#The Collider Pt. 4

[janeyseymour]

Fire In My Heart- pt 4

A request from @sleep-deprived-athlete: maybe the reader gets hurt and Mel has to deal with the reader recovering and is all worried and both the Abbott crew and the fire station are worried when both of them are MIA, mainly because the Abbott crew didn’t know the reader got hurt?

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

WC: ~3.1k

You really don’t know what possessed you to do this, thinking you’ll come out of the situation unscathed. One minute, you’re barking out orders to your subordinates to not enter that burning building- that it’s going to collapse quickly. The next, you hear a sharp cry from a coming from said building, and you’re running in.

You quickly drop to your knees and start crawling through the building where you find a small child cowering in the corner on the second floor.

“C’mere, honey,” you yell, still trying to keep your voice gentle. The child is like a deer in the headlights, absolutely terrified with the flames around her. You know that you have very limited time, so you make a decision to run for the child and grab her. Her cries break your heart as you hold her closely to your chest and try to decide if you have time to make it down the steps again or if you just need to jump.

Before you can make a decision, you hear the other side of the house starting to crumble. You look at the window, and it’s closed. Making one last executive decision, you cradle the girl to your uniform, covering her face with your coat, before running for the window and colliding with it. You break the window and go crashing down to the ground- but you’re out. You had fallen at least twenty feet with the little girl, and you hear it almost instantly that your bones can’t handle it. But right now you’re in shock, so you can’t feel it. All that matters is that you get this little, unharmed, girl back to her parents. You can deal with your injuries later.

You get the little girl to her family, and they thank you profusely. You just saved her life. You know. You allow them to fuss over the little girl before you are finally able to walk away. Only then do you hiss in pain at the fire you’re feeling in your ribs and the throbbing in your ankle.

“Chief, you okay?” one of your firemen comes running over to you as you stumble away from the group.

“Fine, I’m fine,” you tell him as evenly as you can. “Let’s get back to the station.”

You let one of the others drive the truck, because you really don’t think you could handle it. You subtly steady yourself in the back, trying not to let every small bump in the road make you scream in pain.

Thankfully, you only have about forty-five minutes before your shift ends, and then you know you’re going to have to get yourself to the hospital.

It’s late. It’s nearly midnight, but you know if you don’t show up at home tonight, Melissa will freak out.

“Mel?” you gasp out as you try to navigate your way to the hospital.

“Y/N?” you hear her sleep filled voice answer the phone. “What’s up?”

“I need you to meet me at the hospital,” you say quickly. “I-”

“What?!” the redhead shouts into the phone, making you wince. “What do you mean you need me to meet you at the hospital?! What hospital?!”

“Jefferson,” you sigh out as you pull into the parking garage to park your car. “Please don’t freak out.”

“When my girlfriend calls me at midnight telling me to meet her at the hospital, I’m going to freak out!” You hear her jump out of bed and start changing into her normal clothes.

“Please, take a breath before you get here,” you tell her. “I’m okay, I’m conscious, I’m talking to you, I don’t need you in a hospital bed next to me because you get into a car accident trying to get to me.”

“Jesus Christ,” you hear the redhead huff. “I’ll be there soon, okay? Just hang tight.”

Your girlfriend runs every stop sign, and she runs most of the red lights too. She parks next to your car in the dimly lit parking garage before sprinting into the hospital, yelling your name at the receptionist as she halts.

“And your relation to the patient?” the woman looks unimpressed with the teacher’s dramatics.

“She’s my fucking wife!” Melissa yells. A lie.

“Room 111.” Your girlfriend takes off in the direction of your room before the secretary can say anything else.

When she gets to your room, you’re laying in the bed, already changed into a gown.

“Hey,” you wheeze out.

“Oh my god, hun,” she mutters as she races to your bedside and kisses you gently. “What the hell happened?”

“Broke ribs, broke my ankle,” you sigh.

“Okay, but how? Why is no one from your squad here?”

“Jumped out a burning building, and they don’t know I’m here,” you do your best to shrug, only to wince in pain.

“What do you mean you jumped out a burning building?”

You sigh before you go to explain your situation, but the doctor comes in to give you medication and begin the process of putting the cast on your right foot.

“You drove here with a broken ankle?!” Melissa’s eyes go wide as she realizes what you’ve done.

You shrug. “I’ve had second degree burns. Nothing hurts more than that shit.”

“Your wife is a trooper,” the doctor tells Melissa. “She’s a tough cookie. Broke four ribs and her ankle in two places and still managed to get herself here.”

“Wife?” you whisper to yourself. The redhead gently smacks your shoulder and gives you a look. You nod quickly before turning back to the doctor.

“We want to keep her for observation, but then she should be fine to go home tomorrow morning so long as there are no left turns overnight,” the doctor tells the teacher. “She’ll need some help for the next couple of weeks.”

“Of course,” Melissa nods immediately. “I’ll make sure she’s alright.”

The two of them discuss how to take care of you to the best of Melissa’s ability, and then he turns to you.

“Morphine’s coming your way, and you’ll be in way less pain,” the doctor smiles at you.

“Thanks doc,” you wince as you shift in your bed.

It’s a bit later that the drugs start to kick in, and your body feels like it’s floating. You grin over at Melissa, you squeeze her hand gently. She glances over at you, taking her eyes away from the doctor as he finishes up the final piece of plaster for your cast. She sees that your eyes are glazed over.

“You feelin’ good, amore?”

“You’re really pretty,” you slur out. “I can’t believe we’re dating.”

“We’re more than dating,” the redhead rolls her eyes playfully as she commits to her lie. “We’re married, remember?”

“Oh my god,” your eyes light up. “My wife! Mrs. Schemmenti!” You bring her hand to your lips and kiss it softly.

The doctor can’t help but chuckle at your inebriated state. “Your wife just kept going on about how you were coming,” he tells Melissa.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” you sigh dreamily. “I just can’t believe you’re my wife! My beautiful, redheaded goddess of a wife!”

“Good lord,” the teacher chuckles. “How long is she going to be out of it like this?”

“Another few hours at least,” the man tells Melissa as he stands from his place. He looks over your cast with a satisfied look. “But she’ll probably end up falling asleep before it all wears off.”

As if on cue, you get Melissa’s attention again. “‘m tired,” you mumble.

“Get some sleep, hun,” she kisses your temple.

“Don’ go,” you whisper.

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” she promises you. And that’s the last thing that you remember before you drift off.

When you wake up, your body feels like it’s on fire. It hurts so bad. But Melissa is still by your side, sipping a cup of coffee while she holds your hand and scrolls through her phone.

“Oh my god,” you groan out.

“How’re you feelin’?”

“Like I jumped out a second story window,” you quip dryly.

“Is that what happened last night?” the redhead looks at you. Shit. You forgot you didn’t tell her what happened.

“Yeah,” you admit sheepishly.

“Baby, what the hell?”

“There was a little girl in the fire we responded to last night, and I had no other choice. She’s fine, and I’ll survive,” you grumble. “But holy shit, ow.”

“They already called in your medication for when we get home, and I have the discharge papers. I was just waiting for you to wake up.”

“Let’s go,” you moan as you move to get out of bed. You raise a brow. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I called out. Gotta take care of my wife,” she tells you as the doctor enters the room again.

“Such a doting wife,” you play along, but it feels so good to call her that. Your mind wanders to the ring at the station. “Ava didn’t ask questions, and even if she did, I wasn’t about to say shit. Our lives are personal, and I have enough sick and vacation days to take care of you for as long as I have to.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few days,” you try to assure her.

You indeed are not ‘fine’ in a few days. Your ribs are on fire, the morphine pills hardly help, and you’ve been camped out on the couch for what feels like forever. You’re miserable. You can barely move without wanting to burst into tears, and when Melissa wraps your ribs, you do cry.

“I know, hun,” she says regretfully as she approaches you with the gauze. “I’m sorry.”

“Just get it over with,” you whine.

She helps you sit up, situates herself behind you, and undoes the gauze around you now. She inspects your ribs for a few seconds with a sigh. “They’re starting to change color,” she tells you softly. “Which means you’re one step closer.”

“This is going to take forever,” you groan. “I just want to get back to work.”

“I know you do,” your girlfriend tells you as she starts to wrap you again. “But for now, try to revel in the time we get to spend together.”

“I am very much enjoying watching you dance around the house,” you crack a smile. “But I wish I was dancing with you. And sooner or later, the boys are going to start freaking out if I don’t show up to the station.”

“Well,” your girlfriend sighs as she finishes wrapping you up before pressing a few ice packs to your ribcage. She helps you lean back against her. “The doctor said to limit travel and physical activity.”

“What did you tell the school?”

“That I was taking time off,” she says flatly. “I told you: they don’t need to know unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“And nobody has reached out to ask you about your leave of absence?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “I don’t care. I’m busy taking care of my woman.”

It takes approximately a week for Randy to text you about your whereabouts.

Chief, I know you said you were sick, but this is becoming worrisome. I’ve seen you in here through so many sicknesses. What knocked you this time?

“Randy texted,” you sigh. “And I don’t want to admit I’m… like this.”

“Barb’s been texting me too,” your girlfriend sighs from behind you.

“Do you think we should just come clean?” you ask.

“That one’s up to you, hun,” Melissa tells you as she presses a kiss to your temple.

“I guess I should tell my crew,” you wince slightly as your girlfriend readjusts the ice on your ribs. “If the Abbott guys find out, I guess it’s whatever.”

Broken ribs and broken ankle, you text your short-term replacement. I’ll be back in a week, but I’m on desk duty for the next couple months.

How’d you manage that one?

Jumped out a second story window to save a little girl.

You at least getting workers’ comp? Randy asks. He’s always so logistical.

You bet your ass I am.

Feel better soon, Chief.

Thanks, Randy.

Melissa Ann Schemmenti, a text from Barbara reads. You better answer me and explain where the hell you’ve been.

Melissa, we’re getting worried.

Melissa.

The redhead sighs as she calls her best friend from work.

“Melissa Ann, you better tell me what is happening right now that has you going MIA from work,” the kindergarten teacher picks up immediately.

“I’m fine,” she rolls her eyes at her friend’s dramatics.

“Then where have you been for the past week and a half without telling us where you went?!”

“Listen, Y/N got hurt on the job, and I had enough days to take to stay home and make sure she’s as comfortable as she can be right now,” the redhead sighs into the phone. 

“Y/N got hurt?” Barbara’s voice goes softer instantly. “Is there anything any of us can do to help the two of you?”

“Nah, we got it handled,” Melissa says into the phone. “I’ll be back next week, but I’ll still most likely be taking half days so I’m here when she needs me to drive her home-“ she turns to look at you. “-because there ain’t no way she’s taking the Septa to work or driving herself.”

The next day, Randy comes knocking on your door.

“Mel? Can you grab that?” you call to her from your place on the couch.

“Yeah, hun,” she calls back as she wanders into the front room. She grabs a baseball bat from behind the television before going to the door.

“Randy?” she raises a brow as she puts down her bat. “Zach? Luke?”

“Hey,” the older man says quietly. “Thought we should check up on the chief and bring some stuff.”

Your girlfriend steps aside and lets them into the house.

“Hey, boss,” they all say at the same time. Randy has a bouquet of flowers, Zach has some chocolates for you, and Luke is standing there with two cards in hand.

“Why are you here?” you ask from your place on the couch. You groan as you try to sit up slightly.

“Take it easy, Chief,” Randy immediately says. Melissa nods at his words. “We just dropped by to make sure our favorite badass is doing okay.”

“I’m not gonna lie,” you sigh as you fall back into the cushions. “I’ve been better.”

The boys come and take a seat around your living room. Randy places the flowers on the coffee table, Zach hands you the chocolates, and Luke gives you the card.

When you open the first envelope, it’s a card from the family that you responded to. There’s quite a long letter expressing their gratitude for saving the little girl. The second envelope is from the squad, and there’s quite a few gift cards and well wishes within it.

“Youse guys didn’t have to do this,” you roll your eyes. “But thank you.”

“When our chief is down, we have to look out for her,” Luke tells you earnestly. “Gotta take care of you the way you take care of us.”

They stay for a bit, and by the time they leave, Melissa is starting to make dinner.

The day after that, Barbara stops by.

“Barb,” Melissa answers the door.

“Where is she?” the older teacher asks.

“Wow. Hello to you too. I thought you were my friend,” the redhead deadpans.

“Your girlfriend is hurt,” the kindergarten teacher enters the living room and takes in the sight. “Oh you poor thing.”

“Hey Barb, I’m alright,” you chuckle, but then you wince. It still hurts to laugh. She hugs you gingerly before settling next to you.

“Is Melissa taking care of you well?”

“Of course she is,” you say honestly. “Mel likes to play tough, but you know she’s just a marshmallow underneath all that eyeliner and leather.”

“Oh don’t I know it,” Barbara quips.

“You really didn’t have to come by,” you tell her. “But thank you for stopping in.”

“You’re lucky it’s just me. The whole group wanted to stop by for our favorite firefighter, but I knew you two wouldn’t much like that.”

“No, we would not,” Melissa says flatly. She then softens. “You staying for dinner?”

“Oh, Melissa,” Barbara tuts. “Take a seat. You have to be exhausted taking care of your crippled girlfriend. I’ll cook the two of you dinner.”

Only then do you notice that the woman had come in with a bag full of groceries.

“No, no,” your girlfriend waves her off. “I’m fine. Besides, it’s about time for her to start icing her ribs any-”

Barbara stands immediately and heads for the kitchen. After rifling around in your freezer, she returns with two ice packs. “Sit, Schemmenti. I got this. You both deserve to be taken care of.”

“I got-”

“Melissa Ann,” the kindergarten teacher says sternly. “Sit. Relax. I got this.”

Begrudgingly, Melissa makes her way over to you and situates herself behind you. She holds the ice packs to your ribs gently, despite the fact that you try to squirm away from the cold sensation.

“I have stuff to make my casserole,” Barbara informs the two of you. “And until it’s ready, you two will stay right where you are and relax.”

“Yes, ma’am,” you mock salute her as you relax against Melissa.

By the time the casserole is in the oven to cook, your girlfriend has dozed off.

Dinner is delicious, and you couldn’t be more grateful that Barbara got Melissa to sit still and actually relax. She needed it. She’s been hovering over you since the incident, an anxiety riddled mess. 

“Thank you,” you sigh softly to the teacher as she heads out. “We really appreciate it.”

“Anything for family,” the woman says softly before she sees herself out.

You return to work the following week, and as you hobble into your office, your squad applauds you.

“It’s good to have you back, Chief,” Randy says loudly. He follows you into your office before confiding in you quietly, “This place was about to go to shit if you didn’t come back.” He grabs his coffee mug off of your desk before making himself scarce.

As you reacquaint yourself with your office, you pull open the drawer that has Melissa’s ring in it.

If this whole ordeal taught you anything, it’s that you need to propose to your girlfriend- sooner rather than later- so that you can officially call that redheaded woman of yours your wife. That and… maybe don’t jump out of a second story window and think you’ll be okay.

Next

[katebishopshands]

But I’m a Cheerleader ! Pt. 4

(Cheerleader!Kate Bishop/reader) (18+)

Pt.1

Pt.2

Pt. 3

»-------------¤-------------«

The end of cheer camp nears. With three days left in the week to carry your team to victory, you only have one thing standing in your way.

Your feelings for Kate.

No longer being able to let your feelings for her hide in the depths of your subconscious, you do something you never thought you’d do.

You talk to her.

»-------------¤-------------«

You search for her eye for the rest of the day. You swear you can feel her staring at the back of your head during lunch, but when you turn around to look at her shes talking with America and Clint like nothing had happened.

Like she hadn’t shoved her hands down your spanx hours earlier.

Like you hadn’t done the same to her a day prior.

Yelena beams to you on your way to the last rotation of the day, conditioning.

“Today was great, wasn’t it? I think we’re really onto something this season” she’s talking nonsense, not even making eye contact with you. She toys with the end of a blonde braid as she keeps up with the rest of the team. You adjust your backpack on your shoulders, glancing behind you in hopes to see Kate.

You see her, but she doesn’t see you.

Was the moment in the locker room her way of calling it quits? Whatever relationship that had been developing, squashed in under 24 hours? Maybe the sweatshirt was her way of saying goodbye.

“Yeah uh, I don’t know Yelena, but I think we were on fire today!” You smile back at her, not wanting to show her the internal conflict you were going through as you stepped through the doors of the training facility.

It shouldn’t bother you that Kate ignores you throughout the last rotation of the day, throughout dinner and the rest of the night. If anything, you should be happy that she’s finally done tormenting you. But you’re not. You crave her eyes on you, the snarky comments, the snotty looks. You crave her. Always have. Since you started cheering, Kate had been with you. At competitions, try outs, cheer camps. She’s a constant in your life that you didn’t even realize.

So now having a day almost completely void of her, felt wrong.

You played with the sleeves of the sweatshirt you had stolen, well now Kate had given to you. Just biding time until you got the energy to get up and take your shower. The tie faded tie blanket you had made sophomore year of high school sat under you. On top of the blood, sweat and tears from training that day, you also hadn’t really gotten a chance to clean yourself up since the…incident with Kate in the locker room that morning. A shower sounded so good, but your body ached.

Along with the aching muscles, your heart ached over the lack of Kate’s attention during the latter half of the day. You felt like a spoiled child. You hated admitting that feelings of some sort had started growing for the dark haired girl. But they had, in some fucked up sort of way.

You’re getting up from your bed, grabbing the towel that hung on the back of the door to the bathroom after not being able to take the smell of your own BO any longer. But you stop before you turn the bathroom door handle.

You had to talk to Kate.

You couldn’t keep letting her take over your mind. She hadn’t even done anything really, but god was she distracting. You couldn’t live through the rest of camp looking over your shoulder to see if she was noticing you.

You hung the towel back up on the door, sighing a bit as you hung your head before walking over to the door that led to the hall. Your bare feet stuck to the cool linoleum flooring. You knew deep down that you probably should be wearing socks or some sort of slip on shoe to avoid athletes foot or wherever, but you were too tired to care.

Hand colliding with the metal door handle that led to the hallway, you turn it and open your door. You’re looking at the ground as you do so, ready to make the short walk to Kate’s room so you can tell her how you feel.

“Um…hi…?” Your eyes flick up to the voice that had just spoken up.

It’s Kate, her hand still stretched out, reaching towards your door handle. Her hair is down . It’s a little wet from a shower you assume. Her pajama shorts low on her hips once again. You’re able to see the purple jeweled jewelry she has in her belly button piercing more clearly than earlier. Your mouth goes dry.

“I was just..um..” you’re sputtering, suddenly forgetting why you were even going to see Kate in the first place. She chuckles slightly at you, letting her head fall for a moment before looking back at you.

“Can we talk? And I mean actually talk” she’s still smiling, not looking like she’s mad at you. This settles the uneasy feeling in your stomach.

“It’s like you stole the words out of my mouth.” You take a step out of her way, beckoning her to take a step into your room .

She obliges and steps past you, you’re able to smell her shampoo from her shower. Coconut. You knew that already, having woken up to her hair in your face that morning. You’re suddenly insecure about the way you smell after deciding to ditch your shower in favor of going and talking with Kate.

Kate turns to you before she enters fully into the bedroom area of the dorm. She picks at the skin on her lip with her teeth , her hands clenched at her sides. She’s swaying back and forth, clearly in thought.

“So..you wanted to talk?” You interrupt her thought process. You couldn’t stand having her this close to you when you didn’t know where this newfound relationship stood. The last time you had spoken it had felt like a goodbye, but now you weren’t sure.

“Right! Yeah..of course..” Kate shakes her head a bit, as if she was trying to shake her ideas out.

“I think..” she starts. You brace yourself for impact. This was it. This was where she broke everything off with you, and you went back to hating each others guts, or even possibly ignoring each other for the rest of your lives. You look at your feet, not wanting to meet her watery blue eyes.

“I think we started this off wrong” she finishes, and it’s not what you were expecting to come out of her mouth in that moment. Kate Bishop admitting she had done something wrong, it was a Christmas miracle.

“Oh?” You look up in surprise, finally looking at her. She looks nervous actually. No longer the confident girl who had asked you to ride her thigh last night, or the girl who had followed you to the locker rooms. She looks small. She’s fidgeting with the seams of her pajama shorts, bouncing from foot to foot.

“Yeah, I mean like.. I usually don’t do this kind of thing..well I do but I don’t know..”

You cock you head at her, not really sure what she’s trying to get at.

“I’m not sure I’m following” Kate sighs and goes to sit down on your bed. She looks at you expectantly before nodding her head next to her, inviting you to sit down next to her. You mindlessly follow her request and sit an almost too far distance away from her. She raises an eyebrow at you but continues.

“I’m sorry I just..I’m used to getting with girls suddenly but there’s something about you.. I don’t know. You’ve bugged me since the day I met you..”

“So you’re saying I’m different that the other girls you’ve been with?” You scoff a little at how cliche it sounds.

“Yes! But it’s not like that I just…I’d like to get to know you…like actually get to know you..” Kate won’t look at you. She’s staring at the chipped purple polish on her fingers, playing with the hang nails that cling to her cuticles.

“Kate..” she looks up at you. If you didn’t know any better you’d think she had tears in her eyes. She’s embarrassed you realize. The ego machine that was Kate bishop was embarrassed infront of you.

“Are you saying you want to actually have a conversation with me and not just fuck my brains out?” She goes red at this. You laugh a little.

“I mean if you want to put it that bluntly…yes? If that’s okay with you.” Her voice is hopeful. She’s trying to hide behind awkward laughter, but you can tell that she’s wanting you to say yes.

“Look, don’t get me wrong I REALLY like fucking your brains out, but I think in this case we need to get past the enemies thing and get to the friend part first..” she ends her sentence with an awkward laugh.

“Oh so we’re enemies?” You lean forward, smiling a little at the idea that Kate thought you were enemies.

“You told me last night that you ‘ hate me’, I’d take that as being enemies” she rolls her eyes a little, her attitude coming back for a second.

��Maybe I wouldn’t hate you if you weren’t such a show off”

“And maybe I wouldn’t show off so much if you didn’t give me dirty looks all the time” she snaps back from your snarky remark. You put your hands up as a sign of surrender.

“Okay Kate Bishop…let’s be friends then…ask me whatever you want”

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶ ➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶ ➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

Kate’s legs are crossed over your own. Your back against the stone wall of the dorm room that your bed sat against. You’re both laughing at some story she was finishing up.

“There’s no way you’re that scared of horses” you say in between laughs, trying to catch your breath. One of your hands sits atop Kate’s knee, a thin barrier of sweat between your exposed skin.

“I’m being so for real right now, I ran right into the road after seeing the Central Park carriage horses for the first time” she’s laughing too. Her nose crinkling as she smiles big. She’s cute.

This is the first time you’ve looked at Kate and thought she was cute. Not hot, or sexy or anything of the sort. She’s cute. She’s being herself in the moment, not the villain you had made her out to be in your head. She’s someone who if you had met under different circumstances, you’d be totally head over heels for almost instantly.

“My mom had to run into the road after me to make sure I didn’t get squashed” she’s grinning at you.

“And…you’re still scared of horses?”

Kate looks away from you.

“No comment” she continues to not look at you, opting instead to play with the ties in your blanket

You scoff at her and shove her shoulder a lightly. Kate leans back and rubs at her shoulder where you had hit her.

“No fucking way you’re scared of horses, you’re 22!” you nearly yell at her. You’re in awe. True awe. In the past two days you’ve learned some crazy things about about Kate, but this one took the cake. She rolls her eyes at you, black hair sliding off her shoulder and falling behind her back.

“Look, I don’t trust them. They know something we don’t, I swear!” Kate is desperate to plead her case, but you’re not having it.

“You’re ridiculous” it comes out breathy as you look down to where your hand still sat atop her knee. The bed dips and shakes a little as Kate scoots a a little closer to you, her purple polished hand finding your thigh. Your boxers rise up a little as you shift a bit. Either it be from nerves or to relive the growing heat in your core, you’re not sure. Kate rubs her thumb over your thigh.

“Would it be ridiculous of me to say that you might be into it?” Half lidded blue eyes bore into the side of your face. You dare to sneak a glance at her out of the corner of your eye. She’s waiting for a response.

“You’re ridiculous” you repeat, this time more quietly, less confident than before. She nods her head a little .

“That’s what I thought” before you knew it she’s shifting her position on you, swinging her leg over you to straddle your lap. You hold your hands on her waist, looking up at her with your brows furrowed in confusion not exactly sure what she was trying to get at.

Kate leans down and presses a gentle kiss to your lips. You kiss her back.

The last two hours you had learned more about Kate Bishop than you had ever intended on. Her mom had essentially raised her herself after her dad passed away. She had gone to an all girls school for high school. Despite being the charismatic powerhouse that you knew from cheer, she struggled to have a lot of close friends.

Kate Bishop was nice. A hell of a lot nicer than you were. Always judging Kate, chalking her up to some rich girl who got eve try thing she had wanted, but you were so wrong.

And now here she was, fingers tugging at the hairs that sat on the base of your neck as she kissed you. She rocks into the kiss a little, sending your back against the cool stone of the wall behind you. You can’t tell what gives you the goosebumps that prick up on your arms and exposed skin of your legs; the feeling of the wall through your tshirt or Kate’s lips on your own.

Kate pulls away, a little out of breath and looks down at your. Her hair is back over one shoulder, it’s almost fully dry now.

“What happened to not wanting to do anything again until we’re friends? “ you jab at her, squeezing her hips a little. You can’t help but tease her. The last couple of hours had been entirely too nice for your liking. She groans and rolls her eyes.

“Are we not friends yet? I told you about my dead dad..I think that means things are getting pretty serious” she’s joking, but the undertone of her words is legitimate.

You run your hands up her back, nails catching slightly on the cropped tank top she wore. Kate shivers. Sitting up slightly, you let your nose graze hers. She looks at you and blinks a few times expectantly.

“I don’t know Katie…” your thumbs are rubbing small circles on her back. Kate takes a small breath of air in anticipation.

“I’m honestly still a little wigged out about the horse phobia” you grin at her, moving your face closer to hers and letting your noses brush once again.

“but..I guess..”

“Please” Kate cuts you off, no she begs you. Thick brows furrowed, full lips slightly parted as she releases her breath onto your face.

“I guess I’d call us friends now.”

Kate’s resolve crumbles quickly. She slings her hands over your shoulders, grabbing at the hair at the base of your neck again. She’s tugging on them, eliciting pleased sighs out of you as you kiss her.

You’re holding her, pressing her body into yours. Her chest pressed against yours as you fight for control of the kiss. Kate’s tilting her head to get better access to you. Hot, open mouthed kisses shared between you break the would be silence of the dorm room.

For the second time while in the process of kissing Kate, you think of your neighbor and best friend, Yelena. Wondering what she would think of if she heard you sucking face with your biggest rival. You shudder, making a mental note to keep it down if you guys do end up banging.

Kate detaches her mouth from yours and works downward . A kiss to the corner of your mouth, your chin, your neck, right above the collar of your shirt. She lifts off of your for a minutes, her fingers playing with the bottom of your shirt. It’s an old competition shirt, you think you gotten it when you were maybe 17. Kate eyeballs it for a moment. She laughs.

“We won this competition…you guys came in second.” Of course she had to have brought that up. You scoff at her.

“Oh you bitch” you push her off of you, adjusting her position so her head fell on your pillow. Kate laughs at you as she falls backwards. Her dark hair sprawls out behind her onto the faded pink pillowcase. It was some ancient Disney princess pillow case from when you were like four, it had been to every cheer camp with you .

You swap your positions, now straddling Kate’s hips. She keeps laughing as you start kissing her neck.

“Wouldn’t be the first time I heard you call me that”

Kate is incredibly smug for someone who was under you. Confident gaze flitting over your body. How she found you attractive in that moment was above you. The faded competition shirt, the tattered boxers, the fact that you hadn’t showered. When you had packed for the week you didn’t intend on anyone that wasn’t Yelena seeing you in your pajamas. But you found yourself straddled on top of your arch enemy, core throbbing with want.

You kiss up her neck, sucking on her jaw. Kate’s hands tangle in your hair, yanking in the strands a little. She whines a little. You nip at her jaw a little following it with your tongue to soothe the blossoming hickey.

Kate arches her back upward, successfully colliding your chests and your crotches. You hiss into her neck, letting your head hang for a moment as she bumps into you, your clit colliding with the material of your boxers.

Kate takes note of the way you stutter on top of her.

“Feel good?” She gently gathers your hair in a free hand, pulling your head up slightly so you can meet her face. You flush. You were so tough a few moments ago, but now that Kate’s got you under her gaze you shrink down. Too embarrassed to admit that you wanted her to shove her fingers down your shorts again.

You can see the hickey bruising on her jawline. You hadn’t even thought about the consequences of doing that. You had just wanted to hear Kate make her pretty noises. You sit up, putting your hand over your mouth.

“Shit I’m sorry Kate” she looks at you confused, leaning up on her elbows.

“For what exactly?”

“I accidentally gave you a fucking hickey. I wasn’t even thinking about it” your hands are over your face. You really didn’t want to blow this whole thing you had going with Kate. After your conversation and actually getting to know her, you thought that even outside of a sexual relationship you might actually be able to be friends with her. But no matter what? Neither of you were ready to be in the public eye.

Kate sits up fully. You feel your body drag a little with hers as she crosses her legs under her. She takes your wrists, so incredibly gently. When you had embarrassingly enough imagined Kate Bishop in these scenarios before you thought she’d be cocky, mean, maybe even a little demeaning and rough.

But Kate Bishop is gentle.

Removing your hands from your face, Kate shakes her head at your a little once you meet eyes.

“It’s okay, really”

“Really?”

She nods her head and your stomach feels a bit better, the guilt eating away at you subsidizing for a moment.

“And besides, I’ve got concealer, no one will notice.”

She’s so nice to you. It’s shocking. After years of getting in each others faces and endless taunting, Kate is nice to you.

She leans into you, kissing your gently at first. But as her hands travel down your body, starting at your cheeks, and then your shoulders, to your breasts and downwards, she gets more aggressive. You rock your head with her, letting Kate dominate the kiss.

This wasn’t the rage filled make out sesh from the night prior, or the quickie in the locker room, something had changed between you.

Kate’s gently pushing you backwards so your head barely sits below the edge of the twin extra long mattress. You let her, sighing into her as your back touches down. Kate’s hands have found your hips, her fingers pulling lightly at the top of your boxers. You lift your hips just enough for Kate to pull them and your underwear down your thighs. You never take your mouth off of hers, sighing into her mouth as the air of the dorm hits your freshly exposed core.

Kate reassuringly places a hand on your hip, rubbing light circles on the warm skin there.

“You good?” She pulls away from you and meets your eyes. Her finger keeps rubbing at your hip. You swallow. You’re more than good. Never in your whole life had you thought you’d actually be civil with Kate, but here you are.

You nod.

“Words please. I’ve heard you be louder than that on the mat” Kate smiles, her teeth perfectly white and straight. You wonder if she had braces at some point.

You roll your eyes. As if she really needed you to say it, she had already had her fingers inside you that day.

“Yeah..I’m good” you whisper. Kate’s not happy with your answer, but it’s sufficient enough because she shimmies her way down to her stomach. Face eventually level with your cunt, which at this point is effectively soaked because of the stop and go make out sesh you guys had been locked in for the last 20 minutes or so. She wastes no time as she goes in, nose bumping your sensitive clit as she begins licking at you.

You jolt, a strangled moan breaking through your lips. Kate had not prepped you in the slightest so the sudden attention almost jump started your body.

You feel Kate smile into you as she reached a hand up to your breast and starts to knead at it. You moan again. Kate continues licking and sucking at your folds. The mixed sensations of Kate swapping between lickingg at your labia and sucking on your clit, along with kneading at your breast occasionally tweaking your nipple has you shamelessly moaning.

It’s almost like you’ve forgotten you’re at cheer camp, and you’re now a horny 16 year old hooking up with her first girlfriend in some beat up car.

You grow tired of the barrier that is your shirt between Kate and your skin. You begin to grasp at the hem of it. You arch your back to make it more easy to get the shirt off of you, in the process pushing your cunt even more into Kate’s face. She moans and swirls her tongue around your clit. You gasp, dropping the shirt from your grip to clasp your hand over your mouth in an effort to keep quiet.

Kate laughs at you and goes back to work.

Shaky hands finally grabbing onto the faded fabric and pulling it over your head. You throw it behind you and forcefully place Kate’s hand back on your tit. She tweaks your nipple again and you jump.

Kate looks up from her position between your legs, blue eyes clouded in thought and a smile still on her juice covered lips. You were close at this point. The extra stimulation to your breast was what you needed as you rut against Kate’s face.

You’re about to announce to Kate that you’re close to finishing when she stops.

“Kate I was about to fini-“

She shushes you, quickly sitting up. You’re about to protest again until Kate begins to pull off her own shirt. You close your mouth and stare. Respectfully of course. But you think to yourself that she has the prettiest boobs you’ve ever seen. Kate catches you staring as she throws her shirt towards where yours landed behind you.

“ you like the view?”

“Uh no” you lie. Admitting it was too embarrassing. She leans forward and kisses you. You sit up, leaning into Kate. While kissing you, Kate begins to shimmy her way out of her own shorts, leaving her them along with her underwear discarded on the opposite end of the bed .

She pulls away from you. You had seen her naked before. But this time was different. That was you two fucking out your feelings for each other. Whatever this was, you couldn’t put your finger on it but it wasn’t that.

You take Kate’s naked form in as she props your right leg up and slings it over her shoulder. She hovers her own cunt over yours, her own right leg going over your left.

“Kate what are you doing?”

“God I’ve been waiting to find the right girl to try this with” her eyes are on where your cunts almost collide. Her chest is heaving, blue eyes blown with her dark curls falling over her shoulder again. Her tone is deep and filled with lust. You’re about to lean forward to brush her hair off her shoulder again when she she essentially sits down on your center, her swollen clit catching on yours. The raw sensation of your overly sensitive bud colliding with Kate’s warmth sends your back towards the mattress again.

You see stars. When you had heard your friends talk about seeing stars during sex you thought they were joking but having Kate Bishop sit her own pussy against yours was what officially broke you.

That was, until she started moving.

Kate begins to grind herself against you, sending your body up and down with every thrust of her hips. You’re silently screaming as she does so. You have to put your own hand in your mouth to keep any sounds from escaping. Kate’s panting, her thick brows furrowed as sweat drips from her hairline inbetween them. She’s reaching for your tits as she continues to thrust into you.

Sweat drips down your own back and inbetween your asscheeks, eventually ending on the fitted sheet beneath you that seemed to slip farther off the mattress with every one of Kate’s thrusts. Kate’s moaning above you. Her heads thrown back as she squeezes your boobs, using them to anchor herself into her motions.

“Jesus Christ Kate” you whine. Your hands are reaching anywhere. You need something to bring you back down to earth. The feeling of Kate against you is so raw and intoxicating you can’t help but feel like this is a dream. Some insanely perverted dream. You would’ve continued to think it was a dream, until Kate herself whines from above you.

Her clit catching on yours causing her hips to stutter. Your breath catches in your throat at this, which is a sign for Kate to pick up her pace. She leaves marks on your tits as she pounds into you. Red crescent marks framing your nipples from her dull nails pressing into the supple skin there. You plant the one foot on the mattress and begin to meet her thrusts, frantically humping into the air in an effort to meet your climax.

With each thrust your clits kiss and elicit a high pitched whine or moan from you both. At this point you didn’t care who heard you, you wanted to cum. You wanted Kate Bishop to make you come.

“God you’re doing so good” Kate mumbles, her rhythm faltering. She plants a kiss on your ankle. Your cunt flutters around nothing at her praise and sudden affection. Your release is approaching faster than you’d like it to. Kate teasing you earlier hasn’t done you any favors.

Before you’d like it to, your body tenses up, hips off the mattress and you cum. Your calves clench, your ass clenches and so do your eyes. Your whole body goes limp under Kate as she continues to rut into you, desperately trying to finish herself. You shake as she does so, beginning to feel over stimulated every time her clit bumps against yours. You’re about to push her off when she moans quietly and her hips stutter to a halt.

She looks down at you as she catches her breath. Waiting a moment before she removes your leg from her shoulder, you wince at the feeling. On top of being sore from the days work, your hip is now sore from being locked in that position for god knows how long Kate had you there. She’s gentle with you, guiding your leg back down onto the mattress before lifting herself of of you.

The sound of your mixed release sends shivers down your spine and you both wince at the lack of each other’s presence. Kate brushes some hair out of your eyes and leans down again to kiss you. You reciprocate as you sit up, wincing with every adjustment because you were so sore.

“You did really good..I really meant that” Kate says between a whisper and her usual speaking voice. She’s avoiding your eyes again, back to the shy girl who had came into your room a few hours again. Kate traces a circle in your thigh, eyes focused on that.

“Thanks” you say through a smile. “You were pretty good too. I mean that was…” you take her hand in yours, you now rubbing circles on the top of her hand.

“Yeah..it was.”

Kate looks towards the door, then to where her shirt was behind you, and then towards her shorts at the other end of the bed.

“Well I should..” she begins to move to go collect her clothes, getting one foot onto the cool flooring.

“Stay..” you reach for her. You’re not sure what came over you, but you want her to stay. Genuinely. Not even for more sex. Just to lay with her, run your nails up and down her arms. To count the freckles on her body.

“Please stay..” it was your turn to beg tonight. At first you can’t read Kate’s expression. Her lips are slightly downturned into a pout and her head leans to the side. She almost looks confused. The corners of her mouth slowly turn upwards into a smirk and her cheeks flush. She quickly gets up, running across the room to turn the light off, and then jumps back into your bed, her head back on your old Disney princess pillow. She holds her arms out for you to join her.

Kate stays the night.

»-------------¤-------------«

DARRRRRLINGGGGG, GUESS WHOS BACK FROL JAIIIIILLLL

No but for real this took forever and I apologize for that, but I’m actually like, really proud of it?? Something about taking my time to really work on the quality of it was really refreshing.

This IS NOT the last part, but I do think part 5 will be. This concept has been so fun to write, but I’ve got a fic on my other blog I’ve been neglecting even worse than this one.

Mwah mwah mwah love you all so much ✨🏹

»-------------¤-------------«

[banquetwriter]

୨୧ distant love pt:3 ୨୧

pairing: Rick Grimes ♡︎ fem!Reader

warnings: ୭̥⋆*｡ daddy kink :(, sex in a forest, low-key FILTH, OOC rick bc i wrote this with later season rick n mind :(, reader being mean to rick, Grimes being a massive simp to a women who isn't his wife lol

summary: ʚ when rck asks reader to join him on a run she remembers a steamy time in the forest ɞ

Words: 1654

AN: sorry for this being late and ooc i haven't written rick enough :/

Part 2 Part 4

“Hey.” Ricks's southern drawl fills the empty air of the room. It was nice out today so most weren't hiding out in their cells. You quickly shut the book closed so as not to embarrass yourself. You clear your throat giving him a closed-off smile.

“Hey. What's up?” you ask, standing up at the prison table. Shoving your book and pencil in the little bag you carry around with you. “I uh need your help on a run. If you can manage,” he says, placing his hands on his hips.

You look down at your bag as you zip it up. “Alone?” you ask, still refusing to look up at him. Rick can't ignore the way his heart stings at your question. “No. Sasha and Daryl will be with us,” he says and you're trying to ignore the way his tongue flicks against his cheek.

‘Us.’ what a cruel joke you think.

Thoughts of Rick continue to flood your brain. The thoughts of his rough big hands tugging on your clothes like it was keeping you down.

*flashback to the quarry*

You step over a branch. Rick had not-so-subtly asked you to join him for a “run” today. This affair/relationship had been going on for a while now. Sneaking away, releasing all the pent-up anger both of you accumulated.

A twig snapped behind you. Causing you to stop dead in your tracks. You were far from camp now. No one would be able to hear you if you screamed…

Suddenly you felt big strong warm arms slithering around your waist. You gasped at the contact. “Well well, looks like I caught a pretty little thing sneaking off huh?” Rick’s familiar drawl asks, nibbling on your ear.

You let out a small giggle, moving out of his touch and spinning around. “Oh yeah? Watcha gonna do about it?” you ask, leaning in close to his face. “Officer?” you spoke the last bit in a whisper.

Your heart flutters at the smile that breaks out on his face. His beautiful face. Ugh. There go those feelings. The ones you have selfishly been keeping to yourself. He had a wife who was cheating on him. This wasn't that bad, right?

“Officer huh?” he asks with a sly smile. You nod your head, yes holding your bottom lip in between your teeth. “That's what I said!” you say with a cheery expression. “Yeah?” he asks his slow drawl practically melting your insides away.

“You know what? I might just have to arrest you for being so damn beautiful,” he says, leaning closer to you with every word. You roll your eyes at his cheesy antics.

You cross your arms as you let yourself walk away from him. You feel his eyes on your body as you start to walk away. “Where do you think you're going?” he calls after you.

You only turn around giving him a cheeky smile in response. “Oh, that's it you little brat!” he murmurs out. He jogs up behind you with a few swift motions. He grips the sides of your arms, pulling your body flush against his.

His strong dominant arms move you toward the nearest tree. It wasn't hurting you per se, but you couldn't deny the delicious amount of pressure that he gave you through his hands.

Your body collides with the tree. Rick’s hands slide down your shorts and panties in one swift movement. The air hits your wet and exposed cunt with a flutter. Rick silently grips your hips, forcing your back to arch.

“Open yer legs,” he says, hand trailing down to your clit. You whimper at the contact. “Sh sh sh.” he tuts, his rough hands slowly finding their way to your sensitive bud. You gasp as his finger slowly starts working.

You grasp the tree for support. You must admit this was not the most comfortable place to have sex, but then again who were you to judge?

You felt your knees wanting to buckle as his pace quickened. “Rick.” is all you can muster out before he slips a finger inside you. Then he slips another one. Fastly pumping in and out of you, fingers curling.

Ricks's eyes are glued to your ass. Touching and rubbing your plump skin. Wanting to spank you till you bled. Fuck you were so perfect for him. So wet and tight.

“You like that baby? You being good f’me?” he asks with a growl. Getting right up next to your ear. You don't respond only moaning as his rough fingers pump faster inside you.

With your unresponsive attitude, he completely pulls his fingers out of you. You whine at the loss of contact and orgasm denial. “Rick,” you whine out. Your hair is already starting to get messy, and sweat is forming on your figure.

“Oh no, I don't wanna hear you whining about yer daddy not giving you enough. Just flip over me,” he commands with a condescendingly sweet voice. You do as you're told slowly flip a round for him.

“There's my pretty girl,” he whispers, pulling your face in for a kiss. Both of his giant hands clasping the sides of your face. He inhales, unable to pull away from you for even a moment. The wet sloppy sounds of your tongues and lips crashing on one another.

His hands find their way to your shirt fiddling for a second to take it off. He slips it off your figure, unclasping your bra. He presses his body against yours again deepening your kiss. His kisses slowly lead down your jaw and to your neck.

They go even further as he starts to kiss and nibble at your breasts. “No marks.” you whimper out holding the back of his head, fingers curled into his hair.

“Sorry darlin’,” he says, reaching down the rest of your body. Placing wet delicate kisses down your stomach and the tops of your thighs. He looks up at you with those sweet sweet eyes. His hands push your thighs apart.

Waves of heat flood your core. He avoids kissing your cunt. Teasing and pinching the surrounding skin. “Rick, I need you,” you whisper to him. Your hands holding the back of his head.

“I know I know,” he whispers. He holstered up one of your thighs, pulling you over his shoulder. He starts with a sensual slow kiss on the top of your cunt. His lips grazed your clit.

You shuddered at the contact. You were already so worked up. It was a wonder how Rick hadn't had more lovers in life. His hands felt so experienced somehow. Rough and yet loving at the same time. God, you would have worshiped the ground he walked on if he asked.

His dark eyes peeked over your body, his tongue and lips slowly bringing back all of the pleasure that you had felt only moments ago. “Mm fuck.” you gasp out. His tongue licks wide long strides up and down your cunt.

His hand snaked around the thigh that was over his shoulder. Keeping it held there, as you started to buck your hips against his mouth and nose. The only noises were your whines that you tried not to make for fear of leading a walker to you and the lewd noises coming from below you as Rick ate you out.

You feel a tightening spread through your body. You crave the release as you moan more frequently praying to whatever god there was to let you cum all over the sheriff’s tongue.

Rick had a dark knowing look in his eyes, he could feel your walls starting to tighten on his tongue. He could feel your hot body begging him to keep going. “Rick, don't stop m gonna cum.” you whined, your body rolling down onto his mouth further.

He was nodding, begging for your precious juices to flow down his throat. His rough and warm hands on your soft body finally push you over the edge. Your head falls back on the tree, and your cunt squeezes his tongue. Your orgasm flushes through you.

Your breath slowly returns to you. Earth coming back to you. Rick pulls away from you grabbing your discarded clothes from the ground as you rest on the poor tree. He dusted them off silently guiding your body back into your clothes.

Rick Grimes was dressing you. His rough hands that were moments ago touching your hands with lust were now sweetly redressing you in clothes he ripped off. He re-ties your shorts and clasps your bra.

And all you can do is watch. This was the Rick you were falling in love with. Not the one who flipped you over to get his dick wet. The ones who protected his son to the very best he possibly could. Rick’s eyes make it to yours, brushing the shrubs that managed to find their way into your hair from the tree.

His hands clamp around your cheeks pulling you into a kiss, tasting yourself on his tongue. His hand moved to clamp on your neck so did his mouth moving down. You could feel him hungry to nibble and bite your skin.

“Rick!” you shouted pushing him off of you. “No marks,” you muttered, feeling your neck sting. Even if there weren't any hickies there had to have been a few teeth-shaped nicks.

You clenched your jaw and walked away from him continuing on your “run” with Rick. You didn't talk to him for the rest of the day. What was he thinking? Marks like that on your neck could get you caught.

*back to the present the prison*

You blinked back to reality thinking about your previous rendezvous with the man standing in front of you. Pretending like you two hadn't had an affair. “Yeah I can go with,” you mumbled. You bumped into his shoulder when you walked away making him scoff at you.

[firsttimewriter92]

Neighborly shenanigans Pt. 1

Simon "Ghost" Riley x f! reader (Neighbor AU)

Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Description: You´ve just moved in a couple of weeks ago, trying for a new start. A brief encounter with your neighbor gets your endorphins and imagination going. What is it about the mask?

Warnings: cursing, some dirty thoughts, fluff, a little pining

Word count: 1.917

A/N: Hi everyone <3 This is my very first Simon Riley x reader fic. I´ve written about several characters of CoD but Ghost was always kind of an enigma to me. I never knew how to make him the love interest. But and idea popped into my head after reading some characterization that made it much easier to write for him. So here you go :) Let me know if a part 2 is something you´d be interested in.

“Jesus fucking Christ” you swore as you tried your best to push your heavy apartment door open and balance your bag and groceries through the door. It was a struggle to say the least, but you were damned if you did second trips. Grumbling through your teeth you saw no other possibility than setting down your bag, holding the door open with your foot and grabbing your groceries a little more securely. Bending your knee, you gave your door a forceful push and slid through into your small hallway. Foregoing taking off your shoes you made your way into your open kitchen and set the heavy paper bags down on your kitchen island.

A sigh escaped you and you took a moment just to stand in your kitchen and take in the chaos around you. Half emptied moving boxes were strewn all around your living room, amidst not yet hanging shelves, plastic plants and several DIY projects. Another sigh left your lungs with a huff. Moving and starting anew had seemed like your only option a couple of weeks ago but now you dreaded the silence. You wanted this, ___, you thought. It was your decision.

Your new job was everything you ever hoped for, and training turned out to be smooth sailing. You loved it, you loved your apartment, even though it was far from being finished yet. But still, what you´d left behind still lingered in the back of your brain all too clearly at times. Especially when your heavy door closed behind you every evening and there was nothing but you, your DIY projects, an occasional phone call with your parents and then silence. Silence to wallow in, rake your brain and memories. Memories not even a good Podcast or music were able to drown out.

You weren´t as close with your colleagues yet as to be invited out to the pub after work but that was to be expected. The chances were good though. Maybe just a couple of days more and you´d have at least some kind of social interaction. One step after the other, you reminded yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your own impatience with yourself was yet again trying to make you feel like you´d made a mistake by moving. A humorless laugh bubbled from your lips as you shook your head. Calm down, you thought. This is your life, your pace. Relax.

A couple of minutes later your food was stored away, veggies and salmon steaming away and finally you sat down on your couch, glass of wine in hand and Netflix on your TV.

“Bloody hell” you cursed as a shot of adrenalin set your brain into overdrive. Your bag. You jumped off your couch and hurried over to the door. Swinging it open with a yank you initially thought someone had put out the lights in the corridor. All you saw was black and not a second later you collided with something solid.

Shaking your head, you realized three things. It was 7 o´clock on a warm day in July, so it couldn’t be dark out already. Your hallway had several windows and yes, the sun was still out. The black wall you just ran into turned out to be a massive chest.

Heat was ascending your neck as you took a small step back and lifted your head to look at the face this quite impressive physique belonged to. What the…?

Before you stood a man, several inches taller than you, frozen in place with his arm lifted as if he was just about to knock on your door. He looked down on you with impressive, hazel eyes. Honey blond, tousled hair adorned his head, falling slightly onto his forehead, wet tips clinging to his temples and a bead of sweat disappearing behind his ear. But that was about all you could make out.

Seeing people wearing a facemask had of course not been an unusual sight for the last three years but he wasn´t wearing one of those surgical ones. His nose, mouth and chin were covered in thick, black material, even spanning over his cheekbones and disappearing behind his ears. When your eyes caught his again you saw them narrowing just slightly and one blond eyebrow ticking upwards.

Something wriggly moved inside your belly.

The man slowly lowered his arm, simultaneously lifting the other slightly, holding out your bag.

“This yours?” a deep, calm voice broke through the silence and the wriggly something inside you spread out towards your chest, down your arms and into your fingertips. You swallowed, trying to gather your wits again.

“Uhm…yes. Yes, that´s mine. Forgot about it” you said with a nervous laugh as you took it from him. He hummed deep inside his chest in understanding. The sound only letting your eyes snap onto his again trying to decipher if the squinting was an annoyed one or an amused one.

Amused, as it turns out. He took a deep breath, the black material of his running shirt as you now realized it was, stretching across the expanse of his chest.

“You know, that´s how you get your identity stolen. Or at least your wallet.” Yeah, there was no question now, he was grinning behind his mask, his tone mildly rebuking but not at all belittling.

A small smirk of your own crawled onto your lips as you cocked out your hip and nodded your head.

“You´re absolutely right, Sir. I´ll cuff my bag to my wrist from now on so this inconvenience shall not occur to you a second time.” You want to be cocky, mister? Fine with me.

Your answer made him chuckle. It was short but genuine. One hand in his pocket he stepped back slightly and only now did you notice the heat that his body had emitted. With one last narrow of his eyes, making the edges crinkle ever so slightly he answered. “Not an inconvenience, Miss. Have a good evening.” He nodded once and walked away to your right.

“Y-you too” you cursed the way your words tumbled. To your surprise he halted in front of the door next to yours and your heart jumped into your throat as he took out his keys. Your eyes still fixed onto his side profile (you still couldn’t really make out any features), he gave you one last look before opening his door.

“And thank you” you rushed out.

He only lifted one hand to give you a small little wave that seemed way too juvenile for a man of his stature and closed his door.

Kind of shellshocked you turned around yourself and let your door fall shut behind you. Clutching onto your bag you didn’t even notice how long you were just standing in your hallway, trying to sort out the wriggling nerves. Who was that? Idiot. Your neighbor. Your neighbor that you´d never seen before. A man like him you´d remember seeing. There´d never been any noise from the apartment next to yours so you just thought it was either a very quiet tenant or one that only went there to sleep.

Sitting down on your couch again you stared at the wall behind your TV. He was behind that wall, doing…things. Existing. Why did that feel so exciting to you? Maybe it was just because that´d been your first real social interaction apart from talking to your colleagues?

Laughing incredulously at yourself you buried your burning face in your hands and giggled. No. No that wasn’t it and you knew it. It was stupid. So very stupid and weird and nerdy and…that damn mask!!

“Whhhyyyy…..?” you moaned grinning and rubbed your temples, finally letting all the pent up adrenalin and endorphins rush through your blood stream unstopped. What was it about men wearing those damn masks? Not being able to fully see their face. Having to find out what there was to them by just their actions.

The fist time you really thought you´d lost your mind was when you actually developed a burning crush on a literal tin can from the Star Wars universe. Oh yeah, sure. Give me a brooding, sarcastic, overworked loner with PTSD and give him a freaking child to protect. Watch him become a devoted, loving single parent. Of course! Yes, let me thirst after him. And did it stop there? Of course not. The pandemic hit and the lockdown had everyone in a chokehold.

The only chokehold you wanted to be in at the time however was one carried out by a video game character called Ghoul from “Call of Obligation”. Tatted up, burly, sharp, dutiful, loyal and fucking hot.

The only thing you were able to see of him? His eyes. Just his eyes and an occasional forearm here and there. Everything else covered in tactical gear and a scary facemask. God that character haunted your dreams almost every night. And now, you had his existing, breathing, heat emitting, real human equivalent living next to you. You felt your insides burn as another funny noise came from your mouth. There had to be something wrong with you. Why was half a visible face or even less, so damn attractive to you?

“Shit must be some kind of kink” you murmured to yourself as you reached for your wine glass.

Why was he wearing that mask anyway? People weren´t obligated to wear one anymore. Was it some kind of training technique while running?

Anyhow, you appreciated the encounter. Your mood instantly better even though the both of you hadn’t talked much at all. He seemed witty. Cocky almost and you liked that.

Emptying your wine, you put the glass back in the dishwasher and walked over to your bathroom when you heard it. The shower in the next apartment was running. Immediately you halted all movement and tried to not even breath. The situation seemed so delicate, like thin glass ready to break. You stared at the wall when something else caught your ears.

No. Did you hear this right? Was he…?

You walked carefully over to your shower and stepped in. Trying not to care about how crazy you must look at this moment, you turned your head to the wall slightly, closed your eyes and listened as hard as you could. There it was.

Low, melodic and absolutely captivating. Over the sound of the water hitting the tile you heard your neighbor singing. Your forehead hit the tile and you breathed as quietly as possible, marveling in the baritone sweetness that could be heard through the wall. All too soon, about a minute later it was over. The water was shut off, the singing stopped.

As if in trance you got your nighttime routine going and a couple minutes later, slid into bed. Knowing where his bathroom was now, you were positive that his bedroom had to be next to yours as well. You tried to hear more, but nothing else penetrated the walls. It made you glad actually. If you would be able to hear him in his bedroom, sleep would turn out to be an impossibility to achieve.

This way, you closed your eyes, got comfortable and let your thoughts drift and wander. Not long after, you were dead asleep. Your dreams yet again haunted, but now, the usual scary mask of Ghoul was replaced with a solid black one and instead of clawing at a fully clothed head between your legs, your fingers tangled into soft honey blond curls.

_____________________________________________________

I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading. Please consider interacting with this post and give me some feedback. Comments and reblogs always help not only to push my work that I love, but also help to improve my writing and get my imagination going.

Thank you for considering it <3

[x0x0josephinex0x0]

The Hope in the Fault Lines, part 1

Summary: after your sister and her husband are tragically killed, you become the guardian of their daughter, your niece. As you try to pick up the pieces of your life, you become aware that you need help. Desperately. So you hire a nanny. Enter Mingyu, an ex-agent-turned-childcare-professional with a past of his own.

Genre: fluff, heavy themes, (light) smut in later parts (minors DNI)

Warnings: (applies to most of the parts) descriptions of grief, mental illness, disordered eating, instant parenthood, loss of sibling, vehicle-related death, police investigation, child custody court, parental abuse

Word count for pt 1: 4.3k

part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Why aren’t I numb yet? you think to yourself.

Because really, you should be there by now. Hell, you’d even planned to be there by now so you could go back to work. But here you are — standing in your seven-month-old niece’s bedroom, crying along with her, the agony in your chest building like water that slowly heightens to a boil, its persistent, grief-tinged bubbles roiling in time with every pointless beat of your absolutely shattered heart.

You stroke the back of your niece Sara’s head and made soothing noises as well as you could around your own tears. Surely, at some point, she had to stop crying, right? Then maybe you could get back to sleep, which so far has been the only semi-consistent way to forget the grim truth of your reality.

Which was that your sister, Jeri — the proper mother for this fussing thing in your arms — and her husband, Jisung, were dead. That was why you were here, with a child who was missing the same person you were missing but had much less of a vocabulary to express it, so she just cried and cried and cried until you realized she was voicing your own internal monologue. Both of you were hoping that she’d walk in any minute and hold you and make the world stop its incessant spinning for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper. “I’m sorry you only have me. I’m sorry that’s the best I can give you.” You stifle a sob. “I’m sorry that she’s gone. I miss her too.”

Eventually, Sara’s wails quieted, and she slumped against your shoulder, exhausted. You collapsed into the chair in the nursery, exhausted enough to fall asleep immediately, holding Sara in your arms.

You were awakened by the sound of the door opening. Had you forgotten to lock it? You suddenly panic, gently placing Sara’s still-sleeping form into her crib before tiptoeing into the hallway, colliding with your best friend, Bora.

“Did I not lock the door?” you blurt in shock.

She looks you up and down. “No, you did,” she reassures, her worried look intensifying. “I’ve had a key for five years.”

You deflate in relief. “Right,” you say aimlessly, looking at her. “Okay. Um…coffee?”

“Girl, I should be making you coffee,” Bora said. She put a hand to your forehead. “You’re ill, sweetheart.”

You blink at her. “I am?”

“Undoubtedly,” she confirms, leading you back to your bedroom. “Don’t worry about Sara. I’ll be here all day, so you just rest, okay?” She nearly pushes you onto your bed, and pulls a blanket off the floor to tuck around you.

You take stock of yourself. Head aching -- that wasn’t new. Eyes dry and puffy -- same as always. No, the only difference you could tell from last night is a hollow, cavernous emptiness in your chest where the clawing agony used to sit. Right on cue, the numbness has begun to engulf you.

You pass the day in a haze, only briefly aware of the activities of Sara, who at seven months old is only fussy around strangers when it gets dark, and your friend. You simply lay there in bed, not sleeping despite your tiredness, not even able to muster up the energy to reach for the food Bora brings you at midday. In fact, the sun is setting before you’re able to become conscious, sitting up and rubbing at your stinging eyes as Bora comes in to check on you.

“What about Morrie and Cal?” you ask her, referencing Bora’s own daughter Morna and her husband Calvin. “Did you really leave them all day?”

Bora nodded. “Yeah, Cal’s got it. Which is what I wanted to talk to you about.” She brushes your hair out of your face in a motherly way. “You need help here.”

“I’m not getting married anytime soon, Bo,” you say dryly.

“I’m not talking about marriage,” she says. “I’m talking about a nanny.”

You bite your lip. “Are you saying I’m bad at motherhood?” you ask, and if you could sound hurt through all the nothingness you feel, you’re sure you would.

“No,” Bora says gently. “I’m saying you didn’t bargain for motherhood on top of dealing with your grief, and you still have a whole life ahead of you that needs your attention, outside of this apartment. You have a job you love that you really need to get back to -- for you, sweetheart, not for the company, because I know that the work you do makes you happy. You need more time like that, more time for you. I know there’s a big difference in the circumstances, but when I became a mother, having Cal as a partner made it really easy for me to do things outside of the house that gave me purpose. It really helped me get a handle on myself outside of motherhood so that I could maintain a healthy relationship with Morrie without resenting her or losing myself. And honestly, you need that. We all do. And since marriage isn’t the move right now, and you have the means, a nanny might be the best possible thing for you.”

You nod slowly. “So they’d just come watch Sara while I’m at work?”

She nods. “They can be here as much or as little as you want.”

“Okay. How do I make sure they’re not a child snatcher or a pervert?”

Bora snorts. “Well, I’d recommend interviewing them so that your spidey-senses can alert you to any potential creeps,” she advises.

“I’m tired just thinking about that,” you groan. The phone begins to ring, and you check the ID — it’s your head editor, Cory.

You answer. “Hey,” you say, trying not to sound as dead inside as you are. “What’s up?”

“How are you doing?” he asks, his tone hesitant. This was one of the worst parts of tragedy, you thought to yourself: the awkwardness. Suddenly there was no comfort anywhere. Nobody knew what to say to you, or how to address the event, so everyone skated around it and you in a cautious dance of embarrassment and pity. Part of you wishes someone would just acknowledge it -- “so, your sister is dead,” and then move on.

“I’m fine,” you lie. “I should be back to work...soon. I just need to find a nanny for my niece.”

“Oh, that’s...that’s good,” Cory says, sounding surprised. “I wasn’t actually calling about that, I was actually just...worried about you.”

You sigh. “Everybody is, Cory. But I’ll pull through this. I always do.”

“I know,” he says, “and I trust that you will. I just...wanted you to know that we’re -- that I’m thinking of you.”

You try to feel curious about his choice of words, but can’t muster the energy to care that much. “Thanks, Cory,” you say. “I’ll let you know if I need anything.” Another lie, but the last one you feel compelled to tell him. “Bye.”

Bora is looking at you with a raised eyebrow. “He seems friendly,” she says, and through the haze that seems to coat your brain you know she’s making an implication.

This is yet another thing you don’t have the energy to address right now, so you don’t. “So, I need to interview nannies.”

“Well, you could also have your assistant do it,” Bora offers. “She’d lay on train tracks for you. I’m sure she’d do a good job.”

The corner of your mouth twitches as you think of making Emily, your eager assistant, vet nannies for Sara. She was young and enthusiastic and proactive, and she’d do a great job. “I think that’s a good idea,” you say. “Thanks, Bora. I know I haven’t been -- well, I know you have better things to do than worry about me, and I’m s--”

“Don’t you dare finish that thought,” she says, holding her manicured hand up to silence you. “You have people around you who care about and love you. Me included. This is the time where you need to lean on those people. And we all want that.”

“Thank you,” you say again.

“Eat,” she says sternly. “I need to get home, but I refuse to leave Sara with you until you’ve got food in your body.”

You wrinkle your nose at the idea of putting something in your mouth and chewing, but you realize that Bora’s made you some kind of thick, creamy soup that requires nothing but small sips. It’s easy to eat, and before you know it, despite not really tasting it as it passed through your lips, you’ve finished the bowl. Bora nods approvingly, leaning in and kissing your forehead before standing up to leave. “I love you, sweetheart,” she says. “Call me in the morning, okay?”

And with that, she leaves.

***

Six days later, you’re somewhere that you never expected to be at this point -- at dinner with your friend Gwen and her husband, Chan. Bora had showed up, instructed you to get ready, and taken Sara home with her as the couple had showed up at your front door. “You need a night out,” she insisted as you halfheartedly protested.

You had taken her advice and asked Emily to start interviewing nannies, but so far, her search for someone who could be there during your required time period and had the right background checks and qualifications had come up with very few results. This was a bit disheartening, but you hadn’t really given up yet, hoping someone would pull through for you. If you believed in God at this point, you’d probably pray for it.

These are the thoughts that are consuming you at dinner with your friends, when you’re supposed to be listening to them talk. They, gratefully, are a comforting pair, who make a point not to look at you with the customary pity. Instead, they ask about work and Sara and even about your thoughts on how the funeral had gone, which is kind of a relief -- none of that timid skirting around the big, ugly elephant in the room. Maybe this openness they’ve pulled out of you is the reason you feel you can speak to them about your current issue. “Actually, I’m trying to get back to work,” you say. “Those bills aren’t going to pay themselves. The only issue is, I need to find a nanny for Sara, but my assistant has been having trouble finding someone who fits the bill,” you explain, picking at the food in front of you.

To your surprise, Chan’s eyes light up. “I might know a guy. He used to work with me, and he just moved back here after awhile.”

You stare at him. “Chan, aren’t you a federal officer?” you ask.

“Yeah,” he says.

“Why would a federal agent want to work as my nanny?” you ask him.

“Former federal agent,” he corrects you. “Turned nanny.”

“You know someone who quit being a secret agent to become a child-care worker?” you say in disbelief.

Gwen nods. “Actually, he’s really good. The family he was just with fell on some hard times, which is why he’s back now, but I think he might be looking for a new gig.”

You bite the inside of your cheek. “You got the contact information for this guy?” you ask Chan.

“Yeah. His name’s Mingyu. I’ll forward the info on to Emily.”

“Thanks,” you say. “Really, Chan.” You allow yourself to hope for a moment, which provides just the right amount of energy to finish dinner and make your way back home. Once you’re inside your wreck of an apartment, which hasn’t been really cleaned since the accident, you lean heavily against the door, releasing a big breath.

You head to Sara’s room before realizing she’s still at Bora’s house. You text her that you’re home, and before you know it, Bora is handing a sleeping Sara back into your arms.

“She was really good today,” Bora whispers. “How was dinner?”

“It was...okay,” you say, and for the first time, you’re honest. For some reason, you feel like this Mingyu person is the one who’s going to stick, and that leaves you with a modicum of relief. A change is coming, and this one feels like it’s bound to be better than whatever you’re trying to do now. Bora leaves, and you go to the nursery -- the one room that’s intact and clean -- and sink into the rocking chair with Sara.

“Sometime soon, we’re going to have someone to help us out, Sara,” you promise. “I know this isn’t the life your parents probably imagined for you, but I’m going to try and give you something close to what they wanted you to have. I mean that.”

Slowly, you pull her off your shoulder to look at her cherubic little face -- at the black curls that surround her face, her long eyelashes fluttering in sleep. She’s a darling baby, but what you notice is something that penetrates through the cloud of numbness: she’s smiling, her little dimples so reminiscent of --

“Jeri,” you breathe, and a rush of warmth hits you right in your chest for a moment before it’s once again extinguished by your grief, like a flaming arrow shot into a dark, black lake. You suppose, as you hold her close to you once again, that in a way, Sara has immortalized your sister.

You fall asleep holding Sara, who for the first time since she became yours sleeps through the night.

***

You’re standing in your sweatpants, braless, your hair thrown haphazardly on top of your head, feeding Sarah some baby food as she babbles happily in her high chair, when the doorbell rings. You check your watch in disbelief -- it’s seven in the morning, which is the time you had asked Mingyu to show up for his first day of work. You’d never met him in person, although you had talked to him on the phone, and you’d wanted to make a good first impression. But then Sara had had a blowout, and you’d had to change your own sheets because she’d slept in your bed with you, and then you’d had to bathe her (it was that bad), and you were finally getting to feed Sara. You hadn’t even eaten yet, and you’d planned to be fully ready and put together by the time he arrived.

But there was no postponing this -- you couldn’t just let him rot on your porch. So you head for the door, praying Sara won’t throw the spoon on the floor as she has been wont to do recently, and look through the peephole. When you see him, the only thing you can do is whisper “shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.”

Because how could Emily not have told you that the man was beautiful?

And he isn’t beautiful in like, your everyday way either. The man on your porch is tall, probably dwarfing you by both head and shoulders, with a broad chest that pulled at the simple black tee he wears and arms that the pre-accident you would have swooned over. His hair is cropped short like a fed, and he is dressed practically, and yet, he was a god. There was no other way around it. You look down at yourself -- stained t-shirt, sweats with holes in embarrassing places, hair in disarray -- and shrug. There’s nothing you can do but pull the door open. “Hi,” you say. “Mr. Kim?”

“Yeah,” he replies, and he doesn’t seem to register your haggard appearance, just smiles. “I’m guessing you’re --”

“Yeah,” you confirm. “Um, please come in.”

He does, carefully removing his tennis shoes and stepping into the entryway. “Sara’s in the kitchen. Probably throwing stuff.”

He chuckles. “She’s seven months?”

“Yeah,” you say.

“They do that,” he says conspiratorially.

It has taken you very little time to realize you might be in trouble. Mingyu’s smile is open and warm, his eyes full of life. He is nothing like the gruff, stern former agent that you were picturing in your head. You watch him crouch to greet Sara, whose face lights up at his friendly wave. “Hi, Sara,” he says, brushing a bit of blended squash off her nose. “You’re a cutie, that’s for sure.”

“I’m so sorry for the mess,” you can’t help but say. “It’s...it’s been insane.”

He looks up at you. “I get it. Your assistant kind of explained the situation. How are you holding up?” he asks.

You scratch the back of your head. “Well, Sara’s still alive, and that’s pretty much the extent of my current goals, so I guess we’re doing pretty well, all things considered.”

He nods sympathetically. “Honestly, great job. Becoming an instant parent can’t be easy.”

“I actually need to be at work at 8:30,” you suddenly realize. “Can I show you around? I’ll have to dash right afterward.”

“Yeah, sure,” he says, following you down the hall.

“This is the guest room,” you say. “It hasn’t been touched for a minute, but this is where you’ll sleep if we ever need you to stay overnight. I occasionally have business trips.” You lead him further down the hall and up the short staircase, opening the door to the nursery. “Right there is the bathroom. This is Sara’s room, so when she goes down for naps, this is where you can put her.”

You look at him, and his face is thoughtful as you point down the hall. “Door at the end is my bedroom,” you say, remembering what an absolute disaster it is. A blush rises in your cheek. “And please,” you say, going back down the stairs. “You can make yourself at home. Feel free to use the TV while Sara’s napping, or eat what’s in the fridge or pantry if you’re hungry.”

“Okay,” he agrees.

You pull out your wallet and hand him a card. “This one is for you. If you ever feel like eating anything or going somewhere with Sara, you can use this. I opened it for you specifically -- I figured it’d be easier than reimbursing you.”

He pockets it. “Sounds good,” he says.

You stand there, feeling awkward. “Well, I think that was all.”

He nods. “Go get ready,” he says reassuringly. “If I need something or have any questions, I’ll shoot you a text. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” you say in relief. “Thanks.”

You nearly sprint upstairs and jump in the shower. It takes you two minutes to do everything you need to do -- you’ve been taking micro-showers since you took Sara in, terrified that something would happen to her in your absence. Watching the time, you blow your hair dry, apply simple makeup, and change into a comfortable pair of black slacks and a white button-up. You arrive downstairs to see Mingyu at the sink with Sara, having sat her in the crook of his arm so he can wash her sticky face.

The sight of them warms your heart. “Okay, I’ve gotta dash,” you say. “Please, reach out to me if you need anything.”

He smiles. “I will. Drive safe.”

“Okay,” you say, bounding out the door and into your car.

The office hushes a bit when you walk in. They knew you were coming back today, but it must be surreal after the three months you’ve been gone, especially when this is your magazine -- you’re the only person at the company who’s been there since the beginning, because you started it. Cory is quick to hop to your side. “Hi, boss,” he greets. The rest of the office goes back to their activities as you enter your large, glass-paneled office.

“Hi, Cory,” you say. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” he says, seemingly lost for any other words. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Thanks,” you say. “So, update me. Where are we at with the Serena Williams feature?”

“She was super understanding, and the publishers were too,” he says. “Ruby wrote a great piece, though, so as soon as we’ve got the green light we’ll start the launch. I’ve got Jojo on the social media build, and she’s got a two-on-one scheduled with us later to go over it.”

You nod in approval. “Okay, sounds good. I’m gonna contact Park Seojun’s agent today, so I’d like a list of writers you think could write that story well before our meeting with Jojo. I’m thinking we use someone in-house, but I’m open to contracting out if you’re worried people in the office already have too much to do.”

Cory gives you a thumbs up. “Got it,” he says, heading back to his desk.

You breathe in your office air, feeling some of the tension in your shoulders dissolve. You can’t say you’re happy, per se -- but you aren’t as empty as you have been. Bora had been right -- getting back to work is going to be good for you.

***

Toward the end of the day, though, you begin feeling a strange pull -- a pull toward home. You know Mingyu and Sara have been fine, because Mingyu has been texting you periodically throughout the day:

9:49

MG: hey, we’re out of wet wipes over here. do you have any extra boxes?

You: yeah they’re in your bathroom under the sink!

MG: okay I should’ve thought to check there, thanks! You saved my life haha

You: no worries! Is everything ok?

MG: yeah its good, no need to stress. Sara just needs a diaper change.

You: ok, sounds good! Thanks!

11:30

MG: sara reeeeeeeeeeeally likes pears

You: oh yeah they’re her favorite lol

He’d sent you a video of Sara screeching with joy as he put a spoonful of pear mush into her mouth.

MG: like i’ve never seen anyone so enthusiastic about pears

You: i love it when she screams at her food, that’s the best

MG: me too its so cute haha

1:43

MG: ok i forgot to ask

MG: how long are her naps supposed to be

You: tbh I usually let her sleep an hour or so...i should probably do research on what’s developmentally appropriate

MG: lmao nah i gotchu

Then a few minutes later:

1:52

MG: so apparently huckleberrycare.com suggests 2-3 hours of daytime sleep for kids sara’s age

You: damn, that’s a long time

You: well, i guess let her sleep? She might not stay down that long, but we can adjust her routine a bit to try and get her there

MG: sounds good. Is she a light sleeper? She’s on me rn and i don’t want to wake her up if i move her

You: oh no you can totally put her in her crib lol she won’t wake up

MG: ok thanks haha my arm was kind of going numb bc i was too scared to change positions lmao

You: hahaha yes you’re totally fine to put her in as soon as she goes to sleep usually

MG: great to know, thanks lol

And more throughout the day, littered with photos of Sara in varying states of ridiculousness. You found yourself actually smiling as each text rolled in, grateful for the updates, knowing you would’ve felt a lot more anxious if you hadn’t heard anything.

Still, you didn’t want to keep Mingyu waiting too long. He was supposed to get off at 6, and you wanted to make sure he didn’t feel like you were taking advantage of him. So you left work earlier than normal, beating the rush hour traffic and coming through the door to see Mingyu playing with your niece on the floor. He looks up at you as you come in and waves you over. “She rolled over just barely,” he whispers excitedly. “Watch!”

Sara struggles, whining a little bit, before rolling from her stomach to her back. You clap excitedly, lifting her from the floor into your arms and kissing her pudgy cheek. “Good job, Sara!” you coo, and she burbles happily, touching your face with a fat hand.

Suddenly, you notice something -- the house is clean.

“Mr. Kim,” you say slowly, “did you clean my house?”

He suddenly looks sheepish. “Uh, yeah, I did,” he says. “I’m sorry if that was...I don’t know, not my place.”

“Are you apologizing for cleaning?” you ask him, amused. “I feel bad you felt the need to do that! I shouldn’t have -- have let it get so bad.”

He gives you an extremely gentle look that you are sure he didn’t intend to make your knees go weak. “You’ve been through a lot recently,” he says. “I think you should be kinder to yourself. Also, there was a time when I was in college and living with roommates, and it was way worse cleaning up after some of them.”

“Well, at least there’s that,” you say, returning his smile with Sara propped on your hip.

You stare at him for a minute, and then shake yourself. “Well, I’m here now, so I guess you can...go?” You make a face at your phrasing. “I’m not trying to kick you out. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to stay past your hours.”

He chuckles. “It’s okay. I get you. Have a good night.” He heads for the door, calling over his shoulder. “Actually, I made some fried rice this afternoon. The leftovers are in the fridge. Help yourself.”

Your jaw drops. “Wait a minute, Mr. Kim,” you call after him, following him on his way out.

He turns around, smiling at your tone. “You can call me Mingyu,” he offers.

You nod. “Okay, Mingyu. You cooked, cleaned, and took care of Sara while I was at work?”

“Yeah,” he says, a laugh in his voice. “Is that so odd?”

“I never managed to do all three in one day,” you admit ashamedly.

“Well, I’m not mourning the loss of my sister,” he reminds you, and his voice is a bit stern. “That kind of thing takes a lot of energy.” He rests a big hand on your shoulder comfortingly before opening the door. “See you tomorrow.”

[collegetennisoriginstory]

Dev. update for Pt. 2

Hey all!

Hope you enjoyed the CT:OS update (Pt. 1)!

I'm back home from my trip, which means I've gone back to writing and editing in preparation for Pt. 2!

As Pt. 1 was a little delayed, and I didn't do much writing or editing while on holiday, Pt. 2 release will likely be closer to the end of the month / next month, but I'll firm up the release dates closer to when I've gotten everything written and have sent it out for beta-testing.

Good news though, is that because I'm pushing back the dates a bit, I'm aiming to add some extra content that I hadn't planned to fit into pt. 2... which means you'll all definitely get the Sam kiss you've been waiting for ;)

For now, here are the tentative release dates:

Beta-testers: 28 Oct Early-release: 4 Nov Public release: 11 or 18 Nov

Lastly, I'll push out an edited version of CT:OS to the public demo around the same time that I release Pt. 2 to beta-testers, so if there are errors or bugs from Pt. 1 that you think I haven't quite fixed yet, do let me know.

Main features of Pt. 2 under the cut.

Reunion with Sam (if you'd asked them to come visit Cargill for the weekend & watch your first match of the season) 🎊

Say hi to G, D, and your other hallmates who've come to cheer you on

Kickstart the season proper against Cornell 🎾 (Will Cargill clinch overall victory over Cornell in the first match of the season?)

Bust out your chops with your newly-minted doubles partner, and go one-on-one against your Cargill opponent in a singles match! (achievements up for grabs)

Worlds collide—G, D, your hallmates, and Sam (if they're here) will get the chance to briefly meet your teammates after the match!

[blubffsd]

— WORLDS COLLIDE PT. 4

summary: Your hand was the one he reached for all throughout The Great War.

previous chapter

note: play "The Great War" by Taylor Swift.

@http-isabela <3

Mia lands in Paris, France. It's six in the afternoon on December 20. Kylian's birthday.

Mia feels like she could faint at any moment. She doesn't know if it's because of the nerves she feels that it's her boyfriend's birthday and she still hasn't spoken to him or if it's because of how little she was able to sleep on the plane.

To tell the truth, she is quite anxious to see her boyfriend again but she can't help but feel afraid to face him, she can't wait to know what will happen but at the same time she is terrified to know.

Mia walks out of the airport too tired and deep in thought to notice all eyes on her.

The question that most haunts her head now is whether or not she should text Kylian to let him know that she is already in Paris.

It's a pretty stupid question and one that at another time she wouldn't have had, but she's overthinking too much.

If she sends him a message there will be no way to reverse the situation and she will have no choice but to talk to him. On the other hand, if she does not tell him that she is already there and she regrets it, she can leave and he will never know if she was there or not.

But if she doesn't send a message to Kylian, and she has no regrets she can interrupt his birthday party and see her boyfriend's family again.

Of course she will send him a message.

She typed as fast as her fingers could and hid her phone in her pocket too nervous to want to see his answer.

On the other side of the city, Kylian is at home "celebrating" his 24th birthday, only his family and some close friends are there.

Everyone notices the strange behavior of the birthday boy but most of them refuses to admit that it is due to the absence of his girlfriend.

It can be said that Kylian was present but his mind was not, since the World Cup final he has only thought about Mia and what happened to her, but no one answers his questions.

It's hard for him to admit it but he doesn't feel comfortable being with his family, especially with Melissa and Jires after seeing their tweets, he asked them to delete them as soon as he saw them.

A lot happened in a very short time and he doesn't know what to think about it.

Everyone except Kylian is in the living room talking about different topics enjoying the time together and giving him sneaky looks.

He has been anxious since Mia sent him a message the day before, he held back since he read the message until that moment from calling her and asking for an explanation but he knows her and knows that she is not going to tell him anything, at less not on a call.

A text from Mia letting him know that she's already in Paris is all he needed to calm down.

He knows that everything that happened between his family and Mia has a lot to do with him, but he still doesn't understand why nobody tells him anything.

If he's part of the problem, why doesn't he know about it then?

Kylian has a lot to think about.

His response to his girlfriend's message was a proposal to meet at their shared house in an hour, Mia accepted.

As soon as Mia answered, she went to the house of a close friend who lives near their house.

When he returns to the living room his entire family noticed the sudden change in his mood, and even more so when he begins to insist on singing happy birthday and eating his cake.

He wants everyone to leave as quickly as possible.

And it seems that no one wants to leave him alone.

Of course, Kylian doesn't want his family and Mia to meet, at least not now. But he really wants to see his girlfriend and he didn't think about the fact that his whole family is around.

Ethan, who is sitting next to him, silently analyzes his brother's behavior. He watches how Kylian desperately insists on bringing his birthday cake and how his entire family refuses, saying it's still early.

Kylian, seeing that his family refuses to leave, takes his phone and goes to the kitchen to talk to Mia and ask her to come later.

Ethan goes after him.

—Hey, why in such a rush? do you want us to leave? –his younger brother asks quietly while smiling.

Kylian turns off his phone and turns to look at him hopefully.

Ethan frowns.

The older one nods and the younger one looks at him stupefied.

Despite being somewhat confused, Ethan thinks he has a suspicion of Kylian's insistence.

—Mia is coming, isn't she? –the youngest of the brothers speaks in a low voice again.

Kylian swallows and nods slowly.

—Let's try so she doesn't see us here then.

Kylian looks at him blankly and Ethan rolls his eyes.

—I just told you that I'm going to help you.

The older one is still quite distrustful and confused.

Why would Ethan want to help him? According to him, his little brother was the most eager to face Mia.

—And why do you want to help me?

His older brother's suspicious look hurts Ethan, even though he knows his brother has reason to.

He misbehaved with Mia and he knows it, even though he's trying to make it up.

At least he's trying something.

—I know what I did was wrong, and I don't want you and Mia to get hurt even more because of me.

Kylian softens his gaze and playfully taps his shoulder.

—You were wrong and I'm very angry about it, but it's okay.

Ethan makes an attempt at a smile that ends in a grimace.

—Hey, why are you two whispering? –Fayza looks at them smiling.

The brothers exchange a look and then look at their mom.

—I was apologizing to Kyky because my stomach hurts so much and I want to go home.

Their mom looks at him with a frown.

—But if a moment ago you were eating.

Ethan opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by Kylian.

—Nothing really hurts him, he was just trying to help me.

Ethan turns to see his older brother, completely surprised, hoping that what he thinks is not going to happen.

Fayza crosses her arms, still frowning, waiting for her second son to speak.

—We were just talking and I told him that I am very tired and I want to sleep but I didn't want to interrupt the party so he wanted to help me saying that so all of you leave me alone and I can sleep.

—How nice of you, Ethan. Go to sleep Ky, we'll be here when you wake up.

Kylian looks at his mother without knowing what to say.

—But mom, let's leave him alone so he can rest easy.

Fayza frowns again.

—There is no way I am letting my son spend the rest of his birthday alone.

—But he wants to be alone, mom. It's not like we're going to abandon him, he wants to end the party and stay alone because he doesn't feel quite right yet and he has to think about the things that happened.

Ethan to the rescue.

Fayza, not entirely convinced, nods slightly.

—Let's sing happy birthday then –she comes out of the kitchen and the brothers high five.

The long-awaited moment arrived and Kylian smiles as he listens to his family sing happy birthday to him and sees his nephews trying to blow out the candles.

He looks at each of the people with him and can only think how much he wishes Mia was there.

At least he'll see her in a bit.

—Uncle Kylian, has Aunt Mia woke up for cake yet? –his nephew asks with a smile, causing Kylian to look at him confused.

—Son, it's just Mia, she's not your aunt.

Kylian turns to see Melissa angrily.

He wasn't bothered by what she said, what caused his anger was the tone of voice she used and the annoyance on her face when talking about his girlfriend.

—If he wants to call her "aunt" that's fine, I don't see any problem –he tries to talk as peaceful as possible.

—She is actually the problem –his sister-in-law mutters under her breath but not enough that he doesn't hear.

It was enough, she exhausted his patience.

She can think whatever she wants about Mia, it really doesn't matter to him. But to have the audacity to say it in front of him, in his own house, where he lives with her?

—What did you say? –his tone of voice and his mood were much worse than he thought.

Melissa looks at Kylian with some fear.

—Nothing, I just-

—Melissa, what did you say? –his voice sounded much higher than before.

—Kylian, you need to calm down –Fayza is the one who speak this time.

—Calm down? She's here, saying things about my girlfriend and I'm the one who has to calm down?

Everyone in the place except Ethan and his father look at Kylian like he's crazy.

—Let's get this over with and cut the cake.

Kylian takes a deep breath, trying to forget his anger and behave, but the videos of Mia being uncomfortable in the final, the tweets from Melissa and Jirès and everything that people said during these days come back to his mind and repeat themselves over and over.

The people making fun of him for losing, the journalists making comments about his relationship with Mia saying that she only wanted him for the fame, her father's contempt for him and the teasing he received from him that he never told Mia.

Everything is overwhelming him and he doesn't know how to handle it.

Jirès's hand on his shoulder followed by a "You need to relax bro" was all it took to make Kylian explode.

—That's enough, all this has me tired. Y'all got me tired –his family looks at him blankly.

—Don't pretend to be confused because you all know what I'm talking about.

—This is all for Mia, isn't it? –Fayza begs with annoyance.

Kylian can't believe it.

—Of course it's because of Mia, all of you are being so rude.

—Kylian, we didn't do anything wrong. – Jires answered.

He lets out a humorless laugh, as a way of trying to appease his urge to yell.

—Do you seriously think that I believe the story that Mia left the box crying because I tied the game? –the annoyed faces from before changed to ones of fear.

—You guys have been so inconsiderate to Mia's feelings and mine, you think it doesn't hurt me to lose one of the most important games of my life and then find out my girlfriend left and I still even don't know why?

Kylian tries to take a deep breath and calm down when he sees his nephews looking at him with confusion.

—Can any of you explain to me what happened?

Silence.

Like when they went to pick up Mia at the hotel.

Kylian sighs wearily.

—If you don't plan to explain to me what happened or what you did, please leave me alone.

All his family exchanged glances and slowly they were collecting their bags and coats under Kylian's gaze.

Melissa and Jirès were the first to leave, then her mother and his friends.

Ethan left the house giving him a slight smile that was returned by Kylian.

—Son –Kylian turns to see his father, who is standing in front of the door, about to leave– don't let your relationship be ruined by this, you two can handle more than this.

Kylian nods slightly and sees his dad smile at him and leave.

He sits on the couch completely exhausted.

He needs Mia more than ever now, and knowing that in less than 15 minutes she will be with him is very comforting.

He can't wait any longer.

Instead Mia feels that she could die at any moment from the nerves she is feeling. She is on her way to the house she shares with Kylian.

She is not ready for what is going to happen, she does not want to hear the love of her life tell her that he hates her and that she is a traitor. She would pretty much hate herself if she lost him like that.

But if it's a consequence of her actions, then she'll accept it, even if it breaks her heart.

She doesn't even know what she's going to tell him when she sees him, how is she going to explain the fact that she left him?

How is she going to justify herself?

Every second that passes is enough for her mind to create another doubt in her head.

And as time passes and the distance between her and Kylian shortens, her fears grow.

All the guilt, fear and shame that she has felt for the last 2 days seems to intensify with the passing of the minutes.

It seems that the fact of losing him is getting closer.

And seeing his house through the window makes it seem that she has already lost him.

Mia gets out of the car already feeling a lump in her throat, she doesn't want to go near the door, but she needs to do it.

Kylian waits impatiently sitting in the same place as before completely anxious, not knowing that on the other side of the door is his girlfriend, wanting to pass out at that moment to avoid talking to him.

But she has to do it.

Mia knocks on the door wanting to run out of there, while Kylian runs to open the door to see her.

So it happens.

They are both standing in front of each other, it feels unreal for both of them.

Not even they know how much they had missed each other.

—Hi –Mia is the one who breaks the silence.

Kylian smiles slightly and takes a step closer to Mia, but she steps back.

Even she doesn't know why she did it, maybe it's fear acting on its own.

Kylian looks at her confused and steps aside to let her in.

Mia enters the house slowly and goes after Kylian, who sits on the couch, she does the same at a considerable distance from him.

Discomfort is an understatement to describe how Mia feels right now, and even more so with her unconscious actions making everything worse.

They are silent for a few minutes.

And Mia's anxiety is growing.

—Could you stop acting like I'm going to attack you, please? I won't, calm down.

Mia nods and smiles slightly, feeling like she could finally breathe.

—Could you tell me what happened? Nobody tells me anything. People are telling a lot of versions about what happened and I don't know what to think. Please talk to me.

Nobody tells him anything?

—It's ironic, because it seems that all this drama is about me and the World Cup final and I'm the only one who doesn't know what's going on –Kylian laughs sarcastically.

Mia frowns, not understanding.

—You really don't know anything?

Kylian sighs and leans back in the chair.

—No. Nobody tells me anything. Ethan says you were crying and left, my mom treats me like everything is wrong with me, and Jirès and Melissa make mean comments about you. I don't understand anything. Then you disappear, you don't call me or say something, and now you act like I'm going to do something to you.

Mia's heart is beating fast, she can't believe that his family didn't tell him anything.

—Please –he repeat– tell me what happened.

Mia takes a deep breath.

If his family didn't tell him the truth, should she?

If she told him the truth, he would be upset with his family, who only wanted to defend him. And she doesn't want that.

—When the game started everything was fine, then Argentina scored the first goal and I celebrated, I didn't give a damn and I ended up making your family angry. Even more when I celebrated the second goal and each time the tension between us grew. I just wanted to leave, I wasn't comfortable knowing that everyone got mad because of me –she omitted as many details as possible.

Kylian looks at her seriously, carefully observing her face and he settled into the chair.

—Ethan yelled at you for that?

His question was so unexpected for Mia.

—I don't know what you mean –she did her best to look confused.

Kylian gets up and grabs his phone, finds something and hands it to Mia.

It was the video of Ethan yelling at her after celebrating.

The same feeling returns to Mia and the desire to cry becomes more and more visible, unable to see more, she returns the phone to her boyfriend.

If she looks him in the eye she's going to cry, so she keeps her gaze fixed on the floor.

—Mia, I'm going to ask you again what happened –he kneels on the ground in front of her– but this time don't hide things from me.

She doesn't want to say anything about Ethan because she knows it could cause a bigger problem.

And it's going to be all her fault.

—Mia, why did Ethan yell at you? –Kylian's hands took her face to make her look into his eyes.

—Please tell me the truth.

Mia pushed her boyfriend's hands away from her face.

—Ethan is only 16 years old, Kylian. He doesn't know how to handle his emotions. Besides, you know that people doesn't think about things when is excited or angry.

—No, don't excuse Ethan. He's old enough to know that no matter what team you root for, he shouldn't have.

—I know. But Ethan is not like that, it was the moment, I don't want to excuse him. Of course he shouldn't have done it, don't think it doesn't hurt me that he did it. I didn't think that would happen but it did. I know he won't do it again.

Kylian was silent for a few seconds thinking about what his girlfriend said.

—Ethan told me you were crying when you left, if not for that why did you leave?

Mia decides to think her words through, she doesn't want to hide anything from him, but she also doesn't want more problems with his family.

—I left because I couldn't take it anymore. Your family was uncomfortable and so was I. It was all too much for me, I felt like I couldn't breathe well so I went to the bathroom. I was about to have a panic attack and I spoke to Antonella, who sent two security men for me and they took me to the Argentina box.

Kylian nods in understanding.

—And where did you go after the final?

—I went to my dad's house.

Kylian looked at his girlfriend confused.

—Your dad's house?

Mia nods.

—It wasn't very nice but yeah, I went there.

—Did he do something to you?

—No, I just thought it would be different, but now I understood that he is going to continue being the same bad person. Besides, he said things about you that I didn't like at all.

Remembering the conversation made Mia angry.

—Do you want to tell me what he said about me?

—He didn't even know your name -she laughed trying to find something funny in the situation- then he said things that according to him you would do to me, and he made me angry because he accused you of things that he already did to me.

Kylian doesn't answer, thinking about what Mia told him. He always knew that his girlfriend's father didn't like him. He made it quite obvious by cutting off the video calls he had with Mia when he appeared, or pretending not to know who he was when asked in interviews if he knew about his relationship with Mia.

—But I defended you, of course –he smiles slightly.

—Thank you.

They smile slightly as they look into each other's eyes, finally feeling peace.

—If it's any consolation, we weren't going to invite him to the wedding anyway –Mia chuckles slightly.

—It helps me a lot, thanks.

—And what about Melissa?

Mia rolls her eyes at the sound of her name.

—She mocked the situation with my father.

She wasn't going to omit details with her, she's not as important as Ethan and what happened to her didn't matter to her at this point.

—First before the game he treated my dad like a loser and made me feel bad, then on Twitter he makes fun of me and my father's absence. What did that have to do with what happened in the final?

Kylian looks at Mia not knowing what to say and she notices.

—Anyway, it's not the point. I'm really sorry, okay? I really didn't think things through and I only thought of running away for fear of what would happen between us and I'm still afraid but you deserve an explanation. I shouldn't have left you alone and gone without explaining anything to you, and besides, today is your birthday, the World Cup ended two days ago and I wasn't there, I preferred to leave you alone than to explain things to you and I was so inconsiderate with you that-

Kylian's lips on Mia's interrupted her words, it's a desperate kiss, full of love and emotions, showing how much they had missed each other.

His arms hugged her body tightly, afraid that she would leave again.

Both want time to stop at that moment, where only the two of them exist and no one else. But the need for air makes them separate.

—You know you're not the real culprit behind all this –he said trying to calm his breathing– so tell me, what made you leave?

Fuck everyone, I don't care.

—Melissa sent me a message telling me that I am a traitor and not to dare talk to you because you gave me everything and I paid you back by supporting Argentina. And all for a man who doesn't even know my birthday.

Kylian's body tenses and his gaze darkens.

—I felt like I had screwed up again and I was afraid to see you and make everything worse. But I think not seeing you was worse.

Mia hugged Kylian by the shoulders causing him to lean back against her chest.

—I'm really sorry.

—Don't apologize, it's okay. Although you shouldn't have left, I looked for you in your room.

Mia sighs lightly.

—It wasn't that easy to decide, Melissa said she hoped that when she got back to the hotel my stuff wouldn't be there anymore, so I left thinking that if she wanted that, maybe you and your whole family might as well.

—I really want to scream in that woman's face, how dare she? I thought she was different, you never get to know people I guess.

Mia nods and they both enjoy each other's presence for a moment.

—And how do you feel?

—What? –Kylian answers.

—How do you feel about everything that happened?

Kylian pulls away from Mia so he can meet her eyes and entwines her hands with his.

—Losing one of the most important games of my life didn't feel good, of course. But when I left, I had the relief of talking to you and being able to deal with everything together, but not seeing you with them made everything worse.

Mia looks him straight in the eye, noticing the sadness in his eyes and feeling ashamed of her decisions.

—Then everyone was acting weird and saying bad things about you and I didn't know what to believe, all I knew was that you were possibly with Antonella because I saw you in the box with her but it wasn't enough. And I found my brother and sister-in-law's tweets, Ethan's videos with you and I couldn't believe that they treated you like this, I still can't accept it. And I don't know, it was honestly horrible. I needed you a lot. I need you so much.

Kylian embraces his girlfriend, holding on to her arms as if her life depended on it. Mia wants to cry with regret and she feels stupid for being so selfish.

—I'm sorry, I really sorry.

He nods accepting her apology and kisses her cheek.

—But now you're here and I don't feel so bad –he smiles at her.

—I promise I won't go anywhere or leave you ever again.

—I promise too.

They held each other for a long time, feeling completely safe in each other's arms.

At last they are both at peace, knowing that now they are fine because they have each other.

They are stronger than before and they are not going to let anyone or anything try to come between them again.

Because they love each other.

And because they survive the great war caused by their worlds collide.

A knock on the door startles them.

—Kylian, I'm Melissa, I forgot my wallet here, could I pick it up?

And now they have to fight together.

[winterlynightlystories]

A debt to pay

AU of My Nocturnal Serenade because I need someone to just go and save and be kind to that man! I need some comfort damn it😭 did I cry writing it? Yes!

PT 1 pt2 pt 3 pt 4

Tw; SPOILER FOR CHPT 236 YALL BEEN WARNED, temporary death, blood, gore

Please do not copy or steal my work

Sukuna/Male Reader but can be read as a gender-neutral reader this time.

In summary; the time has come for you to pay your debt to Yuji Itadori. And the one you'll have to save from your lover his the one and only Gojo.

~~~~

You have a debt to pay.

The words echoed in your head as you watched the fight. You didn't doubt your beloved, knowing damn well that Sukuna would win. It was just breaking your heart and soul to have to stand and watch him getting hurt again and again.

You have a debt to pay.

But at what cost? There has been no opportunity to pay the debt you owed Yuji Itadori. Which meant you'd have to save Gojo Satoru. Which meant betraying your one and only.

Well, it was a lie. You had the opportunity to save one of Yuji's friend’s sister, but didn't. Maki’s twin had died and you did nothing. You could let Gojo die to but…

You could feel anger and sadness battling in your heart. You didn't want to do it. The victory should be all to Sukuna. He should be able to savour the sight of the Honored One lying defeated and dead before him.

Instead, Sukuna would have to watch you make sure the man didn't die.

You have a debt to pay

Yet, somehow, you felt bad for Gojo Satoru. Maybe it was why you decided to spare him. The world had been cold and cruel to him. Gifted with power, he had to watch everyone he loved meet an early death. Gojo Satoru was a lone broken soul, you realized. He was more like you than you first thought.

He was the you that failed.

And it hurt even more, watching those two men fighting. This could have been you and Sukuna a thousand years ago if you had given up on him. If Sukuna had decided to not spare you.

You watched with fear as Gojo’s attack collided. Blue hitting Red.

The explosion was atrocious and devastating. You could hear the buildings being disintegrated, the streets cracking as the ground shook violently. Even if you had dust and debris in your eyes, you didn't close them. You needed to see, know if Sukuna had made it.

You felt pride and joy as you spotted his silhouette slowly walking toward you through the dust. In a heart beat, you were on him, arms wrapping around his waist to keep him up. Sukuna’s arms wrapped around your shoulders as he pressed his forehead against yours. You could feel the blood pouring from his missing forearm, from all the wounds he had, but you didn't care.

- “You did it. I'm so proud of you my love.” you whispered before sharing a kiss.

As the dust settled, you turned your attention toward Gojo Satoru. The sight was heartbreaking.

You could only see a pair of legs standing. Behind them, you could barely see Gojo’s upper body laying in a pool of his own blood. You felt your heart breaking as you heard the man’s friends and students crying, screaming, because they still could see nothing.

You have a debt to pay

You turned your attention on Sukuna. You both shared a look before Sukuna closed his four eyes and nodded. You cupped his face, giving a peck on his lips.

- “I am so proud of you. Thank you.”

In a heartbeat, you left your beloved’s side, quickly reaching Gojo Satoru. You kneeled, cradling his upper body in your arms as you began to heal him.

You stared into Gojo’s blue eyes, seeing surprise and curiosity in them. You simply smiled.

- “I have a debt to pay.” you just said, watching as Gojo’s lower body slowly regenerated. Slowly, making sure to not drop him, you took off your haori, putting it on him. “You fought admirably. You have more courage than I thought. You have my respect, Gojo Satoru.”

You felt him shake as he coughed, spitting blood as his guts regrew slowly and you healed his internal injuries.

- “I am sorry. Sorry that the world has been so cold and cruel to you. You deserve better and I hope one day you may find peace and be able to rest. You are a lot like me, believing that dying, killed by someone stronger than you is an honourable death but you are wrong. You shouldn't live thinking about Death. Live for your friends and loved ones. Fight for their safety, but don't run after danger and Death. You will only hurt them. Your Death will break their heart, their very soul.”

Satoru’s breath was short and pained, his eyes clouded by pain. You weren't even sure if he understood you or if his brain was making him hallucinate. With a gentle hand, you moved his bloody hair off his face.

- “Easy, deep breath. I ain't going to let you die. You will live Gojo Satoru. See this as a rebirth, a chance to start again. My debt being paid, me and Sukuna will leave. We won't be a problem anymore, but you'll have to watch out for Kenjaku.”

You watched how soaked in blood your haori was, yet didn't care. You could see Gojo’s limbs moving under it as they regrow.

You watched as Gojo closed his eyes, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. You didn't know if they were from pain or your words and, for the first time in centuries, you felt compassion. That man cradled in your arms had given everything and still lost everyone. Since childhood he had been seen like a weapon, had a Damocles sword swinging above his head.

Yes.

The world had been horrible to Satoru since the start.

- “I am sorry.”

Again.

For what? Giving away the corpse of his best friend? For letting Sukuna accept the fight and almost kill him? For being behind the return of your beloved and the tragedies that followed?

You watched Satoru’s hand grabbing your forearm and squeezing as if thanking you. Your smile softened as you cradled Satoru closer to your chest, feeling the man slowly falling into a state of semi-consciousness.

You heard running and turned your head, watching Yuji Itadori and Fushiguro Megumi running towards you. From the corner of your eye, you saw how tense Sukuna was, but your beloved didn't move, trusting that no one would hurt you as you healed Gojo.

The first to reach you was Itadori.

- “Easy. Take him slowly.” You said, watching Itadori kneeling next to you, hands all over his teacher. You watched as tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m not finishing with healing him, he is still hurt. Here, take him like I do.”

You helped the teen, slowly moving Gojo from your arms to his. You watched Itadori wrapping his arms possessively and protectively around his teacher. He closed his eyes, chin resting against Satoru’s head.

- “Thank you. Thank you for saving him.” He sobbed, not looking at you.

- “You are welcome.” you answered, hands still resting on Gojo.

Without a word, Megumi kneeled next to Itadori, looking at Gojo, then you. There was so much hate in those eyes. He didn't need to speak for you to understand how much he despised you. The kid probably had your murder on his mind.

Without a word, you got up once you finished healing Satoru and left. You joined Sukuna, wrapping your arms around each others. Silently, you pressed your head against his neck, feeling Sukuna kissing your hair.

Sukuna had won and you had paid your debt. Yet, you still felt bad, your heart stuck in a cold grip in your chest. You felt tears rolling down your cheeks, but they were quickly chased away by Sukuna's lips.

It was finally over, with no dead to grieve. So why did it still feel like it?

[cressthebest]

Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 30

chapter 49:

1. jegulus jumpscare (it’s a dream i wasn’t expecting)

2. shit. the dream is about their wedding plans. i- i can’t do this shit while reg is in the arena

3. shit it’s raining and i know reg can’t handle it because of the last crimson river/arena

4. god, sirius wakes up to the rain and his first thought it to go save regulus

5. “"Lily, have you been using sex for favors?"

"No." Lily pauses, then snorts. "Well, alright, so this is how it works, yeah? I'm already having sex, and then I'm like, say, look at you all laid out and desperate to give me what I want; don't you want to do this very small, very simple thing for me? And then they mostly always say yes, and they get what they want, all while I'm having a grand time and also getting what I want. See? Win-win.””

😭😭😭 i love her your honor

6. “”I cannot believe that this revolution is partially running on your competency in sex."

"Oh, if only it could fully run on that. Everything would go so smoothly. Shit, we'd win the war in, like, a week.""

😭😭😭💍♥️ marry me please

7. “”I keep telling [Effie] I know exactly how to make her feel better, but she insists she's a married woman, and also far too old for me. Disappointing, really.”” 😭😭😭

8. james confronting lucius has me scared for remus. like, i know they can’t trace it back to remus, but i’m so scared

9. james is pissed at the world and it’s honestly scary

10. i know james is trying to use donations, but i’m also aware that riddle wants to make sure no donations make it to reg, sirius, or marlene

11. “"Aw, your boyfriend sent you a present," Rabastan teases, his tone lighthearted and good-natured.

"Fiancé," Regulus corrects sharply”

GAGGED. he took james’ words and fucking ran with it like nobody’s business

12. not narcissa welcoming james to the family 😭😭😭😭

13. james sent him a bagel and all the death eaters are making fun of him for being gay over it 😭😭

14. all james sent on the card was “???” 😭😭 pls that’s so funny

15. poor eli

16. the sad bonding over marlene and sirius having recovered from drinking problems

17. don’t tell me that the fucking crimson river hands are coming out the hedges. i- god i hope reg gets to personally witness riddle’s downfall

18. AND THE FUCKING GREEN MIST??? FUCK THIS

19. “You never truly do feel as alive as when death is breathing down your neck.”

oh he’s insane as hell. a black for sure

20. shit. sirius’ mind just went blank in the maze

21. the hallow is cruel beyond belief for this

22. “He has had dreams of Regulus, ah, using his dagger during…intimate moments, but is that something he'd actually do? Well… Okay, bad example.” 😭😭😭😭

23. james was so close to an epiphany about mcgonnagal making everyone hate the games. he was so close

24. “Thorfinn said he'd have to be killed to be stopped from going after Sirius, even though Regulus explicitly told him what he'd do about that, and so Regulus killed him. Newton's third law: for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

bitch do not pull physics into this 😭😭

also that means that sir isaac newton existed in this universe, which if we see this as a future for our universe, it means that homophobia was prevalent at one point and the world straight up just eradicated it. 🤷🏽‍♀️ pro for this universe ig

25. “When he lifts his head, the first thing Regulus sees is his brother.

The second thing he sees is Sirius' fist, just the flash of it, just seconds before it collides with the side of his face.”

he had it coming fr

[mysticstronomy]

HOW WAS OUR SOLAR SYSTEM CREATED?? PT.2

Blog#397

Wednesday, May 1st, 2024.

Welcome back,

Close to the young sun, the heat and light were too intense for anything other than rocky material to remain; the ices evaporated and the loose gas like hydrogen and helium simply blew away. Those remaining rocky bits slowly coalesced, sticking together to form ever-larger clumps.

Eventually, with enough time (and the universe always, always has plenty of time to spare), those bits formed planetesimals, small almost-planets. There were a lot of them, and it was quite a violent time for our solar system as these planetesimals collided, shattered and reformed countless times.

Our own Earth was struck by something nearly the size of Mars, and the debris from that impact eventually became our moon.

Out past what would eventually become the asteroid belt, however, planet formation took a different approach. Out there, it was cold enough for ices to survive, allowing planetary cores to grow to immense proportions in a short amount of time. Those large cores were then able to hoover up any surrounding material, like hydrogen and helium gas, enveloping those worlds in thick, swaddling atmospheres. That's how the giant planets were born.

Once the planets matured, however, all was not calm in the solar system. The inner rocky worlds had stabilized, and the sun had ignited nuclear fusion. But the outer giant planets were surrounded by swarms of hangers-on — the leftover bits of debris from the chaotic planet-building process.

So they began to dance.

Astronomers suspect that the four giant planets of our solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — initially formed much closer together than they are today, and subtle interactions with the remaining debris surrounding them caused them to shift their orbits.

It took hundreds of millions of years to resculpt our solar system, and we're not exactly sure how it all went down.

In one scenario, Jupiter and Saturn migrate inward toward the sun, which caused Uranus and Neptune to drift outward. In another scenario, the worlds of our outer solar system play a game of gravitational hot potato with a bonus fifth giant planet that eventually got ejected altogether. In yet another, Jupiter wanders nearly to the orbit of Mars before jumping back out, disrupting the otherwise placid orbits of the remaining outer worlds.

No matter what, this last reshuffling caused havoc. Astronomers think that the migrating outer planets gave rise to an epoch called the Late Heavy Bombardment, a period of intense comet and asteroid impacts in the inner solar system about 4 billion years ago. The shifting of the giant worlds disturbed all the remaining material in the solar system, either sending them to safety in the frozen outskirts or barreling inward to cause trouble for the rocky planets.

Despite the violence, it wasn't all bad: the procession of comets raining in toward the inner solar system delivered an abundance of water to the rocky worlds, potentially making life, including us, ultimately possible — once the solar system settled down, of course.

Originally published on https://www.space.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, May 4th, 2024)

"DOES THE MOON HAVE OXYGEN??"

[parkkiablah]

Teasing game - pt. 6 (Zevlor x Tav)

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 7

You were standing next to Wyll, Zevlor behind you as Wyll had asked him to guard you for todays event for whatever reason. You thought that you could protect yourself pretty well, but you weren't going to question it, as you were always glad knowing Zevlor is by your side.

The event was rather boring as you weren't used to the amount talking and hand shaking you had to do that day. You were glad that Wyll decided to do most of the talking, as you personally didn't really feel welcome here. Knowing these people spent their whole life with these kind of event just seemed utterly boring to you.

You were trying hard to hold back a yawn, sipping on heavily overpriced wine. This surely wasn't your place to be.

Wyll and the people you had been talking to moved away as other people joined their conversation and you honestly had no plan on following behind.

Turning to Zevlor you noticed how his tail was hovering around you, like he was shielding you from other people, but not touching you.

Did he do it the whole time you were here and you just hadn't seen yet?

"I can see on your face how bored you are, do you want me to tell Wyll you aren't feeling well so you can leave?", Zevlor asked quietly, not wanting others to hear.

"I shouldn't leave yet, I barely arrived and I spent a fortune on these clothes.", you replied sighing.

"I'm glad you decided for this outfit, it has been my favourite." His gaze was moving over your body again like he didn't already see you in it. He seemed like he had to memorize every detail about you in these expensive fabrics.

"I'm glad you like it.", you responded. Your face was heating up again and you looked around unsure where to look, trying to escape his gaze that made you feel so many things. You were confused where this game would take you, feeling warm and comfortable in his presence but still excited and nervous whenever you just saw him.

Wyll came back to you, wanting to introduce you to someone and basically pulled you along with him. The next boring conversation happened and it wouldn't be the last one for this evening.

Some hours later you went for the excuse Zevlor had offered earlier, getting tired of the repeating conversations and the ever polite smiles.

When you left the building you felt the cold air of the night. You hadn't noticed how late it was already, the moon up high and just very few people still out on the streets.

A slight shiver went through you as you wrapped your arms around you to keep yourself warm, regret on your mind for not bringing a jacket.

Just as you finished your thought you felt Zevlors arm around your shoulders, his warmth surrounding you and pulling you close to him.

"Can you read my mind or something?", you said laughing.

"No, I just look out for you.", he replied and smiled at you.

You walked in silence for a moment, Zevlor had offered to walk you home and you both enjoyed the peace of the rather quiet night.

Both of you were walking slowly and it felt like you silently agreed on it to enjoy more time spent together.

Your thought was quickly interrupted by Zevlor pushing you to the side and turning around, the sword he had quickly drawn colliding with a dagger that was meant for you.

"The savior of Baldur's Gate, how lovely.", the man in front of you said.

Your outfit wasn't really meant for fighting and you hadn't brought any weapons, so you had to rely on Zevlor for this.

"What do you want?", you said.

"Your head. You killed my family and I will get my revenge now."

"I never killed innocent people, so seems like your family made the mistake to attack me. Just like you did right now.", you responded.

"You will regret this.", he shouted angrily and tried attacking you again, Zevlor easily keeping him away from you, having the man stumble backwards.

"You will join your family soon, no worries.", Zevlor said calmly. He seemed collected. You knew he was in his element here.

He noticed some movement behind him, another person attacking you and he turned to keep them away from you. Keeping two enemies away from you was a rather busy fight, but nothing he hadn't done before. A few moments later both of their dead bodies were on the floor, Zevlor sheating his sword and moved over to you.

"Are you okay?", he asked, looking you all over.

"I'm fine, thank you.", you responded, shock still in your bones.

"Lets get you home quickly."

He had his hand on your back, gently pushing you to get going, obviously worried there could be more enemies.

Nearly at your home was when you noticed he was walking rather tense. You blamed it on his worries, but there was something off.

"Are you hurt?", you asked. You hadn't noticed he got hit, the fight being too quickly done for you to see.

"I'm fine, it's just a scratch.", he responded. His tone telling you it wasn't just a scratch for you.

When you arrived at your home you just pulled him along with you inside your place.

"What are you doing?", he asked as you pulled him inside.

"Do you think you are leaving alone when you are injured?", you replied, rolling your eyes.

"It's really nothing. I've had much worse."

"Show me the 'nothing' then.", you said when you arrived in your living room.

He winced in pain when he was just trying to take off his armor, indicating it surely wasn't nothing.

You moved around him, helping him loosen the buckles holding it in place.

When the armor came off you noticed the blood soaked through the shirt he was wearing under it.

"Seriously, this is what you call nothing?" You would be mad at him if he didn't just save your life.

You pulled his shirt up and he tried his best to lift his arms to take it off.

The wound you looked at reached from his left shoulder to the middle of his chest, the cut not too deep yet enough to bleed heavily.

"Shit, I should bring Shadowheart here, I'm not good at this.", you said, looking at the amount of blood showing on his skin.

"Really, it's nothing. Do you have something to sanitize it and some bandages?", he asked, holding the shirt he was wearing onto his injury to try and stop the bleeding.

You searched your cabinets, finding both items he mentioned.

"Come sit down.", you said, pulling a chair out for him. "This will probably hurt a little."

You sanitized his injury, watching him bite down on his lip to not shout in pain. There were many scars along his body so you were sure he had worse injuries as he mentioned earlier. You felt bad seeing him hurt, with his skin glistening with sweat and his face clearly showing how painful it was.

Once you were done sanitizing, you started wrapping the bandages around him, careful not to touch his injury while standing in front of him between his legs. His tail found its way around you again, comfortably resting on your waist.

You could feel his exhausted gaze on you, while you finished wrapping the bandages, securing them so they won't move.

"All done.", you said, one hand resting on his not injured shoulder, the other one wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Thank you again for saving me."

"No need to thank me, you have done the same more than once before." His eyes were on you, his hand catching yours and bringing it to his cheek, leaning his face into it. "Thanks for cleaning my injury for me."

"It's the least I could do."

His eyes closed as he leaned his face into your palm, he looked incredibly tired.

"I hope you know I won't let you go home like this.", you said.

His eyes opened again and looked up at you.

"Honestly, I was hoping you would say so, I am too exhausted to move much.", he admitted slightly embarrassed.

"My bedroom is over there, make yourself at home, I'll sleep on the couch."

"Absolutely not. I won't claim your bed when you'd have to sleep on the couch just because of me.", he said.

"Stop being so stubborn, you saved my life and you will have my bed for tonight. It's the least I can do.", you replied.

"Share it with me then. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself."

You were surprised by his request but if that's the compromise he would agree to, you weren't going to complain.

"Okay, fine.", you said, locking eyes with him.

"Thank you." He looked at you with a tired smile on his lips, yet his eyes showing his affection for you.

"I even lost my chance to tease you today due to the fighting.", he said, his smile growing a bit wider.

"There's more days to come, I don't think you need to worry about that.", you said avoiding his gaze.

You both kept silent for a second, your eyes finding his again, your face heating up when you noticed just how close you were. You still stood between his legs, him sitting in front of you and his tail curled around your waist. You weren't sure what to do, yet it wasn't uncomfortable to just stand there and look into his eyes while being close to him.

"Are you finally going to kiss me?", he asked.

Your eyes went wide while he just kept looking at you, waiting.

"Close your eyes."

He did as you said, still waiting. You weren't sure why a simple kiss made you so nervous.

Your hands were on his cheeks as you leaned closer, chewing on your bottom lip. When you finally placed your lips on his, it felt like your heart jumped. His lips instantly moved with yours and his hands were on your hips, pulling you even closer.

Your hands moved into his hair, gently holding onto it.

He pulled back a few seconds later, smiling up at you, his face showing his affection towards you but you couldn't help but notice the tired expression on it.

You moved some strands of hair that had loosened back behind his ear.

"We should go to sleep, you look exhausted.", you said, taking a step back, your hand finding his and pulling him along to your bedroom.

"I'm never too exhausted to kiss you, you know."

"You'll have plenty of time for that when you wake up tomorrow.", you responded.

"I'll hold you to that."

[sugurus-slxt]

NEW! IDEA

Academic Rivals to Lovers

academic_rival!tsukishima x reader

CHARACTER: TSUKISHIMA KEI

SETTING: COLLEGE AU

NOTE: Sorry I've been gone for so long school has been kicking my ass. I hope you guys are ok and though my requests are closed please remember my dms are always open.

So I've got a new idea going I've had this on my mind since last year and though I might not be able to keep to schedule I do intend to finish it so I hope you'll stick around. So here is the plan, the titles may be subject to change, so are the POVs and the timeframe isn't set but this is the general idea. I hope you're as excited as I am Love <3 ~ Sar-chan

| WEEK 1 – WHAT HE TELLS HIMSELF

3rd POV

| WEEK 2 – UGLY SWEATER

Reader POV

| WEEK 3 – ROOFTOP SUNSETS

Reader POV

| WEEK 4 – FOR HIS PRIDE

Tsukishima POV

| WEEK 5 – HALLWAY CONVERSATIONS

3rd POV

| WEEK 6 – WHY’D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU’RE HIGH?

Reader POV

| WEEK 7 – ARE YOU AVOIDING ME?

Tsukishima POV

| WEEK 8 – STUDYING TOGETHER

Reader POV

| WEEK 9 – COLLIDE

Dual POV

| WEEK 10 – ARE  YOU AVOIDING ME? PT.2

Reader POV

| WEEK 11 – COFFEE AFTER SCHOOL

Tsukishima POV

| WEEK 12 – WOW YOU HAVE HEART? (bought you a book you wanted)

Reader POV

| WEEK 13 – DO I LIKE HIM /  HER?

Dual POV

| WEEK 14 – DOES SHE EVER LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT?

Tsukishima POV

| WEEK 15 – BLAME IT ON THE ALCOHOL

Dual Pov

| WEEK 16 – CAN’T I JUST HIDE IN HERE FOREVER?

Reader POV

| WEEK 17 – DRUNKEN CONFESSIONS

3rd POV

| WEEK 18 – TRAITOR

Reader POV

| WEEK 19 – ARE  YOU AVOIDING ME? PT.2

Tsukishima POV

| WEEK 20  – WANNA BE YOURS

Tsukishima POV {maybe Dual}

| WEEK 2.5  – WHAT TO DO…?

Tsukishima POV

| WEEK 21 – IT’S FREAKING 2 AM!

Reader POV

| WEEK 22 – RENDEZVOUS

3rd POV

| WEEK 23 – THE HONEYMOON PHASE

Reader POV

| WEEK 24 – JEALOUSY JEALOUSY

Reader POV

| WEEK 25 -  THE ONLY ONE

Dual POV

| WEEK 26 – THE WALK OF SHAME

Dual POV

| WEEK 27 – WE WEREN’T SHOCKED

3rd POV

[varelasgf]

Worth it - Mason Mount, Ferran Torres.

Note: hii! So this is my first attempt to write something, its a little short but i think it works. I wanted to write about Ferran because there's nothing about him in here so yeeeah. Hope you like it <3.

sorry if there is any grammar mistake english is not my first language:)...

Warnings: toxic relationships, cheating, dickhead Mason, angsty.

It was 1 am on a Saturday night, and you were supposed to be getting ready to go out with your friends. However, tears streamed down your face in silence within the confines of your bathroom. This emotional turmoil followed yet another disappointment—Mason, your boyfriend, decided not to show up at your house to give you your car keys, leaving you worried and without a way to join your friends.

This situation had become a disheartening routine. After a series of setbacks, Mason's coping mechanism involved drinking and seeking solace in the company of other women at the club. Despite your awareness of his indiscretions—lipstick stains on his shirt, condom wrappers in his car—ending the relationship seemed impossible. Four years of love and commitment kept you tethered to him, even though the once-burning passion had long extinguished.

And then, you met him.

Alone once again after Mason forgot your anniversary, you found yourself at a table for two with shattered hopes. Two hours of waiting, calling, and being ignored led to the decision to give up and head home. That's when you collided with a brunette.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see yo-" you looked up to find Ferran Torres standing before you.

"It's okay, don't worry. I didn't see you either."

Ferran Torres—the Barcelona talent who had risen after a tough breakup.

"I'm Ferran."

Your words stumbled, "Oh, yes, um, I'm y/n." His smile made you feel cute, even in your flustered state.

"Sorry, I was about to approach you when you stood up. Were you waiting for someone?"

"Um, not exactly. And you?"

Despite having a boyfriend, you didn't seem to mind when Ferran invited you to his apartment at 6 am.

In Ferran's cozy place, you both felt a strong connection. While talking, Ferran's touch got more intense, leading to a passionate kiss that sparked a flame, pushing away the pain from Mason's mistakes.

In that special moment, Ferran's hands made you feel free and comforted. This spicy scene changed your story, turning heartache into a promise of a stronger love in the morning light.

≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡

Months later, you found yourself calling Ferran to pick you up, and as always, he answered.

"It's okay, baby. Just wait for me in the kitchen," he assured you, rushing to his car. "Relax and drink some water. I'll be there in 5."

And he always came.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," you confessed, tears flowing freely in his strong arms.

"Bebe, I've already told you he doesn't deserve your tears or your love," Ferran said, gently stroking your hair. "He's an asshole. You just have to leave him."

"But you know I love him, Fer. I can't just leave. We've been together for four years."

"You can't leave him, but he can?"

Ferran was tired—tired of witnessing him treat you poorly while you accepted it all. Tired of receiving your calls at 4 am when Mason failed to meet your needs. Tired of you not realizing how deeply in love he was with you.

"Fer, please, I don't want to fight. Not with you."

Deep down, Ferran knew he would never be the one to take action. He was afraid—afraid of losing you. He understood that he was merely the person you called when you needed to cry or when your boyfriend failed you. It hurt, but at least he had you, and he would always answer your midnight calls.

Pt. 2

[my-heart-beat-for-anime]

Jann Mardeborough x čtenář pt. 4

Pt.1,Pt.2, Pt.3, Pt.4, Pt.5

Everyone was saying that. That Jann will be a failure and that he can't win. However, I didn't believe it until I saw how it looks in real professional racing. It was crazy, I've never been more worried about Jann. The realization that he could collapse at any time and lose his life in the process scared me. Fortunately, none of that happened so far and Jann was getting to the front of the race. I was watching everything with bated breath when suddenly a gilded car pulled up. Earlier, Jack revealed to me that Nicholas Capa was driving that car, and from the context of what Jack told me, he wasn't a very good person. Suddenly, Capa's car started to run into Jann's, trying to push him off the track. Although Jann tried to resist the pressure, in the end the second car pushed him off the track. Fortunately, Jann recovered almost immediately but placed in one of the last places. For me, it was a success that Jann finished the race in good health. When Jann's car got back to the pit, Jack and I opened the door and started encouraging Jann.,, Jann, don't be sad, the big success is that you managed to reach the finish line and you didn't even finish last, you did amazing" I said when I caressed his cheek, but Jann gave me a sad smile and was about to leave for the trailers, but a certain voice stopped him. "Hey pretty girl, why waste your time on someone who doesn't even need it, wouldn't you rather be keeping company with a real competitor." I knew very well whose voice it belonged to even before I turned around. He was that cocky racer, leaning on his shiny car, with the most arrogant smile I've ever seen. He acted like the most sensible thing for me to do would be to push Jann away and jump into his arms. I wanted to start cursing him for what he thinks about himself and I felt Jann clench his hands, but before we could somehow start an argument, Jack intervened. "Leave her alone and you two come." Capa kept yelling at us but for the sake of all of us we ignored it. For the rest of the day I tried to encourage Janna and finally I succeeded.

The next few races were more or less the same. At Jack's request, I suggested Jann's training to make him as strong as possible and I also helped with motivation. For each lap completed, Jann received kisses and a bit of a cuddles so he charged into the next round with even more determination. Jack just always shook his head and secretly laughed at us. Unfortunately, it also happened that one of the journalists took a photo of us during one of the kisses and before we knew it we were on the cover of almost every tabloid magazine. As if the situation wasn't bad enough, a certain blond racer found out about it, and his innuendo became more personal and sexual. I was close to punching him a few times, but Jack and Danny mostly stopped me.

Unfortunately, Jann has not been able to get a license yet, and today was the last race when he could get it.

"So are you ready?" I asked Jann when he was about to get into the car. Jann, fully focused, just nodded and gave me a kiss on the cheek. As soon as he pulled away, he put on his helmet and jumped into the car.

The race was going well, Jann made his way to the front until he ran into Capa and Schulin. He tried to pass between them but they both started to pick him up, I heard his scared voice from Jack's earpiece but he finally came up with the solution that he slowed down and then passed them both. I was so happy that she squealed and jumped. But my joy quickly passed when Capa rapidly increased his speed.

I only had time to think about what a fool he is to try such a speed. When I saw on the screen how he collided with the car that was in front of Jann. The cars overturned several times and were almost completely destroyed. I heard Jann's alarming voice, from what I understood, one of the tires broke the windshield. He was instructed by Jack to go to the depot to refuel. When he arrived everyone rushed to him and checked the car.,, Jann you are ok, nothing happened to you." I shouted over all the noise. Jann gave me a thumbs up and I breathed a sigh of relief. The accident was still showing on the screen and finally it was seeing the racers get out of the cars in good health. Capa was seen to push the medic away in anger and throw his helmet on the ground. How selfish can this man be, he could have just killed someone and instead he throws a tantrum like a child.

Meanwhile, Jann was back on track and doing very well. Now all he had to do was defend his coveted fourth place. Fortunately, he succeeded and thanks to this he obtained a license, which ensured his continued support. Jack and I rejoiced and hugged each other. When Jann finally arrived at the depot, he immediately started after Capa. They shouted at each other, luckily Jack and I, pulled Jann away.,, Just enjoy your victory and that sexy little thing while you can." Capa shouted. And just at that moment I had enough. I quickly turned and walked over to him. The man just laughs and he whistles before a slap lands on his face.,, Don't ever talk about me and Jann again and I would suggest you learn to treat people well you idiot." I said clearly and followed Jann and Jack.

If you have any idea about this or any other stor y I am opend to anything.

Take care of yourself and I love you.

[prettywhenibleed]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝕭𝖔𝖞𝖘

𝕸𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖔: Without You 🦇 Here To Stay 🦇 I'll Always Find You Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 Warmth Pt 1 - Pt 2 Crack Fic Imagine 🦇 Painting Marko’s Nails 🦇 A Night Alone 🦇

𝕻𝖆𝖚𝖑: Kill For You Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 Incorrect Quotes - Sweet Dreams + Nightmare 🦇 Under The Boardwalk 🦇 Don’t Know What You Got 🦇

𝕯𝖜𝖆𝖞𝖓𝖊: Steal You Away Pt 1 - Pt 2 Dwayne BJ Smut 🦇 Twins Imagine 🦇 Dwayne Finding Your Smut 🦇 Forever Yours Pt 1 - Pt 2 The Night We Met 🦇 🦇(Alt ending) Broken Without You Pt 1 - Pt 2 Imagine: Smile For The Camera 🦇

𝕯𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖉: Even In Death 🦇 Another Life Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3

𝕻𝖔𝖑𝖞 𝕷𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝕭𝖔𝖞𝖘: Misunderstanding 🦇 He's Already Dead Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 It's True, I Swear! 🦇 100 Bucks Is 100 Bucks 🦇 When Worlds Collide Pt 1 - Pt 2 Head Canon (Stealing your wheelchair/prosthetic leg) 🦇 If I Don’t Turn It Into A Joke, It Will Destroy Me! 🦇 Incorrect Quotes - Survival 🦇

𝕷𝖆𝖉𝖉𝖎𝖊: Big Man To Little Man, Over 🦇

𝕽𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖘: If I Don’t Turn It Into A Joke, It Will Destroy Me! - Gn!Reader x Poly 🦇 Don’t Know What You Got - Fem!Reader x Paul 🦇

SPAM LIKING WITHOUT REBLOGGING = BLOCKED

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Love Song for a Vampire Pt.25

Pairing(s): Edward Cullen x Wolf!Reader

Warnings: none

Words: 1996

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  Part 21  Part 22  Part 23  Part 24  Part 26  Part 27  Part 28  Part 29  Part 30  Part 31  Part 32  Part 33  Part 34  Part 35  Part 36  Part 37  Part 38  Part 39

Giving you and Edward privacy, Evita goes back to the bonfire. She does give one last look to the vampire, as if wondering if it was okay to leave you alone with something like him. Regardless, Evita leaves, carrying her bag that held the ritual items she would have used.

You watch her figure join the bundles of trees just to make sure she was heading in the right direction. Satisfied that she’d find her way safely, you turn to Edward who offers his hand out to you. “Care to join me for a walk?”

Hesitant fingers slide along his cold hand. Your body temperatures were solar opposites. The two colliding sent a rippling tingling that started from your palm and up your arm. Edward felt it too as he his body jolts slightly from the sensation.

“Alice called you?” You ask as you fall into step alongside him. “She said you were at Bella’s with the Denalis.”

He nods. “Yeah. But I told them there was somewhere I needed to be. Alice was freaking out. I think I freaked out a little bit more. . .”

The gentle singing of the river gets closer the further you and Edward delve into the forest. Leisurely you bump into one another in a soothing rhythm, wandering with no real destination.

“How is she doing? Bella? I saw her sometime ago and we had lunch.” You hadn’t gained the courage to call her yourself. While the two of you had spoken in a civil manner, you were still uncomfortable with the thought of ringing her up yourself. Jacob wanted friendship to blossom between you and Bella, but it was too soon for that. Especially with Edward making a stance and choosing to go after you.

“Healthy. Healthy and safe.” That was all he ever wanted for Bella. You nod and move to continue along the riverbank but Edward stops you. “Wait. I know we’re fated to be together, but I feel like there is still so much I don’t know about you. You probably know more about me.”

What was there to know about you? Before turning into a wolf, your life had been normal. So normal that it could border on being mind painfully boring. A life of rinse and repeat. Wake up, go to school, come home, do homework, then go to bed to do it all over again the next day. Occasionally on the weekends your small family might go out for a refreshing hike or even fishing.

Going on to tell Edward of your simple life on the reservation, you describe your mother and father; both hard working people and yet always generous to those who had even less n than you did. Like when Harry Clearwater died, they made sure Sue and her kids were fed for weeks. Your mom would stay up late preparing casserole dishes and other easy to heat up meals so that Sue wouldn’t have to worry about her family eating. They even picked up Seth (along with the others) for carpool.

Never wanting them to worry more than they needed to, you tried your entire childhood to be a good kid. Being a wolf though changed that. Now constantly worried about your wellbeing, all you could do was give them hollow promises that you would be safe. That was not the job of a Quileute wolf though. Combating danger was. And fighting vampires guaranteed that you were never safe.

“Do they know about me?” Hesitantly he brings up the imprinting. Unsure of how much your parents really knew about your others life.

Pursing your lips, you relent. “To an extent. They don’t really know imprinting itself but they understand that something is going on between us, whatever that may be. But they don’t know what you or the rest of your family are. Just that you’re descendants from the stories that we tell of the Cold Ones.”

Not it mention that they probably thought you still had a crush on Embry. Your parents saw it immediately when both of you were small children. Their giggles could be heard whenever you and Embry hung out and they were home. Worse was when Quil threatened to tell Embry at one point if you didn’t do whatever he said. That threat didn’t hold up when your hurled your small body at him and pinned him to the ground; hissing that you would spit in his face right then and there if he promised to keep it a secret.

“You know, I still don’t know much about you either. I know that you were the first vampire Carlisle created, but nothing else.” What you really wanted to know was what was his life like when he was a human. But you realize how sensitive that topic could be. His human family was definitely dead by now.

His gaze warms thoughtfully. When he spoke, along with fondness came the sting of sorrow. “Before Carlisle saved me from the Spanish influenza, I grew up in Chicago with a vacant father and a loving mother. Nothing particularly exciting happened during that time. I was seventeen when my mom and I got sick.”

That tender smile twitched downward for a split second at the memory of his mom and the day he became an immortal. You couldn’t imagine losing your own mother the same day you discovered you could live forever.

Edward notices the sad gleam on your face and he makes sure to lift his lips back up into an easygoing grin. “Don’t be sad. I’ve had many decades to mourn and grieve and really understand the opportunity she wanted me to have. With this life I was able to get not one, but two medical degrees, learn a handful of languages, and so much more.”

He truly had lived much longer than you. You were still the young and naive age of sixteen despite looking like a full grown adult thanks to the wolf transformation.

“That’s incredible. I’ve never been out of the state of Washington.” You bemoan and pick through the rocks that lined the slow trickle of water.

He laughs a little. “You still have plenty of time to change that. I never left Illinois when I was human either. There was the option of boarding school out of state, but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my mom alone.” Edward sits down along the bank with a sigh and leans his head back. The sky was already a dark blanket with stars embroidered into it. His skin nearly glowed in the starlight.

You wouldn’t learn everything about him in one single night. For now, this was enough.

**

Evita couldn’t help but release a relieved breath as she walked out of the thick of trees and back to Sam Uley’s house. Happy that she didn’t have to perform a life changing spell like that. While she was more than capable, there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong for her to intervene with strong forces. Edward and (y/n)’s differences may prove to be challenging, almost to impossible, but Evita had a good feeling that things would work out for them in the end. Patience and communication was required on both sides. (Y/n) had a good head on her shoulders though. At least from what Evita could see from the short amount of time they had known each other.

Already Evita could see the orange glow of the bonfire and hear many voices reveling. For a second, she felt a ping of homesickness. Being among the warmth of a close knit community had her longing for her family. She wouldn’t be able to go home for quite awhile. There was much work to do here. Her mother had understood the duty she felt and commended her daughter.

Most of the seats closest to the fire were already taken by other members of the pack and elder’s council. There was one seat however that was still empty. Next to the only other female wolf.

Leah right?” Evita walks up to her and points to the plastic folding chair propped next to her. “Is it okay if I take this seat?”

The she-wolf flicked her dark umber eyes over to the witch, nodding her consent silently. Leah observed Evita carefully as she sat. “Where’s (y/n)?”

Grinning, Evita looked back over her shoulder at the forest. “Thought I would let her and Edward have some privacy as they talk.”

That seemed to make her draw even further into herself. “I thought I smelled a leech.”

“Oh? What do vampires smell like to you?” She innocently asked with a cock of her head. Leah had never paused to really describe a vampire’s scent.

“Grossly sweet.” Was all she could find to explain.

Humming with thought, she leans back in her chair, her view filled with the laughing faces of the younger members of the pack and the thoughtful ones of the elders. “How funny and odd this world is.”

Leah didn’t think it was funny at all. More like some cruel joke that she would never get the hang of. In every single way, this whole wolf thing had royally messed up her life. There was no solace she could take.

She knew that if she told Evita about Jacob imprinting on her, that Evita wouldn’t find the world quite so funny.

It was on the tip of her tongue as bitterness nearly won her over. Evita was genuine though and only wanted to get to know the pack better. She was willing to protect them with her magic after all.

Gulping back whatever sour thing she could have said, Leah asked her “Was this your first time encountering vampires?”

��Yes. They weren’t quite as I imagined. A visiting witch came to our house one day and told us about them. How terrifying it is to be in front of one. Even of the massive coven called the Volturi.”

(y/n) had mentioned them too. If they were enough to make the Cullens fear them, then they must be a big deal.

Her concern was palpable and Evita told Leah reassuringly “Like I told the rest of the pack, I’ll do my best to protect everyone here in Forks. I just might need to call in one more person. . .”

Eyebrows lift quizzically, Leah sits up a little straighter. “Another witch?”

She nods. “I would have preferred my grandma to come, but she’s too old for traveling and my mom is too busy taking care of my sisters. There’s someone else I know. Thing is they’re in Haiti right now so it would take a while for them to fly here.”

“You don’t think you can do it by yourself?”

“I can make all the wards myself, but I won’t have enough energy to install them strategically around Forks. I would ask the pack to help me, but they need to have a proper knowledge of magic that would take me months to teach. And with the informants that the Volturi possess, who knows how long we have until they know about this Bella girl.”

Anxiety would have besieged Evita, it should have from all the responsibility. She was good under pressure though and knew that she shouldn’t waste her time worrying. Leah watched the expression of determination calm the witch’s features. Even if it was just herself, she would do the best she could.

“Calling your friend is always worth a shot. . .” Leah murmured; Evita’s beaming confidence was contagious. “You never know. Like you said, the world is odd and funny. They might be able to make it if they plan properly.”

Evita shot Leah a bright smile. “You’re right! I’m going inside to call her.”

Knowing she could offer appreciated assistance, Leah grins to herself and glances over at the dancing flames. Her rigid demeanor softened and one could say she was at peace with herself for but a moment.

——————————

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