#SIT. DOWN. MELLIE! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

starlightsreigns · 4 months ago

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don’t hurt yourself | a lemonade story

summary ⇢ mellie's past the point of understanding. she wants to burn the world down with him in it... and she just might word count ⇢ 2.1k tags ⇢ minors, do not interact. explicit language. | three ; anger “Who the fuck do you think I is?”

Beautiful man, I know you’re lying

Malice fills me down to my core.

The sun rose over the horizon as I watched it from the dining room table. For days now, I’ve kept the revelation to myself, letting it eat me alive. My legs bounced slowly but stopped when I heard Roman coming down the stairs. His face makes me look away. I can’t look at him anymore, this isn’t the man I fell in love with — he’s a stranger I sleep beside every night.

“Hey Mel, what you doin’ down here?” His voice is hoarse from sleep.

I can’t find a response and my eyes can’t meet his. So, I continue to stare out at the sunrise.

“Baby, what’s going on?” Roman moves towards me.

“Nothin’, I just can’t sleep.” My words cold. “Ain’t you going to the gym?”

He’s in his workout clothes, as usual, ready for an early morning workout that I’m certain isn’t happening in the gym. Roman used to workout in our home gym, but for months now he’s been going to some random gym that he says is better — as the fool, I once believed him, but now I know that’s not the truth.

“I’ll pick us up some breakfast?”

Finally, I turn to look at him, “Don’t bother,”

I turn away from him. Roman doesn’t say anything else. He waits for a moment then leaves. Once he’s out of the garage, I fling my robe off and run out the front door towards Alyssa’s car that’s parked a few houses down.

“Mellie, is this really what we’re doing? You saw the message.” Alyssa says but puts the car in drive anyway. “You think he’s going to that girl's house?”

“I don’t know, but we have a home gym, Aly, he has to.”

The ride is quiet, and twenty minutes long. We pull into a neighborhood and my stomach turns. Alyssa glances at me, keeping her distance from Roman. When he pulls into a driveway, she parks down the road. The silence in the car makes the pit in my stomach grow larger.

“Mellie,” Alyssa whispers but she stops. “I don’t know what to say.”

I don’t blame her. We wait and watch as Roman sits in the car for a while. When he opens the door, Alyssa and I lean up with wide eyes. The front door of the house swings open and a pretty woman steps onto the porch with a grin. Her long black hair flows down her back, the sun gives her the prettiest glow.

“She’s pretty,” I whisper. Roman walks up and hugs her tightly. “I’m gonna throw up.”

My eyes shift down to my lap just as Alyssa gasps. I look up quickly as the front door closes then look over at my friend. She shakes her head sadly with her eyes closed.

“I’m so sorry, Mel.” Alyssa sighs.

A tear and then another hits my cheeks, “Me too.”

Yet, I’m not sure what this feeling in my body is.

Before I can think about it, I’m out of the car and marching towards the house. Alyssa nearly draws blood when she sinks her fingernails into my arm. I barely feel the pain as I stare at the house in silence. My vision blurred from the tears that are falling harder now.

Alyssa pulls me closer to her, “Don’t do this, Mellie. This isn’t who you are.”

When you hurt me, you hurt yourself, try not to hurt yourself

The dining room table is my new favorite spot in the house. Now, I sit at the head with a baseball bat between my legs. My legs bounce up and down slowly, flinching softly when the garage opens. There’s a knot in my throat that travels down to my stomach. I’m filled with intense nerves, but my rage overtakes that. I can feel the heat on my skin that burns to the touch.

My eyes slowly drift to the chair to my left where my wedding dress sits. My breathing slows as I reach for it, but stop when the door opens.

“Mel,” Roman calls out. He takes a few steps and then stops right behind me. “You been sittin’ here the whole time, baby? What’s your dress doin’ out here?”

What words can I find? I wait for him to walk around so I can see him — and that’s when all the air in my lungs is expelled. My hand grips around the bat tightly as I take a deep breath. If I could knock his head off his shoulders and not go to jail I would. I’m willing to take the jail time.

“How was the gym?” My voice is so low I can barely hear myself. “It must’ve been a long, intense workout.”

Roman nods slowly, “Yeah, I did cardio.”

That finally sets me off. Pushing my chair back with so much force that it tips over, I set the end of the baseball bat on the glass table. Roman’s eyes widen at the sight and he takes a subtle step back. My chest rises and falls to keep me from falling into a panic attack.

“Do you take me for a fucking idiot, Joe?” I yell. “Who’s the bitch?”

He gives me a stupid look, a look that confirms what we both know. In reality, the dumb look pisses me off even more. My hand shakes as I slowly lift the bat.

“Baby, please…” Roman begs.

Without a second thought and filled with rage, I snatch the baseball bat and plunge the end of it into the dining table, watching it shatter, bits falling around my feet. But, it’s not enough. Roman tries to walk towards me, but I raise the bat again. The end of it is practically against his cheek. He’s frozen in his spot and my hands shake.

“Get the fuck away from me, bitch.” My own scream almost scares me. “Answer me, am I fucking idiot?”

Roman shakes his head. I press the bat into his face as a tear falls down my cheek. He tries to reach for it again and I swing the bat against his arm.

“Move.” I grit my teeth.

It’s a blur in my mind as I smash anything in my sight. His voice is in the background, pleading for me to listen, to stop, to understand, but my heart’s taken off and that bitch is broken.

Every single broken object in the house doesn’t help. There are reminders of all the good times and I never want to see them again.

The bat hits the ground with a loud clank. I take a step back with a deep breath. My eyes stare down at the glass-covered ground, not looking up when his feet move towards me, crunching everything finer. Regret now sits in my chest — this wasn’t what I wanted to do, but my heart overtook my head.

“Mellie, I’m so sorry.” He pleads, trying to catch my eyes.

My eyes see red again. His apologies only fuel more anger in my body. The white wedding dress falls into my line of vision and I push past him and grab it. Right under it sits a box of matches.

“Melody,” His voice shaking.

I can’t hear anything past the buzzing in my ears. By the time I’m in the backyard and dosing the dress with propane from our grill, everything is numb.

A match sits between my shaking fingers, “I don’t remember who I was before all of this pain.” I murmur under my breath then let the match fall onto the dress.

Flames engulfed the dress immediately. I take a step back and watch my marriage go up in flames. I turn to look at Roman who stares at the dress in shock.

“You can clean this up and leave me the fuck alone,” I mutter. “Leave me the fuck alone.”

You don't love me deep enough, we not reaching peaks enough

My legs feel like jelly on the walk up to our bedroom. There’s a hollowness spreading inside of me, but my legs carry me all the way to the bed and I stay there, frozen — numb.

Is this not what I wanted? I wished I stayed in the unknown; you know what they say, ignorance is bliss. Having it all out in the open only made this harder.

When Roman comes into the room, I shut my eyes. He sits on the edge of the bed in silence for longer than I can remember. So much so, that I start to doze off, but I’m pulled back to reality when he starts talking.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Mellie, I don’t know what words will undo all of this.” He starts. “Nothing I say can change this, but I love you, and I knew better and it was eating me up inside, I don’t wanna lose you, Mel. You might never forgive me, but baby believe me, I’ll do everything in my power to fix this. I can’t lose you.”

Tears spill over the side of my face, but I remain stoic and away from him.

“I want you to leave, I can’t look at you, I can’t believe, and I don’t want to believe you.”

I finally sit up on the bed to look at him. His eyes are red and tears fall from his eyes, but nothing in me changes. I’ve met every single thing I’ve said to him. My love just isn’t enough to overpower the hate I have in my heart for him.

“You need to leave.” My voice is stern, but it shakes.

Something in me is fighting. My love for him won’t go away overnight, but the resentment will live forever if I stay.

Roman doesn’t move. Finally, I take a deep breath and stand.

“If you won’t leave, I will.”

You ain’t married to no average bitch, boy

Roman stands in my way, “Mellie, please.” He begs.

“Why the fuck are you begging me right now, Roman, I didn’t hurt you. You hurt me and now I have to stay?” I step back. “I don’t what to know why you fucked that random bitch and I don’t want to understand anything you say.”

“Mel, I promise I’m not sleepin’ with her no more.”

My eyes fixated on his, “I saw you. Today, I saw you with her this morning.”

He hesitates for a moment then nods, “I ended things with her, Mellie, I swear I ended shit with her but she kept calling and texting and I went over there to tell her to stop.”

“That’s why you was hugged up with her?” I laugh bitterly. “You really think I’m fucking stupid, shit.”

Roman takes a step forward, “No, I don’t know why I did that, but baby, I ended everything with her.”

His eyes pleaded with me and I could see the truth deep down, but it wasn’t enough. It couldn’t be enough.

“I don’t care. You thought that shit was okay to do in the first place.” I point my finger at him. “So, I’m not gonna tell you again, get the fuck out of my way and let me go or I swear to God I will hate you for the rest of my life.”

After a moment of staring into my eyes, Roman steps back with a small nod.

“I’ll go if that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want.”

this is your final warning, you know i give you life...

Downstairs, I sit on the edge of the couch. There’s an emptiness inside me I’ve never felt before. Roman cleaned up the glass, but there’s a part of me that can see the destruction everywhere. This doesn’t feel like my own home anymore.

Roman comes down the stairs with a suitcase and a duffle bag. My heart falls at the sight, but all I can do is get up and meet him at the front door.

“Mel, I love you, I’m so sorry.” He pleaded while I opened the door. “Can we work on this, baby?”

My eyes overlook the evening sky, “I can’t stop picturing you and her. I can’t do this.” I take off my wedding rings and hand them to him. “Goodbye, Roman.”

There’s an air that sits between us as he stares at the rings in his palm. Roman lets out a breath and walks out the door. I slam it shut behind him before he can turn and say anything else. I can’t look at him again, it’s the most painful thing I’d ever have to do in my life.

And yet, I still contemplate how I can leave him behind forever when my heart refuses to let him go for good.

“If it’s what you truly want … I can wear her skin over mine. Her hair over mine. Her hands as gloves. Her teeth as confetti. Her scalp, a cap. Her sternum, my bedazzled cane. We can pose for a photograph, all three of us. Immortalized … you and your perfect girl.”

i appreciate your patience as i dealt with life, but im back!!!! i hope you’ve enjoyed this chapter. hope you caught a little hit for the next chapter ;) this is my (third) FAVORITE song on the album.

if you’d like to join the tag list, lmk!

love u all and see you soon x

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orpheusluvr · 6 months ago

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Sweet Defeat (Ithaqua x Female Reader)

NSFW WARNING

A first ever defeat for this pro hunter has left him feeling distressed, but maybe you’ll be able to turn things around for him.

After your last match, you couldn’t find Ithaqua anywhere in the manor. You constantly asked the survivors, some of them giving you a puzzling look as to why you were so concerned about looking for a hunter.

You were just feeling bad for him after his defeat. His first ever defeat. You wanted to check up on him because you knew he’d be extremely upset about it. Because why wouldn’t he? This was such a big thing for him. Every hunter looked up to him, even aspired to be him. He was the many causes of their victories. The survivors on the other hand feared him the most, but still did congratulate him on his wins.

Eventually, you found him sitting alone on the ground in the greenhouse, reading a book. Despite half of his face being covered with his mask, you could already sense the sadness that he had. Especially by the way he was sat. Though, you had no idea how he was able to sit in that position considering his already large height that was even larger due to the stilts that he wore. But that was Ithaqua for you.

Ithaqua wasn’t just upset about losing the match. He was also upset because he assumed that you couldn’t take his hints at all.

He liked you a lot. The only survivor he actually felt a connection towards. And that’s why he always made sure to spare you at least, while defeating your 3 other teammates. He thought his efforts were being wasted, because you never seemed to change your actions towards him.

But he was wrong. You knew all along, but you just needed the right moment to make a move. To make him know that you liked him too.

And perhaps, today was a good time for it. Maybe this defeat is exactly what you need.

You slowly walked towards him. He knew you were there, but he didn’t bother moving or saying anything.

“Ithaqua…are you alright?” You gently said.

“If you’re here to taunt me about my loss, then go away.” He spoke coldly. His voice pierced through your soul.

“No…it’s nothing like that. I was just here to check up on you.” You reassured him.

“Alright, well you’ve done what you needed to do. Now, leave.” He said, the coldness in his voice still lingering.

You took a deep breath as you took his book out of his hands and placed it on the bench next to him.

“Hey! What are you-”

His words were cut off when you pushed your hair back and gently sat on his lap. His breath hitched, feeling himself become harder after finally feeling something press against his intimate area. You could also feel him, which made the heat in your core build up.

“Y/N…this is…”

Ithaqua held your shoulders, taking a moment to appreciate the view in front of him.

“Ithaqua…I know how you feel about me. And I wanted to return the favour since you always spare me in matches.” You said.

You took a deep breath.

“And…I like you too.” You smiled.

He suddenly felt as though he’d forgotten what happened today after you said those simple yet powerful words. All the weight from his shoulders had lifted.

“What did you say?” He said.

“Ithaqua. I like you. No, I love you.” You said.

He immediately pushed you down onto the ground, though not too quickly as he didn’t want to hurt you. Towering above you, he glanced at your figure. A small smirk appearing on his face.

“I love you more.” He said, before diving right in and placing a bite on your neck. He gently sucked, but enough to leave a mark. You held onto his blonde hair, slightly grabbing it as he continued peppering you with kisses all over your face, shoulders and neck. He wanted to show how much he loved you. Every part of you.

You feared that someone would walk in and see you both, considering that this was a public space. But you also knew that only Melly Plinius, the Entomologist, used the greenhouse. Right now, she was in a match and she wouldn’t be back for a while. It’s not like the first place she’d go to would be the greenhouse either; most survivors return straight away to their rooms to rest after a match.

Ithaqua on the other hand began lifting your shirt, placing more kisses along your chest and moving lower to your waist. Your breathing became faster the more lower he went, closer to your intimate area. Your moaning increased too, which drove him wild. He just wanted to do you right then and there, but he knew he had to take it slow at first. He wanted to admire your body slowly considering that it was his first time seeing it, then when the time was right, he’d violently thrust into you in no time. Fast and hard.

He lifted his head and sat up, admiring his work for a moment before leaning in and kissing you, tasting every part of you. The taste that he craved. You tasted sweet, like blueberries and strawberries. He on the other hand, tasted sour. Poisonous even. You weren’t surprised considering the type of person he was. But you still indulged deeper into the kiss, moaning between each of his movements. Gently lifting you up, he caressed you lovingly into his arms after you broke from the kiss, his hands gently rubbing against your back.

His hands kept wandering towards the clasp to your bra.

“Yes, you can take it off.” You whispered.

“How did you know I was going to ask?” He said.

You shrugged, then gave a quiet laugh.

He unclasped your bra, lifting it down from your shoulders and letting it fall to the ground. Although he was still wearing his mask, you could sense the lust within his eyes.

“Oh…they look so tempting.” He said, staring at your breasts.

“What are you waiting for? They’re all yours.” You playfully shake yourself, your breasts following your movements. Ithaqua immediately pins you onto the ground again, desperately sucking on one of your breasts while caressing the other.

“Ngh…Itha…that feels s-so good…” you moaned. The more you moaned for him, the more he found it harder to control himself. He had to be patient. He forced himself as much as he could.

How could someone like him be this patient?

But eventually, he gave up. One last lick around your nipple, and he was already leaning above you, sliding down your pants and then your panties, and also removing the belt to his pants and letting them fall down.

Your eyes widened at his huge length. Not surprising considering his huge height, but it still shocked you. You would probably only be able to fit half of him inside you.

“Itha…it’s not going to fit…” you gave an alarmed cry.

He immediately caressed your cheek, wiping away your tears.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make it fit.” He smiled.

“But that’s not what I mea-”

He immediately entered inside you without warning, and you had to cover your mouth to muffle the loud moan that escaped your lips. The loudest moan you’ve let out ever since. Your eyes welled up with tears, a stinging yet pleasurable sensation in your core as your walls clamped around his length and adjusted itself to this new feeling. This new member.

Ithaqua placed a kiss on your forehead, as he began thrusting. You grabbed onto his hair, your cries mixed with your moans.

“Itha…it hurts…it really hurts…” you whimpered.

For the first time, he actually became concerned, so he stopped.

“Okay…I’ll go slower.” He wiped your tears again.

And he did. It felt less painful, but it was agonisingly slow. Even Ithaqua didn’t seem to enjoy himself, but he didn’t want to hurt you either.

But there was a voice in his head telling him to go faster. To destroy you.

Because weren’t you the reason for his loss today? You were constantly on his mind, so much that he kept missing his attacks. How did he not manage to terror shock that one survivor? Oh, right. It was because you were walking past and he got distracted by you.

He clenched his fist, quickening his pace as he let out a groan.

You felt like you were going to pass out. The overstimulation was driving you crazy. Eventually, you reached your climax, coating his cock with your essence while some of it spilled out. A few moments later, he also reached his climax, painting your walls with his cum.

You lay there, a shaking mess of tears and sweat. Ithaqua seemed unaffected, he was clearly ready for a round two. Not surprising considering the incredible stamina that hunters had. All you could manage was a sigh.

He didn’t pull out of you, instead he moved back the hair that was sticking to your face and kissed both of your cheeks.

“Thank you, Y/N.” His voice gentle and loving. Completely different from how he usually was.

You could only manage a smile, before you closed your eyes and fell asleep. Ithaqua gave a smile as he looked at you with adoration. How innocent you looked after doing something so lustful and scandalous.

Ithaqua wasn’t bothered about losing matches anymore. Sometimes he even did it on purpose.

Because he knew that you’d always be there to comfort him and make him forget about his loss, and he wanted these moments to last longer.

#identity v fanfic #identity v x you #idv x reader #idv x you #identity v x reader #idv fanfic #idv smut #identity v ithaqua #idv ithaqua #ithaqua x reader

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janeyseymour · 7 months ago

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Save Me Before I Lose Myself- part 9

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8.

Summary: Family court is a nightmare. But all nightmares come to an end.

WC: ~2.45k

You toss and turn all night, and when you finally fall into a fitful sleep, your alarm goes off. You already hate today. But still, you roll out of bed and head into your daughter’s room. She’s sound asleep, curled up with her favorite stuffed animal and snoring quietly. You take a few extra minutes, minutes you know you probably don’t have to waste, to just sit by your little girl and pray. You pray for a long life of just you and her finally finding your happiness. You pray that she never loses what small pieces of innocence she has back. You pray to God that you get her as far away from Carrie as possible- that maybe… maybe you find happiness in a new life with Melissa and Barbara to help you raise this sweet little gift from God.

Brushing a few stray hairs away from her face, you smile gently. God, Millie is perfect- there is not one thing you would change about her. Because even when it comes down to it, and she is a child who has her moments, Amelia has the biggest heart, the warmest smile, and the sweetest soul that could touch anybody who has the absolute blessing of meeting her.

“Millie Mill,” you whisper as you shake her shoulder gently. “Baby girl, it’s time to rise and shine.”

“Momma?” a sleepy voice almost whines.

“Yeah, sweetness, it’s Momma,” you chuckle. “Who else would it be?”

“Mel,” your daughter shrugs as she cracks an eye open.

“Well, I can smell breakfast being made downstairs, and I just woke up,” you chuckle. “Why don’t we go see what Mel is making?”

Your little girl sits up and rubs at her eyes sleepily, but then she does make for the kitchen.

Melissa, fully dressed and made up for the day, is standing by the stove making a spread that could feed three families, and Millie is quick to wrap her arms around the woman’s waist. “Melly,” she mumbles sleepily.

You see the redhead tense for a quick second before she relaxes and drops a gentle kiss to your daughter’s head. “Hey Mill.”

“Sleepy. I don’ wanna go to court today,” your daughter sighs.

Melissa grimaces slightly. “I know hun. But you gotta if you wanna stay with your momma. And Mel and Barb will be there for you too.”

“Auntie Barb,” Millie sighs softly, but just loud enough for both of you to hear. Both yours and Melissa’s eyes widen at that first word- that powerful word.

“Yeah, hun,” the redhead finally starts again. “Go sit at the table with your momma. Breakfast is almost ready.”

Your little girl comes and sits right in your lap, content to get in a few extra cuddles this morning. The teacher of the house brings over all of the platters and a fresh mug of coffee for you.

“Thank you,” you sigh quietly.

Melissa smiles at you. “Of course.” Breakfast is eaten in a stiff silence for the first time in a long time, and when it comes time to start getting ready, the redhead swoops in again. She takes Millie to get her ready while you prepare yourself for what you can only assume is going to be a long and hellish day of fighting for your little girl.

And then Barbara shows up in her own car and escorts you to the courthouse. The four of you find your way in and sigh.

Carrie fights. Carrie fights hard, and she fights dirty. She fully intends on throwing you under the bus and winning this fight.

Her first claim is that she is Millie’s biological mother. And that is a true fact. But your lawyer argues that you are just as much Millie’s mother as Carrie- your name is on that birth certificate too. Your lawyer argues that blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb in this case- you take care of Millie, not Carrie.

Then she tries to argue that you won’t be able to support your daughter fully financially. Your lawyer disputes that argument and states that finances wouldn’t be an issue for you because spousal support does indeed exist for this exact circumstance. He then looks to Melissa, who stands, much to your surprise. But she has a knowing look on her face, and you can only assume that she and her buddy had orchestrated for this to happen.

“Your honor,” Melissa starts, and she already sounds much more formal than you’ve ever heard her before. “Y/N and Amelia won’t have to worry about finances, as they haven’t been troubled in that area for the months that they’ve lived with me. There hasn’t been any support from Carrie since the separation, and I do believe that this side of the party has been just fine- better than fine. I am happy to continue housing them and help to ensure that Millie is taken care of.”

“Thank you, for that,” the judge raises a brow. It’s clear he’s considering what the redhead stated.

And finally, Carrie attempts to claim that Millie needs two stable parental figures in her life- that she and the new boyfriend (apparently you ‘turned her straight’) would be able to provide much better for her than just you. The judge’s brow goes up, but his lip quirks in a way that you see he is definitely leaning towards joint custody. Your lawyer glances to you, and then he stands.

“Your honor, I think that since this is in regard to the child’s wellbeing, we should have Millie speak.”

“Your honor, she’s seven,” Carrie’s lawyer points out.

“And seven is old enough to know who she should want to live with for a majority of the time- to keep her within the parameters of her school, where she is quite happy,” your lawyer objects.

“Very well,” the judge mutters. He clears his throat, and he calls Millie to him.

Your little girl has never looked smaller standing next to him.

“Hi, sweetheart,” the gruff judge turns warmer when addressing your child, and you are eternally grateful for that. “Millie, yes?”

Millie nods her head and squeaks out a “yes”.

“Can you tell me about the times when you lived with both of your mothers?”

Your little girl does. She details the typical day that the she lived- from waking up with you and giggling, to going to school with you, to you picking her up, she’d make dinner with you, you would read with her or watch television with her, it was you who would help her with homework, it was you who told her to get in the shower and start getting ready for bed, you were the one who tucked her in at night and read her a story.

“And… Millie, where was your other mother during all of this?” the judge cuts in softly.

Your little girl shrugs. “I dunno.”

“That’s not true, Mill,” Carrie tries to butt in, but the judge holds up a hand.

“That’s not the end of my days though,” your daughter says softly. When the judge prompts her to continue, she details how she would hear the berating at night, the slaps and pleas for Carrie to stop, the crashing of furniture and decor.

“And who was the cause of that?”

Millie doesn’t even say Carrie’s name- just points to her with a frown. “She hurt Momma. And she tried to hurt m-”

“Amelia!” Your soon to be ex-wife leaps out of her chair and points an accusatory finger. “You stop telling lies right this instant, young lady!”

“I- I’m not,” Millie whispers to the judge. “I promised not to lie, and I don’t break promises. That would be bad.”

“I believe you, honey,” the judge promises your daughter. “Can you tell me about the days now that you’re living with your Momma and Melissa?”

The day that your daughter details in regards to living with her teacher are much brighter- full of more love and smiles. She lets the judge know that she adores living with you and Melissa. Her days start with you waking her, Melissa cooking a delicious breakfast, driving to school with the redhead and singing songs, loving always having you pick her up on time, eating dinner together and actually enjoying meal times, bedtime… She tells the judge about the day she was sick, and Melissa stayed home with her while you went to work but when you came home she was given so much love. It’s clear to everybody in the room, including Carrie, which life Millie likes more.

“That sounds like quite a fun time living with Melissa,” the judge quips thoughtfully. “I have one more question for you.”

“Yes?”

“If you were given the choice of who to live with, who would you go to?”

Your daughter doesn’t even hesitate. “Momma and Melly.”

You feel Melissa reach forward and squeeze your shoulder gently from her place, but you also hear Carrie begin to shout. She flies off the handle and tells the judge that everything the little girl said was lies- orchestrated lies that you trained your daughter to say.

The judge doesn’t like that one bit, and Carrie’s lawyer even tries to get her to simmer down.

“Mr. Judge, sir,” Millie whimpers quietly. “I- I don’t want to go to M-Mom and her boyfriend… I- I’m scared.”

The judge glances to Carrie, but at this point, she’s lost it. The woman that you used to call your life partner rushes to Millie and grabs her roughly by the arm. She begins shouting at her, shaking her, telling her that she is such an ungrateful little-

She’s torn away from the stand by one of the security guards and hauled out of the room, much to the dismay of her lawyer. He knows in that instant that he’s lost the case entirely. You’ve won. There’s no way she didn’t just put the nail in her own coffin with that little stunt. Millie, not caring that she’s supposed to stay side by side with the judge flies into your arms. You soothe her the best that you can as she climbs into your lap and buries her face in your shoulder. The little girl reaches for Melissa too, who very quickly leans forward and begins to shush your daughter gently, running her hand over Millie’s shoulder and wild locks.

The rest of what the judge has to say is a blur, but you hear the gavel slam down, and Millie, Barb, and Melissa are hugging you with such ferocity that you know you won. You have sole custody of your sweet ray of sunshine.

The next thing that you can clearly comprehend is being shuffled out of the courtroom and into the Howard van with Millie on your hip and smiling into your shoulder while Melissa holds your free hand gently.

“You won,” Melissa whispers as she pulls you in close and daringly presses a quick kiss to your cheek. “Congratulations, hun. I knew you would.”

The kindergarten teacher smirks at that action. But then she too is offering her congratulations, and you can’t help but grin.

“I’d say this calls for a celebratory dinner,” Melissa states. “Whatever the two of you want. Barbara, you’re more than welcome to come. Invite Gerald too.”

“Ger is gonna come?” Millie’s head lifts from your shoulder, and she smiles brightly.

Barbara, who was fully intending on heading home and leaving the three of you to have a ‘family’ night, can’t find it in her to deny your little girl of her wish. “Of course. Let me call Gerald now, and we can pick him up on the way.”

“What’s on the menu tonight?” the redhead asks the two of you.

“Whatever Mill wants,” you grin. “Whatever my little girl wants.”

“Melly, can you make your meatballs?”

The kindergarten teacher has to bite back a laugh at your daughter calling Melissa by the one nickname she’s always notoriously hated. “Yeah, Melly. Can you?”

“Sure, Barbie.”

Dinner is… it’s exactly what you had always hoped your life would be when you were growing up. You might not have the perfect spouse, or even a spouse at all anymore. But you have your beautiful daughter, one who is happier than ever. You have your family, and it may not be the conventional family- but they’re family. Barbara Howard, Gerald Howard, and Melissa Schemmenti are family to you more than your actual family. They’ve been here for you through the toughest of times, and they’re only going to continue to support you in life. It may not be the most conventional family, but it’s family. It’s an ordinary family dinner where everybody is a little drunk on happiness, and that’s all you could ever wish for- happiness.

It’s an early night for your little girl. She falls asleep on you not thirty minutes into settling on the couch, splayed out over you and Melissa. Barbara and Gerald make their way out once they’ve finished their glasses of the champagne that they bought the night before- they knew you would be celebrating today.

The redhead’s arm makes its way around your shoulders again, and you can’t help but rest your head on her shoulder. It’s warm, it’s comfortable, and it’s something that just feels so natural to do.

“I know I said it before,” Melissa sighs softly. “But congratulations.” She presses a soft kiss to your temple.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” you tell her honestly. “I- I really don’t think I would’ve been able to have the courage without you by my side.”

“You would’ve,” the second grade teacher tells you quietly. “I know you would’ve.”

“Well,” you turn to look up at her. “Still. Thank you.”

You stretch up to kiss her cheek, and then you linger there for a few seconds. Her eyes meet yours, and then they glance down at your lips. You think she might kiss you, and your heart begins to beat out of your chest.

But she doesn’t. Melissa knows that today left you rather vulnerable, and she doesn’t want to take advantage of you in this state. If she does ever make her move on you, she wants you to be stable and healed, and ready. And right now, you aren’t ready. And that’s okay for her. She’ll wait.

She smiles warmly at you before looking down at the little girl asleep in your laps. “I think this could be the perfect start to your new life.”

“This is all I could ever want,” you whisper. And then you close your eyes, and you drift off into the easiest sleep you’ve gotten in years.

AND THAT IS A WRAP ON THIS FIC- I HOPE YOUSE ENJOYED IT! Theres definitely a possibility of this little world continuing on, but for now... that's all folks!

Tags: (and let me know if you want to be included!): @schemmentis @thesapphictimelady @marvel210 @itisdoctortoyousir @morgana-larkin @doesthatsuggestanythingtoyou @marvels--slut @sweetcheeksschemmenti @megamultifandomtrashposts @lemz378 @http-sam @melissaschemmentisbranzino @imaginesmultifandoms @sexysapphicshopowner @lilfartbox1 @maybe-a-humanbean @imlike-so-gaydude @a-queen-and-her-throne @notinmyvocab @melanielaufeyson @dvrkhcld @cosmichymns @sasheemo @m1lflov3rrr @ricejucie @temilyrights @emilynissangtr @squinnchy @dopenightmaretyphoon @emeraldoceansstuff @shinyfaerielights @blkmxrvel @marvelwomenrule

#abbott elementary #abbott elementary fanfiction #abbott elementary fanfic #melissa schemmenti fanfiction #melissa schemmenti #melissa schemmenti fanfic #melissa schemmenti x reader #melissa schemmenti x you

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lethalchiralium · 6 months ago

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The Death of Peace of Mind | Happiness Series

a/n: i love u, have some escapism (also PLEASE roast the shit out of this like you’re in my creative writing class, thank u love u)

warnings: violence, blood

PREVIOUS <<|>> NEXT | SERIES MASTERLIST

There’s a stark difference in the snow on the ground in this forest than the snow back home in Maine. When you were little, you used to sit on the stoop of your parents’ house, bundled to the nines and your little hand holding fistfuls of powdery snow. You could look around and see saplings for miles, ready to be chopped and loaded onto a truck that would merrily lead you back to the main city - needles greener than the grass in summer, full of life and dusted with the white snow. Your dad would gently pet your head before sauntering down the steps, getting ready to head to the markets for the day. You waved, snow decorating your hand as you’d watch the old truck hobble down the driveway and disappear into the grown trees.

You used to find the snow beautiful, something to look forward to seeing every year so your mom could decorate for Christmas with the colorful lights you always liked.

All these memories seemed to cling like maggots to rotting flesh, only coming to surface when it finds a new wound to sink its teeth into.

This snow is bitter here, clinging like cigarette smoke to the jacket you snatched from the floor. It danced on your lashes, made its home in your hair, settled softly on your daughter’s head. Your stomach felt like lead, legs ready to give out at any second as you kept going as fast as you could. You used to be able to run efficiently in the snow, but now, you struggled. You ran and dodged low limbs, tried not to tumble down small hills as fear held a tight grasp on your throat.

Lloyd would wake up soon, he would see you gone and raise the alarm. You only had so little time to find some sort of shelter that wasn’t the decrepit cabin you were held in, you had to find a phone that wasn’t busted, you had to just get as far from that fuck as you could. You couldn’t even spend any energy on what almost happened thirty minutes earlier, couldn’t think of anything but hurting your kidnapper; the only strength you had was to make sure Mellie would live. You glanced down at her, her little brown eyes looking up at you with a weak glare that could send you to your knees at home. But this wasn’t home, this was miles from it, and you and your child were only a few hundred yards escaped from death’s door - not under your comforter at home, nursing her high fever. You were desperate for your husband at that moment, begging God with every second breath to bring him to you. He would know what to do, he would take your daughter away from this place.

Snow crackled underneath your feet as you kept going, the brunt of the wind hit your face like a train but you kept going. Your arms were taut around Mellie, keeping the oversized jacket around her whimpering frame. The sky was a light shade of blue, the trees danced beneath its breath, the only shelter you could find was down the mountain. You already felt like you’ve scale half of it, but you were far from close - you coming up to a sloped edge now, your feet slowed so you could peer over the edge. It was steep but you could slide down, there was another ledge, then another stretch of snow covered hills as you descended. You had no idea where you were, but you knew this had to be hell.

Tree after tree, boulder after iced over creek, your exhaustion was catching up but there was no way you would stop. There is no stop. There is no slowing down. There is only your daughter’s escape, even if means you don’t make it out.

Stop it. Winnie and Simon need you too.

What little path you had began to narrow, your fingers felt even colder than before as you came to a split in the road. You went right, knowing any trick you could play now wouldn’t work out because of the damn snow. Breathing harder every second, your vision seemed to fade in and out - Keep going.

The sound of your name being screamed at the top of Lloyd’s lungs felt like a gunshot to the chest.

Every muscle in your body seemed to roar to life, even with the snow slowing you down, you kept pushing on. Mellie whined into your collarbone, your hands burned. There was barely any indication of where the road was, you couldn’t follow the asshole’s car path because they would have been able to catch up quickly. The path was running out of terrain as another edge appeared, this one seemed like a steep drop off. You skidded to a stop, looking to a thick pine tree nearby, looking down at your daughter and making a quick decision to hide her. Ripping off your jacket, you bundled her up, and moved into the tree - digging out a small hole in the small heap of pine needles, you kissed Mellie’s face and sat her there.

There was no way out, you knew that. You would have to fight your way out - the thought clawed at your stomach the same way betrayal felt. Because you were here alone, the promise your husband made left shards of glass in your face and hands.

You will stand your ground if it meant Lloyd couldn’t have your daughter.

“Princess, you need t’sit.”

Simon pushed your frantic body towards the park bench, his guiding hand seemed too warm against your lower back. Sobs kept escaping your lips, even as you were trying desperately to silence them. “I don’t- I don’t know what’s- what’s- happening-“

“Sit.” Following his lead, you found yourself hyperventilating on a park bench after dark with your husband. He tore off his face mask, his hand cupping your cheek to make you look at him. “You feel m’hand, yeah?”

You nodded, a hiccup left your hips before another sob escaped too, your eyes closed as you tried to stop these random tears.

“No, you need to look at me, I can’t help you if you don’t look at me, love.” His voice was calm, a nudge to help you, you opened your eyes with a quickness - lashes fluttering to fight the salty tears. “Good girl. Tell me somethin’ about m’face.”

“Wha-What?”

“Do it.”

You sniffled, trying to take a deeper breath but your chest only seemed to constrict itself. More tears fell as you whispered, “You- You have pretty eyes.”

“Tell me something about m’clothes.”

A glance down, leather jacket, black t-shirt, blue jeans. “Leather jacket.”

“Good girl. How does my hand feel?”

Warm. Comforting. Like if you’d let go, he’d still be there, keeping you afloat. More tears fell. “Like home.”

“What do you hear?”

Dogs howling down the street, the brakes of the tram you two were trying to catch, Simon’s voice.

“You.”

“Good.” His other hand took one of yours, squeezing it. “Doin’ so well f’me. Can you take a deep breath now?”

You followed his command, a sob rattled around your ribcage as you exhaled.

“You can cry, baby, but you need to calm down. Gotta think straight before we get you home, yeah?”

You wondered how Simon would feel, seeing you like this. Back rested on the forest floor, heaving, coughing up blood as your knuckles felt singed by fire - if only it was fire, but it was from beating your father-in-law off of you. The fall down the steep hill onto the plateau hurt a lot more now than it did ten seconds ago, and the man now clambering to get on top of you felt like the bringer of death. Claws made of your bloodied hands, scraping them against his face as he gripped your neck - it seized, pulling up from the snow as you hit and clawed more at him, his hands remained steadfast. Air escaped your body, and no breath could be taken in - panic began to buzz throughout your body as anger fueled it.

Heavy hands that felt like paws, that felt like boulders, that felt like God abandoning you.

Not yet.

You know what to do.

A swift kick from your knee made the bastard wheeze, loosen his grip, and it left only a moment’s notice to grasp the opportunity. You slammed your fist into his nose, feeling the sickening crack before he leaned backwards, you bucked your hips before punching again. He went backwards. Again. He went backwards. Again. He’s on his back. Again. Again. He’s screaming. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

It hasn’t even been twenty minutes since you escaped with Mellie, and now you find yourself pumped full of adrenaline, beating your captor’s face in for even daring to try and take your child.

Your hands felt blood. You couldn’t tell if he was dead yet. Make sure he will be.

Three days you spent in that basement. Two hours you spent carefully laying a plan, and one moment to swing that broken bookshelf into your father-in-law’s skull. And you were choosing to ignore the beating you had received when protecting your baby, the beating both of you took as you tossed each other down a steep hill. Brawling like mountain lions - a mother protecting her cub, the other looking to devour you whole.

A scream of pain escaped your lungs, another punch to the bloody face. Another. Another. Another, until you couldn’t tell the man beneath you was the monster who fucked up your husband.

Another hard punch for Simon.

Another for Mellie.

And five more for yourself.

A laceration on your head began to throb as you could finally feel your hand, turning off of the beaten man and onto your back and into the bloodied snow. Facing the sky felt like freedom, the pain in your hand felt like the flames in your fireplace back home, your ringing ears felt like knives inside your skull - but your heart beat without fail, through the agony, through the rage and fear.

A cough escaped your chest, blood leaving with it as you turned onto your one hand and knees, looking up the steep hill which would lead you back to Mellie. The tree peaked over the crest of the ledge, your hands - through excruciating pain - gripped the mud, snow, and ice as you began to push yourself up.

“Melody, Melody Ivy,” Her name groaned from your broken voice, every handful of ice and push from your foot made your head throb more, your balance growing weaker with every push. “Mama’s comin’, Mama’s on her way, fuck.” Your whining eardrums couldn’t hear her, fear and panic still rampant in your veins, your breathing barely escaping your lips without a wheeze.

What would he do if he saw you now? The thought felt bitter, the anger leaving your throat in decibels, a few more feet and you would have to pull yourself up and over. Hike your foot up, pull yourself up with your broken hand.

He wouldn’t be here. A growl escaped you. He would be here already if he cared, if he knew. Does he know?

Does he know where you are? Does he think you’re safe at home, under your favorite blanket with Winnie asleep on your lap, your show playing on the TV? Does he think König and Roach are standing guard, Laswell talking on her phone at the table?

Does he truly believe that?

Do you?

You didn’t even notice that you had fallen further down the hill to the bottom, past Lloyd’s body, into a bed of snow and ice. The sky, grey like the ashes in your childhood home’s fireplace, blocked the sun and blue sky above. Your hands were numb, spine tingled with every breath, and your chest roared as it expanded. Maybe you lost your footing, or your hand slipped, or God just believed it was funny to let you fall farther from your child. You were going to die here, Mellie too, and it hurt. It blossomed like a rose, decaying your chest with every brush of a petal, the waves washing ashore and flooding your body with angry salt water. Your body would be found here, bones picked clean by mountain lions or foxes, and she would be safe, nestled beside the tree.

There was no peace here. No mornings in snowsuits on the porch, watching Christmas trees be hauled down the lane, squealing because of the fresh snow. No afternoons sitting by the fire with your daughters, watching an animated movie as they both napped on your lap. No evenings with your husband, talking about some meaningless memory as he brushed your hair cautiously. There was only the sky, the blood that came from your head, chest, back, and hand, and the cries of a mother who can’t do more than cry for her child.

#yay the conflict is finally written after two years #simon ghost riley #simon riley #call of duty #lethalchiralium #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #lethal chiralium #simon ghost riley x f!reader #simon ghost riley x wife!reader #simon riley x f!reader #simon riley x female reader #simon ghost riley x female reader #simon riley x wife!reader

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calmingmelody96 · 1 month ago

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The Dragon's Niece

Chapter 4 - The Dragon's Grief

Warnings: medival sexism, jealousy, mean Daemon, chracter death Masterlist

The grand hall of the Red Keep was alive with laughter, music, and the hum of conversation. The torches flickered with the wind that swept through the high windows, casting long shadows across the polished stone floors. It was a night of celebration—one of many—but this time, it held particular significance. It was a feast in honor of the future heir, for Aemma was with child once more, and this time, King Viserys harbored a quiet hope that it would be a son.

Daemon's eyes never left her. He sat across the hall, his posture perfect, his gaze dark and brooding as always. But tonight, his mind was elsewhere. As he watched Melly, now 14, move gracefully through the sea of courtiers and lords, her silver hair cascading in soft waves down her back, something twisted inside him. She was growing older. It was undeniable. She was no longer the little girl who had clung to his side for comfort. No, she was becoming a woman.

And it unsettled him.

Melly laughed as one of the knights, Ser Gwayne Hightower, made a joke. His presence hovered too closely for Daemon's liking, and Melly's sweet giggle rang through the air, something about it making Daemon's chest tighten in a way he could not explain. He had always been her protector, her guide. But now, seeing her smile at someone else with such ease—it bothered him.

"You're staring at her again," Rhaenyra's voice broke through Daemon's thoughts, and he turned his sharp gaze to his niece, who was standing at his side.

He said nothing for a moment, his eyes fixed on Melly as she joined the dancing circle, the knight at her side. She was laughing again, her cheeks flushed with enjoyment. Daemon's lips pressed into a thin line.

"What's the matter, uncle?" Rhaenyra pressed, tilting her head. "Is it not proper for her to have fun?"

"Not with him," Daemon growled lowly, his hand tightening around his goblet. His eyes flashed dangerously toward the knight, his features sharp. "She's too young to be playing at such things."

Rhaenyra's brow furrowed. "She's not a child anymore."

Daemon's gaze flicked back to Melly, and for a moment, the weight of Rhaenyra's words struck him. Melly wasn't a child anymore. She was growing, blossoming into a young woman, and he—he didn't know how to handle it.

Later that evening, as the festivities began to die down, Daemon found himself pacing outside Melly's chambers. The scent of roses and night-blooming jasmine drifted through the air, but it did nothing to calm him. His thoughts were clouded with jealousy and unease.

His boots echoed down the hallway as he walked toward her room. He was no longer the calm, collected prince; he was restless, unsettled. When he reached her door, he knocked once, then entered without waiting for an invitation.

Melly was sitting at her vanity, her fingers still tangled in the ribbon of her gown. She looked up in surprise, her face lighting up when she saw him.

"Uncle Daemon!" she exclaimed, rising to greet him. Her smile was warm, unaware of her uncle's rage and jealousy.

"Melly," he began, his voice sharp. "We need to talk."

Her brow furrowed. "What about?"

Daemon closed the door behind him with a soft thud, his eyes locking onto hers. "You were laughing with that Hightower cunt tonight," he said, his tone darker than he intended. "You were spending far too much time with that fool."

She blinked, confused. "He was just being friendly, Uncle. He was telling jokes, and I—"

"No," Daemon cut her off, his voice hardening. "It was more than that. You let him get too close. You—" He took a step forward, his eyes flashing with frustration. "You should know better."

Melly stood there, her mouth slightly agape, taken aback by the intensity of his words. "Uncle, I was just enjoying the evening. It's not a crime."

"No," Daemon muttered, his gaze darkening. "You're not allowed to entertain such men. You're not some prize to be won." He felt his chest tighten as his anger flared, a storm of emotions crashing inside him. "I won't have it."

"Daemon, please," Melly began. "It's just a dance, and a few words. I'm not—"

"Enough!" Daemon's voice rose, the harshness in it causing her to take a step back. Her eyes widened, a flash of fear passing over her face.

She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Daemon was standing in front of her, his hand gripping her arm with more force than he intended. His breath came out in quick bursts. "If I am telling you not to entertain those fools of the court, you will not continue to defy me! Understand?"

Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked up at him, her thoughts swirling. She could feel his anger and his possessiveness in the air like an electric charge. But there was something else—something darker, something deeper. She wanted to fight back, to tell him that she was her own person, but the way he looked at her, the way his presence filled the room—it made her freeze.

"Please," she whispered, the words escaping her lips before she could stop them. "Don't be angry with me."

Daemon's features softened for just a moment, and his hand released hers. But the tension in the room remained thick, heavy with unspoken emotions. He turned away, running a hand through his silver hair, clearly frustrated with himself.

"Get some rest, niece" he muttered, his tone no longer angry. "Tomorrow, there is an even bigger event."

The courtyard of the Red Keep was alive with the frenetic energy of the joust, knights charging at one another, their lances meeting with a thunderous clash. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a golden glow over the spectacle, but Daemon's attention was not on the knights or the cheers of the crowd. His gaze had long since been fixed on one figure — his niece, his sweet little Maeliora.

Melly, for her part, had noticed Daemon's gaze upon her, his eyes following her movements with an intensity that she could not ignore. There had been moments, especially in the last few months, where her connection to him had changed—shifted in ways she wasn't sure she understood. It wasn't just the odd, fleeting moments of awkwardness that had passed between them recently, nor was it the long hours of silence that had followed their last conversation. It was something else, something quieter, but no less powerful.

She couldn't help but watch him, the brooding prince, standing off to one side. There was something different in the way he looked at her now, a softness to his gaze that had not been there last night. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but every glance seemed to linger a fraction longer than usual. Her heart fluttered at the attention, but she dared not dwell on it too much.

Daemon's eyes flicked to the knights, and then to the stands, where his brother, King Viserys, stood with a mix of pride and anxiety. His thoughts shifted briefly, before returning to his niece.

"Princess," he said, after a beat of silence, "perhaps you'd like to show your support for your dear uncle, hmm?"

He took a small, deliberate step toward her. "Would you grant me the honour of your favour?" She looked up at him, her lips parting, and for the briefest of moments, the entire world seemed to still. Without thinking, she reached down, her fingers trembling slightly as she took the ribbon that she had tied and decorated with flowers. With a small smile, she handed it to him.

"For you, my prince," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, a mixture of formality and something more.

Daemon's lips curved into a smile, and for a moment, the weight of the world seemed to fall away from his shoulders. He took the ribbon from her, his fingers brushing hers in a brief, electric touch. His eyes softened as he stared into her eyes, a rare moment of tenderness flickering in his gaze.

"Thank you, princess." As Daemon turned away, Melly's eyes lingered on him, her heart beating faster than before. She couldn't quite place the feeling that had settled in her chest—was it admiration? Was it something deeper?

Daemon strode toward the field with purpose, his boots clicking against the stone as he moved. He was a force that could not be ignored, and the crowd parted before him. His eyes were fixed on one person—Ser Gwayne Hightower.

The knight looked up as Daemon approached, a frown crossing his face when he saw the intent in the prince's eyes. Daemon stopped in front of him, his posture tall and commanding.

"Ser Gwayne," Daemon said, his voice low but carrying. "I've been watching you today. Quite the joust you've had."

Ser Gwayne gave a stiff bow of his head, though he seemed unsure of the prince's mood. "My prince," he replied. "It is an honor to be in your presence."

"Is it?" Daemon's smile was cold, sharp. "Then perhaps you would care to prove your skill against me, on the field?"

There was no mistaking the challenge in his tone, and Ser Gwayne's brows furrowed. The crowd, sensing the tension, began to murmur. Daemon's reputation as a fierce duelist was known throughout the realm. But it was not just the contest that had brought Ser Gwayne's name to Daemon's lips. It was the man's proximity to Melly from yesterday's feast.

Ser Gwayne hesitated, his eyes darting between Daemon and the onlookers, but he stood his ground. "If it is your wish, my prince," he said with a forced calm, "then I shall gladly oblige."

The two knights mounted their horses, and the heralds announced the duel. The crowd hushed as Daemon and Ser Gwayne squared off, their lances raised, ready for the charge. Daemon's eyes locked onto Ser Gwayne, his expression a mixture of focus and something darker. He wasn't simply jousting for sport. This was personal.

The signal was given, and both knights spurred their horses forward with thunderous speed. The lances collided with a loud crack, and in that moment, it was clear who the better rider was. Daemon's aim was true, his strength unmatched, and with a swift twist of his lance, he sent Ser Gwayne crashing to the ground, his horse rearing in panic before galloping away.

The crowd erupted in shocked applause, though many could see that Daemon had not just bested the knight in combat. It was something more—a statement, a declaration. He had made sure to humiliate Ser Gwayne, sending a message that would not soon be forgotten.

Daemon dismounted from his horse with grace, his eyes never leaving Ser Gwayne, who lay stunned on the ground. He approached the fallen knight slowly, his footsteps deliberate.

"Perhaps next time, you should keep your distance from what does not concern you," Daemon said coldly, his voice carrying across the field.

The subtle implication of his words was not lost on the onlookers. Melly, still standing at the edge of the crowd, felt a strange chill run through her. Her gaze shifted between Daemon and Ser Gwayne, the tension between the two men palpable. She had seen the challenge, the flash of anger in Daemon's eyes—and it unsettled her more than she cared to admit.

The next day, the mood had changed entirely.

The news of Aemma's and Baelon's death had come swiftly, the tragedy a sharp and cruel blow to the royal family. The joy of the previous night's celebration had been replaced by an air of heavy mourning. Aemma, beloved by all, was gone. Her life had ended too soon, and the weight of that loss pressed down on the shoulders of every Targaryen.

The funeral was held the next day. The courtyard was silent, save for the rustling of the mourners' clothes and the distant sound of Rhaenyra's dragon, Syrax, preparing to light the funeral pyre. Daemon stood beside Melly, his presence a quiet comfort as they stood together in their shared grief.

Melly was pale, her eyes red-rimmed from the tears she had shed the night before. She had never known grief like this, the weight of loss suffocating and heavy in her chest. But Daemon was there, standing with her, offering her the support that she hadn't known she needed. His hand rested gently on her shoulder, a steadying presence in the midst of the storm.

Her own dragon was absent. She had yet to bond with one of the great beasts, as her dragon egg never hatched, and in this moment, it seemed like a cruel reminder of what she lacked. But she had Daemon. And that, at least, offered some comfort.

Rhaenyra stepped forward, her eyes filled with the same grief, and with a single command, Syrax breathed fire, lighting the pyre. The flames roared to life, rising high into the sky, consuming Aemma's body in a final, fiery embrace.

Daemon's hand remained on Melly's shoulder, his grip firm but not possessive. He stood beside her in silent support, his eyes never leaving the fire. The flames cast flickering shadows on their faces, and in that moment, it was not just the funeral that consumed the air, but the heavy silence between them. The unspoken words, the complicated feelings, the bond they shared—none of it was voiced, but it lingered in the smoke and ash that rose from the pyre.

And as the flames crackled and roared, Daemon knew that the days to come would be even harder still.

♥️❥♡❦♥️❦♡❥♥️♥️❥♡❦♥️❦♡❥♥️♥️❥♡❦♥️❦♡❥♥️♥️❥♡❦♥️❦

End Notes: Thank you so much for reading! 💖 And again special big thanks to @paulyenvol6 for proof reading and helping me to pick a title for this chapter! :)♥️

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sturn5iolo · 5 months ago

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DREAM MAKER & HEARTBREAKER

synopsis: chris had been ignoring you so you show up to a party looking for him, just for him to be with another girl.

pairing: frat boy! chris sturniolo x f!reader

warnings: drinking, angstish??, “no strings attached”relationship, not proofread

mellys note!!: this plot came up in my head while i listened to the song “moon river” by frank ocean… why?? idk? so enjoy

the sound of music blasted in your ears. you were at a frat party, mainly for chris. you knew he was going to be there. you and chris have been an off and on situationship, you knew you loved him. but did he love you?

you walked around trying to look for him, sparing a “hi” to anybody who came up to you but quickly walking away. you were so desperate to find chris because he had been ignoring you for a good few days and something in you made you feel weird. a pit in your stomach bothering you, telling you to look for him.

passing through all the drunken people who stench of alcohol and weed, you finally made it to the living room. your eyes wandered until it made it to the couch. there was chris.

but he wasn’t alone, a skinny brunette girl sat on his lap. her fingers ran through his hair, her other hand resting on his chest as he whispered something in her ear that caused her to laugh. you saw the way his lips tickled her ear, the way his hands stayed on her thighs and the way they laughed and conversed together.

jealousy started seeping out of you, but you stayed in place. your teeth dug into the insides of your cheek and your eyes watered. why were you so upset about this? you question in your head over and over.

you quickly pivot and start to go towards the kitchen counter. there you start to mix all types of drinks into a red solo cup, not even caring about how you will feel the next day. all that you could think about was chris and the random girl.

the alcohol went down your throat quickly and gave you a quick burning sensation. you winced at the taste but you just wanted the drunk feeling.

1 drink turned into 3 into 5 into too many you forgot to count. after taking probably your 9th cup, you hear someone talk to you. “think you’ve had enough?” a deep voice spoke, you look to your side, it was one of chris’ frat brothers. “ohhh heyyy! honestly no i think i need more.” you hiccup out.

before you can grab a cup, chris’ frat bro takes it away. “nope chris will kill me if i let you.” you roll your eyes, “ugh why should he care! he’s with that other girl.” the guy looks at you with his eyebrows furrowed and then chuckles, “damn girl your wasted.”

not even letting him say something else, you turn around and start walking away, not wanting to continue this conversation. somehow you made it outside, the cold wind hit you like the speed of light making you shiver a bit. you sit down on the curb of the sidewalk.

“need some company?” a familiar voice questioned you, chris. your roll your eyes once again and choose to ignore him. you hear him grunt as he sits next to you, “what do you want?” you slur. “well i heard your drunk and alone so i knew i had to find you.”

you twist your head and look at him. you haven’t seen him up close in a few days so you take in his features, and the way they glow by the moonlight. “whatever, go back to that girl you were with.” you whisper but he had still heard you. chris’ tongue glides over his teeth as he nods. “what you jealous?”

you scoff at him, “of course i was chris…how could you ignore me for days then go off flirting with her.” you say “we aren’t official..” chris tries defending himself.

at this point your speechless, you knew he was right so what’s the point on fighting back on this? you both go quiet not having anything else to say to each other.

you stand up very quickly, making you wobble a bit almost losing your balance. “welp im going to head back home! no point of having me here.” you quietly say the last part. chris stands up with you, “did you drive here yourself?” he questions you genuinely curious. you nod at him and try to walk away.

chris grabs your arm, “then no your not. you’re not driving back yourself.” you groan at him, “im not going anywhere with you?!” crossing your arms and standing in place. he rolls his eyes at you and bends his knees. you look at him confused until you feel yourself being lifted off the ground. the quick action made you dizzy, chris held you bridal style and started walking towards his car.

“put me down!” you whined out to him, but he ignored you. unlocking his car and putting you in the passenger seat. he reached over and grabbed the seatbelt buckling you in, “your so damn stubborn all the time jesus.”

#sturn5iolo #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #matt sturniolo #nick sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo smut #sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo x reader #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo #sturniolo angst #christopher sturniolo angst

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blueisquitetired · 2 months ago

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Feral in Hisui- Where are they now?

No one was expecting the hubbub they caused when returning to the future. It was pretty overwhelming.

Elesa handled the brunt of the publicity, doing interviews and speaking at length about her time in the past.

Emmet and Ingo were less interested, but they did sit through a couple more private ones.

It took a while for the battle lines to open back up (as Ingo had to get recertified and used to the city) but once they did they were more popular than they had ever been before.

It calmed down a little over time, but the fact the facility heads were known time travelers certainly helped drive up traffic

Elesa ended up dating and then later marrying Skyla

She and her designers did several collections inspired by Hisui, as well as a pro body image campaign that highlighted her new Hisuian scars

The former Lady Sneasler was given the nickname “Queenie” which she was quite proud of. She brags about it to anyone who will listen.

She ended up having several more litters over the course of her lifetime, much to the dismay of the local environmentalists.

Their poison actually made them quite well adapted for city life, and they quickly found a place in the local city ecosystem. (for better or worse)

A similar situation was caused by Snowball the zorua, who had several litters of his own after evolving.

Thankfully, these had much less of an impact on the local ecology, as the Hisuian zoruas mostly just integrated themselves into preexisting packs.

Now Unova just has both kinds of zorua/zoroark running around, and that’s just normal.

Akari had a lot to catch up on in school, and spent most of her first few years in the future with private tutors.

She still attended some of her classes in Saint Georgia’s School for the Deaf in order to socialize with peers her age.

She never grew to love the city, but was fine with the suburbs that they ended up moving to.

Her journey was (unsurprisingly) a gym run, which she did absolutely fantastic in.

She probably would have made it to the champion, if she hadn’t gotten distracted after her seventh gym badge and disappeared into the woods for six months.

(Which, while unusual, was still a valid use of a journey. It did give Ingo half a heart attack when she stopped contacting them for a while, but thankfully they were able to track her down without much trouble. After that, she dutifully called at least once a week until her journeys end)

As an adult, she ended up working as a pokémon ranger, a job she was uniquely suited for.

She thrived there, and became the best ranger in the Unova branch’s history.

Melli’s letters were recovered within a week of returning to the future. Ingo cried the whole time he was reading them.

The warden had lived a long and full life, which left quite a few letters to get through.

During his lifetime he fell in love and got married, and later adopted and raised three children with his husband.

To him, Akari was always his first child, and he always spoke fondly of her.

Emmet used his newfound powers of poké speak mostly for mischief.

Turns out pokémon are great for catching up on the hottest gossip, since no one holds back around them.

Sometimes, he sends his joltik swarm to spy on people- but this is generally ineffective as baby joltik are terrible at staying on task and remembering instructions.

He still has nightmares on occasion and the mental scars never fully disappear- but he’s still the happiest he’s ever been regardless.

Ingo misses Hisui sometimes, but he wouldn’t trade his current life for the world.

He visited enough doctors on their return home to grow absolutely sick of them, but he will admit his quality of life has improved dramatically.

He never fully heals from the soul damage, so many memories remain lost to him and he suffers relapses on occasion. Still, most of his memories return, and he’s made enough new ones to make up for the ones that don’t.

He becomes a subway boss as soon as he possibly can, and it’s just as wonderful as he had hoped.

All of their old pokémon were thrilled to see him when they met again, and the feeing was mutual.

They ended up getting along with his Hisuian pokémon without much trouble, and they all battle together well on the subway.

Ingo never regrets going home.

#submas #submas au #feralinhisuiau #akari pokemon #subway boss ingo #gym leader elesa #subway boss emmet #blue’s writing

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thebestofoneshots · 11 months ago

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Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 8.7 K Warnings: MAJOR ANGST / I’m about to angst you with an angst that you’ve never been angst with before. Prompt: Vixen believes she's in the middle, and she hates the idea of stopping any of her boys from being happy. This IS a Wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it

Chapter 53: Too Much Love Will KiII You

How would it be if you were standing in my shoes? Can't you see that it's impossible to choose No, there's no making sense of it Every way I go I'm bound to lose

The day went by as you’d expect. James didn’t take long to also walk upstairs and join the three of you in a poker game that Remus had taught you how to play. Cards weren’t that big in the wizarding world, especially not poker because of how easy they were to enchant and how hard they were to charmproof. But Remus had managed to charm his deck with a spell so riddled, it would take more time than the one you had in one game to actually crack it.

Besides, neither you nor did any of the boys want to cheat. Not when poker was so godric damned entertaining, and certainly not with how fun it was to see Sirius lose to you, James and Remus all the time. He couldn’t bluff, even if he wanted to.

It’s not that Sirius was a bad liar per se, in fact, if he played against anyone other than you three (even against Peter who had always been a little absent-minded) he would have easily tricked them, unfortunately for him, his two best friends and his girlfriend were too good at uncovering his inner intentions.

It was in the little twitch of an eye, in the way he put effort into trying to maintain a straight face, in the way he would look you in the eye or avoid it.

“Raise,” Sirius said and placed another sickle into the money cauldron you had placed on the bed. The four of you were sitting. James had pulled out a chair, Sirius was sitting by Remus and you were on the other side of the bed, where you made sure no one could see your cards.

You gave Remus a look, he shook his head. “I fold,” you said.

“Me too,” James agreed, he hadn’t seen Remus and your interaction, Sirius’ face had been enough, he could almost smell the confidence oozing from his friend.

Sirius smiled as he brought down his cards, three Aces. It had been a brilliant move to call it, Remus had called earlier, since he’d gotten a meagre pair of threes, and you had two jacks, but there was nothing on the table to help you besides that.

Sirius smiled and brought the money to his side, letting the little bronze coins twinkle and be a mess in his lap while Remus sighted. His and yours were neatly accommodated in stacks. “‘Nother round?” James asked as he munched on some popcorn that Mellie had brought. You had some chocolate on your lap and you opened the package.

“Mhm,” you agreed, you were about to give a bite to your chocolate when Sirius leaned over Remus’ legs and beat you to it, “Oi!”

He turned to you with a pair of puppy eyes and a little pout. You sighed in disbelief and then he leaned over and pressed a short kiss to your lips before he pulled back. You were startled by his sudden action, and your eyes almost instantly turned to Remus, whose gaze was fixated on Sirius as he munched on the rest of the chocolate and picked up the cards to shuffle them.

You swallowed, you hated the butterflies in your stomach because no matter how delighted Sirius’ kisses made you feel, you knew they were making your best friend upset. You bit your lip as you looked at them both, at the way Remus attentively looked at Sirius’s hands. It was easy to justify such a stare, he wanted to make sure Sirius wouldn’t cheat, but you knew the real reason behind it. Sirius had nice hands, you had stared at his hands before, and damn he was dexterous with them.

“You’re doing it wrong,” James said, and took the cards from Sirius’ hands, Remus broke his stare and looked up almost nervously, meeting yours, you offered him a soft smile and turned to James who had made a mess of the cards. You bit your lip trying not to smile and picked Sirius’ wand from the side, waving it over the mess, the cards floated and then neatly arranged themselves on a stack.

“Thanks, Vix,” he said, taking them in his hands before he proceeded to shuffle them. Once he was satisfied enough with the shuffling, he started to deal. You got a card first, then Sirius, he handed one to Remus and then he pressed one over his lap.

By the time James finished dealing the cards, you had already taken a look at your stack, and it took a great deal of effort not to let your eyes shine when he placed the first card from the stack onto the table. Good game.

This one drew out for longer, either everyone else had a great stack, or they were bluffing, so you had to pay attention to them, James seemed slightly nervous when you raised for the third time, and he swallowed before placing money on the cauldron. Remus looked confident, but you’d recently gotten a lot better at reading him, and you didn’t think he actually had a great game.

As for Sirius, the three of you already knew he was bluffing, which is why perhaps the two other boys were still raising you. Sirius had an overly confident smile on his face, but he had not stopped tapping his finger over his knee since James placed the second card on the table. You thought it was adorable that he hadn’t quite realised what he was doing yet either.

“Raise,” you said.

Sirius placed more money on the centre along with Remus and you. James called at that point, not revealing his game yet, but placing his cards on the bed with a rather defeated air as he grabbed a fist of popcorn and brought it to his face.

Remus raised along with you. Sirius threw a nervous look at you, taking in your confident stance and taking in a deep breath. “Raise,” he said, a challenging look on his face.

You placed a couple more coins in the centre without much thought. Remus did the same, enjoying the tension between you and Sirius. You were eyeing each other in such a solemn manner that it was hard for him to hold back a laugh. Even if he lost, it didn’t matter at this point, he just loved your little concentrated faces.

“All or nothing?” Sirius said as he swallowed.

“Sure,” you said.

“Vixen that’s–” James said when he realised what you were about to do, he wasn’t sure Sirius was bluffing anymore. But you were.

“Shhh, you’re out of it, Prongs,” Remus said as he too pushed his stash onto the table.

James tilted his head to the side and looked at the three of you nervously. “Well then, show your cards,” he urged.

You took yours but then Sirius stopped both you and Remus by placing his hands on your arms. Remus gave his hand a look and you turned to him with a frown “I raise again.”

“You can’t raise again, all the money is in the pot,” you said matter of factly. “Well, the cauldron,” you added as you pointed at the pile.

“Never said I’d raise with money, Étoile,” he responded. Sirius was in the deep end. He had a pair of fours and a bunch of other useless cards. He had to get you to fold somehow. “Whoever loses, stays shirtless for the rest of the day.”

“I can’t really take off my bandages,” Remus said as he threw Sirius a look.

“Fold then,” Sirius answered with a satisfied smile.

“Twat,” he responded and threw his cards into the bed. “You don’t have to comply with it, Luv. Sirius is desperate.”

“You’re out of it, Moons,” Sirius retorted and turned to you with a daring look.

“Shirtless, the rest of the day?”

“You’re more than welcome to fold if you don’t believe in your hand, that is.”

“Sirius I don’t think–” James started but Sirius threw him a look.

“Fine,” you smiled. “Whoever loses has to stay shirtless.”

Remus groaned and covered his face with his eyes. He knew Sirius was bluffing, but he wasn’t sure if you were bluffing too, and he had seen Sirius shirtless plenty of times, he wasn’t sure he was ready to see you shirtless though. “Little Witch, can you never back down from a fight?”

“Nope,” you said with a smile. “I’m confident in this one.”

“Yeah, well me too. I raise you again–”

“Shut up Sirius and show your cards now, she’s not going to fold and I don’t need people walking naked in my house,” Prongs said.

Time for showdown, you thought as you looked at Sirius and placed your cards on the table. He knew he was doomed the minute he spotted your king, a perfect match for the one on the bed, not to mention the three queens beside him.

“Fuck,” he said as he left his card on the bed too. “I thought you were trying to bluff.”

“Vix is cunning, but no one in her right mind would have accepted your stupid raise if they didn’t know they were gonna win,” James said.

Sirius sighed and took off his shirt and threw it your way, you had also seen him shirtless a couple of times, and you’d be lying if you said he didn’t look good, even if he was thinner than both James and Remus. You pulled his shirt from your face and smiled when you realised it was the Bowie shirt he liked to wear all the time.

Sirius placed both of his arms around his torso, the chill of the open window was enough to make him shiver, you took the cauldron with money and placed its contents into your front pocket, you hadn’t thought just how useful the overalls would be when you bought them.

“I’m keeping this one,” you said as you motioned to his shirt, he gaped at you.

“That wasn’t the deal!”

“Was it him or me the one that decided to put clothes into the pot?” you asked, turning to the two other boys as you did.

“I think it was Padfoot, wasn’t it?” Prongs teased.

“I’m most definitely sure it was him,” Remus agreed with a smile. Sirius groaned in response.

“I’m not a petty winner,” you said as you untied the jumper you’d been wearing from around your shoulders and threw it his way. “Take this, we don’t want you to freeze.

Remus tried not to laugh at the face Sirius made when he caught the jumper and held back a smile when Sirius put on his jumper. Sirius didn’t steal his jumpers as often as you did, he always had his jacket around, and Remus would be lying if he said seeing Sirius wearing his clothes didn’t make him feel stuff.

“Doesn’t look bad on you,” you teased.

“Doesn’t smell as bad as I thought it would,” he retorted. “You’ve been wearing it for days.”

You gasped at that and pushed him lightly. Remus turned to pick up his deck while you and Sirius continued to bicker and really tried not to eye Sirius again.

Sunday, January 9th, 1977

Remus had stayed on the bed and both you and Sirius had turned into your animagus so you could fit alongside him, it was undoubtedly comfortable, almost like things were settling back into normal. But of course, they were not normal, and they couldn’t be. Not after everything that had happened. Not now that you knew things that you weren’t supposed to know.

You had woken up at some point during the night, and you tried to ignore the pang in your heart when you noticed Sirius had turned back during the night again, and he was nuzzling into Remus’ shoulder in the same way you sometimes nuzzled into yours. You weren’t sure he looked nearly as comfortable in your arms as he did in his.

You stared at the two of them for a minute before you turned your head and wrapped your tail around yourself. Trying to find comfort in its fluffy embrace, as you swallowed. You really had been too blind, it had been there all the time. You’d taken pictures of it, you’d thought it was funny and adorable, you teased Sirius for it for fucks sake, how did you not see it before?

It had always been right in front of your eyes. You weren’t sure you had ever felt more stupid. Remus was asleep, but he somehow sensed your stirring on the bed and instantly placed his hand over your back, gently brushing his fingers over your fur, like he had done so many times during those nights when you could barely sleep back in his parent’s cottage.

He was the best friend you’d ever had, and here you were, making him miserable, making both him and your boyfriend miserable. Feeling terrible over it, you jumped down from the bed and allowed yourself to lay close to the fire. Trying not to think how nice it had been that one time when Remus had walked right beside you and wrapped the two of you with the covers. You really didn’t deserve him, you didn’t deserve to cry on his lap, not when you were the main cause of his heartache. Not when you were the one impeding his love to come into fruition.

Perhaps you really were as terrible as you had said yourself to be back then when you could only think about what you’d done at the Christmas Party. Remus had convinced you otherwise, but he was probably wrong. It had all been your fault, and your mother was dеad and the person you’d tried to save hadn’t even made it out alive. You really had made everything worse, and perhaps you were doing that here too.

Perhaps that was something inherent to you, something that you couldn’t shake out. Perhaps you just carried misery with you in the same way James carried fun, Sirius carried love and Remus carried comfort. Maybe you had been cursed and you didn’t know about it, maybe it was the fae blood, cursed for mixing with wizards.

“Hey, what’s up?” James asked as he sat beside you.

You turned to him surprised, turning into your human form as you looked at him startled. “Did I wake you?”

“No, I was going to the bathroom, saw a little fox moping the corner.”

“Not moping,” you said with a frown. “It was cold.”

“And I’m as brilliant at potions as Dad,” he responded sarcastically. Then pushed you slightly with his shoulder. “Is it about Christmas? Do you wanna talk about that?”

You sighed, “It’s not,” you said honestly. “Not entirely at least.”

“Then?”

“James, if you loved two people, and you knew they loved each other, would you step out of the way and let them be happy without you?”

“What kind of question is that?” he asked with a frown.

“Just something I read in a book,” you lied.

James turned to you as if assessing you, but he couldn’t tell what was going on in your head, you just looked at the fire, and then leaned your head on your knee as you turned to him, “So?”

“Do you really think those two people would be happier if they were together?”

“I don’t know,” you replied. “But the main character knows they could never test their love if they’re in the middle.”

“Well, I guess I’d leave. Wouldn’t you?”

“Even if you love one of them?”

“Didn’t you say it was both?” James asked, confused.

“I mean– yeah. Just not the same kind of love, I guess.”

“What kind of book are you reading?” James asked with a frown.

You tried not to panic, “It’s a muggle book, Russian, and very cheesy, you wouldn’t like it.”

“What did the main character do?”

“Haven’t read that part yet.”

“Well, I think he should do the right thing, don’t you?”

“Probably,” you said as you let out a long sigh. James was now bouncing his leg right next to you. “Weren’t you going to the bathroom?”

“Yeah,” he said as he stood up. “Just wanted to check up on you, I’m glad you’re upset over a book and not something else.”

“Yeah,” you said with a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes, perhaps if there had been more light, and James wasn’t as blind as a Wilddeoren without his glasses he would have noticed. “I guess I got really invested.”

Finally, he left towards the bathroom, you turned back into Vixen and returned to the bed, staying near the side rather than climbing back onto Remus’ chest.

When you woke up again, Sirius was looking at you with a smile. “Ready for the party?”

“Isn’t that in a couple of hours?” you asked.

“But it’s going to be so much fun! Monty said we could raid his alcohol stash as long as Effie didn’t notice.”

You smiled, if James was as much of a troublemaker as he was, it was because both Monty and Effie took turns to allow him to do stuff without the other noticing. He’d learned how to fly when he was five behind Monty’s back, and he’d been allowed to drink since he turned 14, behind Effie’s.

“How nice of him,” you replied. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I think he's preparing some pancakes for us. James and Remus are helping.”

“James is helping?”

“He’s good, you’d be surprised,” Sirius said with a laugh. His teeth gleamed as the beam of sun from the window fell on his face. You allowed your head to rest on the pillow as you looked at him. He was stupidly pretty. You were about to lean closer to him when Picksie approached a few feet behind Sirius.

“Master Fleamont says the food is ready,” She said with her squeaky little voice.

It was hard not to laugh at the face Sirius made, he knew he was getting a kiss before she appeared, but after a defeated sigh he stood up and extended his hand for you to take, “You’re coming, Étoile?”

The hours flew by a lot faster than you expected. James was absolutely thrilled about Lily coming over to his house for the first time and he didn’t shut up about it all through breakfast. Effie seemed keenly interested in meeting the girl –officially– and Monty was a little worried as a dad who had utter confidence in his child.

You were all sitting in the living room, already changed into party clothes, that being a simple skirt, the shirt you’d won at poker (to rub it on Sirius), and a jumper Moony had thrown your way when he saw it was snowing again. Remus and Sirius were playing magic chess while you read a book and James had dozed off on the couch just next to you –he’d been trying to read a book to impress Lily and it wasn’t going that well.

Sirius was looking at Remus as he made his next move, the taller boy had both of his arms folded over his chest and was biting his lip as he drew all the scenarios in his head. There was a softness in his gaze that you hadn’t noticed before, something akin to admiration, but so much more than that. He realised you were staring and he shot you a wink.

“Horse F5,” Remus said, and his horse moved to break one of Sirius’ pawns into pieces.

“Were you just waiting for me to get distracted?” Sirius scoffed.

“Well, it’s not my fault you were looking at Vixen while I decided to make a move,” Remus responded with a shit-eating grin. He had, indeed, been waiting.

“Jerk,” Sirius complained and turned back to the chessboard. His tower was just a few blocks from the horse and he could destroy him, but Remus had made sure to move his horse near one of his pawns. If Sirius took revenge, he would lose his tower as well, and this time he’d be losing to a pawn. He huffed and made a different move.

You looked at the two of them after that, just paying attention to the way they played, at just how comfortable they seemed to be around each other. You hated it, not how happy they were, that was delightful, it filled your heart with joy to see them smiling and joking around.

Both of them –although one had a loud personality– had a gloomy atmosphere that they seemed to carry along at all times. While Remus tended to be quiet and reserved, and Sirius played jokes to mask his feelings, both of them had a sort of dolefulness deeply embedded within them. You’d seen it when you looked at them in the halls and when they had been apart from the rest of their friends for a while.

You noticed when they were around James it lifted, and how could it not? James’ personality was warm and welcoming enough to melt even the most frozen of people, but even that, was nothing compared to what you were seeing just now. The way they joked, the way they talked, it was absolutely fascinating how much they cared for each other.

And then there was you, you made them happy too, you weren’t stupid enough not to notice, but it was when they were both together that that dolefulness seemed to lift almost completely from their shoulder as if it never had been there in the first place as if there had never been a tragic backstory burdening their minds.

What you were too stupid to see back then, was that whenever you saw that, the magic that seemed to be almost buzzing through both boys as they chatted and joked together was that even though they were interacting with one another, you were also in the room.

John Berger once said, "Every spectator is a participant”. And really, without your participation in such scenes, the result wouldn’t have been the same. The perfect atmosphere that you seemed to admire so much, the peak of mood that made your heart ache for their longing for each other, was only there because you were there too.

But with the thoughts clouding your mind, with the things that had happened in Christmas and with the self-loathing that you couldn’t shake no matter what you tried, no matter how many people called you brave, you were far from seeing the truth. Too wrapped up in your inner turmoil, in your own struggle to think of yourself as anything other than chaos, that you were far closer to worrying yourself to dеath with despair than from seeing the truth so clearly displayed behind the dull fabric of self-hatred you’d placed over yourself.

You thought you were so smart, and yet you were about to make a move more stupid than the King to C6 that had gotten Sirius straight into the checkmate Moony had been cornering him into the entire game.

The bell rang, snapping you out of your thoughts, you turned your face towards the door and left the glass you had in your hand near the table where Remus and Sirius had been playing wizard’s chess. James had dozed off on the couch and rather than waking him up, you thought of attending the door yourself.

Marlene was on the other side of the door, hair shorter than it had been before, and a huge smile on her face when you were the first thing she saw. She rushed to hug you. “I’m so happy to see you’re here,” she said with a sigh. “You know I’m on your side, right? Always.”

“Have they been talking about me on the papers?” you asked, not wanting to hear the answer, but asking anyway.

“Your father talked to the press,” she breathed, “he said you… he said you ran away from home after your mother passed and he said he was looking for you and hoping you came back home soon. That’s what your mother would have wanted. It also sounded a bit like you had been partly to blame for the fire.”

You held back a sad scoff. He wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t true. Except he had omitted the fact he had tortured her, and forced you to find a distraction. “Of course, he would,” you sighed. “At least Dumbledore knows what actually happened.”

“You– trust him?”

“He might not have whatever happens to us in his best interest, Marlene. I know he cares about stopping them more than anything. But… we’re fighting for the same cause… and I think he cares, even if it’s just a little.”

“The war…”

You sighed and then shook your head, replacing the strained expression you had with a smile. “But that’s not why we’re here. We’re celebrating a new year and we’re not going to dwell on the sad stuff, now while we’re together.”

Marlene seemed hesitant about your quick change, but upon realising it was your only way of coping, she nodded and mirrored your reaction. The moment she walked into the room she went straight to wake James up and told him off –jokingly– about being a terrible host and letting his guests do all the hosting for him.

Poor James looked so confused the minute Marlene showed up that he stood up and got everyone snacks and something to drink. Slowly but surely the house started to fill up with your friends. Mary and Lily came together since Effie had gone to get them so they could all apparate back in the house, Tom arrived by Floo and Beth rode a broom since she didn’t leave too far from the Potters.

It really was more of a small gathering than a party, only the close group of Gryffindors had been invited since James’ parents were still hesitant about the entire thing getting too big and accidentally ending up with dеatheaters at their doorstep. But it was perfect, nonetheless. Seeing your friends was lifting up your spirits.

Lily had gone straight to hug you when she arrived and the boys wouldn’t stop teasing James about it, he was clever enough to retort Sirius’ comments by reminding him that you had once said you were into redheads and he was the one that should be worried.

“If we start dating, you can just date each other,” Lily added to the joke to which James made the face of someone who was actually considering it and Sirius made one disgusted.

“That would be like dating Regulus,” James said and got shoved by Sirius who said something about being more handsome than his brother.

Still, you didn’t miss the way Sirius’ gaze flickered, looking for Remus who was talking to Mary in one of the corners. You took a deep breath after that and thought –stupidly– the only solution to the thoughts currently tormenting you, would be alcohol. You walked towards the improv drink section they had created and poured yourself some of the ice vodka James had snatched from Monty’s stash. He’d charmed the flask so he could fill an entire bottle inside and gave it to you when Lily asked him to dance.

You debated on whether to add anything else and decided against it, although it tasted fantastic with Mellie’s lemon juice (you had tried it last night when the boys convinced you and Remus to play Monopoly again but this time wasted so they had a better chance of winning– Remus won anyway). But you wanted the punch the drink would give you more than the taste. You downed the glass like a shot and served yourself another bit, this time actually adding the Lemon Juice.

“How come you’re not all over Sirius?” Tom asked as he approached you. “He looks incredible today.”

You huffed in response, taking another sip of your cup, and mumbling a short “I know.” The problem was, Remus knew too. You had seen him gaze at him more times than you could count. He had gazed at you too, the skirt you chose to wear not helping him with his rather active imagination, so instead he tried to look anywhere else. He did not want to be a perv, let alone be caught checking his best friend’s girlfriend out.

“You okay?” he asked, confused.

“Yeah, yeah,” you responded with a sigh. “I’ve been thinking too much, I think.”

“Want something to think less?” he asked as he took out a small flask from his front pocket. Not big enough for alcohol, but certainly big enough for a good potion.

What a terrible idea that was. “What is it?”

“New creation, been working on it over the break. Kind of like the potion at Halloween but with a few tweaks here and there.”

“Is it good?”

“Haven’t tried it yet… So, you want it?”

You had a mission, you had to figure out what to do, not that you wanted to have that mission, and not that you wanted to figure it out either, every choice seemed like the wrong one, every turn and you’d hurt someone (yourself included). You were tired, you just wanted things to be like before… before you knew.

Selfish, a small voice in your head shouted, that’s selfish.

“If you knew two people were in love, and you were in the middle of it. But these are two people who are basically made for each other, and they’ve known the other for longer than they’ve known you, would you step out of the way?” You asked him, eerily similar to what you’d asked James in the middle of the night. Perhaps more perspective could help you.

Tom pulled the flask back into his pocket and gave you a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” you lied, snapping out of it. “A book I was reading… The potion?”

He placed his hand on his pocket, then on his back pockets. “Sorry, Slysprite, I must have misplaced it.”

“I really could have used some of it,” you added with a laugh. And that was exactly why there was no way in hell Tom would give it to you, he was tempted to take the beverage from your hands as well, but he was half scared of what an angry you would do, so decided to leave that to someone who was way closer.

“I think Remus is looking for you,” Tom said as he pushed you towards him and left you on the sofa next to the boy. “Mary, darling, care to dance?”

She smiled and grabbed Tom’s hand, leaving you and Remus alone. Sirius was off playing potion pong with Marlene, although they hadn’t actually used any potions and were using booze instead.

You let your head fall on the back of the sofa, sliding a few inches down and sighing. Remus leaned over your frame to give you a better look while ignoring your skirt and how much it had ridden up. “Are you okay?” he asked, concern laced in his tone. He grabbed the cup from your hands and brought it to his nose, smelling the contents before wincing. It was more vodka than lemon juice. “How many of these have you had so far?”

“Not that many,” you replied, which wasn’t a lie. “I’m not drunk.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said simply. “You’re… upset. Is it the party? You want to leave?”

“No, not at all,” you said. “I love seeing everyone happy. Did you see Prongs and Lily? I’m pretty sure he strategically placed mistletoe all over the doors so he could steal as many kisses from her as possible. She seems as delighted as he is.”

Then why do you look upset? Remus thought, not wanting to ask yet.

“You sure?” he asked as he poked your cheek.

You opened your eyes, first just a little and then you focused on him. He looked concerned, very concerned, you could tell he cared about you an insane amount. It made the guilt even stronger, here he was, so concerned over you and your pain while you were constantly causing him heartache. Both of them had to steer away from the other because of you.

You smiled. “You know I’d go to the ends of the earth for you, right?” you said as you placed a hand on his cheek, brushing one of his scars with your thumb and holding him in place when he was taken aback by your words.

“What?”

“I want you to be happy too.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked as he took your hand from his cheek and held it in his, a frown etched on his beautiful features. Even now, you were causing him pain.

“Nothing,” you said. “I know… I know what’s making you so upset, I’ll stop that.”

“What?!” Remus asked, a hint of panic in his voice that brought you back to reality, away from his hypnotising brown eyes and puppy-like gaze, you didn’t blame Sirius, you couldn’t blame him. In the same way, you couldn’t blame Remus.

“Nothing,” you repeated, this time more dismissively than before, “I must have had too much to drink… you want some?” you added as you looked for the glass that was now on the table, took it in your hands and offered it to him.

Remus frowned and took the glass from your hands. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Hmm?” you asked, turning back to him, Sirius had been looking at the both of you with interest. You would have to talk to him. “Yeah, totally. You know Tom made a new potion.”

Remus sighed when he heard that. Now things made sense. You weren’t lying. You knew Remus could sometimes smell a lie of yours from miles away, so you decided to tell the truth. Tom had made a new potion, you never said you had drunk it.

“I’ll get you some water,” Remus said as he stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

Sirius was already there, looking through James’ secret snack stash to find something salty, he was really craving something salty. “Is she okay?” he asked.

“She drank something Tom made,” Remus said simply. “I think she’s okay, just saying some weird stuff.”

“Like what?” Sirius quipped curiously.

“Some nonsense about making me happy,” Remus responded, he’d taken a glass from the cupboard and was now filling it on the sink.

“Mhm?” Sirius asked as he pulled a bag of fizzing whizbees and turned to Remus. “Maybe she’s just thankful for everything that you’ve done for her lately, wants to make it up to you.”

“There’s nothing to make up for,” Remus said simply and caught the small ball Sirius had thrown his way with his left. “What’s with this?”

“You look like you need some candy,” Sirius said as he took a step closer to Remus. “You’re kind of pale.” Sirius was now so close to Remus he could see the freckles that hid beneath his scars. “Maybe you should eat a bit more.”

Remus took a step back. What was with you and Sirius? Both seemed to have this unworldly desire to touch him today, he could barely find a way to run away.

“I’m perfectly fine,” Remus said and plopped the fizzing whizbee on his mouth, he started floating shortly after. “Fucking hell.” It was more of an exasperated curse than anything else.

Sirius laughed, reached for Remus’ hand and pulled him down. Ignoring entirely how well it felt to have Remus’ hand in his. “Didn’t think you’d eat it,” he said with a short shrug, still not letting go of Remus’ hand.

“Maybe you should talk to her instead,” he said, turning back to the sofa, but you weren’t there anymore. He frowned.

“Care to share?” you asked. Remus turned to you with a mortified expression and snapped his hand away from Sirius, floating back up for a second, until he coughed a couple of times and went back down.

Sirius looked at Remus diverted, and smiled even further when he handed the glass of water to Sirius and excused himself by saying he needed to go to the bathroom. You looked at Sirius, at the way his eyes trailed behind Remus before fixating on you. He had never looked at James like that. He had never looked at any of his other friends like that. In fact, you might dare say, the only person he had ever given than look, was you.

He then walked towards you, there was a table in between the two, but he extended his hand with a small red ball towards you.

We should talk, you thought as you took what he offered.

Rather than taking the candy to your mouth, you placed it on the table and turned back to look at Sirius. He was as beautiful as always. Long lashes, stunning grey eyes, hair curling around his face in that angelic and yet somehow devilish look he had going on.

His gaze was as lost on you as yours was on him, but while his thoughts were filled with you, yours were filled with suspicion of the feelings you knew he harboured for someone else. You rounded the table to walk right in front of him and took the glass of water from his hands before bringing it to your lips. You took a long and gentle sip before pulling it down again and looking at Sirius.

“You like him, don’t you?” you said, voice steady, somehow steadier than you’d thought you’d manage.

“What!?” Sirius asked, confused. There was a hint of panic in his voice as if he knew he’d been found out but was trying to hide it anyway.

“Remus,” you said simply, as if it were the most natural thing ever –it was.

You saw him tense, and you smiled, reassuringly in return. “It’s in your gaze, Sirius. You look at him the same way you looked at me when we met. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

He placed both hands on your arms, shaking you to look at him instead of the door. Desperate, Sirius was desperate. “But I don’t love you any less.”

You smiled, a sad sort of smile that Sirius hated to see on your face. But he hated himself more for hurting you, for making you feel like you were not enough, for allowing you to see how desperate he was for love that even when he had it, he craved more of it.

“I’m sure you don’t,” you said, placing your hand on his cheek. He leaned into it instantly. Like he did all the time. Almost brushing his head onto your hand. There was a conflicted frown on his soft features, tears threatening to form. “Hey,” you said simply, he leaned his head onto your shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have… I should have been better at hiding it, you must think I’m the worst person in the entire universe.”

“Of course not,” you said as you scratched his scalp the way you knew would calm him. “You just fell in love.”

“With my straight best friend,” he said. “Just…” he sniffed. “I’m sure I’ll get over it. It might just be my way of discovering I’m like you and Tom.”

“Bisexual?” you offered.

“Yes, that,” Sirius didn’t dare to say the word. “I’m sure Moony’s just an outlet, I can’t be in love with him, I love you.”

You swallowed, he wasn’t making it any easier. You really didn’t want to do it, you hated the idea of losing him, but he deserved to be happy, they both did. “He’s not straight.”

“What?” he asked.

“He’s not straight,” you repeated. “Remus, he… he likes boys too.”

Sirius pulled his head from your hand and looked at you with the most bewildered expression you had seen on him, “What?”

“More specifically, he likes you.”

“No,” he said as he shook his head. You nodded in response. “What about Alice?”

“He started going out with her after Halloween, remember? What exactly were you doing on Halloween?”

“I was dancing with you and–” it seemed like Sirius had seen things from the outside for the first time ever. “Merlin! He did it because I was– Because I was with you.”

“And your sudden urge for kisses?” You added, your eyes were watery, you had to take deep breaths to hold the tears back, to stay calm. You’d analysed most of your interactions together by now, everything you remembered. Sirius had liked Remus for far longer than he’d even realised he had.

“No, that wasn’t the reason. I wanted to kiss you.”

“I’m certain you did,” you said with a smile. It was that same sad smile you had been prompting since the start of the conversation.

“Look at me,” Sirius said as he shook your shoulders again. “I love you. I love you and you need to understand that. I’m not going to leave you for him. No matter how incredible he might be. No matter if he likes me. I love you.”

And you knew he would. But it wouldn’t be worth it, it wouldn’t be fair for any of you. You’d told Remus you would do anything for him. He had saved your life, he had cared for you when you were hurt, and he would have gone to the ends of the earth to make you smile. How could you pay him back if you tied Sirius down to you? When you tied him down knowing he liked Remus too?

“I know,” you said reassuringly. And you did, you never doubted Sirius’ love for you, it was just as undeniable as his love for Remus. Sirius had such a big heart, he could love and love and he deserved all the love, all of it. He deserved Remus’ love. And you weren’t sure he’d ever be able to enjoy it if you were in the middle of it. You wanted him to be happy, you wanted both of them to be, even if it was in each other’s arms, and not in yours.

Sirius pulled you into a kiss, desperate to show you how much he loved you. You kissed him back, but you were soft and tender in comparison to his desperate breaths. Sirius realised too late the kind of kiss you were giving him.

“Don’t do that,” he said as he pulled away.

You rubbed your thumb over his cheek. Sirius was terrified now. Terrified that the one thing he thought would happen if you found out would actually happen, that you would leave him. But in this case, you weren’t leaving him because you were mad, you didn’t even seem angry at all, it was more like you wanted to step out of the way.

“Stop it,” he repeated, now petulantly, almost like a child. “Don’t be good, don’t be the hero. Be selfish! Be selfish, be selfish for me.”

The more Sirius talked, the harder it was for you to continue. You wanted to be selfish, you wanted to keep him, but not at the expense of other’s pain, not at the expense of Remus’. Remus and Sirius needed love, and you could only make them both happy if you allowed them to give it to each other, or so you thought.

Sirius leaned in to kiss you again but this time you moved your mouth out of the way, placing a soft kiss on his cheek instead. You could feel the wet hot tears dampen your lips as you kissed him. At first, you weren’t sure who they belonged to, but you had somehow managed to hold yours in this far.

Sirius whispered your name as he gripped onto your shirt, bunching it up in a futile attempt to hold you. “Please,” he begged. “Please don’t do this. I don’t want him, I will never want him. Please-”

“If only we could choose our nature,” you sighed. “We said we wouldn’t lie to each other, remember?”

“Please,” he pleaded, every muscle on his face turning into the most evident show of agony.

Sirius had never begged to a woman in his entire life, he was ready to go down on his knees and be as pathetic as he needed. Whatever means he had to do to convince you to stay. To not leave him for being so stupid. To not disappear again. You placed both of your hands over his, gently pushing them off your shirt, and pulling him into a hug.

He relaxed as you dug your head into his neck and inhaled the delicious scent so particular of Sirius Black. And then you said it. “Go after him, Sirius.”

He looked at you like you had betrayed him as you pulled apart. He tried to hold onto your arm but you were quicker to move it out of his grasp. Turning your back to him and walking towards the door.

“I love you more. I will always love you more. It’s just a stupid crush, I’m sure it will–” he stopped. He didn’t believe that either, there was no way he’d trick you. You kept walking towards the door. “Please don’t leave me,” Sirius said, tears streaming down his face. “I don’t want to be alone.”

You staggered, the tears you had fought so hard to hold were now streaming down your face, you held back a sob. You didn’t want him to know you were crying too, you wanted to spare him the heartache. You thought of turning around, you thought of running to hug him and tell him things would be all right, telling him that it didn’t matter, that you’d find a solution that made everyone happy. But you knew you were lying to yourself. Remus wouldn’t be happy if you were with Sirius and Sirius wouldn’t be happy if he couldn’t be with Remus either. It was best to step out of the way before it was too late.

Before you wouldn’t be able to pull away even if you wanted to. You could barely do it now.

You took a deep, trembling breath and then willed your mouth to still again before you spoke, “You won’t be alone, Sirius. Go and talk to him.”

Sirius’ despair had now transformed to anger, he stalked your way and made you turn around in a harsh movement so uncharacteristic of him and the way he touched you all the time that you looked at him with shock.

“I’m not going to let you run away from this like you’ve been running away from your pain ever since Christmas!”

The harsh truth. Spit into your face with the anguished face of the person that– probably the person that you loved the most.

“I’m sorry,” you said, tilting your head, “I can’t help you.”

“Tell me you don’t love me, and I will stop. I won’t look for you. Go ahead, I dare you.”

Sirius had never been one to keep his temper cool, it was easy to get a rise out of him and you had often done it for fun. Never had it been real, never had you seen him so angry, so wrecked. You were doing this to him.

Your lips trembled. You hated this, you hated causing so much pain to him. You were trying to make him happier, couldn’t he see?

Of course, he couldn’t. Sirius would never fathom a life without you as a happy one. They were an antithesis to each other, and there was no way he’d ever be happy if you weren’t there. If you and Remus weren’t there.

He wouldn’t stop, he wouldn’t go to him if you didn’t do it. You bit your lip, gaze flickering. Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Remus. He was talking to Lily, she was laughing and he had a smile on, but it wasn’t a real one, he was upset.

Maybe because you and Sirius were in the kitchen together doing god knows what. Your quivering stilled, your choice had been made easy. You knew what you had to do, and while the pain that Sirius’ broken gaze gave you was unbearable, much worse than cruciatus, you knew, just like that time, why you had to take it and why you were willing to do it.

“I don’t love you, Sirius,” you said, slow, carefully articulating every word, trying to spare them of the feelings you had stuck in your head, of the words desperate to come out: I do, I’m lying, don’t listen to me, I’m lying. “I stopped loving you the second I figured you had feelings for Remus.”

“You’re lying,” Sirius said unconvinced, voice trembling.

“I’m sorry,” you said tilting your head to the side. “You should talk to Remus, though.”

You somehow managed to slip from his grasp and walked towards the stairs. You wiped your tears away, and you were so busy with your task that you didn’t see Remus as you bumped into him. He looked at you, concerned visible in his features the second he realised you had been crying.

“Hey,” he said. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

Yes, he deserved to be happy. You swallowed thickly. “Sirius was looking for you.”

“What?” Remus asked, confused.

“Go talk to him.” You added with a smile. “I’m okay, something got on my eye.”

Remus seemed hesitant and then turned to look at the kitchen door. Sirius seemed as upset as you were. As sad and terrified as you looked. He turned to you again, as if trying to ensure he could go instead of staying with you.

“But–”

“I said: go.” The way the words echoed in your brain was disorienting. What was more, was the fact that Remus’ worried stance seemed to dissolve into oblivion as he turned around and walked towards Sirius. When you noticed his blank stare you gasped, covering your mouth with your hand when you realised what you had done.

You couldn’t have, it was impossible. You didn’t have the ability you... Remus kept walking towards Sirius without so much of a glance back.

You had used charmspeak on him

It'll drain the power that's in you Make you plead and scream and crawl And the pain will make you crazy You're the victim of your crime Too much love will kiII you every time

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A/N: Well that was something... I shed a couple of tears (many) while writing it, but you know what this means? The worst of the angst is about to pass and we're finally gonna have the fluflly fluff <3

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420days · 8 months ago

Text

DADDY MELO | CARMELO

“When’s the baby coming?”

“Not for a couple more months. You’re excited to be a big sister?” Melo asked, peeking at his daughter in the rear view mirror.

“Yes, I can’t wait for sissy to get here! We’re gonna play dress up and paint our nails!”

“You’re gonna be a good big sister Meli?” Christina asked her niece from the passenger seat.

“Of course Auntie! Were you excited when my daddy was born?”

“I don’t remember when he was born. I was just a baby but I was happy to have a baby brother.”

“Do you like having a big sister?” She asked her dad once we was satisfied with her aunts answer.

“Yeah, she was a good big sister to me and Auntie Kim.” He nodded his head as he switched lanes.

“Wow, I want more sisters and brothers?” Meli whispered to herself as she swung her feet.

“Oh yeah, how many?” Christina asked knowing her niece was going to say something off the wall.

“Hmmm.” “Four sisters and two brothers.”

“Wow, that many? Are you sure?” She giggled as she looked over at her brother who was scrunching his eyebrows.

“Yup, I’m gonna ask Santa for Christmas because I’ve been good this year. He always gets me what I want.”

“Good luck with that.” Christina patted her brothers shoulder as they pulled into the parking lot of the the spa Briyanna was at.

Earlier in the day Melo sent her off to have a full day at the spa while he took Meli and out with his sister. He knew she needed a day of relaxation and that’s exactly what he was going to provide for her.

“Look! There’s mommy!” Meli waved from the car as Melo walked around to unbuckle her from her seat. Holding her hand he led her over to where his wife was sitting in the drivers seat of her car, relaxing.

“Hi Mommy! Hi sister!” The little girl smiled before climbing into her mom’s lap and hugging her stomach.

“Hi Mellie. Did you have fun today?”

“Yup, I got ice cream and we brought you a cookie. Daddy has it in the car.” She nodded her head.

“Aw, you thought about me? Thank you Mells.”

“You’re welcome! And you can share with the baby too.” She made sure to look out for her sister.

“Mommy she’s moving again!” Meli smiled feeling her sisters kicks and pushes. She was extremely happy about it while Briyana was feeling nothing but pain.

“Hey baby, you ready?” Melo asked leaning down to kiss his wife and rub her stomach.

“Daddy, the baby is moving around. Look!” She pointed towards her mom’s round stomach that was very present in the fitted green dress she was wearing.

“I know! She’s talking to you.” He said and Briyanna couldn’t help but to smile at the moment thay we’re sharing. The two of them have done nothing but shown love to her love the entire pregnancy. They were almost enjoying her pregnancy more than she was but nothing less she was excited to have their love and support.

“Hi sister, I wish you would hurry up and get here already. I wanna play with you.”

“That’s all you wanna do is play.” Melo tickled her making her fall into a fit of contagious laughter.

——————————————————————————

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jeridandridge · 11 months ago

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For Lovers At Night conclusion

A conversation with Joe takes place and you evaluate your relationship with Melissa. CW: Homophobic slur, brief violence. No editing. We write and post like affection starved bitches.

“Oh for fucks sake.” You roll your eyes tossing a black trash bag in the dumpster. You truly didn’t have time to deal with a fake macho, butthurt man.

Joe gets closer and comes up standing now a few feet away.

“You the one that’s been fucking my wife?”

There is a hint of anger in his voice, but watching vigilantly you see his hands flat in his pockets, nothing to be hidden there.

“Well bud, someone has to.” You shrug mirroring his stance not shying away from making direct eye contact. Looking at him you suppose you could see hints of a once good looking man. He still had some muscle but it was evident the years of drinking were catching up with him if the beer gut and puffy cheeks were any indication. “I’m really not in the mood for this so can you get off my property?”

“You got some set of balls you know that?” Joe scoffs. “What’s a young girl like you wanting a woman Melissa’s age anyway?”

Cocking your head to the side you size the man up, quirking a brow. “I’m not blind or stupid, so I can see what an amazing person she is and I know how to treat her right.”

“Hey, I know how to treat a woman.” He steps forward towards you.

“Yeah? Then why cheat on a woman to fuck around with girls that could be your kid, huh?” You challenge.

“It ain’t my fault she wouldn’t put out. I shoulda known she was a dyke a long time ago.”

You can’t help but laugh. Looking at the guy in front of you, you see not a man but a toddler throwing a tantrum over a toy he doesn’t get to play with anymore. This Joe doesn’t like.

“The fuck are you laughing at?” He lets out getting right in your face. Not phased by the closeness and possible danger, you tip your chin up as you lift your hands pushing him back by his shoulders. Not paying attention to anything else around you, you dont see Melissa’s truck pull up or hear the door slam.

Getting out of her truck Melissa rushes over bumping into people along the sidewalk to get to you worried you’ll be hurt.

“Back the fuck up before you get hurt, little man.”

Joe all but growls getting in your space again, bloodshot eyes meeting your own.

“You can have her, hot shot. She’s useless dead weight now that I got her good years. Maybe she can help you clean up this dump after it burns down.”

“Hey!” Melissa calls out getting to you just as you take a swing.

Adrenalin running through you at the sound of his insults and threat you give a wicked smile as you cock your fist swinging it up right under Joes chin sending him right to the ground.

When Joe hits the pavement a wave of lavender hits your nose and arms warp around your front holding your arms down keeping your now throbbing hand in place.

“Watch your mouth and get off my fucking property.” You spit at Joe as other people on the street now pay attention to your little corner of the block.

“Amore! Stop.” Melissa urges looking you over as if you’re not okay. She realizes the pang of desire that hits her from seeing you defend her like that.

“Cmon, let’s go inside. Shows over!”

You call out to the small crowd of people as you go to the steps wrapping your arm around the redhead.

“Hold on,” Melissa hums breaking away to go over to a woozy, confused Joe sitting on the sidewalk holding his face.

“Mel-“ you begin to argue, only to stop and watch the scene unfolding in front of you.

“Melly?” The sad man grumbles out.

Kneeling down Melissa reaches out roughly grabbing the defeated man by his now bruising chin making him wince.

“If you ever go near her again,” she warns in an eerily low tone as he yelps at the feeling of her fingers squeezing the injured area, “the last thing you’re ever gonna see is my face. Got it?”

Joe winces looking at the redhead. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Letting go with a rough shove Melissa stands up leaving her soon to be ex husband on the pavement to wallow and take care of his bruised ego and skin.

“That was hot.” You joke trying to break the tense air as you two go up to your apartment. It wasnt a lie at all, but you would behave for now.

Melissa shakes her head carefully taking your now angry and puffy hand in hers looking it over. “I can’t believe you did that. Sit, let me take care of that.”

Getting the door open with your good hand you let out a sigh trying to cool down going over to the dining table, red and purple knuckles facing upward making you wince. “I’m not letting anyone especially a man like that talk about you that way. We both know he had it coming.”

Melissa moves around your kitchen putting ice in a dish towel before coming over to sit beside you. “No ones ever done anything like that for me before besides my family.”

“I’d do it again in a second even though I know you can handle yourself.” You keep your eyes on the redhead, a softness spreading through you when you see the concerned look on her face while she tends to her hand. Having finally met Joe, you understood why Melissa felt the way she did in her marriage.

“Well hon, it looks like I don’t have to no matter how stupid that was for you to do. You coulda gotten hurt,” A proud smirk spreads across her lips despite her trying to be mad.

With her eyes cast down on the towel you gently reach over tipping her chin up with your finger to meet her eyes. Having her this close again after the day you’ve had, you can’t see this previous plan of taking things slow to fruition.

Leaning over to the side of the table where Melissa sits you meet warm jade eyes as you brush your lips against hers. Melissa melts into this kiss, her arms immediately going around your neck as a whine travels up her throat in an emotional relief. Tracing her bottom lip with your tongue the redhead gently pulls back keeping her arms around your neck. She meets your eyes searching for any regret or hesitation.

“Fuck taking things slow.” You hum leaning in for another kiss, this time wrapping your arms around her waist to bring her closer to you.

And that’s all Melissa needs. Nothing is rushed or frantic in the kiss. You both move in a fluid motion like a wave crashing to the shoreline; natural and right like you’ve done it a million times before as you pull her up and walk her back to your kitchen island. Your strides are slow and steady as you two move, almost like a dance as your hands glide up Melissa’s back to red curls.

Breaking the kiss with a shaky breath you peck her lips once more as you feel warm hands cup your cheeks. Melissa looks at you with a soft smile, lip gloss now completely gone.

Still catching your breath you lean forward to close the small space between you kissing the tip of her nose with a wide grin.

“Amore mio.” Melissa whispers wrapping her arms around your neck once more, eyes glassing over with tears.

Standing there in the little bubble you’ve created with her the Italian phrase that you can piece together sends a spark of joy through your chest.

“Every time you call me Amore,” you grin resting your hands on her ass, “it’s like fireworks go off in my chest.”

“That’s how I feel when I’m with you. You brought me back.” She smiles with watery eyes. “And my nana already likes you.” She laughs through a sniffle.

“Yeah? Well Im in love her grand-daughter so that has to give me some points.” You tease keeping your eyes on her the whole time, your stomach flipping at the admission.

Melissa lets out a giddy giggle cupping your cheeks again. “You love me?”

“So much, Mel.” You smile bringing her hands to your lips. The moment she walked into your bar you were intrigued by the mysterious woman, the moment you spoke to her you knew you would do your best to keep her around.

Putting her hands on your shoulders she tips her chin up with a smirk walking you backwards to your bed across the large studio apartment. When the back of your legs hit the mattress you let out a laugh landing on your elbows as Melissa moves to straddle your lap.

Bending over Melissa meets your lips in a hungry kiss sucking in a breath through her nose. Your hands roam her frame again, cataloguing every spot that makes her react. She breaks the kiss first, immediately lifting the hem of your shirt. Wincing lightly as you pull your injured hand out of the fabric Melissa slows down bringing the injured hand to her lips lightly kissing each bruised knuckle.

“I love you, bambina.”

“Is that baby?” Your face breaks out into a grin at her words.

“Yeah,” she laughs meeting your lips again as she unclasps your bra gliding her fingers down your arms.

“Oh you’re cute,” you tease putting your hands on her hips rolling the both of you over so Melissa is now on her back. “Lay back and let me take care of you.” You whisper unbuttoning her pants.

From that moment on you keep your eyes on the redhead only glancing away to pull clothing off. Clothing gone on you both with a few minutes of giggles and fumbling you prop yourself up hovering over the redhead keeping eye contact as you rub your fingers in slow circles over her clit.

“More, Tesoro.” She gasps against your lips keeping her fingers in your hair.

In a kiss that shows her exactly how you feel, you keep your fingers moving drawing whines and cries from the redhead. Not wanting to miss a second of her reactions you keep your eyes locked on her with a satisfied grin. You had done this with many people before, but you had never wanted to see their every reaction. This time, you’re in love and you’re loved back.

Hours later lying between Melissa’s legs resting your head on the soft skin of her stomach, your fingers absentmindedly move up and down her thigh as she plays with your hair.

Thinking about everything you two have gone through together already, you can’t help but smirk. “Mel?”

The redhead lets out a tired hum in response.

“You still wanna go to that Phillies game with me?” You ask not moving from the comfort and warmth of her body.

Melissa grins carding her nails through your hair. “I’d love that, hon.”

Lifting your head you move kissing up her body playfully tickling her sides. “Come shower with me?”

“That’s a good idea.” Melissa laughs as she squirms away, pulling you up by your good hand.

In the bathroom as the shower heats up you find clothes for you both settling on big tshirts and shorts knowing if you don’t you two will be up all night.

“I can bring these back to you tomorrow.” Melissa nods to the clothes.

“Keep em. You look good in my clothes,” you chuckle. “You’re staying the night right?” You ask hopefully, knowing she has to work tomorrow.

“Hell yeah. I haven’t gotten my fix of you yet.” She smiles hugging you from behind.

Chuckling you reach around for her arm as you step in the shower. Adjusting the spray so it hits both of you, you gently rub your girlfriends back thinking about the day.

“It took everything in me to not text you good morning today you know. Then, when I saw you at the cafe I wanted to kiss you so badly.”

“I’m sorry I lied.” She whispers.

“No, don’t do that.” You shake your head. “We already talked about it and I’m sticking right here with you through everything. That’s all.” You shrug.

Melissa gives you a soft smile knowing just by your simple actions since you met that she’s safe and won’t be hurt by you. After a quick and well behaved shower, you get dressed and move to strip your bed of your now soiled sheets putting fresh ones on.

“Baby, what time am I setting the alarm for?” You ask as the redhead sits on the side of your bed putting her hair up.

“Five thirty.” She hums climbing in curling into your side. As you two lay together Melissa lets out a content sigh knowing that she doesn’t have to pretend anymore. She can have this with you as much as she wants.

Turning to your side to face the woman you wrap your arm around her waist giving her a tired smile. “I’ll make the coffee in the morning.”

Cuddled together Melissa lifts her ring clad hand up gently brushing her thumb over your bottom lip.

“Say it one more time.”

Letting out a laugh you lean in chasing her lips for a soft kiss.

“I love you,” you hum kissing each of her cheeks, “I love you,” in between kisses to the corners of her mouth, “I love you.” You hum once more kissing her nose which you’ve come to love doing because it makes Melissa scrunch.

And that’s all Melissa needs.

In the morning you’re the first to move when the alarm sounds, hitting the offending device you turn back over seeing a groggy Melissa stretch out with a smile on her face.

“Good morning,” she lets out in a scratchy voice.

“I’ll start the coffee.” You yawn getting up.

It doesn’t take long for Melissa to get up and ready, putting her clothes from the day before back on from the fabric littered on the floor.

In the kitchen you make enough coffee for a big blue travel mug you have, making it just how Melissa likes it. Stirring it you grin when you feel her arms wrap around you and her chin on your shoulder. “Walk me out?”

“Of course, honey.”

Coffee in hand with shoes on and all belongings gathered you walk Melissa out to her truck opening the door for her.

“Text me when you make it to work?” You ask as her arms snake around your neck giving you extra warmth in the cool morning air.

“I’ll text ya, Amore.” She smiles kissing you softly once more before she pulls away to climb into the truck.

“Drive safe.”

Looking over your shoulder to check for traffic you step back watching the truck pull off and head down the road. As your girlfriend goes you can’t help but grin.

Going back up to your apartment you stay up with the sun smiling into your own coffee mug when your screen lights up with a text from Melissa making you laugh.

My pops told me I’m not invited back to family dinner until Nana meets you. What kinda hold do you got on the Schemmenti women, Amore?

#HE HAD IT COMIN #I don’t even hate Joe he’s just easy to use #lisa ann walter #abbott elementary #Melissa Schemmenti #Melissa Schemmenti x reader #barbara howard

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starlightsreigns · 6 months ago

Text

pray you catch me | a lemonade story

summary ⇢ mellie feels crazy. he’s not cheating on her, right? but a woman’s intuition is the most honest thing in the world, and she needs to start accepting his secrets. word count ⇢ 0.9k tags ⇢ minors, do not interact, implied cheating | one ; intuition "im praying to catch you whispering"

What are you doing, my love?

There was a vacancy in his eyes nowadays. Even now, as he pounded into me, his eyes were far away. My eyes rolled to the back of my head, feeling those familiar knots forming in my stomach, ready for release. I gripped the sheets tightly as he continued the assault in me until the ecstasy became too much.

Silence followed us for a while. He didn’t even join me in the shower afterward. Roman stayed in the bedroom, stuck to his phone, like he had for the past couple of months. Something was off and it’s starting to concern me.

From the bathroom, as I lotioned my body, Roman’s faint voice seeped through the bottom of the door. He was whispering on the phone and my curiosity got the best of me, making me press my head against the door. Is this what it’s gotten to? I can’t ask him who he’s talking to, so I’m stooping down to the level of an insecure woman.

“Nah, I can’t tonight, I’m… busy.”

He gets the same call every Tuesday night. Before I can look at his phone when he’s asleep, it’s deleted from the call log, but I know what I'm feeling in my gut. He’s more secretive now and I’m not the girl who follows her man in disguises, so I have to find the trust in him.

“Ro, you want a later dinner?” I clear my throat, entering the room again. “I can make us something.”

Roman’s putting his clothes on when he turns to look at me, “I might go pick us somethin’ up.”

My stomach turns. We’re not takeout people. Our diets matter too much to eat out, and he’s rarely the one to offer it. I clear my throat while tying my robe tightly. How do I question him when he’s standing right in front of me, eyes sparkling, and his beautiful smile on display?

“It’s two am, Ro, are you sure?” My question is more of a plea for him to stay. “You know I can make anything.”

He kisses my forehead lightly, “It’s okay, Mel, I’ll be back.”

My lonely ear pressed against the walls of your world

How is this the life I’m living now? worried that the man who I call my husband is cheating on me when we’re only two years into marriage. Roman’s different — he’s distant, quieter, and away more. he’s always been on the road, it’s his job, but nowadays, it feels like I see him even less; if that’s even possible.

Initially, his smiling face would be the first thing I saw when he walked through the door. He’d be on his hands and knees gushing about how much he’d miss me. We’d spend every waking moment together, sharing everything. There were dinner dates, day trips, vacations, deep conversations, and just us.

Yet, now, he doesn’t even invite me on the road with him. Now, I’m stuck at home. I wonder, and it makes me sick to think, that he’s inviting her — whoever she is. our life together is just starting and I'm accusing him of an affair, but my heart knows I'm not going crazy. I can’t be.

It took him an hour. The food cartons sit on the kitchen table, unopened, eating is the last thing on my mind. I’m on the couch, frozen in my seat, trying to catch a single word he’s saying on the phone. He’s on the porch, telling me he had to speak to someone from work, but the conversation filled with laughs tells me otherwise. What could Paul say that makes him laugh like that?

you can taste the dishonesty it’s all over your breath..

“Not ready for bed?” Roman asks.

That’s the first thing he says to me after being on the phone for that long. He sits beside me on the couch and pulls me into his chest. This is the only thing I’ve wanted all day, to have him close to me and dispel any worries that I’ve had that maybe he’s cheating on me. Roman caresses my face, pressing a tender kiss on my lips, but there’s a taste on his lips that makes me draw back.

“Did you eat… seafood tonight?” I question softly, running my finger over his lips.

Roman chuckles, “No?”

I nod slowly, leaning back against him. He’s telling the truth, right?

Nothing else ever seems to hurt like the smile on your face When it's only in my memory, it don't hit me quite the same

His smile now isn’t like what it used to be. Something is missing in the way he talks to me or the way he looks at me. It’s like we’re back in the beginning but with less love. The questioning of if he really likes me, I wonder if he’ll call today or … just everything that was exciting.

The day he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him, he made a promise that we’d always have each other, that our love would take us everywhere, and that nothing could separate us. Yet, there’s a wall that sits between us.

She sits between us. And as easy as it is to blame whoever she is, the person destroying me is the man sitting beside me on his phone with the brightness turned down.

Where do we go from here?

“In the tradition of men in my blood you come home at 3AM and lie to me. What are you hiding? The past, and the future merge to meet us here. What luck. What a fucking curse.”

not sure if i like this idea, but I'm here. what's everyone's thoughts? x

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muffinsin · 7 months ago

Note

Hii! If you’re open to it could we possibly get a pt2 for Cassandra and her long lost daughter please! If not thank you for considering and have a good day :)

Hiya hon! :) absolutely🙌 We love our little murderer and her even littler soon-to-be murderer XD

[Hey everyone! We’re getting closer to 700 followers each day, and I’d appreciate everyone trying to help get me there :) reblogs and such are therefore ofc very welcomed]

(part 1 can be found here)

Let’s get into it!

Masterlists

When you awaken, a foreign sight greets you

A rich-looking ceiling, large, wide windows with the curtains partly drawn to block out the sunlight, weapons along the many shelves, shields and trophies put on the walls

A comfortable bed like you’ve never seen or even dared dream of

For a moment, you think this must be wrong. You clutch Mellie, your precious bear, close to you

Yet then you hear a tired groan and feel the arm around you-

one you haven’t even noticed yet

-tighten a little bit

A wide grin spreads across your lips as it all comes to you, again

Your mama!

She’s sitting up, having fallen asleep holding you in her arms, but her rising and falling chest and snores are evidence enough that she sleeps tight

You turn immediately, facing her this time

Only are you by far shorter than her, so instead of her face, you come face to face with her chest and collarbone

If you were still tired, you’d likely rest upon it, sucking your thumb or Mellie comfortably as you sleep on what looks like the pair of most comfortable pillows in the world

Alas, you’re up now, and you have two goals;

One, to see your mama again

Two, to play

You huff quietly as you move to sit up, your small hands reaching for her shoulders to hold onto as you begin to stand

Mama stirs, but doesn’t awaken

With another huff, you stand, staring down at the sleeping brunette that looks adoringly familiar to you

You smile happily as you see her

“Mama!”, you call happily, moving to her lap again

You sit this time, giggling when she jumps awake and immediately pulls you and your bear to her

You giggle again at the funny feeling of her flies when she swarms out of bed, holding you to her in one arm, her other arm outstretched with her sickle pointed at the empty room

You frown a little at her, confused

“Mama, play!”

When Cassandra looks down at you, she calms again nearly immediately

No threat. Just her daughter

She smiles a little to herself and feels a faint flutter of her flies at the thought

Her daughter. United with her, again, for eternity. She will not let anything take you from her

You squeal happily at her, as though excited to see her

She can’t help but grin down at you, too

You just feel so- right- in her arms. She already can’t bear the thought that you will grow up eventually

“Mama, play?”, you whisper at her

She smiles down at you, and you squeal when you feel the ticklish flies buzzing around you with excitement

Again, she carries you through the castle, allowing you to cling to her

And even so, her aura and presence is enough to make all maidens in her way flinch away and straighten up

You catch the eye of one of them, a single who didn’t look down at the floor

Without thinking you do what your mama has taught you and snarl at her

Cassandra smirks proudly to herself

The pathetic maid falls to her knees, as though begging for forgiveness after being caught

You look proud, as though unaware the woman only pleads because of your mama, and her reputation to have a maid as an appetizer before breakfast

Today is no different, it seems

You cling to your mama as she makes fast work of her, showing the woman no mercy at all

Briefly, she hopes she doesn’t scare you, but you don’t scream, don’t cry, merely cling to her and watch with interest as mama’s sickle makes a clean cut at the shameless woman’s throat

Your hands reach out, as though to touch

Cassandra smirks again. Her daughter, indeed

You keep whining and squirming on her as the woman is dragged along, eager to be let down and play

Alas, your mama’s grip is tight. She isn’t willing to lose you in the big castle just yet

After a little bit, you find yourself in a large room with what looks to be a large pool of blood

You don’t worry. You trust your mama

Cassandra sighs as she enters the bathroom, dropping the dead woman at her feet

“You can play in the bath, yeah?”, she proposes, which you return with an excited nod

This bath is even bigger than yesterday’s tub!

She sets you down gently, only snickers when she finds you immediately poking at the woman’s body

Like her, you don’t seem scared of it in the slightest

Like her, you seem interested

Like her, you sneakily take all shiny things from the corpse

“Can my bear bathe, too?”, comes your little voice

She thinks for a moment, before holding out her hand

“How about Mellie gets her own tub, little cub?”, she offers instead

She remembers the countless stuffed toys her and her sisters cried over after ruining them in their blood baths. Thankfully, Mother taught them to bathe them separately

Although reluctantly you eventually hand the stuffed bear over, yet grin again when Cassandra kisses the top of its head and places it into one of the many sinks at the sides of the room

From this angle and through the pink lenses of your childish mind, it does look like your bear’s taking a bath in a private tub

Cassandra hums to herself as she kneels down, her hands slowly and carefully undoing the oversized robe she put you in the night before

She makes a mental note to herself to ask her Mother for some help getting you fitted clothing

Perhaps Donna could help? Mother usually gets custom made clothing from her

You deserve better than loosely-hanging clothing that does a poor job of staying in place on your much smaller body

You don’t seem to mind, though, merely happy to be clothed in the soft fabrics your mama gave you

Now that she takes them again, you look almost sad, remembering the torn, dirty and scratched up clothing from the village

You don’t notice your bottom lip tremble until your mama picks you up again, your smaller body fitting perfectly against her front when she cradles you to her

You calm fast with her sweet humming and the circles traced along your back by her cool fingertips

Soon, the scratchy clothing isn’t at the front of your mind anymore, its uncomfortable memory replaced with mama’s soft and warm body

You’re set down again when you calm, yet are allowed to hold onto her leg even as she undresses, too

Cassandra keeps an eye on you, a small smile on her lips as you play with the dead woman’s clothing yet again

When her own dress is pushed to the floor and she takes off her heels, you immediately go on to playing with them instead

She doesn’t mind, surprisingly

Before, all seemed to have so much value to her

Her things belonged to her, and her only. She’d flay all maidens who dared touch what was hers, yell at her sisters endlessly for doing so

She finds- she doesn’t mind if it’s you, your curious little hands taking all within grasping range

Only when you begin biting at the top of she shoe, curious to see one so different from all worn at the village, does she step in and pick you up into her arms again

You squeal happily, your little arms wrapping around hers

Slowly, she walks into the red bath, dragging the lifeless woman behind her

You watch, giggling whenever she’d get stuck and Cassandra tugged harder

When the blood first touches you, you don’t jump like she thought you might

Instead, you sigh, as if dreamily. She smiles, holding you a little closer to her

She’s happy she gets to be herself with you, even as she will always shield you from the worst bits of her life

You wiggle your toes at the foreign feeling of blood around them

Unlike water, it feels thick, and warm, but not hot

It feels- comfortable. Like a weighted blanket hugging you

Cassandra walks in a little deeper and holds you a little higher. She doesn’t want to let go of you, especially in the bath that could so easily swallow a little thing like you whole

Alas, you’re having fun

She lets go of the dead woman, allowing the body to awkwardly float at the bloody surface

Of course, you’re on it already, playing with the limp hand and fingers, happily swinging your legs under the warm blood as your mama holds you

Her grip is firm, but not painful. You decide you like the feeling of being held by her like this

She watches you play for a few minutes, smiling here and there, even helping you remove limbs you want to investigate separated from the body

Then, she allows her eyes to shut again, her arms wrapped around you and keeping you safely above the blood’s surface

You play for a little more, playing with the limbs given to you and smashing your palms onto the surface, giggling when blood splashes around you

Then, you turn your attention to your mama

You can’t help but watch her, biting at the tip of your fingers

The villagers had always described her as ugly, monstrous, mean

She is none of that, to you

She’s beautiful, her hair long and dark like yours, her facial structure similar to yours, too

She holds you so gently, yet there’s no way you’d accidentally squirm out of her grasp and endanger yourself in the deep tub

Mama looks after you, always

With this thought in mind, you curl up against her chest, holding onto her shoulders as your eyes too slip shut

With the morning done with, you’re brought to the large dining hall

You stick close to your mama still, though are allowed to walk on your own, her hand held tightly in yours

You’re dressed in one of mama’s shirts, though it still had to be tied up to prevent you tripping over it as you walk

You love it

The fabric is soft like her dress, and warm, and it smells just like Cassandra

The first person the two of you see is Alcina

Cassandra gasps in surprise when you take off running immediately, giggling as you sprint towards her mother with outstretched arms

She can’t help but smile. You’re her family now, and a part of hers

Alcina, of course, catches you easily

You still look tiny in her large arms, easily cradled and held as you once again continue your game of snatching her hat from her

Few of the older maidens serving breakfast raise their heads, a few smiling at the soft display they last saw when Bela, Cassandra and Daniela were your age

It seems, their age and proven loyalty keeps them from being on the receiving end of your mama’s anger

As such, when she looks at them, they merely send her a kind smile back and return to their duties

In time, the pretty blonde from the previous night walks in too, who you immediately greet with a playful wave of your hand

“Awhh, good morning, you!”, she greets happily

Cassandra growls quietly to herself as her sisters rush over to you

She tries not to get possessive, really, but can’t help the growl that comes from her when Bela picks you up and holds you close to her

A louder, less subtly snarl comes from her when Daniela picks you up too and places a kiss on your cheek, stating that you’re just “so cute, she could eat you up!”

Noticing your mama’s reaction, you snarl playfully too, giggling when the nice auburn-haired woman tickles you in return

She looks similar to your mama, having the same dress and tattooed rose on her head

You find- she’s funny

She makes funny jokes and faces, holds you almost lovingly, just like mama’s mama does

Still, when it’s clear it’s time to eat, you squirm on the woman’s lap until you’re let down again

You giggle as you crawl under the table, then climb back on Cassandra’s lap

Only then do you settle again, uninterested in the empty chair next to the two of you when you could sit in your mama’s soft lap instead

And Cassandra doesn’t mind in the slightest

She has her arm around you, holding you somewhat possessively

The food in front of you is more than you’ve ever seen at the village

While Cassandra’s plate holds some human part you don’t recognize and a glass of red juice that you’re not allowed to try, your plate takes your pick anyway

You squeal happily at it, a full bowl of berries, a glass of milk and another of water, and lastly- the plate of soft, warm bread

Cassandra’s heart swells when you look up at her, your small hands hovering above the food, as if asking for permission

“Eat your fill, little one”, she whispers encouragingly, and it’s all it takes for you to dig in excitedly

After what must have been the most delicious breakfast in your entire life, comes your favorite part of today

Mama’s agreed to take you hunting with her, after accidentally letting it slip that she does so every day, if possible

You giggle as she dresses you, a thick jacket one of the older maids was kind enough to lend to you

Cassandra didn’t question where the child sized clothing came from, nor did she care. If one of the maidens happened to be or get pregnant, it wasn’t her business anyway

Bela, or their mother, had the joy of dealing with such boring things

And still, she’s happy now, able to dress you properly- and warm

You whine a little at the scratchy fabric of the gloves she puts on you, insisting it isn’t even cold outside

Still, she can’t help but worry. You’ll be touching many things, this much she knows already. She can’t have you become sick the first week you stay with her

Your whines quickly die down when you’re given a small dagger, it’s handle made of leather and it’s tip just sharp enough to cause damage

You grin, slicing the thin air of Cassandra’s room as she smiles fondly

Seeing your excitement regarding her own sickle and the weapons in her room, she figured there’s no harm in giving you one, too

While you play with it as though it was a toy, the rough years of living at the village made you understand that it isn’t one

She trusts you with the blade, though hopes you won’t have to use it without her guidance anytime soon

When you’re at the forest surrounding the castle, Cassandra makes you promise to stay within sights, which you do without issue

She doesn’t take you far, only ever stays in the areas she knows well and knows are rid of Lycans and larger prey

Still, she hopes to help you catch a bunny or squirrel, maybe even a deer together

You skip happily, holding onto her long dress with your gloved hands

As expected, you touch nearly all you can, eager to experience the world now that your mama has removed the threat and anger from it

She watches you carefully, always keeps an eye out

It seems, you’re less of a huntress like her, uncaring for the many noises the two of you hear in the distance

Instead, like Bela when she was a child, almost, you begin picking up every little thing you find

You inspect it all, giggle and flash your mama a smile at each of them

One she always returns

You only ever take the prettiest things you find, toss the others to the dirty ground again

Soon, the dresses of Cassandra’s pockets are bulged and full, carrying various shiny stones, nuts dropped by the squirrels, even a few leaves you found particularly nice looking

You carry a bunch of sticks and flowers in your hands, your dagger secured by the belt around your waist

Mama promises, the two of you can take the flowers back home, where you want to gift them to Daniela, who spent all breakfast telling you about the many, beautiful flowers blooming this time of the year

Clearly, you’re about to have her younger sister wrapped around your little finger too. Even more so than you already have, that it

Your highlight of the day comes when Cassandra eventually does find herself some prey

You watch happily and eagerly as she chases and catches a deer quickly, her sickle ruthless

Your dagger slices through the air again, as if following her movements

When the two of you encounter a bunny, Cassandra nearly believes you’re about to make your first kill

She holds the animal still, allowing you to make your move…

…it’s safe to say, this is the first animal Cassandra has ever adopted.

She carries it home with her for you, humming here and there as you ramble name suggestions

She insists, she won’t feed it, but you may keep it in a cage in your room

#cassandra dimitrescu #bela dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu

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