer, and you melt into him even more. 

"do you really mean that?"

his voice is soft, surprisingly timid. you crane your neck back to look at him; luke stares at you, his gaze heavy enough to take your breath away. 

“of course.” 

you're so close, and you hadn't been in so long. luke's leg is somehow lodged in between your thighs, and you bite back a whimper as he brushes against you. you feel him behind you, already half-hard, and you rub your ass against him slightly, causing a groan to vibrate through his body. 

neither of you have to do much to crash your lips together.

you can sense how luke’s been unraveling, from the kiss alone. his lips are chapped, rough against yours and already bleeding from the pressure; his stubble scrapes against your cheek, and you’re dizzy with anticipation, imagining how it will leave a stinging sensation on other areas of your skin when luke has his way with you later. 

for now, you focus on your mouth on his: teeth clacking together, your tongue laving over the cut on luke’s bottom lip and tasting copper. luke brings a hand up to your jaw, pushing you into his mouth even more. 

it’s like the first time you kissed. all consuming. messy. urgent — like you've already run out of time. 

eventually, you have to pull yourself away from his grasp, your neck straining at the uncomfortable angle. luke takes the opportunity to suck bruises onto your neck while he presses his thigh harder against your cunt. he slips his other hand further underneath your shirt, cupping your breast and pinching your nipple between his fingers.  instinctively, you start rutting against him. 

“f-fuck,” you groan, relishing in the muscles of his naked thigh underneath you, defined and strong. 

luke chuckles, and you feel his breath warm against your skin. 

“you missed me that much, hm?” he taunts, encouraging you to go faster, harder. “you’re gonna cum before i even have a chance to undress you. doesn’t seem fair to me.”

“who —” your breath catches when luke’s hand settles around your throat, pulling you impossibly closer to him. you feel the outline of his abs against your lower back, and his length, hard and waiting. it’s difficult to finish your thought, but you try your best. “who says i only have to cum once?”

“that sounds like a challenge,” luke decides. “what’s our record — three? think we can beat that tonight?”

you laugh, already out of breath. “i think we can do it.”

“good girl.”

your thighs clench at the nickname, and it's one down, a few more to go. 

you maneuver luke so that he lays flat on the bed, your legs on either side of his hips. your hands fumble with the edge of his shirt, and he lets you remove it without any more hassle.

it's a little ironic, really, how much you and luke hate the gods — because looking at him underneath you, you're sure that something divine must have created him, and you have to thank them for it. sharp jaw, deep scar, flushed cheeks; curls slightly askew, and skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat; that cocky smile — you'd worship luke castellan over any of the olympians. 

secretly, of course, you pretty much already do.

"like what you see?" luke smirks up at you, hands firmly on your ass.

you roll your eyes to save face. "come on, tiger, like you're not seconds away from tearing through your boxers." 

luke clicks his tongue, locks his calf around yours to switch your positions. you grunt as your back hits the mattress, but you very much appreciate the force and weight of luke above you. he practically rips off your shirt, then starts to nip and suck down your body. he kisses the fabric still covering your cunt, and you can feel his chuckle vibrate through your body when he encounters the wetness there. 

"i'm not the one who already ruined their underwear," luke teases as he finishes undressing you. he pauses at the sight of you, bottom half completely exposed. you're about to tell him to hurry the fuck up, but then luke spits onto your already soaked cunt and says: 

“i need to clean you up, baby.” he gives you another cheeky grin, teeth glowing like the cheshire cat, before diving in.

luke is skilled at everything he does, so of course he's quick to unravel you once more, this time with a persistent combination of tongue and teeth, lapping at your cunt like it's his last meal. 

as soon as you're done riding out your high, you yank luke by the leather cord around his neck to collide your lips with his again. 

you reach down to return the favor, snake your hand underneath the fabric of his underwear, and you're deeply satisfied to find him already sticky with his release.

“you already finished,” you tease, stroking his v-line. "and ruined your underwear without me even touching you." 

in the dim light of the moon, you can barely make out luke blushing. he hides his face in the junction between your neck and shoulder. 

“guess we’re both desperate, huh.” luke’s teeth graze your skin, his curls tickling your neck. “i need to be inside you, now, so how about you get on your hands and knees for me? i’ll get the condom.”

sometimes, luke tries to be gentle — but not this time. 

this time, he fucks you, hard and fast and deep. 

you love it, even if you might not be able to walk properly tomorrow.

with so much power behind each thrust, and the overwhelming pleasure, your arms threaten to give out, but luke catches you before you fall. he wraps a hand around your neck, bringing you flush against his chest as he continues to plunge his length into you. 

"listen to me," luke growls. he snakes a hand down to rub harsh circles on your clit. "the one thing the gods did right is make this perfect, tight little pussy of yours. you were fucking made for me, weren't you?" 

all you can do is whimper, closing your eyes at his filthy, sinful words. 

you aren't used to luke being so possessive, and certainly not in these past few weeks. it's making your head spin in the best way. you can feel your orgasm build in the pit of your abdomen.

"were you made for me?" luke asks again. he squeezes your neck slightly, and you gasp at the pressure. "answer me, or i'll stop." 

you don’t think it’s likely he’ll stop; you’re sure he’s just as lost in the sound of your cunt squelching and the feeling of you sucking him in. but, he does slow down, only a little bit, and it's enough for you to start whining.

"y-yes, luke."

"are you mine?"

you don't answer fast enough. luke stills his hips completely and you almost burst into tears.

you moan, trying to move against him in vain. luke keeps a firm grip on you, making it hard to cause any sort of friction between your bodies.

"i'm yours," you promise.

luke plants a firm kiss behind your ear. “that’s my girl,” he whispers darkly.

satisfied, luke resumes his pace. he moves the hand around your neck to your chin, angling you accordingly so he can crash his lips onto yours. 

it doesn't take long to feel the tension in your abdomen snap, wetness gushing out of you. exhausted, you collapse onto the mattress. luke slips out of you.

the next few seconds consist of you trying to bring yourself back down to reality after such a high. 

luke turns you around just to face him as he hovers over you. he lodges his hand behind your ear and taps your cheek to get your attention. your eyes flutter open.

“did you just —” 

the dampness between your legs, and on the sheets underneath you, is enough evidence: you just squirted.

"i….” you gulp, feeling yourself flush. “i’ve never done that before."

luke stares at your glistening cunt. you wonder if you should be embarrassed, but then he locks eyes with you. you've never seen them so dark, pupils almost fully blown, just a sliver of brown showing through.

"you’re so fucking hot."

your heart flutters. 

“you’re not too bad yourself, tiger, or i wouldn’t be in this mess.” you wink at him, still trying to catch your breath. your eyes wander lower. you note luke in the current state he’s in; you realize that the scales are nowhere near balanced. “that’s three for me, and only one for you. let me taste you.” 

he doesn't need to be told twice. you get on your knees once more, this time facing him as he kneels in front of you. luke rips off the condom, something to deal with later, and you take him in your mouth, cheeks hollowed and tears brimming your eyes feeling him fuck your throat. when he finishes, you swallow him whole, savoring every drop. he pulls you up for a kiss; you can still taste yourself on him, and it mixes with his new release, a combination that is more than a little intoxicating. 

“fuck,” luke mumbles as he pulls away. he swipes his thumb over the corner of your mouth where some of his cum dribbled out. “i know that was intense, but would you be up for another round? "

"yeah," you reply without a second thought, reaching up to thread your fingers through his curls to ground yourself. 

maybe you should thank artemis for the full moon tonight, giving you just the right amount of silver light to illuminate the sculpted curves and edges of luke's body. his skin is also littered with bruises and bites of your design, chaotic and beautiful. luke looks like a mess, just as you're sure you do. 

you want more. you need more.

"we gotta go for four, remember? but...maybe we, uh…"

"....slow it down this time?" luke finishes your thought. 

you nod, grateful that you and luke are on the same page. he scrambles off the bed to get another condom.

"shit. i don't have another one.”

"check my bag, too," you tell him. luke complies, but comes up short once more.  

you’re sitting up against the headboard now, and luke returns to kneel in front of you. 

"i can use my fingers,” luke offers. “or eat you out again —"

“or we could just do without a condom this time?” you suggest. luke raises an eyebrow at you, so you think through the possibilities out loud. "we both got tested before our first time together and haven’t been with anyone since.” you find yourself pausing for confirmation on that, and luke nods once. “i’m on birth control. obviously there’s still a risk that something happens, but maybe just this one time? you can just pull out whenever you’re ready….if you're okay with that."

luke waits, almost like he thinks you might change your mind, before finally answering:

“yeah, i’m okay with it if you are. i’ve always wanted to fuck you raw. i just didn’t think you’d be into it — and didn’t want you to feel pressured.”

you have to kiss him then. because how is it that the boy who just gave you three jaw clenching, toe curling, heart pounding orgasms be so sweet and considerate?

before you know it, you’re flat on your back, sheets slightly scratchy with stray sand. you don't care much because luke hovers above you; he presses his forehead to yours, curls falling in front of his face. 

"just so you know," luke starts, just as you feel him enter you once more. "i must have been made for you, too. i'm just as much yours as you are mine."

you smirk, bite your lip to keep from moaning so that you can keep up the arrogance, just a bit longer. 

"always so dramatic," you mock, as if your cunt isn’t squeezing around him at his sweet nothings. 

luke grins at you sheepishly, his cheeks flushed. 

"guess that means the gods did two things right," you joke, exhaling when you feel luke brush against that gummy spot deep within you. "maybe we've taken them for granted. maybe we should - " he hits that spot again, and your breath hitches. you dig your nails into his shoulders as he rocks back and forth. “maybe we should thank them.”

luke clicks his tongue, grips your hip firmly. "not a chance, sweetheart. the gods’ll get what they deserve."

you don’t care enough to ask luke what he means. you care more about him going faster. you’re about to tell him to do so, and to throw your legs over his shoulders, but he does it himself before you get the chance. you feel him slipping deeper within you, the force and passion behind each movement, his body molding to every curve and crevice of yours. 

made for each other.

you’re so sensitive that your orgasm approaches quickly. as he helps you ride it out, his thrusts get sloppier, and you know he’s almost reached his peak, too. 

“fuck,” he grunts. “i’m close.” luke starts to pull out, but then you lock your ankles behind his neck. 

“don’t,” you command. 

“a-are you sure?” he looks at you, wide-eyed.

“i just want to feel you this once.”

he nods and brings you in for one more bruising kiss. he finishes inside you, warm and wet. 

luke leaves once he catches his breath, and comes back with a damp towel to clean you up. he knows your body, recognizes how sensitive you are, and presses kisses on the inside of your thighs, where the same lips had made bruises before. 

even completely fucked out, your mind starts to unpack everything that’s wrong in your life. like how luke has always been a little too good at pretending, with everyone else at least, and something serious must be going on if he's trying to fool you, too.  

this luke with you now, the one who gently wipes his cum from between your legs after fucking you so relentlessly, is your luke. it feels like your luke is slipping right through your fingers, and you’re wracking your brain trying to figure out how this can stop before losing him completely.

wait….did luke say something about getting revenge on the gods? your mind is still a bit cloudy, but you could’ve sworn —

 “are you okay?” 

his question puts pause on your spiraling. he’s done cleaning you up, throws the towel on the floor and settles back on the bed, next to you. you’re close enough for the softest whisper, your limbs intertwined beneath tangled sheets.

you watch luke carefully as he waits for an answer and surveys your body, tracing his fingers over the marks he'd left underneath your jaw, across your shoulders, over your collarbones and down your stomach. 

"i didn't hurt you, did i?"

“i’m okay,” you assure him. luke’s hand stops to gently rest on your cheek. your other worries are pushed to the side for the time being: for now, it's just you and luke. “do you think we could pick up a plan b pill tomorrow though, just in case? i love you, but i’m not ready to have your babies.”

luke widens his eyes like a minotaur in headlights. he drops his hand.

 “you’ve never said that before.”

“that i want to have your babies?” you jest, slightly amused at how panicked luke seems.

luke blushes and clears his throat. “well, that too. i meant the whole ‘i love you’ thing, though.” 

your amusement evaporates. you swear your heart stops beating momentarily.

“oh, shit.…” 

you’re not quite sure what to say; you’ve felt this way for a while, truthfully. 

of course you love luke. you can't remember exactly when you realized it, but you just….know.

because if what you felt for luke wasn’t love, then you were foolish to have secretly bought into what silena beauregard had been on about for years, and aphrodite herself might just be out of a job. 

“i know we’re kind of in a weird place, but, yeah, i mean it. you don’t have to say it back —”

luke leans forward to kiss you. gentler this time, but just as firm. “i love you."

"you do?" your heart resumes its beating. 

"of course i do. i have ever since my first morning at camp.”

“yeah right,” you chuckle in disbelief, feeling your cheeks heat up. “it’s not a competition, you know, over who loved who first.”

“karma, i’m serious,” he insists. “someone taught me to burn offerings, and with everything that happened with thalia, i obviously wasn't in the worshiping mood, but then you leaned over and whispered —"

"they like the smell of begging." 

luke grins at you, and you reach up to brush your thumb against the dimple in his cheek. 

"exactly. somehow, that was what i needed to hear. it was nice to know that i wasn't the only one who didn’t want to just accept things the way they were….” he loses his train of thought. luke grabs your hand in his. “i wish i had told you earlier. after all this, i don’t want to lose you.”

“you won’t —”

“whatever happens,” luke continues, somewhat ominously. “i love you, y/n.”

you hadn't heard luke use your real name in a while. you fall asleep, heart full with the memory of him weaving it together with those three magic words. 

the next morning, you wake up — you actually sleep in, for the first time in years — and decide that if you could stay here forever, you would. 

the morning sun stings your eyes through the sheer curtains. the sticky heat of summer sits heavy in the room, and stray grains of sand tickle your skin underneath the sheets. waves wash gently on the shore outside, and an ocean breeze mixes with the smell of burnt cinnamon. you can hear annabeth, grover, and percy crashing dishes and bickering and causing chaos in the kitchen as, you imagine, they scramble to surprise you with breakfast. 

luke is next to you, on his stomach. his curls are a mess, covering most of his face. 

evidence from last night: scratches from your nails prominent on his back, his neck decorated with purple bruises in the shape of your lips. you shift slightly and feel a dull ache between your legs, so you'd call it even.

outside, something clatters on the floor, and you hear percy swear.

luke's eyes flutter open, ever so slightly, and he starts to move. "we should get up before they burn down the place." 

you press your hand to luke's shoulder blade, barely, but in his half-asleep state, it's enough to keep him in bed. luke moves to his side, facing you. you bring your hand up to brush curls away from luke's eyes, even if they're still closed.

"they've literally been to hell and back," you recall his sarcastic words from last night. "i think they can handle pancakes." 

the corners of luke's mouth curl upwards. 

"you're such a smart ass," he mumbles.

you lean forward, plant a kiss underneath luke's chin. his stubble scratches against your lips. 

"don't pretend you don't love it, tiger."

luke breathes steadily. you think he might've fallen asleep once more until he presses his lips to your forehead, pulls you towards him, and quips:

"i love you."

your heart quickens as you echo his words. something churns in your stomach, too.

because this peace isn't something that feels permanent.

you're the children of gods, and there's always a catch. some inevitable plot twist where lovers end up separated, where heroes end up dead or cursed. 

it's nauseating — dangerous, even — that you want a happy ending, a desire buried in you deeply like a knife to the gut. it's cruel that the fates keep twisting, taunting you with what can never be.

no monsters; no gods or titans; no prophecies.

just this.

[alotofpockets]

Midnight comfort | Lucy Bronze

Pairing: Lucy Bronze x Lioness!Reader

Summary: You experience frequent nightmares, and only your usual camp roommate knows about them. What will happen when the staff switches up the rooming situations, and you've been roomed with the girl you have a crush on?

Warnings: Nightmares

Masterlist | Woso masterlist | Words: 2.5k

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The hotel lobby was filled with your fellow Lionesses, waiting for their roomings to be announced. After a long trip, all you wanted to do was lay down for a bit. Since there were no free chairs in the lobby, you had opted to sit on the floor, too tired to stand while waiting. You grabbed your phone, to pass some time, and laid your back down on the floor, with your head propped up on one of your bags.

When the staff started listing off the roommates and their hotel room numbers, you realised instantly that they had switched up your usual rooming situations. You hadn't thought this was a possibility as you've been rooming with Beth for two years now. When Beth's name was called alongside Leah's you started to get stressed. Beth was the only one on the team that knew about your nightmares, having calmed you down from many of them over the years.

You snapped out of your thoughts when you heard your name being called. “Y/n with Lucy in room 305.” Great you thought, now not only would you have to let another one of your teammates in on your nightmares but it was also none other than the girl you have been crushing on.

Lucy picked up both of your room keys, and headed your way. “Come on, let’s get you a proper place to lay down.” Lucy says with a hand reached out to help you up. You take her hand, and let her pull you up. She noticed how tired you looked, and without question grabbed your suitcase as well as her own. “Thanks, Luce.”

You fall down on the bed closest to the door, usually you would’ve asked which bed Lucy would have preferred, but you were too tired to think about any of your actions properly. It wasn’t long after you lied down that you felt yourself dozing off. Lucy decided she would unpack her stuff later, and give you a quiet room for yourself.

Soft knocking on your door was what woke you up about two hours later, you didn’t realise you had fully fallen asleep until you noticed that the sun had gone down. You open the door to find Beth and Leah, “Hey, we were about to head down for dinner, are you coming?” You quickly grab your phone and key, and follow them downstairs. Beth sits with you, Leah went off and sat with Kiera at a different table, so she got you alone for a moment. “You look tired, is everything okay?” You could hear the worry in her voice. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” Beth had figured that was the case, “Nightmares again?” You nod. Before you can say more, Ella and Alessia sit down at your table as well.

You loved all three of them dearly but they were some of the loudest people you knew, and in your current state, you couldn’t really handle the loud chatter and laughter. So, you excuse yourself once your plate is empty. When Lucy noticed you leave the dining hall, she quickly followed you to make sure you were alright. “Hey, wait up!” She called after you when you entered the elevator. You hold the elevator, and Lucy jogs your way. “I saw you leave, and wanted to check if you were doing alright.” You smile at her softly, “Yeah, I’m alright. It was just getting a little loud in there.” The elevator doors closed behind Lucy, and you realised you hadn’t pushed the button to the floor that you wanted to go to. “I have an idea.” Lucy pressed the button to the roof.

“I was checking out the hotel, when you fell asleep, and I found it rather relaxing up here.” She showed you around the roof that was filled with big bean bag chairs, plants, and a lot of string lights. “It’s perfect.” You say as the slight breeze meets your face. Lucy sits down on one of the bean bags, and you join her on the one closest to her. The two of you fell into easy conversation. It didn’t feel like you had been there for a long time since you were so comfortable, but you knew it was getting late. You hid a couple of yawns from Lucy, she had noticed them anyways but figured you weren’t wanting to give in yet, since you had napped before dinner. So, she stretched her arms above her head, and faked a yawn. “I think I’m gonna head to bed. Are you coming to the room too?”

You were thankful for your exhaustion, since the nightmares stayed away. Fully rested and full of energy you head to breakfast and then your first day of training. It was great to be back on the pitch with your teammates, the dynamic was always different than playing with your club, it was nice to have the switch between the two. Playing with your England teammates came with a lot of messing around, you loved these people, and you were very happy to be with them again.

That night the nightmares weren’t as kind to you as the first night. Lucy woke up from a noise she heard, and noticed you tossing and turning. “Y/n?” She got no response, so she got out of bed and sat down on the edge of yours. When she saw the panicked expression on your face, she placed her hand on your shoulder and started trying to wake you up. You awoke suddenly, sitting up in the bed quickly. You were still trying to catch your breath, when you noticed that Lucy was sitting by your side. “Sorry I woke you up.” The girl shakes her head, “Don’t worry about it. Nightmare?” You nod, “Yeah, and I guess I better warn you now, I get them quite regularly.”

“No need to warn me, you can’t help having nightmares. Is there anything that makes you feel better after?” She was so sweet, it was only making you crush on her harder. “I usually get some water just to calm down, and then try to fall asleep again.” Lucy was up before you could protest, and she was back in a couple of seconds with a glass of water in her hand. “Thank you, Luce but I could’ve gotten it myself, you didn’t need to do that for me.” She hands you the glass, “I know.”

You fell back to sleep after you had taken a couple of sips of water, and had placed the glass on your bedside table. Lucy had made her way back to her own bed, and was quickly able to fall back to sleep as well. It was six in the morning when you woke up from another nightmare, when you looked over you saw that Lucy was still sound asleep. You finished the glass of water and decided to just get up at that point. After quietly changing into your training gear for later, you made your way up to the roof again, with a book in your hand.

When you got to the roof, the sun had just started to set. You leaned on the rooftop railing, admiring the way the sky started to light up in bright orange and pink tones. 

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y/n_y/l/n just posted to their story

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You read a couple chapters of your book until it was time to head downstairs to have breakfast with the team. “How were you up early enough to catch the sunrise?” Alessia said looking up from her phone, clearly just having seen your story post. You shrug, “Not all of us need to be dragged out of bed, Less.” The rest of the girls laugh as Alessia rolls her eyes.

After another day of training, and a competitive game night with the girls, you find yourself back in bed. Another night also meant another nightmare, this time you awoke with a scream. You were still disorientated when Lucy was by your side, she pulled you in for a hug, hoping it would ground you. It took a few moments but Lucy’s hold on you, along with her soft voice telling you that you were okay, helped you a lot. Lucy noticed you had started breathing regularly again, and slowly let you go. “I’ll be right back.”

She came back with a glass of water and a wet washcloth. You had woken up in sweat, so you gratefully took the washcloth, and cleaned off your face with. “I’m-” You started, but Lucy was quick to interrupt you. “Don’t you dare apologise.” She laughed, making you feel slightly less guilty. “Okay, okay, well thank you then. I really appreciate it.”

Lucy stood up to head back to her own bed when you put the glass water back on the nightstand, before she reached her bed you asked her, “Hey, Luce, would it be too much to ask you to sleep in my bed with me? When you were holding me earlier, it really helped. If you don’t want to, that's totally okay too, of course.” She made her way back to your bed, “Yeah, I don’t mind.”

She gets into your bed, and lays down under the covers with you. You weren’t expecting anything more than her laying down with you, but when you lay down on your side, you feel her move closer to you. Your breath hitched when her front pressed against your back, and she moved her hand to your side. “Is this okay?” You knew your voice was going to give you away, so you answered by saying, “Mhm.”

The rest of the night you slept really good, and the nightmares stayed away. When you woke up, Lucy’s arm was still wrapped around you. You wanted nothing more than to think that this meant something, but you knew that she was just doing this because of your nightmare. Still, you were too comfortable to have the moment end, so you kept laying there until Lucy woke up.

Lucy moved even closer and held you tighter, you realise that Lucy doesn’t know that you are awake yet, so she was doing this for herself, and not just for you. You blush at the realisation. However, the moment was abruptly ended by your alarm going off. You reach out to turn it off, sadly having to move out of Lucy’s hold to do so. “Good morning.” Lucy says from behind you, stretching her body. “How did you sleep?” You turn around again, facing the girl. “Pretty good actually. How about you?” She smiles, “Me too.”

For the rest of camp, Lucy laid down with you in your bed, instead of using her own. You slept great, and your nightmares stayed away as well. You started falling more for her every day.

It was the last day you would stay at this hotel, before you would head to a new one after today’s match. Once you had both packed your bags, Lucy asked if you wanted to enjoy the view from the rooftop one more time before you would leave.

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lucybronze just posted to their story

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Lucy posted the picture with you looking out over the railing to her story, the word view having a double meaning. She pocketed her phone, and moved closer to you. You divert your eyes to Lucy, “It’s beautiful up here, thank you for showing it to me.” Lucy smiled and you let your eyes wander to her lips for a moment before you quickly looked up to her eyes again, but the moment did not go unnoticed by Lucy. She lifts her hand up to move a fallen strand of hair behind your ear, her hand lingering on your cheek. You both start slowly leaning in, but you part quickly again as the door to the rooftop flies open and a bunch of people enter the roof. 

Your heart is racing as you look out over the railing again. Besides you, Lucy’s is doing the same thing. “We should probably head down.” You say to break the silence. “Yeah.” Lucy says, and follows you down.

There was no time to talk about the almost kiss on the roof, as you had to head straight to the bus. From the bus you were heading straight into the stadium where you would play tonight. In other words, you would be constantly surrounded by your teammates. 

It was an amazing feeling to be playing with your team in a big stadium again. The match was mostly equal possession and equal shots on goal, with the score still being 0-0 in the 85th minute.

Lucy managed to intercept the ball from the opposing team and started running forwards with it along the sideline of the field. With her fast pace, and quick footwork she managed to walk the ball far up the pitch, where her eyes found yours. You made the run, and Lucy shot the ball your way with perfect accuracy. A good first touch, and powerful strike, lead to the ball hitting the back of the net, and the crowd erupting in cheer. 

You turn around and run to Lucy, jumping into her arms. She twirls you around in celebration, and when she puts you down your faces are only inches away from each other. The whole stadium around you disappears as you share the moment with Lucy, though your moment is quickly interrupted by your teammates huddling around you.

Your goal with a beautiful assist from Lucy, won you the match. The celebrations on the field with your team, and the fans was something you had missed dearly, so you took in every moment. 

When you and the team were walking through the tunnel back to the dressing room, Lucy grabbed your hand and pulled you to the side. She found an open door to a physio room, and pulled you into it, closing the door behind her. “Hey you.” You say as she stands in front of you. “Hi.” She says back, her hands finding yours. “I’ve been thinking about this morning all day, and I was really hoping to get a moment alone with you.” You give her hands a squeeze, before you pull her in closer. Lucy takes that as her sign, and lifts one of her hands up to your cheek, before pulling you in for a kiss. You melt into the kiss. It was sweeter than you had ever imagined. Lucy’s lips were soft on yours. She let go of your hand, only to place it on your hip, and pull you closer into her. Your own hands wrapped around her body too, as your lips continue moving in sync. Lucy breaks the kiss first, leaning her forehead to yours. “I’ve been wanting to do that for so long now.” Your smile grows, “Me too.”

You wanted to stay in the moment with Lucy but you knew that the team would wonder where the two of you had gone, so you headed to the dressing room. Though, with the continuous looks that the two of you shared in the dressing room, it was hard to believe that your teammates wouldn’t suspect that something had happened between the two of you.

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[gretagerwigsmuse]

i don’t know, blame the air force?

summary: in which lieutenant commander bradshaw feels his girlfriend’s wrath after she gets her year end bonus and uncle sam takes a pretty penny out of it

a/n: listen….this is very self indulgent and that’s all i’m going to say. i literally wrote it this afternoon after…well i got fucked by the government in the form of taxes on my bonus. also yeah she’s kind of a brat in this one, but i think it’s a little deserved. rated t for language and suggestive comments 1.2k

It wasn’t often that you beat Bradley home from work, but sometimes on Fridays you would sneak out of the office at lunch and work the rest of the day from home. It typically put you in a good mood and gave you the opportunity to run a quick load of laundry or get started on an - admittedly - rudimentary dinner. Sometimes you’d even go for a dip in your building’s skyline pool.

But that afternoon, you were seething. Properly seething. And no amount of stress cleaning or tanning was going to make you feel any better. Maybe you just needed Bradley to fuck you six ways to Sunday later? Surely the serotonin from a couple orgasms could soothe this particular anger brewing inside of you.

As per every October, you had gotten your year end bonus with your paycheck earlier that day, which always inspired equal amounts of giddiness and angst within you.

The giddiness, of course, because who doesn’t love extra money? It was like found money twice a year. Sure, you worked extra hard for it, many late nights at the office, client site visits, and presentations over the last four years could attest to that. You were up in the air over whether you should add it to your brokerage account or splurge on something? Because again - you worked for it.

But then there was the angst.

The angst because you inevitably lost half of it to taxes. And this angst appeared like clockwork, twice a year, every year, for the last six years you’d been working at PwC. You knew this - it was inevitable.

Except, earlier that morning, you’d been at your desk reading the WSJ with your coffee and had seen a headline. A stupid, annoying headline that had made you purse your lips, realization dawning as you rushed to check your pay stub on workday.

Pentagon Refocuses Spending on Weapons to Deter China

As you read further, you saw that as part of the FY24 budget, the Pentagon was increasing the $30.6B defense budget a further 12% with a focus on missiles, rockets, and - yes - airplanes, specifically for the Air Force.

Uncle Sam was taking 35% of taxes out of your bonus for that? Fuck that.

So, when Bradley came by your apartment later that afternoon, freshly showered after a quick trip to the gym after work, you were steaming. And though it was not Bradley’s fault - not in the slightest - seeing him in that stupid(ly tight), grey, US Navy t-shirt only further contributed to your sour mood.

“Hey!” he called out, letting himself in with his key. You turned your head towards him and hummed, letting out a gruff hi. He toed off his sneakers and left them by the door before coming over to where you were laying on the couch, doom scrolling through Instagram, and pressed a quick kiss to your lips.

He frowned at your tepid response and you felt like a absolute bitch for a moment. “Hey, hey. What’s wrong?”

You briefly glanced at Bradley and then went back to staring - glaring - at your phone. “I’m just in a mood - tired.”

You could see him doing the mental math, trying to figure out if you were on your period, but that wasn’t until next week. “S’okay. We can just hang out and have an early -”

“- Crash any planes today?” the words slipped out before you could think better of it. Before he could even respond, you cut Bradley off. “What’s it matter anyway? They’ll just buy you new ones? Fuck the kids, I mean, they don’t need to eat school lunch? And the Postal Service can cut off Saturday delivery? Hmmmm maybe we should cut Social Security even more? Our infrastructure doesn’t need to be fixed, let’s just let our bridges and roads crumble! Fucking taxes bullshit.”

“Uhhh...”

You got up in a huff and started pacing, getting more and more worked up. “It’s not that I mind paying taxes - well, that’s not totally true. But like? Actually put them towards something that’s going to help people? Not just stupid rockets and missiles and fucking -”

“- Did you get your tax refund or something?”

Bradley was standing next to you, trying to put his hands on your shoulders in what would have been a calming motion had you not been acting completely crazy over eleven thousand dollars.

“It’s October?” you snapped.

“I don’t know?” Bradley shrugged his shoulders, getting a little worked up himself. “Rich people are weird? And your dad seems like he’d know how - nevermind.” You rolled your eyes. “What happened?”

Your shoulders sagged. Fuck, this wasn’t Bradley’s fault. It was that piece of shit House Majority Leader’s, who was so far up Lockheed Martin’s ass he could see -

“I got my year end bonus check today…” you grumbled.

Like you figured, a huge smile lit up Bradley’s face. “That’s amazing - or not?” he backtracked.

“I lost like 35% of it to taxes.”

“Ahhh.”

“And I saw this article in the Journal this morning about the new Pentagon budget and how they’re purchasing these new planes for the Air Force and it just - it’s dumb but it made me mad because I just wish my taxes went to the things that will actually benefit the average American?”

Bradley tucked your hair behind your ear and clucked your chin. “That’s a lot to put on your shoulders, kid…”

“Do you think I’m acting like a brat?” You knew you were, you were just curious if Bradley would say the same thing.

He made a face. “Well,” the word dragged out, “maybe a little…” You hung your head and leaned against his chest. “But it’s kind of valid, I’d be pretty pissed losing all that out to the Air Force, too. But the Navy’s different. They don’t just put anyone in the cockpit -”

“- Oh, really?” You peered up at him. “And how many planes have you crashed, Bradley?”

He pursed his lips. “Like on purpose or -”

You threw your hands up and groaned, eventually making your way over to your bar cart. “- Like on purpose he says! Bradley!”

There wasn’t any ice in the ice bucket, but you didn’t care. You needed something. Anything to take the edge off. You were too annoyed, too fussy - too bratty.

As you poured yourself - and Bradley - a drink, he came up behind you and wrapped his arms tightly around your waist.

“Sweetheart,” he cooed in your ear, “I promise you, I have only crashed three planes on purpose.”

Oh how you wanted to laugh. You leaned back against Bradley’s chest, fully ensconced in the smell of his soap and aftershave. “Hmmm, that’s $195M down the drain. Could’ve fed a lot of kids in Kern County with that money, repaved a lot of roads, too…”

He grabbed the drink you had poured for yourself and took a sip, hissing at the burn of the tequila. “I don’t know about the kids, but I can make it up to you.”

The glass was placed back on the bar cart with a clink and Bradley placed his right hand on your hip, while the left slipped underneath the waistband of your skirt and eventually your underwear. Your whole body sagged against him and you hated how keen you were for this - for him. Apparently you really had just needed to get fucked.

“Such a pretty girl…even if you are a bit of a brat sometimes,” he finished, nipping at your ear. “Hey, kid?” You hummed. “You know if I was an astronaut I would cost the US government even more money, you still sure you want me to go down that route?”

“Shut up and fuck me, rocketman.”

“Can do, hell I’ll even buy you dinner.”

-----------

this was so random so i hope people actually like it??? idk if no one does i never wrote it??

small taglist: @howdysebby (happy early birthday!) @sometimesanalice (thanks for the eyes alexa!) @notroosterbradshaw @ofstoriesandstardust @bradshawsbitch @rae-gar-targaryen @jupitercomet @sunderlust @softspiderling @seasonsbloom @heartsofminds @cloudycluster

[ghost-proofbaby]

MORDOR (a barista!eddie x barista!reader au)

summary: you take a chance, and decide to call mordor.

warnings: fem!reader (use of she/her pronouns), mentions of life struggles (reader's turn to go through it), references to previous addition in this series so might be a little harder than normal to read as stand alone! this is really just me projecting on my need for eddie munson to comfort me

wc: 4.8k+

the full menu

You’re late. So, so fucking late. 

It panics Eddie. He sat in his car for that extra hour just waiting for your ridiculously bright yellow Jeep to pull in beside him, and when you still hadn’t by the time Nicole arrived, his chest twisted. When Nicole gets out of her car, and you’re still not there, his stomach churns.

Where are you? Are you okay? 

You hadn’t texted Nicole. You don’t call the store as the two of them flit about and try to manage opening without you. And when the time arrives to unlock the doors for the customers, Nicole finally excused herself to try and call you herself. 

Eddie scorns himself for not having your number. How stupid is it that you two have made a pact to be friends, and yet here he is weeks later, still not having your number.

“Any luck?” he asks, trying to level his tone when Nicole returns and he’s turning on the ovens.

“Nope,” her brows furrowed as she quickly scoots behind him, heading towards the front register, “It went straight to voicemail. Which, I mean… she’s never been late. Not like this.” 

“Should we be worried?” 

It’s a stupid question. He’s already worried. He’s frazzled enough to say fuck it, toss down his apron, and send out a search party for you rather than worrying about the store.

“Maybe,” Nicole shrugs, as if this doesn’t concern her as much as it does Eddie. As if there’s not sirens going off in her head as well. As if your sudden lack of punctuality is something to just shrug off.

As if your absence doesn’t rattle her the way it rattles Eddie. 

An hour passes by. Eddie gets more restless. Constantly looking to the store’s front door, incessantly checking outside the drive thru window for any sign of you or that damn Jeep. Every time the phone rings, Eddie has to curl his hands into fists to let Nicole answer rather than him. Each time, when he looks at her, the subtle shake of her head tells him it’s not you. His tongue nearly bleeds from how he chews on it with his molars to stop from asking her if she had tried to reach you again. He knows she has, notices how she spends extra time in the back, no doubt sending texts and useless calls alike your way.

If it were any other coworker, both Eddie and Nicole would be fuming. Concern would be replaced with irritation

He’s actually reaching to untie his apron and informing her that he’ll start trying to reach you instead when you finally come bursting into the store, a full two hours late to your shift. 

“Fuck,” you whisper-exclaim as you power walk through the lobby, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” 

“You’re here!” he doesn’t bother keeping down his volume at the sight of you, flooded with immediate relief.

You’re okay. 

“I’m so sorry,” the apologies immediately begin to pour from your lips as you nearly trip rounding the corner into the back room, Eddie hot on your trail, “I’m so, so sorry! Shit, I- I just slept through my alarm, and had a late night, and-“ 

You’re digging your apron out of your bag when he finally reaches out to softly grab your arm, squeezing gently in an offer of comfort as you finally pause. 

“It’s fine,” he promises, “Everyone is late every once and a while.” 

Nicole was in the bathroom, but he’s sure that she’d say the same thing. The entire morning, both her and Eddie had been more worried than anything. Not mad, not irritated, but worried. 

And yet, you’re still on the verge of tears as you look up at Eddie, “It’s not fine. You had to open the store all on your own, and I know that’s stressful, and I saw all the missed calls but my phone was on silent. I mean, my shift’s already half over at this point. And I just-“ 

You cut off your rambling with a shaky breath. It breaks his heart to see you so upset, so guilt-ridden over something that happens to the best of you all. 

“It’s okay,” he stresses once more, another squeeze on your arm, “You had a late night? Is everything okay?” 

You open your mouth to answer him, the no already forming on your lips, when Nicole returns from the bathroom.

“Oh my gosh, there you are!” she exclaims.

And just like that, Eddie’s chance to be there for you as you were for him has vanished into thin air.

—

Your shift may have lasted several hours less than it was meant to, but you’re convinced it’s the absolute worst hours of your life. Which is saying a lot given how your life has gone to shit the last two days. 

You were already falling behind on classes, and your bank account was in the negative due to tuition payments. Your mother was calling every day to spend hours on the phone under the guise of catching you up at what you were missing at home, when in all reality it was just her complaining without taking a breath or allowing you to say a single word. You had to take your cat to the emergency vet when he wasn’t eating, only to find out he probably just didn’t like his current food anymore after a series of very expensive tests. Thing after thing, punch after punch, was being thrown your way. It was all just a bit much. 

And then you were late to work. Slept in after forgetting to set an alarm after a late night of staying up and listening to a friend rant over the phone. Burnt your hand not once but twice on the ovens. Spilt an entire cup of hot coffee on yourself. 

Life was out to get you. 

And the only good thing about today was Eddie. 

When the clock finally signals for the two of you to step off the floor, you’re sighing out in relief. You have no idea what the next issue will be waiting for you off the clock, but you’ve accepted that the day couldn’t get worse. And yet, as you go to grab your bag, wrapping your apron by muscle memory as you watch him, your stomach churns at the thought of today’s time being cut so short today. You just like being around him. You like making inside jokes, sharing quick glances, making one another laugh until your stomachs ache over stupid things in the midst of chaos. He’s a guiding light, something to look forward to, a wonderful break from reality that you just… you just cherish.

As you’re tearing up suddenly at the realization along with the heavy weight of your week, you recall that conversation last week. The word you two had assigned for when you needed a break.

Technically, it was probably a joke. Or to be used to ditch work. He probably hadn’t meant it.

But you have to try.

“Hey, uh, Eddie?” you ask nervously, fiddling with the straps of your bag as he’s patting his pockets for all his items.

“Yeah?” he doesn’t look up yet, doesn’t see the forlorn look across your face.

Just say it. If he doesn’t get it – no harm, no foul. If he gets it, and rejects the motion – oh well. The worst he can say is no. 

You have to swallow hard, take a sharp breath, before you can get the single word out. “Mordor.” 

He freezes mid-pat, hands hovering over his front pockets as he slowly looks up. 

“What did you say?”

“Mordor,” you repeat yourself, with a little more confidence to your tone this time. The worst he can say is no. 

For a second, you become convinced he’s forgotten all about that conversation in the parking lot. You really don’t blame him; half the time, you guys discuss anything and everything with minimal importance. Those early and surreal mornings are always more about spending time with one another, with a friend, than it is about actually processing the things said.

But then, two things happen. Firstly, the wrinkles between his brows smooth out. A second passes. And then – they return. 

Sloping ridges and mountains in that small space, each and every bit of them etched with worry. For you. The corners of his mouth deeply downturn and all the white noise of the front of house fades away the longer he looks at you with such care. 

“Mordor?” he echoes, “Like, as in… as in our code word?” 

You feel as if the moment you speak up, all that strength you had mustered throughout the shift will shatter. You’re tired and you’re beaten, you’re desperate and you’re hoping. You don’t even care if he tells you he doesn’t have time to properly sit and unwind with you right now – you’d settle for just a hug. The same arms that bump against yours and that sometimes stretch along your space to grab things from around you, the same arms you’ve seen strain as he insists on carrying heavy kegs for you, the same arms you just want to wrap around you, if even for a second, and squeeze. 

Who knows? Maybe, if he squeezes tight enough, he can put all the broken shards of the week back into place. It’s not his job to fix it, but you’re convinced for a moment, he’s the key to everything just feeling okay for nothing more than a mere second. 

You nod. If you answer him with words, you’re going to cry. The tears are already eagerly burning your corneas. 

He says your name softly, gentle enough that you have to pinch your eyes shut and take a shaky breath to avoid any spillage of your emotions. 

“Are you okay?” 

“No,” you try to make it a laugh, as if this is a joke, “I, uh- not really?” 

“Is it because you were late today?”

Your voice cracks and your eyes squeeze shut tighter for a second as you answer with a weak, “Kind of.” 

You let your eyes snap open again, try and seek out some everpresent warmth in his honey brown ones as your vision blurs a bit with shameful tears. 

You’ve never realized just how many shades resided in those irises, all warm and cool browns alike swirling. They almost match the espresso, you come to realize. And it’s funny, to think about the way all your other coworkers whisper just as scary and grumpy he is the moment he’s out of earshot. It’s funny how customers seem to crumple timidly beneath his disassociating gaze when he finds himself lost in thought on bar or warming. Every single other person who has stepped foot in this store seems to have one impression of Eddie, and it’s not even a proper shadow of the man before you. 

All soft edges. All care and all warmth. He’s not scary, he’s not grumpy; he’s careful and considerate, a little shy at times, a little hesitant at others. And you can only imagine why he’s that way, when you can see someone entirely different reflected in those goddamn honeyed eyes in this moment. 

He takes a step forward. Opens his mouth to speak. Goes as far to even begin to reach out a hand. And then he’s interrupted. 

“Thank you for your patience,” Nicole chirps into her headset as she comes into the back room, turning a corner with determination and snatching a sleeve of cups off the shelves as she continues to speak over the drive thru channel with ease, “Can we get you started with anything to eat today?” 

His mouth closes and his hand drops as you both glance down at the floor, completely silent as you wait for her to finally retreat back out onto the floor without a second glance at the two of you. 

The tears still burn and blur your vision. 

“Okay,” Eddie says the moment the two of you are alone in the back once more, “Okay. Mordor it is. Come with me, sweetheart.” 

Sweetheart. It rolls off his tongue and it wraps around you before he reaches out and grabs at your hand, only connecting palms and avoiding intertwining fingers before he’s tugging you out the back door. 

Not even through the front. As if he wants to save you the embarrassment of a walk of shame with teary eyes and defeated shoulders.

“We can’t-” you start to protest, but he’s already wrangled the key that is left in the back door – impressively quickly, as even you struggle with that fickle lock at times – before he shoves the door open wordlessly and yanks you out with him wordlessly. 

The door doesn’t even slam shut. It feels like a dramatic moment where it should, but it only closes back with a whisper and soft whoosh of air. 

“They have to do a trash run anyways,” he reassures you when you look back at the unlocked door with worry, referring to the overflowing trash that would soon be taken out to the dumpster in the distance, “It’s fine.” 

The soil crunches beneath both of your sneakers as he makes a beeline to his van. No questions are asked, just as you two had joked about. 

The sun is still favoring the Eastern sky despite growing warmer in the late morning. Eddie’s van is stuffy when he initially unlocks it for both of you to jump into the front, him being sure to open the passenger door for you and only shutting it closed once you’ve securely settled into that seat you’ve spent countless early hours in. 

He starts up the vehicle once he’s in his driver’s seat, but makes no move to drive off as he stares at you. 

“What?” you whisper, voice still strained as you toss your bag down by your feet. 

All he says in return, still gentle and still warm, still glowing brighter than the man everyone seems to think he is, is a reminder of, “Seatbelt.” 

You obey that half-spoken command. You don’t ask where you two are going once he shifts into drive the moment the click sounds in the small space.

—

Eddie drives for a while. He gets onto the freeway in the opposite direction of your way home, and you probably should be worried, but you aren’t. You have no mental capacity for consideration of how you’ll get back to your car, whether your coworkers will worry about it remaining in the parking lot, or whether Eddie even knows where he’s going. Hell, even his slightly erratic driving doesn’t affect you. 

You just stare at the trees as they pass by in a blur. Your mind numbs, smells of a rainstorm in the distance slips into the cabin of the vehicle through the cracks in the back windows, and you just let go. 

If your mother knew what you had done today, you would have absolutely been reamed a new one. 

Eddie slows at an unfamiliar exit, just after the two of you pass a small green sign that reads NOW ENTERING HAWKINS CITY LIMITS. 

“Hawkins?” you murmur your first noise of the entire drive. 

“You ever been?” Eddie asks as if you hadn’t been catatonic the entire way here. 

You prop an elbow up on the door, fist digging into the side of your face as you lean and take in the scenery now passing by a bit slower, “Can’t say I have.” 

“Well, then,” he keeps talking, and it’s sort of comforting after the long silence, “Consider yourself lucky.” 

That gets a snort out of you. One that has his head turning quickly to look at you as he slows at the first redlight after the freeway, a grin twitching on his lips softly as he takes in the sight of you. 

He must think you can’t see him staring, because he continues to do it, until the light has changed green and he’s made no move to press on his gas.

“It’s green.”

“Huh?”

You look over at him, his rosy cheeks and diverted eyes at being caught, and repeat yourself with more emphasis, “The light’s green, idiot.” 

“Oh, shit!” 

Another snort, another rapid (albeit shorter) glance on his part. 

He’s got a nice smile. Even if he might totally be a secret serial killer who was just jumping at the opportunity to murk his unsuspecting and vulnerable coworker in the middle of the woods. He could get away with it with a smile like that. 

It’s only once he’s turned onto a dirt road that leads out into the woods that you really care to finally ask one of the first questions you probably should have asked the moment you got in his van – “Uh, Eddie? Where… Where are you taking me?” 

“Trust me,” he insists, both hands gripping his wheel with care as he navigates the car into thicker foliage, “I promise I’m not going to, like, murder you.” 

“Sounds like something someone who is going to murder me would say,” you put in a little extra effort, offering him the joke and more than a snort this time. 

You don’t miss the swell of pride that lifts him to sit up just a tad bit straighter in his seat. As if your joking, as if your laughing, was something he was proud to elicit from you. 

“Guess you’ll just have to wait and find out, then.” 

He drives pretty deeply into the woods, until the road turns rougher and the treeline is thick enough you can’t catch clearsight of the main road anymore. You really should be worried, but all you do instead of mustering up any anxiety is roll down the window. It makes him glance at you, but you don’t pay that look any mind. 

The smell of rain is even stronger, heavy as it mingles with the scent of pine and dirt. It somehow dances between something familiar and something new, a distant memory that unlocks and soothes some of that tightness that had been residing in your chest for a week now. It doesn’t smother, but it does gather up in your nose, tickling in the slightest. You swear, if you were to focus hard enough, you’d pick up on the comforting smell of a burning campfire somewhere. It just seemed like the kind of appropriate scent to add to the essence of it all. The strings of light that break through leaves in golden hues, the cloud spitting out of his back tires as he clearly goes just above the recommended speed for this old road, the pleasant chirp of a bird that whistles right past – the essence of pure comfort to someone like you. 

It kind of makes you wish you lived in Hawkins, just as you assumed Eddie did. 

He finally slows the van into a clearing, never once scolding you for rolling the window down. He leaves you as you twist your body in what must be an uncomfortable fashion to rest your chin on the top of the door, cheeks and nose just barely peeking out of the car. Every slap of the breeze on your face feels as though you’re releasing another bit of worry to the wind, your chest continuing to grow lighter and lighter. 

“Alright, Sunshine,” he clears his throat, throwing the van into park. The clearing is very obviously a small campsite – you can make out a fire pit just a few paces away and the perfect space cleared of rocks, “You call the shots. What are we gonna do?”

“What?”

Eddie leans over the center console, getting closer to you as thunder rolls in the distance, “What do you want to do? You called Mordor, so whatever is going to help you, we’ll do.”

You want to tell him that just doing as he has, not saying no and not asking questions as he drove the two of you out into the middle of nowhere, helped. The fact that he hadn’t hesitated when he’d processed that you’d said Mordor was already doing wonders for the storm that had brewed within your chest. You’d managed to snag extra time with the boy who had a way about making everything alright, and that in itself was able to erase some of your week from Hell.

But he’s looking at you, awaiting a real answer, so you say the first thing you can think of, “Do you have your copy of The Hobbit on you, by chance?” 

“Oh, say less, sweetheart,” Quickly, Eddie fumbles with his seatbelt and unbuckles himself, swinging open his door and clambering out onto the soft ground waiting below. He waits for a moment, hands on his hips as he looks at you expectantly, “Well? C’mon. I promise you the back seat is far more comfortable.” 

“Does that line usually work for you?” 

“I don’t mean it like that.” 

“Every fuckboy means it like that, Eds.” 

You don’t know it, but his heart swells a little bit at the nickname. 

“Good thing I’m not a fuck boy then,” he leans back into the van a little, smiling wildly, “Now come and join me in the back of my van in a totally platonic, definitely not suggestive way, Sunshine.” 

He doesn’t have to ask twice; you’re climbing out to follow him to the back of the van, not even flinching as you both slam your doors shut in sync and you giggle the entire way. It’s just his effect. Everything is lighter with him around, and you’re starting to believe he should be the one called Sunshine instead of you. 

“M’lady,” he bows dramatically, swinging open the heavy doors for you. 

The climb in is a bit awkward, but you don’t even think about it as you take in the nest of an arrangement Eddie has set up in the back of his van. There’s an old comforter spread out across the entire floor of it, with several smaller blankets bunched at random with a few pillows. 

“Are you sure you’re not a fuckboy?” you question as you’re careful to not touch the blankets with the sole of your shoes, twisting and beginning to unlace the sneakers that had seen better days. There’s stains of various sauces and syrups from work, and surely milk layering the bottom of them. You’re positive if you investigated close enough, you’d even find coffee grounds lodged between the ridges of the textured sole. 

“Positive,” Eddie follows you in, reaching and shutting the doors carefully behind him. He’s less meticulous about his own boots, hardly undoing the knots and kicking them off into the same corner you’d placed your shoes, “I solemnly swear you are the first to see these freshly cleaned blankets.” 

“What about before you cleaned them?” 

“Sweetheart,” he throws himself down on one of the worn pillows, laying right beside where you have your knees drawn up to your knees. He’s flat on his back, hair flaring out in a halo around his head as he looks up at you with big, brown eyes, “You’re killing me here.” 

You can’t help it. The two of you are probably not nearly close enough for what you impulsively do, but you’ve had a hard week, and his hair looks damn soft. 

Your fingers are reaching out to trace over some of the wild and thrown out strands of curls before you can overthink it. Curling caramel and honey softness, you try to not let your breath catch as your pull up on the strand and let it run between your knuckles rather than just fingertips. 

“Yeah?” you smile gently, watching him melt as you twirl the end of the curl you’d been playing with around the length of your finger, “Any specific requests for your funeral?” 

He plays along, trying to not get too lost up in the barely-there feeling of you playing with his hair, “Your attendance, obviously. And probably some good music. Preferably Metallica – again, obviously.”

“Oh, obviously.” 

“Actually, d’you think you can get Kirk Hammett himself to attend? That’d be the best outcome. My only request, actually.”

“You’d rather Kirk Hammett attend your funeral than me?”

“I’ve got priorities here, Sunshine.” 

Your fingers have traveled up to his scalp now, scratching gently as you both are consumed in withheld laughter and brilliantly shy smiles, letting go of heavy weeks and succumbing to all of the sunlight crammed into the back of Eddie’s van. 

“Alright,” your fingers pause their scratches, “I believe you were meant to read me a bedtime story, Munson.” 

“Bedtime story? It’s not even afternoon yet,” Eddie scoffs, throwing a hand up as he digs beneath one of the small, fluffy blankets in the corner. When his hand comes back into view, it clutches that same copy of The Hobbit you’ve seen on the back desk at work on multiple occasions, “Alright, well, make yourself comfortable.” 

Eddie shifts to sit up, your hand falling from his scalp as he piles a few of the pillows from beside him to prop him up as you mentally debate your options. 

You could just lay down beside him. Not touching, just listening. The arrangement was comfortable enough and you have no doubt that it would still be exactly as you needed after all the stress. 

Or you could be daring. You could do more than listen; you could lay your head in his lap, or maybe rest your tired temple against his shoulder. Your could press up against him tightly under the excuse that the space back here was limited and you could selfishly indulge in all that he was willing to offer for this afternoon. More than brushing touches, more than playful glances. 

You could feel the skin of his arm against your own bare shoulder and for a moment, you could just pretend. 

Don’t overthink it. Don’t overthink this. 

You opt for the lap. It’s more comfortable. Less intimate, you convince yourself. 

When your cheek presses into the rough denim stretching over his thigh, you can feel him tense up momentarily. Everything seemingly stops for just a second – even his breathing. But by the time you notice, it’s already resumed. You start to worry you’ve overstepped boundaries, gone too far for two coworkers playing pretend as ‘friends’. 

This definitely isn’t what he meant. First you played with his hair, now you’re laying your head on his lap. You need to learn personal space, personal boundari-

All thoughts evaporate as Eddie suddenly tugs one of the blankets over you, letting it drape comfortably over your shoulder. 

“Shall we begin?” 

Eddie’s voice was made to narrate Tolkien. It becomes apparent between the way he enunciates each word to paint a beautiful fantasy world, his fluctuation changing for each character without missing a beat. His voice takes on a slightly deeper timber than his normal speaking voice as you listen to the storm that had been teasing the entire drive finally break. Hard winds knock against the sides of the van occasionally, the patter of rain echoing off the metal roof of the van. Thunder becomes more frequent, and you couldn’t be sure, but there must be lightning somewhere above the trees to match it. But it doesn’t reach the two of you, the random bursts of light easily mistaken for swaying shadows through the windshield. 

Here in this van, with just you and Eddie and the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, it feels as if nothing bad can touch either of you. Not long weeks, not irate customers, not pessimistic friends or family – nothing. A certain bubble of safety has been created here, and you revel in it. Preen in the certainty of a few hours rest as Eddie’s fingers begin to tangle in your hair and return the favor of playing with your own strands. A simple pattern; he starts at the scalp, runs the fingers all the way through until they trail down the slope of your neck and curve of your shoulder. On occasion, they even slip to caress the top of your spine through the blanket.

Somewhere between the warmth of the soft blanket enveloping you in the scent of clean laundry and the soothing repetitive motions, you find yourself slipping away into sleep. Well-deserved, very much needed sleep that welcomes you with open arms. It’s not quite the hug you had craved from Eddie back at the store, but it’s a hug all the same, and it does hold you close just tight enough to make you believe the afternoon is capable of pressing all your broken pieces back together. If not forever, then just for now. The comfort of it all only has you nuzzling your cheek deeper into the muscle of his thigh.

The lap, it turns out, was the right choice.

Little did you know how grateful Eddie was for your choice of position. Better for your head to rest on his lap than for your ear to be pressed to his chest and hearing the current thunder of his heart that challenges the storm beginning outside the van, beating far harder for you than a friend’s would.

eddie's taglist: @capricornrisingsstuff @thisisktrying @hideoutside @vol2eddie @corrcdedcoffin @ches-86 @alovesongtheywrote @its-not-rain @feralchaospixie @cheesypuffkins87 @thebook-hobbit @babez-a-licious @eddies-acousticguitar @d64d-n0t-sl66p1ng @aysheashea @kellsck @cosmorant @billyhvrgrove-main @micheledawn1975

ghost's taglist: @emmaisgonnacry @figmentofquinn @bebe07011 @barbedwirebats @ayooooo0 @neverlearnedcivility @munson-enthusiast @digwhatudug @wow-cam @daddysmodifiedprincess2 @cancankiki @gothmingguk @nix-rose @thesesuggestedblognamesbegreat @chevelle724 @madaboutjoe @take-everything-you-can @josephquinnsfreckles @thebanisheddreamer @water-loos @dailyobsession @whenshelanded @happy-and-alone @alwayslindie @royale1803 @onegirlmanytales @whyamiheresomeonehelp @mrsjellymunson

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[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA… my crush threw up when she saw my scars.

I (22ftm) have intense feelings for my friend (24 f ), we’ll call her Bee. For some background I met her through my job (we’re in the food industry). I’m have a big friend group and my crush use to work with everyone. Bee use to actually date someone within the friend group, Sandy (24 f). They’re still friends even tho they’re broken up.

I hangout with my work friend group a lot, and Bee sometimes will come along. I like Bee a lot because she’s just really cool, she’s always calm, she talks about anything and everything, and she’s beautiful. She even is working as a heating and cooling technician. It’s hard for her to hangout with all of us because she has so many other things going on in general. She even bough a house in this economy!

Sandy and Bee are still close friends. I’ve asked a Sandy about their relationship and if she’s over her, and Sandy basically just tells me they were both kids and have dated other people since breaking up.

I haven’t actually gotten the chance to hangout with Bee one on one. I’ll even invite her to hangout with our group, but most the time she’s either busy with her house, or her other friends/family/business trips/etc. At first I thought she was lying, but Sandy has told me Bee just does a lot in general now. I’ve invited her to see a few scary movies with me, but she’s turned down 3/3.

This is where I may have been the asshole for making Bee uncomfortable. I had gotten my top surgery (whoo hoo) and after some recovering I kinda wanted to celebrate. Our other mutual friend was throwing a game night and I asked if Bee was coming and if she could come. Our friend said that’s fine since Bee is cool, and I invited Bee and she said she’d love to. She showed up with her boyfriend. I know it sounds bad, I just wanna get closer to Bee in general, her and I don’t have to date (although I wouldn’t mind).

Anyway during the game night, Sandy and Bee went to a separate bedroom to talk. I did pretend to go to the bathroom to ease drop. Bee was just basically telling Sandy she’s been stressed about work and her family, and redoing her house (she and her bf are doing the work themselves) Sandy basically just offered to help and Bee was just like “oh you listening is more than enough!” And they kinda just talked a little more. I was kinda feeling betrayed by Sandy, I haven’t told Sandy I really wanna get closer to Bee, she probably knows tho, but she never offers any help on how I could get closer.

When the two got out I raised a toast to my top surgery and to just making my body feel more like me, and to thank all my friends for the love and support I’ve received through them. I took off my shirt to show off, and I immediately noticed Bee looked away.

Throughout the night I would try and talk to Bee, but she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. she was keeping the conversation short Was she afraid to sexualize me? Was she transphobic? Her boyfriend even got between us and tried asking me how I’m doing and was kinda being a block. My mind was racing and I just kinda grabbed her hand and said “Does this scare you?”. She cried out “sorry!” And ran away…and she threw up in the sink. She started crying and apologizing and Sandy and her bf kinda took her to the bathroom then the car. Bee came in said sorry to everyone for ruining the night, and like three people said “no you just go home and feel better”.

I watched Sandy talk to both Bee and her boyfriend for like 20 minutes “saying goodbye”. I was shocked by the whole thing. It finally took someone to ask me if I was okay. I asked if Bee was trans phobic, why wouldn’t she look at me, she never hangs out with me one on one. Everyone told me that Bee isn’t transphobic (gee thanks). One of my friends even said I shouldn’t have grabbed Bee like that, which I know now. She was just acting all weird around me, and she was what I thought the coolest person ever.

Sandy came back in, she was laughing and she told the group Bee was fine. I asked “what about me!?” Sandy basically explained “body stuff” makes Bee “queasy”. i was hurt and offended that no one cared about me or my feelings.

Later that night Bee called me to apologize. She offered to buy me lunch. I was still hot headed and asked how my scars make her throw up. She basically told me about an event in her life that does make her uncomfortable around blood/scars/etc. I asked if she supported trans rights. she said of course. I asked her if she would ever date me, and she said shes never thought about it because shes with her bf. i basically confessed my feelings which she did not return but wishes me luck.

We never got lunch. I feel weird reaching out to her. she hasn't stopped by the restaurant. She hasn't come to a group gathering since. i know her and Sandy still hangout which pissed me off. i tried talking to my "friend" about it, but they say it as a step too far. they also shame me for crushing on her (i was fine with just friendship).

Its been like two months and everyone is still weird about it. Every time i bring it up, everyone makes me the bad guy. was i the asshole? was Sandy or Bee or even my friends that didnt support me?

What are these acronyms?

[gay-dorito-dust]

Oooo I have a soft request for Jason Todd! Wondering if I could please request Jason Todd x shy!reader? Little background, Shy!reader is the adoptive daughter of Superman and she got her adopted dad all his powers, including flying when she got injured, it took a transfusion of Superman blood to save her life. Pretty cute Jason and shy!reader are looking at the stars, just fluff. https://pin.it/5MuJAnCCR

Whenever you were stressed about anything, you would fly yourself to your hidden spot, it was a place so far removed from the public eye that it was often regarded as a restricted area, and stargaze for comfort.

At first it was a place solely for yourself as you just didn’t feel comfortable in sharing something that you had came across by yourself with another being, not without it being spread through word of mouth and then used as an place for everything that it’s not. That plus the fact that you often preferred your own company and not have to worry about seeing as rude or unsociable by others, especially whenever you didn’t feel like engaging in what they deemed as riveting conversation.

It just wasn’t your speed.

However you’ve begun to notice how easily frustrated and prone to outbursts Jason had become recently with the sudden spike in criminal activity within Gotham, In Which had Jason neglecting his sleep etiquette in favour for continuous back to back to back night patrols; something that didn’t help in the slightest either his already short temper and his impatience.

All you wanted to do in this situation was help him, and you soon came to the conclusion that by taking him to your sacred spot would relieve at least some of the stress. However the final step in making that happen was you having to ask him, which shouldn’t seem at all that hard but your mind couldn’t help but fool you into thinking the absolute worst of outcomes; and yet you knew you should at least make an attempt before believing the worst of everything.

‘Jason?’

‘What?’ He snapped and immeditly hating himself for it upon seeing you flinch at his sharp tone, taking small steps away from him until there was a response sided distance between the two of you. He didn’t mean to snap at you, never, after all you were the last person Jason would ever take his anger out on, and even then he wouldn’t ever dare do that. ‘I’m sorry chipmunk.’ He rasped, rubbing his hands into his tired eyes. ‘I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just-‘

‘The phenomenon that is the crime rates in Gotham suddenly going up more then they have in the past week then they ever have in the past month.’ You cut him off, stepping closer to him and take one of his hands away from his eyes and holding it in your own. ‘This has forced yourself, Batman and any other active vigilante in the field to work overtime to combat it. I’m aware and you shouldn’t have to apologise for it.’ You concluded, raising his hand to your lips and kissing it several times as Jason’s hand went slack in your grasp.

‘Whatcha here for sweetheart because I know it’s just not to check up on little old me.’ Jason said and you cursed him for knowing you a little too well for your liking, but you wouldn’t want it any other way as it only reinforced your strong bond with one another.

‘I came here to see if you’d allow me to take you somewhere for a much needed change of scenery.’ You told him and Jason smiled, his tired eyes twinkled with amusement as his hand squeezed your own encouragingly. ‘Lead the way sweetheart.’ He said but soon laughed upon seeing your face as he kissed the side of your head affectionately. Not able to handle how naturally cute you were and whispered against your skin. ‘You should know by now that I’d follow you anywhere buttercup.’

‘I do and I often worry about your blind trust in me.’ You replied but a quick trip outside town and following a beaten up dirt road later, you and Jason had found yourselves within the clearing of a forest where small grounds of three or five fireflies were scattered about here and there, providing a natural light within the otherwise dark forest. You and Jason then sat yourselves down as comfortably as you could on the lush green grass and Jason was taken by how peaceful everything was, from the fireflies flying before him, the small riverbank that ran past his left hand side, to the sound of leaves being ruffled by the breeze had him feeling more relaxed than before.

Jason could easily imagine you doing the most mundane things possible in this very clearing, whether that be making flower crowns, birdwatching, or taking a quick nap beneath a nearby tree with the cat you just saved, who has now formed an attachment. And yet Jason found beauty in all these things and you, that he felt somewhat envious that he didn’t get to partake in such activities with you because he knew he couldn’t allow for crime in Gotham to rise even further in his absence. While Jason was lost within his head, he didn’t notice that a couple of fireflies land peacefully on his head, not until he heard your poor attempts to silence your laughter.

He smirks at you, loving that he got to hear the sound of your laughter. ‘What’s so funny sweetheart?’

You pointed to his head, smiling so sweetly that Jason thought he’d get cavities, you truly made this man as soft and sappy as a schoolboy with a crush and he secretly thrives on it. ‘Just that there’s a couple of fireflies taking refuge on your head.’ You tell him and Jason went to run his hand through his hair just as a small cluster of fireflies flew back up into the air, directing both of your eyes towards the endless sea of stars that hung above. ‘They’re beautiful aren’t they?’ You asked aloud and Jason took a quick glance towards you to admire just how ethereal you looked beneath the blinking lights of the fireflies and smiled dopily.

‘More than they could ever realise.’ He replied before looking back at the stars just as you went to look at him with a similar look he had given you. ‘Much a diamond in the rough, they are equally as beautiful as they are important.’ You then reached for his hand and intertwined your fingers as you watched how Jason swallowed thickly and squeezed your hand back before looking back towards the stars yourself and allowing the silence to linger between the two of you.

‘This is truly a beautiful place you’ve brought me to chipmunk.’ Jason says after a while. ‘Are you sure you wanted to share it with me?’ He adds sheepishly and a tad uncertain of himself. He didn’t understand why you’ve brought him-whom some considered a violent man- to a place as peaceful and as beautiful as yourself…weren’t you scared that he’d one day destroy it?

You smiled and rested your head on his broad shoulder, pressing a kiss there as you watched as the fireflies twinkled in tandem with the stars. ‘There’s no one else I’d rather share this spot with than Jason. You may think you’re a violent man but you’ve proven yourself to be quite an emotional man also.’ You pressed another kiss to his arm in reassurance. ‘The moment I brought you here you’ve been nothing but respectful and cautious with your movements as though you’re worried you might step on a flower.’ Jason couldn’t help but laugh at that because it was true, he over thought his every movement as though one wrong move and he’d accidentally step on something he shouldn’t have. ‘I knew I made the right decision and now you can come here whenever you like, this place is just as yours as it is mine.’ You told him.

‘I’m only coming here if it’s to stargaze with my best partner.’ Jason said as he pressed a kiss to the side of your head, causing you to smile automatically. ‘I mean if that’s okay with you.’ He then adds and you couldn’t help but chuckle at how soft and sweet he was being, something he only ever was when it was just the two of you and you felt honoured in getting to see that side of him. ‘It’s more than okay with me Jaybirdie. I don’t want to stargaze on my own anymore now that you’re here.’ You admit and Jason felt relieved at this that he couldn’t help but be a little cheeky as a result.

‘Is it so that you can watch fireflies make a home out of my hair and not say anything about it?’ He asks, giving you a look. ‘Be honest.’

You shrugged your shoulders. ‘Guilty as charged.’

‘Come here you.’ Jason then lunged for you and while you put up a good fight, you were soon placed between his legs and your back was firmly pressed against his chest as his arms were latched onto your waist as to keep you in place. ‘Now this is better for the both of us, don’t you think firefly?’ He whispered into your ear as he rests his head on your shoulder to be closer to you.

‘Yes it is.’ You whispered back and for the remainder of the night you both sat there amongst the fireflies and watched the stars.

It wasn’t until later that Jason pointed out to you that you had a small cluster of fireflies yourself resting on your lap, blinking softly but didn’t say anything earlier because you looked too peaceful to be disrupted.

[princessconsuela120]

✰ SICKENING ✰

—✰

Summary: you catch a muggle illness, and Sebastian is insistent on being your doctor.

Warnings: protective Seb, cursing, fluff

Author's Note: I just love Seb so much. don't forget to vote on all my polls, enjoy guys!!!

—✰

“OMINIS, YOU KNOW YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON ME.” You offered, pinching the bridge of your nose to relieve yourself of the tension in your head, having been tired of being smothered by the boys all day long. You had developed a muggle cold during your last trip to hogsmeade, and it seems that nothing can make it go away. You assume muggle medicines would be the only true solution, but Sebastian insisted he could cure you himself. When your boyfriend became a doctor you weren’t sure, but he seemed confident.

“Oh yes, I do.” Ominis detested, urging you to sit back down on the couch, tucking you into the blanket he conjured specifically to keep you warm. It seemed ominis was just as protective as Sebastian. When the two of you started dating you realized even more how important ominis was to you. He was like a brother to you, which proved true everytime Sebastian and Ominis fought to keep you safe.

“I’ve defeated thousands of trolls, I think I can handle a little cold.” You teased, making him chuckle as he sat beside you, touching the back of his palm to your forehead to check your temperature before handing you a warm cup of tea for the throat ache.

“Trust me, I know you can. But Sebastian won’t let me leave you by yourself.”

You couldn’t help but giggle at the thought, picturing the scolding tone Sebastian had used with you every time you suggested returning back to classes.

“Of course he won’t.”

“He’s gone insane since you’ve gotten sick.” Ominis explained, rolling his eyes at the thought of the freckled boy who had stressed about your wee cold since you started sneezing a week ago.

“I barely even have a fever anymore. He’s fed me 7 diftany leaves in my tea this morning to try and cure me.” You explained, as the two of you burst into laughter.

“His hearts in it, his minds just completely out the window.” Ominis teased, making you laugh harder, which only turned into a cough but you seemed it worth it.

“Isn’t it always?” You were about to continue before you heard loud footsteps, before the door to the room of requirements bursted open loudly, even startling the Chinese comping cabbages which leapt from their potting tables.

“Ominis!” He shouted, as you both turned your attention to him. “I told you to bring her soup at lunch time! What are you doing?!” Sebastian lectured, coming up to the two of you, his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot angrily.

“In case you haven’t noticed, it’s only 10am.” Ominis explained, furrowing his eyebrows at Sebastian’s worrying.

“Yes, which means y/n should be sleeping!”

“Sebastian, love, I’m alright really.” You tried to calm him down, holding a hand out to squeeze his hand to reassure him. He only gasped in response, holding a worried hand against your forehead.

“Oh god, she’s delirious.” He stressed, kneeling down in front of you as he looked at you with worried eyes.

“Are you sure you aren’t the one who’s sick?” You asked. However, your reassurance was cut short when you felt a prick in your throat and couldn’t help but cough. This of course heightened Sebastian’s worry immensely, making him sigh as he sat beside you, throwing an arm around your shoulder.

“Lucky for you, I’ve decided to skip potions and flying today, so you have me all day.”

You raised an eyebrow at him.

“How on earth did Professor Weasley let you do that?”

“I had took a few exploding bonbon’s before Herbology, nearly knocked Professor Garlick’s venomous Tentaculas over. They thought I was sick, so I went with it.” He explained, laughing as he explained it. You giggled in response, snuggling into his side.

“You’re crazy.” You mummbled against his jumper, already snuggled into the jumper if his uou had been wearing since you were sick.

“Crazy for you my love.” He placed a kiss against your head as he gently ran his fingers down your arm to soothe you. “You’re good to go now ominis.” Sebastian offered, making Ominis sigh with relief, a look of annoyance on his face of the pda you two had been sharing.

“You two are sickening.” He mumbled as he left, causing you to laugh.

“Bye ominis!”

“Feel better!” He yelled after you, sending you a smile before leaving.

“So, the world is our oyster my love.” Sebastian said, gesturing out to express all the things you both could do.

“Oooo, let’s go skinny dip in the black lake.”

The look he gave you made you laugh if loud.

“Are you kidding? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He asked, holding his chest as you laughed, shoving him lightly.

“I was kidding, it’s just funny getting you like that.”

“How about this. How about a nice, warm, snuggle session. I can put on some music, and we can make sure you get the rest you need.” He explained, making you smile as you sighed happily.

“That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

“Anything for you my love.”

He waved his wand, starting a record player in the corner. The music soothed the both of you, your eyes closed as you slept against him. He was about to lean in to kiss you again, until he let out a sneeze, causing you both to roll your eyes.

“Oh great. I told you kisssing me was a bad idea.” You lectured, making him smirk.

“Dear, kissing you is never a bad idea.”

“Now your sick.”

“Well I guess now you get to ply sexy nurse.” He teased, wiggling his eyes brows, making you hit his chest at the remark. You then sighed, leaning your head against his shoulder again.

“Ugh, fine. But I’m not missing quidditch practice for you.” You grumbled, placing a finger hard on his chest.

“What if I ask really nicely?” He asked, batting his eyelashes at you. You sighed, snuggling into him once more.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“I know. I am just the luckiest guy in Hogwarts aren't i?”

You rolled your eyes at his cockiness, knowing that you’d always have the most flirtatious boy in Hogwarts. But the truth of the matter was, he didn’t think he was lucky because he was cute. He knew he was lucky because he had you, and he was never going to let you go.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Got Me Thinking

Part 5: From Paris With Love (Slight NSFW)

Synopsis: After spending time with Jack, the two of you end up in an argument, which leads to you not wanting to speak to him. He then surprises you with a trip to Paris, but is the love that you have for one another enough to survive the whirlwind of events that come after?

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Reader

Series Masterlist 💕

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

The conversation with Neelam that you had earlier was distracting you from focusing on you actually being able to spend time with Jack since the two of you would have to go weeks at a time without seeing one another.

Those facetime calls didn't cut it all the time.

Waiting until the crowd died down after the show, Jack volunteered to walk you out to your car but made sure to wear a hoodie in order to cover his curly hair in the hopes that no one would notice him. Jack knew that you could read him like a book, but reading you was a completely different ballgame and at times could be difficult for him. He could tell that something was on your mind and quickly got to the point to ask you about it.

“What's on your mind Buttercup?” He asked while starting to play with the ends of your hair.

“Hmm just thinking how much I'm going to miss you after I leave and how bad I want to kiss you, but we’re out in the open and there's too many eyes.”

All Jack did was look at you because he knew you were lying through your teeth.

“Hmm, that's definitely a lie. That might be partially true, but there's something else more to it. I'll let it slide for now, but don't think I'm going to forget.”

When you were silent, he quickly spoke again.

“I want you to stay with me tonight. My hotel isn't far from here. That way I feel that I can give you my undivided attention without us being interrupted.”

“Uhh? Isn't your wife here with you?” You asked, looking at him dumbfounded.

“That's why I booked two rooms. Yours is on a completely different floor so the two of you won't cross paths. And you weren't concerned when you had my dick in your mouth in my dressing room earlier knowing that she was here.”

“Isn't she going to notice you aren't next to her during the night? And you obviously didn't have a problem either since your face was between my thighs.” You shot back and all he did was smirk at you.

“Nope. And even if she does, I'll make up an excuse. So what do you say? And my favorite place to be is in-between your thighs.”

All you could do was roll your eyes and laugh.

“I didn't even bring any of my clothes and this is not going to be comfortable to sleep in.”

“Babe, what we're going to be doing doesn't involve clothes so that should be the least of your worries.”

“JACKMAN!”

“What!? What'd I say?!”

“Meaning in the morning, I'm not leaving in the same outfit I came in.”

“I have everything that you need already in your hotel room and all you have to do is bring yourself. Your husband can do without having you at home for one night.”

“He’s not even at home.”

“See? Even better. I just want to love up on my girl and give her the attention that she deserves. I have the key with me and was going to let you leave first so we don’t run the risk of anyone seeing you.”

“Looks like I’ll see you soon then.” You replied while smirking as he slipped you the hotel key.

“I shouldn’t be too much longer, and I’m going to wait until she falls asleep. And usually when she’s out, she’s out because she needs all her strength the next morning to stress me the fuck out.” Jack muttered, but you couldn’t help but to laugh.

“I’m serious, I don’t know if a switch finally went off in my brain but overall she’s not a nice person and not a good person. She is literally the definition of what you would call a mean girl.”

“You just finally realized that you deserved better and that definitely isn’t with her.”

“But enough about that. I just can’t wait to have you whimpering my name underneath me.”

—

Once you had gotten to the hotel and parked your car in the parking lot that was on the side of the building, you made your way to the room that Jack set aside for you and when you opened the door, the first thing you did was kick off your shoes.

He hadn’t just gotten you a simple hotel room, but an entire suite and your jaw was on the floor looking around it in awe.

You immediately grabbed your phone and sent him a text letting him know that you were there.

You- Now, Jackson…. An entire suite for just one night? You didn’t need to do all this.

Jack Jack- Yes I did because I want you to be comfortable. My baby girl deserves the best and who's to say that we’re only going to be there for one night?

All you did was laugh to yourself once you finished reading his text and went to explore the other parts of the suite.

Before you knew it, you had dozed off on the couch with the television on simply for background noise waiting for Jack and was woken up by him placing kisses all over your face before reaching the final destination of your lips.

“Hmm? What time is it?” You asked him while looking around for your phone.

“It’s around two, I’m sorry I didn’t think it would take this long.”

“No need to apologize, I got to go to sleep for a little bit so I don’t mind.”

“Mmm hmm, because you’re going to need it. If you aren’t too tired for me, I’m going to need for you to lose these clothes.” He said while helping you stand up and reaching underneath your skirt as he met your lips with yours.

“That can be arranged, but only if you take them off me.” You whispered against his lips when you broke the kiss and all he did was nod.

Jack was now holding onto your hips and eased his way in as he entered you from behind and you were leaning down against the pillow and biting down on your lip hard as you tried your best in order to keep quiet.

You had lost count of how many different positions that he had you in and just knew that he didn’t plan on stopping anytime soon and it wouldn’t surprise you if it started to get light outside either.

As you were whimpering and quietly moaning his name as he pounded into you, all he did was smirk before leaning down to place kisses all along your spine and whisper in your ear.

“My baby is taking me so well, are you going to cum for me?”

You couldn’t form an answer with words and simply nodded.

“Damn, this dick so good it got you speechless?” Jack spoke again and laughed and you couldn’t help but to roll your eyes.

Feeling him pull out, you were left confused until you felt his tongue run against your folds as he started eating you out from the back.

“Oh fuck, babe.”

“Stay still, why are you moving away from me?” He asked before going back to his task of making you come undone in front of him.

A few minutes later, you felt him stop once more and he quickly heard your protests before he slid underneath you so that you were now sitting on his face and he wrapped his arms around your thighs in order to keep you in place.

“Be patient because I have all night.” Was the last thing you heard him say before you felt him start to suck on your clit which led to you moaning his name.

You were now laying your head on Jack’s chest as he was drawing shapes on your back and the two of you were in a comfortable silence. You felt yourself dozing off to sleep when you suddenly heard his voice.

“Buttercup?”

“Yes, babe?” You sleepily answered with your eyes still closed.

“I have a question.”

“Go ahead and ask me then.”

“Why don’t you just file for divorce now? You told me that the baby has been born so what is even left for you in that marriage?”

“I just want to make sure that I do it the right way by making sure everything is in place before I do.”

“Babe, money is not an issue because you know I’m going to get you anything that you need or anything that you want. I just don’t like seeing you upset about him all the time. You know that you deserve better so I don’t have to tell you that, but…”

“Money definitely isn’t an issue. I just don’t want anything to happen that would make him want to retaliate against me.”

“Retaliate against you for what? He has a side chick and a baby, so why would he even do that?”

“That’s just how he is, and that’s why he’s such a good businessman. Sadly to say, he’s cut throat and doesn’t show any mercy and I know for a fact it’s to the point where he won’t hesitate to make me miserable. I was never on the receiving end of that, but I feel like once I file for divorce I will be.”

“Baby, all the more reason to get the fuck away from him so we can be together like we want to be. Why do I feel like you’re hesitating? Isn’t this what we talked about and isn’t this what we want? For you to finally move back to Louisville and live with me?”

“I’m not hesitating.”

“Yes you are and you keep giving me excuses. You’re a damn CRNA for fucks sake but moving back you will definitely have a pay cut but right now, you can afford the lawyer and all the fees, but I will pay for you to divorce that asshole, so what excuse are you going to give me now?”

Your eyes were now open as you sat up and looked at him.

“Why are you rushing me?”

“Buttercup, I’m not by any means rushing you. I just don’t want to see you upset all the time about what he’s doing to you.”

“Why are we only talking about me in this situation? You’re asking me what the hold up is on my end, but what is the hold up on yours? You have an entire wife that you need to divorce too, do you not?”

“I do and it’s going to happen, but unlike you I’m not making excuses and hesitating. I’m ready to file for divorce and get away from her, but I’m also waiting on you so hopefully they can be finalized at the same time. I made her sign a prenup, well, Neelam made her sign one so she isn’t getting a damn thing from me. How could you still love someone like that who has fucked you over a countless number of times? He literally got another woman pregnant.”

“And I don’t know that? How many times are you going to remind me? I already feel stupid about still loving someone like that and this conversation isn’t making it any better.”

“I want to be all in with you, but we can’t do that unless some changes are made. I want for you to experience this life with me. This is literally what we talked about when we were seventeen. There is NOTHING left for you and him. If we would have stayed together, I know for a damn fact that we would have been married by now.”

“But would we? You would have probably had to hide me once Gen Now signed you to push that single narrative.”

“What the? Where is that coming from? The first thing that I would have wanted to do was fucking protect you because this life I live isn’t easy and the last thing I would want is you getting hurt by it. Y/N, why can’t you see how much I STILL love you?”

“I… need to leave.”

“What?! It’s six in the morning and you’ve hardly gotten any sleep. I don’t want you driving anywhere and we’re not done talking about this. Why are you running from me? What are you scared of? You know that I’m going to love and protect you and treat you how you deserve to be treated. If anything, I’m the one who should be mad at you because it honestly feels like you’re making it seem like I’m a second choice to Xavier when I for damn sure treat you better than he does.”

“That is NOT fucking fair and you KNOW it. What was I supposed to do? Wait for you? It's not like I intended on him doing that to me!”

“YES!”

“So now I’m being guilt tripped into falling in love with someone else? You had every single opportunity to reach out to me if you really wanted us to be together, but you didn’t. So, why the fuck did you get married in the first place?”

“How was I supposed to know that I would get a second chance? Or at least I’m trying to get a second chance with you, but you are making it so got damn difficult.”

“Then let me help make this easier for you since I’m so difficult. I’m leaving and don’t even bother fucking calling me again.”

“Baby, baby wait. Hold on, just please. Let’s back up for a second.” He pleaded with you as you got up and made your way into the bathroom, but he beat you to it and ended up blocking the doorway. You simply crossed your arms over your chest and looked at him.

“Jackman Thomas, get the fuck out of my way.”

“I’m not losing you for a second time!”

“Too late, because you already did.”

Once you had left the suite, Jack then took the long walk back to his room with Kelsey and was praying that she wasn’t awake quite yet. But once he opened the door, he silently cursed to himself because she was wide awake and looking at him.

“Where were you?” She asked without bothering to say good morning to him.

“I went for a walk, I wasn’t gone long.”

“Hmm, I need to ask you something.”

“Can it wait?”

“No, it can't wait. Who is Y/N to you?”

Now, he wasn’t quite sure what the two of you were anymore.

“I told you that we knew each other in high school, so what’s the big deal?” He asked before sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Well, I don’t like her and I don’t want you around her anymore.”

Jack whipped his head around to stare at her in disbelief.

“And who the hell are you to think that you can tell me who I can have around me? And how do you not like her when you don’t know her?”

“I’m your wife and she makes me uncomfortable and you should respect that.”

“She literally didn’t even do anything.”

“Were the two of you just friends in high school or more?”

“Why are you so pressed about this?”

“Answer my damn question.”

“I’m not answering shit until you lose that attitude. It’s like you just wake up and decide how the hell can I get on Jack’s nerves today?”

“You get on my last nerve, do you know how lucky you are to have me as your wife? Other men would jump at the opportunity to have me if I was single.”

“Then go ahead and be single, no one’s fucking stopping you. And I’m lucky? Explain that because I’m not quite understanding.”

“I just want to know what she is to you.”

“She’s my friend and she’s my ex-girlfriend. Are you happy now?”

“WAIT, your ex-girlfriend?!”

“Did I stutter? Now, I’m going to sleep if you don’t mind because I’m still tired.”

“We aren’t done with this!”

“Yes we are because I answered your question and since any man would be lucky to have you, go out and find them and stop bothering me.”

“Well she needs to get the message that you’re my husband and not hers.”

“Hmm, am I?”

“What the hell is wrong with you this morning? You act like I went out and cheated on you.”

“Kelsey, let’s not go there because you did and I took your ass back despite you doing that. But you best believe that if I had known on our wedding day what you had done, we would not be married right now. Truth be told, I should have left your ass at the altar if I knew.”

“I… I apologized about that and I regret it. Why are you still holding it against me?”

“Seriously? You literally cheated on me hours before we said our vows so you can save it.”

It had been over a month since you last talked to Jack and you had simply been going through the motions. You were upset how the two of you ended things, but still felt as if he was rushing you. You had been back to Louisville a few times since you were slowly moving things out of your house that you wanted to take with you and of course, Xavier hadn't noticed anything. Which you weren’t the least bit surprised by.

Urban had been calling you

Clay had been calling you

Neelam had been calling you

And you told each of them the same thing, for right now, you and him were done.

Jack called you nonstop for the first two weeks and then his calls just stopped altogether right along with the texts as well. Thinking about the situation, both of you could have handled the conversation differently and it didn’t have to end with you leaving. But as of right now, you were in a weird headspace. In order to not think too deeply about your feelings about the entire situation, you drowned yourself into working and uploading content to your TikTok that was centered around nursing and working as a CRNA.

Your best friend Taina who you also worked with could tell that something was bothering you and without a second thought you said yes to her asking you out for brunch one day that the two of you had off. You met in nursing school and also went on to get your CRNA certification together and she had been your rock through the entire mess that had been going down with Xavier. However, she didn’t know too much about you and Jack reuniting and after seeing your instagram post a while back, she made note to ask you about it but never did. So she figured now was her opportunity.

The two of you were sitting across from one another and you were sipping on your orange juice as she was eyeing you.

“Y/N….”

“Yes?”

“What has been going on because you haven’t been yourself lately. I get everything with Xavier, and I offered to cut his balls off and feed them to him, but you declined. However, I feel that it’s something else.”

“Hmm, been sleeping with my ex-boyfriend since March.” You casually told her as you were scanning the menu and trying to decide what you were going to eat.

“Hold on, back up. Which ex-boyfriend?” Tania asked because there had been a few of them when the two of you were in college.

“The one I was with when I was in Louisville.” You answered and suddenly her eyes went wide with a realization.

“Hmm, would his name happen to be Jack?”

“Not so loud!” You exclaimed as you shushed her, but all she did was smirk.

“Okay… so? How’s that going? When can I meet him?”

“Well we got into an argument and we haven’t talked to each other in about a month.”

“What? Why?”

“Long story short, both of us are supposed to get divorced and then be together, but it turned into an argument because he said he felt like I was hesitating even though he also has an entire wife.”

“But, let’s be real. What are you waiting for exactly?” Tania asked and all you did was look at her because it seemed like now you didn’t have an answer.

“Y/N, from what you’ve told me over the years about him, he is head over heels in love with you and he wants to be with you so kick Xavier’s ass to the curb and be with someone who you know is going to love you and treat you how you’re supposed to be treated.”

“You’re right, I just don’t know. I’ve gotten comfortable in this life as stupid as that may sound. I know I deserve better, but I cannot open my heart again because I’m scared. What if we break up and we truly end up hating each other? He truly does mean the world to me and I would never in a million years want to hurt him.”

“You say that, but however, the way you two left off with each other made me think that you did hurt him and hurt his feelings. Not saying that he didn’t do the same thing to you, but just talk it out with him. I’m sure he wants to hear from you. He is not Xavier and never will be.”

“I don’t know, he stopped calling me after the first two weeks when I didn’t answer and hasn’t called since.”

“Then you call him and see if he wants to talk. Y/N, the people around you want so much better for you and I’m sad that Xavier has you so brainwashed that you can’t see it.”

“There’s something else….” You started to say as you looked down and started to play with your bracelet.

“What is it?”

“I miss my period and think I might be pregnant.”

“I…. Y/N! When we leave here, the first thing you are going to do is call that man! And I want an update after you do.”

It had been a total of two hours that you had been staring at your phone contemplating on if you were going to pick it up and call Jack.

But once again you were scared. Scared that he was going to reject you and not want to have anything to do with you anymore. But, you knew that you had to try.

You decided to facetime him and it rang for a while before he finally answered.

When you saw him, your breath hitched in your throat and your heart was now beating a mile a minute as you were the first to speak.

“Hi.” Was all you said and you couldn’t quite read his expression.

“Did you need something?” He asked and skipped over the greeting entirely.

“I… just want to talk. I didn’t like how it ended the last time we saw each other.”

“I consistently tried to call you and talk to you for fourteen days, so why do you want to talk now?”

“Because I was mad at you. You were right… about some things and I just wasn’t quite ready to hear it.”

It was quiet for a few seconds as Jack was simply looking at you and you saw Clay walk behind him.

“Look, meet me on the tarmac at LAX around 7 tomorrow morning.” Jack finally spoke up and you looked at him with wide eyes.

“Wait, what?”

“A car will come and pick you up. Pack a few casual outfits, but other than that I got it handled. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Um, okay.”

Without another word the two of you hung up and you simply sat there unsure about what just happened. He seemed annoyed with you which you could understand, but obviously he still wants this just as bad as you do because he answered the phone. You sat there for a few more minutes before you hopped up to run into your walk-in closet to drag out your suitcase.

The next morning, you were now pulling up to the private jet in the car that Jack had sent for you and the butterflies you had been feeling the entire ride on the way here, had now been doubled. He obviously wanted to see you, because why else would he tell you to meet him here? The driver opened the door for you and helped you out of the car as your suitcase was loaded onto the plane. The first one to pop up and greet you was Neelam who quickly went in for a hug.

“I’m so happy you came. He definitely needs a little pick me up. He’s already on the plane so come on.” She said as she squeezed your hand and started to lead you to the steps of the jet, but you stopped walking and she turned back to look at you confused.

“Y/N? Are you okay?”

Your eyes simply started to water before giving her an answer, but she saw them and quickly reassured you.

“He’s missed you just as much as you’ve missed him. Don’t worry about what may have happened before, just move forward.

You nodded your head towards her as she went up the steps first as you followed behind her. Once the two of you were on the jet, she went straight to Urban and hit him across the back of his head because he had apparently been eating her fries which you laughed at.

Your eyes were searching for him and saw that he was simply in the back by himself gazing out the window and you started to make your way towards him. Once you reached him, he seemed to be deep in thought and didn’t notice you standing next to him until you ran your hand through his curls. Startled, he looked up at you before standing up and placing you in a giant bear hug.

“I’m sorry.” He quietly said as his head rested on top of yours.

“I am too.” You whispered as you held onto him tighter.

Once the two of you broke apart, he leaned down to place several kisses on your lips which you gladly accepted and that instantly put a smile on your face.

All you heard was whistling and turned around to see Clay and Urban smirking at both of you as Neelam was trying to eat the rest of her fries before Urban got to them.

“It’s about time the lovebirds reunited.”

Everyone got settled and it was soon time for takeoff. You and Jack were cuddled up with each other in the back with him stealing kisses every few minutes and everyone else was scattered throughout the plane.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?” You finally asked when the plane had been in the air for a few hours at this point.

“Give me another kiss and I might tell you.”

All you did was shake your head at him before smirking and pulling his face towards yours to grant his wish.

“Okay, so now tell me.”

“You’re coming to Fashion Week with me.”

“Okay?”

“In Paris.” He added on and knew that your facial expression was about to be priceless.

Your eyes then went as big as saucers as you looked at him and all he did was laugh.

“And I got Givenchy to make you a dress that was specially made just for you. We’re getting there a day early just in case adjustments need to be made.”

“Babe…”

“I mean it when I said that I would do anything for you. I just want you to know that.”

You nodded your head at him to acknowledge what he said and he held you tighter as you laid your head on his chest.

“I have to tell you something.” You said as you glanced up at him and he nodded.

“I…. may or may not be pregnant. I missed my period, but I haven’t gotten a chance to take a test yet.” You whispered and all he did was lean down to place a kiss on your forehead.

“Whatever comes our way, we’re going to get through it together.”

Liked by jackharlow, urbanwyatt, neelamthadhani, cozane, givenchy, claybornharlow, quiiso, and 415,271 others

anesthesiabae: Paris is always a good idea. Thank you givenchy 💖

jackharlow: 😍😍😍 neelamthadhani: DAMN, if you weren't married and if I was into girls 👀👀 claybornharlow: OH, my good sis ATE! jackharlow: that dress was made for you, LITERALLY tainathecrna: you look so beautiful! my gorgeous girl! urbanwyatt: neelamthadhani I think you might have to fight a couple people to get next to her first neelamthadhani: urbanwyatt all I have to do is distract you with weed, clay with chic-fil-a and jack with a cigar. I'll make it happen.

It was now day three of you being in Paris with Jack and the two of you were on the balcony of your hotel room sitting in a comfortable silence when you finally broke it.

“Are we ever going to talk about that conversation and what was said?” You asked him as you looked at him and he took a deep sigh before nodding.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel as if I was rushing you, that is literally the last thing I want. But, I also need to be honest about my feelings, if neither of us were married, we literally would have gone to Vegas in March and eloped.” Jack honestly said and you couldn’t help but to laugh. 

“At the end of the day, I just want you to be happy. Aren’t you happy when you’re with me?” He asked you as you started to play with his Private Garden ring. 

“Y/N, look at me.” Jack told you as he placed his finger underneath your chin to guide it upwards.

“Jack I….”

“No, you don't have anywhere to be right now, especially anywhere that he is. You are right where you need to be and that’s here with me. Why do you keep running back to him when we both know he's not any good for you? It should have always been the two of us.”

“It's not that simple.”

“But it is that simple, baby and we’ve been through this. I know you’re scared, but it’s going to be okay. I’m not him and will never be. Look me in my eyes and tell me right now that you don't have feelings for me and I promise to never bother you again after this trip is over.”

All you did was stay silent as you were trying to regulate your breathing with him being so incredibly close to you. Your heart was beating a mile a minute as he moved a curl out of your face. Your thoughts were running rampant remembering all those times when your body was under Jack’s and for the first time in many years, you felt that someone actually loved and cared for you.

But you've always felt that way when you were around him.

Jack chuckled to himself when you couldn’t answer him and simply placed a soft kiss on your lips which you eagerly returned. You had your back towards the street and was hoping that no one had seen the two of you. 

“It sure is telling when I fly you out all over the world to experience this life with me when he can't even remember your fucking favorite color or your Starbucks order. Not to mention how you told me last night that you hadn't been fucked that good in years and you only feel that way towards me. Leave him so I can give you the life you deserved. The life that we talked about when we were in high school. Baby, let me take care of you the way I promised you that I would.”

You sat there as you listened to him and knew that he was good at keeping promises and keeping his word. So, what did you have to lose?

This is what you wanted and what you deserved.

“You've gotten so comfortable in being mistreated by him and that ends right now. So, are you going to give me an answer? Because you know you won't want for anything.”

“When I file for divorce, he's going to want half.”

“Let him have it. I have more than enough to take care of you.”

“So, we're really doing this?” You whispered as you placed your arms around him to hug him tighter.

“We’re doing this.” He answered while leaning down to place a kiss on your forehead.

“Hmm, the only question now is how your gold digging wife is going to take it.”

“She’ll get over it. She already knows that we dated because she was asking me about you and she kept nagging and of course she got an upset look on her face afterwards. But enough about that. When we both get back home, we’re filing for divorce.”

“And I can’t wait to be with you all the time.” You said as you looked up at him.

He leaned down to kiss you, but you stopped him, figuring that paparazzi were still out and about since it was Fashion Week.

“Babe, let’s go in the suite and off the balcony. We can’t risk anyone seeing us.”

“It’s fine, baby. No one is out here and it’s three in the morning. Just kiss me.”

You woke up in Jack’s arms because you heard your phone repeatedly going off in your ear and quickly heard his protests.

“Baby, turn it off.” You heard him say as he squeezed you tighter.

“I am, give me a minute!” You responded by laughing, but once you saw the numerous notifications your heart dropped.

Jack Harlow seen in Paris at Fashion Week making out with a mysterious woman who is NOT his wife Kelsey!

Your heart rate suddenly increased and you felt like it was getting harder to breathe. Jack noticed that you hadn’t laid back down yet and simply sat up to ask you what was wrong. 

“Baby?”

All you did was shove your phone towards him and he quietly uttered ‘fuck’ under his breath.

[wileys-russo]

idea! you and Alessia meeting in Ibiza and she’s got the hots for you but you play hard to get? but a cute happy ending where they eventually get together

such a low quality pic but she looks so 😮‍💨🤩 criminal we didn’t get more Ibiza content

bodyslammer II a.russo

alessia was dancing like a mad woman beside lois in the poolside beach club, her carefree good mood fueled by many cocktails and a lack of impending stress now that she had finally secured a new contract. no longer needing to stress over what her future career in football would look like.

it had been years since she had been able to take a proper break and go on holiday, and to do it with the girls she grew up playing football with and hardly ever got to see all together only made it all the more enjoyable and easy for her to let loose.

she’d made herself a promise to stay off social media as much as possible during the trip away.

with her transfer not yet announced she knew the world would continue to spread rumours and speculate over every little thing, and alessia was determined to enjoy the week off in ibiza in ignorant bliss before returning to reality.

“less i’m gonna grab another one! you good?” lois yelled to her, cupping her hand around her ear due to deafening house music pumping around them. “yeah i’m still going!” alessia confirmed, yelling back and holding up her drink she’d only taken a few sips out of, the shorter girl beside her sending her a toothy grin and thumbs up before melting away into the crowd.

looking around and spotting the rest of their group not too far away alessia started to make her way over there, mumbling apologies as she elbowed her way through the throng of drunken party goers.

she had almost made it to her friends when she felt someone slam into her back, sending her hurtling forward and meaning her own body smacked into someone else’s, her drink going all over them as alessias eyes widened.

she opened her mouth to immediately ramble out a hasty apology but as the girl she’d just accidentally swilled turned around alessia seemingly went mute, apology drying up on her tongue before she could make it.

the girl was gorgeous, and it had alessia feeling light headed in a way she knew wasn’t just the alcohol currently pumping through her.

“i am so so sorry!” the blonde finally managed to spit out, the mystery girl simply grinning at her. “don’t be. i’d never wear anything here i didn’t expect to be covered in some sort of liquid, its like a zoo in there!” she laughed nodding behind alessia to the thickening crowd of sweaty bodies building behind her.

“you’re telling me, though i think whoever just rammed me might have actually realigned my spine?” alessia joked, stomach fluttering as she was rewarded with a loud bout of laughter from the girl in front of her.

“sounds like you should go thank them! chiropractors don’t come cheap you know.” the girl teased, her nose scrunching up as she grinned and alessia once more swooned.

“can i buy you another drink?” the blonde moved a little closer due to the noise and offered sincerely. “you’re offering to get me a drink when you just spilled yours?” you asked with an amused smile, alessia’s cheeks flushing red with embarrassment as she nodded none the less.

“you’re cute. i should go find my friends before one of them disappears in there, once calvin harris starts later i fear i may not ever be able to get them back.” you’d grinned, and before alessia could even say another word you’d pressed a kiss to her cheek and you were gone, leaving the blonde tenderly touching her face which burned where your lips had just been.

with a deflated huff she dumped her now empty cup onto a nearby table and continued on her way to find her friends, throwing herself down onto a sun lounge.

“woah now! we’re in ibiza baby, why the long face?” anna asked as she sat down beside the blonde. “i bumped into a cute girl, spilled my drink all over her and didn’t even get her name before she dissapeared!” alessia groaned, dragging her hands down her face before flicking her sunglasses off the top of her head and sliding them onto the bridge of her nose.

“i’ll say it again we’re in ibiza less! there’s loads of fit people around, go find someone else to dance and flirt with!” anna shouted, handing the blonde her drink to finish off and running away after taylor who snatched her sunglasses off her head.

sculling the last few mouthfuls of the lukewarm tequila alessia winced at the alcohol burning it’s way down her throat before deciding to heed anna’s words.

she grabbed lois’s hand as her friend returned, dragging them both back onto the dance floor.

but hard as she tried to dance and drink the afternoon away to forget you, you were a thought that consistently lingered in the back of alessia’s mind.

which is why when she heard someone call out her name and quickly turned, knocking into someone who stood a lot closer than she had bargained, alessias hands quickly steadying them as they slipped, a smile tugged at her lips seeing she had once again bumped into you, literally.

“i’m beginning to think you’re doing this on purpose now!” you teased, alessia instantly noticing you’d ditched the top she’d spilled her drink all over last time and your top half was now only just covered by a bright green bikini. it took all of her willpower to focus her eyes on you and not your partially exposed chest.

“no i think this time’s on you!” alessia grinned, her left hand resting on your waist where she’d grabbed at you to stop you from falling over. “alessia.” the blonde removed her hand from your side and held it out with a beaming white toothed smile as she introduced herself.

“then consider us even!” you winked, cheekily snatching her drink from her right hand and once again melting away into the crowd.

“hey! you pinch my drink and i don’t even get to know your name?” alessia didn’t let you get away so easily this time, shouldering her way over to you and slinging an arm lazily around your waist to stop you from running away again.

“i believe in fate alessia, so let’s see if this happens again then and maybe you can get my name if you’re lucky.” you shamelessly flirted, sending her one more wink and again kissing her cheek before charging off after your friends into the crowd.

“unbelievable.” alessia threw her head back with a groan before hands fell to her shoulders and her friends surrounded her, dragging her away with them as the sun began to set, bathing the cluster of drunken sweaty bodies below in a golden orange glow.

deciding that it clearly wasn’t meant to be, alessia didn’t even know your name let alone if you were into girls, she forced you once again to the back of her mind, throwing down shots and cheering loudly as they announced calvin harris.

“let’s go!” hands intertwined with hers as her group pushed in closer toward the stage, alessia almost tripping over her own feet she was tugged aggressively into the crowd, though she waved it off with a tipsy laugh as she hugged her friends and whooped loudly as the familiar bass started to boom beneath their feet.

the set was halfway through when alessia once again spotted you, huddled a few feet away inbetween a group of girls and throwing your head back with a laugh as one of them poked at you, twirling you around and forcing alessia ignored the weird jealous clenching of her stomach at the sight.

she heard her friends yell out for her as she began to break away from them, fueled by tequila shots and liquid confidence she shrugged off their hands and made a beeline toward you.

unbeknownst to alessia you’d already spotted her a few moments earlier, yelling in your friends ear that the girl you’d been flirting with before had indeed found you again like you hoped.

which was why it came as no surprise to you when your best friend twirled you around, “accidentally” shoving you backwards and sending your body hurtling into alessia’s whose hands again grabbed protectively at your hips to stop you from taking the two of you down onto the ground.

“we simply have to stop meeting like this.” you grinned, your friend winking at you from behind the blonde and holding her drink up in a silent cheers before turning away back to your group.

“third time seems the charm then, i’m alessia.” the taller girl wasted no time introducing herself again, knowing it meant you would need to finally reveal your own name.

“so you already said.” you teased, purposefully not giving in to what you knew she was after and watching the girl in front of you shake her head with a knowing smirk.

“it’s not nice to lie, i believe you said if this happened again i’d finally get your name.” alessias body pressed in closer to yours, her hand moving to sit at the small of your back as your own stomach now fluttered.

“I said if you were lucky!”

“well i’m certainly feeling lucky. if i do get your name then maybe you’ll be forgiven for stealing two drinks from me.”

“stealing two drinks? i think you’ll find i’m the one whose still owed an apology bodyslammer!”

“give me your name and maybe you’ll get a third drink and an apology.” alessia bargained, tilting her head with a sly grin as you shook your own in amusement.

“y/n.” you finally revealed, someone knocking into you from behind meaning you were thrust even closer into alessia, both of you now chest to chest as you both shared a smile, clearly not minding.

“come on then bodyslammer.” you grabbed her hand tugging her with you as alessia laughed at her apparent new nickname, the music getting louder and louder as pushed deeper into the crowd.

alessia tensed in surprise as you stopped and grabbed her hands, placing them on you as you started to dance, purposefully pressing yourself into her.

recovering from the brief shock the blonde wasted no time in pulling your body tightly into hers, the two of you grinding against one another to the beat, surrounded by hundreds of drunken party goers all doing the same.

by the third song you’d turned so the two of you were now dancing face to face and alessia couldn’t help but find her eyes flickering down to your lips every few seconds, a habit which didn’t go unnoticed to you as your arms wrapped around the back of her neck.

the two of you now locked eyes and you nodded reassuringly as the taller girl leant down but paused briefly, craning your neck to meet her halfway, both of your stomachs doing backflips as your lips met.

neither one of you sober it didn’t take long until the kiss became a little sloppy, alessia ramming her tongue down your throat as you held back a moan and forced yourself to pull away.

over her shoulder you noticed one of your friends frantically waving toward you, struggling to hold up your best friend who had clearly had too much to drink, signalling they were leaving.

leaning in again you shouted your phone number into the blondes ear, removing her hands from where they’d wandered dangerously low down your body and striding off toward your friends without another word, leaving the striker positively dumbstruck behind you.

“i better get a message bodyslammer, you still owe me that third drink, and an apology!” you turned to call out teasingly toward her, alessias once defeated expression quickly brightening as she scrambled to pull her phone out of her bag.

and it was safe to say you most certainly did get a message, and it was far from the last you saw of the blonde.

[kyojurismo]

kamaboko/hashira/uppermoon (any of those choose to your liking sweetheart 🫶🏻) with an s/o who’s distracted easily which causes them to be kind of clumsy

tags : gn!reader, fluff, bruises, very clumsy reader bc i needed to laugh lol.

a/n : went with the kamaboko bc i’ve never written anything for them ??? absurd.

TANJIRO KAMADO

tanjiro would be worried about you 25/8

literally sleeps with one eye open

whenever you’re close to walk into a piece of furniture or in a door he’s quick to pull you away and avoid you getting hurt

that’s because you usually walk with your head turned to look at something or maybe because you’re speaking with someone

or when you’re walking outside, tanjiro is always ready in case you trip over your feet

“you should look where you’re going instead of staring at the sky...”

“but i heard a bird,” pout on your face

“that’s dangerous, be more careful alright?” kiss on the nose

NEZUKO KAMADO

nezuko pushing you out of the way whenever you’re about to hit something

she’s always holding your hand because she’s scared you’ll get seriously injured

“nezuko-chan, look at those flowers!” there you go tripping on your feet

but don’t worry, she jumped in front of you so you fell on her back

she thinks you’re the one that needs to walk inside the box ngl

she loves touching your bruises with her forehead as if to kiss them

ZENITSU AGATSUMA

zenitsu when he has anxiety because you might get hurt even when he’s around you

would cry if you hurt yourself & feel bad about it

he usually stops you physically if you’re talking with someone or looking at something while walking

because he knows you would end up hitting something or falling on the ground

super sweet whenever he checks your bruises and cuts

“i walked into a tree,” you’re crying while zenitsu checks your forehead and then he pouts because he feels like it’s his fault

INOSUKE HASHIBIRA

treats you like a toddler

holds your clothes 24/7 because man’s on a duty

and his mission is surviving each week without ending with you covered in bruises

he somehow feels you’re about to walk into something and his hands end up wrapped around your forehead or whichever part of your body and take the blow for you

“watch your step! if you lived in the mountains, you would be dead already!” it’s usually what he says to scold you

he saw tanjiro do it, so he would usually kiss your bruises and then smile at you as to copy him lol

KANAO TSUYURI

another person who feels bad whenever you are the one hitting something

“i’m so sorry!” she helps you get up and checks if you’re alright. “no i’m sorry, i was distracted.”

knows how to medicate you tho and it’s pretty good at it ngl

holds your hand or arm every moment, just in case

“look, that’s uzui-san over there!”

bonk, straight into a wall

“oh my god! are you okay?”

kanao is this close 🤏🏻 to get a box similar to nezuko’s one

GENYA SHINAZUGAWA

man would be so stressed

“watch it!” bonk

“y/n!” straight into the door

“what the hell!” you just hit a table

genya studying your bruises while counting to 10 trying not to snap at you & warn you to be more careful

“i swear there was a beautiful bird!”

“at least stop walking! shit,” genya rolls his eyes

he’s not really mad at you, he’s just worried ):

reblogs & comments are super appreciated! thank you for taking your time reading it, i hope you enjoyed it. have a good day / night <3

[yoditopascal]

Cherry Cola

“She my cherry cola, she gon' keep me sober. Let me keep you closer, bum me like a soda. Sweeter than the champagne, smoother than this cold drink. Keep me from the chardonnay, I'm just sipping one thing.”

summary: Stressed with finals coming up you and your friend group decide to take a much needed break at the beach where Sanemi can’t keep his eyes to himself.

warnings: suggestive themes, shy reader

a/n: inspired by an ask I got from @cursetopia

You were waiting for your friends outside your apartment, Mitsuri and Shinobu were on their way to pick you up to go shopping. Stressed with studying for finals your friends had decided you needed a break so they decided a beach trip was needed in your life.

Naturally when the boys heard about the trip they just had to invite themselves along much to Shinobu’s dismay and Mitsuri’s delight. Which was how you found yourself getting ready to go shopping for a new swimsuit with Shinobu and Mitsuri tagging along so you didn’t pick out anything ugly they had said.

“What about this one?” You said holding up a black and purple one piece with built-in shorts.

They had bought you to mall around the corner from your place and while you were content with just getting whatever was the cheapest and most comfortable they were adamant about helping you pick something out that would grab a certain someone’s attention.

“Be so for real right now…” Shinobu deadpanned

“I am being for real, it’s cute!” You cried holding the piece up to your chest. It was the third bathing suit they had turned down.

“Come on, what will Sanemi think?” She smirked

The girls had found out about your not so little crush on the math major one drunken night of truth or dare and have held it over you ever since.

“What about this one?” Mitsuri pointed out. It was a skimpy little red two piece, the tiny triangles barely even covering the mannequin it was modeled on.

“Hard pass…” you said, cheeks heating up at the idea of him seeing you in something like that.

“You’ve passed on everything I’ve shown you!”

“That’s cuz you keep picking things you like Mitsuri!”

“Fine you pick one then and don’t pick one with shorts! You’re too cute to be all covered up plus it's way too hot for all that!”

You waved her off as you went back to your search. Looking through racks and racks of swimsuits until you found one you liked.

“Absolutely not.” Shinobu said taking the swim trunks and tank top out of your hands and putting them back.

“Oh come on!”

“That’s it we’re picking one for you!” Mitsuri cried as she hooked her arm in yours and dragged you back to the racks.

“Already got one, and it’s not too revealing either.” Shinobu said holding up a modest two piece, she had already picked one out just in case you grabbed another pair of shorts and she wasn’t wrong.

“Guys I can’t wear that!” You cried out cheeks heating up again. You had never worn anything like it before, usually when you dressed for class you wore baggy clothes and hoodies. This was brand new to you.

“Why not? It’ll look so good on you!” Mitsuri said, nodding her head as she held the fit up to your chest as if she was imagining you in it.

“I don’t know…” you said looking to the side skeptically

“I’m not taking no for an answer.” Shinobu said putting her hands on her hips, that was her final word on the matter.

“….alright fine.”

With that you checked out with your new swimsuit in tow and headed back home to change and get ready for your trip.

At the beach you sat in a folding chair under a large umbrella, shadowing you from the sun’s harsh rays. Today was a scorcher and the longer you sat there in your cover up shorts and t-shirt the more miserable you felt.

“Why don’t you go get in the water, it’ll help you cool down.” Giyu suggested taking off his own shirt getting ready to follow Shinobu into the ocean.

“I-I’m ok thanks”

“Oh come on, I’m sure your swimsuit’s not that bad!” Makio said rubbing sunscreen over herself as Hinatsuru got her back, Tengen had brought his girlfriends along which you were grateful for since you got along with them the most besides Shinobu Mitsuri and Tengen himself.

“You haven’t seen it yet…”

“It’s really not that bad, I thought it was super cute at the store!”

“Besides, if you feel that uncomfortable you could always put your shirt back on.”

“…Fine.”

As you pulled your shirt up over your head Sanemi felt lilt the wind had been knocked right outta him.

There you stood in a low cut sage green two piece, his favorite color, that hugged your curves like he had never seen before.

Curves he hadn’t even known you had because you always wore those fucking hoodies to class all the time.

“You ok there Shinazugawa?” Tengen elbowed him as he draped an arm over Suma “You look a little stunned.” He laughed

“Shut up!” Sanemi snapped, shoving him away. His cheeks dusting pink as he tried his hardest not to stare at you.

Since when have you had such a nice chest? And your legs…. He’d kill to have them wrapped around his-

Shaking his head from his impure thoughts he pushed pass Tengen and reached into the bottom of the cooler Obanai bought and pulled out the coldest drink he could find.

You could feel the sun beating down on you from the shade of your umbrella, you knew that if you didn’t put sunscreen on you’d cook, quite literally.

Reaching into your bag you pulled out a bottle and got your arms and legs, rubbing in a generous amount so that you wouldn’t burn. Realizing you couldn’t quite reach your backside you looked around amongst your friends that were left.

“Does anyone mind rubbing sunscreen on my back?”

“Of course not!” Rengoku replied enthusiastically before Sanemi even had a chance, Sanemi glared him down as he jumped to his feet and strode over to you confidently.

It’s not like he wanted to do it anyways.

(He did.)

But did Rengoku have to be so ready to jump up like that? He didn’t have to be so enthusiastic about everything.

Sanemi watched from the corner of his eye as Rengoku rubbed the lotion on his hands, he sucked in a breath as he worked the lotion into your back, warm fingers ghosting over your skin before going lower and lower until-

Sanemi squeezed the can in his hand until it exploded. Soda flying all over the place and spilling down his hand.

“Dude!” Tengen shouted, wiping soda from his face.

“You good?” Obanai asks in a quiet but knowing tone.

“My bad…” Sanemi said not even looking at them. His eyes were glued to where Rengoku’s hands had been.

As the day drew on, the air around you grew hotter and hotter until it was damn near unbearable. Going in and out of the water didn’t seem to help much either so Rengoku offered to go and get everyone ice cream and slushies from a nearby vendor.

You sucked your popsicle absent-mindedly, watching the waves crash against the shoreline.

Sanemi discretely watched you drag your tongue up and down the popsicle, staring intensely as some of it had started to melt. Looking down you felt streams of the sticky treat run down over your fingers. You held your hand up to see where the trail of cherry popsicle had coated your fingers before drawing your tongue up your fingers, licking away the sticky mess.

Sanemi swallowed hard. His throat felt tight as did his swim shorts, the blood rushing to his face and a bit further down south. He squirmed slightly in his seat, as he watched you return to your frozen treat with little slurps and licks, eyes trailing a particular drop as it dripped down and hit your chest.

That did it for him.

Fuuuuuck," he groaned, nearly dropping his slushie on himself.

You turn your head to look at him, worriedly "You okay?" You ask .

“m’ fine!” He stammered back cheeks beginning to flush.

The coldness of the popsicle had caused your skin to blossom in goosebumps when it fell on your chest. Your nipples beginning to become visible through the flimsy material of your swimsuit. Sanemi’s ears turned red as his whole face lit up.

“It’s sooooo hot!” whined Mitsuri

“For real.” Agreed Makio as she fanned herself.

Sanemi agreed but he definitely wasn’t talking about the weather.

After finishing your snack you took a trip to the bathroom to clean yourself up as your friends went back to the water.

You could feel sweat dripping from your brow as you walked back. Holding a hand up to shield your eyes from the sun you scanned the crowded beach looking for any signs of your friends.

“ Well well well what do we have here?” A voice brought you out of your search, turning to the voice you spot a man followed closely by two others. “What’s a fine lady such as yourself doing all by your lonesome?” He grinned at you.

“Excuse me.” You tried to maneuver around him but he blocked your path.

“What’s the rush mama? We’re just being friendly.” Another smiled as they closed you in the middle of them. You backed up until your back was pressed against the wall of the restrooms behind you.

“I-I’m sorry I’m looking for my friends is all.” You stammered out eyes scanning around you for a way out but you found none.

“Maybe we could help you.” The other one suggested

“Yeah I mean if your friends are as cute as you then I definitely don’t mind helping you find em.” The first one said only half jokingly as he leaned against the wall getting closer to you.

“That’s ok I can-“

“No, we insist.” He said getting even closer. His face was practically in your own

“Hey fuckwad, she said she didn’t want your help!” A new voice snapped irately drawing everyone’s attention.

“And who the hell are you?” One of them asked

“Her friend shithead.” Sanemi said as he stomped over to you guys.

“Sanemi!” You cried out relieved.

“Let’s go.” He said shoving past the boys as he reached out to grab you by the wrist, dragging you along with him as he stomped away.

Once the pair of you were back at your spot on the beach Sanemi let you go as he plopped back down on his seat next to yours.

“Thank you… for coming to the rescue.” You said looking down at your feel embarrassed that you had to be saved in the first place

“You gotta learn how to stick up for yourself, I’m not gonna always be around to save your ass.” He replied, it came out harsher than he had meant.

“Right. Sorry...”

A wave of awkward silence fell over the two of you as you wrapped your arms around yourself, more self conscious than you had ever been.

“Here.”

Sanemi turned away as he threw his shirt at your face, it smelled like him, like matcha, mochi flour and a hint of an earthy musk. It was comforting.

“Oh Nemi you don’t have to do that.”

Nemi.

You called him Nemi.

His face and ears lit up bright red.

“‘s fine just take it.” He said refusing to look at you.

“…Thanks..”

Just as you opened your mouth to say something else a downpour of water rained down on you as Tengen stood over you wringing out his hair and clothes, wetting both you, Sanemi and his shirt.

“What the hell you flashy bastard?!” Sanemi growled, shoving Tengen away.

“If you two would stop flirting over here and get in the water with us I wouldn’t have to come over and bother ya!” Tengen said loudly, causing both yours and Sanemi’s cheeks to flush.

“Why would I wanna get in the water with you ?!” He snapped. You giggled at his frustration causing him to glare at you

“Come on Sanemi, it'll be fun!” You said standing as you hold your hand out to him

“…whatever.” Sanemi mutter under his breath as he took your hand roughly and stood.

Tengen made a whipping sound as he mimicked a whip causing Sanemi to glare back at him.

After getting in the water a splash flew up soaking both you and Sanemi once again, Giyu floated opposite of you both shaking his head as he emerged from the water.

“Sorry…” he said emotionlessly

“You’re dead!” Sanemi yelled, you laughed as he lunged for Giyu splashing water all around him as he did so.

You looked around yourself at all your friends, eyes finally settling on Sanemi, lingering there for a moment before you joined in on the fun with them. Even though there were some rough spots during your day overall you had to say this was a pretty good day at the beach.

[creative-caramel-coffee]

The hard days

Pairings: Wandanat x R

Word count: 1.4K

Summary: reader has been struggling a bit and her girls step in.

TW: depression? Sadness

A/n I want people to know I’m still now writing much marvel but this was a special request so … yeah.

To say you felt bad would be an understatement. It had been a hard day. No. It had been a hard week filled with hard days and it just seemed to be never ending. Today you decided to tell whoever was pulling the strings to kindly fuck off. Whatever cruel game they were playing could play without you for just one day. Sure, it wouldn’t fix anything, but the bed was so comfy. The team could survive one day without you. They were big kids, and they could suck it up for once. Today was a pj and bed day. The only reason you were leaving this bed was for the bathroom and snacks.

Nat had been up since dawn as she was every day. You can take the girl out of training, but you can’t take the training out of the girl. Nat was in the gym, the boys were all away on a trip to some space conference or something Tony wasn’t in a sharing mood, so they were either in space or somewhere else, for once nat didn’t care.

After a solid three hours in the gym, she threw in the towel. Using the fluffy sports towels Tony kept in the gym nat took a shower and changed into comfier clothes. She has been up before the sun and already gone for a run before she came to the gym.

After what could only be described as the best shower of her life, nat walked to the lift and caught it to the communal floors for a hearty breakfast. Quietly she padded down the hall and into the kitchen. For once it was only Wanda at the table and they exchanged a puzzled look.

“I thought y/n was with you?” Wanda said covering her mouth which was full of jam and toast.

“I assumed she was here?” Nat responded coming to lean on the bench.

“Nope, haven’t seen her at all today.”

“Neither.” Nat frowned, you had seemed rather blue and tired when you went to bed last night but nat was willing to dismiss it as stress combined with fatigue.

“We should probably go check on her. Right?” Wanda asked putting down her half-eaten toast.

“Yeah… yeah, probably.” Nat said trying to stop herself from biting her lip. She usually did her best to suppress her anxious habits to make it easier to slide into character for missions. Wanda slides a comforting arm up and down nat arm.

“She’ll be alright. She probably just overslept.” Wanda said but they both knew you never overslept.

The two women took the lift to the floor with everyone’s rooms. Walking down to the hall at the end nat forwent knocking as her nerves got the better of her while her mind ran circles around her heart.

Opening the door, she frowned at the fact the curtains were still drawn. She looked to the bed to see a y/n sized lump cover head to toe by the blankets. Wanda stood in the doorway ready to provide backup of nat needed it.

“Y/n.” Nat said poking the lump.

“No.” Came a mumbled response.

“No?” Nat asked.

“No.” you said again.

“Y/n what’s wrong you never sleep in?” Nat asked shuffling up the bed to wrap her arms around you as best she could in this position. “Baby we just want to help.” She said softly.

“It’s … it’s all too hard.” You sobbed and Nat gently peeled back the blanket to see your tear-stained face.

“Oh honey.” She cooed and slide under the blankets to wrap you in her arms. She ran her hands through your hair while she tucked your face under her chin. “It’s ok my sweet girl. It’s ok. It will all be ok. I won’t let anything happen to you. We love you so much baby girl.” She cooed holding you tight into her chest. Over your head she shot Wanda a look and Wanda nodded and disappeared.

You must have cried for hours. To Nat’s credit she never left your side. She held you the whole time, uncaring of her tear-soaked clothes, you were more important.

“Baby? Do you want me to braid your hair?” Nat whispered and felt you nod into her collarbone. Gently she sat you up and grabbed the hairbrush from the bedside. After brushing out the knots which was a slow process due to her wanting to tease them all so you weren’t in pain, she started braiding. She began by sectioning your hair, running her nails over your scalp to seperate it into chunks. After it was properly parted she began twisting the strands, grabbing more hair as she went to create a beautiful design that ran across your head and fell into two of the cleanest braids you had ever seen. When nat was done she pressed a kiss to each of you cheeks and rubbed her thumb over your cheekbone.

“Oh my love, I don’t know what I’d do without you. I don’t know how I’d survive without your little notes it find around the tower. Or the endless ideas you have on missions. Your so special my dove, never forget that. The world would be lonely without you. Everyone is unique to loose you would be to loose something so unique it will never return. We need you. Not just as an agent, but as a person. You are loved my baby. You are so so loved.” Nat said and pressed a kiss to your nose. You let out a small sniffle and nuzzled into her neck.

Wanda came back to the door and sent nat a nod over your head.

“Hey y/n/n?” Nat asked softly.

“What?” You asked in a small shy voice.

“I think you might want to come to the cinema.” Nat said and helped you up. You shot her a confused look and nodded to tired to disagree.

“Ok.” You mumbled.

“Thank you baby.” Nat said and before you could react she scooped you into her arms. Your fronts pressed together as she held onto you like a toddler. You buried your face in the side of her neck and let the up and down motion of her steps lull you into a soft hazy daze.

After a minute you felt nat sit down on something soft. She held you close to her and whispered in your ear. “Open your eyes sweetie.” She said and you looked up. And you have never loved Wanda more.

Starting with the table, Wanda has dragged a table into the room which was covered in snack and drinks as well as just about every takeaway box from New York. She had made a pile of blankets which was made into a makeshift bed the size of almost the whole cinema floor. Pepper was sat cross legged tapping on a tablet and looked up to meet your gaze with a tender smile. Carol was tossing jellybeans into her mouth and sent you a wink when she caught your eyes. Mj was doodling in her sketchbook down the back and waved when she saw you. Yelena and Kate were throwing food at each other which was being eaten by Kate’s dog lucky.

You looked over to Wanda with tears in your eyes. “You did this for me?” You asked gazing around and noticing your favourite movie cued up to play.

“Of course y/n. The boys don’t get to have all the fun.” Wanda grinned and you sniffled.

“Thanks guys. It really means a lot.”

“Anytime boo.” Carol shot you finger guns and a grin.

“Not a problem at all y/n. I love free snacks.” MJ grinned.

“I needed a break.” Pepper sighed.

“Clint’s been driving me crazy, this is the perfect escape.” Kate said and elbowed Yelena from where she was trying to steal her pizza back off lucky.

“Oh… yeah… free pizza and a movie, plus a chance to annoy my favourite sister? Wouldn’t miss it for the world bubs.” Yelena grinned and lunged at the dog who darted out of the way and she landed on Kate who pushed her off.

“It wasn’t that hard. Plus you deserved it.” Wanda said and Nat just placed a tender kiss to your lips leaving the taste of her chapstick she stole from you a month back.

“Ready?” Wanda asked and you nodded as she pressed play.

It was safe to say you had never felt more loved and safe. Life was full of hard times, but without them the good wouldn’t feel so great. You were needed. You were loved.

[myhairpintrigger]

No Subtle Feeling (aleksander morozova x fem!reader)

In which the Lantsov princess finds herself alone at a party and one of her dearest friends comes to her aid.

READ PART TWO HERE

AUTHOR’S NOTE: this wasn’t a request. It’s something I’ve been working on for a hot minute. I promise I’ll keep getting to my requests! But in the meantime, please send new ones in!

Warnings: none! Very soft!

Word count: 4.3k!

-

You didn’t mind parties.

Really, you didn’t. You’d grown up attending high end events and parties and balls and such. It just came along with your status as the youngest daughter of the King. The title of Princess didn’t really bother you either, and you weren’t going to lie and say that you were displeased to be called as such. You stood silently in the middle of the seamstress’s room while she carefully knelt in front of you to adjust your skirt so that you weren’t tripping over the fabric all night long.

“That wealthy land owner from Ketterdam is coming tonight. Your brother mentioned you two have been in good acquaintances since your mother’s birthday banquet.” The seamstress mentioned casually and you looked down at the small woman in front of you and you shrugged once.

“I suppose he is, isn’t he?” You answered distractedly before you turned your head towards the decadent window behind you, peering out at the decorations that were being hung in the courtyard and you let out a sigh, “Everyone is coming to this party, you know. It’s ridiculously big, I’m not sure how to feel about that.” You mused and the seamstress simply chuckled and gave your dress a little tug to pull the soft satin taut.

“Yes. Vasily did mention that, as well. You usually are more enthused for these parties, Your Grace. Is something troubling you?” She asked and you slowly tore your eyes away from the window.

Something indeed was troubling you. You knew this particular party was going to be grand and well attended by the most influential people within a hundred miles because you were to be proposed to.

The problem wasn’t your soon-to-be fiancé, he was just fine, the problem was that you didn’t necessarily want to be wed yet, you didn’t want to be whisked away with a new man away from your home and your family. You realized that you never answered the seamstress and you gave her a little shrug, “I’m alright. Perhaps I just didn’t sleep as well as I should have last night.” You said airily and then went silent again, tapping your fingertips against the sides of your dress. About twenty more minutes of silence later, the seamstress rose to her feet and she looked you up and down once before she gave you an approving nod.

“Alright, Princess. Can you walk well in that?” She asked and you took a few steps around the center of the room, the dress swishing gracefully against your ankles but fell no lower. You looked up at her and gave her a polite nod and you leaned in to give the woman a thankful kiss on the cheek.

“You’re a doll. Thank you for your services today.” You said gratefully and she waved her hand and told you to hurry along, which you did with no arguments. You maneuvered your way around the little tables and trays that were scattered all over the room and stepped out into the hallway. You smoothed down your skirts as if doing this would brush your stresses and anxieties away and continued on your way down the hall, knowing it was probably time for you to get your hair fixed up and you picked up your walking pace and made a sharp turn around the corner. You were abruptly stopped when you smacked face first into someone’s chest and you gasped and stumbled back, only to be caught by two very cold, firm hands. You flickered your apologetic gaze upwards to begin your apology when your eyes fell upon the normally apathetic face of General Kirigan. His indomitable expression melted into one of amusement, and the corners of his lips curled into a smile before he let out a quiet laugh.

“General, I am so sorry, I was not paying attention at all-“ you began but the Black General simply held his hand up to silence your apology and you abruptly stopped talking, only to let out a relieved sigh and a breathy laugh.

“Air headed as ever, I see.” Kirigan commented, and his own smile grew upon hearing your laugh, “Where are you headed in such a hurry, y/n?” He asked, now clearly very amused.

You were relieved that it had only been him and you shook your head in exasperation, “Up to my room. If my mother gets there before me she’s going to beat me with a stick.” You explained and looked the Grisha General up and down a few times and your smile only got bigger when you realized he was dressed for the occasion, “You’re coming to the party?” You asked excitedly, becoming suddenly very aware that the General’s hands were still carefully clasped around your arms, but the grip was now loose and the touch was so casual that it was almost affectionate, his fingertips so delicately resting against your much warmer skin.

Perhaps both of you realized this at the same time, because he didn’t answer you right away. Instead he looked down at your dress and let his eyes slowly travel upwards until they were on your face again and you had an unobstructed view of his near-black eyes. Perhaps he was gauging your reaction to his touch the same way you were gauging his reaction to touching you, because he opened his mouth just slightly as if he wanted to speak but closed it soon after. The silence swirling around the two of you was as loud as a room full of partygoers and finally, he broke the tangible reticence and dropped his hands away from your arms, and you felt the slightest bit of what you could only identify as disappointment.

“Yes. Of course I’m going. Anyone of importance was invited and I just so happen to be important, wouldn’t you agree, Princess?” He asked, his tone still playful and light despite everything.

Your words stuck to your tongue and you stared at him dumbly for just a moment before you shook your head once, “Depends on who you’re asking, General.” You quipped back and this made him laugh again, a sound you seldom heard from his mouth, and it almost didn’t seem real, coming from him. He was normally so quiet and concise, and he had to be as a man in his position should, but you’d found an unlikely friend in the typically stoic general in the years since you’d turned nineteen.

“Well, good thing I didn’t ask you.” He replied, mirroring your lighthearted tone, “I’ve heard a rumor about this evening. Is it true?”

For some reason, his words made your stomach sink and you looked down at the ground and kicked at the marble floors, “I don’t know. I hope not.” You mumbled and then you rubbed your face and shook your head, “No, wait. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m only nervous, that’s all.” You corrected and then glanced back up at him, all playfulness expelling itself in the presence of a new subject.

“Will he make a good husband?” He asked plainly and you almost chuckled, whether it was an inability or a blatant refusal to mince words, he always got straight to the point.

“Does it matter even if he wouldn’t? I’ve met him three times now, so I guess that means he’s a good candidate for my hand. If you ask Vasily or my father, he’s great.” You answered and then he studied your face for a moment.

“Has anyone asked you?”

The question took you aback and echoed in your mind like a grand bell and you nervously chewed on the inside of your cheek, and he took this as his answer and he laid his hand on the back of your head and brought you towards him so that he could leave the lightest of kisses on your forehead before he let you go and moved back a step.

“They’d be wise to. Ask you, I mean. You’re one of the most insightful and intelligent people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.” His jaw shifted a bit and this didn’t go unnoticed by you. You couldn’t tell if he was complimenting you or giving you a cryptic goodbye but you decided to take it as the first option.

“Well, put in a good word for me, maybe then they’ll start asking for my opinion.” You sighed and he turned his head to the side and nodded towards the grand staircase.

“You ought to go before your mother has reason to chase you around the halls with a stick.” He advised and then brushed past you without another word, leaving you rooted to your spot for a moment longer before you walked back up to your bedroom, with a strange sense of hesitancy and that small, intrusive voice at the very back of your mind yelled at you to find the General instead of finishing the trip to your room.

-

Hours of being prepped and readied for the party earned you a seat at the front of a large room next to your brother and you watched as each guest came up and greeted the King and his family, and twice now Vasily had to reach over and elbow your ribs, telling you to be less sullen. You were trying, you really were, but you couldn’t shake the strange feeling of dread that was rapidly growing in your chest. Kirigan and a few of his Grisha that you were ashamed to admit you couldn’t place names to had arrived about twenty minutes ago and the greeting between you two had been off. Not necessarily awkward or bad but there was an air of cynicism around the General that didn’t feel right, especially in your presence.

Lost in thought, you sat with your eyes fixed on nothing in particular when suddenly you were being pulled to your feet by Vasily, and you took this as a clear indication that your suitor had arrived.

And he had. He stood in front of your father and greeted him heartily along with your mother and Vasily before he turned to you and clasped his hand in your own. He fell to his knees and placed a generous kiss on the back of your hand before he took his time in rising to his feet.

“Your Grace, I have missed you.” He said with a wide smile, albeit slightly forced.

“Just y/n will do, thank you. I’ve missed you as well.” You said with a tight smile, and you weren’t sure who you were trying to convince more; him or yourself, and thus began the night of your contempt.

You spent most of the evening paraded around the party on this man’s arm, idly listening to him chat to anyone and everyone about his abundant land and whatnot, you slipped into your own thoughts and reveries. You became more and more bored as the night went on, while your suitor became more and more drunk respectively. You softly excused yourself and wandered back to your parents and sat down exhaustedly on your seat next to your mother and you continued to watch as he socialized flamboyantly. Your eyes searched the room absentmindedly until they met the two darkest eyes you’d ever seen in your life and you gave the General a small smile to which he only nodded and turned back to whoever he was engaging at the moment and you discovered at that moment how it felt when people said their heart sunk. Your father stood up proudly from his chair and proclaimed that it was time to dance, and your chest tightened. There weren’t many other opportunities left for the evening to take a turn where you might wake up engaged the next morning, and you felt sick as you watched everyone couple up, including your mother and father. You looked around for your suitor, but couldn’t find him anywhere, until you did see him; drunkenly throwing himself all over some nobleman’s daughter off in the corner of the room.

You incredulously scoffed and then looked at your father and sighed, “I’m leaving. This is humiliating.” You mumbled and turned on your heel to leave before he could protest, and for the second time that day, you ran straight into the chest of General Kirigan.

“This probably shouldn’t become a habit of yours, Your Majesty. You’re going to hurt yourself.” He said, his flat tone lifting just a bit with the same amusement he displayed earlier.

You stared up at The General with a shocked look on your face and he didn’t even give you the time to reply to him before he grabbed both of your hands and pulled you closer to his chest and gave your father a nod before he slowly began to sway back and forth with you, slowly falling in time with the music that played from the string arrangement on the far side of the room.

“I apologize that your… partner doesn’t have his thoughts about him. You looked so disappointed. I’ll see to your enjoyment for the rest of the evening, how does that sound?” He asked softly and you looked up at him curiously. You wanted to ask why but you didn’t want to risk him moving away from you so you just gave him a little nod and allowed him to carefully guide you in dance.

“You don’t particularly seem like someone who enjoys dancing, General.” You remarked and then paused. It felt odd calling him by only his title, and even more informal to call him just by his last name. Come to think of it, you realized, you didn’t even know his first name. In all the years you’d known the Black General, he’d always just been General or General Kirigan to you.

“It’s not a hobby, that’s for certain.” He hummed, bemusedly, “but I do know how to when the occasion calls for it, so let’s leave it at that.” He finished and then looked out over your head to see everyone else before he put his sights back on your face, “You don’t seem to be having as much fun as you have had at parties in the past.” He pointed out.

He wasn’t wrong. You weren’t having fun. In fact you felt all sorts of things about your current situation. Confusion, disappointment, relief, perhaps a bit of anger, annoyance, and the strangest feeling that you couldn’t put a name to, but it was pleasant and it seemed to present itself whenever you were around Kirigan.

You silently cursed yourself for not responding right away again and you looked up at him apologetically, “Sorry. I heard you. No. I’m not really having fun.” You admitted with a sigh and he tightened his hands around yours, drawing you a bit closer. He took the closeness as an opportunity to drop one of your hands and he looped one arm around your middle.

“I know you aren’t. Your mind is going a million miles a second, Princess.” Your formal title sounded so enticing falling from his lips and while you wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to worry about formalities, you selfishly didn’t want to stop hearing the word ‘princess’ in his voice.

To his statement, you simply shrugged and let out a long sigh, “I didn’t want to get engaged tonight. But at the same time I feel so disappointed. I mean, who knows? Maybe I could have liked him, if we’d had more time together to get to know one another.” You theorized, mostly to yourself.

Kirigan thought about your words for a moment and then he shook his head, “But he didn’t make you happy.” He commented, and it sounded more like a statement.

You looked up at him, puzzled, “I mean, he could have made me happy, we don’t know that for sure. I just have only met him a few-“

“But you weren’t happy any of the other three times he came to call on you. So what would make the fourth different? Or even the tenth? The hundredth?”

This invoked a bit of frustration within you, and you couldn’t tell if it was directed towards him or yourself but you scoffed and looked up into his eyes that seemed entirely black from your angle below him, “That’s rather rude of you to presume. It’s not your-“

“Place?” He cut you off again, finishing your sentence and raised his eyebrows, “Perhaps not. But I am right. You won’t have to convince yourself to be happy when you really want to be with someone.”

“I don’t get the luxury of wanting to be with someone! And you certainly don’t get to make these… claims, when I don’t even know your name!” You pointed out furiously and glared up at him, “I get what I’m told is good for me and that’s where the negotiation ends.” His hands tightened around yours again and you could swear you felt the chill of his skin through the shining black leather of his gloves.

He looked surprised only briefly, but quickly the expression disappeared, “Y/n, I’m not telling you to stand against your parents and I’m not implying that you can do as you wish. I am aware of the obstructions that come along with being born as a girl in a family such as yours. I am simply telling you that you don’t have to force yourself to be happy.“ he said cooly, his voice not raising in the slightest. He stayed level headed in his statements and you suddenly felt childish and ashamed of your outburst and your cheeks began to fill with pinkness.

“It’s not fair.” You whispered and leaned forward to close the gap between your bodies and you laid your cheek against the cold metal clasp that sealed one of his shirts closed.

“I know it isn’t fair, little one.” He replied evenly and was mindful of your head against his chest now as he maneuvered you through the slow dance.

“I hate it. I hate it so much. I’ve never even gotten to fall in love, and I likely never will. How does that seem fair?” You complained and closed your eyes tightly, trying to keep your eyes from watering, because judging from the sting in the back of your throat, you knew you were headed down the path of tears, “Have you ever been in love, General Kirigan?” You asked quietly and gave his hand a light squeeze.

His tone stayed the same as it had for the duration of the entire conversation when he answered with: “I have.”

You didn’t say anything to this, and you opted to instead lift your head away from his body so that you could look up at his face, but it was the same as it had been previously. Calm, with just a touch of amusement. You frowned and he simply moved you a bit closer to himself. A tendril of envy wrapped itself around your stomach- and whether it was envy of whoever he had been in love with or overall the envy that he'd experienced love, you weren't sure. You stared up at him silently, and something in your expression must have changed, because he raised his brows down at you curiously. You wanted to ask him about what it felt like to be in love, but a part of you didn’t want to hear of him being in love.

“You don’t like my answer.” He stated, and this sent your head shaking rigorously.

“That’s not it at all, no. I just… I don’t know. I feel off. Perhaps I’m tired.” You scrambled for an excuse and Kirigan let out a very slow sigh, and you instantly felt bad, “General, it’s not like that. Maybe I’m just a bit jealous that you’ve found love before and I haven’t. Im jealous of anyone who has, really. I don’t know. Will you please see me to my room? I don’t want to be here any longer.” You finally conceded and Kirigan gently stopped moving along to the slow music and he let go of your hand. The arm around your waist, much to your delight, didn’t move and he led you towards your father and nodded his head once at him.

“My King, I am going to see your daughter to her room. She is feeling very ill. I’ll send a Healer for her tomorrow if it persists. May I suggest throwing the drunkard in the corner out?” He asked and then nodded towards your companion from earlier in the evening.

Your father warily eyed the drunk man who was pawing at any unaccompanied woman that made her way near him and then gave The General a nod, “Alright. Thank you, General. And thank you for taking her to her bedroom.” Your father thanked him and Kirigan simply nodded before he was whisking you out of the ballroom. The two of you walked in silence down the hall, and his arm, you noted, was still gently draped around your waist.

“What’s it like?” You asked and then looked up at him expectantly, “being in love, I mean.” You added, biting down nervously on your bottom lip.

The General looked down at you and thought for a while, staying silent for so long that you thought he had silently opted not to answer, and when he finally did, his sudden voice in the silence made you jump.

“I don’t know how to tell you that. It’s been different every time.” He replied simply as he walked you up the stairs. This made your mind swim curiously.

“What do you mean? You’ve been in love more than once?” You asked incredulously.

Kirigan seemed to think this was funny and let out a lighthearted laugh, one that soothed worries you didn’t even know you had until they’d melted away in the sweetness of the sound, “I have. You’ll know when you’re in love, y/n. It’s no subtle feeling. Sometimes it’s the most confusing feeling you’ve ever felt. Sometimes you can’t even name it.”

You blinked a few times after he spoke, but said nothing further until the two of you reached your door. The two of you stood in front of it silently for a long time, your eyes eventually meeting his. You searched his face for anything, any emotion at all, but as it would happen, the man was an expert at keeping his face vague when it came to feeling.

Sometimes you can’t even name it.

You thought about that for a moment while the two of you stood with interlocked gazes and you thought back to how you tried to identify what you were feeling this morning when you had run into him and then just moments ago back at the party. What did you feel? It wasn’t just happiness. It wasn’t only excitement, but it felt like it could qualify as such, and when he was around, you felt more than just a friendly attraction. In fact, you felt drunkenly warm and you felt giddy and you felt like there was no one else around, like there was simply no one else you’d rather talk to in that moment.

You looked up at his face and suddenly it was like there was a different light, and you could see his expression was different. Softer, kinder, and something else you couldn’t recognize, though it wasn’t unpleasant. Finally, you broke your stare with The General and you tapped your foot against the ground, “I should get to bed.” You whispered.

At first, you didn’t think Kirigan heard you and you went to speak again, but he beat you to it.

“Can you keep a secret, Princess?” He asked softly and he reached up to tuck a fallen bit of hair back behind your ear.

“I think I’m pretty good at keeping my mouth shut.” You replied and grinned up at him.

He leaned in, and you thought he was going to kiss you, so you closed your eyes and took a shaking breath in, but it never came. Instead, his breath on your ear told you that he had something else in mind and you slowly allowed your eyes to open. You didn’t have to look in a mirror to know you were blushing.

“Aleksander.” He whispered against your ear, slowly pulling back.

You looked up at him confusedly for a moment before it finally made sense, and your eyes widened. He’d just told you his name.

He leaned in once more and pressed a kiss to your forehead before he reached around you and opened the door to your room.

“Goodnight, Princess.” He said softly, and you looked up at him for a moment longer before he stood on your toes and kissed his cheek.

“Goodnight. Thank you for tonight.“ you stopped yourself and then fought back a wide smile, “Thank you for tonight, really.” You repeated.

He didn’t say anything in response to your words, but as he was turning away, you did catch his lips pulling themselves upwards into a smile. You turned around and stepped into your bedroom and closed the door in one swift movement before you collapsed back against the door and slid down until you were sitting with your knees against your chest. You wanted to kick your legs and giggle as you pulled your legs closer to your chest and grinned, letting out the tiniest of laughs, already eager to see him again. You sat against the door for a while as your brain repeated his name over and over again, until you opened your mouth and finally spoke it aloud.

“Aleksander.”

[sanscat0414]

Sideline 1

Hawks x Timid Reader

Scenario: Hawks loses his memories after a villlan fight leading to head trauma. His sidekick was all the more ready to take your place as his girlfriend. She fed him lies to make Hawks hate you. Will he remember you or will you remain a thorn in his eyes.

Masterlist

It had been 2 months since Hawks was hospitalized after a long stressful fight. Each day you pray he would wake up.

You were there every possible moment waiting and hoping for the day he woken up. You had to work but You would stay by his side up until visiting hours where over. You would come home to your small little apartment crying wanting to have him back. You missed his warmth and you miss all those silly moments you had together.

You immediately rushed over to the hospital once your business trip was over to check on him. When you opened the door you saw him with his side kick, Vivian, the Shadow hero. Vivian was straddling Hawks and they were flirting with one another. You were grateful that he was finally awake but heartbroken seeing him with another woman.

“Hawks?” You asked trying to hide your broken heart.

“That’s the woman I was telling you about. Always trying to tear us apart.” Vivian said.

“What are you talking about I’m-“

“Don’t act all confused now! You weee always budding in like a crazy Fan and you always harassed me! Saying mean things about my body and coming on to Hawks like a creep!” She said.

She win an Oscar if she was an actress with all her crocodile tears. That wasn’t that part that make you hurt. What made you stop and broken was the look in Hawks eyes. No longer was the loving stares he gave you, there was only hate in his eyes.

He gave you the coldest stare you ever seen and sternly said “Get out. Look I don’t know what your problem is but stay away form my girl friend and Me.”

“Wait Hawks but we ar-“

“I don’t want to hear your delusions, please leave before I call security.”

He wouldn’t listen to you. You had no choice but to leave the room. You figured by now that Hawks didn’t remember you. You look back through the small window of the door. Hawks was happy, staring lovingly toward Vivian. You left crying running home. You tried everyday to see Hawks but the staff inform you he didn’t want to see you. They looks at you with pity knowing that you cared for him deeply despite them not knowing your relationship with him other than you were on his emergency contacts.

Once he was out you went to his agency to try to reason with him. He never listened brushing you aside like you were nothing but trash to him. Vivian did her best to keep you or any memory of you from surfacing, going so far to go into his office to remove any trace of you. Hawks even told the secretary to not let you in after 3-4 times you ended up there.

After a while you gave up, Hawks didn’t want anything to do with you. You lost hope that Hawks would ever love you again. Night after night you cried and wake up from nightmares only to wake up to another nightmare. One which Hawks despise you, one that Hawks was no longer your man, no longer look at you with love, no longer Hawks even look at you. You wake up looking up hoping you catch a glance at him only for you to see nothing.

You were walking home when you came across Tokoyami. Tokoyami wasn’t that close to you but Hawks sometimes brought Tokoyami along to have lunch or dinner so you two were really well acquainted.

“Oh Hi Tsukuyomi. It’s been a while how are you?” You asked putting up the best smile you can.

“Fine. I noticed you and Hawks are not talking. Did something happen?”

You couldn’t hold yourself back from crying. You could barely even tell him the whole truth. He guiding you to away form the crowded streets and held you as cry on his shoulders. Once you calmed down you told him what happened, how Hawks hates you and refuses to speak to you.

“… he won’t listen to me. Hawks doesn’t believe me. I been sidelined by Vivian…”

“You shouldn’t give up. You love him don’t you?”

“OF COURSE I DO! But what can I do? He’s happy with her, He hates me. I can’t even get a word in before he pushes me away! I can’t… I can’t do this anymore. I don’t know what to do Toki. I don’t….” You said.

“There you are.” You and Tokoyami heard.

You both look up to see Hawks. You immediately tried to hide yourself behind Tokoyami.

“Why are you here? Are you bothering my intern now?” Hawks said annoyed as soon as he saw you.

Tokoyami look back at you as you held on to his cap. You shook your head as if to tell him not to say a word.

“No, she’s not bothering me Hawks. She’s a friend of mine. I was helping her with something.”

“Oh. Well we should continue your patrols. I wanna ask if you want to have lunch with me Viv is gonna be there too.”

You flinched a bit hearing him call Vivian by a nickname so lovingly. You kept silent. Tokoyami declined and said he was going to escort you home the continue work. You can’t do anything but watch as he leaves you and Tokoyami. As he lifted you couldn’t help but try to reach out only to pull your hand back as you watch. Once you were home you laid on your couch scrolling through all your photos. Hawks smiling with you on your date to the amusement park, he was in disguise but it was a funny picture with a fake mustache. You smile at all your memories but you tears continue to fall as you remember your nothing to him now.

You can only watch him soar from the sideline.

Part 2