#The 9 Best Notebooks for Work | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

waitimcomingtoo · 1 year

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Question…?

Pairing: Peter Parker x best friend!Reader

Synopsis: Peter accidentally sends you mixed signals when he kisses you for the first time then stands you up

Masterlist

You and Peter laid opposite ways on his bed so you could face each other while doing some chemistry homework together. Peter had stopped paying attention to his homework around ten minutes ago and was now just doodling in between looking up to sneak glances at you.

“What did you get for number 9?”

“Um, I got 13.” Peter stopped doodling and read from his page.

“What? How? I got a negative 658.”

“How did you possibly get that?” Peter laughed and stretched his neck to see your work.

“I don’t know. I hate math.” You whined and drew your knees to your forehead. Peter couldn’t help but stare at your bare legs that stemmed from the little lounge shorts you had on. Peter was usually pretty good at keeping his feelings for you to himself, but when you wore things like that, it became significantly harder to contain himself.

“Stop staring at my legs, perv.” You said without looking up from the problem you were doing. Peter blushed a deep red and quickly looked away, panicking now that you had caught what he had been doing.

“I wasn’t.” He lied and pretended he was looking at his notebook the whole time.

“Yes you were.” You smirked and looked up. “Perv.”

“You’re the perv who keeps looking at my feet in these tight little socks.” Peter joked as he rubbed his foot on your leg, making you gag.

“Ew. Get that off of me. And what are you implying, mister?” You laughed and hit his foot with your notebook.

“That you have a foot fetish and everyone knows.” Peter shrugged.

“I do not. And even if I did, you think I’d be attracted to your nasty feet? You don’t even wash your legs in the shower.”

“How do you even remember that? I told you that in like eight grade.” Peter laughed and felt secretly pleased that you remembered such a random detail.

“Ninth grade.” You corrected. “And I remember everything, bitch.”

“Oh yeah? Then do you remember when you had a crush on our drivers Ed teacher that year?” Peter smiled teasingly and put his notebook down.

“Oh yeah.” You laughed. “Mr. Whiler. That dude was double handsome. His eyes were Spotify green and he smelled like sandalwood.”

“Remember that time he wore his shirt unbuttoned and you looked over at him so many times that you rear ended a priest?” Peter asked and rested his chin on your knees.

“It wasn’t a priest. It was a Eucharistic minister. And I barely tapped his car.” You scoffed and flicked his forehead.

“Barely tapped? His whole trunk opened and those little crackers fell on the ground.” Peter reminded you as he pushed your notebook down.

“They’re not crackers. They’re the Eucharist. Finish your work.” You playfully scolded him and nodded towards his notebook.

“Remember when you got scared during your first time driving and parked at a green light?” Peter kept going and pushed your notebook again.

“Do you remember that we’re supposed to be doing homework?” You mocked his tone and lightly smacked his head with your book.

“Homework is boring. I wanna talk to you.” Peter whined and rubbed his foot on your leg again.

“Get your dogs off of me. I’m allergic.”

“Fine. I’ll just rotate then.” Peter said as he scooted next to you.

“Just like them damn rotisserie chickens.” You sighed and went back to your homework. Peter stayed quiet and watched you work for a few minutes until he got bored again.

“Do you ever wonder what Mr. Whiler is up to now?” Peter asked you.

“He’s a drivers Ed instructor. He’s probably up to absolutely nothing or whippits.”

“Probably.” Peter chuckled. “But hey, you’re over 18 now. Do you think if he asked you out, you’d say yes?”

“Ew, no. He knew me when I was 16. Anyone who knew me when I was 16 has to die.”

“I knew you when you were 16.” Peter reminded you as he took your notebook and tossed it into the bed. With your hands free, you got an idea and grabbed a pillow.

“Oh shit. You’re right.” You pretended to gasp before tackling Peter and smothering him with the pillow. He laughed and pushed the pillow out of your hands, leaving him lying on his bed with you hovering over him. You looked into each others eyes for a minute and shyly smiled at each other.

“You seriously wouldn’t date him if he came back into our lives?” Peter asked you in a soft voice.

“Gross. No he’s way too old. I don’t like him like that anymore.”

“Do you like anyone like that anymore?” He asked, making you gulp. Your eyes dropped down to Peters lips for a second before looking back into his eyes.

“I don’t know.” You lied. “Do you?”

Even though Peter should’ve seen that question coming, he didn’t. He didn’t know how to tell you that he had fallen in love with his best friend and only brought up your old crush because he had a recurring nightmare that he lost you to your old drivers Ed instructor. He felt his face turn bright red and quickly thought of a diversion. He gasped loudly, making your eyes widen.

“What?” You asked. With you being distracted, Peter seized the opportunity to flip you over so that he was the one pinning you to the bed.

“Hulkmania is running wild, brother.” He said in a deep voice.

“No.” You whined. “Don’t do your Hulk Hogan impression. You know it grosses me out.”

“I fear no man, no beast or evil, brother.” Peter continued in his deep voice.

“Get off of me.” You playfully groaned and tried to wriggle out of Peters grasp.

“No. Not until you tell me who you like.”

“I asked you first.”

“No you didn’t.” He laughed. “ I asked you first.”

“Well you weren’t supposed to fact check me.” You snapped before breaking out in a smile. Peter smiled back before getting an idea.

“Hey, can I body slam you with my entire body weight?” Peter asked in a casual tone.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t.”

“Okay. Incoming.” Peter announced before dropping himself onto you and knocking the wind out of your chest.

“Ow. Get off me, fat ass.” You laughed and tried to push him off.

“You love this fat ass.” He insisted and stayed on top of you. You laughed and looked into his eyes, unable to be mad at him.

“I do. I can’t help it but I do. It’s a sickness.” You laughed softly and pushed some hair off his forehead.

“It’s okay.” He smiled. “I love your fat ass too.”

“Peter?” You asked suddenly as your smile faded.

“Yeah?”

“Can we always be this close?” You asked him, taking him by surprise. Peter propped himself up on his elbows to look at you beneath him but found no words to say. He always wanted to be close to you, but he needed you to know that he wanted to be closer. Before Peter could overthink it, he dipped his head down and kissed you. He could feel your eyes slowly flutter shut, eyelashes tickling his face as the went down. Once you got over your initial shock, you kissed him back. The kiss was slow and soft and sweet until Peter realized what he had done. He quickly sat up and held his hands up.

“I’m sorry!” I don’t know why I just did that. I should’ve asked you first. I’m didn’t mean to-“

Peter was cut off by you grabbing his shirt and pulling him back down into a kiss. He didn’t know what was going on or what this meant for your relationship, but he went with it. He kissed you with more confidence this time as he slipped his fingers through yours to hold the hands he was pinning to his mattress. Time seemed to slip away as you kissed each other and the only thing that broke your bubble was the sound of May opening Peters door.

“Y/n, your moms-“

“AH.” You and Peter jumped away from each other and screamed at the unexpected interruption. You wiped your lips and grabbed your notebook in a failed attempt to make it look like nothing had been going on. May looked between you and Peter and held back a laugh when she realized what she walked in on.

“God, May! Don’t you knock?” Peter exclaimed and put his hand over his pounding heart.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize I was interrupting something.” May said with a coy smile.

“May. Go away.” Peter whined and threw a pillow at the door. May shut the door a little so it wouldn’t hit her and laughed at Peters attempt.

“I just came to tell you Y/n’s mom is at the front door. She wants her home now.” May said. You and Peter stayed silent, refusing to look at each other or speak.

“If you can tear yourselves away from each other, that is.” May added with a cheeky smile.

“May.” Peter said through clenched teeth and chucked another pillow.

“Just teasing. Come on, Y/n. I’ll walk you out. Unless you wanted your mom to come in here?” May asked innocently.

“No!” You exclaimed and jumped off the bed. “Don’t bring my mom in. I’ll leave.”

Peter felt his disappointment sink in as he watched you gather your things and go towards the door. You looked at Peter before leaving and wished you could give him a proper goodbye but it was impossible with May standing right there. Instead, you gave him a soft smile and a wave that said you wished you could stay but had to go. Peter returned the wave and hoped it conveyed how much he wanted you to stay. You gave him one last look before disappearing out his door.

Peter could barely sleep that night in anticipation of seeing you the next day. He woke up groggy but with excitement I’m his chest as he got dressed. He put a little more effort into his appearance than usual and found himself checking himself in the mirror every few seconds. When he finally got to school, he was on high alert. He scanned the hallway in search of you but wasn’t able to spot you anywhere. He began to worry that you felt like you had made a mistake last night and were avoiding Peter because of it.

“Hey.” Your voice suddenly came from behind Peter, making him jump and scream.

“AHH.” He yelped and turned around.

“Sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t know how to approach you. Oh my God. I should go.” You tried to run away but Peter grabbed your backpack.

“No wait. Come back.” He chuckled and pulled you back towards him. Even though Peter had looked at you nearly everyday for the past 15 years, he felt like he was seeing you for the first time. Now that the line between friendship and relationship had been smudged, you looked different to Peter in a way that made his fondness for you grow.

“Hi.” You smiled sheepishly.

“Hi. Good morning. How did you sleep?” Peter asked as he moved a strand of hair off your forehead.

“Don’t do this to me.”

“Do what?”

“Act all sweet and normal after what happened last night. After what we did.” You whispered and looked around for who might be listening.

“Did we do something? I can’t remember.” Peter played dumb and made the gap between the two of you smaller.

“Peter.” You whined. “Don’t play games with me right now. I already feel awkward enough around you. Do you think we could talk?”

“Yeah. Come here.” Peter took your hand and brought you into the closest janitors closet before shutting the door.

“Why are we in a janitors closet?” You looked around and grimaced.

“For privacy.”

“We need privacy?” You looked at him with a coy smile.

“Yeah. I think so, at least.” Peter laughed shyly and suddenly felt nervous around you for the first time since the day you met.

“Oh. I think so too.” You replied with a timid smile. You looked at each other for a minute and uncomfortably swayed back and forth, neither sure what to say first.

“What did you want to talk about?” Peter asked after a beat of silence.

“I wanted to talk about last night. I just didn’t want to do it in a crowded hallway.”

“So did I. You left before we got a chance to discuss…” Peter trailed off and smiled sheepishly.

“Us?” You finished his sentence for him and took a step closer.

“Yeah. Us.” Peter grinned. “I would love to talk about us. Preferably not in this dark and smelly janitors closet.”

“The one you pulled us into.” You said out of the corner of your mouth.

“Yeah. My bad. What if we talk tonight? Maybe over some food?”

“Like a date?” You asked coyly.

“Yeah. I would like to take you on a date.” Peter said with confidence this time.

“Okay. Do you want to meet at Delmars or something?”

“Yeah. I’ll pick you up at 6 and can walk there together.”

“Okay. Perfect. But what do we do until then? I still feel a little awkward around you. I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to act.”

“I honestly don’t know either. So how about this? Until we talk everything out tonight, we’re just the same friends we’ve always been.” Peter suggested and took a step closer.

“Okay. Sure. Until tonight, just friends.” You nodded as you eyes fell to his lips. You looked back and forth between his lips and his eyes a few times before crashing your lips to his. You threw your arms around his neck to pull him closer as he wrapped his arms around your waist. You knocked things off the shelves as you made out in a flurry of teeth and kisses. Peter could barely believe his wildest dreams of being with you were coming true and in a damp and dingy janitors closet no less. He pushed that out of his mind and smiled into the kiss as he tried to memorize every groove of your lips. You could have stayed in there with him for hours but the bell ringing reminded you that you had somewhere to be.

“Okay, okay. I need to get to class.” You laughed against Peters lips. He put his hands on your face and kept kissing you.

“Shhhh. Class is for nerds. Stay in the smelly closet with your best friend.” He said between kisses.

“Peter. I have to go.” You laughed again and tried to push him off. He came right back and kept kissed you.

“You have to stay.” He whined against your lips. You caved and kissed him back for a few minutes before pushing him off again.

“We’re just friends, remember? Just friends don’t make out in closets.” You reminded him as you wiped your lipstick off his lips.

“But I’m feeling romantical. Kiss me on my hot mouth.” He said and went in for another kiss. You kissed him back for just a second before pushing him off.

“Peter.” You laughed and held him back with your hands. Peter let out a comically long sigh and stayed away from you.

“Fine. I’ll see you at 6?” He smiled and took both your hands.

“Uh huh. And a bunch of times before that because we have a majority of our classes together.”

“How lucky am I?” Peter sighed and leaned down to kiss you again. You couldn’t help but kiss him back until you heard the second bell ring.

“I’m leaving now. Try to calm down until tonight.” You teased him as you fixed your disheveled clothes.

“No promises.” He sighed happily as you left the closet. Once he was alone, he jumped into the air and pumped his fist before doing a little happy dance.

Peter did in fact see you many times throughout the day and could not focus on anything else. He rested his chin in his hand and stared at you for the third class period in a row before accepting that he was not going to be getting anything productive done today. When his last class finally ended, he rushed back to his apartment to start getting ready. He jumped in the shower and when he got out, he saw that someone had been blowing up his phone. He assumed the texts were from you and looked into the mirror before reading them.

“Okay Parker. Don’t blow this. All you have to do is tell your best friend you’re in love with her. How hard could it be?” Peter said to his reflection to hype himself up before reading the texts. Instead of the flirty messages he was expecting, he instead learned of an active crime scene that needed Spider-Man’s attention.

“Dammit. Active shooter at the bank?” Peter sighed and quickly read through the police report. He knew he had to put all other plans on pause until after the crime was dealt with.

“It’s only 3 pm. I have plenty of time to go there and make sure everyone is okay before our date.” Peter talked to himself as he swung to the crime scene.

A few hours later, Peter swung home and slipped into his apartment via an open window. He pulled his mask off with a heavy sigh and plopped down on his couch. He had managed to stop anybody from getting hurt, but doing so meant fighting off severely men much bigger than him for hours on end.

“Pete? Is that you?” May called from the kitchen. Peter rubbed his tired eyes before trudging into the kitchen to sit at the counter and watch May do the dishes.

“Yeah. It’s me.”

“How was it? I saw what happened on the news.”

“Luckily no one got hurt. Except me.” Peter winced as he rubbed one of his many injuries from the night.

“At least you can sleep tonight knowing you did the right thing. Oh, and did you talk to Y/n yet? She came by looking for you before.” May asked over her shoulder.

“She came by?” Peter perked up a little when he heard this.

“Yeah. She seemed pretty upset. Did you guys have a fight?” May asked, making all the blood drain from Peters face.

“Oh balls.” He whispered under his breath.

“Peter. Language.”

“May. May, this isn’t good.” Peter gulped and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, he had 3 missed calls and a bunch of texts asking where he was. His heart dropped to his stomach when he realized what he had unintentionally done.

“What happened? Was it a fight? Was I right?”

“It wasn’t a fight but it’s about to be.” Peters hands shook as he dialed your number but your immediately declined. He tried calling a few more time before sending you a text.

“Why? What did you do?” May stopped making dinner to focus on her nephew. Peter said his texts go from “delivered” to “read” with no response. He knew you were too angry to reply to him so he put his phone down with a sigh. He then looked at May, who was looking at him expectantly.

“We kissed yesterday.” He admitted. “And we made a plan to talk about what it meant and our relationship and-“

“And you were out on patrol?” May gasped when she realized what he was about to say.

“Yes.”

“Instead of with her?” May slammed her hand on the counter with anger.

“There was a bank robbery! I didn’t think it would take as long as it did. I didn’t mean to stand her up. I just…forgot about her.”

“Peter, believe it or not, girls don’t like being forgotten about.”

“What am I gonna do, May? I goofed. I goofed real bad.” Peter groaned and hung his head in his hands.

“No, Peter. This is much worse than a goof. You fucked up big time.”

“May! What happened to watching our language?”

“I made that rule before I realized my nephew was a fucking heartbreaker.” She said and pointed an accusatory finger at Peter.

“I didn’t mean to stand her up, May.” Peter whined. “I would never do that to her. I just got sidetracked by something more important.”

“Peter, this girl has been your best friend since pre school. She has been there for you every time you needed her. How do you think she feels after you kissed her and then stood her up?”

“Probably really bad.” Peter said quietly.

“Yeah. Really fucking bad, Peter.”

“I know. I really fucked it up this time.” Peter said as tears came to his eyes. He looked at his phone again to see if you texted him back but there was nothing.

“You need it make it up to her. Immediately.” May said with folded arms.

“How? She’s never gonna talk to me again.” Peter started to cry for what he had done. May sighed and felt guilty for making Peter feel worse than he already did. She went over to him and pulled him into a hug as he cried into her chest.

“She’s gonna talk to you again. She just needs some time. So what you’re gonna do is apologize to her and let her know that when she’s ready to speak to you, you’ll be there.”

“Okay.” Peter sniffled.

“And Peter?” May asked and cupped his chin.

“Yeah?”

“Be there.” She said sternly.

Peter nodded before going to his room to get changed. Once he was back in his regular clothes, he went across the hall to knock on your apartment door.

“Hi. Is Y/n home?” Peter asked hopefully once your mom answered.

“She went out a little while ago. She’s not with you?” Your mom asked.

“No, she’s not.” Peter sighed. “If she comes home, could you please tell her to call me? Tell her it’s important.”

“Okay. I will.”

“Thank you.” Peter smiled weakly before running off towards the elevator. He made his way out of the building as he could and ran to Delmars.

“Is Y/n here?” Peter asked as he burst through the door.

“I outta beat your ass. And you know what? I will.” Delmar said as he walked around the counter and grabbed Peter by the collar of his shirt.

“She told you?” Peter asked as he braced himself for a punch.

“Put him down, papi. Let her have her revenge on him first. Then you can beat him up.” Delmars daughter, Louisa, said without up from her magazine. Delmar looked at Peter angrily before dropping him on the ground.

“She didn’t have to tell me anything. I sent my daughter over to talk to her when I saw that she was crying.”

“She was crying?” Peter worried. “Did she say anything?”

“Yeah. She said her best friend stood her up. I’m assuming that’s you?” Delmar asked and folded his arms.

“It is me.” Peter admitted. “But it was an accident.”

“Y/n comes in here all the time. She’s a sweet girl. Always puts money in the tip jar and asks me how I am. Why would you hurt a sweet girl like that?” Delmar asked and took an angry step towards Peter.

“I didn’t mean to. I go caught up in something and missed our date. You know me, man. You know I’m not a bad guy. I just did a bad thing.” Peter said, making Delmar back off a little.

“You better make things right. She was very upset when she left here. And I don’t like seeing nice girls cry over idiot boys, okay?”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m gonna fix this. Can you just tell me what happened?”

“Like I said, I saw her crying so I sent my daughter over to check on her. She told my daughter that you stood her up so I gave her a free sandwich and let her pet my cat until she felt better.”

“Then where did she go?” Peter asked desperately.

“How should I know?” Delmar scoffed and went back behind the counter.

“Okay. Thank you anyway. I’m gonna try to find her.”

“You better. And don’t come back here unless you want an ass whooping. You little punk.” Delmar called as Peter ran out the door. Once Peter was gone, you came out from the back of the store with an empty cup of tea in your hands.

“Is he gone?” You asked in a weak voice.

“Yes, mi amor. He’s gone. Did you like the tea? My mother makes a homemade batch every day.”

“I liked the tea.” You said quietly as you stared into your empty cup.

“You can hide out here as long as you like, but we should at least call your mom. She’s probably wondering where you are.�� Delmar said as he rubbed your shoulder to comfort you.

“That’s okay. My mom texted me a few mins ago and said Peter came by looking for me. I think it’s safe for me to go home now.” You said and smiled weakly in appreciation.

“Okay, mi vida. I’m sorry he let you down tonight. If you were my daughter, he’d be dead and in a shallow grave by now.” Delmar said, making you laugh a little.

“Thanks. Thank you both for cheering me up and letting me hide. I’m just not ready to talk to him.”

“I get it. I wouldn’t be ready either. Let me know how it goes. And if you need to hide out some more, you know where to find us.” Louisa said and pulled you into a tight hug. You had never spoken to her before today but felt grateful that she decided to help a stranger. You thanked them both again before leaving Delmars and walking home. Your mom told you Peter asked you to call him once you walked into your apartment but you lied and said you were too tired. It was too much to get into tonight and all you wanted to do was sleep.

The next day at school, Peter saw you by your locker and froze. You looked like you had gotten as much sleep as Peter, which was little to none. Peter took a deep breath before walking up to you.

“Hey.” Peter smiled weakly and braced himself for the worst possible reaction from you. Instead of screaming at him like he assumed, you just kept getting your stuff out of your locker.

“Okay. You’re not talking to me. I deserve that.” He nodded. You slammed your locker shut and started to walk away.

“Wait. Please just let me explain.” Peter begged as he ran in front of you. You didn’t make eye contact with him but he could see your lip beginning to tremble.

“I don’t understand.” You said in a weak voice.

“You don’t understand what?”

“You kissed me. You asked me on a date. I was perfectly fine with us being friends but you changed things. Why would you do all of that just to stand me up?”

“I didn’t stand you up. I got caught up in something really important and it took longer than I expected. That’s the only reason I didn’t show up. And I’m so, so, incredibly fucking sorry that I didn’t show up. You have no idea how much I wanted to be there and go on that date. Something just came up and I had no choice.”

“I get that. Shit comes up. But why didn’t you text or call?”

“To be perfectly honest, I completely forgot about the date until I finished with the other thing. I didn’t remember until May told me you had come by.”

“You forgot?” You asked as you finally looked at Peter. The sadness in your eyes was replaced with stone cold anger that sent a shiver down Peters spine.

“Yes.” He admitted. “But only because what I was doing was super important and needed my full attention.”

“What is this “super important” thing you had to do that made you forget about me?” You asked and folded your arms.

“I can’t tell you.” Peter grimaced as the words came out, knowing you’d never believe him.

“You can’t tell me?” You raised an eyebrow.

“No, I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.”

You stared at Peter for a long time as the anger you felt inside doubled. You balled your hands into fists and wanted to punch him right in his face but instead, you just walked away.

“Wait.” Peter called after you and ran up to you again. You didn’t look at him as you walked to your next class.

“Can we please reschedule to tonight? We still really need to talk about us.” He said as he struggled to keep up with you.

“No.”

“No? But we never got a chance-“

“Let me make this perfectly clear, Peter.” You cut him off. Any chance of “us” happening ended last night when you decided not to show up. I got no call, no text, and now some half assed excuse that doesn’t even come with an explanation as to where you were? And to top it all off, you had the nerve, the absolute fucking audacity, to tell me that you forgot about me. You forgot about me? Was that seriously supposed to make this all better?”

“No. I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Peter rubbed his eyes in frustration. “I know I fucked up. But please, I really really like you. I want to give us a chance. I screwed up last night but don’t let that ruin what we have.”

“I can’t ruin it. You already did.” Your voice cracked as you walked away again. This time, he let you go.

As much as you wanted to avoid Peter and let him suffer, you had an hour long lab period with him after your first period class. You walked in and went towards your usual lab table out of muscle memory. When you saw that Peter was already sitting there, you froze.

“Hey.” Peter smiled brightly when you made eye contact. You immediately looked away and stopped at the closest lab table.

“Can I please sit here?” You asked without even looking at who was already sitting there.

“You can sit that pretty little thang anywhere you like.” Flash smirked and patted the seat beside him.

“Thanks.” You mumbled and took a seat. Peter watched you sit beside Flash and felt a bubble of jealousy in his stomach. He wanted to listen to what you were saying but didn’t want to invade your privacy.

“I’m not sure if you noticed, but no one ever sits with me for labs. And that’s because of my horrific personality and general off putting vibe. I’m also really bad at biology-“

“This is chemistry.” You cut in.

“Really? Oh shit, I’m even worse at that.” Flash laughed. “Anyway, how would you feel about doing all the work and letting me copy?”

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever.” You mumbled and started doing the lab work. Flash noticed you weren’t dishing back with your usual insults and frowned.

“You okay?” He asked in a kinder tone. You had one of those moments where you were fine until someone asked you if you were okay, prompting you to break down.

“I’m fine.” You said in a shaky voice and quickly wiped your face. Flash noticed your tears and looked over his shoulder to see Peter staring at you with all the guilt in the world on his face.

“How come you’re not sitting with Parker?” Flash asked you. You blinked back a few tears and tried to focus on your work.

“We had a falling out.”

“Oh shit. Really?” Flash snorted and looked over his shoulder again at Peter, who was looking back this time. Peter could tell you had said something to Flash about what happened and his curiosity was killing him.

“What did he do?” Flash nudged you when you didn’t answer.

“Why do you just assume he did something?”

“Because you’re the one who changed seats.” Flash said, making you shrug in agreement.

“And because Parker’s an idiot.” He added after a beat. You couldn’t help but smile and nod your head.

“Yeah. He is.” You chuckled and looked over at Flash. Peter clenched his fist in jealousy over Flash getting you to laugh and smile but kept quiet.

“So come on. Tell me what he did.” Flash urged now that he had cheered you up a little.

“No. Here’s the answers to the first page.” You said and slid your work over to him.

“Thanks.” Flash replied and copied your work down. Peter watched this with tight eyes and felt his jealousy worsen. Lab days were usually spent giggling and flirting with each other as you shared answers and now he had to watch you do that with Flash.

“Here’s page two.” Flash handed you his work after a couple minutes of silence.

“You finished? I thought you were gonna copy me?”

“I was. But I’ll let you copy me if you tell me what Parker did.”

“I’m not gonna tell you. And these are all wrong.” You laughed and handed the page back to him.

“That’s because I just wrote down random numbers. I didn’t realize you were going to actually look at them.” Flash scoffed and snatched his page back. You threw your head back laughing at his erratic behavior, catching Peters attention in the process. Peter couldn’t imagine what Flash could’ve possibly said to make you laugh like that but it made white hot jealousy course through his body.

“He’s staring at us, you know. With those beady little rat eyes of his.” Flash leaned over to whisper in your ear.

“Flash.” You laughed in surprise and checked behind you to see if Peter had heard that. You accidentally made eye contact with Peter and quickly looked away.

“What? Haven’t you ever noticed that he kind of looks like he always has a frog in his mouth? And he’s trying to keep it from jumping out?” Flash asked you in a genuine tone.

“Shut up. You’re so mean.” You laughed and playfully shoved him away from you. Peter just about fell over when he saw this and loudly cleared his throat to get your attention. You looked over your shoulder and made eye contact for just a second before looking away.

“Can I at least know what he did?” Flash whispered again. You let out a sigh and decided that since he had made you feel better, you’d give him what he wanted.

“He said he’d take me on a date and he didn’t. I waited all night for him and he never came.” You said simply and went back to your work. Flash was quiet for a long time and when he didn’t respond, you looked at him in confusion.

“He’s a loser. You deserved better.” Flash said with a sympathetic smile.

“Oh. Thanks.” You smiled in surprise at his chivalry after expecting a crude response.

“Let me take you on a real date to make up for it.” Flash said at full volume, making Peters stomach drop. Before you could answer, the bell rang and the period ended. Peter ran out of the classroom as quickly as he could before he could hear you after to go on a date with another boy. You gave Flash your answer as you collected your things.

“Thanks for letting me sit with you.” You said to Flash as you walked out of the class together.

“Anything to mess with Parker.” Flash smiled and held his fist out. You fist bumped him and felt lighter then you had since last night.

You continued to avoid Peter for the rest of the day, not an easy task considering you had almost every class together. He knew the one place you couldn’t avoid him was your locker, which was conveniently right next to his. He got his stuff that he needed for the night and waited until you showed up. You soon showed up and saw Peter standing by his locker, making you want to walk right out of the building. You knew you couldn’t leave without getting your books so you held your chin up and went to get your books. You could feel Peter staring at you with his puppy dog eyes and couldn’t help but roll your eyes to the ceiling.

“Hey.” He said in a quiet voice. You didn’t answer and pretended to take interest in one of your textbooks.

“I miss you.” He tried again, making you pause a little to internally admit that you missed him too.

“I heard you’re going on a date with Flash.” He added, catching you off guard.

“What? Did Flash tell you that?” You frowned confusion. You hadn’t meant to respond, but that came out of nowhere and you wanted to know more.

“No. I heard you guys talking during lab today.” Peter admitted, gaining the slightest inch of hope now that you had spoken to him. You were about to tell Peter that you turned Flash down, but you decided to let him suffer a little after the way he had made you feel.

“Yeah, well, I bet you have a lot to say about that.” You said with a roll of your eyes.

“I do.” Peter replied, making you sigh and look at him.

“Go ahead. Tell me he’s an idiot and a womanizer and that I’m stupid for going out with him and-“

“I hope you have a nice time.” Peter cut you off. “I hope he picks a place you like and pulls your chair out for you and drives you home in his expensive car. And I hope you fall asleep that night with a smile on your face because you had a nice time. That’s all I was gonna say.”

“Why would you hope for that?” You asked with suspicion.

“Because you’re my best friend and that means I want you to have a great date.” Peter said sincerely. You eyed him skeptically but heard him out.

“Even if it’s not with me.” He added and held his breath in fear of your response. You looked Peter up and down and felt your heart ache in your chest. You hated being mad at him because the only person you wanted to confide in about your heartbreak was him. All you wanted was to talk to your best friend and let him make you feel better.

“I’m not going on the date with him. I said no.” You admitted and avoided eye contact with Peter.

“You did? Why?”

“I told him it wouldn’t be fair to him to go out with him because even though you’re a total butt munch who sucks major balls and I hate with all my heart, I still have feelings for you.” You confessed as you slowly looked into Peters eyes.

“You have feelings for me?” Peter asked in a soft voice and took a step closer to you.

“I have for a while. That’s what I was gonna tell you last night but you never showed up.” You felt angry again and took a step back.

“Can we please have our date tonight? I swear, I will show up this time. Nothing could keep me away.”

“I don’t know. Are you gonna tell me what super important thing kept you from showing up last time?” You asked and folded your arms.

“Yes. Tonight I’ll explain everything.” Peter promised you. You were too curious about what caused him to stand you up to stay no, so you reluctantly nodded your head.

“Fine. I’ll give you a second chance.”

“That’s my first favorite kind of chance.” Peter smiled in relief.

“But if you blow it tonight, I’m never speaking to you again. I mean it.”

“I won’t blow it. I swear.” Peter promised you. “Can you meet me on the Brooklyn bridge tonight?”

You were silent for a long time as you stared at Peter until you finally found the words.

“Why the fuck would we have this relationship changing discussion on the Brooklyn bridge?” You asked after a beat of silence. Peter paused, realizing that that was a valid question, before responding.

“Just please try to trust me. I know I’ve given you plenty of reasons not to. But everything will make sense after tonight. I promise.”

“Fine. It better.”

“I’ll see you then?” Peter asked hopefully.

That night, Peter put on his Spiderman suit and swung to the Brooklyn bridge. He felt so anxious that his hands shook as he grabbed the next web so he tried to push everything from his mind. When he landed on top of the bridge, he scanned the street below until he found you. He let out a nervous breath before jumping down and landing near you.

“Hey.” Peter said to get your attention.

“Oh my God. Hi.” You laughed in surprise when you saw who was talking to you.

“Can I show you something?” Peter asked through his mask, catching you off guard. You looked behind you to make sure Spiderman was talking to you and not someone else but found no one there.

“Sorry, Spiderman. As intriguing and random as that offer is, I’m kinda waiting for somebody. It’s really important.”

“I know. It’ll just take a sec.”

“Okay, fine.” You agreed. “As long as you bring me right back.”

“I will.” Peter promised as he slipped a secure arm around your waist. You let out a nervous breath and wrapped your arms around his neck for more support.

“I’ve always wanted to do this.” Peter grinned under his mask before shooting a web and swinging away. You let out a thrilled scream and held on tight as Peter swung you up to a building that stood opposite the Brooklyn bridge. You opened your eyes once you felt your feet on the ground and gasped when you saw what he had wanted to show you.

“I love you” had been written in webs on the bridge in giant letters. The lights of the cityscape behind it lit it up a soft yellow that made you feel a warm feeling inside.

“Aw, that’s beautiful, Spiderman. Who did you do that for?” You turned to him to ask.

“I did it for you.” Peter said and took a step closer to you. Your fondness for it turned to fear as you took a step back.

“Why me? You don’t know me.” You laughed nervously and wondered if Spiderman had been stalking you without your knowledge.

“Yes I do. You’re my best friend. I know you better than anyone.”

“Okay. I’m officially creeped out now.” You laughed nervously and stepped dither away from him. “This is on me for letting a stranger swing me up to a place I cannot escape from.”

“I’m not a stranger.” Peter tried to tell you as he walked towards you.

“You may be Spiderman but you are still a stranger and I am feeling in danger.” You said as you peered over the side of the building, only to confirm you had no escape.

“What? No, you’re not in danger. Look. It’s just me.” Peter laughed and went to take his mask off. He found himself freezing for a moment, knowing that this would be the moment before absolutely everything changed.

“You said “it’s just me” and then didn’t take your mask off.” You pointed out.

“I know. Just give me a second. I’m shy.” Peter said and went for the edge of his mask again. You looked at him expectingly and felt your heart pounding over being seconds away from finding out who Spiderman was under his mask. Peters heart was pounding for the same reason.

“Okay. No going back now.” Peter said to himself before pulling his mask off. He watched your eyebrows go up in an initial surprise before your face settled in a fond smile.

“You know, so many things just made sense.” You said with a gentle laugh.

“Right? Didn’t I tell you it would all make sense after tonight?” Peter smiled now that he had gotten an good reaction. You stepped closer to him and held his hands, just trying to feel the suit in order to convince yourself that this was really happening.

“So this is why you missed the dance last year? And the decathlon?”

“And why I didn’t show up last night. There was a robbery-“

“On 5th avenue.” You realized. “I saw that. You were there?”

“I had to be there. I have this great power and with that comes with a great responsibility.”

You were quite for a minute, then made a face and laughed.

“Peter. A catchphrase? Do you seriously have a catch phrase?” You covered your mouth as you laughed.

“No.” He whined. “That wasn’t a catchphrase. It was more like my tag line if I was a comic book.”

“You’re making it so hard to be attracted to you right now.” You continued to laugh but never let go of his hand.

“What? I just swept you off your feet -literally- after telling the entire world I loved you with my webs.” Peter said as he pointed to the bride. You looked at the bridge again with a whole new perspective now that you knew it was you best friend telling you he loved you. You then looked at Peter and couldn’t contain your smile.

“Yeah, but then you said something that gave me the ick.”

“Are you kidding me? I should be ick free after giving you the grandest of grand gestures.” Peter said and gestured to the bridge again with both arms. You laughed at how worked up he was getting before wrapping your arms around his neck to look at him. Peter settled his hands on your waist and gulped a little as he anxiously anticipated what you were gonna say.

“I love you too. I was gonna tell you that yesterday but then some bitch ass had to rob a bank and keep you from me.” You told him, making him laugh in both surprise and relief.

“Wait, nobody died right? Or was that super insensitive?” You asked him.

“Nobody died. I got punched in the nuts though.” He said though a laugh.

“Aw. Poor baby.” You pouted sarcastically and stroked his cheek. He laughed again before resting his forehead against your to look into your eyes. You stayed that way in comfortable silence for a moment before Peter felt your body freeze in fear.

“Oh my God.” You whispered.

“What’s wrong?”

“It just occurred to me that I’m standing on top of a random building with nothing but your noodle arms anchoring me to the floor. I’m gonna pass out. Take me to the ground, please. I beg you.”

“Hang tight.” Peter chuckled and safely swung you to the ground. Once he set you down, he crawled up the wall behind you and slipped his mask back over his face so that no one would accidentally see him.

“Peter?” You asked and looked around. He slid down on a web the way a spider would and stopped once he was at face level with you.

“I should probably be going now, little lady. Crime doesn’t take a night off.” He said in a his Hulk Hogan voice.

“Oh no. Do you have to go use your great power to take care of your great responsibilities?” You teased him and held your hands over your heart.

“I get the sense you’re teasing me.” Peter said in his usual voice.

“What gave you that idea?” You smiled sweetly and rested your hands on his upside down face.

“My spider senses tell me everything.” He returned to his funny voice to mask how nervous he was to be this close to you. You laughed at his joke and stroked his cheek under the mask.

“Will I see you again, Spiderman?” You asked in an exaggerated swooning voice.

“Only if you commit a crime.” He played along.

“Then I simply have to give you something to remember me by.”

“Your handkerchief?”

“Something better.” You laughed softly as you rolled his mask down to just under his nose. With just his lips exposed, you brought his face closer and kissed him, upside down in that alley way. Peter kissed you back and felt his heart explode in his chest as everything felt right again. It felt just as perfect as the first kiss and both of you knew that something big had just begun. When you pulled away, you rolled his mask back down over his face and smiled to yourself.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Peter.” You whispered in his ear so no one passing by could overhear his name. Peter felt his face blush beneath his mask and felt grateful you couldn’t see him.

The next day, Peter didn’t see you at your locker before his first class but saw you sitting at your usual lab table when he walked in. He smiled at the sight of you and felt relived that not only was you relationship back to normal, it was elevated. He sat beside you and you exchanged timid smiles. You still felt a degree of awkwardness around Peter as you didn’t know how things were going to be from now on. There was a substitute teacher today instead of your usual professor and when she passed around a work sheet for everyone to do, she accidentally skipped you. When Peter noticed this, he put his hand in the air.

“Could we please get another worksheet? My girlfriend didn’t get one.” Peter said once he was called on. The substitute had no idea why several people turned around to look at you and Peter with surprised faces, or why you looked like you’d just been asked for your hand in marriage.

“Oh, sorry. Here you go.” The sub said and handed you a sheet.

“Thank you.” You said before sneaking a glance at Peter. He was quietly doing his work, not making a big deal out of what he had just called you. You, on the other hand, were internally flipping out over the label.

“You just called me your girlfriend.” You leaned over to tell him.

“Did I?” He smiled cheekily but kept doing his work. You grinned at how nonchalant he was being and went back to doing your work.

“I’m sorta seeing someone.” You said without looking up.

“What? Who?” Peter dropped his pencil ad his attention whipped to you.

“Spiderman.” You causally shrugged and kept doing your work. Peter chuckled in relief and picked his pencil back up.

“Oh. Well I wouldn’t want to come between the two of you.”

“Thanks. We can still be friends though, right?” You asked and looked over at him.

“Yeah, totally. Just friends.” He nodded in agreement as he leaned in. You leaned the rest of the way and kissed him for just a moment before pulling away. You were both smiling and blushing messes as you went back to your work.

“What did you get for number 6?” You asked after a beat of comfortable silence.

“I got pH = 12.”

“Fuck.”

“What?” Peter wondered.

“I got “J.D. Salinger” for some reason.”

Tag List 🏷️

@awesomebooklover17 @thebookwormlife @imanativeofswlondondahling @serendipitous-amor @tom-hollands-wifey

@whatareyouhidingpeter @takenbyheartstrings @ultrunning @imyourliquor-youremypoison @andreasworlsboring101

@letsloveimagines @peterparkoure @a-villain-vying-for-attention @justcallmehitgirl @jackiehollanderr @maryjanee23

@geeksareunique @emmamarshmellow @unbelievableholland @flixndchill

@sovereignparker @every-marveler-ever @undiadeestos @caelestii-e @ @fiantomartell

@solarxmoonchild @canyouevencauseicant @illwritetomorrow @thehappygrungelife

@saysomethingspiderman @smilexcaptainx @quaksonhehe @kelieah @seasidecrowbar

@lovelessdagger @electraheart-3174 @unbelievableholland @yourtypicalhotmess

@horanxholland @thesuitelifeofafangirl @marshxx @heyheycharlatte @nooneinvitedfascistbarbie

@maybemona @alexxcorona113 @lethal-wisdom @xo-spidey

#peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker x you #peter parker angst #peter parker fluff #peter parker fanfiction #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland fluff #tom holland fanfiction

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valsdelulucorner · 16 days

Text

Mammon head cannons <3

We all know mammon is tsundere, loving to bottle up his emotions towards his loved ones and put on a act. However whenever you two are alone, his tough guy persona melts away completely and turns into your shy demon boyfriend. He both hates and loves that you have that power over him

He loves to collect little trinkets. Hey, no he didn't steal them!..... most of them. I like to think that he has some really sharp eyes so even if something is really well hidden, he spots it a nicks it. He loves showing off his collection to you, talking a million miles a hour as he holds onto your sleeve and boasts about his new tiny thing

If you were to come down to devildom as a welder or a Jewler, oh lord he will try to marry you on the spot. He absolutely loves to watch you work on your creations, even subjecting little ideas he comes up with for you to make. Sure, at the start he tries to steal your creations to sell them but once he gets closer to you, he absolutely loves bringing you his little trinkets to wield into rings and bracelets

Absolutely loves making nests with his pillows and blankets, spreading his body out on top of his nest in his full demon form. He will act all shy if you find him like this on his nest but when he realizes your not making fun of him, buddy, you are in for a long night of cuddles and deep conversation.

Ok hear me out, when mammon cuddles you, he lets out soft snores that sound like a mix between a purr and the sound a crow makes when its happy. He will hide his face in your neck while cuddling as his arms wrap protectively around your waist, subconsciously purring his little heart out in his sleep as his wings cover you in a protective hold

After having you literally die in his arms that one time, he realized how easily it was for you to slip from his fingers so this man does HEAVY research on humans. What humans cant eat, what irritates their skin, what's best for their health, what food will make them live longer, what temperatures they can withstand, the whole 9 yard. He will always give you a bottle of water at morning, noon, and night and will refuse to go anywhere unless you drink some. If he finds out you haven't been drinking through the day, he will genuinely get scared you will die and beg you to drink. He might have missed a few things but he loves you dearly

He gets bad nightmares about loosing you and those dear to him, they started happening more often after he held your dead body in his arms. He would usualy wake up in a cold sweat and go find lucifer, making sure to poke his head into his little brothers rooms to make sure they are ok before going to find comfort in Lucifer. But with you? He would cling to you and thank anyone who would listen that you were still alive, still next to him. He would hide his face in your neck and quietly cry himself back to sleep, being woken up to immediate comfort from you

He mindlessly doodles when he is bored or if he is focused on something else, like you for example. He likes to admire you during class so sometimes when he's supposed to be taking notes, he will start to subconsciously doodle you in his notebook. He will turn bright red if anyone points this out and he will throw his notebook into the wall, just like that video of the guy throwing his laptop into the wall. Poor guy wont get a break

My man will 100% steal you away from his brothers and just go for a walk with you, it doesn't need to lead to anywhere, he just likes talking and being with you

He calls you his little treasure, his jewel, his first, and most likely a nickname of your actual name. They roll off his tounge so easily, he will accidentally call you these Infront of people. "Stay away from my treasure!" ..... "your what?" " D...DONT AVOID THE QUESTION!"

"I wouldn't trade you for all the grim in the world treasure, you mean more to me then money"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I absolutely love Mammon, he is my favorite character but i dont think this was written to the best of my ability. I might come back to this in the future but until then<3

Who should i do next?

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reidsdaisies · 1 month

Note

hey! congrats on 500 :) can i request an softdom mgg smuttt (idk if you write for mathew or not but if not could it be spencer?, completely fine if you don’t wanna write mathew ofc<3) rose 9 prompt? maybeee r had a rough/stressful day and he just wants to make her feel better🫣🫣

༉‧´ˎ˗ pairing; softdom!spencer reid x fem!bau!reader

༉‧´ˎ˗ prompt(s); rose, 9 – “Just let me take care of you, baby.”

༉‧´ˎ˗ wc; 0.8k

༉‧´ˎ˗ content warnings; spencer gives reader a neck massage? (not in a weird way), a bit of talk of a made up case, kissing, fade to black? not proofread 🥲

༉‧´ˎ˗ a/n; hi! thank you for requesting honey 🫶 i haven’t really been in a smutty mood so this is more suggestive and fade to black, sorry ;( also, in my requesting guidelines it states i will not write rpf (real person fiction) so i decided to do your request with the second option—spencer!

celebrate with me!

cm masterlist ; main masterlist ; request guidelines ; inbox

This case is already starting to take a huge toll on you, and the team only took it up 3 days ago. Spencer—ever the observer— noticed almost immediately. He’s done his best to keep quiet and not interrupt your work flow, but he can’t stand to the side anymore and watch you struggle.

He's come up with a few ways to help you relax, his favorite so far being most risqué of them all.

Spencer spots you in the hotel lobby, sitting at the bar, drinking a glass of something. He notices you writing something down—most likely writing down your thoughts and theories about the case in attempt to keep them organized.

"Y/n," he wearily says your name, not trying to spook you as he comes up behind you. Despite his attempt, you're still caught a little of gaurd, and your shoulders drop as you look up to the man standing beside you.

"Hi, Spencer," you sigh. You don't want him to think you're bummed out at his presence, but your overall mood right now is just kind of gloomy. He understands.

“How are you?” He asks, pulling out a stool beside you and sitting down at the bar.

“Uh, good..” you mutter, looking away from him.

“Are you sure?” Spencer tilts his head to the side, still looking over at you. You just shrug, finishing your sentence before closing the notebook and huffing.

“No, I’m not sure of anything,” you sigh, dropping your head in the palms of your hands, smooshing your cheeks. He rests his hand onto where your upper back meets your neck, slipping the hand beneath your shirt to gently massage you.

“Is it the case that’s frustrating you?” He asks, listening to your sighs of frustration slowly melt into ones of relief.

“Mhm,” you hum, laying your arms flat on the table so you can rest your head in them more comfortably.

“It’s a confusing one, right? No direct leads, virtually no connection between the victims besides the MO of the way the killer disposed of them.”

You shake your head, groaning as he mentions the fact that you guys are going off basically nothing.

“It’s just so upsetting, and with the newest victim being dumped in a completely different area, it leads me to believe that he already knows we’re on to him.”

He nods in agreement with your sentiment, even though he knows you can’t see him do so.

“Maybe I can help you take your mind off of it..” he suggests, fingers working at the knot in your shoulder.

“Huh?” You question, picking your head up slightly and looking over at him. He lets out a breathy laugh at your little confused pout, leaning in closer to your ear.

“How about we go to my room, hm?” He whispers against the shell of your ear. His words force a breathy moan from your lips, and you find yourself darting your eyes around the lobby. Thank god it’s late, and just the two of you are left downstairs. “Would you like that?”

You nod eagerly, pulling your head from your arms and sitting up straighter. His hand slides off your back, grasping your hand and helping you off your chair.

He grabs your note book off the counter and stuffs it back into your purse before sliding it over your arm. He pulls you in closer, talking at your level, whispering something into your ear that makes your cheeks heat up.

…

You were antsy the whole elevator ride up to the 2nd floor, and it didn’t stop as you bounce on your feet, waiting impatiently for Spencer to unlock the door.

When he finally pushes the door open you’re quick to rush inside, pushing past him and kicking off your shoes.

“Someone’s excited,” he laughs, shutting the door behind him and stuffing the keycard back where he was keeping it in his wallet.

“Well you promised me something, of course I’m excited.”

“Mm, if I remember correctly, I didn’t promise you anything.” You shot him a glare, your mouth dropping in a snarl. He chuckles, giving you a tight lipped smile. “Kidding.”

You just shake your head at him, the joking snarl turning to a smirk. As you throw your arms around his neck, lips immediately attaching to his, one of your hands finds its way into his soft waves. His arm slithers around your waist, naturally allowing his hand to rest on your ass, giving it a firm squeeze.

The soft moan you let out is muffled by his mouth, which in the moment is practically mauling yours. Out of any of the people you’ve kissed before, Spencer surely is the most zealous of them all.

He backs you up in the direction of the bed, letting you fall back onto the mattress. Leaning down, he presses his lips to yours. His nimble fingers undo the buttons of your blouse as he trails his kisses down the column of your throat, and then your chest.

“You’ll let me take care of you, right, baby?” his eyes glance up at yours, seeking you’re consent.

“Yes, god yes,”

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sunhoures · 9 months

Text

And It Was All Yellow

pairing: wonwoo (svt) + reader (fem.)

genre: fluff, strangers to friends to lovers, photographer!wonwoo, artist!reader (+ journalist!mingyu)

word count: ~5.7k

synopsis: wonwoo doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but he finds himself falling for you a lot sooner than he thought possible

inspired by: the text post pictured above ^^ & the song “yellow” by coldplay 💛

posted: august 21, 2023

The weather in Seoul was dull—gray clouds and scattered, drizzling rain suspended over the city since dawn had broken. Most people hated such weather, but Jeon Wonwoo was not one of those people. In fact, he found comfort in the gloominess. He enjoyed the idea of having an excuse to stay in. And if he did need to go outside, he liked that there was a lack of the usual crowd of people that would be around if the weather was more ideal. Traffic was less compacted. Lines of any kind were short (or non-existent). The city was quiet, just as he liked it.

On days like today, he preferred to spend his time inside with a book or playing video games. But work had been scarce for him these past few weeks, so when his best friend, Mingyu, had informed him of a job offer he had no choice but to accept it. That’s how he ended up at a local art museum downtown at 9:45 a.m. on a Thursday morning. Despite the doors not opening for another fifteen minutes, a worker had let him in through the front door when he got her attention and pointed to his camera bag. She realized he didn’t have an umbrella with him, and so she quickly let him in. Luckily he had a raincoat over his outfit and a hat to protect his hair, so the most he had to deal with was a little rain on the back of his neck. He thanked the worker, staying close to the door to get any glimpse of Mingyu arriving.

In the meantime, he watched the cars pass by outside, each one splashing water out of the puddle and onto the sidewalk just in front of the entrance to the museum. He noticed it had lightened up a bit outside, the sky turning from a darker gray to a lighter gray with wispy, white clouds. He wondered if anyone would even show up to this exhibit opening in such weather conditions.

About five minutes after he arrived, Mingyu came knocking on the door, covering his head with a magazine. The worker came back and opened the door for him, deciding to leave it unlocked. Wonwoo’s younger friend came in, complaining under his breath about forgetting his umbrella and getting wet. He shook the sopping magazine, droplets of water falling onto the concrete floor. His gray button-up was a darker gray on the shoulders and sleeves from the rain that seeped into it. Wonwoo noticed the worker glaring at his friend for dripping on the floor and tried not to let his amusement show.

“Forgot your umbrella too?” he questioned Mingyu, “Hopefully your notebook didn’t get ruined.”

His friend looked to the bag he had hanging from his shoulder. The bag didn’t have a zipper, but it did have a flap that fell over the opening to keep it “closed” in a sense. He quickly shoved his hand inside, feeling around for his notebook. When he felt the edges of the paper and confirmed they were dry, he smiled, “All good. And why so early? That’s unusual.”

“I’m never late,” Wonwoo defended.

“Yeah, but if I tell you to be somewhere at ten a.m. you usually don’t walk in until nine fifty-eight.”

The older of the two shrugged, “Got an early start today.”

The two men began their work day, Wonwoo fine-tuning the settings on his camera to his liking while Mingyu made some preliminary notes in his notebook. They set up together in the lobby, but once the artist had arrived, Mingyu excused himself to greet her. Wonwoo stayed in the lobby, taking a couple of test pictures to see if anything else needed to be adjusted. Around him several museum workers, journalists, and other photographers were gathering with the artist. Wonwoo wasn’t the biggest fan of interacting with strangers, so he kept to himself. Luckily, he busied himself with his camera which was enough to keep people from disrupting him.

Once Mingyu returned to his friend, the two joined the growing crowd waiting by the entrance to the new exhibit where a ceremonial ribbon cutting was about to take place. Wonwoo found the ribbon to be a bit superfluous. Nonetheless, he stood towards the back of the small crowd, arms crossed and camera slung around his neck by its strap. He was hired to take some pictures of the event and the art pieces for Mingyu’s article, and that was it. It was somewhat easy money for him, but it did take more time and social interaction than he liked. Truthfully, he couldn’t wait for this to be over and go home to edit.

He watched you, the artist, get behind the ribbon and make your speech thanking everyone for showing up. He snapped a couple pictures as you thanked the museum for giving your art a home temporarily. After a few minutes, you ended your speech by giving a small spiel about how art was therapeutic to you and it should be for everyone else. He found himself subconsciously nodding in agreement, because photography was a form of therapy for him as well.

The ribbon was cut after your speech, and the congregation of guests entered the exhibit for the first time. Mingyu and Wonwoo brought up the rear, but they were just as astonished as every single person ahead of them when they saw the art on display. Several paintings of various mediums hung on the walls, varying in size. The large columns in the middle of the room also held paintings on them, each piece of art accompanied by a small plaque with information about it—like the title and date. Mingyu, just like the other journalists, was already jotting down notes in his book, the tip of his tongue poking out of the corner of his pressed lips in concentration. Wonwoo peered around the room, simply taking everything in. His hands held his camera which was still hanging from his neck.

The two friends walked around together, patiently waiting for the other guests to continue on before taking their time in front of a piece to write or take pictures. As they got to the last few paintings, Mingyu made a comment about finding the bathroom, and that he would be back shortly. Wonwoo nodded and continued to snap a few pictures of the paintings before him. He came to a stop in front of a simple painting of sunflowers; the acrylic paint forming a kind of 3D effect on the canvas. He stared at that one for a moment longer than the rest of them, not for any particular reason, he supposed. It didn’t stand out from the others or anything, but he liked it for a reason he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“Do you like sunflowers?”

Your voice startled him, though he didn’t show it. He merely turned to you, giving you a small nod of acknowledgement as well as a small, polite smile, “They’re fine I guess.”

“This was one of my first pieces I made in art school,” you explained, and it was then he noticed it did indeed have the earliest date posted among all of the canvases in the room.

“It’s nice,” he said, “Congratulations, by the way. You’re very talented.”

Your face broke into a sweet smile despite that being the nth compliment of this morning. Each one felt like a gold star being rewarded to you, and it filled you with happiness. You gestured to his camera, “Do you work for a magazine?”

“Um, sort of,” he shrugged, “My friend does, he just has me shoot pictures for his articles.”

“Oh, I do remember seeing you with someone,” you remembered, “Um, the tall one with the gray shirt, right?”

“Yes.”

“I see. I haven’t gotten to speak with him in depth yet, do you know if he’ll be back soon?”

“He should be returning from the bathroom soon,” he replied. Usually Wonwoo was terrible at making conversation with strangers. He dreaded it. But you gave off such a comforting, welcoming energy. He found himself wanting to talk to you about, well, anything, “This weather isn’t too ideal for this occasion, isn’t it?”

“The rain?” you asked, “Yeah, it’s a bummer, but the turn out was great still. I didn’t think so many people would come.”

“Why’s that?” his brow raised slightly in curiosity.

“I didn’t think my art was special enough to warrant such an exhibit. One of my mentors from art school is friends with the head of the museum, and he asked him for a favor. He’s put a lot of time and faith in me, but I don’t think my art is worth such a grandiose gesture,” you spoke so casually, as if it was fact. Wonwoo found your confession to be a little disheartening. Sure, the art might not have the prestige to qualify for the MoMA or the Louvre, but to someone like him who casually enjoyed art, your work was impressive.

“Well, I’m glad he did. Your work is amazing,” Wonwoo was a man of few words, but he hoped the few he could give would bring you some reassurance. And for the moment it did. You smiled warmly, perking up further when Mingyu returned to the both of you.

“Hello again, would you be able to spare a few minutes with me?” he asked you, already getting his notebook and pen from his bag. You agreed, and the two of you began a conversation while Wonwoo continued to snap some photos of the last paintings. When he was done, he waited patiently for you and Mingyu to finish your conversation. Around ten minutes passed, and the crowd was fluctuating as some people left and some newcomers joined. Wonwoo watched the guests observe the art, getting some inspiration to take photos of them as well. He figured some candid pictures would look nice too. He even got one of you and Mingyu discussing the sunflower piece before he approached the two of you again.

The three of you talked for what felt like hours but in reality was only twenty minutes. At some point the conversation had veered from art to your social lives. Mingyu was a very sociable, outgoing person, so it didn’t take long for him to strike a casual conversation with you. He had learned that the three of you frequented the same coffee shop a few streets away.

“We’ll have to get coffee together some time,” you said, “Should we swap numbers?”

Mingyu happily did so, and the two of you swapped phones to add each others contacts. You made a comment about getting with some other journalists, but you promised to stay in touch before leaving the two men with a “thank you for coming!”.

The rain had cleared up by the time the two friends left the museum. They walked together to the bus stop across the street, waiting for the bus that would be passing shortly. While they waited, they talked about the notes Mingyu got and the shots Wonwoo took.

“She was really sweet,” Mingyu said with a smile, “She told me she didn’t have many friends in the city. We’ll have to take her out with our friends some time soon.”

“Sure,” was all Wonwoo responded absentmindedly, replying to a text from his brother.

“She was pretty, too,” Mingyu added in a suggestive tone.

That made Wonwoo look up from his phone with a pointed look, “What are you implying?”

“Nothing,” his friend shrugged, but his expression was telling before his mouth was, “It’s just been a while since you’ve dated is all. You two seemed to be getting along well.”

The older man rolled his eyes, returning them to his phone as he opened Instagram and proceeded to scroll through his explore page, “I spoke to her for five minutes while you were in the bathroom. I’m not going to fall in love with her in five minutes.”

His friend sighed, “You’ll never fall in love if you’re not open to a potential relationship.”

Wonwoo got quiet then, and the conversation didn’t pick up again until shortly before the bus arrived. On the ride he thought about what Mingyu said. It was true, he hadn’t dated in a very long time, since college actually. Now that he was twenty-seven, it was getting harder and harder for him to find himself in a situation to meet someone. He rarely left his house. He spent his free time doing things alone, and when he did go out with his friends he stuck to them pretty closely. On top of all of that, he wasn’t the most approachable person. He wasn’t a cold person, or at least he didn’t consider himself one. But his looks gave the impression that he was, his sharp eyes and straight-drawn lips making him seem standoffish.

And unlike his friends, he didn’t believe in “love at first sight”. The idea of meeting someone for the first time and instantly being head over heels for them just didn’t connect with him. He didn’t understand how others felt that. When he dated in the past, it took weeks, even months to fall for the person he had a crush on. And he wasn’t necessarily upset with the way he lived; he didn’t mind being alone. Since he was a kid, he always felt more comfortable doing things by himself. But lately he realized his day-to-day did feel a little lonely, especially since most of his friends were settling down with their partners or moving away to pursue careers. Maybe Mingyu was right. Maybe he did need some kind of change.

The first time you hung out with the two men after meeting them at the museum, Mingyu had invited you to join them for lunch. The three of you ate Korean barbecue, learning a bit about each other over a few bottles of soju. Wonwoo didn’t do much talking that time, mostly speaking only when spoken to. You and Mingyu carried the conversations, not that either of you minded. You felt like Wonwoo would need time to open up to you, so you gave him that. Luckily, the two agreed to hang out with you again later in the week. Mingyu had to get some editing done, so he invited you and Wonwoo to keep him company at his apartment.

You were shocked when Wonwoo was the one to engage in conversation with you first, greeting you at the door and welcoming you in. He and Mingyu were preparing a simple dinner, so you sat at the kitchen island watching them cook. You noticed Wonwoo seemed more comfortable talking this time around. Maybe it was because you had hung out already, or maybe it was because he was in a familiar environment. Either way you liked seeing a little crack in the shell that kept his true personality shielded away from you.

Over a couple months the three of you became really close, and you had even met some of their other friends. Mingyu’s office wasn’t far from the art supply store you visited every week, so you made it a habit to visit him every Thursday on your supply runs. The two of you would get lunch or just sit in his office and talk during his break before you returned to your art studio. You really liked the friendship blossoming between you and the two men, but then one day something changed.

Wonwoo texted you out of the blue one Saturday mid-morning asking if you wanted to get some coffee with him. You found it odd that he texted you because he had never done that before. It was usually Mingyu who texted you, or they texted you in a group chat that you had together. Nonetheless, you responded with “of course!” and got dressed.

When you showed up to the café you were confused to see Wonwoo sitting at a two-seater table by himself. You noticed he looked like he put more effort into his appearance today. Normally when you hung out he was in lounging clothes—a simple shirt with sweatpants or maybe loose jeans. The only time you remembered seeing him dressed this nicely was the day you met, and he was working then. But he didn’t mention working today? So what could be the occasion for him to wear off-white pants, a mustard yellow sweater, and what looked like new shoes?

He was reading something on his phone when you approached him, the light from the screen reflecting on his thin-rimmed glasses. When you set your purse down, he looked up at you and gave you a small smile, “Hey.”

“Hi, is Mingyu not joining?” you asked curiously as you sat across from him. You didn’t notice when the corners of his mouth wavered for a second.

“No, he’s working. You’re stuck with just me today,” he joked.

You chuckled softly, “Don’t make it sound so bad. Was there a reason you wanted to hang out today though? I have to say I was a little shocked when you texted me.”

It was Mingyu’s idea, but Wonwoo didn’t want to admit that. His friend had pointed it out that the two of you had never hung out alone. He figured it might help Wonwoo warm up to you more if you spent some time together one-on-one. And even though he didn’t say it out loud, Wonwoo knew Mingyu secretly wanted the two of you to work out romantically—for whatever reason, he wasn’t sure. Wonwoo wasn’t completely closed off to the idea; you were gorgeous and friendly. But he knew it wasn’t going to be an overnight thing. It took weeks for him to feel comfortable with you as a friend, he could only imagine the time it would take to start a romantic relationship.

“I, um, just realized we never got a chance to hang out alone. We don’t really know much about each other outside of our hang outs with Mingyu,” he said. In that moment he also realized how tense he felt. His legs were stiff and knees were drawn in close together under the table. His fingers toyed with the wrapper of his straw from his iced americano. His shoulders were drawn in the slightest bit, and he could feel his posture was kind of terrible. He tried to relax without making it look obvious that he was tense in the first place.

“Yeah, I guess I figured you just didn’t like to socialize as much as Mingyu did.”

“I don’t, but I’m trying to be better about that,” he admitted, and you felt like you might actually be getting somewhere with him, “He teases me a lot about being a hermit.”

You laughed softly, and he smiled with you, “Well, it’s nice to see you coming out of your shell.”

After an appreciative look from him, you excused yourself to order a drink. Wonwoo immediately opened his phone and texted Mingyu.

wonu 🐈‍⬛: ok i’m here, now what do we talk about?

gyu 🐶: well first, don’t be on your phone smh. second, just ask her questions about herself. seem interested. try not to look bored like you always do

Wonwoo sighed in annoyance, ignoring the last part of his message as he turned his phone over on the table. You returned shortly after, also with an iced americano. He decided to give his friend’s advice a try, “Do you always order iced americanos?”

“Only sometimes. My go-to is usually a hot latte, but it’s a bit warm for that today,” you shrugged, taking a sip of your drink. He nodded in understanding, but he was unsure of what else to say. It was so much easier to converse with people you’ve been friends with for several years.

Luckily you had no issue with it, and you broke the awkward silence up for him, “How long have you been doing photography?”

“I’ve done it as a hobby since I was in high school, but after I graduated I started doing freelance work. So, almost ten years.”

“I’d love to see your work some time,” you spoke fondly, remembering the first time you met, “Your shots of my exhibit were amazing, so I can imagine the rest of your work is too.“

“My stuff doesn’t compare to the art you make,” he said it without even thinking. You weren’t sure if you should take it as a self-deprecating remark or flattery.

Your lips quipped into a thoughtful line before you derailed, “Okay, your turn. Ask me a question.”

“Oh, are we playing twenty questions?” Wonwoo joked, sitting back in his chair and sipping on his drink. The sunlight beamed directly across his right eye and onto his cheek. His eye was a deep chocolate brown color as opposed to the dark, cold, almost-black color it usually was. You wondered if his eyes were always that soft.

“Yeah, I’ve just decided. Your turn,” you repeated. You crossed your arms on top of the table, subtly leaning in as a sign of giving him all your attention. He fought the smile wanting to live on his lips, opting to look deep in thought. The two of you went back and forth for nearly half an hour, just asking each other questions. Some answers warranted tangents and story times before you went back to the questions, but you enjoyed it to the fullest. And truthfully, Wonwoo was too. He didn’t think he could get so much enjoyment from a game he used to play with his friends in grade school, yet here he was. On the verge of laughter as you told an embarrassing story from high school in which you were running late to school and didn’t realize until your second class that your underwear was stuck to the back of your shirt.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Wonwoo laughed softly, a crinkle appearing on the bridge of his nose, “I would’ve dropped out of school.”

“I thought about it,” you joked, a bashful smile on your lips as you remembered the story like it happened yesterday, “But yeah, if you’re going to get your clothes from the dryer, double check that your under garments aren’t stuck to them first.”

“Noted,” Wonwoo looked over and noticed that a new couple was sitting at the table behind you. That was the second time new people sat right there. He wondered how long you two had been sitting, but he didn’t want to check his phone in case you got the impression that he was in a rush to leave. Which he definitely wasn’t, “Okay, I think it’s your turn again.”

“Okay, um . . . “ your eyes searched the room for a question prompt, but you were grasping for straws- Wait, that’s it. Straws. The cups of plastic-covered straws on the counter were organized by color, one cup for each color they offered—pink, blue, and yellow, “What’s your favorite color?”

“Hm, why don’t you guess?” Wonwoo replied.

If he was honest, he didn’t really have a favorite color. He supposed if he considered it more he would settle for blue or purple, but he didn’t care enough either way. A good ninety-five percent of his wardrobe was black and five percent color, but he just liked black as a good neutral color to wear. He figured he would just let you guess until you decided to give up.

You thought about it for a moment, but no specific color came to mind immediately. His clothes were mostly black, but lots of people wore black clothing and had a favorite color that wasn’t black. His shirt was yellow as well as the straw for his americano, but there was no other indication that it would be his favorite color from what you could remember. Still, you figured it might be your best guess, “Yellow!”

Wonwoo couldn’t help but smile at your prideful declaration. You said it as if you knew it for a fact.

“Yeah.”

“Wait, really?” your eyes got wide and the grin on your face grew wide. Did you really guess it correctly in one try?

Even Wonwoo was shocked by his answer. Yellow wasn’t his favorite color. He didn’t have one. But you seemed so excited and hopeful and sure of yourself that he didn’t even think twice about his answer.

“Yeah, good job,” he praised you, and he had to admit to himself you looked really cute when you clapped your hands together in a small celebration for yourself, “What’s yours?”

“Pink,” you seemed visibly brighter when you answered. It made sense to Wonwoo. Pink was such a cute, bright, outgoing color. It signified friendliness and sweetness, and all of that just screamed you. Maybe he liked pink too. “It’s been my favorite since I was a kid. Everything I had was pink.”

“Pink suits you.”

You felt yourself flushing at the compliment, your smile turning sheepish, “I think yellow suits you, too. I’m picturing a nice pastel yellow for you. Very spring.”

He tried to picture it: him in a pastel yellow shirt. The mental image seemed foreign, since the mustard sweater he was currently wearing was the brightest color he had ever worn besides white. But he wouldn’t be opposed to it.

“Alright, your turn.”

A few more questions were exchanged between you two, long after your cups were emptied. The patrons of the café that had been present when you showed up were long gone, and new faces took their places. After a while you felt a little guilty for hogging the table for so long, even though it had only been a little under two hours. Wonwoo made a comment about heading out, so you both got up and threw your trash. He walked with you to the bus station, even though he had driven to the café in his own car. You thanked him for inviting you to hang out and told him that you enjoyed it.

“We’ll have to do this again some time, but maybe not tell Mingyu. He might get jealous,” you teased your non-present friend, making Wonwoo laugh softly. He knew for a fact that Mingyu would have no problem with it; he would probably encourage it, if anything.

“I don’t think he’d mind. He’s not usually the jealous type,” Wonwoo replied, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. He tried to think of something you two could do together, and he recalled that during the twenty—more like fifty plus—questions you had said you liked video games too, “If you want, we could hang out at my apartment, play some video games. And order pizza or something?”

“That sounds like fun!” your eyes lit up at the idea. You had never actually been to his apartment before. Every time you hung out was at Mingyu’s place, your place, or somewhere in the city. You wondered what his apartment looked like. He seemed like the type to keep everything tidy and minimal, “I’ll be pretty busy this week, but maybe we can work something out for next weekend.”

“Cool,” he nodded and kept small talk until the bus arrived to pick you and a handful of other people up. He waved you off politely, and when you were out of sight, he let out a hefty sigh. It felt like a weight had been taken off his shoulders, but not in a bad way. He liked you, so there was this small, subconscious pressure that he felt to be more outgoing. He wanted you to like him too.

Over the next few weeks, there was a shift in the dynamic between the three of you, and it seemed to be obvious to everyone except Wonwoo. You and him had grown a lot closer as you started to hang out alone outside of your usual outings with Mingyu and their other friends. And it showed when the group was together. You always took the seat closest to Wonwoo. He laughed more at your jokes. You complimented his outfits—which were slowly but progressively becoming more colorful. He offered to walk you to your car or the bus or home whenever he could. Yet, still, when asked if anything was going on between you two, he seemed confused.

“It’s not like that,” he told Mingyu when the two were walking to a job they had booked one afternoon—a restaurant opening, “________ and I have gotten close, but not that close.”

“Hey, I know you wear glasses, but you can’t be this blind,” his friend retorted, “You two like each other.”

Wonwoo faltered a bit as he walked, but tried to play it off, “Did she say she liked me?”

“No, but she doesn’t need to. Neither do you, but as your best friend it would be nice if you told me these things.”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, annoyed that Mingyu had made him think you had finally admitted having feelings for him.

“You two act like you’re in your own world all the time. The guys notice it, too, not just me,” Mingyu continued, “And since when do you like yellow so much?”

The question took Wonwoo so off guard that he laughed incredulously, “What?”

“She’s always giving you stuff that’s yellow. And you started wearing yellow clothes,” Mingyu pointed out. And it was true.

The first thing you had gifted him was a simple pen; it was a sunflower yellow color with black lettering etched on the side that said ‘hello, sunshine!’. He was confused when you had handed it to him that second time you hung out together to play video games. You showed up on his doorstep, telling him to close his eyes and put out his hands. When he had opened them again the pen was sat in his palms.

“What’s this for?”

“Nothing, I guess. I was at the supply store and noticed it by the check out, and I thought about you. So I got it for you. It’s cute, isn’t it?”

Wonwoo honestly had no reason to use such a pen since his day-to-day work required little writing. And most of his notes were made in his phone, but the sentiment behind your gift made his heart flutter, “It is. Thank you, _______.”

And nearly every time after then you had gifted him things similar. While at the park with him and Mingyu, you bought him a banana flavored popsicle, solely for the fact that it was yellow—and you were relieved to find out he liked the banana flavor. When you went bowling with their friends, you gave him the yellow ball and left yourself with the last one which was brown. When you went to Mingyu’s to see the two of them, you had brought them each a keychain from a new pop-up shop that was near your art studio. You gave Mingyu a red one that had a soccer ball on it while Wonwoo’s was yellow and had a sunflower on it. You had initially got it because of its color, but the flower reminded you of the day you met him, so it held even more sentiment.

And recently, Wonwoo’s favorite water bottle had broken, so while you were out shopping you had found one that was similar to it. The cap was a little different, but it had the same shape and size, and it was a golden yellow hue.

When you gave it to him, the two of you were about to leave his apartment to get some dinner at the fried chicken place down the street. You had mentioned that you had a surprise for him, then you fished the bottle out of your tote bag to show him. His heart skipped a beat and a smile crept onto his lips when he saw it.

“I know you probably won’t love it as much as your other bottle, but hopefully you still like it,” you said with a shrug of your shoulders. He took it from your offering grasp and shook his head.

“I do love it,” he said.

“You can leave it here while we go eat,” you turned towards the door, pulling your bag more securely onto your shoulder. But just before you could reach for the doorknob, Wonwoo’s voice called your name, making you turn back to face him, “Hm?”

Your eyes widened when you realized he was a lot closer than you thought, just a foot or so away from you. His tall frame seemed to tower over you, causing you to have to look up at him. You could see a struggle happening behind his eyes, as if he was going back and forth in his mind trying to decide on something. You were about to question him when suddenly he leaned forward and placed a quick kiss to your cheek. The skin that he touched felt hot in his wake, the warmth spread across your face and ultimately your whole body felt heated under his gaze.

“Thank you, ________. For everything,” he spoke softly, his anxiety apparent in his tone. He averted his gaze, looking down at his hands. A bracelet that you had bought him last week was wrapped around his wrist—white beads and yellow smiley face charms decorating it. For some reason seeing the jewelry gave him the little boost of confidence he needed to ask, “Would you like to make this a date?”

Your eyes widened even further, but you couldn’t ignore the flurry of butterflies going wild inside your chest, their fluttering wings tickling your heart. Your crush on Wonwoo had started long before his crush on you had formed, but that didn’t bother you. Because you knew that he liked you now, and you couldn’t pass the opportunity to say, “Yes.”

A charming smile grew wide on his face, prompting you to grin too. Happiness bloomed inside you, and the two of you walked out of the apartment suddenly feeling shy after wordlessly admitting your feelings for each other. Despite his nerves, though, Wonwoo found the courage to take your hand in his as you walked down the sidewalk to the fried chicken place.

Along the way you pointed out some yellow canola flowers planted outside of an office building, and Wonwoo decided in that moment that he would never get tired of the color yellow. The way your face lit up when you saw it or gave him yellow-themed gifts, he would always find it cute. As far as he was concerned, the entire world could be covered in the color yellow, and he would be content just knowing it made you happy. He no longer would appreciate rain; instead, he would look forward to sunny days when the bright, yellow sunlight would remind him of you and your kind heart. Maybe yellow wasn’t his favorite color at first but, over time, it would be.

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wardenparker · 6 days

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Hummingbird Has Landed, ch 12

Marcus Pike x female reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

After the debacle of his failed engagement and relocating to Washington to take charge of his task force, newly minted Special Agent Marcus Pike is ready to get back out into the dating pool once more. A slew of bad dates has him feeling a little down, and he takes an old friend up on an invitation to get away and get his head on straight. Imagine his surprise when he finds not only fresh air, but his soulmate as well - hiding in plain sight but in the unlikeliest of places.

Rating: E for Explicit! 18+ Word Count: 12.4k Warnings: *Blanket warnings for this series: occasional mention of American politics, pregnant character, food/alcohol consumption, mentions of clothing/regulated dressing for occasions, mentions of therapy because we believe in self care here, reader is in a previous relationship, love triangle, reader is mentioned as turning 30 during the course of the story, dom/sub dynamics* Pregnancy. labor, childbirth, health emergency, hospital stay, talk of living wills and things going wrong, traumatic birth, mentions of death/possibility of death, reassurance, emotional hurt/comfort. Summary: Months after going public with your relationship with your soulmate, you and Marcus get the phone call you've been waiting for: Sydney has gone into labor! Notes: The migraines and the pain aren't gone but the story continues! This week is a rollercoaster, my darlings. I hope you enjoy 🧡

Ch1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~ Ch 6 ~ Ch 7 ~ Ch 8 ~ Ch 9 ~ Ch 10 ~ Ch 11

The call came late on a Saturday night during the first full week of September. Busy getting ready to go out for a later-than-usual date, you had jumped straight up in the air when your phone started ringing. The words 'labor' and 'hospital' got you and Marcus moving instantly, and you were off to meet Juan and Sydney at Sibley Memorial Hospital faster than a heartbeat.

“Now, it’s gonna be awhile.” Marcus warns you, even as he speeds towards the hospital. “I might have to come back to get you some clothes.”

"As long as it doesn't take as long as Junie did to be born," you joke, trying to dispel your own tensions even as you fidget in your seat. "Mom was in labor for twenty-six hours. I think Syd will just reach in and pull the baby out before she waits that long."

“She’ll be yelling that she has a dinner menu to put out.” Marcus snorts, understanding how frustrated Juan has been when his wife refused to slow down until the very end.

"If she doesn't have her recipe notebook out within an hour of giving birth, I'll be astonished." She never slows down, your best friend, and you adore her despite it being worrying sometimes. At least you got her to agree to the more-than-generous New Parent Leave package the inn has adopted. They're both technically on your payroll so you know they'll be well taken care of.

“The new sous chef she hired to help the old one step into her shoes has worked out really well so far.” Marcus knows that talking about the inn will help you focus. Keep you from worrying yourself up into a state until you can lay your eyes on Sydney.

"She needed another set of hands anyway." Just because you know what he's doing doesn't mean you're not grateful, and you fidget in your seat before glancing down at your phone for the thousandth time. No new texts. You just have to remind yourself that that is a good thing. "Hopefully this new guy will work out and she'll keep him on long term."

“Yeah, it’s nearly a fully house every night in the restaurant.” Business in the inn might have taken a slight hit from the negative press, but the food was still bringing in the locals.

"Thank god for that." Over the last few months your bookings haven't been too stellar, but you've been making up for it with restaurant patrons and special event bookings. At least you had room enough to accommodate Marcus's parents when they came up in July. "I don't want to think about what would have happened if we'd lost restaurant sales along with bookings."

“I’m just happy that the ‘anonymous sources’ have tapered off lately.” The accusations are still out there but you and Marcus have been laying low for now.

“What I wouldn’t give for two seconds with our sniveling exes.” It’s obvious that it has been Sam and Vanessa feeding things to the gossip columnists, although technically all you have is your say-so. They’re being clever enough to make sure that there is no paper trail and nothing being said that marks them as the obvious source of the negative rumors. “Why do we have to be the better people?” You gripe with a pout. “We could just as easily say made up shit about them. For all we know, they were the ones having an affair and this is a whole situation of they doth protest too much.”

“I don’t think so.” Marcus would love for that to be the case. “That week of the state dinner, he was sick.” He reminds you. “I think Vanessa went over to his house and somehow discovered she’s his soulmate. She told me that she had just found out, not that she just met him.” He theorizes. “And now, they are twisting their own narrative, but I don’t understand why.”

“If they’re trying to discredit Mom through me, it’s not working.” Though your business may have taken a hit, your mother’s first term has been fairly impressive so far. She’s getting her legislation moving at a brisk clip and her focus on the economy is already strong. You sigh, though, pushing out the bad thoughts, and squeeze his hand over the gear shift. “They don’t get to ruin our goddaughter’s birth. That’s not in the cards.”

“Nope.” Marcus made sure to pack the gifts for mother and baby in the car while you were rushing around to get dressed. Both of you are excited. “Doesn’t matter, today is about Sydney and the baby.” He chuckles. “And poor Juan too. I know he’s a wreck right now.”

“He’s so excited and so nervous.” The clock on the dashboard reads ten minutes until midnight and you squeeze his hand again to relieve some of your own nerves. It’s not like you’re the one having a baby. There’s no reason to be nervous, but you are. For your best friend and your goddaughter and for Juan who is like a big brother to you.

“Yes he is.” Marcus tosses you a grin. “I know he’s supposed to be handing out cigars, but I managed to get my hands on a box of very nice ones. When the baby is born, I’m going to give them to him. To celebrate the important milestones with.”

“They’re the ones your dad smokes, aren’t they?” Beaming that grin right back at him, the conjured memory of the vanilla and spice scent of Matthew Pike’s favorite cigars is easy to conjure. “He’ll love that.”

“I hope so.” Marcus grins. “I can just imagine how proud he’s going to be. He’s going to be crying as he holds his child for the first time.”

“He’s going to be a leaky faucet by the time we get to the hospital,” you predict with an affection laugh. “They deserve this. They already love that little girl so much and they’re going to be amazing parents.”

“Yes they are.” He can’t help but be a little envious, although it’s not a sharp feeling because he knows it will happen for the two of you soon enough. He will be content with cuddling his new goddaughter.

There’s little traffic at this time of night, and before you know it you and Marcus are parking and heading inside to track down the room number that Juan texted to you. Sydney and Juan’s families will be alerted when the baby is born, but it was their wish to have you and Marcus in hand for the birth. You’ll be right there in the delivery room with Syd and Juan while Marcus keeps the families updated in a group chat. You’re co-captains of Team Moral Support and you’re excited for every second of it.

His hand is on your back as you stop in front of the door. “Are you ready, sweetheart?” He asks with a beaming smile.

“Nervous. Excited. Very ready.” You lean back to steal a kiss, warmed through by the comfort of having him by your side for this enormous step in the lives of your close friends. Your chosen family. “And…I can’t wait until it’s us.”

“Soon enough.” He promises. “Soon enough.” He pushed the door open and knocks with the back of his knuckles. “Knock, knock.”

“Oh thank god!” Comes the response from inside, and you’re laughing at the relief in Sydney’s voice when you and Marcus push inside. “The Godparent Brigade has arrived! Here to pump you up, handle your relatives, and fetch your sushi after the little peanut has arrived on the scene.”

“Get the sushi before anything else.” Sydney demands, rubbing her stomach and nearly salivating at the thought.

"I've already got your order in my phone, and Marcus will jet out to get it. You won't have to wait at all, honey." It doesn't surprise you in the least that Syd is thinking about one of her favorite foods, but you move over to her side in the bed as the two men hug and give your best friend a squeeze on her shoulder. "How are you doing? Do you want me to go strong arm a nurse for some ice chips?"

“Juan already has two cups of them, letting them melt down.” She grins at you and then winces when another contraction hits.

It takes everything you've got not to wince or cringe along with her, knowing that it won't do a single lick of good and won't help her feel any better. "How far apart are they?" You ask instead, rubbing her back in small, soothing circles.

“Twelve minutes, forty-seven seconds.” Juan tells you as he looks down at his watch and then back at his wife. “We are down from fifteen minutes.”

"Getting closer and closer!" Practically squeaking with excitement, you can see the same light in Juan's eyes despite the worry lines in his furrowed brow. He just wants everything to go well, and you can't blame him there.

Sydney huffs out a small laugh, knowing you are doing exactly what she had wanted you to. Cheerlead for her. “Did you happen to bring those hard candies?” She asks, her eyes wide and pleading.

"Yes!" Ready to dig into your purse immediately, you swirl around and grab your bag from where you had dropped it to one side when you came in the room. "I've got sour lemon and orange, and I've got the sweet strawberry ones. What are you feeling at the moment?"

“Sweet.” She practically moans the word and reaches out to you with grabby hands. “Don’t hold out on me now.”

"Here we go, babe." One of the candies is deposited in Syd's outstretched hands and a few more get tucked into the pockets of your cardigan to make sure you have one on hand for her at no more than a moment's notice. "Plenty more where that came from, I promise."

“You are the best.” She moans, popping the candy into her mouth and rolling her eyes in pleasure.

"Now how are you doing, Dad?" With Syd moaning over her small treat, you turn your attention to Juan.

“I’m hanging in there, but I think I forgot my bag.” He rolls his eyes and huffs. “Too busy making sure the car seat was secure.”

"Babe, you have a key to their place, right?" If not, you'll pull out your keys and send Marcus back to Alexandria with your spare house key instead. You would go yourself, but you vowed not to leave Sydney's side once you got to the hospital. The kind of vow that is definitely life or death and she will hold you to.

“Juan gave me one.” Marcus nods, and agrees with your silent plan. “I’ll run and get the bag. Pick up some coffee that’s better than the shit they serve here, yeah?”

"I have a feeling we're going to need it." Juan nods and claps Marcus on the shoulder gratefully.

"I'll call you if anything changes," you promise him, turning back to your own soulmate. "You're amazing, sweetheart. Thank you."

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He reassures you, leaning in to kiss your lips before hugging Juan and bussing Sydney’s cheek. “Ask for the good drugs, mama.” He teases with a wink, wanting her to laugh.

"You bet your ass!" She groans, wincing more heavily with this contraction than she had with the one before. "Get back here fast, Marcus. Speed. Lots!"

“I’ll use my badge if I get pulled over!” He calls back as he rushes out of the room.

"He'll be back in no time." Realistically you know it will take quite a lot of time, in fact, but your job tonight is not to be realistic. It is to be positive and upbeat. To keep spirits high. "I think Malachi is going to win the betting pool." You grin and stand up by the head of the bed with Sydney, right there to hold her hand if she needs you. "He had Monday – tomorrow, technically – as the day, but I don't think anyone had Sunday."

“Juan…” Sydney smiles. “Take a nap, baby. I know you are exhausted. You were about to go to sleep when my labor started. Birdie is here, so get some sleep.”

He raises an eyebrow, knowing his wife is in pain, but also knowing that a short nap will ensure he is at his best to help her. "We'll take shifts," he compromises, eyeing you just as much as his wife. "So someone is always here holding your hand and timing your contractions. Short naps only. I don't want to miss anything."

“I promise I won’t push her out without you.” She teases, leaning in and pressing her lips to his. “Go, it might be your last nap for the next eighteen years.”

"I love you, Warrior Queen." There are more kisses and more sweet words, and finally Juan crosses the compact hospital room to curl up on the Dad Bench and try to get at least a little bit of sleep before his baby girl enters the world.

“I don’t want to be horrible through this.” She admits quietly. “I’m hoping the labor progresses so I get an epidural quickly.”

"There is not a single person who is going to even blink an eye if you are upset during this labor," you promise her. She pats the side of her bed and you perch on the edge of the mattress, holding her hand all the while. "If you wanted or needed to rage through the whole thing, we would stand by your right to do so. But we'll also stand by your choice to do things any other way. Whatever way is going to be the best possible experience of bringing your first baby into this world."

“Will you do me a favor?” She asks quietly, eyeing Juan as he turns into the couch and gives you his back. He’s already snoring lightly so she’s not worried about him overheating. “If something happens…..” This is the first time that she’s ever said anything out loud and her eyes are anxious. “I’ve signed the paperwork already, but if something happens, I don’t want to stay on machines.” She whispers. “Promise me that you’ll help him let go. And if it’s me or the baby…you know what I want you to choose.”

“Nothing is going to happen.” As firmly and sternly as you can, you squeeze your best friend’s fingers in yours and bite back the instant tears that spring but behind your eyes. The fact that this conversation is even necessary is heartbreaking, but women die in childbirth every single day. Nothing is going to happen. You almost shake with determination but that isn’t what she needs right now. The person who means the most to you in the world besides Marcus is looking you in the face and asking you to be loyal to her. And you will. “I promise.” Two small, devastating words. But if she’s thought this far ahead, she’s also had another thought. “You have a will somewhere?”

“In the safe at home.” She nods, relieved that you are not fighting her and it’s obvious on her face. She had expected an argument, she knows she would have gotten one from Juan, which is why she chose you as her medical POA. “The papers are in an envelope in my bag.” She nods towards the incredibly organized hospital bag.

“Okay.” You nod, still holding her hands tightly. “I love you. I will honor your wishes. Now tell me which onesies you packed to bring her home in so you can get excited again.”

“All of them.” Sydney snorts, only half kidding. “There are twelve that I couldn’t decide between, so I brought them all. Figured we would decide which one looks best when we are holding her.”

“We can absolutely decide later.” She’s already a little sweaty at the top of her forehead from the contractions and you nudge a cup of melted ice chips toward her just to cool her down. “Do you have a top three?”

“The ones in the right hand pocket.” She takes the cup and starts to gulp down the cool water.

In the right hand pocket of Sydney’s neatly packed hospital bag, three folded baby onesies await their new owner: one from her mother in law covered in little surfboards and ocean waves and sunglasses to represent how much Juan had loved surfing when he was out in California. One from Syd’s sister AnnaLeigh with Once Upon a Time…a Heroine was Born written out like the beginning of an illuminated fairytale, and one from you and Marcus emblazoned with the logo of Syd’s favourite hockey team to get her baby girl started out right. “They’re fantastic choices,” you hum, looking at the clothes with misty eyes.

“You see why I couldn’t choose?” She laughs, shaking her head and setting down the rest of the ice chips to melt. Seriously not understanding why they just wouldn’t give her water. Labor is fucking thirsty work.

“I think I like AnnaLeigh’s,” you admit, before tucking them back into the bag as carefully as they had been before. “But we’ll see how she feels about them when she’s here. Who knows? She might come out the chillest baby in the world and then we now she matches Juanito’s surfer phase.”

“Juan actually likes that one too.” She admits with a grin. “He’s so fucking excited for this baby to come. He swears if he could carry her for me, he would.”

“He totally would have if he could.” The grin on your face breaks wider, and you sit back on the edge of Syd’s bed with her. “So would Marcus. In a heartbeat.”

“How did we get so fucking lucky?” Her eyes mist up, overwhelmed with the beautiful thought of both of you so happy and cared for with your soulmates.

“I truly have no idea.” The mist in her eyes halts for just a moment as another contraction hits, but it doesn’t fade. It doesn’t dim. Syd’s happiness is true, and you’re so grateful to see it. “Thank god they get along though. We’d be screwed if our soulmates weren’t friends.”

Panting, she leans back and rubs her belly. “We would make them be friends.” She jokes. “The most awkward small talk over beers until they find a common interest.”

“Lucky for us?” You sit forward and help her readjust her pillows from where they had fallen out of place. “They’re basically as inseparable as we are again.”

"Lucky for us." She agrees, leaning back with a sigh and smiling at you. "Thanks. You know what I need before I do sometimes."

“For most of the time we’ve known each other, I’ve been shocked that we aren’t soulmates.” At some point in your teenage years you had discussed it, but your appendicitis scar already existed and she has never born that. “I gotta be honest, I used to be bummed that we’re not. But when you met Juan, I understood why.”

She kisses the air in your direction. "Because you had Marcus waiting on you, too." She reminds you. "We are better than soulmates. We are sisters by choice."

“I would have waited forever for him.” She gets the same air kiss from you, and you descend into giggles together. “We really are lucky.”

The giggles are interrupted by another contraction, making Sydney hiss and squeeze her eyes shut as she tries to breathe through it. Coming out as more of a whine until the pain passes again. "They- They are getting closer." She huffs when she can talk again.

“We’re down to eight minutes and sixteen seconds apart,” you tell her, checking your watch. “You’re doing awesome, Syd.”

“I can’t believe it.” She grunts when she gets a foot in her rib. “I don’t know whether to be impressed that it’s going so fast, or cry because I’m not further along.”

"You're allowed to be both, you know." Frankly, you're both. She is progressing quickly but you know she would rather have just arrived fully dilated and ready to go. "Just remember. At least she's not dragging her heels like Junie did."

“I don’t know how your mom did it.” She huffs, thinking about your mother and how excited you had been for a younger sister. “She was still working while in labor.”

"My mother is some kind of weird combination of feral cryptid being and absolute machine," you chuckle, shaking your head. "If I'm trying to do bookings and make staff schedules during labor, please slap me."

Huffing out a laugh, she grunts and rubs her belly again on the side. “Done.” She pants. “But get me my notebook.” She points to her bag. “I just thought about a salted Carmel mocha crème brûlée.”

“I am only agreeing to this because it will take your mind off the pain.” Still, you dig into the pocket opposite the onesies she has earmarked as favorites and come out with her battered and beaten recipe notebook. “It sounds like it will be nice to send to your sous chef.”

“It sounds like something I want to eat right now.” She groans, flipping open the tatty cover and laying it on her baby bump to quickly write down her idea.

“You’re going to be a little distracted and busy for a while,” you remind her. Still you can’t help but grin at her tongue poking out from between her teeth as she scribbles.

“Doesn’t mean I’m not hungry.” She moans pitifully after finishing the notes. “I was in the middle of getting a snack.” The pout that pushes her lips out would be comical under different circumstances but she’s horribly disappointed to have not gotten to eat before being bustled into the car by her frazzled husband.

“What was snack time tonight?” It is absolutely always the way to distract her when she’s feeling bad, and tonight is All Sydney All the Time, so you’re focused in one her.

She groans and whimpers slightly at the food she had to leave on the counter. “Cottage cheese with fresh peach compote and balsamic glaze.” She pouts even more. “It was going to be amazing. But I had to tell Juan that I was cramping.”

“I’ll make sure there’s plenty in your fridge waiting for you when you get home.” You can promise her that, along with their fridge and freezer being fully stocked with ready-made meals and easy to use ingredients that should last more than two weeks. Between you and Marcus and Malachi and her staff, you’ve all been secretly helping prep for baby’s arrival for a week already. Even Agent Bailey made a contribution to the frozen meals and added some veggies from her garden.

“Thank you.” She smiles you softly. “I can’t believe that when I leave, I’m going to be holding her.” She admits with a grin.

“She’s almost here.” As if to affirm it, another swift kick to Sydney’s abdomen is brutally obvious, and you grin. “And she’s excited about it.”

The two of you settle into a comfortable silence. Broken by contractions and the quickening of their pace. Sydney trying to be quiet as she pants through them to let Juan sleep.

Checking your watch again and finding nearly two hours have gone by, you tilt your head at your best friend and hand her another strawberry candy. "Marcus should be back soon, and your contractions are barely more than five minutes apart now. I think it's time to wake Dad up and call for the nurse."

Marcus has Juan’s bag in the backseat and he had cancelled the reservations he had made for tonight. They aren’t going to be used, and he had apologized profusely. Still, he stops at the inn to run up to the small gun safe, using the biometric lock to open it and reveal a small ring box. He had been planning to propose tonight, and he still can, it will just look different now.

"It's happening, isn't it?" On his one night shift per week, Malachi had seen you and Marcus hustle out the backdoor of the inn with bags in hand and seen not long after when Marcus reappeared in a hurry. Now he is waiting at the back door once again, but this time to snag Marcus before he can disappear in to the night.

“It is.” Marcus nods with a huge grin spreading across his face. “Juan forgot his bag. I’ll text you when she’s born.” All the staff are invested so he will be sure to let them know. “You’ve got the inn?” He checks, although he knows what the other man will say.

"That baby is your godchild." Malachi smiles surprisingly softly. "This inn is mine."

“I know.” He reaches out and squeezes Malachi’s arm. “Birdie trusts you with her most important treasure.” He praises.

"Not quite." He winks at the other man, considering him a friend now after many months of back and forth, and grins. "She'd never leave me alone with you."

Marcus snorts, well aware of the man’s proclivity to flirt. He matches that grin. “That’s because she knows how persuasive you are.” He jokes, winking at him playfully. “Besides. You are still yearning for your soulmate and will only be happy when he breezes into your life like he’s always been there.”

"Check all those doctors for my ankle tat, handsome." Malachi teases, shooing Marcus toward the door. "A man in scrubs is better than a man in uniform."

“I will.” He gives Malachi a salute and hustles out of the door to speed back to the hospital as quickly as he can.

It's on the heels of a nurse when Marcus comes back into the room, with Juan standing at Syd's side holding tight to your hand while you have been banished to the corner of the room so the nurse can do her work. "It's almost time!" You tell him excitedly, wrapping your arms around him the second he makes his way over to her.

“Holy shit, I made it just in time then.” He can’t believe how fast it’s gone, he had expects at least half a day or more of labor.

"Apparently Constance does not want to wait." The shine of tears in your eyes isn't going anywhere now that you're about to head to the delivery room with Sydney and Juan, but you hug Marcus fiercely. "And I can't wait to meet her. I'm so glad you made it in time."

“Me too.” Marcus presses his lips to yours, letting you cling to him for a second before you pull back. “Does she want me there for Juan or should I stay here?”

"Stay here and hold down the fort for us? She's going to be exhausted when it's all over but she's nervous about everything being okay in the room while we're gone." Wishing so dearly that this was your night only makes you smile because you know that it's only a matter of time.

“Absolutely.” Marcus nods and looks over at Juan and Sydney. “I’ve got everything here. You go meet your daughter.”

"We'll be back soon." Juan is beaming, practically hopping around, and looks like he might jump out of his own skin if given the chance. "She's almost here!"

Marcus laughs at the bubbly excitement, watching as the nurses wheel her bed out, with you and Juan right on their heels as she’s transferred over to the delivery room. “And now…” Marcus pulls out the ring box and flicks it open to look down at the gorgeous ring. “We wait.”

It's over an hour before anyone comes back into the room, and when it happens it's just you alone with a look of exhausted panic on your face. "Everyone's okay." The first words out of your mouth, but you murmur them while shaking slightly and bolting into his arms, so it isn't terribly reassuring.

That doesn’t sound reassuring, coupled with the desperate way you cling to him. Marcus folds you into his embrace tightly.

“She was breech…” Sniffling through the explanation and clinging to him even harder is about the best you can do right now. “And they couldn’t get her to turn. Then—then they did an ultrasound and figured out that—” The shudder that runs through you is all-encompassing. “She had her umbilical cord around her neck. So they had to do an emergency c-section.” The shaky breath you exhale as you lean back is enough to make him quake right along with you, but he holds you steady. “And then the placenta ruptured after they brought the baby out and—and Syd just kept bleeding—”

“Oh shit.” Marcus whispers in horror, his heart plummeting to his feet and he swallows harshly. “But they are both okay?” He had heard you say they were, but he needs the confirmation.

“They’re both okay.” You can barely manage to nod, tears spilling over for yet another time. “They took Constance to the NICU and Juan is with Syd in recovery until they okay her to come back here.”

“Thank God.” Marcus breathes out softly. “Hopefully Syd is asleep? I know she would be frantic if Constance isn’t with her after that.”

“Awake, but exhausted.” You’re still gripping his leather jacket, refusing to let go. It had been warding off the chill in the air conditioned room but now it’s your life line. “They let her hold the baby for a few minutes before they whisked her off to the NICU.”

“How is she?” Marcus asks quietly, worrying about the baby. “Could we sit with her in the NICU?”

“The doctor said not to worry.” Though you sniffle again, clearly very concerned. “That she’s seen babies in far worse condition come through it totally fine. But they wanted her in a place where they can help immediately if they need to.” Two tears leak from your eyes but you brush them away with the back of your wrist and try to breathe. “They’ll come down and tell us in a little while if she can come be with Sydney or if we’ll be allowed to visit the NICU. For now we just gotta—we gotta stay put. That’s why Juan wanted me to come tell you.”

“Then that is what we will do.” Marcus promises, rubbing your back gently. “I’ll wait to pick up her sushi, hmm?” He wants you to decide that is the best option because he’s not leaving you right now. Not for anything in the world. He’s already reached out to his team to let them know he’s out of pocket for right now.

“Until after she gets some sleep.” You nod against his chest and wrap your arms around his waist for a sturdy anchor. “This is…not a celebrating time. The only thing worth celebrating is the fact that they’re okay.”

The ring he had planned to give you tonight burns a hole in his pocket, but he hums in agreement, pressing his lips to your head. “I completely agree.” He murmurs softly. “We will just make sure that they are in perfect health.”

“I love you so much.” The sheer relief of having him in your arms now after nearly losing your best friend — both of them meaning more to you than life itself — is unspeakable. “And I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He promises. “I think I’m going to text the group that mom and baby are resting comfortably and we will make the announcement later?” He asks. “I don’t want people to bug Juan or worry.”

“I think that’s probably a good idea.” The last that the baby arrival group chat had heard, Syd was being wheeled to the delivery room. They deserved an update.

“Why don’t you go into the bathroom and wash your face, sweetheart?” Marcus urges. “Change into your comfy clothes and I’ll send out a text.”

“I’m too anxious to sleep, but I’ll wash up and change.” It seems like it will make you feel less frazzled, and therefore more on your game to help your friends. “But if you need to lie down, you should. I’ll wake you up when the nurse comes in with news.”

“I won’t sleep.” Marcus is too focused on you, too in tune with your nervousness to ever nap. Not right now.

“Then change with me and settle in,” you suggest instead, knowing that if your positions were switched you would feel the same. “It might be a long night.”

Marcus nods. “I can do that.” He promises, rubbing your shoulders and moving towards the bags. “If you want to take a quick shower, no one would blame you.”

“I think I’ll save that trick for refreshing myself in a few hours from now.” Predicting that you’ll need it, you kiss him now and slip off to the adjacent bathroom with your overnight bag to change.

Marcus pulls out his phone and calls down to the florist department that is on the ground floor of the hospital, wanting Sydney to come back to a lovely bouquet.

Wash your face. Change your clothes. Try not to break out crying again that you almost had to put that conversation with Syd a few hours ago into action. By the time you come out of the bathroom in Marcus’s old FBI Academy sweatshirt and a pair of yoga pants, your shoulders are drooping and your feet are dragging but at least you’ve stopped crying.

“Oh sweetheart.” While you had washed your face, Marcus had changed out in the room. “Come lay down with me on the sofa/bench thing.” He urges, reaching for you again.

“The Dad Bench.” Curling up into his side immediately, you lay your head on his shoulder and breathe out another sigh. “After you left, she made me promise to make the decision if something went wrong,” you tell him quietly. “Juan would never be able to…and she knew…that if she made me promise. I’d do what she wanted.”

He had been stroking your arm, fingers freezing as he absorbs the implication of that statement. “I’m glad it didn’t come to that.” He closes his eyes and sends up a prayer of thanks and continued good health to whomever might hear him. He doesn’t wish that on anyone, least of all his soulmate and one of his best friends.

"It almost did." Tears come again, fresh and few, but they are definitely there. "The only other time I've heard Juan pray in Spanish was when his mother had a heart attack a few years ago."

“I would be praying in every fucking language I could if it were you.” Marcus whispers. “To every God ever imagined.”

"Everyone is okay." Having to remind yourself of it fairly often seems...fairly reasonable, all things considered. You had stood at your best friend's side and looked her and her soulmate in the eyes as the doctors worked to control her bleeding. As she lay on a table with the distinct reality that those would be the last moments of her life.

But no. Everyone is okay. And soon they'll send her downstairs so she can rest comfortably, and they'll bring little Constance to her to have joyous moments with her family instead of fearful ones.

“Everyone is okay.” He echoes softly. “But…I asked the nurse for a rollaway bed for you.” The nurse had slipped into the room to check on you while you had been in the bathroom, before he had changed. You had just walked into the other room and closed the door, in fact. He had thought it would be best to prepare for you to not leave this room anytime soon.

"Did she say anything else?" No news is good news most of the time when you're in a hospital, but if Marcus got to speak to a nurse you want to know everything.

“She said that momma and baby should be in here by the time visitor hours start.” He couldn’t get a timeframe beyond that, but he took what he could get.

"That's..." Turning your wrist to check your face, the dial reads just after four in the morning. "That's about four hours. And I know Juan won't be down without them. So...I guess we should settle in?"

“Of course.” He doesn’t move, just continuing to hold you. Feeling you relax against him slowly.

"I guess...rain check on date night sex?" You huff weakly, trying for a joke. By this time of night on a date night you would normally be fast asleep – and very naked – in each other's arms.

“A rain check with you is better than any legal tender.” He jokes back, smiling softly even though he had hoped it would be engaged sex.

"What a night." The longer that you sit with him, the calmer you get. It's such an enormous thing for you, to have someone to anchor you as well as he does, and you sigh again as you deflate just a little more into his side.

“Not exactly how I imagined the night going.” Marcus admits with a small sigh. He’s not unhappy, he just wishes the birth hadn’t been so traumatic for everyone.

"Tell me what we were going to do tonight." Thinking about absolutely anything else seems like a very good idea right now, and while you know it was already late when you were leaving the apartment, you also know that Marcus had made plans for tonight.

“I had booked us a late table at Kingbird.” He tells you, smiling at the fact that Sydney had pulled the strings to get the reservation. “It was supposed to be the last table of the night.”

"The restaurant at the Watergate?" Your eyebrows raise when you look up at him and you're practically pouting. "I've been dying to try that place."

“I know.” He had asked and there was a list of places, but he had chosen that one to immortalize as special for the two of you. “And booked us a room at the hotel.”

"Shit." The pout on your lips deepens when you realize how much work Marcus had put into the night, only for it to be interrupted. "I'm so sorry, love. We'll have to reschedule everything. It sounds like it would have been beautiful."

“This is more important.” Marcus insists. “Don’t apologize. This is where I want to be, with you.”

"I don't think I could make it through tonight without you." It would be too much to handle on your own. With such deep emotions entangled in every second of the night, without your anchor you might have just flown apart. "I don't like the idea of doing anything without you anymore."

“You would have, sweetheart.” Marcus knows that, you are so damn strong. So much stronger than you ever believe about yourself. “I know you would have, but you don’t have to.” He stresses. “I’ll be here for you. Support you, comfort you. Celebrate your success and mourn your losses with you. I’m right here.”

"There are no losses to mourn tonight." And you'll be thanking every deity out there for any part they may have had in it. And also making sure that you note down the name of Sydney's doctor for your own pregnancies, because that woman worked quickly and thoroughly and without hesitation to make sure that both mother and baby made it through a birth that would have killed them both in decades past.

“We celebrate life.” He agrees softly. “And love. That little girl is loved so much already.”

"She's beautiful." And of course, there's a sniffle again. At least this one is happy and relieved. "Syd's big eyes and Juan's dark hair."

“Juan is going to be miserable when she gets older.” He laughs quietly. “She’s going to be gorgeous.”

"If she's anything like her mom, she'll have her head too far in the clouds to notice any of the boys or girls chasing her," you laugh along with him, remembering Sydney in high school. "Syd never had any clue how sought after she was."

“She was waiting for Juan.” It’s a bit of a romantic stretch, but it could also be the truth. “Plus she was too in love with crème brûlée. No mere man could compare.”

"She was dreaming about a caramel mocha one while you were gone." The maddening fear is starting to subside, finally, and you sink ever more deeply against Marcus on the bench. "I swear I'll make them for her every day for the rest of her life after what happened tonight."

“See?” He smirks to himself. “She loves them and I’ll help you. I can take the next week off, help with the inn and let you focus on Sydney and co?”

"You don't have to do that." It's a lot to ask of him, and you know that even though he has plenty of vacation time, you were planning on taking a trip down to Texas to spend New Years with his parents. "It's a deeply appreciated gesture, though."

“I don’t mind.” He protests, although he had been certain you would not let him do that for you. “I hope you know that.”

"I know, my love." In his lap, your fingers find his and tangle your hands together. "Why don't we wait on that decision until we see how Sydney and the baby are doing? I don't want you to take extra days out when I know you had been wanting to do other things with them in the next few months."

“Alright.” He will do what you want, let you lead this but he won’t let you exhaust yourself trying to carry everything. “Hopefully they will deliver the flowers I ordered before Syd comes back into the room.”

“You ordered flowers?” Sometimes you really feel like the things he does are magic, from small to large the gestures of love and support are always so deep that it seems impossible for him to not be the Superman of emotional support. “Honey, you’re—you’re too good. Too all of us.”

Marcus snorts. “My mother insisted we order flowers from her and dad, before this all went sideways.” He adds. Wanting you to know the context. “But Sydney just went through a traumatic childbirth. Flowers are the least I could do in order to make her feel loved and special.” He had ordered the flowers his mother wanted and then ordered other arrangements, including a welcome bouquet for Constance herself.

“Everyone is okay.” More reassuring this time, the words still come out in a hush and your eyes drop from Marcus’s for a moment before fluttering back up. “Thank you for being you,” you murmur after a moment. Marcus is that supportive and bolstering friend and family member. This is just who he is. And you’re so entirely grateful to have him here with you, especially right now.

“I don’t know if I would thank me for that.” Marcus teases, leaning in and kissing your forehead again. “But you can always count on me, hummingbird.”

“I know I can. And I’m thankful for that.” More than you could ever say. More than any words you have.

“Close your eyes.” He orders softly. He knows you are exhausted and emotionally spent. You need the rest so you can care for Sydney, Juan and the baby when they are back in this room.

“I can’t guarantee I’ll sleep.” Though you’ll try, knowing that the nurse doesn’t expect Sydney or the baby to be able to come down for at least a few hours.

“I know. Just closing them will be good.” He murmurs softly, still rubbing your back when you shift to lay across him. “You’ve been crying.”

“You would have been proud of me,” you murmur, settling against him one more time and shutting your eyes. “I kept it together until after everything happened.” It was shock, probably, but you still managed it. “Therapy is going to be a doozy this week.”

“Yes it will.” He won’t deny that or try to minimize your feelings. “You don’t need to skip it.”

“I’m absolutely not going to skip it.” Not this week, of all weeks. Not at all. The heaviness of the night is tugging at you, not for sleep but for rest, and for the first time you think you actually might be able to calm down fully as long as you can stay in Marcus’s arms.

Humming in approval, he doesn’t speak, letting the silence draw between you and waiting for your breathing to start slowing down.

The nap lasts about two hours. Two hours held tight in Marcus’s arms on that padded bench, and when you shift against him the small sound of noncommittal discomfort and surprise is enough to tell you that he fell asleep too. Good, you think, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. Everyone deserves a reset tonight. Even little Constance.

Marcus wakes quietly, as soon as you move, and he slowly remembers that he’s not in your bed. Both of you are at the hospital. He hums and sighs softly, knowing it hadn’t been a long nap, but it will do wonders for the coming hours.

"Hey handsome." The room is quiet and so are you, sitting up to stretch beside him and bring your limbs back to life.

“How did you sleep?” Marcus asks softly, watching you through heavy eyes.

“Better than I thought I would,” you admit, though you have a feeling that’s only because you didn’t sleep deeply enough for nightmares to set in. “You?”

“Pretty good nap.” He yawns. “Although I know I’m going to have to get coffee for all of us.”

Checking your watch, you stretch again and knock against his side with a lopsided grin. “The cafeteria should be open soon. I have a map of the hospital in my bag so you won’t get lost.”

“Just for that, I’ll bring you two coffees.” He groans, standing up and stretching out. “I should get dressed.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t be the only visitor to go get coffee in your jammies.” Far from it, if you had to hazard a guess.

He snorts slightly. “I don’t doubt it. But I would hate to steal any of Juan’s new dad thunder.” He jokes, winking at you.

“Juan will be doing everything in bespoke suits with giant buttons that exclaim New Dad! for everyone he meets.” It’s sweet to think about, now that the fear is mostly past. It won’t wither entirely until you get to see mother and baby, but that should be soon.

“Of course he will.” Marcus laughs. “He’s already got an app on his phone that is just for organizing pictures of the baby.”

“Make sure you get the name of it,” you tease, leaning over to kiss him and getting one last stretch in — right into his arms. “We’ll need that for our kids, I’m sure.”

“You know it.” Marcus grins. “I’ve already downloaded it. It also has a wedding portion of the app. Basically you can upload all your important moments in it.” He doesn’t mention that he had set it up for the proposal that didn’t happen last night.

“You think of everything.” He really does, so it’s barely even an embellishment. At this point you’re just relieved that you can think of small things again instead of the larger, overhanging fear of just a few hours ago.

“Not everything.” Marcus snorts, winking at you. “Otherwise, I would have had coffee delivered by now.”

“Mostly everything, then.” One more kiss and you pull back to get your things sorted out around the room. “I’m going to tidy up a little and get out a couple of comfort things for Syd. So when she comes down she’ll have her favorite cardigan and things like that.” Absolutely anything you can do to soothe your best friend’s hellish night, you’re going to.

“That sounds perfect.” Marcus agrees. “I’ll go grab the coffee. What do you want, sweetheart?”

“Just my usual.” Your hum of appreciation is more relaxed than it would have been earlier in the night. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too.” He promises as he quickly starts changing into the clothes he had brought.

Marcus is gone for about a half an hour before the door to the room opens again, but when it does it's Juan there – holding the door open wide as one of the overnight workers from the transport department wheels Sydney's bed back into the room with her nurse hot on their heels.

“We are back.” His tone is exhausted but elated at the same time. It’s been a sleepless night for him. Afraid that he would close his eyes and Sydney would be gone.

"How are you feeling, honey?" You're at Sydney's side as soon as the nurse is done getting her settled. The woman has the patience of a saint and excuses herself to go retrieve Constance, who is being allowed to leave the NICU.

“Tired. Sore.” She admits with a quick, tired smile. “Impatient to hold my daughter.”

"She'll be down soon." Glancing at the door where the nurse has disappeared to bring around that same little girl, the warmth in the room starts to grow exponentially. "Marcus went to get coffees. And I'll bring sushi for lunch. Cross my heart."

“I don’t know if I’m hungry.” Sydney admits with a slight shrug. She’s still a little disoriented from the drugs. “But coffee sounds amazing. I could sleep for days.”

"Then we won't worry about food right now. But Marcus is bringing back coffee for you, and he should be back very soon." You grin at your friends and send them both a conspiratorial shrug. "I sent him with a map, otherwise you know he would have gotten lost."

Juan laughs as he fuses over Sydney, hovering as if she might disappear if he steps too far away. “He should have been a Lieutenant in the military, as bad as he is.”

“I’ve just learned to always have a map for new places or to set up the gps in his car without asking.” It’s a quirk, and you all have them, but Marcus’s ability to get lost almost anywhere is a standing joke between the four of you and it’s so, so good to hear Syd laugh. Even if it’s only a little, it’s completely worth it.

The knock on the door comes just a moment later and Marcus pokes his head in. “Oh you’re here!” He brightens up and pushes the door open, the delivery person from the flower shop hot on his heels. “I was hoping to get all this inside before you did.”

“We just got back.” Syd is groggy for sure, but not so badly that she doesn’t register the tray of coffees and bag of food with the hospital’s cafe logo on it that you jump forward to snag from him and the delivery of flowers that comes in behind him. With the tension and fear of the last few hours and all the emotions and hormones still raging in her, Sydney is immediately in tears. “You—you got flowers?” She half-squalls like it’s the kindest and most loving thing any person has ever done in the history of time. For her, especially right now, it definitely feels like it.

“Ohhhh don’t cry.” Marcus frets slightly, even though he’s pretty sure that they are happy tears. “I wanted you and Constance to have a beautiful reminder of how loved you both are.” He walks over to the recovering woman, that he now regards as his friend, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “More are coming too.” He promises.

“It’s so sweet!” Syd huffs between large tears, hugging Marcus as tightly as her recovering body will permit. “You’re so sweet.” Even after we interrupted your plans, she thinks loudly, but manages not to say it. She knows what last night was supposed to be and she hated having to call when she knew Marcus was about to sweep you out the door.

“You deserve nothing but happiness right now.” He promises, looking over at Juan and squeezing Sydney gently before he pulls back and moves over to the new father. “Congratulations.” He is somber, aware of what the agony of the night had done to his friend.

“It was a hell of a night.” Juan pulls Marcus in for a hug — something the two men need right now for grounding, but Juan also murmur, “And sorry for the timing” to Marcus before pulling away.

“Don’t ever worry about that.” Marcus insists. “Doesn’t matter if I was in the middle of it, we would have been on our way.” Yes, proposing to you and giving you a beautiful moment is important to him; but some things are always much more important and this is at the top of that priority list.

“We’ll make it work.” Juan promises quietly, glad to see you absorbing Sydney in conversation while she marvels at the flowers that Marcus ordered.

“How’s Constance doing?” Marcus asks quietly, not seeing the bassinet in the room. “Will she be released from the NICU soon?”

“Our doc said she’s stable, so she can come down and have some family time and be fed.” As a brand new father of only about two and a half hours, that has Juan both puffing out his chest and teary with pride. “The nurse should be bringing her down now.”

“That’s great!” Marcus grins, knowing that both mama and daddy will feel better with their newborn daughter in their room.

Having settled Sydney with her coffee and treat — Marcus brought muffins back from the cafe — you excuse yourself to the bathroom and feel like you can finally breathe. Syd is here. You can hear her muffled laughing through the door. And the baby will be down soon. Everyone is okay.

“Looks Marcus…” Sydney’s voice is hushed and he can tell by her guilty expression what is coming. “Please, don’t apologize again.” He begs her softly. “There is nothing to apologize for.”

“I can call Kingbird,” she offers immediately. Explain it was my fault you had to cancel and get you a new reservation.”

“No.” He shakes his head and glances back at the bathroom. “I don’t think she’s going to be leaving your side for quite awhile and I cannot in good conscience try to convince her otherwise.”

He insists that she shouldn’t apologize more but Sydney still feels like she ought to, pursing her lips until she eventually tilts her head to look up at the men standing side by side at her bed. “You could still do it tonight if you wanted to,” she offers. It’s technically morning now — past six, anyway — but she hasn’t gotten any sleep yet so everything blends together. “It…” she blows out a sigh. “I know it wasn’t the easiest night.” For her especially. “But it would be nice to have Constance’s birth surrounded by happiness. Instead of what might have happened.”

Marcus considers it for a moment, frowning slightly and he bites his lip. “That is— are you sure?” He would never want to take away from Constance and her birth.

Sydney sits back in her hospital bed and takes Juan’s hand, letting him anchor her the way you always do with Marcus. “I don’t want the only thing I remember about the day my daughter was born to be that both of us almost died,” she admits quietly, knowing it’s a little selfish to ask him for this but also knowing that the happy memories you make together mean everything to the four of you.

He can understand that and he bites his lip. “Then….what do you think about me proposing here?” He asks. “It’s not the most romantic setting, but I think under the circumstances, it’s the best place to do it.”

“There’s flowers and best friends and I know you brought her back her favourite muffin.” Juan chuckles, feeling a bit misty eyed over more good things happening. “What’s more romantic than that?”

“Maybe we can do something that involves the baby?” Marcus suggests.

“I will squall.” Sydney warns, already tearing up all over again. “But quickly before she comes back…wrap the ring box in the baby blanket?”

“Perfect.” Marcus dives for the bag that had been packed for Constance and finds the soft baby blanket they had decided to wrap her in while in the hospital. “When the baby comes in, ask her to get the blanket for you.” Marcus tells Sydney.

“If we can keep a straight face,” Syd laughs, but agrees immediately.

Marcus hides the ring box in the folds of the blanket. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“More than.” Sydney promises, right before the bathroom door opens.

You had washed up a little again, refreshing yourself and feeling a little more human while you were in the bathroom. “Did you manage to rest a little while you were upstairs?” Your focus is right back on Sydney but you take a second to give Marcus a kiss of thanks when he hands you your coffee.

“Yes.” She’s still tired and exhausted, but she smiles. “I did, you don’t worry about me.” She huffs, knowing that it won’t do any good. You will fret over her just like Juan will. “Looking forward to sushi later.”

“We’ll have a sushi party and baby girl can get milk drunk like a party animal.” Making the best of what had been a nearly calamitous situation is good for everyone’s spirits right now. You help the guys set up a little area as a breakfast ‘table’ for the three of you and set Sydney’s things on her tray. It’s about time for the morning shows that Juan loves so the tv goes on, and seconds later the nurse enters with her bundled up charge yawning as loudly as her little lungs can manage.

“Oh my god.” Marcus coos as soon as he sees the little angel in the flesh. She is perfect and nothing will convince him otherwise, falling in love with his goddaughter in a split second. “She’s so precious.”

“She’s perfect.” As expected, Sydney and Juan are both in tears all over again, and the nurse who helped Sydney get comfortable upstairs makes sure Mom and Dad have everything they need before bowing out to let the family bond.

“She’s beyond perfect.” It’s all you can do not to cry with them, looking at your best friend and goddaughter together.

“Isn’t she?” Sydney completely agrees as she finally gets to hold her newborn daughter. Completely in awe of how perfect she is.

The room is practically full of the sound of smiling, whatever that really is, but you end up half-laughing under your breath and looking to Marcus with fresh water behind your eyes. "I want one too," you laugh, overwhelmed with absolute joy and love.

He laughs at your eagerness, the yearning and knows that you are only partially joking. “I don’t know if we could top how perfect she is.” He admits with his own chuckle.

"Maybe not." The only possible place for you to be right now is snuggled into his side and you tuck yourself in there to just stare at your goddaughter together. "We can't know until we try, though."

Sydney spares a glance at Marcus, who nods as he holds you close. “We have to get through a few other things first.” He reminds you.

"I know." You hum when he presses a kiss to the top of your head and sigh again. "I just love her so much and I wanna give her everything. Including playmates."

Sydney coos at Constance and cuddles her closer. “Birdie, would you get me her baby blanket?” She asks softly. “From her bag? I want her in the things we picked out.”

"Yeah, of course!" You hop to immediately, slipping out of Marcus's arms to go to the bag Sydney packed. The baby blanket from Sydney's parents is folded near the top. It's a light thing, a beautiful hand knitted piece done in their chosen color of green and then embroidered with the initials CMB for Constance Marie Badillo.

The blanket slips a little in your hand when you pick it up, and when you go to right it a small but weighty something falls out from the center. The realization that it's probably something that Juan tucked away as a surprise for Sydney has you tucking it back inside quickly and handing over the blanket like you're suddenly holding a hot potato.

Sydney hadn’t been expecting you to hand over the blanket so fast so she pushes towards you again for a moment. “Hold it please.” She requests, knowing you will do anything. She has to give Marcus time to get into position.

"Of course," you agree again, bobbing your head on a nod. Glancing over at Juan makes you wonder if you should do something to help, like opening up the blanket so she can see the little jewelry box or something. Maybe hold it sort of presentationally? You can't quite make up your mind and end up clutching the blanket to your chest in surprise when you hear Marcus clear his throat and whirl around to see him down on one knee in the middle of the little hospital room.

That jewelry box was definitely not for Sydney...

“Before you panic, I have the happy new parent’s permission.” Marcus promises as he reaches for the hand that is not clutching the blanket protectively. “And today is a celebration. Of life, and love.” He tells you softly.

"Oh my god." It's just about all you can think to say as you choke on a fresh round of tears and tighten your fingers in his hand.

“I know.” Marcus flashes you a grin. “Sweetheart, there is no one else I want by my side, confiding in, planning for the future and sharing part of my soul with.” He promises you. “I love everything about you and there is not one thing that I could possibly imagine changing. I love your loyalty to friends and family, your work ethic and your tenacity. Your tender heart and your penchant for dreaming.” He takes a big breath, clearly saying your full name. “Will you marry me?”

He can barely finish the question before your thick, cracking voice is chirping endless yeses. Before you're crumpling to your knees to kiss him, cradling the blanket between you as delicately as if the baby was already wrapped in it. "I love you" gets mixed in with all the "Yes!" and more "Oh my god" as if you can't quite believe that it's finally happening. From the moment that the two of you individually became a unit, you've both known that this was the direction you were heading in. But now that you're here? It feels even better than you could ever have guessed.

He knew your answer, he’s known it, but he still giggles in relief and cupping your cheek to kiss you. “I love you.” He promises softly, pecking your lips again and again. He hears both Juan and Sydney sniffling happily and knows this was the right call.

For a moment the room is just happy tears and sniffles and giggling, and you’re both so jittery that you get a little mixed up in retrieving the ring box from deep inside the handmade baby blanket in your arms. Marcus had said he bought your promise and engagement rings together so they would match and of course his decision is perfect — the haloed diamond stands out over heart shaped stones of the promise ring he gave you months ago, and the fact that they’re from him makes them so perfect you could just fall apart right here in his arm.

“It was.” He admits with a modest tilt of his head. “But I think that this might be even better. “Your best friend and goddaughter got to witness it.”

“And your best friend too.” No one who ever ran into Marcus and Juan now would think they had spent so many years apart. They’re more likely to be mistaken for twins than anything else, and actually had been on a dinner out a few weeks ago.

“It makes it better than anything else.” He nods in agreement, looking over at your friends. “We are friends and family.”

“Matron of honor and best man?” It’s hardly a question, but Marcus has slipped the beautifully shimmering engagement ring onto your finger and you glance back over at your tearful friends with absolute joy. “And the tiniest, sweetest, most perfect little flower girl in the whole world?”

“The perfect flower girl.” Marcus agrees with his own emotional chuckle. “And of course they are our matron of honor and best man. What else could they possibly be?”

“Your caterer.” Syd half-complains with a pout, but it’s so half-hearted that she just ends up laughing through the tears. “Get over here and let us hug you two, and meet your goddaughter up close. Obviously we’re going to be whatever you want us to be. All three of us.”

“Not going to happen.” Marcus snorts, shooting Sydney a smile. “You’re going to participate in the reception. But…” he shrugs. “We will let you create our menu.”

“Here we go.” Juan teases, gently taking the baby blanket out of your arms to wrap up his daughter with the already precious heirloom. “Breakfast and wedding planning.” He grins down at Sydney. “I’ll get your notebook and take notes. You focus on our angel.”

Marcus laughs because he knows that’s exactly what will happen. Although there might be a little more cooing over the baby than anything else going on. As it is, he can’t wait to get his hands on her.

“I already know what wedding cake you want.” Syd grins, readjusting in her seat so this conversation can include food for everyone, including little Constance. She’s already gotten her little girl to latch once without a hellish amount of trouble so she’s hoping to do it on her own this time.

There has already been plenty of conversation about Sydney breastfeeding, but Marcus busies himself with his bag while she gets her daughter situated. It’s not because he’s weirded out, just a respect thing, giving the new mother time to get used to being exposed without feeling like she’s in a fishbowl.

“I’m covered,” Sydney assures him, after a few minutes of fussing where Marcus does anything but look directly at her. His respect level is top notch and she appreciates that about him. “Let’s talk food, please? And—” Before she can even ask, Juan is handing her a cup of water and she melts and murmurs a quiet “Thank you.”

“I just wanted to give you some time.” Marcus joins the small group, sitting down when you stand up and pulling you into his lap while Juan sits on the bed with his wife and child. “So right off the bat, what’s your first ideas?” He’s smart enough to know the final menu will be completely different from the first one.

“Americana.” You and Sydney grin at each other and you lean back in Marcus’s lap to sip your coffee while you talk. “Updated versions of classic American dishes.”

“What would that look like?” He asks, frowning in confusion. “Meat loaf?”

“Could be.” Sydney nods. “It could be things like gourmet versions of tv dinners.”

“Or it could be modern versions of older popular dishes,” you nod in agreement. “Like upscale Steak Diane or deconstructed chicken pot pie.”

“Finger foods?” Marcus asks. “I’m sure there will have to be a buffet of canapés.”

“Depends on the events.” Smiling around a sip of iced coffee, you press a kiss to Marcus’s temple a second later. “I’m thinking four.”

“Four events?” Marcus chuckles. “That’s bachelorette party, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner and wedding?”

“Maybe five,” you admit with a sheepish grin. “You said you wanted to have an engagement party.”

“I think that it’s a good place for the publicity your mom wants.” He reminds you.

“Five events is a lot, but if we space them out I think we can manage it.” Looking down at him with an absolute glow on your face, your brand new engagement ring catches the light and makes your chest swell. “What season do you want to get married in?”

“Any one you want.” It’s fair in his mind, he’s been married before and all that matters to him is that you repeat your vows in front of friends and family. What the weather is like doesn’t matter a lick to him. “I guess it depends on how fast we can get it planned?”

“Don’t do less than six months,” Juan warns. His cousin had rushed things to disastrous consequences.

“I wouldn’t.” You can totally agree to that. “My impulse would be to say a year but…I’ve kind of always liked the idea of a summer wedding.” Chewing on the idea, you turn your eyes back down to Marcus again. “Roses stop blooming at the end of the summer.”

“Early fall?” He suggests. “October? It gives us seven months. And you will more than likely have White House help.” He shrugs. “Along with mine, of course.”

“If we did October, maybe I can do a summer bridal shower in the White House rose garden?” Your eyes widen, practically begging. “I would really love to use the rose garden.”

“Then you better make sure your mom doesn’t book it for a tea party.” He teases with a wink, reaching for your hand that now holds his engagement ring. “I think October is perfect. Hell, we could do a Halloween rehearsal dinner.” He jokes.

“Don’t even tease me about that,” you huff. A Halloween event would be exactly your style. “Halloween next year is on a Wednesday, otherwise I would be begging you to get married on Halloween.”

“Baby, if that’s what you want….” He shoots Juan a grin and shrugs. “I’m okay with that.”

“I don’t want to get married on a Wednesday night.” No one parties deep into a Wednesday night in their thirties. It doesn’t feel as special to you. “How about we get married earlier in October and I talk you into visiting the Paris catacombs with me on Halloween night during our honeymoon?”

“That works for me just as easily as anything else.” Marcus promises. “Only thing I care about is you and I celebrating our love and making a public commitment to each other.”

“I love you, too.” If it were just the two of you, you would be getting dressed to run off to a soulmate chapel immediately. But promises have been made and they need to be honored, and every chance to declare your love for Marcus loud and clear is worth taking. “Any Pike family traditions we should keep in mind that I don’t know about already?”

Marcus smiles. “There’s a jewelry set that is passed down to be used in the wedding, if wanted.” He adds. “It was my great, great grandmother’s.”

“Really?” Your expression softens immediately, eyes widening a little, and you nod right away. There is no question in your mind that you’re going to wear it. “Your Mom swore to pass down some family recipes after the wedding but she never mentioned heirlooms.”

“It’s only ever offered after the engagement.” He explains. “We had a certain cousin’s wife - I’m sure you can guess who - think that it was for her to keep.”

When Sydney and Juan look equal parts amused and confused, you snicker slightly. “Hannah has very interesting thoughts about the family,” you tell them, glossing over the few less than kind things Hannah Pike had said either to you or that had been relayed to you. “Which reminds me. I’m absolutely going to ask Selena to be a bridesmaid.”

“Sydney, you will love her.” Marcus promises. “She’ll be flying out every other weekend to help you plan.” He warns you. “Or just staying out here, she can work from anywhere.”

“She’s been thinking about moving,” you admit, barely biting back a grin at how much fun it would be to have her nearby permanently. Marcus’s cousin has become one of your closest friends in the months since your first visit to Texas. “She said she wants to come see what winter is like here to make sure it’s not too bad, but her office is opening a DC branch and asked her if she would be interested in heading up the new team out here.”

“How do you know that and I don’t?” He asks, putting on a faux pout.

“Because she hasn’t told your aunt and uncle yet and she didn’t want it to get back to the family.” That grin of yours becomes full force and you kiss his temple again. “She was trying to save you from having to lie if you got asked.”

“Well, then, you didn’t say anything to me.” He mimes zipping his lips and locking them to throw away the key.

"Probably a good policy," you agree, snickering quietly even as you squeeze his shoulders tightly.

There’s a sense of lazy content in the room. Everyone slowly savors the baked goods that Marcus had brought and sips their coffee. The baby, Constance, is the noisiest of them all, her hungry sucking and grasping one that makes all the adults smile as they look at her every thirty seconds.

She is Sydney’s entire focus, and when the baby is done with her own breakfast there is a little fuss over making sure she’s burped properly before she cuddles up against her mother’s chest to have a post-meal nap. Something that makes Sydney sigh in relief and hold her close. “You’d never know how bad last night almost was by looking at her.”

“Children are resilient.” Marcus muses. “She will never remember her birth and be completely unaffected by it, while it will stay with us forever.”

“All the better.” Sydney soothes one hand over her sleeping daughter’s back.

Marcus watches the loving gesture, almost aching for the time where he can watch you soothe the children you will have together. Will you look as much like Madonna and Child like Sydney does now? He thinks it will be even more profound like undoubtedly Juan feels like it is.

______

Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @littlemousedroid @harriedandharassed @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @haylzcyon @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42 @ladykatakuri @adancedivasmom @madiebear @tanzthompson @emilianamason @bigsdinger @xocalliexo @pedr0swh0r3 @avaleineandafryingpan @charlyrmv @avidreader73 @iceclaw101 @loveslide @elegantduckturtle @becsworld @julesonrecord @its-nebuleuse @itsrubberbisquit @mikeyswifie @guelyury @lizzie-cakes @for-a-longlongtime @vabeachazn @purplerain04 @weho2kcmo @madnessofadaydreamer

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My Masterlist!

#Pedro Pascal #Pedro Pascal character fanfiction #Pedro Pascal fanfic #Marcus Pike #Marcus Pike x you #Marcus Pike x reader #Marcus Pike x female reader #Marcus Pike x f!reader #The Mentalist #soulmate au #First Daughter reader #Juan Badillo #Graceland #Juan Badillo x f!OC #Juan Badillo x OC #pregnancy tw #childbirth tw #traumatic birth

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finnsbubblegum · 1 year

Text

First Birthday (Joel Miller X Reader)

Pairing: no-outbreak!joel miller x f!reader

Warnings: fluff, sweet joel, domestic joel, rom-com

Summary (Series): reader as Joel’s neighbor. Joel’s wife left him so Joel asked his neighbor for help in babysitting Sarah.

Summary: Pov: You and Joel prepared to celebrate baby Sarah’s first birthday together.

Words count: 1.5k

A/N: I’m trying to make this as a rom-com, hope you like my new series! This is part 6 of Where It All Starts. But it can also be read as a standalone. I'm beyond happy that many of you liked it so I hope you enjoy the next parts. Stay tuned and love you!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

Thank God Joel still treated you the same way before he confessed his love to you that night. You acted like nothing happened and he did the same.

“Thank you for walking me home, Joel.” Joel always walked you home even though your house was exactly next to his.

“Anytime, darlin’.” This was the second time he called you darling. Your heart jumped.

“I-uh-I forgot to tell you. Sarah’s birthday is coming. I was wondering if we could celebrate together.” He put his hand behind his neck.

“Oh really? It’s her first birthday! We should hold a party!” You jumped excitedly.

“A party? I don’t know (y/n). I mean-I don’t have anyone to invite beside my brother.” Joel put his hands in his pocket.

“I can invite my friends from the cafe. Let’s give Sarah the best first birthday ever. She deserves it.” You bumped Joel on the upper arm.

“Yeah, she deserves the best.” Joel nodded.

“So, what should we do?” He crossed his arms.

“I’ll think about it and we can talk about it again tomorrow.”

“Okay. Thanks. Good night, darlin’.” Joel kissed your cheek.

“Good night, Joel.” You kissed him back.

You shrieked as you closed the door. Joel Miller just called you darling. After what you said to him and he still called you darling? His words made you sway. And the kiss on the cheek felt different. Joel kissed your cheek every night but today definitely felt different. It felt more loving if you had to describe it. Was it because he called you darling? Was it because he was still nice to you even though you broke his heart? Then you remembered you told him that you weren’t ready for a relationship. You were the one who asked him not to fall in love with you but why were you swayed now? You hit your head to get a grip of yourself. You spent your night thinking about how you could make Sarah’s birthday special. You took out your notebook and wrote your ideas about the cake design, colors, decorations and everything. Trying to neglect your thoughts about how perfect Joel was.

It was another day and you prepared dinner at Joel’s house just like usual. You and Joel had dinner together almost every night since you babysat Sarah. Either you cooked for the two of you, ordered deliveries, Joel brought takeouts, or ate out. But tonight you decided to cook.

“You’re home early.” You turned to look at Joel who just got home from work.

“Today was peaceful.” He chuckled.

“Dinner will be ready in 10. So you can take a shower first, sir.” You bowed, acting like a maid.

“I’ll be back.” Joel chuckled as he shook his head at your joke.

*10 minutes later*

Joel went down the stairs looking fresh after a shower.

“Smells good.” Joel sniffed.

“You always said that.” You scoffed.

“I’m being honest.” Joel glared at you.

“Well, thank you.” You smiled.

You and Joel dug in and ate the meal you cooked.

“So, I’ve got some ideas for Sarah’s first birthday party.” You took out your notebook.

“Uh-huh. What do you got?”

“I was thinking of a pink themed kind of birthday party. What do you think?” You squinted your eyes.

“Hmm, how about purple? I’m seeing Sarah as a purple girl.” Joel voted purple.

“Yes sir. Purple it is.” You wrote purple on your notebook.

“About the cake, I have talked to my baker and he has this amazing design in mind. You’ll love it.”

“I’ll leave it to you, miss.”

Sarah’s Birthday D-1

You and Joel decorated the house with purple flowers and purple balloons. You used helium for the balloon so it could fly to the ceilings.

"Never meant to cause you any sorrow~"

Joel sang as he held the balloon pumper as a microphone near his mouth.

You turned your head right away as you heard a high-pitched voice singing.

"Seriously?" You put your hands to your waist staring at him.

"Never meant to cause you any pain" Joel closed his eyes and continued singing.

You inhaled some of the helium and jumped to the couch.

"I only wanted to one time to see you laughing.."

You sang and Joel stopped because he was impressed by you.

"I only wanted to see you in the purple rain"

You started to sing like a real singer on the stage but you were just on Joel's couch.

"Purple rain

Purple rain"

Joel inhaled another helium and sang with you together. The two of you burst into laughter. You couldn't stop laughing, your stomach hurts.

"Okay, okay. Stop it. My stomach hurts from laughing." You pressed your stomach.

"I didn't know you like Prince." You bumped Joel's arm.

"Purple rain is like my jam." Joel squinted his eyes.

"Wait, did you choose purple because of the song? Purple as in purple rain?" You furrowed your brows confused as you joined the dots. He shrugged.

"I..may have chosen purple because of purple rain." He admitted.

"You're sooo predictable." You shook your head and poked his chest with your index finger.

D-day

The birthday cake was big and purple. It was a two tier cake with pearls and sparkly butterflies around it. You thanked your baker for making Sarah a beautiful birthday cake.

Sarah wore a purple dress with a purple bow tie bandana headband around her head. You and Joel had bought them a few days ago at the mall.

"Happy birthday, you cute little girl!" One of your employees from the cafe shook her little hand gently.

"Whoaa, who is this pretty little girl here?" Another friend from your cafe came to her while baby Sarah was in Joel's arms.

"Happy birthday, purple girl." Flo came and stroked her head.

"Say thank you, babygirl." Joel bounced Sarah and she babbled.

"You're welcome." Flo gave you a gift box for Sarah and you put it on the table piled with presents.

Everyone was happy to celebrate Sarah's birthday. They were like a second family to her. She spent every day with them and you at the cafe. And they loved her too.

“Hey, you old fucker. And hey there you, babygirl. Happy birthday, my sweet little niece.” An unfamiliar man approached the two of you and kissed baby Sarah’s head.

“Tommy!” Joel hugged his younger brother.

“(y/n), this is Tommy, my younger brother. Tommy this is (y/n). She’s uh-she’s my neighbor. She’s the one who came up with all of these.” Joel introduced you to Tommy and pointed around the house.

“Hi, Tommy. I’m (y/n). Nice to meet you. Joel helped a lot too.” You shook Tommy’s hand.

“So you guys-uh-together?” Tommy asked.

“We’re neighbors.” You answered and Joel nodded.

“Okay. If you want to say it that way. I’m sure you guys are more than that anyways.” Tommy raised both of his opened palms in the air.

“Okay, now I’m gonna mingle and see if I can talk to that pretty girl.” Tommy walked away and talked to a girl, who was apparently to be Flo.

“I didn’t know you had a brother.” You chuckled.

“Well, you know about it now.” Joel kissed Sarah’s cheek.

“He seems..” You pouted as you were looking for the right word.

“Friendly. Very much friendly.” You smirked.

“Yep, he is.”

“Why don’t we gather everyone and sing happy birthday?” You rested your hand at Joel’s shoulder then to Sarah’s head.

"Everyone! Joel here has something to say." You gathered everyone's attention.

"What? I thought you were the one who-" Joel whispered to you and bumped your arm.

"Shh.. come on do the speech." You whispered back to him.

"I didn't prepare anythin'." He panicked.

"You can do it. Come on." You patted his back.

"Hi-uh-I'm Joel. I'm sure you all know Sarah. She's turning one today. Thank you for takin' care of her every day at the cafe. I really appreciate it. You are all a second family to her. Why don't we-uh-sing happy birthday to my little girl?" Joel was sweating. You could see it dripping to the back of his neck but you just chuckled. You found him cute this way.

*Everyone started to sing*

Joel sang half way and he stopped singing so you turned to him. His eyes were locked to a woman who just came into the house. She was his ex-wife and her current boyfriend.

"Joel.." You stroked his upper arm.

"Hold Sarah for me?" He passed Sarah to your arms.

"Okay." You took her from his arms and held her, bouncing her a bit.

Joel sighed as he walked towards his ex-wife. He didn't let her see Sarah. He dragged her outside the house avoiding everyone to see the drama that would happen.

"Everything's gonna be okay, baby. Your dad got this. Let's just be happy and celebrate your birthday. Today's your special day." You talked to baby Sarah and kissed her forehead.

To be continued…

Taglist:

@lovelyygirl8 @skysmiller @moonlightdivine @crocodiile @angie2274 @pulchritudinousrogers @peqchsoup @msecho19 @happinessinthebeing @nyotamalfoy @nakedmoondiaries @dzaga890 @pa1g3-t0mm0 @prettysbliss @wanniiieeee @one-sweet-gubler @x-ap0llo-x @feministfanboi @ordinarylokix @afterglowsb-tch13 @padgraysonssram8re @tomorrowseverything @hummusxx @iranispunk @mrsyixingunicorn10 @likeanimagepassingby2 @mediocrewallflow3r @pedr0swh0r3 @mxtokko @dorck26 @cascactus28 @cheyxfu @stupidthoughtsinwriting @undermoonlightwalk @bigmoodyjoody @humanbug @sarahhxx03 @krisviciousx @quixscentsposts @dgct2 @dgraysonss @heybabyshae @fluffyspaceprincess @toottmblr @avengersfan25 @xixxala @dianaffddz @onzayhe @violetwitchmcu @welcometomyworldwithoutrules @kelh27

750 notes · View notes

andvys · 1 year

Text

We'll burn the sky E.M.

Warnings: mentions of heartbreak, mostly fluff, reader and eddie get high together

Pairing: Rockstar!Eddie Munson x Rockstar!fem!reader

Summary: You and Eddie grow closer and have one- or a few moments.

Chapter two

Series masterlist

The shrill sound of a telephone ringing wakes Eddie from his deep sleep, groaning in annoyance, he opens his eyes only to screw them shut when the sunlight hits him directly in his face. Reaching for one of the pillows on his bed, he slams it on his face, “shut up,” he mumbles as the phone keeps ringing.

He hopes that one of the guys will pick it up but it keeps ringing and ringing.

“Gareth!” Eddie yells out to his friends, knowing that he is probably awake already, “pick it up!”

Eddie rolls his eyes when he gets no response, the house is silent aside from the obnoxious ringing.

And then, it finally stops and Eddie sighs in relief. Relaxing into the comfort of his warm bed again. But his peace is disturbed a minute later when the phone begins to ring again.

He groans, throwing the pillow and the blanket off of him, he jumps up, his bare feet hitting the wooden floors as he rushes out of his room, walking past Gareth’s room, he catches a glimpse of the empty bed, he is no doubt relaxing on the patio, totally ignoring the phone. Asshole.

Running down the stairs, he rubs his tired eyes, leaning against the wall as he comes to a halt, he reaches for the phone, closing his eyes.

“Hello?” he mumbles, grumpily.

“Hi… did I wake you up?”

Eddie opens his eyes, a smile appears on his face and he suddenly feels wide awake, “no no– you’re fine. How are you doing, y/n?”

“Good, I’m doing good,” you giggle at the sudden change in his voice, “how are you doing, Eddie?”

He grins, leaning his head against the wall, he closes his eyes again, “better now that you called.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Your breathy laugh makes his chest feel all warm.

“So uh– how about we write some songs today?”

“I’d love that.”

“Cool, you could come over to my place, if you want?”

“That would be nice.”

He walks into the kitchen with a large smile after hanging up the phone. He looks down at the notebook where he wrote down your address.

“What’s got you all smiley and shit?”

Eddie shuts the book and throws it on the kitchen counter, locking eyes with Gareth who just took his headphones off.

“Dude, the phone kept ringing!” Eddie complains as though it wasn’t just the best call he had in a while.

“Oh,” Gareth mumbles, giving him an apologetic look, he points to his headphones, “sorry– who called?”

Eddie says your name as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

A knowing look flashes in Gareth’s eyes, he leans against the counter and smirks at his friend, “oh, that’s why you’re so happy at 9 am in the morning.”

It’s been a week since they started practicing with you. You came by on Sunday and after that, you came by every day after work to practice with them and work on the songtexts with Eddie. Gareth and the others– especially Eddie are happy about you joining the band. Not only do you help them improve, you also make the band even better, just by being there.

Eddie scoffs, shaking his head, “I’m not happy.”

“Right,” Gareth chuckles, “so uh– what did she want?”

Running a hand through his messy curls, Eddie turns around to look at his friend, taking a sip of his coffee, he stares at him through his bangs, “gonna work on some of the song texts today.”

“Oh, cool,” he says, “is she coming over?”

Eddie shakes his head, “no, I uh, I’m going over to her place.”

His best friend’s eyes widen and he nods, “ah, you are going over to her place, huh?”

“Dude.”

Gareth snorts and turns away from Eddie, walking towards the fridge, he takes out the milk and places it on the counter before he grabs himself a bowl and his favorite cereal, ignoring the way Eddie looks at him.

“You know, I think she’s pretty cool.”

Eddie nods, “she is.”

“Very talented,” Gareth says as he pours the honey nut cheerios into the green bowl.

“Very,” Eddie says.

“I love her voice,” he smiles, reaching for the milk.

“I love her voice too.”

Gareth smirks to himself, “bet she’s gonna rock the stage.”

“She will.”

“She’s very hot too.”

“Yea–” Eddie clears his throat, turning away and pretending like he said nothing.

Gareth only chuckles to himself as he begins to eat his cereal.

Eddie closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighs in annoyance.

‘I have a girlfriend,’ he thinks to himself, repeating it over and over again in his head.

“You talked to Sam yet?” Gareth asks, “about her joining the band?”

“Yes,” Eddie mumbles, “I gave him the recordings, he loved them– loved her voice.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah, cool.”

Eddie can’t explain why but whenever he is about to see you, he feels this weird tension in his body, he is giddy, excited and nervous but the moment your eyes lock, he feels calmness washing over him, the tension in his body leaves as quickly as it comes.

Right now, he is standing in front of your door, taking deep breaths. He hasn’t been alone with you yet– well, he has been alone with you at his house but the guys were still around. This is a little different.

He knocks three times and takes a step back, licking his lips, he brushes his fingers through his curls– he doesn’t even know why he feels the need to impress you but he always makes sure that his hair looks good and that he wears his best shirt, the good pants. God, he feels ridiculous sometimes but whenever he is around you, he feels as though he is in the presence of an already famous rockstar, naturally he has to impress you.

The door opens and you greet him with one of those breathtaking smiles of yours, the kind that is contagious. Your eyes are glowing with happiness.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” Eddie grins at you.

You step aside, stretching your arm out, “well come on in then, rockstar.”

He chuckles, smiling down at you as he enters your home, looking around in curiosity. As though he can feel them, he turns around and his eyes fall on the guitars hung up on your wall.

“Oh wow,” he whispers as he walks towards them.

You close the door and follow him into your living room, his eyes light up when they fall on the black electric guitar, he stretches his hand out, fingers tracing the smooth wood, “she is beautiful,” he whispers, staring at it as though he is in trance.

You laugh, “he is,” you joke.

He looks down at you, smirking, “you play with him sometimes?”

You raise your brows, lips twitching, “of course,” you say with a low voice, “especially at nights, gotta stroke him a little, show him some love, you know?”

Eddie’s eyes widen, cheeks growing red.

You burst into laughter, shaking your head, “that’s so dumb,” you giggle as you turn around and walk to your kitchen, “you want a drink?” you ask, “coke, water, beer.. or some coffee?”

Eddie blinks as he watches you walk off, eyes traveling to your– nope. Eddie forces himself to look away, “y-yeah, a coke would be nice.”

He turns away from the guitars and looks at the pictures on your wall. There is one of you at the recording studio– you smile at someone behind the camera, guitar in your lap. Eddie smiles. There’s a picture of you and a group of girls, he recognizes them from the night at the bar. There’s one of a man with a little girl on his lap– he assumes it’s your dad, he recognized the girl right away, it’s you. Cute.

He turns away and looks at the little table in front of your couch, raising his brows at the unfinished joint in your little ashtray, “you’re a stoner, y/n?” he smirks.

Walking out of your kitchen with two drinks in your hand, you chuckle when you find him pointing to the joint on your table.

“No, just need something to relax sometimes, you know?”

He nods, “I get that,” he says, “you know.. I actually used to sell drugs, back home.” That’s how I got to know my girlfriend– he should have added but he can’t bring himself to do it, he doesn’t know why.

A surprised look flashes in your eyes, “really?” you ask as you hand him his coke.

“Yeah,” he chuckles, “but then I got a job at the garage and my drug dealer career was over.”

Laughing, you shake your head, “and now you’re on the way to becoming a rockstar.”

“Yup,” he smirks as he raises the cup to his lips, drinking the cold sweet beverage.

You stare at him with a smile on your face.

“Shit, I love coke.”

“Me too,” you mumble, still staring into his eyes, getting lost in them.

He furrows his brows, looking down at the water bottle in your hand, “I hope we’re talking about the same kind of coke,” he laughs nervously as he stares into that lost look in your eyes.

Your eyes widen and a laugh leaves your lips, scratching the back of your neck, you shake your head, “we do,” you snort.

Sitting down on your couch and reaching for your notebook, “let’s get to work, shall we?”

He nods, sitting down next to you, he places the drink on the table.

“I made some changes. I stayed up last night. Was hit with this sudden inspiration,” you chuckle as you scoot closer to him, pointing to the new lines you wrote down but Eddie isn’t looking at them yet, no, he is looking at you.

“So uh– how about we change this line ‘crying for you’ to ‘bleeding for you’? I think it works well with the rest of the lines, or we could add it.”

Eddie smiles, you still stare down at your notebook, furrowing your brows.

“Hold on,” you mumble, putting it back down, you get up to get the guitar in your bedroom.

Eddie’s gaze follows you until you disappear in the hallway. He looks down at your notebook, curiosity gets the best of him. He flips the pages, reading the lines of the song he wrote down, he flips to another page and another until he finds a song he doesn’t recognize, ‘death to my heart’.

If it wasn’t the title that got his attention, it definitely would have been the first line.

He doesn’t mean to pry but he can’t help but read the rest of the song text. What starts off with a smile on his face ends with a frown on his face. The look in his eyes can only be described as overwhelmed as he reads it. It’s good, perfect even but it is so sad. So beautiful yet heartbroken.

It’s about the pain of love and loss, the feeling of unrequited love. The feeling of loving someone so much that it crushes your heart and destroys your soul. It’s about a soulmate; how it feels to love the one, have a piece of their heart only to lose them because the time wasn’t right.

“Hey– oh.”

Eddie tears his eyes away from the pages, looking up at you, his eyes grow wide, “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to–”

“No….No, it’s okay,” you mumble as you sit down next to him again, “I actually wanted to play this song for you, see if you'd be interested to work on it."

“Really?”

You nod, looking at him nervously, “but if you don’t like it–”

He puts his hand on your arm, gaze softening, “I love it, y/n. It’s beautiful.”

A smile tugs at your lips, “thank you, it’s my favorite one I’ve written.”

“Would you like to play it for me?”

You blink, breathing nervously as you look into his pretty eyes.

“Okay.”

So you end up playing the song to him, not noticing the look in his eyes. Eddie stares at you with a sense of longing in his eyes. It feels like something inside of him feels drawn to your voice, to you. Perhaps that’s why he gave you a chance in the first place. Eddie was never the type to beg for someone’s help but he did beg you and it wasn’t just your help that he wanted, he wanted you.

His heart feels full, he feels at peace, the way he has longed to feel for so long. Your voice feels like a warm hug, like he can let himself fall into you, knowing that you’ll be there to catch him and hold him in the safety of your arms.

Weeks go by and a lot has happened. The guys ‘introduced’ you to Sam but to their surprise you already knew him, confusion was written all over their faces when the older man embraced you in his arms and called you ‘bug’.

“You know each other?” Eddie asked with a confused smile on his face.

“Yeah,” Sam chuckled, “worked with her dad.”

“Kid got just as much talent as he did.”

Given that he talked about your dad in past tense, Eddie figured that your dad isn’t around anymore. He never asked you about it, not wanting to pry but he can’t help but want to know more about him about who he is or was and while you were growing closer and closer, he still didn’t want to bring something up that might make you sad or uncomfortable– he could see the sad look in your eyes when Sam mentioned him.

You rewrote almost every song, making the good ones even better. Eddie was even willing to replace some of his songs with the ones that you have written; he loves them.

Now you have one song left to rewrite and you are struggling, you both are.

Laying on the carpet in his bedroom, you read the song text again, trying to fix the lines with better words but your mind is blank.

You hear the guys playing in the garage, the late afternoon sun peaks through the curtains, the warmth kissing your skin.

Eddie groans, throwing his pen along with his notebook down on the ground, he runs his hand down his face, feeling frustrated, “you got anything?” he asks you.

“No…” you mumble, still keeping your eyes on the words on the pages.

Eddie takes a deep breath and nods as he looks down at you. His breath hitches in his throat. You look beautiful. Hair sprawled around you, your top has ridden up a little, exposing your soft skin, your short jean shorts show off your pretty legs, the sunlight meets your face so perfectly– fuck.

Eddie can’t deny how absolutely gorgeous you are or how it feels to be with you but the moment he allows all these thoughts and feelings in, he gets consumed by guilt. He can’t feel this way about you, he can’t have all these thoughts about you.

After all, there’s someone waiting for him back home.

“I think we have to get out.”

You sit up, furrowing your brows, “you okay?” you ask when you see the conflicted look in his eyes as he stares at you, “Eddie?”

He blinks, snapping out of his thoughts, he tries to give you a smile, “y-yes.”

“Are you sure?” you frown.

“Yeah,” he whispers as he stares at the slight pout on your face, the worried look in your eyes. Damn you, why do you have to be so adorable? “What did you say right now?”

“Uh, I said that we should get out. We’ve been cooped up in here for weeks now, we gotta take a small break– just for tonight, it’ll help get some ideas and inspiration back.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” you smirk, “and I already know where we’re going.”

You get up and walk towards him, reaching for his hand, you grab it, “come on.”

Eddie shakes his head, smiling as he gets up. His heart flutters in his chest as your thumb brushes against his skin.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re gonna sing.”

He raises his brows, “the garage is your way of getting out?”

“No,” you chuckle, “we’re going to the bar you kept annoying me in.”

Eddie tilts his head, squinting his eyes, “oh, I was annoying?”

“Very,” you smirk as you lean closer to him, eying the guitar pick necklace around his neck, “kept pestering me.”

He smirks, looking down at your lips for a brief second, “and now you’re here, guess I wasn’t too annoying after all, huh?”

You shrug, “who says that I’m here for you?”

His face falls and he looks confused causing you to giggle.

“I’m here to make music not to hang out with you, Eddie.”

“Ouch, you keep being cold towards me,” he mumbles, closing his eyes as he pretends to wipe his tears away, “so we’re not friends then?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, are we?” you smile as you look up at him, “I thought that we are just band mates.”

“Band mates who spend a lot of time together,” he points out.

“Isn’t that what band mates do?” you giggle as you leave his room.

Well, Eddie certainly never laid on Gareth’s carpet before to write songs with him. Scratching the back of his neck, he sighs. Taking one last look into the mirror before he follows you out.

He walks down the stairs, finding you in the hallway. You stand in front of the mirror, brushing through your hair before you take your purse, fumbling through the small bag until you find what you were looking for, bending forward to get a closer look at yourself, you reapply your lipstick with a concentrated look on your face.

Eddie leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches you.

You see his reflection through the mirror, “you want some?” you chuckle, holding up the red lipstick.

His stomach flutters as you walk towards him, he stares down at your lips– your very kissable lips.

“S-Should we go?” he asks, unable to look away.

You smirk to yourself, putting the lipstick back in your purse, you nod, “let’s go.”

After a few drinks, Eddie feels like he can finally relax a little. Weeks of band practice and writing took a toll on him, he rarely ever took breaks but it was time for one, just for tonight at least and he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t dying for a chance to get to know more about you– outside of the music.

“Tell me about Steve.”

Eddie chuckles, “what about him?”

Ever since he told you about his best friend Steve, you kept bringing him up as though you already knew him personally.

“Tell me about him, what is he like?” you ask, “what does he look like? Is he hot?”

He shakes his head, snorting, “well, considering that he used to be the most popular guy at school, I’d say he’s pretty hot.”

Your eyes light up and you giggle, “I knew it.”

He rolls his eyes, “how?” he mumbles.

You shrug, “I just do. Tell me more.”

Eddie clears his throat, “Everybody loves Steve, kids love him, chicks love him– shit, even my uncle loves him. I mean, I get it, he’s cool. I-I didn’t always think that though, I didn’t like him at first, I thought he was an asshole just like every other jock but it turned out that he’s a pretty cool guy. Dustin– our friend, kept telling me so but I didn’t believe him and then he just started to bring him around Hellfire and forced us to hang out.”

“Hellfire?” you ask, remembering the little drawing on his notebook.

Eddie nods, “yeah, we had this club– you know DnD?”

“Yeah, my cousin is like obsessed with it, forced me to play with him whenever I’d babysit him.”

His face lights up and he smiles, “oh, you’re a little nerd too, huh?”

“Not really,” you laugh.

“Yes you are,” he smirks, leaning closer to you.

You get a whiff of his cologne, mixed with the smell of cigarettes and whiskey– something about his scent makes you feel dizzy.

Eddie tells you more about his life back in Hawkins– his old life. He tells you about his uncle Wayne, about how he took him in and treated him like his own. He tells you about his friends about how supportive they’ve all been when he told him about his plans to move out to LA to pursue the career he always dreamed about.

His eyes glint with happiness but also with sadness, he misses them, his family, his friends.

He tells you everything– well, almost everything. He leaves a small detail out.

You tell him about your friends and about the way you used to work with Sam but that’s it, you don’t talk about your dad, you don’t even mention him and it only sparks his curiosity even more.

“Okay, enough with the talking, let’s sing!” You get up, taking one last sip of your drink before you grab his hand, “the stage is free just for us,” you grin.

Eddie chuckles, downing the rest of his whiskey, he gets up, “what are we gonna sing?” he asks, letting you pull him along to the stage.

He looks around, the bar is definitely less crowded than it was that night you sang but there is still a good crowd.

You look back at him with a smirk and by the look in your eyes, he knows exactly what you want. Every time he hears your car pulling up, he hears the same song playing– he is pretty sure that you do it on purpose at this point.

“No…” he groans.

“Yes!” you exclaim with an excited look in your eyes, you turn your back to him as you walk towards the DJ.

Eddie rolls his eyes as he hears your song choice. Closing his eyes, he pinches the bridge of his nose, he chuckles a little. He’s glad that the guys didn’t end up joining you here tonight, he would have been embarrassed to sing a Fleetwood Mac song in front of them.

You turn back to him, with one microphone in your hand, giving him an excited grin, “I always wanted to sing that song!”

He can’t help but smile when he sees how excited you are, “what do you need me for then?”

You frown at him as you grab his arm and pull him further onto the stage, “Fleetwood Mac has two singers, dude!”

“We’re not Fleetwood Mac tho!”

“Tonight we are,” you giggle as you hand him the mic, “you sing the first verse.”

“Why me?” he asks, throwing his arms up.

“Because I said so!”

The DJ looks between the two of you, raising his brows, “you ready?” he asks.

You give him a thumbs up and a grin. Eddie shakes his head. Yeah, he’d do anything you say.

“The things I do for you,” he mumbles under his breath as he grips the mic tighter in his hand.

You giggle at the grumpy look on his face, the song starts and he keeps his eyes on you, not really caring about the audience. He brings the mic up to his lips, rolling his eyes at you one more time before he begins to sing.

Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise

Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies

And if you don't love me now

You will never love me again

I can still hear you saying

You would never break the chain

And if you don't love me now

You will never love me again

I can still hear you saying

You would never break the chain

Your smile is so big as you’re watching him, he can’t help but enjoy this moment. Stepping closer to you, he hands you the mic, ignoring the way his heart fluttered in his chest when your fingers brushed against his and you gave him a wink before you began to sing your verse.

Listen to the wind blow, down comes the night

Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies

Break the silence, damn the dark, damn the light

And if you don't love me now

You will never love me again

I can still hear you saying

You would never break the chain

Just like every time he hears you sing, it’s like he is in a trance and all he sees is you. All he feels is you, your happiness is just radiating off of you when you sing and it’s like he can feel every emotion that floods right through you.

You look into each other’s eyes, nothing around you both exists when you do what you love, especially when you do it together.

His brown eyes flicker with something unreadable, suddenly Eddie grabs your waist and pulls you closer to him, placing his hand above yours, he surprises you by singing the chorus with you.

A weird feeling settles in your chest, you have never been this close to him. His nose almost bumps into yours, his curls brush against your cheek, his hand is still on the small of your back, his touch leaving goosebumps on your skin- no, it's more intense than that. His touch is burning into your skin, making you feel desire and need, all at once.

Neither of you notice that you attracted the audience, that the people are watching you with awestruck expressions on their faces.

You can’t see them because all you see is each other.

If you had to describe this moment with one word, it would be; magical.

Sparks fly when you sing together, there’s no denying that you feel something when you’re with him like this.

You get lost in his eyes every single time. He lets you take a look into his mind, only you can’t read it but you can see the longing, the happiness, the passion and the guilt, you don’t understand what the guilt is for but it unsettles you a little.

You embrace each other after the song, you don’t know who made the first move but you don’t care, not when you feel him pulling you closer. Touching you in such a gentle way, it leaves you breathless. His breath hits your neck, a shiver runs down your spine. His arms are wrapped around your waist, hands squeezing your hips.

You close your eyes and so does he, both smiling in happiness.

Eddie smells your sweet perfume, your shampoo that reminds him of his favorite milkshake; strawberry. He can feel your heart pounding as your chest is pressed against his. Your hands are on the nape of his neck, your lips linger against his shoulder. His heart skips a beat and he feels something he has never felt before, a sense of belonging and it catches him off guard, fills him with fear and the need to escape.

His eyes snap open and the smile falls from his face as the guilt settles deep within his heart.

“I think the people love us,” you whisper into his ear before you pull away with a smirk on your face as you point to the people who are still cheering for you, “guess we should sing more Fleetwood Mac.”

He chuckles, shaking his head, “you wish!”

You end up leaving the bar after your little performance, Eddie suddenly grew quiet, disappearing in his thoughts. A lost and sad look appeared on his face after you sang the song together.

“Hey,” you nudge his shoulder, “everything okay?”

He nods, still looking at the ground as you wander through the streets, he presses his lips together. I have a girlfriend….. I have a girlfriend waiting for me at home… No. He doesn’t have to tell you, right? There’s nothing going on between you two so there’s no reason for him to tell you about her, right?

“Yup.”

Lies. You can see right through him but you don't push him to talk, you would never do that. You hate when others do that to you.

You nod, looking up into the darkening sky, the color reminds you of the ocean.

“Hey, have you ever been to the beach?”

Eddie looks at you with raised brows, “no.”

You gasp as you halt in your tracks, “you have never– what?”

Eddie laughs at the expression on your face, “I’ve been busy,” he shrugs.

“Dude, you came to LA and you haven’t been to the beach? What is wrong with you?”

He pushes your shoulder playfully, “stop insulting me!”

“Never,” you smirk, pushing him back, “so… wanna go to the beach? We could share a joint and just relax, I know a good spot.”

“Now?”

“Yeah… why not?”

"You carry drugs with you?"

"Always," you grin.

Eddie looks around, scratching the back of his neck. He doesn’t really feel like going home yet anyway, “okay, sure.”

A secluded beach is not what Eddie had in mind but he loves it, it’s too dark to be able to see how pretty the beach truly is but the moonlight brightens it just enough, especially your beautiful face.

The sand is already in his shoes and sticking to his clothes but he doesn’t mind, at least not right now when he is high and without a care in the world. You both stare at the crashing waves, enjoying the sound and the smell of the ocean.

For the past 20 minutes, you sat there in comfortable silence, just passing the joint back and forth– both deep in thoughts.

Once again, Eddie’s mind takes him back to your songs, to the picture on your wall, to the questions about your dad, to your life, to that one song and this time he finally lets one of the questions fall from his lips.

“Have you ever been in love?”

You turn to look at him to find him staring at you already, curiosity swimming in his eyes.

“Why do you ask?”

He shrugs, “just had to think of your song, 'death to my heart',” he explains, reaching for the joint you offer to him, he takes a long drag before he gives it back to you, “first time I read it, I thought that that can only be written by someone who was deeply in love and got their heart broken.”

You chuckle, “I’ll take that as a compliment, that’s what I was hoping it sounds like,” you pause, getting lost in his eyes once again, “but no, I have never been in love before.”

He stares at you in surprise, “seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“B-But you’ve had partners before, right?”

You shake your head, “not serious ones.”

His eyes widen, a frown settles on his face. Not serious ones. He knows what you mean by that and he doesn't like to think about you having not serious partners- it makes him feel jealous.

“But uh– I’ve never really dated anyone.”

“Why not?”

You sigh, placing your palms on the sand, you lean back, “cause I've never met anyone that I liked in a way that wasn't platonic."

He looks confused, waiting for you to continue.

“You know how you sometimes just meet someone and you just both get along so well, you share the same interests and the love for things that it ties you to each other?”

He nods.

“Well, sometimes we mistake those feelings for love, we can mistake platonic love for romantic love so easily, especially when we're lonely and we just want love and when the other person feels the same, we end up in a very messy situation because in the end people we like, adore, admire or love platonically are just people who were always supposed to be friends, just our friends. And that person is someone who was never supposed to be yours, you know?” you pause to take a deep breath, lips setting in a frown as you look into his eyes. "I mean, I'm not saying that you can't be in love with your friend because you can be -- but, uh-- I'm rambling, what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to date someone I just love or have to learn how to love, I want to be with someone that I'm genuinely in love with."

“You think just love isn't enough?” He asks with a frown on his face.

“I don't know. Just love isn't enough for me,” you shrug. "Because what if I settle for someone, build a life with them but then meet the person that I end up falling in love with?"

The look in his eyes is almost one of heartbreak.

“I wouldn’t want to break my partners heart and I'd probably stay with them, but then I’d also be miserable for the rest of my life because I wouldn’t be with the one I truly want.”

His heart feels heavy in his chest, his eyes show nothing but regret and a longing for something he will never have.

"A-And what if you won't find that person?"

"I don't know," you shrug, "I don't have a problem with being alone, I can still see people, you know? But I just don't see the point of being with someone that I don't love in a way that I wish I would. But hey, maybe the love I'm talking about doesn't even exist," you laugh, blushing when you realize how much you just rambled. "And maybe I will actually befriend someone that I end up loving in that way."

He smiles at your words, though it doesn't reach his eyes.

"And the song? It's about two people who met at the wrong time?" He asks, curiosity flashing in his eyes.

"Soulmates," you correct him.

“And there’s no happy ending for them?”

“No,” you whisper.

“Why not?”

You shrug, heart aching in your chest when you see the broken look in his eyes.

“Because he chooses the wrong one.”

“And what about her?”

A breathy laughter falls from your lips when you think of how dramatic those words might sound.

“She dies of heartbreak.”

“Oh..”

Taglist: @prettyboyeddiemunson @littledemondani @wroteclassicaly @corrodedcorpses @cry-for-u @mysticmunson @tvserie-s-world @eddielives1986 @1paire2vans @poisonedluv @sherrylyn628 @aysheashea @kaitebugg03 @lma1986 @aftermidnightwriting @livelaughlove-mhm @miarosso @novelnovella @magenta-moon

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