#and frank shaking his head and mumbling ‘i’ll never understand’ to himself

[newjerseycoatcore]

mcr’s consistent and extremely fucking loud support for their lgbt fans… long before it was even popular to be so supportive and cool to the community… that will always be everything to me

[felswritingfire]

(Hades) Gods x Shade! Reader

No matter how much you try, mortality will always catch up to those who are not of gods. Even the most blinded of them learn this eventually. You take your death with grace, choosing to go and explore this new world as soon as Lord Hades permits you to go, impressed by how little you complain and demand. You are one of the brighter parts of his day (night?).

You drift along, catching certain snippets of other Shade’s conversations as you wander aimlessly. You notice a crack in the wall; deciding to muster up your courage, you slip through it to find yourself in the glowing green torches of Tartarus. With what little you have, you hold it close to your translucent body and push forward.

You’re quick to notice the large glowing ball with an oddly familiar symbol floating in the middle of it. You take your time circling it, feeling compelled to touch it. When you do, a beam of light comes slicing through the dreary air to reveal a mighty god who stares down at you at your shocked form...

Zues

Cause of Death: Lightning Strike

Zues is confused when he sees you. He’s even more confused when you start screaming at him, waving your hands about and threatening to fight him yourself.

“You fucker! You killed me!”

He raises a brow. “I think I’d remember if I killed you.” You flipped up your middle finger at him and his eyebrows drew into an angry v. “How rude! I am the God of Gods-”

“I don’t care!”

Zagreus had to high tail it to you before Zues tried to smite you (possibly a second time).

Suffice to say you hoped you’d never bump into that boon again. And you didn’t. No, the God of Gods and Lightning himself decided that he’d have to make a house call himself (Hades was not pleased when a bolt of lightning came crashing down and left a scorched black ring in the carpet).

He picks you out quickly and you try to zoom out of the lobby until he catches you by the back of your robe and then you’re swinging and yelling profanities at him. He’s kinda amused now instead of angry- you’re just so weak and tiny compared to him. It’s hysterical- ow! Did you just bite him?

After you and Zues finish your little “spitting match”- Hades kicks Zeus out and you're forced to hang out in Tartarus for a bit (“but I’m just a simple fisherfolk! I can’t fight anything!” You cry, Hades does not spare you a look as you're dragged out by Meg).

You think maybe that’s the end until you’re approached by a… a squirrel? You almost punt it when his voice spills out as he shoots into a long prattle about how much of a jerk Hades was and how he couldn’t handle someone as grandiose as him appearing before him. Threatened him as a god or something- you were busy trying to figure out how you were going to kill this guy and make sure he stayed dead.

Turns out, after the two of you chattered (argued) a bit about whether or not he actually killed you, Zeus had some neat stories about the gods.

While you were interested in his children’s and brothers’ and sisters’ stories, he was interested in your stories of the mundane. A simple fisherfolk? That was a word? You just fished and traded? Amazing! Tell him more!

After this particular interaction between the two of you, Zeus really ended liking you. Maybe a little too much, but, aw well, it wasn’t everyday a mortal soul had the balls to argue with him for something he doesn’t remember doing (he probably did. Probably. Most likely). He swore that he’d come and see you everyday as he sat on your shoulder as a squirrel, going on and on about how you should feel blessed to be praised by one such as he. You were about to throw him until a giant hand came out and grabbed him (seemed you drifted too close to Lord Hades’ desk), the hulking god flinging him out of a portal.

He continues to pop up and bother you and, to be honest, he’s kinda growing on you. Also, I’m gonna be frank and lay it out that, if he likes you enough, he’s probs gonna want to smash, especially if you lean more towards the feminine side (he’s fucking AWFUL). It’s up to you if you wanna indulge that or not, I don’t recommend it, but you can if you really want to.

We’re going with the option you don’t smash- he’ll be salty at you for a whole ass day before he comes back the one after that as a rat (Hades kept finding out his forms that he used to sneak in so it was an ever constant menagerie of appearances to keep up the disguise) and is like: “I thought you would miss me too much so I came back before you could even complain.”

Zag likes to watch the two of you interact because he finds it absolutely fascinating. It’s like watching… He doesn’t know what it’s like but he’s having a blast as you roast his uncle to bits. It really helps him out when he’s feeling a bit down after failing getting out one too many times.

When you first get Zeus an Ambrosia, he thinks it’s poison and then he gets all prideful because of course you would give him an offering, he was the strongest of all the gods! Him and him alone!

“Silly, mortal, you cannot poison me! I am a god.”

You squint your eyes at him before you huff and pull the bottle closer to you. “Fine, whatever, I’ll just give it to Zagreus- or better yet, Hades if you don’t want it.”

“No! No! I want it! Give it to me! It’s mine!”

During this time, he’s actually experiencing some purer emotions in life- he’s genuinely giddy that you got him the Ambrosia and asks how you got it. You hold up a makeshift fishing rod and grin at him, telling him you snatched it from some nasty shades before you wandered back down to Tartarus.

His gift to you is a little lightning pin that, when you're in danger, will send a nasty bolt of lightning down on your enemies. You wonder what good it’ll do since you’re dead already, but shrug and accept it, thinking that he looks years younger and friendler when his smile isn’t packed full of ego and pride.

Poseidon

Cause of Death: Drowning

Poseidon, Lord of the Oceans, Earthquakes, and many other things, is simply- how do you say? Amused? It’s the best way to describe it at least. Of course he was mostly surprised when he appeared expecting the Little Hades to be waiting for him just to meet a Little Shade in his place.

“Why, hello there, Little Shade! You wouldn’t happen to know where the Little Hades is, would you?”

You shake your head, he doesn’t miss the way you nervously play with your hands, drifting back as some of his droplets float close to you.

He laughs at your simple reply. “Shy one aren’t you?” He leans closer to you, squinting and running a hand through his beard while he hummed.

You fight the urge to take a step back, the smell of salt water making your stomach churn.

His eyes flutter shut as he takes a deep breath. He takes a moment before he opens his eyes again and a look of understanding flashes across his eyes. “You drowned. Didn’t you?”

You stare up at him, eyes round and glassy. You nod.

Before your conversation can go any further, Zagreus comes running through the window, surprised to see his Uncle talking to a Shade (you look so scared- he hopes that you aren’t being bullied). You’re quick to take your leave bowing to both and passing the boon to the Prince before you scurry away into the cover of the other Shades.

He hums to himself, a cryptid smile on his face as his eyes follow after you. Such a strange little thing you were- he wouldn’t mind seeing you again.

It takes a bit, but he does happen to see you again, by peaking through a fountain in a fountain room in the Underworld. He spies you trying to poke at the water that he happened to choose, but jumping back each time. You face scrunched up into one of pure frustration. He asks if you’re doing alright there, Little Shade? Causing you to flash out of existence for a moment before settling back down and looking into the pool with wide eyes. Posiedon almost busts a gut with how hard he’s laughing and you huff telling him that it wasn’t funny.

He says otherwise, but asks what you’re doing. When your face bursts into a large blush you mumble something that he doesn’t quite catch and he’s left with more questions than answers as you take the chance to phase out of the chamber when Zag walks in and steals his Uncle’s attention for a split second. He furrows his brow before asking his nephew about you, which Zag, surprisingly, supplies rather quickly, seeing as the two of you talk a lot: apparently you’re deathly afraid of water after you were thrown into the ocean by your supposed best friend. The memories of the waves crushing you deeper and deeper beneath them sticking with you even in death. So, you were trying to curb that phobia. Posiedon nods, letting the words sink in before he offers the Little Hades a thumbs up and says he’ll help with that.

The next time you see the god, he’s eager to call you over and explain that he’s figured out what you were doing last time and offers to let you mess with some of the drops of water that follow him wherever he goes. You stare at them, eyebrows furrowed and looking just as sick as a shade could look. Yet, you still nod your head and hold out a shaky hand. He smiles at you, praising you for your courage and flicks one towards you; it floats gently before it rests serenely on your palm, allowing you to feel the cool sensation of the droplet. You marvel at it, still shaking with an anxiety before you nod. He pulls it away, it shoots back to rest next to his head and you thank him for going out of his way to help you and ease your fears.

He remarks that you should fear the water out of respect: it’s unpredictable, terrifying in it’s own right- vast and, seemingly, never ending, what could possibly be more terrifying than the unknown, hm? He continues to say that you should also hold onto a bit of bravery at the very least, for untold treasures come from there for those who look.

After that conversation, Poseidon makes it a habit of having you hold onto his droplets of water, making them slightly bigger each time for you to get used to them.

By the time you’re able to touch them freely without experiencing crippling fear- the droplets are almost the size of you. Poseidon praises you the more you grow out of your fear.

You do eventually open up to him about how you died and he never tells you that he already knew. Just allows you to talk in a soft voice as you recall it. It’s a nice bonding experience for the both of you and Posideon decides that you’re his favorite Shade and he’ll treasure you for as long as you exist.

The first time you get him a bottle of Ambrosia, you come to him shivering and sopping wet. He’s confused and concerned as he hovers to you.

“What happened to you, Little Shade? Are you alright?”

It takes you a moment to be able to speak. “I- I found a bottle of Ambrosia. I thought-” you take a deep breath, holding out the bottle with both hands- “I thought you’d like it.”

It’s one of his prized possessions now, he takes little sips of it once in a while, but other than that it remains as one of his most precious memories. He’s very attached to you at this point and you’ll forever have his blessing. His gift to you, aside from the undying loyalty, is a shell necklace, if you ever need him- you only need to whisper his name to it and he’ll appear in an instant.

Athena

Cause of Death: Exhaustion

Athena had been prepared to meet with Zagreus- not a curious shade staring back up at her with all the relevance of one of her worshippers.

“What business do you have with me?”

She raises her brow at your gobsmacked expression, watching as you screw your face up before bowing. “Apologies, m’lady, I only happened to bump into your…” you look at where it glows, furrowing your eyebrow, “your orb?”

“Boon.”

You nod your head in understanding before bowing your head again. “Again, my sincerest apologies.”

Luckily, she didn’t smite you, instead asking the question of how you were even talking to her. Getting a shrug from you, you say that maybe it’s because you worshipped her (unofficially, you were never able to make it up to her shrine much to your disappointment) when you were alive- maybe a deeper bond is there compared to someone who had never prayed to her for her protection and guidance.

When she hears this, she’s very interested, pressing you to elaborate further when the Young Prince comes jogging out of the glowing window, waving to you. You slink away, passing the boon to him and bowing to her once again before you disappear into the mass of Shades that choose to wander their new home as well.

After the conversation, you had caught the Goddess’ attention, planting a desire in her to see you again. Even going as far as to write a letter to ask her uncle for a council with you after a week passed of her placing her boon in Tartarus so that maybe you would drift too close to it once again. But each time only the little prince would find them (which she was fine with, but it still left such an unflattering taste of defeat on her tongue each time it wasn’t you). She figured it would be a moot point to send the letter, but it was worth a try.

But she decided to place her boon down once more before she sent it out. Just to try. And this time it worked.

You were the one she saw and she was absolutely delighted- not that she showed it, choosing to keep her stoic and sharp expression. You greet her in a similar way before: awed before bowing your head to her. You continue to go on about how you're happy to see her again and, despite how little you had been buried with, you hoped that she would take this- a broken sword, despite the worn hilt and the deep scars the littered what was left of the flat of the balde; it was still polished (at least what was left of it)- as a proper offering to her for all she had done in your life- even if it truly wasn’t all her doings.

She takes the sword in her hand, holding it high, her eyes shining as she studies it: truly, it was a warrior’s blade. She watches as the history and memories flash in the smooth iron. She remarks that it is a remarkable offering, but she cannot accept it. It feels wrong taking a weapon of a warrior such as yourself.

You smile as her, shaking your head, urging her to take it, for you didn’t need that blade in this afterlife. You had already fought your battles, killing the man who you had been battling with and quelling the rage that had followed you since you were a child for revenge. Eventually, dying from the strain of the fight with a feeling of contentedness.

Athena raises her brow, remarking how that sounded more along the lines of Ares rather than her.

You nod, but say that you couldn’t help but desire her help for she was the goddess attached to your favorite animal. She had to fight the urge to laugh, a shaky smile slipping through as she nods at you. Such a silly thing you are. She decides that she’ll take the sword as a reminder of you, no matter where you should go now. She also decides that you were forming a rather soft cradle in her heart.

After this, she is quick to ask Zagreus about you every chance she gets- not that he minds too much, he tells her about how you’ve been helping him train and you’ve even told him about your life when you were alive (“a general, can you believe that? They’re so young!” Zagreus says as he shows her the new move you taught him). She’s only the slightest bit miffed at hearing that you and Achilles have begun to form a sweet friendship. She’s pleased to hear that his father has been trying to barter with you to get you into Elysium, though she’s a tad confused on the reason you refuse to.

She asks you about it one day and you say that it would take longer to see her and you would prefer to avoid that. It was the only time the goddess has ever had to fight down a blush.

When you get her a bottle of Ambrosia, she’s in pure awe at the huge bottle.

“How did you get one this big?”

You lean against the new sword you managed to get your hands on- something simple and obviously used- you offer her a lopsided grin. “Well, not just any Ambrosia would work, so I decided to try my luck with Lord Theseus and, The Great Bull, Asterius. Took me a couple of tries but I managed to beat them and snag it.”

Athena smiles warmly at it, telling you that she’ll treasure it and think of you every time she takes a drink of it. She realizes in that moment just how important you had become to her, never feeling this… soft for a mortal soul in her life. Her gift to you is a shield and a new sword: the shield bares her symbol of an owl while the sword was ornate with a divine glow. She promises that no matter what they’ll protect you and so will she, you only need to call out her name.

Aphrodite

Cause of Death: A Broken Heart

When the Goddess of Love first sees you- she thinks you’re absolutely gorgeous (of course not as gorgeous as her). The sad look in your eye and the slight frown that rests on your lips makes her almost fall in love right then and there.

“Hello, little one- do you know where the little godling is?”

You shake your head. “I’m sorry, Lady Aphrodite. I know not where he is.”

She raises her brows, a smile on her face. “How did you know I was Aphrodite, my dear?”

You look up at her, a sudden glint in your eyes has her yearning to see it once again. “No one else could be so breathtaking, my Lady.”

Oh. Oh, she likes you.

She chooses to chatter away with you- despite you mostly listening, adding little things here and there, she feels a strange sense of fullness, like she just ate a full and warm meal for the first time in a very long time, by the time Zagreus arrives. You bid your farewell and she can’t help but follow you with her gaze as your transparent form blends in with the other Shades.

Aphrodite is thrilled the next time she runs into you- or rather you run into her boon. She missed the melancholy look in your eyes, she also doesn’t miss the fact that you’ve come bearing gifts this time: an assortment of colorful flowers rests in your arms and you offer it to her. That glint coming and going like a shooting star as she accepts the offering, holding it up to her nose to take in their sweet scent. How sweet were you to hand her something so delicate.

She asks you where you got them and you remark that you made your way up to Elysium. She’s surprised to hear as such- you didn’t seem like the warrior type. You shake your head, your eyes sweeping low. You weren’t a warrior, far from it- a simple florist if anything. You just drifted until you made it up there and plucked some flowers to make bouquets. You mumble that maybe you’ll be more useful in death.

She tilts her head at the comment, beginning to ask until Zagreus is jogging up to the both of you and it was time for you to leave. She’s a tad annoyed, but reminds herself that the little godling didn’t know- simply trying to break out of this dreary place he calls home and see Olympus in all its glory. She’ll just ask next time.

You gave her another bouquet, this one more beautiful than the last, when she gets the chance to ask you her question. Your eyes pool with a mournful look as you gaze up at her, your hand resting over the place where your heart used to beat as you look to the ground. You explain that you were young when you were wed- just as you were young when you died. You were married off to someone you did not love- someone awful, vile, who beat you down daily just to build you back up so they could laugh when they toppled you over once again. You remark about how you could feel yourself dying little by little, your delicate heart bleeding as your want for life began to dwindle away. You grew sick and you would sit by the window day in and day out, staring out and wondering what your life could have been if you were married to someone you loved. A ghost of a smile blooms on your lips as you look up at her, that glint she oh-so loved twinkling in your eye as you say that you did not die in as much loneliness and pain as you could have; having been making a bouquet dedicated just to her love and sweetness: your Lady Aphrodite who you love, ever so much.

She’s shocked when she realizes the tears that drip down her cheeks, her hand coming to caress your cheek (really your head, she was hulking compared to your small form) with her fingertips. She comments that she would accept every bouquet you made and treasure each flower like it was the one you made for her with your last breaths in the living world.

After that interaction, she comes down a lot more, asking Zagreus if he could bring along her darling florist so that she could talk to you. He always obliges, loving to see the two of you chatter about (well, her chatter about, you usually just listened with a smile on your face as you used the flowers you had plucked into flower crowns for him and Lady Aphrodite). You two become a sort of comfort for him when he’s getting frustrated: seeing your usually melancholy demeanor light up as soon as the goddess appears and in turn the goddess becomes something less vain and more gentle as she speaks to you.

At some point, you’ll probably meet Ares himself- the two never that far from each other, also she adores you, so it only makes sense for you to meet him. He’s honestly a tad unimpressed when you first meet, but when he hears about the heart ache you faced he gains a sense of respect for you, remarking that love is a battle in and of itself and you fought valiantly to keep your ability to love freely (Aphrodite might convince you to have a threesome, I’m not gonna lie, she’s attracted to you on a deep level and she has her trysts with Ares- it’s perfect in her eyes. Though she won’t push you if you don’t desire it).

When you first get her Ambrosia, she’s flabbergasted before it turns into worry for how you got it and the potential danger you were in.

She takes the bottle of gold liquid and the flowers that you had so carefully arranged. Her attention, though, is focused on the said bottle of Ambrosia. “My Darling Florist, how did you get this?” Before you can answer she shoots into a flurry of questions. “Are you alright? Did anything catch you? Hurt you? You don’t seem hurt. Oooh-” she puffs her cheeks out, her gaze sharp- “why did you get me this? It’s dangerous!”

You wait for her to calm down. “I apologize for making you worry, but I simply snuck around and grabbed it from some witches- they didn’t even notice me. And I-” you tap your fingers together, a blush blooming across your face as you look away from the goddess and she decides that she craves seeing that expression on you again- “I thought that you deserved it. It’s a much better offering than my silly bouquets.”

Well, aside from the ‘silly bouquets’ comment (which she corrects you on very quickly), she’s absolutely flattered and it might be the final nail in the coffin that has her falling for you, the little shade in front of her. She decides that you hold a piece of her heart in your translucent hands, though she chooses to keep that information to herself.

Her gift to you is a hairpin that matches hers, though if you don’t have enough hair- she says, you can always pin it to your robe. It’s a blatant claim on her part, but it also helps ease the residual heartache that followed you into death. And, hopefully (a personal hope of her), each time you look at it, you’d fall deeper and deeper in love with her as well.

Artemis

Cause of Death: Arrow to the Heart

She’s confused when she sees you, quick to voice her confusion as well. Also depending on if you're more feminine or masculine (and I don’t mean woman or man, I just mean how you present yourself), she will treat you differently depending. So, for now, we’re gonna go with the more “feminine” option:

“Who’re you?”

You bow. “An honor to meet you, Lady Artemis, I seem to have bumped into that orb on accident. Wasn’t sure what it did and the curiosity got the better of me.”

She hums, she perks when she notices your bow. “You’re a hunter?”

You smile, holding it out to her. “Yes, indeed, my Lady- I prayed to you a lot.” You laughed, adding. “Hoped to join your hunters when I was young.”

She’s quite happy to hear that and begins to chatter along with you. For some reason feeling oddly at ease around you. It’s probably because you were a fellow hunter but she simply can’t help the way she grows an odd sort of… adoration? Something like that, she thinks- for you. She almost laments the fact when Zagreus comes to get the boon.

You nod to him, biding your farewell to the Goddess and passing the boon to the Prince. She doesn’t miss how Zagreus’ eyes shine as you walk away. She almost comments on it but bites her tongue, wanting to observe the prince and the dreamy look that drifts over his features, even as you disappear.

The next time the two of you meet, she asks if she can see you in action. You agree and search up ahead to find something to demonstrate your skills on. You’re quick to find a few Numbskulls. She watches as you take a deep breath, your eyes narrowing on your unassuming targets and your footsteps become silent as you skirt closer to them. You nock an arrow, never looking away. Her eyes gleam with thrumming adrenaline at the way the muscles in your arms tense as you draw the string back. The low groan of the wood barely above a whisper as you wait for them to line up. You hold your breath, releasing the arrow- it goes through all three of them, making them break into dust in a consecutive line, a harrowing scream being wretched from them as they fade from existence. You release the breath you were holding and stand, sending a smile to the young goddess whose eyes shine with stars.

She praises you for your amazing skill and sings of your prowess. You shake your head, looking down at the ground as you argued that you were but a simple bow folk in your living life. Nothing more, nothing less.

She begs to differ! That type of skill only belongs to those of her highest ranking huntresses! She continues to gush about you until Zag comes up and, once again, greets the both of you. That dreamy look coming over his face as he looks at you. She watches as you once again disappear into Tartarus, this time though, after you’re gone, she turns to her cousin and shoots into a tangent about why he had never told her about you before and where did you come from? She has to know!

He answers all of her questions to the best of his abilities but there are even some he doesn’t know about, for example: how you died.

Artemis accepts this and decides that she’ll just ask you the next time the two of you meet.

And, true to her word, she does. She asks you point blank and you can’t help but be slightly taken aback. You laugh softly, leaning on your bow as you begin to recount that you were traversing her forest, as you had done many times before, and noticed fresh foot prints of man. You decided that it would be a good idea to look and you found hunters trying to kill her Golden Stag. You had dove in as quickly as you could, shooting one- the arrow sailing in a clean arch through his wrist before he could let loose his arrow. But as you went to nock another arrow- a searing pain in your chest and heart. You looked down to see blood pooling around your robes, dying the olive green of your cloak a wine red. You remember the last thing you saw was the Golden Stag running away. You smiled telling her that you were happy he got away- you don’t know what you’d do if he had been captured despite your effort.

Artemis suddenly remembers that day: her stag rushing to her and urging her to follow him- he bounded through the forest, frantic and panicked. When they got to a clearing, she was quick to notice the blood and the drag marks of a body. Her stag pressed his nose to the ground sniffing at the pool of blood, his eyes watering and bulbous tears slid down his muzzle. It suddenly made sense. You were the one he was mourning for.

She couldn’t help but grab your hands, resting her forehead against the back of them; thanking you for protecting her stag when she couldn’t. You smile at her, bowing your head to her and thanking her for the countless hunts she went on with you. You pull your hands away from her and hold out your bow to her. She asks what you think you're doing in a watery voice and you say it’s an offering. You couldn’t give much when you were alive and you still can’t give much now, but, this bow- it shall treat her right.

She sniffles as she takes it, trying to hold in tears. She vows to treasure it for all of time as she admires the worn wood.

That day, the two of you became closer as comrades, she would actively come down to say hi to you (and encourage Zagreus to take the leap and court you after she learned of his growing affections for you). The two of you would talk about everything you could think of, explaining how your hunting styles differed or how you could set a trap easier. She had realized that she had never felt this carefree with anyone before. She felt like a child. It felt nice.

When you snag her a bottle of Ambrosia- she’s swaddled in a whirlwind of emotions.

“You… You got this for me?” She asks as she takes the bottle of golden liquid.

You nod, that gentle smiling spreading across your face. “Of course. You had helped me so many times- it is only fair, my Lady-”

“Artemis-” she sniffled, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles- “call me Artemis, my friend.”

She finds you to be a perfect friend- a breath of fresh air from home. She may not feel any romantic feelings towards you, but she still holds you in a dear place in her heart. Her gift to you is a new bow and quiver that will never run out of arrows. The bow is enchanted and you’ll never have to fear it breaking for it will protect you for as long as you exist- in this realm or another.

Ares

Cause of Death: Blood Loss

When Ares first sees you, he is… well- he’s impressed that you stumbled upon his boon, but at the same time… He’s a tad miffed? That you found it?

At the very least he’s condescending as all hell about it:

“What is this? A little lamb came to beg me for power? How foolish. No matter how hard you struggle you will never be much more than some little shade.”

“Ah, sorry, my Lord! Didn’t mean to bump into it!” You hold up the basket in your translucent arms, “I wanted to see if I could find some new ingredients to bake with! I do oh-so miss it, sir.”

Well, he wasn’t expecting that.

He ends up allowing you to chatter on with him despite his obvious judgement on your, what he calls, “soft mortal hobby” until Zagreus comes to do his daily try of breaking out from the Underworld.

As he watches you drift away (after passing the boon and giving words of good luck to the Prince, who happily takes it), he kinda hopes to see you again

And see you again he does! He literally sees you the next day- night? Whatever, he’s never sure when he drops a boon in there- it’s damn dark-

He’s presented with a basket of treats and your gleeful greeting as you chatter that you found ingredients to make some Baklava and you thought that, maybe, he’d like to try it?

He smiles- cruel and sharp- and asks if you truly think that this is a fit offering for a god such as himself?

You shrug, saying he doesn’t have to eat it if he doesn’t want to

He laughs and takes it and you two are off chattering again: him regaling you with his war stories and you of the ingredients you had (somehow) found down here until Zag shows up, once again, the boon is passed to him (this time along with a slice of the delicious, warm Baklava. Which, he’s confused on what it is but he finds out very quickly that it’s his favorite treat).

The two of you talk a lot, which Ares is pleasantly surprised about, usually he’s the scorn of everyone- not that he cares, it causes conflict and he likes that. But you’re so calm and sweet that he just can’t get a rise out of you. Which, on one hand, pisses him off to no end, but, on the other, it’s such a nice change of pace for him. He’s used to the bloodshed and animosity of battlefields- the iron tinged air that follows after the warriors that traverse those fields. And yet, here you are: a shade that always has a treat for him when you run into him and the smell of warm sweetness wafting after you.

So when he learned exactly how you died- he was absolutely floored.

“How did you die, little baker?” He asked one day, fiddling with his knife, tilting it discreetly so that your reflection was in it.

“Oh!” You smiled sheepishly, glancing away from him and placing the bag of flour (how did you even get that? He’d have to ask you next) back into your basket. “Well- you see, I bled out.”

He raised his eyebrow, suddenly very interested. “How? You’re so…” he tilted his head and flipped his knife so that the blade pointed at him and the hilt pointed at you, he poked your arm with said hilt. “Soft.”

“Well…”

You explain that you had a little brother who had a nasty habit of getting into trouble- he was a good person, just made foolish choices- and this time, it had cost you your life. He had pissed off the wrong person and, well, when the man had attempted to grab your brother when the two of you were out walking the stalls on your break- you did the only thing you could think of: you fought.

Of course it went horribly, you’ve never been in a fight before then and, despite all the work you did with dough, it didn’t help much when the man pulled out a knife and dug it straight into your gut. But, you don’t mind too much- your brother’s alive and well and, from what you understand from asking Lord Hades, he had started to be more aware of himself and who he angered. Which made you super happy and proud of him!

Ares can’t help but feel some sort of pity for you. So much life to be taken so quickly and placed in- wait. Why weren’t you in Elysium?

You’re incredibly confused when Ares suddenly disappears (Aphrodite appearing in his place in the blink of an eye- she greets you happily and asks if you have any of Baklava to share today. You do not but you do have some Loukoumades if she wanted some. She did). You’re even more confused when the Underworld shakes and angry yelling fills the entirety of it for a solid ten minutes before all goes back to normal.

You tell Ares about it the next day and he simply hums. Keeping it to himself that he made a whole scene about you not being in Elysium by popping up and butting heads with Hades, of course he got kicked out. That still doesn’t stop him from sending angry letters that can span anywhere from one word letters (usually containing a curse word) to a 30 page essay on why you should be in Elysium instead of milling about in such unkempt places.

The first time you go out of your way to get him a bottle of Ambrosia is the day that both scares the shit out of him and makes him hate you for giving him mushy feelings.

You came to him in, almost literal, tatters: your greenish, transparent form ripped in places, the few wisps of you following after your torn form like they were tied to a string. You had held it up to him in a basket, a plate of Baklava sitting next to it, along with some other treats. “Lady Aphrodite mentioned that she wanted to try my Baklava, so I made her some! Though the Ambrosia is just for you, my Lord!”

He blinked at you, taking the basket in a delicate hold. He turned it this way and that, his chest feeling… warm? He wanted to grimace at the soft warmth that thrummed through his veins, yet it was replaced with a smile as he held up the gold liquid. “Thank you, little Baker.”

It was the first time he felt something so unexplainably soft: so gentle and warm as it settled somewhere between the bottom of his ribcage and the top of his stomach. He listened as you told him how you had gotten it: with Zagreus’ help (you even got to meet Lord Hermes! It was so amazing! He had scoffed at that) he led you to a room with Ambrosia as the prize and, despite the young prince’s worry, you managed to beat the monsters and collect it, mostly, by yourself.

Ares was so flattered, but he couldn’t help the way that your tattered form made him feel a sort of worry. He waved his hands through the wisps of your body before he snapped his fingers and a small blade appeared: a beautifully constructed blade that was an exact replica of his (albeit much, much smaller). He handed it to you, telling you that you should have a proper weapon if you’re going to go out of your way to fight in his name.

Dionysus

Cause of Death: Alcohol Poisoning

Dionysus, unlike many, is incredibly excited to see you sitting there. He adores mortal souls and can’t help but look at them each time Zag chooses his boons and he has the chance to glimpse at their souls (despite his tendency to let them go completely after they die- he can’t help but wonder about them once in a while).

“Why, hello there! What’s a little thing like you doing strolling up to my boon, hm?”

He can’t help but notice the way your eyes are a tad dull, but he writes that off as the dark of Tartarus since it’s gone as fast as he noticed it. You smile up at him, absolutely beaming at the God of drink and madness. “Hello, Lord Dionysus!”

“Oho, you could tell it was me? What gave it away?”

The two of you laugh, diving into a conversation. He offers you a cup of wine and is put off with how long it takes you to decline it. He almost thought you looked absolutely ravenous as you peered into the deep red liquid. He shrugs it off and continues to chatter with you until his favorite Zagman stumbles upon the two of you. He’s quick to say hi to you and even leans down to ask you… something. Dionysus misses it, but still watches the way you stiffly nod before you pass the boon to the prince and scurry off.

He’s tempted to ask about it, but decides that he should probably ask you himself instead of trying to pry. Mortals didn’t take well to people snooping around their private lives, which he could respect.

The next time he sees you though, he relaxes you into a sort of peaceful lull as he chats with you before he drops the question.

You stare blankly at him, that dark look in your eye coming back and making his skin crawl. You suddenly laugh it off waving your hands as you tell him that a god shouldn’t worry about a little ol’ shade like you.

He doesn’t push for an answer but the question still swirls in his mind, even as you toddle off after his Zagman pops up. He decides that he’ll actually ask the Prince this time around.

He asks him point blank and Zag, despite him being hesitant at first, decides to spill how you died. You had been the black sheep of your family, never truly fitting into the carefully set path that they wanted you to follow- so you found solace in drinking from a young age. It had taken the edge off of everything, Zagreus recounted you telling him. It filled you with a warmth you had been missing all your life and you couldn’t help but indulge more and more in it until it slowly became your own personal poison. Dionysus grimaced, for once feeling a sort of queasiness in the pit of his stomach as Zagreus continued on with your story. So, one day, you had drunk yourself into a deep stupor after an awful argument with your parents. But, this time, you never woke up. Instead you woke up floating in the river of blood- the River of Styx.

Dionysus had nodded after the Prince finished the story, playing with the goblet in his hand and swirling the red wine that resides in it. He offers a bitter smile to Zag and bids his farewell (of course leaving a boon of his choice with the lad) popping off back to Olympus.

The next time he runs into you, he asks if you’re feeling alright- if you want to talk. You blink at him, confused at first until realization dawns you. You bite your lip, looking down. He’s quick to assure you that you didn’t have to talk about anything- you two could just have a good time like always. You tell him that you’d like that, not yet ready to face your past. He nods, immediately telling you about an embarrassing story about Ares and how much of a lightweight he was which had you letting out an ugly snort along with your loud cackles.

The god begins to take it upon himself to have you smiling more and maybe remedy those dark clouds that appear in your eyes once in a while. He’s pretty observant despite being piss drunk half the time, it also helps that he’s very intune to your emotions for some odd reason, so he’s quick to pick up on when you feel down or your having something the equivalent to a relapse. He has you drink just a little bit from his goblet since it’s better than quitting cold turkey. And that little bit is always enough to quench your thirst and calm you down. You’ve been needing less and less of it as the days (nights?) pass by.

The first time you get Dionysus Ambrosia is the same day that he almost swears that he’ll marry you. He’s quick to grow emotional with the sheer fact that you went out of your way to get something so special for him, his face almost splitting with how wide of a smile he has on his face.

“You got this for me, man?” He says, holding up the bottle in his hand and inspecting it like it’s a precious jewel. “You know this stuff is hard to come by, super hard.”

You nod, the clouds far from your eyes now. “I had to thank you some way and punching a couple of Shades to get my hands on that was worth it.”

“You punched people for me?”

“Of course.”

He fights the urge to squeal and pops the top off, summoning another cup and pouring some in it. “Here’s to us!” He says as he hands you the cup.

He’s honestly never had so much fun just existing with one person. After that he’s never far from you, one usually not seen without the other around- even despite the Underworld not being Dionysus’ favorite place, he can’t help but be willing to venture down there to see you in person (he’s been trying to convince his wonderful Uncle Hades to let you come up with him to Olympus for a little bit- he’s even got his dad and (other) Uncle in on it. Hades officially hates all of them). His gift to you is a matching goblet that will supply you any beverage of your choice. It also has the double power to protect you from all that wishes to harm you, but you’ll learn that in due time. It’ll be more fun that way, Dionysus muses.

Hermes

Cause of Death: Falling

Usually, Heremes wouldn’t have taken the time of day to chatter mindlessly with a shade. But, it was a different story when that shade summoned him through bumping into his boon- now it’s just interesting!

“Eh? Who’re you? It’s kinda strange for a shade to be here and not my Cos, huh? Did something happen to him? You his stand in or something? That’d be kinda funny because you don’t seem like his stand in- not buff enough or something like that.”

You blink slowly taking in the words of his mile a minute speech as he continues to prattle on. You take a seat in front of the quick mouthed god, getting yourself comfortable as he flutters about and chatters. Not like you minded- he filled in the places where you couldn’t with steady conversation. You nod to some of the quips he makes, just to show you were still listening.

He decides then and there that he likes you a lot and that you should meet Charon. As soon as Zagreus pops up to collect the boon- he grabs the back of your robes and goes zooming off with you in tow. You wave to the panicked prince, allowing yourself to be dragged around. He continues to chatter on and on, only taking a break when he reaches the Boatman (who was not expecting a Shade to be accompanying the God of Messengers). He sets you down, tries to introduce you two to each other- realizes he doesn’t know your name, so you end up telling them your name- and then is quick to say goodbye, after he gives a scroll to Charon, and shoots off.

You end up staying with Charon after learning a bit more about the quiet boatman and Hermes is quite pleased when he realizes that he’d be seeing you around a lot more. He’s quick to flutter about you and chatter for a few quick seconds before zipping off. You wave at him.

The process repeats for a while before he finally takes a moment to really sit with you, Charon having gone to pick up more souls and lead them down the River of Styx. He chatters on aimlessly, asking little questions here and there before he decides to ask the million dollar question: “How did you die?”

You blink slowly as him before murmuring that you fell from a very high place, you head cracking open on the rocks at the bottom and now here you are. He asks why you were messing about on a high place, as that seemed to be something most mortals avoided doing. You explained that there was a kitten stuck in an old root on the ledge and you couldn’t just leave her. So, you crawled onto the branch and put her back onto safe ground, but the root gave way and then you went tumbling to your doom.

Hermes is surprisingly quiet throughout the entire exchange until you reach the end and he says: “you’re a real bleeding heart under all that quiet, huh?” You nod solemnly and he laughs, pulling you into a side hug. How could something with such a fleeting life be so selfless with it? He squeezes you harder before he stands up and bids you farwell, shooting off once again. And, again, you wave as he goes.

He grows attached to you quickly afterwards, bringing you little things that might help make you more comfortable down in the Underworld. Of course Charon is there to keep you company which he’s happy about- and he voices that exact thought to the boatman, who just grumbles out a long: uuuuaagghhh as his reply. He pats his arm and says that he knew he’d get it.

When you manage to get your hands on a bottle of Ambrosia- he’s completely blind sided that he almost trips on his own feet. His face flushing a deep red as he takes the offered bottle.

“How’d- how’d you get this?” His speech is all jumbled and jumpy, though he tries to keep the giddy excitement bubbling in his stomach as bay.

“I saved up my coin,” you said, nodding to Charon who nods back. “And bought it from Charon. I would’ve fought for it, but I’m no warrior.”

A smile splits across his face and the wings on the side of his head flutter. He’s quick to scoop you up and hug you, floating up with you as he does.

Hermes is an absolute giddy mess with your offering, not sure if he should kiss you or simply remain holding you. He had a special place for you before but this just solidifies his adoration for you. His gift to you is a pair of boots with wings on the side of them- an exact replica of his (in your size! Somehow-). He promises that they’ll help you get anywhere you want quickly, also the two of you match! How cute is that?

[ampintherain]

I’m Yours:

Charlie Gillespie x Reader

Chapter IV

Y/N is Kenny Ortega’s ‘niece’ after going through a rough breakup, Kenny decides to fly her over to stay with him, will her broken heart mend?

(Female Reader, NO SMUT, Romance, Friendship, THIS IS MY FIRST EVER FANFIC/IMAGINE, I hope it’s good, Kenny is lifelong family friend so reader calls him Uncle Kenny. I’m British so the writing is going to be British so like ‘mum’ not ‘mom’ yanno?)

TW- swearing. mentions of alcohol, drugs & divorce

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Y/N

“Doll, you ready to go?” Kenny asked as he shrugged on his coat, we had been at Tori’s for a good three hours and I could see Kenny was getting tired and we did have a really long day tomorrow, I nodded at my uncle happily before bidding farewell to my new found friends. I found it quite strange as to how quickly they had befriended me and made me feel more than welcome- Charlie especially, I mean throughout the day he asked me if I was alright and he encouraged me to share my ideas with Uncle Kenny, it really was strange.

“See you tomorrow Y/n” Owen chirped, pulling me in for a quick hug, I was soon passed round through the group of friends each of them giving me a tight hug which I gladly reciprocated, I waved everyone a final goodbye before Kenny and I left Tori’s apartment and made our way back to the car.

As Uncle Kenny drove through the streets of Vancouver, I paid most attention to the lights displayed throughout, I watched as birds flew through the sky and listened to the soft sound of the radio, “you okay Y/n?” Uncle Kenny questioned,

“Hm?” I said, as the questioned tore me out of my unknown daydream, I turned to face my uncle Kenny and before he could repeat himself, my brain managed to process what he originally asked “oh oh yeah, I’m fine Uncle Kenny, just sight seeing” I laughed quietly,

“Okay, just making sure, I’m worried about you...” Kenny admitted, I had a feeling that he was but he just didn’t want to draw attention to me and my situation, I have always been very good at hiding my emotions it came from years and years of being told that my emotions and the way I felt weren’t ‘necessary’ and that I shouldn’t feel the way I did- in the end, I decided to no longer tell anyone my problems but deal with them myself, battling through the pain as a lone warrior, I didn’t even tell Kenny what was going on, I built up layers of walls around me to protect myself and make it seem like I was this strong, capable woman. “You’re only 19, Y/n, I know you’re strong but... I just want you to know that I am here should you ever need me” I nodded in response, worried that if I did speak, my voice would give way and I would be revealed as this weak character, I’ve already cried once today and I’m not planning on crying anymore, not in front of Kenny at least.

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Kenny locked the door behind me as we both entered the apartment, “do you want a drink or anything Uncle Kenny?” I questioned as I made my way into the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out the carton of orange juice,

“No you’re alright Star, I’m just going to head to bed, I’ll wake you up at 7 alright?” He assured me, I nodded as I sipped at my juice, I looked at the digital clock placed on the side- 12:00am, luckily I had sorted through all of my clothes before going to set and again before going to Tori’s because, quite honestly, I hadn’t the energy to do much at this point, I watched as my uncle wandered into his room, closing the door behind him. I let out a deep breath, the thoughts of a few nights ago coming back into my memory, replaying itself there, why wasn’t I good enough? I did absolutely everything I could for him... I loved him with everything I had... why wasn’t I good enough?

I kept asking myself, it was truly lost on me, I didn’t see myself as this perfect girl, this perfect girlfriend but I knew what I did for him. I was there for him when his dad spiralled, turning to alcoholism and drug abuse, I was there whenever he called, whenever he showed up randomly at my house at 4 in the morning crying and looking for a cuddle, I made sure to visit him mum every Tuesday evening for dinner because Zac wanted to move out once his parents split, deciding to live with his grandparents instead. We were even thinking about moving in together... well him moving in with me as I had already had my own place at 18. That boy was my entire world for 3 years and the fact that he could throw it all away so easily, really hurt me, and I don’t think it was anything that I could understand ever.

The thought alone caused my heart to feel crushed, it felt like Zac had a hold of my heart and whenever I thought about it, he just squeezed my heart as hard as he possibly could, it felt like a gut wrenching type of pain, I wiped away the tears that I didn’t even realise were spilling quickly out of my eyes. I cleared my throat and drank the rest of my juice before making my way to bed, I changed into my grey cable knit sweater and my plaid shorts and clambered into the large double bed, snuggling into the comfort that the bed brought me before I let sleep take over me.

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“Rise and shine” Kenny said quietly into my bedroom, I groaned as I stretched in bed, “morning sleepyhead” he chuckled,

“Morning” I mumbled, scratching the back of my head, Kenny told me that we’d be leaving in 20 minutes, “okay, I’ll see you in 20” I smiled, sliding out of bed and heading into my closet, I grabbed my white tennis skirt, white shirt and dark blue sweater, I paired the outfit with white tennis socks and my white and blue Nike Jordan’s that Uncle Kenny bought me for Christmas. I placed my clothes on my bed and went for a quick shower, this time I dried my hair before chucking it up into a high ponytail, I brushed my teeth and did some light makeup again before changing and grabbing my phone off the side,

“Let’s go” I stated as I made my way over to Kenny,

“You look amazing” he smiled genuinely at me, I thanked him and we made our way back to the set of his new show.

“So... how did you sleep?” Kenny asked me,

“Oh really well thank you, that bed was huge, you could fit like five of me in there” I joked, just as my phone chimed, I looked down at the lit screen to see messages from the one person I didn’t want to hear from.

Zac- Hey, where are you? I came to your place to see you and you weren’t there...

I rolled my eyes and groaned internally before locking my phone and sinking into my seat, “what’s on your mind?” Uncle Kenny asked immediately, I swear it’s like this man lives in my brain. I turned my phone on vibrate just as another text came through,

“It’s nothing Uncle Kenny” I sighed, the man driving next to me simply hummed in response, he definitely didn’t believe me but I knew he wasn’t going to push for answers- he never did, he would always let me come to him if I needed and that was one of the things I loved most about him. I could feel my phone constantly vibrating in my hand whilst Kenny was driving, so I turned it on do not disturb just to try and escape it.

“Alright kiddo, we’ve arrived” Kenny said as he swiftly parked up, I went to unbuckle myself but Kenny stopped me, “you don’t have to tell me right now, but I am here, you know I won’t judge you like your parents” he explained, I sighed and leant over to rest my head on his arm,

“I know Uncle Kenny... it’s Zac, he texted me... I’m ignoring him though” I replied, he sighed and looked down at me, placing a kiss to the top of my head,

“You’re going to have to” Kenny started before I cut him off mid sentence,

“Message him at some point, I know I know” I sat back upright and unbuckled the seat before getting out the car, “come on” I sighed, putting back on my brave face before heading into the lot with Uncle Kenny in tow.

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Charlie

“Y/n!” I heard Sav yell from across the lot, I turned to see Y/n walking towards us, her arms linked with Kenny’s as he was talking and joking with her, I watched as she let out a quick laugh before shaking her head, probably at some corny joke that Kenny told. “We’re matching!” Sav exclaimed as Y/n got closer,

“So we are!” Y/n giggled, “but don’t you have to be in your Carrie costume?” She questioned, pointing at the costume trailer just a way behind us,

“We are rehearsing Wow today in costume” Kenny announced, this prompted Sav to scrunch her face and turn on her heels, grabbing Tori by her upper arm as they both ran to the costume trailer, “those girls” Kenny laughed, shaking his head, “I’m going to get some breakfast, do you want anything Y/n?” The girl shook her head, “you have to eat Star, I’ll get you a croissant okay?”

“If I have to eat, can you get me some blueberry pancakes?” Y/n questioned innocently, smiling up at her ‘uncle.’ Kenny simply nodded and walked over to catering to grab him and Y/n some breakfast. “Hey” Y/n said as she took a step closer to me, I looked down at her and smiled,

“Hey” I mirrored, “sleep well last night?” I asked, the girl nodded and started to walk down the lot, I naturally started to follow her, not wanting the conversation to end,

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever slept in a bed that big before” she giggled, causing my heart to skip a beat slightly, “how about you? Did you sleep well?” She questioned, looking up at me with her beautiful y/e/c eyes.

“Oh yeah, Owen and I left Tori’s a little while after you and Ken left, we grabbed some food and then just crashed as soon as we got home” I said simply, just as I mentioned Owen I saw him come out of his trailer dressed as Alex,

“You, Charles. Have to be in costume” he stated, pointing at me, I rolled my eyes before he shoo’d me away, I nodded slightly at Y/n as a way to say goodbye and she saluted me slightly which caused me to laugh before jogging up to costume.

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Y/N

“Why the long face?” Owen asked me as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, “wassup Buttercup?” I bit the inside of my cheek and looked up at the blonde boy,

“It’s my ex” I stated plainly, “he messaged me this morning and I just...” I trailed off, not really knowing what to say, was I ignoring Zac because I hated him, or was I ignoring him because I was worried that if I did text him back, I would fall for him all over again? You can’t get over someone that quickly, no matter how much they hurt you... right?

“Don’t know what to say to him?” Owen answered for me, “what did he say?” He asked, I daren’t look at my phone again because I knew that he had probably texted more so I tried to remember what I saw at quick glance.

“It was something about why I wasn’t home and where I was” I remembered, sitting down on the small couch in the resting tent, my back against the arm rest and my legs tucked up to my chest, Owen sat down, facing me and mirroring my position, “I just don’t see why I have to tell him that anymore... he’s my ex y’know?” I vented, leaning my head back and closing my eyes.

“Hey, you shouldn’t let him get to you like that, it’s not cool... look, I’m pretty sure we have a day off tomorrow, why don’t you come over to mine and Charlie’s place and we can watch movies and pig out?” Owen offered, I lifted my head back up and nodded, it didn’t sound like the worst idea, in fact, it sounded like the best thing for me, I mean karaoke last night helped me a lot so maybe just a chilled day would help too?

“Yeah that sounds amazing actually” I smiled.

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“Okay you guys, Sav, Sacha, Tori, Mads and Jay you guys can all go home, thank you so much for your excellence today, you’re all amazing!” Uncle Kenny beamed with pride at his cast that he was dismissing for the day, we had just filmed 3 more scenes for the show and the cast had rehearsals for as many dances they could fit in today, the only thing left on the agenda was the hot dog scene, “now, I will see everyone at the next location? Y/n, you ready?” Kenny asked, I nodded as I felt a shiver run up my spine causing my body to visibly shake,

“Hey” I heard Charlie whisper, “you okay?” He questioned, staying within earshot of me,

“Yeah I’m good, just cold, I forgot a jacket and it was warm today... I kinda forgot how long today was” I laughed, slightly embarrassed about my sieve of a brain, although the presence of Charlie stood behind me seemed to keep me fairly warm, that is, until I felt him leave. I turned to see Owen looking behind him as Charlie darted off, “I’ll be one second” Charlie yelled loud enough for everyone to hear and wait for him.

“Where’s he going?” Jeremy asked, pointing behind him towards where Charlie had just disappeared to,

“I have... no idea” Owen sighed, shrugging his shoulders, “Y/n/n, do you know?” I shook my head,

“He just ran off, maybe he forgot something” I stated, just as Charlie came running back, handing me a brown corduroy jacket with a wool collar,

“Here, it has pockets too so you won’t have to keep holding your phone” he said, only slightly out of breath.

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Charlie

Y/n gently took the jacket from me, “oh... thanks” she said as a red tint reached her cheeks, she shrugged the jacket on and I couldn’t help but smile at how it looked on her, on me, it fit perfectly but on Y/n, it nearly swamped her, the sleeves hung so low only her fingertips could be seen and the length of the jacket went just above where her skirt ended. She looked adorable.

“Yeah.. yeah anytime” I replied, Y/n placed her phone in her pocket and started to walk towards Kenny,

“Hey, I’ve gotta talk to my Uncle Kenny about some things for the hot dog scene, I had some ideas but I’ll see you on location okay?” She said, not just to me, but to Owen and Jeremy as well, all three of us nodded and joined together so we could all walk out of the lot,

“You like her...” Jeremy stated, Owen nudged him slightly and rolled his eyes,

“I made that observation last night!” He said, “but yeah, you totally like her... it’s obvious”

“I just gave her my jacket, she said she was cold, I would’ve done the same for anybody, like Mads” I defended, “she did look really cute in it though” I admitted, Owen agreed with me which caused me to look at him sceptically,

“Before you get jealous and ask me, no I don’t like her, she’s just a friend” he answered before I even had a chance to ask the question, “oh by the way, she was talking to me about her ex today, something about how he messaged her and she doesn’t know what to say to him, she seemed really down so I invited her to come over tomorrow” Owen explained,

“Oh really? Okay cool” was all I could say, Jeremy soon decided to change the subject to running lines as he could see that I was becoming nervous at the fact that Y/n was coming over, I had no idea why the thought of it had my heart racing and my mind scattered but it did, there was something about Y/n that I couldn’t quite put my finger on but whatever it was drove me crazy about her.

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Y/N

We had just finished filming the final scene of the day- the hot dog scene and it was the longest scene ever, the amount of re-runs and developments on the scene was enough to drive anybody insane, I groaned slightly as I turned and sat on the seat that one of the crew members brought with them just as Kenny was wrapping the scene up. “Y/n, I’ve just got to do some paperwork and I’ll be right with you okay? I’m sure the boys will keep you company once they change” Kenny announced, to which I simply nodded, not having the energy to say anything or do anything else, I rubbed my eye as I pulled my phone out of Charlie’s jacket pocket, I looked down at the screen and saw the notification, I had 36 unread messages from Zac:

>Zac- hello? Y/n! Where are you?

>Zac- I’m worried about you...

>Zac- Y/n! Would you please just answer me...

>Zac- I went to the coffee shop, you weren’t there either, where have you run off to?

>Zac- look Y/n, I’m really sorry about what I did to you

>Zac- WTF! WHERE ARE YOU?!?

>Zac- you can’t possibly be giving me the silent treatment? Seriously.

>Zac- I didn’t realise you were so childish.

>Zac- I’m glad I cheated on you, you’re worthless

>Zac- wait no, I’m sorry I didn’t mean that I’m just worried about you.

The list went on and on, a mixture of emotions, I kept scrolling through the text screen until I saw the most recent text, delivered 1 minute ago,

>Zac- call me. Please.

I rolled my eyes, I couldn’t call him, I shouldn’t call him right? But alas, like muscle memory, I clicked on the call icon and there was his voice, “Y/n! Hey... how’re you?” All I did was sigh in response, I watched as the boys came out of the venue and into sight, they all waved at me before noticing I was on the phone, Owen and Jeremy dispersed whereas Charlie stayed, walking slowly towards me with a half-smile on his face, clearly worried about whether or not I wanted him to come closer.

“What do you want?” I said bluntly, “I’m not in the mood to hear your pathetic apologies Zac, you’re messages were ridiculous, you went from being apologetic to calling me worthless and saying that you were happy that you cheated on me!”

“Listen Y/n... I can’t explain” Zac began but I was in no mood to hear it,

“No you listen Zac, you don’t get to be sad, you don’t get to cry. You are the one who cheated remember? Or have you suddenly developed amnesia? You went behind my back and had this whole other relationship for 13 months... and on top of that, it was with Quinn! My best friend and you think I’m going to sit here and listen to your silly little apologies, no, you have another thing coming. We were together for 3 years and for a year of that you were with someone else, I was nothing but loyal to you, I was nothing but kind to you, I loved you so much and I thought that you would never hurt me, but I was wrong, you’re just a piece of shit Zac, you and Quinn deserve each other, you’re both snakes, you’re both pathetic and you both betrayed me. I dont want to hear from you again? Do I make myself clear?” I ranted down the phone, I never raised my voice, I kept calm, I wouldn’t let him know that he made me so angry that I wanted to scream and throw my phone into the road, no. I wouldn’t let him have that power over me.

“But Y/n- we’ve been through so much... Quinn doesn’t know me like you do... she’s not there for me like you do” Zac grovelled, I scoffed in response,

“Well isn’t that just a crying shame? You should’ve thought about that before you decided to go behind my back and fuck her, you should’ve thought about it before you decided to be unfaithful. Hey, I’ll make this easy for you, I’ll just block you on everything that way you have no way of contacting me. Goodbye Zac” I said as I abruptly hung up, giving Zac no chance to talk, I blocked his number and started to go through my social media, blocking him on everything that I had.

“Uh... you okay?” I heard a worried voice speak, I looked up to see those eyes that could only belong to Charlie, he tilted his head and looked at me with concern riddled all over his face, I placed my phone on my lap and rubbed my temples to try and reduce to incoming headache.

“Yeah... that was my ex” I stated the absolute obvious, unsure of what else to say, Charlie nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets before taking the seat next to me, he didn’t ask me to go on and explain but I felt like I could talk to him and so I did “you probably heard but he cheated on me, with my best friend”

“Yeah... yeah I did hear, look, Y/n, I know it probably won’t mean much but he really doesn’t deserve you and he isn’t worth your tears” he said calmly, placing his thumb on my cheek and gently brushed away the tears that I had no idea were slowly falling from my eyes, “by the sounds of it, he sounds like a dick and you were way too good for him” I laughed in response, “I’m being serious, Y/n, you’re gorgeous and kind and funny and insanely talented! I know it’s hard but you shouldn’t let a guy like that get to you...”

“Yeah I know... but he and I were together for so long, it just makes me feel like everything was a lie y’know? And like I can’t truly be loved by anyone” I admitted, hearing this Charlie stood up in front of me and held his hands out, “what...?” I questioned, he beckoned me to stand up before pulling me in for a hug,

“You? You can’t truly be loved? Y/n you’re one of the most lovable people I’ve ever met, everyone loves you here... I know that’s not the type of love you meant but trust me on this okay? You can very easily be loved” I pulled out of the hug slightly and Charlie lightly placed his hands on my face, looking deep into my eyes, he smiled slightly to himself causing me to become shy and look down, Charlie used his index finger to lift my head back up by my chin ever so gently, “who wouldn’t want to fall in love with you?”

💜thank you for reading💜

♡︎𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 : @thesweetestsinner , @ifilwtmfc , @ashleyleblancx , @chloepart03 , @obxflowr , @lukeys-giggle ♡︎

[rockthingsbymeg]

Rockin’ around the Christmas tree

Guns N’ Roses Christmas special - fic no. 6

Pairing: Slash | Saul Hudson x fem!reader

Summary: based of the prompt - “Person A is decorating the tree and refuses to let anyone else help because the tree needs to be perfect.”

Info: Fluff; 2120 words; typical Christmas stuff;

A/N: Last Christmas fic of the day angels. Have a good 2021!

It wasn't unusual for Slash to wake up and find Y/N already awake, either still laying by his side or going around the house doing whatever she needed to do. He was a heavy sleeper, so that had never bothered him, and that day it hadn't either.

Being awake before Slash, however, didn't exactly make Y/N an early bird. Anyone up before midday was up before Slash.

This time, however, it was different. Around half-past eight in the morning, Slash woke up, groggy and grumpy, with Y/N already out of bed. The bedroom door was fully closed, which meant Y/N wasn't coming back to bed and didn't want to wake him up. When they were asleep, the door was always left ajar or fully open, so none of them would accidentally go against it while trying to go to the bathroom or grab a glass of water in the middle of the night.

When he had rolled on the bed to look at the clock, he had groaned so deeply and loudly it had actually hurt his dry throat, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. After he woke up, he couldn’t fall back asleep unless Y/N was by his side, which he guessed wouldn’t happen that day.

He didn’t understand why on earth she was up so early, but instead of thinking about it, he just rolled on his side, stretched like their little black kitten did while waking up, and then rolled out of bed, bare feet meeting the hard, cold wood floor and sending shivers up his body. Either way, he didn’t throw on a pair of socks or slippers and picked up a fluffy robe that Y/N had gotten him, wrapping it around himself and making his way out of his room.

Every blind in the house had been open, and the bright sunlight shinning against the snow resting on the windowsills burned his eyes, causing a groan to leave his lips and his hand to immediately shoot up to cover his eyes.

He kept walking, slowly becoming more aware of Frank Sinatra's voice mumbling lowly on the lower floor. It was so pleasant, deep, and rich in his early morning grogginess, that it was working as a lullaby, making his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. Slash fought them open with much cost as his bare feet began leading him down the stairs, a small, black cursed kitten greeting him happily as it walked in circles, its paws still too small to get him up the steps.

A smile stretched across Slash's face as he made it to the bottom and picked up the youngest member of his and Y/N's furry family. His calloused hands patted the tiny head and scratched behind his ears, smile widening at the soft, small purring sounds reverberating against his chest, where Slash had made the kitten lean against.

Soon enough, however, instead of having one kitten to pet and cuddle, Slash had that one and four more cats meowing at him, demanding their own share of attention.

Slash sat down on the last step of the staircase and let his cats climb closer to him to give him their good morning, curling themselves against the plush material of the robe or lightly craving their nails into the skin of his hands, trying to get him to pet them.

He had sat there for a bit, doing his best to give them all an equal share of attention, until all the heads turn towards their living room, two of the cats leaving to follow the sound and start meowing again to the other source of cuddles and pets.

Y/N kneeled down to run her hands over the fur on their back and then underneath their little chins, smiling widely at them and giving them each a kiss on the nose before taking a seat by Slash’s side on the staircase and leaning her head on his shoulder. Her head tilted up, looking into his eyes, as his tilted down, smiling widely up at her before pressing their lips together gently, one, two, three small pecks before a long, slow kiss.

“I didn't wake you up, did I?” Y/N asked as they pulled apart, lacing their hands together and stroking his knuckles with her thumb.

“Nah, you're fine. Jus’ woke up all of a sudden and y’know I can't sleep without you there...” A soft blush darkened the color of his cheeks underneath his bed-head and the sight made Y/N's heart flutter in her chest, even if it was probably the thousandth time she had seen it.

“I know, baby.” She laid another kiss on his lips and then one on his nose, pulling back only far enough to be able to speak. “Why don't I fix you some food and you eat while I finish what I was doing, and then we'll crawl back under the covers?”

The idea sounded very much appealing to Slash, who eagerly nodded before moving his mouth to press a sweet, gentle kiss underneath her ear. “What, exactly, are you doin' this fucking early, on a Saturday?”

A small laugh rumbled from the back of her throat as she pressed a final kiss to his lips and got up, gently putting two of her cats down on the floor and making her way to the kitchen, passing by their living room to turn the music just slightly louder. “It's December 1st baby. You know what that means...”

Combining her answer, with Frank Sinatra's soothing voice and the sight of balled up Christmas lights on the corner, that he, somehow, hadn't noticed until now, gave him the answer he needed.

“I forgot what day it was...” He chuckled, putting all the cats on the floor before following her, sneaking a glance into the living room to see their dark green tree stand high and proud in the corner of the room, right by a shelf filled with little dinosaur replicas. Yeah, everything totally matched. “Do you want help with anything sweetheart?” He asked as he entered the kitchen, wrapping his arms around her waist as she faced the stove, the smell of eggs filling his nostrils and making his empty stomach groan loud and angry.

She chuckled at the noise and turned to him briefly to plant a kiss on his cheek, before shaking her head and turning to the stove once more. “You know I like to do it on my own. It needs to be perfect, the way I envisioned it...” She explained, just like every year when Slash asked if she needed help.

He smiled against her neck, nuzzling her skin before giving her a small kiss, pushing back to glance towards the slide-open doors that led to their backyard. “Just like you know I'll always ask this. It’s tradition.” He chuckled, both at his statement and at the sight of their two older dogs and their three pups playing around in the snow. “They're gonna be freezing when they come inside...”

“I told them that, they still barked that they wanted to go outside.” Slash could envision Y/N rolling her eyes while speaking in that fake disapproving tone, shaking her head slightly while still cooking his breakfast, waving a small spatula around as she spoke. “They're dumbasses, much like you.”

“Wha- I'm not a dumbass!” He argued in an equally fake offended tone, letting his arms fall from their previous place around her waist and slapping her ass with one hand, before hopping on the counter so he could see her face.

“Why, yes you are, my love.” Y/N’s eyes shone as she smiled at him, playful words spoken in a teasingly posh manner. “You're my favorite dumbass.”

Slash couldn’t help his own wide grin as he looked at her, leaning in to steal a long kiss, humming briefly against her lips at the taste of eggs on her tongue. “Don't tell Duff that you said that. Y’know he claimed the spot of favorite dumbass a long time ago.” Laughs rolled easily between their still slightly joined lips.

“I won't, don't worry.” She nodded as she pulled back, turning her attention once more to the stove and finishing his food, putting his eggs and bacon on a plate before handing it to him, along with a glass of orange juice. “Now, you eat that, so your stomach stops complaining, and I'll go finish the tree.” She laid a quick peck on his lips before turning away, robe swooshing behind her as she made her way into their living room.

Slash gathered everything on a tray and, rather than eating all alone in the kitchen, he placed all his food inside it and went to join Y/N, sitting on the couch and watching her move around.

Her hands moved gently as she wrapped the Christmas lights around the tree, leaving them turned on so the room shone with a soft golden light, along with the early morning light. It didn't take her long to finish that part, and soon enough she had picked up a box filled with dinosaur garlands. It had been something she had bought last year, doing her best to mix his love for anything remotely reptile with her love for traditional yet not “normal" decoration. Garlands were traditional, but dinosaur garlands... not so much, which was the perfect balance for her.

As soon as the garlands were laid down, came all the other ornaments. A box filled with red balls, each one decorated by an old drawing of Santa Claus, then a box filled with golden little starts, followed by one with white and green bells, and lastly, one of Slash's favorites, a box filled with small, plastic snakes, lizards, dragons, and whatnot, all with a string to their back so they could be hanging in the tree.

While Y/N busied herself around the tree, laying every single ornament with accurate precision to replicate the mental image she had conjured, a small smile on her face growing as the decoration came closer to being finished, humming along with Frank Sinatra under her breath, Slash had finished his breakfast, done the dishes, let their dogs in, started a fire so all of them would stay warm and gotten his guitar, softly strumming with the songs playing, until, like always, he began playing a melody of his own, overpowered by his own feelings and emotions.

He hadn't noticed how Y/N had turned off the background music and sat down on their coffee table. She was facing him, elbows on her knees and face in her hands, a smile so wide it had to hurt her. Her eyes glinted, both with the flames from the fireplace and with the unconditional, unyielding, undying, overwhelming love she felt for him.

It had been the same look since the first time they met.

Duff had brought her along to one of their shows, excited to introduce one of his closes friends to his bandmates. She was this slightly shy yet so lively, amazing girl, and Slash was, as much as he hated to admit it, swept off his feet after not much more than five minutes of conversation.

He was shy himself, never one to be able to hold eye contact for long, but whenever he did, it was the one occasion when he'd stare for longer than he could remember. The first time he looked into her eyes, they were so filled with a burning passion, a bit hazed from a few beers, admittedly, but so captivating. It was like a whole world, a whole galaxy was held inside them.

And what had taken him a while to realize, was how much deeper and lively that galaxy got when she was looking at him.

Once his eyes had lifted from the guitar and seen that exact same look in her eyes, he couldn’t stop his mouth from working faster than his brain. “You still look at me like the first day we met...”

A soft laugh left Y/N's lips. Not a mocking or condescending one at the softness of his words, an honest, love-filled one. She got up from the table and made the short distance to the couch, reaching over to gently take the guitar from his lap and taking its place. “Of course I do.” Her wide smile remained, both her hands coming up to cup his face, thumbs stroking his cheekbones. “I still love you the exact same way. I always will.”

A smile grew on his face too, as he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, pouring as much passion into the gesture as he did when playing guitar. “I’ll always love you too, baby.”

——

Thank you so much for reading. Likes, reblogs, comments and any kind of way you show me you liked this are endlessly appreciated💛

Requests are closed.

Taglist: @curly-hudson; @agroupiewhore; @littlemisscare-all; @metalheartofgold

[pascalscenarios]

THE ONE (Frankie Morales x Reader)

THE ONE Frankie Morales x Reader   Summary: You make your decision about what you want. Warning: mild swearing / alcohol consumption Words: 1297 Authors Note: Hello! Sorry this ones kinda short! But The One is coming to an end! There is only 3 more chapters left! Again, thank you so much for reading! Seeing your guys like, follow, repost, commenting and asking to be on the taglist makes me so happy. Thank you for giving this fic so much love! I’m going to make more Frankie Fics in the future, but the next Pedro character I’m writing a fic for is Marcus Pike from The Mentalist! The fic is called How To Love, so keep a eye out for that. It will be coming out after The One is finished. 

Also if you would to be on my main tag list for any future fics or just only for a specific I write let me know in the comments or feel free to message me. 

Those of you who are already on the tag list let me know if you wanna be put on the main list. Thank you, I hope you all have a great day or night depending on where you are!

- K ❤️

CH 1 | CH 2 | CH 3 | CH 4 | CH 5 | CH 5.5 | CH 6 | CH 7

Chapter 7

You stood there frozen, watching him walk away. Your eyes widen at what just happened. He kissed you...and you kissed him back. Was it just the heat of the moment or was it because you truly loved him?

You wanted to yell and run after him, but you could from the words or even move from the stop you were standing.

Were you willing to destroy and throw away your whole relationship/engagement to Alex to be with Frankie? Were you willing to risk it all to be with him again? What if you did end up with him, but things didn’t work out? It would all be for nothing. Then you’d be left with no one. You’d be alone.

You couldn’t bear going through that pain again. With Alex, it was safe. You were secure. You couldn’t do this to him. You couldn’t leave them several days before your wedding. You had to marry him, you were going to marry him.

…

Frankie got back to the truck, opening the door and sitting inside. He was a mess, eyes red from crying. He didn’t bother wiping his tears or pulling himself together for the sake of his kid. He needed to cry. He needed to let all this pain and regret wash clean from him.

You were getting married. It was too late for him to do anything other than being honest about how he felt. The rest was up to you. He knows you love him, but he had a feeling you weren’t going to choose him. He had to let you go.

Lilah sat there in silence, staring at her dad as he leaned back against the truck bench. He rested his arm up against the rolled window, as he stared at the window.

“Dad…”

He deeply sighs, turning to face her. The look on his face pained her Lilah.

“I-I’m so sorry...for everything. I didn’t mean-...I just want you to be happy. You were so happy with Smiles. I just wanted you to go after someone that meant so much to you as you did me. If you didn’t go after me-” Lilah started to cry, feeling guilty making more of a mess of his and your situation.

“Woah, sweetheart, no” he slides over, grabbing hold of Lilah as she sobs in his chest.

“I’m really sorry dad-I'm-”

“Shhhhh,” He says rubbing her back. “I know you are, baby. I know your intention was good. It’s not your fault, none of this is your fault. This is my own doing. I should have told Smiles about you, but I was scared they were going to turn us away. I couldn’t stand the idea of them wanting anything to do with you, their feelings, and how they see me change. So I did that to them before they could do it to us. I can’t go back and change things. Life happens, kid, and things happen for a reason. The best thing in my life is being your Dad. Being your Dad has taught me so much and has changed me for the better. Don’t you ever think for a second I regret going after you. I love you so much, Moon.”

Frankie pulls away, holding Lilah's head in his hand, his thumbs whipping her tears away.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you like that out there...”

“I love you too. I’m sorry for going behind your back and lying…” Lilah embraces him again.

Frankie strokes his daughter's hair, planting a kiss on her head. “You should have told me…”

“I know...I’m sorry” She pulls away. “Are we okay?”

“Yes, but I’m going to have to ground you for lying to me about where you were going. Please next time, just be honest with me, Moon. I’ve lied and kept things as you know, and it doesn’t get you anywhere. It just complicates things more…”

“I understand...So I guess the conversation with Smiles didn’t go well…”

“Well, I was honest with them, told them how I felt. I said I loved them...That’s all I really can do…”

“I’m sorry Dad, truly…”

“It was time for me to let them go, Moon. I’ve been holding on for too long, and It’s selfish for me to keep holding tight when they’re going to get married. Like they say, If you love something, set it free…”

“If it comes back it's yours.. ” she says grabbing hold of his hand.

He gives her a frown “If it doesn't, it wasn’t meant to be… I don’t think they’re coming back though...I don’t blame them”

…

“It’s us. I choose us.” You tell Alex as you both sit on the couch. You had called him up after going to the park.

“Are you sure? This is what you want? Because I want this. I want to be with you, but if this isn’t what you want-” Alex asked to make sure.

“Yes. I love you. I want this…” you ignoring your thoughts about Frankie that was slowly coming to your mind.

Alex smiles, smothering you with kisses all over your face. “I love you… I love you...I love you!”

You giggle, pulling him in for a hug.

“We’re getting married! God, we have so much to do in the next few days! But just before you know it, we’re going to be The Wentz's! We’ll spend the rest of our lives together '' Alex, states.

“Yeah…I can't wait...” You smile. Alex kept talking, but your thoughts about Frankie invaded your mind, drowning out Alex.

…

“Look I’m sorry, Frank, If I knew Lilah was planning to go full parent trap on you, I wouldn’t have told her anything, but what was I supposed to say, man? She’s not a little girl, and she isn’t stupid. She can put two and together.'' Santiago says holding a bottle of beer in his hand. They were sitting outside on Santi’s back patio. Frankie took a swing at his. “I know..I just wish she would have just asked me.”

“Let’s be real here, you and I both know if she asked you, you would have blown it off saying it was nothing.”

Santiago was right. Frankie would have done that. “I guess you’re right,” he mumbles, taking another sip of the beer.

“I’m surprised Smiles is still with Alex, to be honest…Smiles loves you, man. They really do. When you were gone, Smiles was such a fucking wreak. It took them a long time to get over you, but they never truly did. Smiles used to ask me all the time about you, how you were doing. I knew it was their way of making sure you were okay and loving you from a distance.”

“I should have gone after Smiles...and I know you told me a million times, but I just couldn’t face them...I’m such a fucking idiot…”

Santiago chuckles “That is exactly what your daughter said…” Frankie laughs, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

“Are you still going to the wedding?”

“Rain or shine… I’m just going to put my feelings aside...I’m not going to do anything. I can’t ruin this for them. I put Smiles through enough.”

“Are you going to be okay to sit through the ceremony?”

“I don’t know...probably not, but I’ll put on a brave face for the sake of everyone”

“Well don’t worry, I’ll be there.” Santiago pats Frankie on the back.

…

You lay in bed beside Alex. It was late at night. You couldn’t sleep. Frankie’s words circle in your head and that kiss. Thinking about that kiss gave you butterflies as they used to when you were younger.

You couldn’t stop thinking about him. You had to let him go, you’d always love him, but you needed Alex. Alex was the one… right?

tags // @icanbeyourjedi​  @im-an-adult-ish​  @sara-alonso​ @lydiascottage​ @eternalkara​ 

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch14: True Perfection Has To Be Imperfect

Chapter Summary: Frank gets the keys to the new apartment and the renovations start. Everything seems to be going so well for them all, until Fliss gets some news that rocks the very foundations they’ve been building.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

 A/N: As always, if you like and enjoy please comment and Re-Blog. I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 13

 It’s your time, it’s your day, it’s never too late, to change lanes.

Frank could tell something was off the minute he pulled onto the yard. The usual chatter that rang out was absent and there just seemed a general air about the place that he couldn't identify. But it wasn't long before he found out why.

"Fliss is on the floor!" Mary’s voice loud with worry as she pointed into the paddock. Frank glanced over as he shut the door to his truck and felt himself grow cold. He broke into a jog, heading towards the fence and let out a sigh of relief when he saw she was moving.

“Wait here…” he instructed Mary before, with a flourish, he vaulted over the side of the paddock and jogged across the riding paddock.

 “What happened?” he asked.

 “Oh, hey Sailor!” Fliss grinned up at him, where she lay flat on her back, Thor led by her side, head on her thigh. “Just had a fall but everything’s working, just giving myself a minute to get my breath and what not.” “Nothing broken.” Joanne looked at Frank from where she knelt by Fliss, the reins to the big, black horse in her hands

Frank knelt down next to Fliss and looked at her as she reached out and gently ran her hand down his forearm. “How d’ya fall off?” “Oh Bronson got confused at the jump, was trying to dodge out to the right. I corrected him and he kind of took off, twisted mid-air and I got unseated.” she explained.

 “It was a pretty good show of acrobatics.” Joanne nodded in agreement.

 Thor gave a little whine and his head moved, his eyes looking up at Fliss who scratched his ear.

 “I’m ok, mate.” she said softly. “I’m good.”

 "This wouldn't happen on a boat ya know" Frank teased gently and she looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow as she propped herself up on her elbows.

 "Boats are boring...nothing like having a half tonne animal between your legs" she replied, causing him and Joanne to smirk.

“You’re terrible.” Joanne shook her head as Fliss simply grinned.

 “Okay, I’m good to go." Fliss sat up fully. Frank got up off his knees and held out his hand, gently pulling her to her feet. She dusted herself off and then turned to take Bronson's reins off Joanne.

 "Can you give me a leg up?" She asked and Frank felt his heart stop

 "You cannot be serious!" He spluttered back.

 "What?"

 “You’re getting back on?”

 “Yeah.” Fliss looked at Frank as if he was stupid “I’m not hurt, not really, just gonna ache like hell for a few days. It’s the same as riding a bike, you don’t stop if you fall off!” “It’s a little different to riding-“

“Besides,” she spoke over him, “he’ll be unsettled and if I don’t get on and end the session well it’s gonna be in his mind, and mine for that matter, for next time and it’ll just be a nightmare so…”

Frank knew there was no point in arguing with her. Instead he held his hands up and backed away as Joanne boosted her up.

“What happened?” Mary asked as he reached the paddock fence she was now perched sideways on, her legs hanging either side.

 “She fell off.” Frank answered simply. “She’s okay though. She’s back on.” They watched as Fliss gently walked the horse round before picking up trot, then canter and then turned him straight for the jump. Frank grimaced slightly but he needn’t have bothered, the horse cleared the fence and Fliss gently slowed him down, patting him.

 “Fucking crazy.” Frank mumbled to himself, shaking his head.

Whilst Fliss wasn’t seriously injured, she was certainly feeling the effects later on that night. Frank had called Verity, despite Fliss’ protests that she was fine, who had dropped round to Frank’s with some painkillers that were slightly stronger than your average ones. Fliss had taken two before dinner and as a result had started feeling a little bit woozy and light headed, commenting to Frank that it felt like she’d been smoking something funny. After diverting Mary’s questions on what that meant, they’d watched a bit of TV until Fliss announced she was thirsty.

 “I’ll get it.” Frank made to move but she stopped him.

 “I’m fine.” she sat up with a grimace, grabbing at her notoriously bad shoulder.

 “Baby, just-“ “Frank, stop it!” she said a little sternly. “I’ve fallen off more horses than you’ve had women.” “Wow.” he looked at her, and she snorted.

“I just mean it ain’t the first time and it sure as hell won’t be the last, kinda comes with the territory. I’m just gonna a bit bruised.”

 “Fine” he relented, and she pushed herself up off the sofa and walked slowly into the kitchen.

 A moment later he heard her groan “Fraaaaaaank.” “What?”

 “The soda’s on the top shelf. I can’t stretch my arm.” “What’s that? You do need my help?” “Stop being a dick.” she shot back, and with a wink at Mary who was laughing, he stood up and headed into the kitchen.

Not long after that they all ended up heading to bed. Frank knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day as he was getting the keys to the new apartment in the morning and they were starting the work straight away, Bill already scheduled to come and help. He’d booked as much time as he dared off work over the next week, given that he hadn’t been working there all that long but thankfully his Team Leader had been very understanding and Bill had said he’d take over on the days Frank had to be in.

Fliss stretched out, hissing at the bite of pain that coursed through her side and shoulder, the noise she made caused Thor to immediately spring up on the bed, nuzzling his face into Fliss' causing her to wince a little as he basically led over her like a huge teddy bear.

"Careful, buddy." Frank gently chastised the dog, reaching over to scratch his ears. He knew the animal was incredibly tuned into Fliss’ feelings, as were Cap and Heidi, the two horses she owned. It was something that genuinely amazed him and, if he was honest, made him smile a lot.

"Stupid soft git." Fliss muttered fondly, as Thor lay his head on her chest, teetering on the edge of the mattress, precariously, until a few seconds later he rolled and toppled off causing them both to giggle. The German shepherd shook himself off, shot them a scathing look, before he headed to his bed and flopped down with a loud huff.

"He didn't like it when you were on the floor before." Frank said softly, as she moved tenderly to lay her head on his chest. His hand reached round to card through her hair and down the side of her neck.

"No he never has." Fliss said gently "Ever since I got him he's been like that. He would always be the one that would lay by me, lick my face after...." she trailed off, the sentence didn’t need completing.  "He would growl something rotten at John when he started, but it was Loki that went for him in the end. That's why John killed him"

Frank stiffened, his hand stilling on the crown of her head, not quite sure he had heard right. "He killed your dog?" he repeated, questioningly.

"Yeah." Fliss swallowed. “He said he had bought him as a guard dog for the property not for me." She sniffed a little. "He poisoned him"

 "Oh, Lissy, I..." Frank sighed and she gently tangled her hand in the hair on his chest.

"I know."

 They lay still for a moment, her hand tracing shapes on his skin before she suddenly blurted out.

 "How do you do it? How do you make being with you so fucking easy?"

 "What?" Frank frowned.

 "This...I mean...you're kind, gentle, smart, funny, considerate. You know I’d half convinced myself you were gonna be crap in the sack to compensate it all but..." she shook her head. "I don’t get it."

"You don't get it because you spent almost four years living with a cunt who treat you like shit"  Frank said simply, anger flooding his system. “Lissy, I’m not perfect, far from it. I’m stubborn, opinionated, shit with words, I’m really untidy as you’ve noticed and, well, up until meeting you my longest relationship in the last ten years lasted for six months.” He shook his head. “All I do is treat you how you should be treated, with love and respect. Don’t put me on a fucking pedestal for being normal.”

She tilted her head and looked at him for a second, as Frank took a breath. That outburst had been a little uncalled for and harsher in tone than he’d meant, but he wanted her to understand that their relationship was normal. The way he treat her was normal. He was uncomfortable with this idea that she thought he was something special because he didn’t abuse her or hit her.

“I’m sorry I just…” he felt her stiffen besides him and he let out a soft sigh.

“No, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sound so abrupt.” He gently pulled her closer and nuzzled his face into her hair, kissing her head “You’re worthy of everything I said as a bare minimum. It’s not me being some kind of saint.”

“Can I put you on a pedestal for being gorgeous?” she asked after a moment’s pause and Frank snorted, shaking his head. “Well you are.” She protested at his response. There was another pause, until she broke the silence once more. “I do get it you know. Maybe I do appreciate you more because you’re not like him but, is that so wrong?”

“I’m not saying that, we’re together, we should appreciate each other.” he pressed. “I’m just telling you I’m not flawless.” “I know that.” she shrugged “Neither of us are. But isn’t that what makes this so perfect? It is because it isn’t. Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without”

“Confucius.” Frank raised an eyebrow at her, a small smile on his face as she looked up at him once more. Her eyes flashed and she grinned at him “How very philosophical.”

 She laughed “We’ll you’d know all about that, Professor.”

“Okay, here’s another one of his.” Frank grinned back. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall…”

“See, I told you I was right to get back on Bronson.” she quipped and at that Frank laughed.

******

Fliss woke the next morning to Frank gently kissing her cheek, softly running his hand over her hair.

“Morning Sweetheart.” he placed a mug of coffee on the side as she blinked and looked at him “How you feeling?” “Fucking sore.” she groaned. “What time is it?” “Half eight. I just packed Mary off on the bus.” “Half eight?” she sat up suddenly, immediately regretting it and winced once more. “Fuck, my alarm”

“Yeah I turned it off. Think the last batch of painkillers you took at three am wiped you out.” he sat on the edge of the bed as she shuffled up. She made to reach for her drink and let out a little huff of pain so Frank stopped her and handed it to her.

“Thanks.” She smiled. “I’ll ease off when I start to move about.”

“Well, don’t rush about.” He instructed as she took a drink of her coffee, before he saw her face fall.

“Oh, shit. I have a lesson to give at ten in St Pete’s…” she frowned, and Frank could she she was starting to worry so he gently reached out, tucking her wild auburn locks behind her ear.

“Just chill.” He shushed her. “Joanne called before.” He nodded to her phone “I answered and told her I didn’t know if you were gonna be in but she said she’d open up and reschedule your morning appointments. Then you can see how you feel this afternoon.”

For a moment he thought she was going to flip out at him effectively making a decision like that for her but after a second or two pause she gave a grateful smile and sat back against the pillows.

“Thank you.”

“Take your time, your mom and dad will be here in a bit. Then we’re gonna get the keys and start on the apartment.” Fliss grinned as she took another drink of coffee.“You excited?” “Yeah, yeah I am.” He said, honestly. “Just wanna get it all started and then we can move in.” She smiled and he stood up. “Your mom’s bringing breakfast, said something about her boys not being able to work on an empty stomach.” He arched a brow. “Her boys?” Fliss smirked over her mug. “You really have got her wrapped around your finger.” He chuckled “Well what can I say, I’m a likeable guy…” “Hmmm you’re something I’ll give you that.” she quipped, and he laughed, placing a kiss on her cheek before heading back out of the room.

It wasn’t long before Fliss’ parents arrived and they ate breakfast, Verity fussing over Fliss who kept assuring her and her dad that they were fine. Once they’d eaten, Bill and Frank headed over to meet his new landlord and after he handed over the keys, they got to work. For their first task they shut the utilities off and ripped out the bathroom, which wasn’t too big a job seeing as half of the damned suite was smashed up anyway. Once that was done they moved into the living room and tossed out the tatty old furniture that had been left before doing their first run to the local dump. Then they moved onto ripping up the carpet in the living room.

“Shit!” Bill spluttered as a cloud of dust rose up from where they had wrenched the offending item free from the tacks. Frank blinked, backing up slightly, before he stood up, arm across his mouth. “Didn’t think it would be that bad.”

Bill rose to his feet and they both moved away, Frank picking up a bottle of water that was on the side and rinsing his face with it. He tossed it to Bill who did the same, the pair of them looking at one another before snorting a laugh each, and shaking their heads.

“And I thought this would be the easy bit.” Bill wiped his face. “Was less hassle ripping out the bathroom.”

 It took them an hour or so to cut the carpet into easily manageable pieces, rip it up, and toss it into the back of their trucks. By now it was scorching outside, and also inside as the air con wasn’t on seeing as they had no power. This meant both men were dripping with sweat and Frank couldn’t remember ever feeling so damned warm or grubby in his entire life.

 By lunch time they’d pretty much cleared the lot. Carpets, broken light fittings, broken kitchen doors and also the old washing machine. Grabbing another bottle of water, Frank stood outside the apartment, hand on his hips and smiled at Bill who gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“Good job, son.” he nodded. “It’s a blank canvas now. Dave will be here soon with the new bathroom, shouldn’t take us too long to plumb it all in, connections are already there. We can start the tiling tomorrow.”

Frank smiled and grabbed his T-shirt at the bottom, lifting it up to wipe at his face and as he did so he heard a sharp wolf whistle. When he emerged from his shirt he grinned and looked at Fliss who was slowly walking towards them with Verity, Thor following behind, both women carried familiar paper bags.

Frank made his way over and she stopped, where as Verity carried on, quite tactfully towards Bill and Fliss grinned.

“Hey.” she greeted him as he leaned down to give her a kiss and she wrinkled her face. “Gross, you’re all filthy and sweaty and…” She trailed off, her eyes glinting as her voice dropped slightly and she ran a hand up his arm to his shoulder “Actually…” “Behave.” he raised his eyebrow at her.

“Don’t wanna.” she pouted.

 He shook his head and nodded to the bag. “You bring me lunch, Honey?”

 “You need to keep your strength up.” She winked. “Mom drove us to Subway.” “I love you Verity!” Frank called as he fished out his Turkey sub and she grinned at him.

The four of them settled down where they could, Fliss sitting on the steps, Frank by her feet on the lawn and Bill and Verity perched on the tail of Bill’s truck. They ate together, Fliss telling Frank she’d postponed her teaching now until Monday to allow herself time to heal a little, which he was secretly pleased about. It wasn’t long after they had finished lunch that the new bathroom turned up the women left them to it.

Frank and Bill worked well together and between the two of them they had it fit in little under two hours and Bill connected the water back up to test it. When it worked properly Frank gave a nod of satisfaction and smiled. The suite was an off white colour, nice and with a modern large bath. It might have been second hand but you couldn’t tell, and Frank liked it.

“Not bad for a day’s work.” Bill smiled. “The tiling shouldn’t take too long tomorrow and then, well, it’s just a case of decorating and a new carpet.” At that point the two men heard footsteps and looked up to see Mary bounding in, followed by Fliss and Verity.

“Hey Stack.” Frank greeted her as she looked around. “Whaddya think so far?” Mary nodded appreciatively. “Least it has a toilet.” The adults laughed and Frank nodded “Yeah, I mean we can move in now.” “What?” she frowned “There’s no carpet in the living room!”

 “I was being sarcastic.” Frank replied and she narrowed her eyes at him.

 “Roberta says sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.”

“Well, she’d know.” he shrugged.

 “Am I staying there tonight?” She questioned Frank.

“It’s up to you.” he replied “We’re not going out are we, Honey?”

Fliss shook her head “No way, I ache too much, but I was thinking we could BBQ maybe? All of us?” “Ooooh, yeah!” Mary nodded, agreeably “Then Roberta can come too.” Frank shrugged “Yeah, I’m ok with that.” “Mum, Dad?” Fliss asked.

 Verity and Bill exchanged looks and Bill nodded. “I need to nip home and shower first but…” “No need.” Fliss shook her head. “We swung by and picked you a spare change up. You can shower at Frank’s.” “Oh can I?” Bill looked at her. She grinned back in response as Bill turned to Frank “That okay? You know, seeing as it’s your place, not hers.” Fliss stuck her tongue out at her father whilst Frank simply shrugged.

“She acts like she owns the damned place when she’s there anyway so it might as well be.” he teased and she glared at him, digging him in the ribs.

 “Shut up”

*****

The next ten days consisted much in the same vein. Frank had to work on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but Bill took over the painting for him, and then on the Friday, a week after they had started, they fit the new carpets. The Saturday they spent fixing on the new kitchen doors and plumbing in the washing machine and on Sunday morning Frank fit the final touches, screwing in the new light fittings and then it was done.

That afternoon, Frank and Fliss stood in the middle of the living room admiring the finished article. It smelt of new carpet and wet paint, a smell Frank had grown immune to having been breathing it in for god knows how long.

 “It looks great.” Fliss smiled, taking the fresh, light grey walls, darker grey carpet which was complemented by the brushed steel modern light fittings.

 “Yeah, not a bad job.” Frank grinned. “We can start moving the stuff over tomorrow.” At that point Mary barrelled in from the hallway and beamed “My room looks awesome, Fliss, come see!” She gushed. Fliss allowed Mary to pull her out of the living room and followed her down the hall to the room on the right. It was a good sized bedroom, and it was freshly painted in light blue, a colour Mary had chosen herself.

 “Frank says I’m getting a new cabin bed soon with a desk underneath and I’m gonna put it against that wall.” She rambled on. “And on that wall I’m gonna stick my shells and there I’m gonna have my shelves for my books and a TV…” Frank leaned in the doorway watching as Mary pointed everything out to Fliss, his face curling into a smile. He’d never thought something so simple as having her own room would make the girl so damned happy.

 “…and Fred can have his own basket, although he never sleeps in them anyway…” Mary was continuing and Fliss looked up and caught Frank’s eye. He smiled at her gently and she beamed back.  “…and I can put my photos here…”  Mary finished “What do you think?” “I think it sounds amazing, Stack.” Fliss said, smiling at her “I can’t wait to see it all finished.” “Okay.” Frank pushed himself up straight from the door frame “Let’s go grab your stuff Stack and head over to find out what V’s made for dinner.” “I hope it’s beef.” Mary said, skipping out “Her Sunday beef is the best.” “It’s chicken.” Fliss whispered as Frank laughed, dropping an arm round her shoulders as they made their way outside. He locked the door and they headed back to the apartment, Mary collecting her stuff. Once Frank had checked she had everything she needed he tossed it into the truck and turned to Fliss.

“I’ve been thinking.” he said, as Mary climbed into the seat.

“Sounds dangerous.” Frank rolled his eyes “I know we said we weren’t gonna move in together yet, but, well, how about you bring some stuff over once I’ve got all the bedroom furniture and then that way you don’t need to pack a bag when you come stay.” Fliss smiled at him. “A sensible suggestion.” she agreed, her arms sliding around his neck.

“It has been known.” He grinned, his hands dropping to her hips as he leaned down to kiss her. They both jumped as the horn on the truck sounded and Mary leaned across the seats.

“Come on, stop kissing, I’m hungry.” “How about we ditch her on the side of the road?” Frank spoke loudly to Fliss and Mary scoffed.

“Stop making empty threats, Frank.” she sing songed.

Frank looked at Fliss who burst out laughing “You have no idea how damned similar the pair of you are.” She smiled with a shake of her head. *******

 It was almost a fortnight later when Mary casually told Frank she had reached her decision about Evelyn. It was a Friday and she had been at University for two classes that morning, and was heading to normal school for the rest of the afternoon. Part of the reason that Frank worked late on a Tuesday was so that he could be flexible when it came to things like this and could pop out for an hour or so to go and pick her up when he needed to.

He greeted her in the hallway as always and she slipped her little hand into his as they walked back outside and over to his truck. She glanced in the paper bag which contained her lunch he had bought her from the deli near the boat store, a treat he liked to get her every Friday now he could happily afford it without worrying and she grinned.

 “Save it for when you get to School. Otherwise everyone else will be eating and you won’t.” She folded the top of the paper bag over and grinned at him as he eased his way up the freeway.

“You drive like an old lady.” she grinned and Frank took a deep breath, a smirk on his face. That was a comment Fliss had made to him on numerous occasions, one which he normally retorted back with some reference to her driving like a maniac.

“It's Florida. I'm blending in.” He said simply to Mary, smile still playing on his lips. She side-eyed him for a moment, in a way that made her look ridiculously like Diane, even though he knew, again, that was a habit she’d picked up from Fliss. Or Roberta for that matter. Frank had a feeling that as Mary grew up she was going to be a perfect candidate for the whole nature v nurture debate…

“I talked to Fliss last night.” Mary said.

“I know, you stole the phone off me when she called and ran off to your room.”

“Yeah, why didn’t she stay with us last night?” “It’s Thursday, she never stays on a Thursday. You know this. She had paper work to do.” Mary fell silent.

“What were you going to say?” Frank gently pressed her.

“Huh?” “You said you talked to Fliss. Was that all you wanted to tell me or…” “Oh, no.” Mary replied “I asked her about whether I should see Evelyn.”

Frank took a deep breath, his face remaining passive “Right, so what did she say?” “The same as you. That it was my decision and whatever I wanted everyone would understand and be okay with it and that no one would be mad…”

“Of course no one will be mad.” Frank looked at her. “Evelyn is your grandmother, and it’s your decision if you wanna see her. Not mine, not the courts, not anybody’s but yours. And no one, not even me, is gonna be upset about what you decide, you got that?” “I know. And I’ve made up my mind.” “Yeah?” She nodded “I want to see her.” “Okay.” Frank licked his lips. Truth be told he wasn’t sure how he felt about this but he meant what he said. It was up to Mary and at least now he would have some control over the access. “If you’re sure then I’ll call her on Monday and we’ll make some arrangements.” “Maybe she can come here, see our new place.” “Maybe.” Frank nodded, although he had a feeling that hell freezing over would be more likely.

There was a moment’s silence as both of them were lost in their own thoughts. Frank stole a glance at his niece as she sat looking out of the window, chewing her lip and he decided to move her away from the subject as he turned off the main road.

“How was school?”

“Fun.” Mary nodded. “Not like regular school fun. But interesting.”

Fun. Regular. Two words Frank had craved for Mary all her damned life, and it made him smile to hear her so full of life, so happy, so settled.

Mary’s attention flickered from him to the seat next to her and she moved her lunch bag to look at it.

“What is this book?” she asked, picking it up and flicking it open.

“Discourse on Method.” Frank said, giving her the title of his latest read “Rene Descartes.”

“What's it about?” she pressed.

“Existence.”

“Existence?”

“Yup. I think, therefore I am” he said, a small smile on his face.

“Well, of course you are. That's obvious.” Marry rolled her eyes and Frank supressed a snort. Everything was so logical in her little brain, there was an innocence to it all that he loved.

“I think about Fred, therefore, I am Fred.” she continued.

“Cogito ergo Fred?” Frank teased looking at her.

“He's a dude and he's a guy,” Mary grinned, “and he only has one eye.”

Frank let out a chuckle as Mary tipped her head back and continued in a loud, ridiculous voice.

“Fred! Fred! Fred! Freeeeddddyyyy, Fred, Fred!”

Frank laughed began to slow down, pulling up by the school.

“All right, here we are.” He glanced over and saw Mary was fiddling with her belt and opening the door. “Hey, wait till I come to a stop…” he started to protest.

“Then come to a stop already!” Without so much as a glance back she grabbed her lunch and shot over to the playground which was brimming with other kids. He watched, a small smile playing on his face as she made her way over, dropping her lunch to the floor and throwing herself into a game. Something that he would never have believed possible back in September when she’d first started. But here she was, almost seven months later, like she’d been there all her life. His attention flicked to Bonnie as the woman shot him a friendly wave and a nod, which he returned before he set off back to work before someone called the cops on him for sitting outside a school staring at a yard full of kids.

****

As he was winding up at work for the day, Jake called him, an impromptu guys night out was being organised for that night as Jake had a ‘pass out’, his words not Frank’s. Frank hesitated for a moment, he hadn’t planned anything with Fliss as such, but it was Friday, their night…

“Oh come on!” Jake snorted as Frank rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me Frank Adler is hesitating over a night out!”

“No, it’s not that…” Frank protested “We’ve just had a really busy fortnight and…” “Man you’re whipped. Already. What is this? Like month five and you’re already in the-”

“I’m not whipped, I just like spending time with my girl, what’s wrong with that?”

“Dude come on!”

“Okay, okay.” Frank sighed. “What time?” “Eight at Fergs, and if you don’t show I’m gonna come round your gaff and drag you out myself.”

Frank shook his head and cut the call before he dialled Fliss.

“Hey, Sailor.” She greeted. “I was just thinking about you.”

“About me or that thing I did to you on Wednesday night?” he grinned and she snorted.

“No, about you. Although now I’m thinking about that thing.”

Frank chuckled. “So what were you thinking about?”

“Oh, erm, tonight. Thought we could grab a pizza and head up to the marina for a walk, maybe grab a beer.”

“Erm, yeah.” He sighed. Shit.

“We don’t have to.” She responded, clearly reading his voice tone. “It was just an idea.”

“No, I do, I just….” He took a deep breath. “Well, Jake called, said the guys are going for beers and it’s been a while since we all got together so I was…” “Frank…” Fliss laughed softly “You don’t need to justify yourself. If you wanna go out, go out.” “You don’t mind?”

“Why would I mind?”

“Well, Fridays are kinda our night.”

“I know but, well it’s not as much of a big thing now Mary has her own room, we kinda get our own nights a bit more often.” “Ok, fair point.” he smiled and she laughed.

“Maybe I can wait for you at yours? I can go to Roberta’s for a little while with Mary.” “You don’t have to ask.” Frank smiled softly “You can stay whenever you want, you know that.”

“Well, that’s settled then.” she replied, before someone shouted to her and she retorted before coming back to Frank “Sorry baby, I gotta go but I’ll see you later.” “Ok, love you.” “You too…”

***** After Frank headed out, Fliss wandered down to Roberta’s with a bottle of wine and after more loud hairbrush-karaoke, Roberta had cracked open the Bourbon and the two women had sat on the stoop until just gone eleven when Fliss had headed back. Throwing on one of Frank’s T-shirts she crawled into the king sized bed (an excellent purchase decision that she had talked him into) and snuggled down into the new blankets (another excellent purchase decision), Thor jumping up and taking his position by her feet.

She can’t have been asleep long when she woke as Thor gave a low whine and jumped off the bed, nudging the door open and heading out into the hallway.

Then she heard a thud, followed by cursing.

“Shit. Who put that there?” She heard Frank groan, then he started laughing “Thor! Get down!”

There was more laughing, and protests which Fliss listened to for a moment, before she swung her legs out of bed and headed down the short hallway. She quickly checked the front door as she walked past to make sure he’d locked it behind him, and then headed into the living room to find Frank led on the floor as Thor basically jumped all over him, licking his face and wagging his tail.

“Some guard dog you are.” Frank laughed again as he attempted to push the dog off him.

“Good job you’re not a burglar then.” Fliss spoke, causing Frank to look up, grinning stupidly at her “Mind you, the amount of noise you’re making you’d be a pretty shit one…”

“Heeey…” he grinned, as Thor finally moved off him and he pushed himself to his feet. “There you are!”

“Here I am.” Fliss nodded, and she couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face. He was beaming at her, a stark contrast to how John was when he used to come home drunk, but then that was Frank all over, a completely different person, and she knew that.

“There you are, my girl.” He stopped in front of her, his hands falling to her hips. “C’mere…”

“Ok, someone had a good night.” She grinned as he placed a sloppy kiss on her lips.

“Yeah, it was.” He nodded and then he suddenly looked around “So the bedroom moved.” he turned back to her and whispered conspiratorially. “It’s not where it usually is...”

“No, you moved.” She laughed. “You moved apartments, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” He nodded, before he looked down at her, taking in her bare legs “Is that my T-shirt?”

“Yes.” “Take it off, thief.” “Okay, let’s get you to bed.” Fliss patted his chest.

“Yeah?” He arched his eyebrow grinning.

“To sleep.”

“No sleep.” He pouted, dropping his head to gently nuzzle at her neck. “Wanna give you some lovin’...”

“Yeah and how are you gonna do that when you’re too drunk to take your pants off?” Fliss laughed as she led him down the hallway.

“You can take em off…” He said as he stopped in the bedroom, looking round.

“Oh I can, can I?” She asked as he kicked off his sneakers.

“Yes…” he nodded as he sat on the bed. “I’ll allow it.”

“You'll allow it?” Fliss deadpanned as he started to undo the buttons on his shirt. Eventually he gave up and reached back, grabbing it behind his neck and with a tug pulled it over his head, tossing it to the side. He reached out to Fliss, pulling her close to him, his arms wrapping around her back as he looked up at her.

“I will allow it, but only because I love you.”

“Ok so let me get this straight.” Fliss chuckled as she ran her hand through his hair. “You're gonna let me take your pants off because you love me?”

 “Yeah.” He nodded.

 “I'm so lucky…” She snorted

 “Hey, I’m a catch…” Frank let go of her and flopped back on the bed.

 “I never said otherwise.” she grinned, moving to take his belt off.

“Ah ha ha see, you do wanna get in my pants.” “I want to get you in bed, so help me out here hot-shot.” With a grin Frank raised his hips and she tugged down his jeans, dropping them by the side of the bed.

“Come on…” she patted the pillows and Frank shifted, moving the right way onto the bed and after a bit of a battle with the covers he’d settled himself down, one arm thrown over his head as he watched Fliss who gently turned off the lamp and settled down next to him. Shifting onto his side, his hand gently ran up her thigh, resting on her hip underneath his T-shirt.

 “I love you.” He said softly, and she smiled and kissed the tip of his nose.

“I love you too.” she smiled “Even when you’re being a drunken idiot.” “I’m not drunk.” “Course not.” “Okay, maybe just a little bit.” he conceded after a moment. “But I do love you.” “I believe you.”

“So much, you know what? One day, I’m gonna marry you.”

 “Oh, are you?” Fliss asked, running her hand through his hair.

 “Yup, and then we’re gonna make little Franks and Flisses and…” he stopped as Fliss’ laughter filled the room. “Why are you laughing?” he asked her, his tone indignant “You don’t wanna marry me and make babies?”

 “Not after us being together for like less than 6 months.” she laughed.

 “Well that’s just rude…” he mumbled, dropping his head forward so it fell to her chest.

He stayed still for a moment, mumbling something else as Fliss continued to run her hands through her hair, and it wasn’t long before his soft snores told her he was asleep. With a fond smile she dropped a kiss to his head and closed her eyes.

*****

Fliss took great delight the next morning in telling Frank exactly how much shit he’d been talking when he came home, including telling her that he wanted to marry her and make babies. He’d groaned and banged his head on the table as he sat nursing a coffee, instantly regretting that as his head was pounding as it was. Thankfully, Mary had gone with Fliss to the yard and spent most of the day there leaving him to suffer in peace, firing abuse to the Circle Of Trust What’s-app group, his only slight consolation being they all seemed to be suffering just as much as he was.

He collapsed into bed on the Saturday at just gone ten pm and slept straight through to eight the next morning when he was woken by Fliss softly kissing him awake. He knew what she wanted, and happily obliged and once they were both spent and slightly sweaty from a particularly energetic sex session, they both showered and after a breakfast of Waffles and fruit, spent the rest of the morning browsing the IKEA website for a bed for Mary. They then headed over to Bill and Verity’s for the usual dinner before they’d all collapsed in bed at Fliss’ after watching a film together.

 Monday morning brought the usual routine, shower, breakfast, kiss Fliss goodbye, drop Mary at school, head to work, check the list of active jobs for the week, start one of said active jobs, pause for a mid-morning snack from the coffee shop, resume work. All standard stuff, so it was a little surprising when the routine of the day was broken.

“Frank?”

Frank popped his head up from the deck of the boat where he’d been working on the steering column and looked at Fliss who was stood in the open entrance to the workshop.

“Hey…” he smiled, “What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see you but…”

Because he was, he was always happy to see her, he was simply surprised as they hadn’t arranged to meet for lunch like they sometimes did if she was teaching over this way. He stood up and reached for a cloth to wipe his hands on before he climbed down from the boat and as he noticed the look on her face he frowned.

“Baby, what’s the matter?”

 “I err…I got a call and I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do and I just needed to see you and…”

 “Hey, hey.” he soothed, his hands on her arms “Calm down.”

She took a deep breath as Frank glanced over to Paul, his co-worker and nodded his head to signal he was heading outside. Paul waved him away and Frank dropped an arm round Fliss’ shoulder and steered her outside into the sun and out of the view of everyone.

 “What’s wrong?” he asked her and she nodded, taking a deep breath. He could see she’d been crying and he searched her eyes with his own as she looked at him.

 “I got a phone call…from the Victim Assistance Services.” Her eyes were wide “John’s been granted the right to a Parole hearing. They’ve set the date for 23rd May, six weeks.” Frank took a deep breath, concentrating on keeping calm despite the fact he could quite happily have kicked something there and then.

 “I don’t know why I’m so shocked.” Fliss continued “I mean I always knew this would happen, but hearing that he’s finally got a date...” she looked at Frank “If he’s successful, then he could be out by the end of June and…”

“Honey, just because he’s been given the right to a hearing, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to get out.” “The woman on the phone said that there’s a better chance that it will be refused if I appeal. But if I want to do that then I’ll have to either go in person or do a written or recorded statement and I don’t know if I can…” A tear fell from her eye and Frank gently wrapped her arms around her, pulling her to him. “I stood in a courtroom last time, telling them exactly what he did to me, about how he beat me and degraded me, only to be told I that I was a liar, and that I liked it rough, that I egged him on and… I can’t….I can’t do that again Frank…”

 She was rambling into his chest and he could do nothing but pull her close and drop a kiss to her head.

“No one’s gonna make you do anything you don’t wanna.” he pulled away slightly, cupping her face in her hands.

“They’re sending me a letter.” she said “Explaining my rights and stuff in more detail.” “Want me to call Greg?” He asked, a sudden inspiration coming to him. “I know he’s a Family lawyer now but he did do some time with this type of thing a while back, if you’re happy to speak to him I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to help…”

 “I don’t know if I can.” she sniffed. “I don’t know if want him knowing every detail, I mean even you don’t know it all…” “I know.” he agreed. “And you don’t have to tell him anything to start off with, just ask his advice.” 

She sniffed gently, and looked at him. “I have to tell you don’t I?” She said softly, “All of it?”

Frank hesitated. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but if this was going the way it looked like it was going to go, he would find out sooner or later, and, as he looked at Fliss, he knew that no matter how hard it was, how shitty it was going to be to open up fully, she would need to do that herself to keep some control over the situation.

“You don’t have to do anything. But if you decide you want to, then I’ll listen.” 

He dropped a kiss to her head and pulled her back to him, gently rocking her to-and-fro as he squinted out over the harbour. 

**** Chapter 15

[woah-were-halfway-there]

Just What I Needed

A/N: so many of you have been asking for more of my Along For The Ride series and I 🥺 y’all are the reason I even wrote this new piece and decided to continue the story at all, so shout out to you all. This is going to be a little sub-series of at least a few parts so if you haven’t read any of AFTR first I recommend it. Also, this is takes places right after this one shot here. Enjoy 🥰

Word Count: 5.2k

"I think I might be pregnant again."

It took Auston a second to process what you had just said and wrap his head around the concept entirely. When you brought up the topic of having another baby one day, he didn't think you meant right then. But at the same time, he didn't care because there was a possibility he may have another little bean running around soon, and he loved that thought. 

"Are you serious?" He finally breathed out and noticed just how anxious you seemed. 

"I- yeah. I haven't been physically ill like I was when we found out I was pregnant with Mia, but I've been feeling off. I feel like there's just something going on with my body, and I mean, there's still the likelihood that I'm not pregnant again, but, my period is late and-."

"Hey, you don't have to justify yourself," Auston spoke up when you began rambling. You were thankful for how well he was handling what you said, but you still felt overly emotional about it as you shifted away from him and started petting Frank as a way to keep yourself from crying. However, it didn't take long for your husband to notice what you were doing. "Babe, come here. Talk to me."

He sat upright and moved to pull you close to him again. Once his arm was around your waist, though, he hesitated because he wasn't sure if you wanted your space or not, but when you didn't move away, he took that as a sign to continue. 

You weren't sure why you were getting so worked up. For all you knew, it could have most definitely been pregnancy hormones, but you still weren't sure, and that's what was stressing you out. 

"I just need to know, Auston," you whispered as you turned to face him again, and he didn't miss a beat by reaching up to wipe away a stray tear that was rolling down your cheek. "I need to know if I'm pregnant so bad, but at the same time, I don't want to."

"What do you mean?"

You sighed. 

"I hate not knowing why I'm feeling the way that I am. If I'm not pregnant, then what's wrong with me? And it's so much more than that too. The thought of having another baby right now is scary to me. What if something happens while you're away or I just struggle because you're not here. Remember how stressed we were about that kind of thing with Mia? Sure it all worked out, but the thought still makes me nervous, and the timing would be completely different, seeing as it's November. You were in the off-season for pretty much the entire first half of my pregnancy last time, I had you with me when I felt like I needed it most. I don't know, I feel like I'm getting so worked up now, but I worry about these things, Aus."

"I understand," he nodded and looked away thoughtfully, the expression on his face changing. But you knew that look, he was internally blaming himself over what you had said, but you refused to let him. "I'm sorry you feel uneasy about this and that I can't always be here. I wish I could."

"I know you do, and that's enough, Auston. You're enough."

"It doesn't always feel like it, though. It's like I'm so much, Mia is growing up insanely fast, and I'm not always here for it all. Who's to say it won't be the same or worse when we do have another baby?"

"You're not missing anything, though. As much as I too wish you could be here all the time, you're doing what you love. Mia and I will always be cheering you on as you do that too. Just because you're away sometimes doesn't mean Mia is going to forget about you or love you any less. You know damn well how much of a daddy's girl she is. She can't contain her excitement when you come home from a road trip because she loves you so much. I just know that if and when we have any more kids, it'll be the same."

At that, he smiled before shaking his head. 

"I thought I was the one trying to make you feel better."

You chuckled. 

"That's kinda how we work, huh? Always levelling the other out in some way."

"Always," he replied before leaning forward to kiss you softly. "We just get each other like that. Which is also how I know there's something else that's bothering you. Come on, spill."

"You're very observant, Matthews," you mumbled while rolling your eyes. 

"Please, you find it endearing."

"I find it annoying," you corrected, making him scoff as you chuckled at his reaction. "I'm kidding. But yeah, I guess there is something still bothering me, but it's hard to explain."

"Try me," Auston replied, giving your hand an encouraging squeeze. 

"It's just, yes, there are things that make me feel uneasy about the possibility of being pregnant, but as I said earlier, I really would love to have more kids. I love thinking about Mia being a big sister one day, and the thought of growing our family together. But what if right now isn't the time to do so? Maybe there never will be a time."

"I don't think the timing is an issue," he stated and began tracing over your knuckles with his thumb. "I can't think of us having more kids being at a bad time, ever. It could be now, or it could be months or years down the road, and I'd still be happy. But only if you're ready, of course."

"I think I am," you told him honestly. "Which is also stressing me out because I do want to be pregnant again. It feels weird to say out loud, but yeah, I'm hoping that I am pregnant, however, maybe I'm not Auston. I have this gut feeling that I am, but I'm afraid I'm getting my hopes up. A lot of people struggle with getting pregnant, Auston. We can't assume we won't because we've already lucked out with our little girl."

You stopped and wiped away a tear you could feel that was about to break free again. Auston was quiet, but after a moment of processing what you just said, he finally spoke up again. 

"You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?"

"More than I probably should be. I just really care about it, maybe a little too much."

"There's no such thing as caring too much," he responded and nudged your shoulder so you'd look at him again. "You're just full of so much love, and that's fine. It's part of what makes you an amazing mother to our daughter. We're in this together. Although there may be some bumps along the way, everything is going to be fine. This may be one of those bumps, but it also might be what we're hoping for. Pregnant or not, though, we're going to be ok, Y/N."

It was impossible for you not to be full-on sobbing by that point. Auston always knew what to say when you needed to get out of your own head a little bit, and this situation was no exception. You weren't crying because you were upset or frustrated, you were just so damn emotional having conversations like this one, but so thankful to have him help you get through them. 

Once Auston realized you were crying, he quickly pulled you into his embrace and held you tightly. He didn't say anything, just let you get those emotions out while gently rubbing your back and placing soft pecks on your head. After a minute or so went by, he began reassuring you and telling you how much he loved you all without letting you go. It was no wonder how, after that, you eventually started feeling better. 

"Thank you, Auston, I needed that," you told him as you moved away, sniffling as you wiped away any stray tears. 

"Of course, I'm always going to be here for you, babe. Don't feel like you have to bottle up anything, ok? We're a team."

"The best one," you stated before letting out a shaky breath. "I love you."

"And I love you," he replied while tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. "We're going to be fine."

"As long as we have each other."

"Exactly," he nodded with a smile.

You returned the smile before shrugging a little bit. "I guess I should go to the store and pick up some tests tomorrow."

"Or I could," he suggested. "Then, you can make an appointment with your doctor if you want, and we can go from there."

"Auston, I'm not going to make you go buy pregnancy tests for me," you told him and shook your head. 

"You're not making me do anything, I'm offering to get them. Besides, aren't you and Mia busy tomorrow visiting with Steph?"

"Well, yeah, but-."

"Then I'll do it, Y/N, I'm sure I can manage to buy some pregnancy tests," he retorted. "I'm getting up early, and if Mia is awake, which we both know she will be, I'll take her with me. I want you to relax, alright? Don't worry, I'll take care of everything in the morning, and you can rest up. But, I won't get the tests if you don't want to take them."

"No, I do," you started. "I want to see what they say at least; I just don't want to do it alone."

"You won't have to. I'll be back with them before you even need to start getting ready, and although I have to leave on Sunday, we can still do this together. Deal?"

You smiled and looked down at his extended hand, chuckling at how he was going to make you shake in agreement for this game plan. But regardless, you took his hand and shook it, feeling even more nervous and excited than before. 

"Deal."

 ~*~

The following morning was a bit of a whirlwind, but not necessarily in a bad way. 

Your daily routine usually consisted of waking up early with Mia seeing as her sleeping schedule had her getting up around 8 every morning looking for something to eat. And although some days that seemed way too early, there weren't many things you loved more than going into your daughter's room and seeing her smile excitedly once she laid eyes on you. 

She loved mornings and seeing her always put you in a good mood as you got her and yourself ready to start the day. But for this particular morning, you didn't have that.

As you slowly blinked your eyes open, you noticed how Auston was not asleep next to you. Although you were aware that he was getting up early, you still couldn't help the small pout that formed on your lips due to his absence. 

You weren't even sure how long you'd slept until, but when you reached over to grab your cell phone off the bedside table to see it was almost 10, your eyes widened in a panic. Without a second thought, you sat right up and scrambled out of bed to go get to Mia. 

It wasn't until you were about halfway through changing into some track pants and a hoodie that you heard a series of giggles come from downstairs, followed by Auston speaking in a dramatic voice. You let out a sigh of relief, reminding yourself that you weren't a terrible mother and that you had no reason to rush to your daughter's aid seeing as she was perfectly fine hanging out with her dad. 

You were about to join them but were hit by an intense wave of nausea that had you rushing to the washroom as quickly as possible. You didn't end up getting sick, but it sure felt like you could, and as soon as you stood up straight again, your mind wandered to what you and Auston discussed the night before. That same thought stayed in your mind while you moved away from the toilet to brush your teeth. 

What just happened wasn't the first time you'd felt ridiculously nauseous in the past few weeks, and you just knew it had to mean something. So, with a quick shake of your head, you rinsed off your toothbrush and mentally prepared yourself to head downstairs, wondering how the day's events would play out after talking with Auston again.

When you reached the bottom step, you were greeted by Frank, who looked up at you expectantly as he waited for some head rubs. After leaning down and giving him the attention he craved for a few minutes, you walked towards the living room where music, Auston's off-key singing, and Mia's laughter sounded, bracing yourself for what you were about to walk into. 

Slowly, you peeked around the doorframe, hoping to go unnoticed for a little while longer as you peered into the room and observed as Auston held Mia, swaying with her as he sang along Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl. Thoroughly enjoying what you were witnessing, you moved further into the room and leaned against the frame with your arms crossed over your chest as the other two kept dancing around without a care in the world. 

"You, my brown-eyed girl," Auston sang as he dipped Mia towards the ground before bringing her right back up again, earning another series of giggles from the toddler as she wrapped her arms around her dad's neck and snuggled closer to him with a huge smile. You couldn't help but feel your heart swell with affection as you watched your two favourite people interact the way they did, and didn't dare interrupt them. It was just too good seeing how strong of a bond those two had; however, it didn't take long for Mia to notice your presence lurking nearby. 

"Mommy!" She exclaimed excitedly, wasting no time taking her head off Auston's shoulder so she could look at you better while reaching her hand outwards.

"And what am I?" Auston asked your daughter in a tone that made it seem like he was greatly offended. "We were having a great time, but that doesn't matter anymore cause your mom is here now, huh, punk?"

He then scrunched his face at her before bringing his hand up in a threatening way, then moving it to her belly and tickling until she squealed and giggled all over again. 

"No, daddy!" Mia stated between laughs while trying to push his hand away, but Auston kept going. They carried on like that for another moment, before Mia looked at you again and decided she just was not having it anymore. "Mama!"

How she called out to you was like a mix of pouting and whining, something she tended to do when she wasn't getting her way. You and Auston expected that from an almost-two-year-old, but sometimes she was just so damn sassy, and it'd catch you both off guard.

"Woah, ok, alright," Auston said and moved to set Mia down. By that point, she was a walking machine and had no issue making the few steps she had to take to get to where you were standing. Once she reached you, she already had a smile on her face and was no longer frustrated as you leaned down to pick her up. 

"Now, you know how I feel when you come home from away games, and she no longer wants anything to do with me," you teased your husband before looking at Mia as she clung onto you. "Isn't that right, sweetheart? You love your daddy very much, don't you?"

"Ya," she responded and leaned against your shoulder, all while looking towards her dad knowingly. 

The way Mia had Auston so effortlessly wrapped around her finger was a very amusing thing to see. Since the two of you started dating, you had seen how dead serious Auston could be in certain situations, but when it came to his daughter, that side of him was almost non-existent.

With him, Mia could get away with just about anything. He was always incredibly soft with her, and you knew how much he hated being the 'mean' parent when one of you had to be. On more than one occasion, he had guilted you into being the one to explain to Mia how something she did was bad. Although the two of you did work as a team to tackle the teaching and disciplining of your daughter, you still knew it was especially hard on him sometimes. 

It wasn't like Mia had a favourite parent or anything either. She adored both you and Auston so, so much. When times came where she was a bit too sassy or was misbehaving, you hated having to not be cool and explain to her the way she was acting wasn't ok. But, it was all part of your parenting job. You and Auston were the ones responsible for Mia's development and wellbeing, and although that itself was a stressful thought sometimes, she always made it worth it. 

At just 22 months, she already had such a big personality, and it always showed. It was never hard to tell what kind of mood she was in, or how she felt because those emotions were always being expressed, and you loved seeing the little person she was becoming with each passing day. 

"Frank, mommy," Mia spoke up, snapping you out of your thoughts while pointing towards the Goldendoodle as he passed the two of you and headed towards the kitchen. "Frank, come back!"

"I think he wants something to eat, Hunny. What about you? Did hanging out with daddy all morning make you hungry too?"

"Mhm," she replied while nodding.

"Ok, well then, why don't we go get you some bananas, hmm?" You asked, and she nodded again. "Then we can watch a movie and play with Frank, all you want. Do you remember who we're going to visit later today?"

"Steph!" 

"Yes!" You exclaimed and leaned down to peck her on the cheek, before lowering your voice to a whisper, but still loud enough that Auston could hear. "And don't tell your daddy, but I think Mitchy is going to be there too."

"Mitchy!" She squealed, making you chuckle.

"What?" Auston scoffed as he stepped closer to the two of you. "I thought you two and Steph were having a girl's day."

"We were originally, but Mitch isn't doing anything today," you told him. "After Mia has a nap, the plan was to go over to their house anyway, but now I think we're going to stay in and make tacos or something there instead of going out to eat. Come with us, if you're feeling up for it. Maybe we can invite them here."

"Well, you know I'm not one to turn down a good meal," he responded. "I have to run downtown real quick at some point today to pick up that new suit, but other than that, I was just going to hang out with Frank while you two were gone. I'd love to join."

"Perfect," you smiled as you cuddled closer to Mia and started making way to the kitchen to get your daughter her snack. 

You moved around the large granite island smoothly as you walked to the fridge to grab some juice and a banana from where a bunch of them rested on the counter nearby. Just as you were about to grab the cutting board to start prepping the snack, Auston swooped in and took Mia from your hold to get her settled in her chair as you continued with what you were doing. You smiled at him thankfully before peeling the banana and cutting it up into slices for Mia to munch on, knowing it would keep her from getting hungry again until actual lunchtime.

Once you finished cutting the fruit, you put the slices on one of Mia's colourful plastic dishes and gave it to her before going back to make yourself something to eat as well. 

"Babe, sit down, I can make us something," Auston spoke as he snuck up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist. 

"You haven't eaten yet?" You asked as you spun around in his hold and let him push you gently back against the counter.

"No, wasn't that hungry. And I wanted to wait for you."

The next thing you knew, he was leaning down to catch your lips in a soft, but needy kiss. You smiled at the contact as you slowly moved your hands up his arms, before wrapping them around the back of his neck and pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. After a few moments of doing that, you pulled away and smiled up to your husband. 

"Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too," Auston replied with a goofy grin before pulling you into his embrace. You chuckled while shaking your head but soon relaxed as you rested against his chest and glanced over at Mia; your smile widening as you observed your daughter off in her own little world. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," you told him. "Was a little nauseous when I first got up, but it passed fairly quickly."

He hummed in response and began rubbing up and down your back in a comforting manner. Nothing else was said between the two of you after that. You both found enough comfort in the other's presence while quietly observing Mia as she watched Frank, while he stared out the sliding glass doors at the birds roaming around in the backyard. 

You were content. There wasn't one thing you didn't love about the little life you and Auston created together. It just seemed so perfect, but yet, you still felt like something was missing. 

Your gaze then trailed over to the small breakfast table on the other side of the kitchen, where a white plastic bag with the logo of the pharmacy down the road sat. You didn't even have to ask Auston to know what was in the bag, but you still found yourself moving away from him and walking towards it. Auston followed and watched as you looked in the bag, and sure enough, inside, there were five different types of pregnancy tests.

"I didn't know what one to get," he spoke softly. "There were so many different brands and types. I kinda decided just to wing it and hope for the best."

"No, it's ok," you replied and turned back to face him. "I appreciate you picking these up for me."

"Of course. Don't want you to worry about a thing."

At that, you smiled before snapping your attention to Mia as she let out a loud noise. 

"Frank!" She called, and you leaned over to see Frank leaving the room, much to your daughter's dismay. 

"I'm convinced she loves him more than she does us sometimes," Auston whispered as he leaned down to rest his chin on your shoulder. 

"Oh, shut up," you laughed and swatted his arm. "They're best friends."

Auston just chuckled and shook his head before standing up straight again and stepping towards Mia. 

"All done with your banana, baby girl?" 

"All done," she repeated while raising her arms as if to say she wanted out of her chair.

"I figured, seeing as half of it is on the floor," he teased as he leaned down to pick up the fallen fruit, before tossing them out and going back to pick Mia up and kiss her cheek. "Well, Miss Mia, why don't we go to wash your hands, then we can take Frank to the park, and when we come home, we can watch a movie."

"Lion, daddy?" 

"Yes, of course, we can watch the Lion King… again." 

"Solid plan, that'll wear her out a little bit," you joked as you filled a glass with water and sipped on it, mentally preparing yourself to take the pregnancy tests. 

"Gotta get that nap in somehow," Auston responded with a wink as he grabbed a baby wipe and washed off Mia's hands before exiting into the hallway to get himself, and your daughter dressed to go outside. 

"For our sanity and hers, yes," you chuckled and followed after them. 

"Mommy come?" You heard Mia ask as Auston zipped up her winter coat.

"No, sweetie, I'm going to stay here and make breakfast for your dad and me. But when you get back, I'll have your blanket and stuffy all set up for your movie."

"I thought I was making breakfast," Auston said and turned back to face you.

"Chill, Matthews, I got it," you responded. "Don't need you burning our toast to a crisp like you did the other day."

"Not my fault, the setting was so high," he grumbled and rolled his eyes. He then set Mia down to put on his coat and grab Frank's leash so the three could head on out, but for some reason, he seemed a little hesitant to go.

And you knew exactly why.

"Auston, I'm going to wait until you're back to take those tests," you told him. "We're in this together, remember?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "We'll be back in like 20 minutes."

"Awesome gives me enough time to make some food and drink more water. See you three in a little bit."

"Bye, mommy!" Mia called as Auston opened the front door, and she began following him and Frank outside.  

"Bye, baby," you said and stood there smiling until the door closed, and you were on your own. "Alright, let's get this show on the road."

Just like Auston had said, he, Mia and Frank was all back around 20 minutes later. In that time to yourself, you downed three glasses of water and cooked some bacon and eggs. However, you seemingly lost your appetite when it came to actually eating anything. 

"Aus, I think I'm going to take those tests now," you said after a few minutes of picking at the food on your plate. The two of you were sitting at your kitchen's little breakfast bar, facing the living room so you'd both be able to keep an eye on Mia as she sat on the couch watching the Lion King, and your nerves were just getting too bad to wait any longer. "My anxiety is through the roof right now."

He slowly nodded in response, and you could tell he was thinking about what to say next. After taking a sip of his water, he glanced over at you and spoke up. 

"Do you want your space?"

"Yeah," you told him honestly. "I'll come to get you once I'm done." 

"Ok," he smiled and gave your hand a reassuring squeeze. "Leave your plate; I'll clean up. Let me know if you need anything."

"I will."

You stood up from the stool and walked over to where the pharmacy bag still sat. After grabbing it, you glanced back to the living room to check on Mia one last time before walking down the hall to the main floor washroom and doing what you needed to do. 

About ten minutes later, you left the washroom with your phone in hand and a timer set. You remained quiet as you entered the living room and crawled into the spot beside Auston, where he sat on the couch. He didn't say anything, He just pulled you closer and let you cuddle into his side, knowing all that needed to be said would happen in the next few minutes. He watched as you kept tapping your phone screen to life, anxiously counting down the seconds to when the two of you could go see what each of the tests said. 

Mia was oblivious to everything going on. She was very quiet, laying a few feet away from you on the couch, cuddling with Frank and her stuffed whale, while fighting extremely hard to keep her eyes open as Timon and Pumba started singing Hakuna Matata. The walk sure did its job in tiring her out enough to take a nap, and with each passing moment, you could see her eyes getting droopier until finally, they closed completely. 

And then your alarm went off. 

You and Auston both jumped slightly at the sudden noise, before instinctively looking over to see if it had woken Mia up. Luckily it didn't, and once you realized that, you both slowly glanced back at each other knowingly. 

"Ready?" Auston asked.

"Yeah," you spoke quietly. "As ready as I'll ever be."

The two of you stood up then and went over to place some pillows near Mia. She wasn't much of a mover when she slept, and the couch cushion was wide enough that she shouldn't accidentally roll off onto the floor, but still, you and Auston were both careful and made sure to plan for the worst in case it were ever to happen. Auston then placed a small blanket over her for if she got cold. Then, he made sure to pet Frank before linking his hand with yours and guiding you back down the hallway towards the washroom.

You had left the door open and could easily see the four tests you did sitting where you left them on the counter and didn't know what to feel. You saved the fifth one on purpose for if you needed further confirmation of whether you were indeed pregnant or not, and after one final glance at Auston, you stepped into the room to see what each one said. 

After glancing down at the first test, your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach. There was no plus or minus symbol, no message on the tiny screen indicating what you wanted to know so bad, no nothing, and that didn't sit right with you. Without even thinking, you reached out and grabbed Auston's hand, hoping for some reassurance because you could already feel your hope slipping away, and then he spoke up.

"Babe, look at the other three."

So, you did, and sure enough, each one stated that you were indeed pregnant again. 

"Oh, my God," you gasped as a sob involuntarily left your mouth. You immediately moved a hand up to cover your mouth and look at Auston with watery eyes before pulling you in for a tight hug. "We're having another baby."

"We're going to be parents again, Y/N. It doesn't seem real."

"It is," you blubbered and squeezed him even more. "I'm so happy Auston; I just had a feeling that I was and-."

"I know, I know," he soothed while rubbing his hand up and down your back. You couldn't tell with how your face was buried against the fabric of the hoodie he wore, but he was smiling so damn wide. He was ecstatic and instinctively wanted to know more. How far along were you? When would the doctor predict your due date would be? And most importantly, was the baby healthy?

Auston had so many questions, but he was aware that it wasn't the time to ask them. He knew this was going to be yours and his little secret for the time being. Although he was content with that, he was just so excited and couldn't wait to see how the rest of how everything would play out. 

And neither could you.

[vinylhazza]

“that was embarrassing” and “it’s not funny”

I'm not sure if this was on the smut prompt list but this was so cute so I'm posting anyway. hope you like it! 

it was the last and final time you would ever go rollerskating with Grayson for as long as you lived.

not only had you made an ass out of yourself in front of all of his friends with jokes you were certain they would understand but most certainly didn’t, but you had just fallen so hard onto the slick wooden rink that you currently sat on a hard, cold bench watching the others twirling and spinning around to the music with a makeshift ice-pack pressed against your forehead (if you can call the cold cup that holds your Pepsi an ice-pack). something was better than nothing.

it was the hardest fall you’ve had since you could remember, the stars swirling behind your eyelids with every blink making it more than clear to you that you might even have a concussion. all you wanted was sleep. sleep and silence.

Grayson hadn’t been able to swing himself around fast enough to break your fall let alone stop the laughter ringing in your ears as soon as your knees bowed, the sound of you body hitting the ground fresh in your mind still. a harsh pang to your forehead was the one thing that still made you cringe from your place off the rink. it was mortifying to watch a girl no older than seven laughing at you as she wizzed by with ease, some ridiculous 2000′s pop song blaring over the speakers.

“it wasn’t that bad” Grayson had tried consoling you over and over in your ear as you made your way back to the side of the rink- trying your best to ignore the hoots and howls of his friends. he flipped them to bird with a scowl, but it didn't seem to make much difference as Collin raced by with a sly “nice one Peterson!”

“that was embarrassing,” you’d grumbled. you tried to ignore the sympathetic look he’d given you, only confirming that it was in fact” embarrassing.

warning off the tears moistening your eyes without your consent was harder than you’d thought. but falling in front of children and friends, and then crying about it was just not something you wanted to be a part of.

that had been thirty minutes ago. thirty minutes of miserable spinning and nausea. of course it was probably your own fault for pushing yourself out of you small box and trying something different for once. an ode to your clumsiness. you hated physical activity- no matter what aid the wheels could have given you and even if you had been holding Graysons hand for most of the night.

that part hadn’t been as challenging: clinging onto your boyfriends arm and laughing at your legs sliding across the floor similar to that of a baby deer with skates. there really wasn’t any difference, but he made your blush form from one of embarrassment, to flattery with every minute that passed.

all was well until he left you to fend for yourself, something that you were still trying to keep to yourself. yes you were hurt, but no you didn't need to take it out on him out of anger.

Grayson sat beside you still, an arm wrapped across your chest while you both leaned back against the white cinderblock wall behind you both. glancing up at the wooden shoe cubby made your stomach roll, prompting a bemused chuckle from the now yawning man holding you loosely against him.

“it’s not funny,” you grumble, shooting him a glare that wasted far too much energy, shuffling down to get closer to his warmth that always provided the most comfort when you weren’t feeling so good.

he merely looked down quickly with a shake of his head, lips pressed together to hide the grin, “of course it’s not. I was just laughing at Max still trying to seduce Trina. he just doesn't learn.”

nice save.

you looked out onto the rink lit up with flashing lights of every color, wondering what time it had to be and if the smaller than average establishment would be closing soon. you spot a wobbly looking Max across the way, trying (and slightly failing) to skate backwards next to Trina who now wore an annoyed scowl. if you were in better shape and a much better mood, you would say to hell with sitting on the bench hurt and save your mutual friend from the annoyance of the boy that just couldn’t take the hint. you would have thought after two years of failed attempts he would give it up and move on.

with a side eye at Grayson you know he must be thinking the same, but chose not to say anything further. that was a talk for another time. you make a mental note to have Grayson talk to max soon about his constant pestering to the poor girl that wanted nothing more than to “live her free life freely” as she had said so many times. you’re sure it’s just her nice way of saying no, but knew she was truly a free spirit and being tied down by someone as high maintenance as max wouldn't be the best idea.

but tonight, all your mind could think to long for was home. your big fuzzy blanket, Graysons flannel pj pants you’d claimed as your own, the oversized Harvard sweater your sister got for you as a gag gift for Christmas two years ago after getting your denial letter in the mail, Graysons hands rubbing the stress knots out of your shoulders, and a hot bath. you presumed you deserved a resting night after throwing yourself so far out of the box and then getting hurt from it.

the best thing about Grayson? he read you like a book.

“you ready to head out? I'll tell the boys I'll text them later, or do you want to try again?”

“I think trying again might not be the best idea,” you croak, removing the cup and revealing the goose egg bump on your forehead. you want to smack him when he cringes, but instead give him a small smile.

“yeah, killer, I think you’ve had enough,” he grins, leaning forward to press his lips on yours once, twice, then three times before he finally gets up to say his farewells to his friends, stretching as he does so.

you watch silently while he made his way around to everyone he could find, stopping next to Max to whisper something in his ear. when he pulled back, max looked ashamed, something that shouldn’t have given you as much pleasure as it did. serves him right for not listening.

-

“I'm proud of you for trying something new,” he mumbles once the both of you climb into his car, your water-down Pepsi long gone, the heat blasting to warm up your chilled fingertips.

you want to ignore him, not being one for praise or pity, but also thankful that he noticed your attempt at trying to have fun in more ways than just burying your head in a book. you know it made him happy to see you trying for him, and for that you would give him a real smile. one of content instead of anguish.

“I'm proud of you for finally having some fun,” you rebuttal, giving him the best ‘I'm okay’ smile that you could through the throbbing in your temples.  

his widened eyes and mock horror expression had you laughing harder than your headache agreed to, and you choke on that same laughter only a moment later.

“what exactly are you implying daisy?” he grumbled, turning the wheel to the right and backing out of the parking spot he squeezed himself into.

daisy. the best nickname anyone had ever given you.

“that you needed a break.”

“breaks are for the weak.”

“I think you mean smart gray,” you grab his hand without thinking, raising it to your lips with a soft glance over at the streetlight bouncing across the hazel of his irises, “you needed some friend time. Even if i ruined it with my stupid legs that don’t work and equally stupid jokes.”

“and you know what I think?”

“something dumb probably-” you fire before thinking, a joke of course. the pout he wore after was too hard to resist, your thumb finds his bottom lip without thinking to smooth them back with a fond smile.

“funny,” he smirked, “but I was going to say that you’re brave. You were very brave in letting people see you as you are and as you’ll always be, even if some of them didn’t get your jokes or loved you as much as i do.”

He said it softly, in a way that softened you to your core and sent a chill straight down your spine despite the hot air blasting from the vents. You fought the urge to curl in on yourself at the compliment, still not used to hearing such kind words even after all the time that you’ve been dating grayson who does nothing but compliment you and give you words of endearment. It was different, and sometimes scary.

“Hm i think you need some sleep,” is all you can bring yourself to say without sounding like a sappy hallmark card. You wanted to say more, something better than a witty remark - but could only allow yourself a small dose of something you’re not entirely sure how to handle. But you did know that you loved the way he looked over at you, noticing the high pitch of your voice and the way your hand seemed to squeeze his tighter. With a sigh of defeat he averts his eyes back to the orange tinted asphalt ahead, shaking his head with that same sheepish smile.  

“I’ve never been more awake.”

The silence that followed was serene. Something you both understood to be easy. You’ve never had easy.

For a moment you weren't the embarrassing girlfriend of a man much too kind for you.

For a moment you believed that something good might happen to people like you.

For a moment all the world was a warm car in winter, black ice car freshener, a frank sinatra song turned all the way down on three, and a thumb rubbing a pattern across your knuckles.

For a moment the world was good and it didn’t matter that the headache was full force, the streetlights too bright to your sensitive eyes, the car seeming to move in slow motion while the city whirred past your window.

For a moment all there was was eyes full of something other than amusement, something deeper, richer than you’d ever seen before.

For a moment you allowed your heart to thump out of rhythm in your chest, your head to fall against the headrest, your eyes to shut, and the rubbing of his thumb to lull you to sleep.

[oh-look-isa-weeb]

Fly Me to the Moon

Yuri Plisetsky

Celestial beings + royalty AU. You're the Night. He's the Moon. You're stuck together, whether you like it or not.

Notes: A longer post this time! I could have gone with a normal royalty AU but nooo, of course I didn't. I hope this turned out okay! Title is from a Frank Sinatra song of the same name. 

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

The Day is the bringer of the Sun; It surrounds it, and it holds the Sun up, just as the Sun brings the Day with it wherever it goes. They move and work together.

The Night is the guardian of the Moon; it is the contrast which allows the Moon to shine brighter, stretching endlessly behind the Moon, the herald to its beauty and grace.

You are the Heir of the Night, training tirelessly to prepare to take on the mantle of the Moon's Guardian, and you are tired.

No, seriously. If you have to hear about the union of the Sun and the Moon one more time, you're going to scream. You mutter exactly that to yourself, under your breath, as you walk through the training facility to your studio. To your surprise, someone replies.

"I know, right? It's gross. If I ever fall in love, hit me."

Who in the world…?

You spin around, coming face-to-face with sea green eyes and golden hair. The same eyes hair you would one day be sworn to protect. Before you stood Yuri Plisetsky, the Heir of the Moon. He didn't know who you were, but you certainly recognised him. After all, you'd been watching his progress since you were selected to become the Heir of the Night. Your life's work would be dedicated to his being.

Only after a split-second did he seem to realise that he had talked to another being, and that he was decidedly not alone. He spun around, glaring.

"Who are you? The hell are you doing here?"

I'm the only one allowed around here, you thought amusedly. You're the trespasser. You wondered if you could tell him that. Heck, what was stopping you? It would be nice to see the look on his face. 

"As a matter of fact, I'm the Heir of the Night. Also known as the person who'll be working with you closely for the entirety of your reign." You pause and shoot him a pointed look. "And the only person allowed in here, Mr. Trespassing Heir of the Moon."

Ah, the sweet satisfaction of watching someone's brain shut down. He sputters for a bit and turns ever-so-slightly pink, scrambling to come up with an excuse.

"If we're gonna work together, w- what's wrong with me being here anyway? I- It's not like I'm not some random civilian!" 

He pauses, and an oddly aged look crosses his features.

"I just- I needed somewhere to get away for a minute, okay? I would very much like to be able to breathe without those two advertising their relationship. And I don't want to go for class," He sighs. "I'll just go now."

Something about the way he says it resonates with you. Maybe it's the resigned tone in his voice, or the weary look on his face. And you understand, you really do. After all, you've been preparing to take up an equally important -- and equally heavy role. Sometimes you wanted an escape, too.

"Do you… Want to stay? And watch for a bit?"

He pauses and turns to look at you. He's trying to act nonchalant, shrugging casually with a "Sure,", but you see the way his shoulders sag a little, as if the tension was released, and his features smoothen out just a fraction. You tell him to make himself comfortable along the sides somewhere and begin running through your combat drills.

As it turns out, Yuri is a pretty courteous audience. He doesn't ask too many questions, and only does when you stop for breaks. At the end of your training session, you sit together, backs to the wall, and bask in companionable silence, taking a breather from the stress that your roles bring you. Finally, you prepare to leave the studio, locking up and exchanging farewells.

"Hey, uh, thanks for letting me stay. I think I needed that. I'll, uh, see you around. I hope."

"Well, we'll meet again eventually. Moon and Night and all that. Feel free to come back anytime, though."

He heads off in the other direction, waving as he walks away. 

You don't see him for a good month.

You don't know why. Did he get in trouble? Did he not want to return? Was he doing alright?

You'd just about given up seeing him until coronation day ever again, until one day you open the door to the studio to find it already unlocked.  You open the door anyway, paying it no mind, and promptly walk face first into something. Someone.

Yuri.

He grumbles about getting crashed into, mumbling a "Watch where you're going, moron" under his breath quietly, but he steps aside to let you in anyway. How did he get in? No, nevermind that, Lilia was coming in today. He shouldn't be here.

"My advisor's coming today. You should get out before you get caught."

He stares at you like you've grown a second head.

"Moron, did no one tell you? I bargained with Yakov. You're gonna teach me to fight, and I'll, well, they'll find something for me to teach you. Anyway, I'm meant to be here, stupid."

You gape at him as Lilia strides past you two and into the studio, thoroughly unimpressed at your expression. She tells you to "close your mouth, you are an Heir, not a fish", and she "certainly did not teach you to dawdle in doorways". You put your stuff down, but you have no clue where to begin. Teach someone? 

Lilia sighs. "The basics, girl, unless you want him to spend more time on his butt than his feet."

Right, you feel like an idiot now. Please let there be a hole to swallow you up. You gesture for Yuri to join you in the centre of the room, and slowly run him through warm-ups.

Over time, you fall into a routine. Some weeks, you teach Yuri to fight, and other weeks, he teaches you dance. Not just waltz, you know how to do that, but other forms of dance. Ballet. Tango. Flamenco. The macarena, because why not, although that was mostly a joke. You meet Yakov, his advisor, as well and the current Sun and Moon, Yuuri and Victor. Most importantly, you meet his cat, and his grandfather. Victor says it's wonderful that Yuri's friends with you. Yuri says he's too nosy.

As the time passes, you find yourself enjoying his company more and more. You realise that he's actually a kind person, even if he doesn't outwardly show it. And one day, you catch yourself thinking, he's really pretty.

When did you fall for him? You don't know. But as soon as you realise, you never stop realising. You're hyper-aware of everything he does. It frustrates you to no end. You're in the middle of a foxtrot with Yuri, and you can feel yourself flushing wildly. He frowns at you and stops.

"What's up with you? Why've you been so jumpy these days?" He presses a hand to your forehead. "Tch. You're not sick, are you?" You shake your head, but you can't quite meet his eyes.

Because the heat from your cheeks seems to have somehow fried your brain cells, you decide to throw all caution to the wind. You might also be too sleep-deprived to regret this.

"I- I LIKE YOU!" You blurt, before your common sense finally catches up to you and you clap a hand to your mouth. "Ah, sorry, you uh, heard nothing… Ahah…"

He gapes at you, and then he averts his eyes. Great, he totally thinks you're a weirdo. You've just messed up your relationship with the guy you're stuck working with for your entire career.

"I like you too, moron." It's so quiet you could swear you imagined it, but Yuri stands across from you, eyes on the ground, face as flushed as yours. It's your turn to gape at him, as he bites out a "What? Quit staring at me!", although you can tell there's no real heat to his words. 

"I'm glad," you hum, smiling gently as you extend a hand to him, a silent invitation to resume dancing. You let the music wash over you, losing yourself in the steps, and every time your eyes meet, there's a soft smile on his face.

Epilogue

You take your place on the dais next to Yuri, preparing to face the court for your coronation. You'd been there for him before this, through demanding days and insecurities. You'd seen him at his worst, in the days just after Victor announced he was stepping down as the Moon, helping him to fight off his self-doubt. You'd been there for Yuri, and as the new Night and Moon, you'll continue being by his side. As his guardian, but also as his betrothed.

Over the next week, there are ceremonies and festivities, including your wedding, which takes place on the last day. It's a whirlwind of crowds, carnivals, and dancing. You and Yuri have your first dance, the same foxtrot you had been dancing when you got together all those years ago, the same soft smile ever-present on his face, as if it's just you two in the ballroom, like it was back then.

Then the music changes to something more bold, and you charge at each other in a mock-battle, your movements dynamic and explosive, yet graceful, a testament to your proficiency in both combat and dance.

As the night progresses, your friends and family join you on the dance floor, laughing and mingling. There's not much actual dancing happening, but that's perfectly fine, because you're surrounded by loved ones. Someone starts a line dance at some point, and you get everyone who joins to do the macarena, just for laughs. You see Lilia rolling her eyes, but you laugh and pull her into the crowd to join you.

And at the end of the night, you're in the comfort of your room, Yuri by your side. He pulls you in for a sweet, languid kiss. This is the love of your life, the man you'll wake up next to every day for the rest of your life.

After all, the Night is the guardian of the Moon; it is by its side, always. It is the Moon's refuge, its home. It loves the Moon dearly, and the Moon loves it back.

[dreamescapeswriting]

One Shot ~ KSJ [Request]

⎇⎇⎇ Word Count: 3K

⎇⎇⎇Genre: Mafia Au, Angst? AU, with a little fluff

⎇⎇⎇Pairing: MafiaLeader!Kim Seokjin x reader

⎇⎇⎇Warning: mentions of murder, prositution, death, blood, violence

⎇⎇⎇A/N: I always have fun with mafia writings oh god, hope this is okay for you though sweetie

Jin was higher up in the Mafia chain than most people in his business but that was he practically owned it but he had to work his way up to the top, it wasn't all shaking hands and doing deals with the wrong kinds of people, no, it was hard work. Sometimes dangerous work resulting in deaths but never in Jin's case, no one died under his watch but those who messed with him and his men did which is how he became one of the most feared Mafia leaders in Seoul.

"Afternoon sir, we weren't expecting you here today." A tiny man in an all-black suit said as Jin walked through the underground-casino that night. Casino's were still highly illegal in Seoul that's why he was running his casino underground, although most of the police force was under his payroll he still wanted to be careful with everything that he did not want to grease too many palms and have it be too suspicious.

"I told Mark I would be coming, where is he?" Jin asked buttoning up the blazer he was wearing and looking around the dull hallway, Lee Mark was one of the people that worked under Jin, in charge of what happened in and around the casino since Jin couldn't be there 24/7.

"He's with someone right now, I'll let him know-"

"Was I mistaken, I thought I ran this business not Mark." The man nodded and Jin made his way into the office ignoring the scared looks he was getting from people around him. He was used to people fearing him since he was so high up but he wasn't about to let Mark think that just because he ran the casino he could do whatever he wanted, he opened the door and found Mark sitting at his desk.

"And secondly the next time- Oh. Sir, I didn't know you would be here so soon." Jin slowly walked into the room to sit at the desk beside the girl that Mark had been talking to. You looked up to see another male presence in the room and you got up from the chair, giving him a quick bow and turning to look at Mark who was eyeing you up and down.

"I expect you to be ready in half an hour, don't be late." He barked and you promptly left the room not wanting to get yelled at anymore. Jin had watched you from the moment he entered the room, your hands were shaking and you were playing with the skin at your fingertips a sure sign you were nervous about something.

"Who's that?" Jin asked acting as though he wasn't bothered that you were so scared but secretly wanting to know who you were and what you were doing with Mark in his office.

"One of the works, being late as usual but I've informed her if it happens again she will lose her job." Jin cleared his throat as  a sign of understanding but he didn't believe mark for even a second so he began looking around the disgustingly small office and then back at Mark who was sitting there in his suit,

"Are we going or what?" Jin snapped and Mark was up on his feet in a flash rushing around the office and getting ready to show Jin around the casino. He was only there to see how business was going he didn't need to be friendly or wait for a drink but he did want to find out more about you. You looked way too innocent and scared to be working in a known Mafia Casino and you looked far too scared of Mark to know anything about Jin so he assumed Mark was feeding you lies about who he was and what he did and Jin was going to find out one way or another.

The tour of the casino was boring as it always was whenever Jin had to come and check out what was happening but he kept himself entertained by acting as though he was mad about something inside the building, just to keep Mark on his toes.

"Mark, I think I can go to the toilet on my own," Jin said as Mark started following him in the direction of the men's bathroom, Mark nodded in agreement trying not to seem awkward,

"I-I'll go and wait by the bar sir, with your usual drink?" Jin nodded and watched as Mark scattered away in the direction of the main bar inside of the casino, for a Friday night it was unusually quiet and Jin didn't like it. He had a weird feeling about but he couldn't place his finger on what it was so he began walking towards the bathrooms, hopefully, to run into some workers and question them about what was happening and why no one was around when he ran into someone else. Your heel snapped as you fell backwards and you could have sworn you broke your ankle as well from the sound it made,

"Shit, I'm so sorry! I was in a rush and I wasn't looking and I-" As soon as you locked eyes with the man that was helping you to your feet you began bowing repeatedly, avoiding eye contact and staring down at the ground. Jin looked at you as you sat on the floor, you were wearing a black cocktail dress with black heels and he knew for a fact that dress would cost more than a years salary at the casino,

"You know who I am then?" You nodded in silence remembering everything that Mark had told you about him and Jin. Jin was someone you never wanted to mess with if you valued your life and the same went for Mark, they could kill you if they really wanted to and no one ever know anything about it.

"Do you not speak? I mean, of course, you do I just heard you swearing..." You nodded in silence once more and Jin sighed not liking this, he wanted you to speak to him he wanted to hear your voice or at least know your name and that's when he spotted your clutch bag on the floor.

"Here," He bent down to pick everything up and found your ID on the floor so he quickly remembered the name and date of birth before handing you the bag back.

"Your heels." He groaned finding the red-back shoes snapped, now he knew you didn't work for them because no one under his pay could afford shoes like that unless they're were him or just below him.

"I'll have them replaced for you,"

"No, no...It's fine. I'll just-" You stopped once you locked eyes with Jin and you stayed staring into one another's eyes for a couple of moments,

"I'll send a new pair to mark." Your eyes widened in fear and Jin knew he'd struck a nerve with it so he knew there was something off with you and Mark but he didn't want to press you on it,

"Please don't. It's fine. I'll glue them please don't tell mark." You stuttered out and he nodded his head slowly,

"I could keep you safe, he's afraid of me." He mumbled but you pretended not to hear it so Jin moved on,

"Just be careful." You nodded and rushed out of the way going back up to your room inside of the casino to look for some super glue, Jin was nothing like Mark had told you he would be. He wasn't evil and didn't start screaming at you for making eye contact with him like Mark said he would, you stared down at the shoe wondering how you were going to explain it to Mark if he ever found out you couldn't tell him it was because you walked into his boss.

"Tae, find me everything you can on Y/n Y/l/n, yeah I'll text you her birthday," Jin said as he watched you walking down the hallway, as soon as you were out of sight in walked into the men's room to wash his hands. He faced himself in the mirror and shook his head at himself, he couldn't get you out of his brain and he wanted to know what you were doing inside of the casino. The door creaked open and he looked over to see a bathroom attendant walking inside,

"Mr Kim Seokjin, so good to see you." He smiled at the younger man,

"Jimin, still working here? Mark hasn't promoted you yet?" Jimin shook his head and handed Jin a towel,

"Why is no one here Jimin?" He could be frank with Jimin, he was younger than him and he'd been one of the most loyal workers for Jin since he started his own casino,

"Mark's been firing people all over the place, and he's starting to bring in different people all the time, people who aren't meant for Casino business...Renting out hotel rooms for nights or hours at a time if you get what I'm saying..." The cogs began to click inside of Jin's head once he head that rooms were rented out for hours, he was running a prostitution ring in his casino business.

"Highing out women?" Jimin nodded and Jin looked down at his phone texts were coming through from Taehyung he's hacker back in the offices and he knew he was going to have to look through them soon but he was already running late to meet Mark at the bar.

"The girl he's always with, who is she?" Jin asked quickly looking at Jimin who was slightly taken back at the question,

"She's just someone who hangs around with Mark, been with him for a couple of months now." Jin nodded and then thanked Jimin,

"I'll be in touch soon okay?" He walked out of the bathroom and began reading through the information that Taehyung had found on you and it was quite interesting, to say the least.

Jin stormed over to Mark at the bar trying not to come across mad but it was hard to when he was hearing all of the things that were happening within his business he wanted to play it cool as if he didn't know anything.

"I've been doing some thinking about the business," Jin said sitting down at the bar and looking at Mark, you were now sitting behind Mark on a bar stool sipping on a drink and staring at the floor once again. Your heels were now fixed and you were back to being the shy girl you were when Jin first walked into the casino.

"What about it?" Mark asked looking at Jin who smiled at him before looking around at the empty bar,

"What if we introduced something new?" Your ears picked up and you tried to listen in to the conversation without making it obvious but Jin could tell you were listening,

"Like what?" Mark was interested in where this was going now, maybe Jin was starting to get onto his level of business thinking.

"What if we started renting out hotel rooms by the hour...letting mail clients come and find a companion." You stared at Jin, that was already happening inside of the casino you knew that and you didn't even work there so surely the boss should have known.

"That's a good idea, we could even find our own girls." Jin hummed and looked at you, you looked terrified and Jin knew what Taehyung had found out was true as it always was.

"I'll tell you something Jin, I've already been doing it and I wasn't going to tell you but I figure if you're more than willing to go-" He didn't have time to finish because Jin smashed his head down onto the bar and pinned him down.

"You're already doing it inside of my business?" Mark whimpered and nodded, his nose was bleeding and he was crying out for Jin to let go of him, you stumbled knocking the barstool out from under you and Jin stared at you.

"Has he touched you?" You shook your head and looked at Mark who was now being forced to look at you, you stared at his bleeding face and felt a strange sense of satisfaction seeing him all beat up like that,

"Did you dad really sell you to him?" You nodded again and Jin tightened his grip on Mark's arms smashing his head against the bar once again,

"Go into my pocket and call the last number on my phone." You did as you were told and called the number holding the phone up to Jin's ear,

"I want him taken care of if I have to do it myself I will." You didn't hear the other side of the conversation all you saw was a gun being withdrawn from Jin's front pocket and being placed on the back of Marks's head before he was shot.

You didn't even scream when it all happened which surprised Jin most people were left screaming and traumatized,

"I'm assuming you've seen things like that before?" You nodded at his question as he walked you through to a penthouse apartment, he'd taken you out of the casino after he killed Mark and promised he would clean you up since you were in the splash zone resulting in you being covered in blood.

"My dad, he used to be involved in the business." Jin knew that already but he was glad you were being open with him about it,

"I know, but it's alright. We'll get you washed up, I'll order you some new clothes and you can go home." Your body tensed at the words home, home was somewhere you never wanted to go again.

"Can I come work for you? I'll be a secretary, a cleaning lady anything but going home?!" Jin stared at the panicked look on your face and nodded wrapping his arms around you to try and comfort you and you instantly relaxed against his grasp, he was the first person to show kindness to you in a while.

"I'll get you a job, you won't have to go back." He promised, helping you into the bathroom once the hug was over, he sat you down on the toilet seat and then began running you a bath while you stared at the running water.

"W-Will you help me?" You asked turning your back on Jin to show him the zipper at the back of the dress, his hands went up to the silver metal zip and slowly bringing it down, you grasp the front so you wouldn't flash him and he smiled at you in the mirror.

"Thanks," You whispered turning to face him once again both of you standing in silence the only thing that filled the room was the sound of running water,

"Thank you." You said quickly as he went to turn away from you, he stopped and looked down at you,

"For, getting rid of Mark...He was an asshole." Jin nodded in agreement and looked at you, you seemed a lot more relaxed now that Mark was permanently out of the picture,

"It's alright," Jin whispered, he didn't know why he was whispering but it felt as though he had to, your hands were still clutching onto the front of your dress and Jin stepped closer to you,

"Did he ever hurt you?" You shook your head,

"Just threatened to if I didn't do as I was told." You admitted looking up at Jin and feeling the heat from his body bouncing onto yours, your heart began to beat irregularly and you wanted nothing more than to kiss him but you knew you shouldn't. Jin's mind was in the same place, he stared down at you and wanted to kiss you, there was something about you that drew him in and he wanted you badly,

"Fuck it." He mumbled cupping your face in his hands and kissing you, your hands stayed on your dress but your eyes fluttered shut as he kissed you your heart pounding against your chest as though it wanted to come out of it, his arms wrapped around your waist and you dropped your dress wrapping your arms around his neck neither of you cared about the overflowing bathtub behind you but he bent down to pick you up, wrapping your legs around your waist and pressing you against the tiled wall behind you, you let out a loud hiss from the cold tiles and he chuckled.

"Sorry, I forgot about that." You giggled as he held your face in one hand and rubbed your cheek with his thumb,

"I'll never let anyone sell you or buy you again, you'll come work for me as a secretary-" The doorbell to the penthouse went off and he put you down on the floor taking off his blazer and wrapping it around you.

You followed him out there and he answered the door to a younger man dressed in a suit, you'd seen him around the casino before.

"Jimin, glad you could come. Your promotion I mentioned before, it's now. You'll be Y/n's personal guard, she's my secretary." You stared at the back of Jin's head as he spoke and Jimin stared at you with a smirk on his face, you all knew you weren't just a secretary since you were standing in his penthouse apartment in nothing but his blazer which was tightly wrapped around you.

"Yes Sir," Jimin walked back out into the hall and Jin turned around to look at you again,

"Where were we?" You giggled rushing back into the bathroom to turn the water off before you flooded the place but Jin rushed up behind you and took the blazer off your body, you'd forgotten until that point what had happened earlier on in the night,

"I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow." He whispered kissing your exposed shoulder and helping you into the bathtub, you looked up at him and nodded and he got down onto his knees beside the bath rolling up his long white shirt sleeves.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Tagline: 

@writingdreamsnottragedies @yoongisdumplingcheeks @snowy-meowl @lynnthevirgo @jooniesdarlingdimples @kpopfanfictionhoes @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @fan-ati--c @callingmyangel @btsiguess-kpop @rjsmochii

[knuffled]

just practice - chapter ten

chapter ten is here, yay! hope you all enjoy it! somewhat important update in the notes at the end of the chapter on ao3 for those interested. thanks in advance!

ao3 link here

Holding the premier of the school play on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was a bold move in Annabeth’s opinion, so it was surprising that the school’s parking lot was nearly filled, although that almost certainly had to do with the fact that Piper was playing Viola in the school’s production of Twelfth Night. Her performances in the school plays had turned into something of local legend after all. It had all started when she landed the role of Ophelia as a freshman, a feat in and of itself, but it was the way that she had sent audiences home in tears each night of the production that had catapulted her to near mythic status among the student body. It had gotten to the point where even many members of the football team could be found patiently waiting in line to watch a Shakespearean play.

Ever prepared, Annabeth had come fairly early to help secure seats for herself and the rest of her friends. The moment the doors opened, she made a beeline for the rows close to the stage and found some center seats, but when the auditorium began to fill its seats quicker than she anticipated and none of her friends had yet to arrive, she was forced to concede all of the seats she’d reserved except for two, one on either side of her. As more and more of the seats began to get filled, She came close to sending a text in the group chat as her sense of worry grew. Fortunately, that was when Jason showed up, a grateful smile on his face as he sank into the seat next to her. He took off his jacket, draping it on the seatback, and rubbed at the dark bags beneath his eyes.

“You look like a panda,” Annabeth said, smirking.

Jason ran his fingers through his hair and scowled. “Very funny. I’ve been neck deep in planning for the stupid after-party, and it has been a total nightmare.”

“So I take it that working with Drew Tanaka isn’t a good time then?”

Jason rolled his eyes and said, “There’s just something about event planning that turns her into a demon. At one point, I legitimately thought she was going to skin me alive.”

“Very dramatic,” Annabeth teased, squeezing his shoulder. “At least the worst is over now.”

“I sure hope so,” Jason muttered. “Otherwise, I might not live to see another day.”

Annabeth was about to say something when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She fished it out and looked at the caller ID, which immediately sent a frisson of irritation running through her. That was probably the seventeenth time this random number had called her over the past two weeks. She didn’t recognize the number at all, but whoever it was happened to be incredibly persistent about calling her.

“That number again?” Jason asked.

Annabeth sighed and nodded. “It’s starting to get really fucking annoying.”

“You should just block ‘em and save yourself the trouble,” Jason said, shrugging.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Annabeth said, sighing. “I’ll do it after the show.”

Jason nodded and pulled out his phone to shoot some texts, presumably to the group organizing the after-party. Annabeth spent her time scrolling mindlessly through Twitter, waiting for Percy to show up, but he was still missing two minutes before the show was due to begin. It was only once the lights began to dim that Annabeth heard the familiar cadence of his footsteps behind her. Percy squeezed past the people who were already seated, murmuring apologies as he passed by, before he sank into the seat beside her. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and winced as he probed his upper back muscles.

Annabeth looked at him with concern and said, “Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better,” Percy said, grimacing.

“I swear your coach has been extending practices by an hour every month now since the start of the school year.”

Percy huffed a laugh. “You’re probably right. I swear, he’s trying to kill me. Literally every part of my body hurts right now.”

Annabeth frowned in the dark. In all his years on the team, she had never heard Percy complain about his body hurting after practices. His coach must have been pushing him even harder over this past month than normal. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

She leaned in to him to whisper to him and found her face heating up at the distracting scent of body wash and chlorine clinging to his skin, evidence of the post-practice shower he must have taken before coming here.

It took her a moment to collect her thoughts and mumble, “If you feel that bad, you should have just gone home. Piper would understand.”

“I’m not missing the premier just because I’m a little sore,” Percy said, shaking his head.

Annabeth paused before giving him a tentative nod and turning back to the stage, but she still felt lingering traces of embarrassment. That scent was beyond familiar to her and it had been for years, so she was troubled by how she had suddenly become so conscious of it.

Fortunately, the start of the play gave her a way to stop treading down that creepy train of thought. She had read Twelfth Night once during middle school, but it hadn’t made much of an impression on her. Seeing it performed now, the play was a lot better than she had remembered, but then again Piper had always insisted that there was a huge difference between reading a play versus seeing one live. For a high school play, Annabeth couldn’t help being impressed by the level of care and effort that had gone into every element of the production, from the set design to the lighting and wardrobe. Of course, the actors were great as well, but Piper stole the show as Annabeth had expected.

It took her a while to realize that Percy was mouthing lines beside her, nearly verbatim. At first, she’d thought she was hearing things, but when she stole a sidelong glance at Percy, she noticed that he was leaning forward in his seat, staring intently at the stage and whispering the lines to himself.

“But, indeed, words are very rascals, since bonds disgraced them,” Percy mouthed.

On stage, Piper said, “Thy reason, man?”

Percy whispered, "Troth, sir, I can yield you none without words, and words are grown so false, I am loathe to prove reason with them.”

Annabeth shook her head in amazement before knocking elbows with him to get his attention. He froze in his seat, face turning a gentle shade of vermilion in response to being caught, before turning to face her.

“You know all the lines?” Annabeth whispered incredulously.

Percy ducked his chin. “Not all of them, just the scenes where Piper has lines. Must have helped her rehearse them like a hundred times.”

“And let me guess, she didn’t ask for your help: you volunteered,” she said, sighing.

Annabeth found herself shaking her head again when he rubbed the back in his neck and looked away with a sheepish smile. It was amazing that Percy had managed to memorize all those lines, but it was even more impressive that he had done so while juggling all his other responsibilities. Her heart welled up inside her chest looking at him while he tried to not-so-subtly divert her attention back to the play, still blushing profusely, as if he didn’t realize he was more amazing in her eyes than anything Shakespeare could’ve ever written.

Before she knew it, the play was over, and Annabeth found herself waiting backstage with her friends for Piper to finish changing into her normal clothes. Leo and Frank spoke quietly to one another while Hazel was noodling with her phone. Jason drummed his fingers against his pants and rocked on his heels and kept looking down the hallway to the changing rooms with poorly suppressed excitement, practically embodying the spirit of a golden retriever. Percy stood beside her, leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, close enough for their elbows to touch.

When Piper showed up with an exhausted smile on her face, Jason rushed in and pulled her into a fierce hug.

“You were amazing,” he said.

Piper laughed tiredly and whispered, “Thanks, Jace.”

Jason stepped away suddenly and rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly embarrassed by such a public display of affection. Piper rolled her eyes and poked him with her elbow before turning to address the rest of them.

“Thank you all for coming tonight. I really appreciate it.”

“Jason is right,” Frank said. “You were really great out there tonight.”

Everyone chimed in with words of agreement, which flustered Piper a little, much to Annabeth’s delight. Piper rarely ever got flustered except when she got bombarded by compliments that she had rightfully earned. Percy was the only one who didn’t say anything, but he watched the entire scene with a soft smile on his face. Once she’d given everyone else a hug, Piper met Percy’s eyes, her eyes shining with gratitude, and a wordless understanding passed between them.

“So, after-party everyone?” Jason asked.

Piper leaned against him and nodded tiredly. “I could certainly use a drink right now.”

Jason smiled before turning to the group and saying, “It’s at Drew’s place. I texted the address to our group chat in case anyone didn’t remember it.”

With that, they dispersed and made their way to the parking lot. It was dark outside even though it wasn’t all that late, but it was nothing unexpected considering December was on its way. Annabeth buried her hands in the front pocket of her sweatshirt, but she still couldn’t help shivering as the wind howled past them.

Percy smoothed his wind-tousled hair with a scowl before he gave her a sidelong glance. “So I’m guessing your parents didn’t change their mind about the after-party then?”

Annabeth nodded. “They are still insisting that I spend some quality ‘family time’ with them for Thanksgiving. Whatever the fuck that means.”

“Maybe it’s a good sign,” Percy said.

Annabeth snorted and said, “Knowing Helen, I highly doubt that. It’s probably just going to be a miserable meal with passive aggressive comments for dessert.”

Percy stopped and gave her forearm a gentle squeeze, forcing her to meet his eyes, which shone with concern.

“If it gets bad and you ever need to get out of the house, give me a call, okay?”

Annabeth tried for a laugh, but it sounded hollow even to her ears. “Come on, Jackson. You don’t think I can survive one measly dinner?”

“I know you can,” Percy said, firmly but not unkindly. “But there’s a big difference between surviving something and not having to suffer because of it.”

She didn’t really know how to respond to that, so she just remained silent. Percy looked at her and waited for a short while before he sighed and dropped her arm. Annabeth could tell by the downturn of his lips and the furrow of his brow that he still wasn’t entirely convinced, but she didn’t plan on changing her mind. No matter what happened at tonight’s dinner, she was determined not to call Percy. A nameless fear had begun to take root inside her. She couldn’t say what it was, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible would happen if she continued to rely on Percy as heavily as she had. Maybe she was completely off-base or maybe she was simply imagining the whole thing. And yet it grated on her like an itch she couldn't scratch, telling her, compelling her to at least do something.

Percy scuffed his converses against his ankle and nodded again. “Well, I guess I'll see you when you come over on Friday then?”

Annabeth nodded and watched him leave before she made her way back to her car. She didn’t remember much of the drive back home. The spam caller called again at some point, but apart from that the only thing that stuck out was how the pit in the center of her stomach grew the closer she got to her house. When she wasn't eating outside the house, Annabeth usually holed herself in her bedroom until the rest of the family finished dinner before she went downstairs to microwave the leftovers and bring them back upstairs with her. Tonight, unfortunately she had no such avenue of escape.

Once she parked in the driveway, Annabeth continued to sit there in the dark, her hands wrapped around the steering wheel so tightly the cheap stitching on the faux leather dug into her palms. She couldn’t help thinking at that moment that silence wore many different faces. When she was with Percy, silence was companionable and radiated a warmth that felt like trust. When she went for a run, silence was open and peaceful, almost like a physical space where she could leave reality behind for a short while. When she watched Percy give his mother a hug before he left the house, silence was wistful and forlorn, wrapping around her heart like tendrils of smoke. But now, as she sat in the car outside her own house, silence was unforgiving and violent, like a shark sensing blood in the water, waiting for her to tear herself to shreds.

But eventually, Annabeth screwed her eyes shut and forced herself to take a deep breath before she finally made her way inside. She slipped past the door and quietly took her shoes off before heading to the dining room. The rest of her family was already seated and had started eating.

“Ah, Annabeth, we weren’t sure if you would make it, so we got started a little early,” Helen said, voice dripping with faux sincerity.

Annabeth pursed her lips and nodded sharply before she pulled out a chair for herself and sat down. She didn’t put much on her plate — barely enough mashed potatoes to make a mound drizzled with gravy, a small piece of grilled chicken, and some buttered vegetables — and tried to finish her food as quickly as she could so she could retreat to her room.

Of course, it didn’t take long for Helen to take issue with that. “Someone certainly seems to be in a rush today.”

Annabeth looked up from her plate and tried to quell the fire in her eyes, but it was difficult when Helen looked at her with that smile of hers like poisoned honey, while the coldness in her eyes communicated her utter and absolute disdain for Annabeth in a way words never could. Briefly, she looked to her father to see if he might intervene, but like always, she was disappointed. He was staring absentmindedly at the wall behind her, probably thinking about his research.

"I'm just really tired," Annabeth lied.

"And yet you had just enough energy to go to your friend's play," Helen said.

"It's almost like human beings have less energy over the course of a day."

She had tried very hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but it didn't seem to matter judging by the tick of Helen's jaw. Annabeth couldn't help deriving a twisted sense of pleasure at the momentary collapse in Helen's composure.

Helen sighed with mock affectation. "Children your age are so disrespectful these days."

Annabeth shrugged nonchalantly. "Must be because we’re on our phones all the time."

A gleam passed in Helen's eyes. "Or maybe it's because you associate with the wrong kinds of people."

Annabeth furrowed her brow and deliberately set her fork aside. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Helen raised her wineglass and took a sip before she spoke, and when she did her tone was feather-light. "Oh, it's nothing. As your mother, I'm just concerned when a girl your age spends all her time unsupervised, doing lord knows what, with someone like that Jackson boy."

Annabeth balled her hands into fists. “‘Someone like him’? You don’t even know him.”

Helen looked at her imperiously over the rim of her wine glass. “I don’t need to know him to know that he’s of the wrong sort.”

It took Annabeth a second to decipher what Helen had meant, but once she did the pit in her stomach burned with hellfire.

Annabeth barked a harsh laugh and crossed her arms over her chest. “So he’s the ‘wrong sort’ just because he isn’t white?”

“That wasn’t what I said,” Helen said mildly.

“No, but it's what you meant.”

For the first time that night, her father spoke, voice low yet firm.

“Annabeth,” he warned.

Annabeth bit her tongue and wrestled with the urge to scream. At that moment, her phone vibrated again in her pocket, so Annabeth decided to run with it. Anything to give her an excuse to leave.

Her chair emitted an unholy screech as she stood up. “I have to take an important call.”

Annabeth didn’t wait for Helen’s permission and left the dining room quickly, only just noticing the irritation in her eyes. She went upstairs to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her before pulling her phone out of her pocket.

When she looked at the caller ID and noticed it was that same spam number again, Annabeth clenched her jaw and made to reject the call before an idea occurred to her. If she couldn’t show any emotion around her family, well then this stubborn asshole who clearly couldn’t tell she wasn’t going to answer the phone would give her a good opportunity to vent.

“Hello?” Annabeth snapped, answering the phone.

The voice on the other end of the line sounded male. “Oh, um, hello. Am I speaking with Ms. Annabeth Chase?”

“Yes,” Annabeth spat. “And who are you?”

There was a pause — the speaker was clearly taken aback by Annabeth’s open hostility, but it didn’t take long for them to recover.

“I apologize if this is a bad time, but my name is Rick Waters. I’m the coach of the women’s cross country team here at the University of California, Berkeley. I just wanted to reach out to you regarding the offer of admission we sent you a month or so ago.”

A panicked flurry of thoughts blew through Annabeth's mind. “Oh, sorry, I thought you were a telemarketer. Did you say that you sent me an offer of admission a month ago?”

“Yes, we sent a letter in early October to be precise.”

“I never got anything in the mail,” Annabeth said, frowning.

“Oh, well I suppose that certainly explains things. Perhaps there was a mistake made somewhere along the way, but no harm done. I could inform you of our offer over the phone now, if you'd like."

Annabeth pressed a hand to her forehead and shut her eyes. "Um, yes, please do."

"Well, we've been scouting all over the country for new runners for the incoming freshman class, and we were very interested in you. You are clearly a very talented distance runner, and I think you would be a wonderful asset and a great fit with our team here at Cal. All our facilities are state-of-the-art, and we have some former Olympians on our coaching staff in addition to a team of dietitians, physical therapists, and psychologists. I’ll pause here if you have any questions.”

“No, not at the moment, sorry. I’m just a little overwhelmed,” Annabeth said, mind reeling.

“I understand,” he said. “The reason I have been trying so hard to reach you, though, is because we need to know your decision before the 30th, which is in four days.”

Only four days? How the fuck was she supposed to write all those supplementary essays in only four days? It had taken her months to just finish the essays for the Common App.

“What is the process if I decide to commit to Berkeley?” Annabeth asked. “Like, am I required to send an application and include essays?”

“No, we wouldn’t need anything supplementary. We do, however, require a transcript, but we’ve already been in contact with your high school regarding that, and it was more than satisfactory. In fact, we were highly impressed with your academic performance.”

“Oh, um, thank you,” Annabeth said, feeling relieved.

“Of course,” the coach said. “One final thing I wanted to mention is that we would be willing to offer you a fairly sizable athletic scholarship should you decide to attend in the fall. It would cover a majority of your tuition and room and board fees.”

Annabeth leaned against her door and sank down to the floor, smiling so widely it hurt. The one fear she had had was how she would afford going to Berkeley, so she was beyond relieved that they were willing to give her a scholarship. For once in her life, it seemed that all her hard work had actually amounted to something. For once, her accomplishments actually mattered.

“Thank you so much,” Annabeth said quietly.

“Take some time to think about it, but please do get back to us by the 30th so that we can secure your admission. To be perfectly honest, the deadline for athletic recruitment ended in October, but I’ve been adamant with the Admissions Office that you were special and that the deadline be extended on your behalf.”

Annabeth's throat constricted and her heart squeezed in her chest. “I really don't know what to say. Just thank you so much. I really do appreciate it. I’ll be sure to get back to you by the 30th.”

“Wonderful,” he said. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

With that, the phone call ended, and Annabeth knocked the back of her head against the door and stared up at the ceiling, not sure whether to cry or laugh. As the coach had said, recruitment was usually finished by October, so the fact that she hadn’t received any offers from schools had been depressing. She had assured herself that her application was strong enough on its own to brave the conventional admissions process, but this was an immense weight off her shoulders. Of course, that meant that all those hours she’d spent on writing her stupid Common App essay had been pretty much useless, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

The only thing that soured her mood was the knowledge that she still needed to go back downstairs to deal with her step-mother now that the call was over. Annabeth sat there and looked up at her popcorn ceiling, trying to muster the strength to get up, but it still took her the better part of ten minutes before she finally rose to her feet and closed the door behind her.

:::

Friday at the Jackson household was often a rambunctious affair, but it was quieter than normal when Annabeth came to visit the day after Thanksgiving. But that was largely due to the fact that Paul happened to be away at a teacher’s conference, Estelle at a playdate at a friend’s house, and Sally was upstairs, working on her writing, which left Annabeth alone with Percy downstairs.

He had been the one to suggest that they bake something together, much to her relief. She had wanted to do something where she could turn her brain off, and there was just something about baking in particular that tended to calm her down. As Annabeth sat on the countertop, swinging her legs, and watched Percy riffle through the pantry in search of ingredients, it occurred to her that that was probably why he’d suggested the activity to begin with. The domesticity of Percy humming a tuneless melody under his breath while moving about the kitchen in his pajamas made warmth blossom in her chest.

"Are you gonna help out or are you just continue checking me out, Chase?" Percy asked, looking inside a cupboard for vanilla extract.

Annabeth felt heat rush to her face as she hopped off the counter. She tried to keep her tone light and asked, "What am I not allowed to check out my fake-boyfriend?"

Percy looked at her over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Then surely you wouldn't mind if I were to check out my fake-girlfriend then."

Annabeth's heart fluttered in her chest. "It almost sounds like you're asking for permission."

It was hard to tell if the look in Percy’s eyes was teasing or challenging. "And if I am?"

Her throat had suddenly become completely dry. She wasn't sure if the move here was to say yes and double down or if she should play it off and change the topic.

She settled for the former and said, "And what would you do if I said yes?"

Percy's eyes darkened and his eyes darted to her lips for an instant before he cleared his throat conspicuously and turned away. “Good job. That should work when you get a real boyfriend.”

With that, the tension in the room dissipated into thin air, leaving Annabeth with a vague sense of dissatisfaction, although she couldn’t explain where it came from. Annabeth tried her best to put the interaction behind her and started helping Percy find the remaining ingredients, but she found her eyes wandering towards him without her permission. It was definitely because of the previous exchange, Annabeth reasoned, that she suddenly began paying attention to the way his back muscles strained against the fabric of his thin t-shirt when he reached up to get some nutmeg or the hard line of his jaw when she caught a glimpse of his profile as he turned away.

Her face began to heat up again, but this time it was because she was actually guilty of the crime she'd been accused of. She shook her head in an effort to dispel those thoughts, but she couldn't erase the images taking center stage in her mind's eye.

This was really fucking weird. She'd seen Percy practically every day for the last ten years, and his body had never distracted her like this, so it felt creepy and wrong. Yet, her eyes continued to wander towards him whenever she wasn’t vigilant, much to her embarrassment, as they started making the cookies.

They were nearly ready to put the chocolate chip cookie batter into the oven when Percy stopped and suddenly groaned.

"What?" she asked.

"I forgot the blue food coloring," he grumbled. "Mom and I ran out last time we made cookies."

Annabeth knew better than to ask him if it was really that important for the cookies to be blue, so she nodded and said, "Should we go to the grocery store?"

"Yeah, just let me get changed," Percy said, leaving the kitchen.

Sally made her way down the stairs and smiled as Percy went past her. She stepped into the kitchen and surveyed it for a moment before looking to her with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Well, at least you both don't make nearly as big a mess as you used to."

"Sorry," Annabeth said, her face heating up.

"Relax, dear," Sally said, laughing. "I'm just pulling your leg."

Annabeth managed a smile and said, "How was your book tour?"

Sally leaned against the counter-top and sighed. "Exhausting, but overall, pretty good. Each time I have to do one of them, they just keep adding more and more cities. I know that it's a sign my books are reaching a wider audience, but it still wears out an old woman like me."

"You're not old at all, Sally," Annabeth said genuinely.

A warm smile crossed Sally's face. "You're sweet, dear. How have things been with you?"

Percy came downstairs, now that he'd changed, and jangled his car keys. "Ready to go?"

Annabeth looked to Sally and felt a surge of gratitude when Sally told Percy, "You go on ahead. Annabeth and I are going to have some girl time."

Percy looked between the two of them for a moment before he shrugged and left the kitchen. Annabeth waited until she heard the sound of the garage door closing before she spoke again.

"How did you know?" Annabeth asked.

"Hmm, know what?" Sally asked.

"Know that I wanted to talk to you.”

"I've known you since you were seven, dear," Sally said, giving her a significant look.

Annabeth couldn't help the fact that that brought a smile to her face. "Percy told me that he got recruited by USC."

"Mhmm."

“I’m happy for him and everything, but- I don’t know. It’s just that college actually feels real now and not like something imaginary in the far off future,” Annabeth said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"It’s a big change," Sally admitted. "But I'm sure you both can handle it when the time comes."

"I know,” Annabeth said. “I’m just worried about being apart from Percy and stuff.”

"Well, if you’re that worried, what if you found a college close by LA?" Sally asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "A recruiter from Berkeley reached out to me Wednesday night about joining the cross country team there. He said the university would even be willing to give me a pretty big scholarship, so I'm thinking of accepting."

"Annabeth, that's fantastic," Sally beamed. "Your parents must be so proud of you."

"They just asked how I was going to pay for it," Annabeth said, smiling thinly.

Sally's eyes softened and she pulled her into a warm hug. Annabeth didn't expect a lump to form in her throat, but it didn't surprise her when it happened. She knew from prior experience that Sally Jackson's hugs did tend to have that sort of effect.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm so incredibly proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished," Sally said. "Lord knows how hard you've worked these past few years."

"Thank you," Annabeth said, trying not to let her voice quiver.

Sally pulled away and framed Annabeth's face in her hands, smiling softly. "You've grown into such a wonderful young woman. It’s almost hard to believe that bossy little seven year old would grow up like this."

Annabeth wiped at her nose as a watery laugh escaped her. "Well, one thing hasn't changed: I'm still pretty bossy."

"Well, no one's perfect, after all," Sally said, a twinkle in her eye. "I really don’t think you have anything to worry about, dear. Berkeley and LA are in the same state."

"It's a five hour and forty-two minute drive," Annabeth said. "I, um, checked on Google Maps."

"That’s not that bad," Sally said. “You and Percy can deal with that.”

Annabeth shifted on her heels. "No, it's not that. I know we'll be okay, but I'm just worried it'll change things."

"Well, I know that the way you two feel about each other won't change and that's the most important thing," Sally said firmly.

"Of course, things will be different, but that doesn't mean it has to get worse. This is just another stage you have to pass through in your life, just like Percy does. But despite all that change, you will still be Annabeth and Percy will still be Percy, and that is enough for me to believe you both will be fine."

Annabeth considered her words before nodding. "I still haven't told him."

"He'll be happy to hear it."

"I know he will," Annabeth said. "I just want to be less of a wreck when I tell him. I don't want him to worry."

Sally smiled and said, "That boy will worry about you regardless of what you do."

"He shouldn't have to though," Annabeth said desperately. I’m not worth it.

"No, perhaps he shouldn't," Sally admitted. "But he chooses to anyways, and who are we to say he's wrong for it."

There was a pause before Annabeth quietly said, "Sometimes, it feels like he loves so hard, so honestly, so naturally that it's impossible for me to catch up."

"That's just the way he is," Sally said, a sad smile on her face. "His name means 'To Destroy', but there's no one more protective, more loving than my boy. Been that way all his life, even when he shouldn't have had to. Because of that, I’m afraid that I've hurt him without knowing, hurt him in ways that can't be fixed."

"You mean with Gabe?" Annabeth asked.

Sally's eyes turned hard. "He started trying to protect me from him ever since he was six and I don’t think he has ever stopped. Even now, I can see he still doesn't completely feel comfortable around Paul, but he bears it for my sake. He has always been willing to cause himself pain if it means alleviating someone else’s suffering. Sometimes, I worry that he feels the need to be responsible for how other people feel.”

Sally’s words immediately made Annabeth think about her conversation with Kara and how she had said something similar:

I just remember being so fucking stunned. Like, your girlfriend is telling you she’s breaking up with you after cheating on you, and your response is to go be someone else’s fucking therapist?

Annabeth balled her hands into fists and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She wasn’t sure what to say. She had never been good with words or emotions, but she wasn’t even sure if this was something that could be fixed with just words. If she were like Percy, maybe she could think of the right combination of words to say in order to make this better, but she wasn’t.

She hated this. All her life, Annabeth had been praised for being intelligent. Most of her identity was built around that fact. Whenever her life went to shit, the one thing she could count on was the fact that she was smart: it was the one thing that made her feel like she was worth anything. But lately, Annabeth couldn’t help questioning if she’d built her entire sense of self around a lie. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d been able to use her intelligence to solve a problem, or at least not any problem that mattered. It seemed pointless to have all this purported intelligence when life only sent her problems that couldn’t be solved just by thinking really hard.

Sally must have sensed Annabeth’s frustration because she put her hand on Annabeth’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Although she felt a bit better, it did nothing to dispel the underlying sensation of weight, like someone was sitting on her chest.

The garage door opened and Percy popped into the kitchen with an exuberant smile, holding a bottle of blue food coloring in his hand.

“Managed to get the last one!” he beamed before his smile fell and he looked between the two of them. “What happened here?”

Sally gave Annabeth’s shoulder another squeeze before making her way to the staircase. “Oh, nothing. Just girl stuff.”

Percy nodded but clearly looked unconvinced. Once Sally was gone, he turned to her with a question in his eyes.

“Girl stuff?” he asked.

Annabeth found herself settling for a half-truth yet again. It seemed like that was all she did these days when she spoke to Percy.

“A recruiter contacted me from Berkeley,” she said, looking at her feet. “They’re giving me a big scholarship if I go there to join the cross country team.”

Percy blinked before breaking into a smile and rushing to her with open arms. “Holy shit, Annabeth, that’s insane! I’m so happy for you!”

Annabeth returned his hug and smiled into his shoulder — Sally had been so spot on about his reaction that, despite her heavy mood, it was kind of hilarious.

“Thanks.”

Percy looked at her with a searching gaze. “Then why do we seem so sad?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “I’m not sad. I was just getting emotional with your mom about how much I’ve matured.”

“Hmm, you don’t look all that mature to me,” Percy said, appraising her.

“Asshole,” Annabeth grumbled. “I don’t seem to recall that being your opinion back when you were trying to get permission to check me out.”

Percy’s face flushed at the accusation, and his voice jumped an octave as he stammered, “T-That was to help you practice.”

“Yeah, sure,” Annabeth drawled. “Very convincing.”

“Now who’s being an asshole?”

“Couldn’t be me,” Annabeth said lightly.

“Of course not,” Percy said, rolling his eyes. “Now should we start making these cookies or not? I’m starving.”

Annabeth followed him to the batter and watched as he drenched it in blue food coloring, tongue poking out the corner of his mouth, and found herself desperately wishing they had more time. There was a delicate, almost exquisite pain that came with the awareness that this couldn’t last, but watching Percy roll misshapen balls of blue cookie dough made it easier for her to ignore it. At least for a while.

[obvious-captain-rogers]

Buddie prompt: first kiss

I know I’m about to do a whole week of Buddie first kisses, but this prompt is my weakness XD. Also I hope that season 4 gives us a little taste of Eddie dating- other than Buck- just because I think it will be good for him. And we wouldn’t want them to get together too quickly ;) (also any hate against Ana will get you persoanlly smacked by me)

           In Eddie’s defense, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not that he had planned it, but if he had it certainly wouldn’t have been like this.

-2 Days Earlier-

           Buck ducked out of Eddie’s grasp, which didn’t deter Eddie in the slightest as he continued to chase after Buck to try and get his phone back. Eddie had been texting Ana- now officially not Chris’s teacher so there was no conflict of interest for him texting her after she’d slipped him her number at the end of the year party for Christopher’s class- when Buck had jokingly grabbed his phone and started making jokes about ‘Eddie’s new girlfriend’ in a way that was more akin to someone Christopher’s age than Buck’s 29 years.

           “Dammit, Buck!” Eddie shouted as the back of Buck’s shirt slipped through his fingers yet again and Buck all but jumped down the stairs into open part of the station. Eddie finally managed to snag Buck’s shirt and they crashed into each other, the force of impact throwing both of them to the concrete floor. Buck twisted expertly to keep Eddie’s phone out of his reach as Eddie tried to wrangle and pin down Buck’s long limbs.

           He’d managed to get his knee pressed into Buck’s stomach to pin his hips- making Buck’s legs relatively ineffectual on the slick concrete floor- and one of Buck’s arms. But given Buck height advantage and Eddie’s awkward position, Eddie still couldn’t reach his phone.

           “What the hell is going on here?”

           Both of them blanched as they lifted their heads to see Bobby staring at them with confusion and disapproval clearly etched into every aspect of his body language. Eddie felt his cheeks heat up as he noticed Hen and Chim nearly falling over each other as they tried to stifle their laughter at the whole thing.

           “Oh, nothing,” Buck said casually and Eddie snapped his eyes back to Buck’s face to glare at him. But his glare instantly softened into fond frustration at the easy smile on Buck’s face as he tipped his chin up just a little bit to be able to see Bobby.

           “Buck-” Bobby started with exasperation and rolled his eyes, silently begging for patience, before he just leaned down and plucked Eddie’s phone from Buck’s fingers. “I should put the two of you in time-out.”

           “You do realize we’re not kids right?” Buck asked and wiggled to try and get Eddie off of him.

           “Really?” Bobby asked and pointedly looked at their ridiculous position on the floor of the station. “Try acting like it.”

           Buck snorted but that bright smile of his never faltered. “Okay, okay. You made your point, Eds. Let me up,” he said and arched his hips up to try and dislodge Eddie’s knee. “Pretty sure you’ve lodged my belt buckle into my intestines.”

           “You deserved it,” Eddie muttered and moved just enough to sit on the floor beside Buck’s legs. Buck laughed and Eddie couldn’t look away from him as he sat up and rested his arms on his bent knees.

           “I guess I did,” Buck said and stood up, brushing off his pants before offering Eddie a hand up. Eddie took it and let Buck tug him to his feet, shaking his head a little before brushing off his own uniform.

           Bobby held out Eddie’s phone and Eddie took it and shoved it into his pocket with a mumbled ‘thank you’. “Do I even want to know what that was all about?” Bobby asked after Buck has jogged over to talk to Hen and Chim.

           Eddie felt his cheeks getting hot again and he swiped a hand over his face. “Just… finally talking to a woman.” Eddie rubbed the back of his neck with a small smile that clearly gave away his nerves. “Chris’s teacher- former teacher- Ana. She’s… she’s really great, Bobby.”

           Bobby nodded silently and Eddie didn’t feel like the captain was judging him, just letting him take things in his own time. “If she makes you happy, Eddie,” Bobby said and clapped a hand down onto Eddie’s shoulder, “that’s what matters. That and how Christopher feels about it.”

           Eddie nodded. He couldn’t help but grimace a little at that. He’d not told Christopher about it yet because officially they hadn’t even gone on a date. They’d texted back and forth and even talked a little on the phone, but with Eddie’s schedule there just hadn’t ever been a good opportunity. But Ana had been patient with him, understanding of his work and that he had to focus on Christopher’s needs before anything as trivial as a date. Besides, there wasn’t any sense of urgency to make things official. Because official- in Eddie’s experience- meant complicated, and what he had with Ana right now was good, it was enough.

           A part of Eddie whispered that that should be a warning sign, but Eddie shrugged it off as one of those moments of self-doubt and fear of change that Frank had told him he needed to work through despite his nerves. Frank had told him that change was part of life, and that he needed to let other people in and not carry the weight of everything on his own.

           The rest of their shift went pretty smoothly and Buck bounced up to Eddie when Eddie was finishing up changing back into his street clothes. “We still on for movie night?” Buck asked and if Eddie didn’t know Buck as well as he did, he wouldn’t have seen the flicker of uncertainty behind Buck’s eyes.

           “Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?” Eddie asked as he made sure that his wallet and keys hadn’t fallen out of his jean pockets.

           Buck seemed to hesitate for a second before he shook his head. “No reason. So do you want me to pick up the popcorn this time or are you going to insist on that gross cheese stuff.”

           Eddie rolled his eyes and he closed his locker door. “It is not gross, and Chris likes it too not just me.”

           “Cheese should never have been put on popcorn. Period. Eddie, it’s a sin against God and all humankind,” Buck said dramatically as Eddie laughed and knocked his shoulder into Buck’s.

           “Fine, get your boring, plain popcorn, but don’t bitch when Christopher asks me to melt butter onto his,” Eddie warned and pointed at Buck seriously. Buck held up his hands with a grin that had Eddie’s stern façade cracking into a soft smile. “See you at home?” Eddie asked as he unlocked his truck.

           “Yeah,” Buck said and then he was swinging himself up into his jeep and driving off to head to the store to grab popcorn.

           Eddie parked his truck in the driveway, making sure to leave enough room for Buck’s jeep so that Buck didn’t have to park on the street outside the house, before heading inside where Carla was looking after Christopher. “Hey,” Eddie said as he tossed his keys into the bowl by the door and hung his jacket up. He was about to ask Carla about how her husband was feeling, when his phone chimed in his pocket. It was a text from Ana and Eddie felt a small smile tug at his mouth as he read it over.

Ana: I just remembered the name of that book that you told me Christopher was looking for, it’s The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

Eddie: Thanks, Ana. I’ll see if we can swing him by the library and pick it up. You just saved bedtime

Ana: Any time 😉

           “What’s got you grinning like that?” Carla asked and peered over the edge of Eddie’s phone. She laughed and poked at his arm with a knowing look. “Oh, I see exactly what’s going on here now. When are you finally gonna ask her out?”

           Eddie blushed and he locked and shoved his phone into his pocket like a guilty teenager. “I don’t know. I’m not sure we’re there yet, you know?” Eddie tried to shrug it off as he tucked his hands into his back pockets.

           “You haven’t even taken her out once,” Carla pointed out, making sure to glance down the hall to make sure Christopher wasn’t going to overhear before she continued. “How are you ever gonna know if you don’t do more than text about children’s books?”

           Eddie felt something thick settle in his throat and he didn’t know how to answer, but thankfully he was saved from having to try by Buck walking straight in with his easy boisterous energy that filled the Diaz household the second he stepped inside. “I brought popcorn and I made sure to get one box of buttered even though we both know that it’s just fake chemically stuff that- oh, hey, Carla,” Buck said and grinned at her when he looked up from toeing off his shoes at the door.

           “Hey, Buckaroo,” Carla said and pulled him into a hug before giving Eddie a look that he didn’t understand before she glanced at Buck with a softness. “Alright, well I’ll leave you two to your night in.” There was something to the way she said it that had Eddie’s brow furrowing a little.

           “Are Dad and Buck here?” Christopher rounded the corner and he shrieked in delight before making a beeline for Buck, who was closer. Buck scooped him up and blew a raspberry into the side of Christopher’s neck, only pulling more laughter from the boy as he tried to push Buck’s face away. Any linger tension from the day melted out of Eddie’s shoulders as he listened to Christopher’s laugh mixing with Buck’s as Buck finally set him back down onto his feet.

           “I’ll see you boys tomorrow,” Carla said and folded her jacket over her arm as she opened the door.

           “Bye, Carla!” Christopher said excitedly before grabbing Buck’s hand and tugging him down the hall to show him something, Buck just waving at her over his shoulder.

           “Night, Carla,” Eddie said before he watched her go and locked the door behind her. He grabbed the bag that Buck had dropped when Christopher had come out, shaking his head a little, before he walked into the kitchen. He set the bag down alongside his phone before putting everything away and starting on dinner- despite how much he knew Christopher and Buck would whine at his cooking.

           Buck trotted out of Christopher’s room and, predictably, took over dinner. He only let Eddie chop up the green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. “You realize that this is basically Hamburger Helper, which I can manage to make without you.”

           “I’m getting Christopher to eat vegetables. Shut up, Eddie.” Buck shot him a playful glare and Eddie just rolled his eyes. Christopher came out and peeked at what he and Buck were making.

           “Is it mac and cheese?” Christopher asked curiously.

           “Yup,” Buck said and kept an eye on Chris as the boy was pretty close to the stove top and had a tendency to want to touch everything. “It’s got a few more ingredients than regular mac and cheese, but it’s really good.”

           Christopher didn’t argue, just watched Buck add things in and even grinned as Buck snuck him a quick taste after making sure it wouldn’t burn the boy’s mouth. Eddie held his breath as Christopher chewed thoughtfully, but he grinned once he swallowed and nodded. “It’s really good.” Eddie blew out a short breath of relief. It wasn’t necessarily that Chris was a picky eater, but he had his finicky moments.

           Once dinner was finished, Eddie and Christopher set the table while Buck turned everything off and set it out. It was incredibly domestic and familiar and at first Eddie didn’t think about it. It wasn’t until dinner was over, Christopher going to set up the movie while Eddie and Buck washed and dried the dinner dishes, that he thought about how easily Buck had become a fixture in his and Christopher’s lives.

           He brushed it off as Buck started on his rant about diacetyl and it’s effects on the lungs, despite pointing out that it had nothing to do with actually eating the popcorn with the artificial flavoring but actually inhaling the chemical in the processing of microwave popcorn, and just laughed as Christopher looked at Buck with abject disgust on his face before pointedly shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth. Eddie hadn’t been able to keep in his own burst of laughter despite Buck’s wounded look.

           Eddie didn’t pay much attention to the movie- he hardly ever did on their movie nights- since he was so wrapped up in watching Christopher and Buck. They both has such expressive reactions to everything and every so often they would look at each other in unison and one or both of them would crack a joke, sending both of them into fits of laughter that almost made Eddie consider pausing the movie since there was no way they could be paying attention.

           Too soon, it was Christopher’s bedtime and Eddie was getting him ready for bed. He made sure Christopher’s teeth were brushed and that he’d changed into clean pajamas before Christopher got into bed. “Alright, kid, get some sleep,” Eddie said and pressed a kiss to Christopher’s cheek before tucking him in securely.

           “Can Buck tuck me in too?” Christopher asked and Eddie nodded, there was no second-guessing because Buck had tucked Christopher in before without Eddie, before standing and walking out to the living room where Buck was still on the couch.

           “He wants you to tuck him in too,” Eddie said and nodded over his shoulder. Buck cracked a small smile, ducking his head as if he were trying to hide it, before getting up and heading into Chris’s room. Eddie cleaned up the popcorn mess before sitting on the couch and waiting for Buck to come back. “He good?” Eddie asked when Buck came back and sat down.

           “Yeah. Probably going to be out in a few minutes. He could barely keep his eyes open as I tucked him in.” Buck shook his head fondly and then a slightly stifling silence settled between them. In the awkwardness of the moment, Eddie heard the distant chime of his phone and he touched his pocket on instinct. He’d left his phone in the kitchen and never even realized it. “That Ana?” Buck asked and there was a slight edge to his tone as he asked.

           “Probably,” Eddie said carefully as he felt something uncomfortable settle in his gut. “You don’t-” Eddie looked up at the ceiling instead of Buck’s face, as if that would make this conversation any less painfully awkward, “you don’t think I’m making a mistake, right? I mean, we’ve talked a little and she’s pretty nice and she’s obviously smart and understands Chris’s needs but…” Eddie trailed off ineffectually.

           “But?” Buck asked.

           “But that’s not the same as a full-blown relationship. Especially not one with me. I mean,” Eddie bit his lip, “I’m a widower- which comes with baggage, a veteran- which comes with even more baggage, as well as being a single dad to a kid with special needs and working a dangerous job with insane hours. It’s not exactly like I’m prime boyfriend material.” He didn’t mean for their to be a note of self-deprecation to his voice- Frank was constantly harping on Eddie that Eddie was too hard on himself and tore himself down too much, it was something they were trying to work on.

           “That’s not true,” Buck said, his voice sounding so small and hesitant. “It’s like Bobby told me when I was with Abby,” Buck started and Eddie couldn’t help but grimace at the mention of Buck’s ex- despite having only been around her for a few moments he couldn’t help but feel bitter towards what she’d done to him. “He said, ‘when it’s something real, you don’t try to save that person from their problems, you step into their problems with them’. If Ana’s the right one, well…” Buck gave Eddie a smile but it didn’t quite reach his eyes and if Eddie didn’t know better, he’d have thought Buck looked vaguely sick.

           “So you think I should ask her out?” Eddie asked tentatively, almost feeling like he needed Buck’s permission before he could go through with it.

           “I think that you should give her a chance before writing her off. She obviously likes you, and Chris already knows her,” Buck pointed out and that strained smile made another appearance. Something about it made Eddie’s gut churn, but he nodded. Buck glanced down at his watch and stood. “It’s getting late and I’ve got a shift in the morning. Tell me how it goes?” And something about the way Buck said it made Eddie’s gut twist, but he just gave Buck a smile.

           “Of course, man,” Eddie said and stood up. He tugged Buck into a hug like they always did when Buck left. Buck suddenly looked tired and the offer for Buck to stay was on the tip of Eddie’s tongue, but then Buck was pulling his shoes on and breezing out the door.

           Eddie watched the place where Buck disappeared for a moment longer before he went into the kitchen and scooped up his phone. There were a few texts from Ana and Eddie cringed.

Ana: You know that the library puts on some events that I think Christopher would like

           I could send you a link if you wanted to look them over, I don’t think Christopher’s one of those kids who just quits wanting to learn because the sun is shining

Eddie: No, he’s not. Definitely a sponge that one

           Sorry about the late response, had a work friend over

Ana: The infamous Buck, I assume?

           Christopher talked about him a lot in class

Eddie: Yeah, he and Chris have a standing movie night.

           Speaking of, would you maybe want to catch a movie sometime? Or go out and get coffee?

           Eddie tried not to hold his breath as the little ellipses popped up a few times before a new message chimed through.

Ana: I’d actually really like that. How does coffee tomorrow afternoon sound?

           Chris is spending the afternoon with your Abuela right?

Eddie: Yeah he is. That works great for me. Say around 1:00?

Ana: Perfect 😊

           Ana shared a location pin

           I don’t know how close that is for you, but it’s the place I usually stop at before school starts.

Eddie: That’s just fine. I’ll see you there

           Eddie blew out a breath and he rubbed the back of his neck. Worries about the how the actual date were going to go started to circle around in his head and he chewed his lip, fiddling with his phone before he went to his bedroom to go through his nightly routine to try and decompress.

…..

           Eddie had changed his shirt six times before putting on the red Henley he’d started out with. He fixed his hair in the mirror again before he went to see if Christopher had his bag ready for spending the afternoon with Abuela. The original plan had been so that Eddie could get some household things done- pay some bills, go grocery shopping, and get some minor house repairs done- but now he was going on this date. And depending how well it went, Eddie might not get any of what he’d wanted done.

           “Ready, mijo?” Eddie asked as he strapped his watch onto his wrist.

           “Yeah, Dad,” Christopher said with a bit of reluctance. Usually he was excited to spend the afternoon with Abuela.

           “What’s wrong, Chris?” Eddie asked, suddenly worried if Christopher had caught the stomach bug that Denny had had a week or so ago.

           Christopher shrugged slightly, guiltily looking down at his feet. “I saw the messages on your phone,” Christopher said and shuffled his sneaker on the floor. Eddie felt a spike of worry and knelt down in front of Christopher. “Daddy, why are you cheating on Buck?” Eddie felt his cheeks get hot and he felt his jaw opened and shut uselessly for a moment. “Are you and Buck going to break up? Because David said that his mom and dad broke up when his dad said that his mom cheated-”

           “Chris, Buck and I aren’t together,” Eddie said before his son could finish whatever nightmare story he was about to tell. Christopher’s nose wrinkled up and he rolled his eyes at Eddie like he knew something Eddie didn’t. “Why would you think that, buddy?”

           “It’s obvious,” Christopher said and waved his hand dismissively as if he and Eddie had already gone over all of this. “Can we just go to Abuela’s now? You’re going to be late.” And the bitterness behind the tone felt like Eddie had been punched squarely in the chest. Christopher shouldered his backpack and brushed past Eddie- Eddie suddenly having nightmares of Christopher’s impending teenaged years- coldly.

           Eddie chewed his lip and during the drive over to Abuela’s, he tried to talk to Christopher, but the ten year old was resolutely freezing Eddie out. He helped Christopher out of the car and walked with him up to Abuela’s door. Christopher was bright and happy as he and Abuela chattered away in Spanish, which only served to sting Eddie even worse.

           “Alright, buddy,” Eddie said and knelt down to be level with Chris. “I’m gonna go. Be good for Abuela, okay?”

           “I will,” Christopher said. Eddie pulled Chris in for a hug but it was stiff and he could tell that Christopher didn’t really want to hug him. Even Abuela seemed shocked as Chris quickly pulled away and went inside the house.

           “I-uh- I’ve got to go,” Eddie said and he felt Christopher’s hurt like a raw wound.

           “We’ll be here,” Abuela said and seemed to grimace at the tension between father and son. She hugged Eddie warmly and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before Eddie turned to get back into his truck.

           He tapped the address Ana had sent to him into his phone’s navigation and followed the directions as he tried to push Christopher’s mood- and words- from his mind. Once he’d parked and spotted Ana at a table underneath the awning of the little coffeeshop, his mind shifted to nerves again. He wiped his suddenly sweaty palms onto his jeans and took a breath before getting out of the truck.

           “Hey,” Eddie said warmly as he gave her a short wave. Her smile was pretty as Eddie caught her sight. “I’m just going to-” He pointed over his shoulder towards the door so he could grab a coffee.

           “Of course,” she said and wrapped her hands around her own cup.

           Eddie nodded and smiled as he moved to head inside. He ordered a coffee and had to stop himself from ordering Buck’s preferred drink out of habit. He shook his head at the reminder of Buck and thanked the harried looking barista as they called his name and slid his drink over the counter.

           “How are you?” Ana asked when Eddie had sat down, trying not to fidget too much with the cardboard stirrer that he’d grabbed to mix in a packet of sugar.

           “I’m good, thanks. How are you?” Eddie asked politely, thankful that the manners Abuela had drilled into his head as a kid could help take over for this part.

           “Really good.” She reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and Eddie couldn’t help but flick his eyes over her. Her curls were pulled back from her face, but a few little strands framed her face. The brown eyes that Eddie had been almost fixated on during their parent-teacher conference once again caught his attention. She looked really nice in a light blue shirt that would have complimented Buck’s eyes- wait where the hell did that come from?

           They lapsed into a silence and after a moment both of them laughed a little nervously. Eddie tucked his hands underneath his thighs and gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m-uh- a little out of practice. I haven’t really dated since Christopher’s mother, which is just the worst thing to say on a first date,” Eddie said with a grimace.

           “No, no it isn’t,” Ana said as she gave him a sympathetic smile. Her hand twitched on the table as if she wanted to reach for Eddie’s hand but since he’d put them under the table it would be awkward. Eddie casually wrapped his hands around his coffee cup. “To be completely honest with you, I haven’t really gone on a date since college.” She pulled a cute face that had Eddie grinning.

           It was easier after that. They walked about work a little, Eddie telling some funny- but appropriate- stories from work while she- without mentioning any kids’ names because that was professional- told some stories from her teaching experience.

           “So my mentor teacher and I were standing there- completely shocked- while the poor boy was in tears over the eraser he’d managed to get stuck up his nose,” Ana said and Eddie grimaced in sympathy. They’d been on a call or two about objects in kids’ noses and unfortunately since they had kids, he and Hen were usually on removal duty. “Thankfully, no parents were upset. They actually apologized to us because it was an ‘unfortunately common occurrence’.”

           Eddie laughed and shook his head as he took a drink out of his coffee. “I definitely do not envy some aspects of your job,” Eddie said with a hint of humor.

           “Ah yes, because firefighting must be so easy,” Ana said and this time she did reach out and touch the back of Eddie’s hand where it was sitting on the table. Eddie glanced down at her hand and while his smile never faltered, he felt like something had shifted. As much as he liked Ana and found her beautiful, because she was so amazingly sweet and funny and beautiful, he realized that he wasn’t really attracted to her. It was almost like she realized it too because she pulled her hand back after barely a moment of contact. “Well, this was really fun, Eddie,” she said honestly, and Eddie could see the sincerity in her eyes. “But I have some seminars to attend and I’m sure Christopher is waiting for you.”

           “Yeah, of course.” Eddie stood and gave her a genuine smile of his own. She got on her toes to pull him into a hug and Eddie didn’t resist, wondering if maybe he was still just worrying too much over what Christopher said. She pulled back just enough that they were only a few inches apart and there seemed to be a sort of determined edge in her eyes as she leaned in. Eddie closed his eyes as she kissed him and he kept his hands respectfully on her waist.

           Kissing Ana was nice, but it wasn’t really anything special as awful as Eddie was sure that sounded. She pulled away and they exchanged sheepish, weak smiles. “We’ll talk later?” She asked tentatively as she scooped up her coffee cup.

           “Yeah,” Eddie said and he was thankful it didn’t come out as conflicted as he felt. When she was gone, he thumbed at his bottom lip and gathered up his own cup. He sighed heavily as he made his way back to his truck and sat in the driver’s seat for a long moment before he went about his errands for the day.

           The date played over and over in his head and he wondered if maybe he’d just gone about it all wrong, but then he just shook his head at himself. It was just that they weren’t compatible. There was nothing wrong with that. They could still be friends.

           Eddie blew out a breath as he made his way back to Abuela’s, feeling the events of the day dragging at him, but he felt his heart kick up in his chest as he saw Buck’s jeep sitting on the street outside of Abuela’s house. He couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his cheeks and he switched off the ignition before hopping out of the truck and heading inside.

           Abuela’s kitchen was filled with the sounds of Buck and Christopher’s laughter alongside the tinny audio of the little radio that she kept on her window ledge. Everything that had made Eddie feel so awkward and clumsy earlier in the day, settled perfectly in his chest as he walked into the kitchen to see Buck and Christopher helping Abuela make what looked and smelled like fajitas.

           “I see how it is, you’ll show Buck your recipe, but not me?” Eddie asked and he couldn’t help but grin as they all three turned to look at him in shock, none of them having heard him come in.

           Abuela clicked her tongue at him and waved her hand dismissively. “That’s because Buck can do more than boil water- and he can do it unsupervised.” She shot him a look that had him blushing and shaking his head as both Buck and Christopher laughed at his expense. He’d take it given the very icy goodbye he’d been given by his son earlier in the day.

           “Alright, fair enough,” Eddie said and ran a hand through his hair.

           “Come on, Eddito,” Abuela said and looped her arm through his to tug him over to where her cutting board was sitting. “You can cut up the vegetables. Just… evenly.” Eddie couldn’t help but blush even hotter at Buck’s stifled snort.

…..

Buck: I never did ask how your date went

Eddie: It was okay.

           We kissed

           But I don’t think there’s going to be a second one because there just wasn’t any sort of spark, ya know? I mean she’s a good friend, but I’m pretty sure that’s it (Message to Buck failed to send)

-An hour earlier-

           Buck had been avoiding him all shift and Eddie couldn’t understand why. He’d thought about checking his phone to see if Buck had texted after Eddie fell asleep, but he’d left it on the nightstand in his rush to get to work since he’d slept through his alarm.

           Eddie had frowned and wondered if maybe Christopher had said something to Buck about him thinking that Eddie and Buck were dating- maybe that had made Buck feel uncomfortable. Or maybe he thought that Eddie had told Christopher that and Buck didn’t know how to tell Eddie that they weren’t dating- which of course he knew but still.

           They got a call and it was really bad fire in an apartment complex. Between the cheap materials that had somehow been overlooked in the building inspection and the industrial chemicals that were being house in the basement of the building, it was burning hot and fast.

           Eddie and Buck fell into step beside each other after they’d secured their masks. They were tasked with making sure the passable parts of the building were cleared before anything in the basement exploded. Eddie’s heart was thundering against his ribs as he and Buck jogged through the building, making sure to be mindful of the debris.

           They found a college-aged girl and Eddie looped her arm around his neck easily. “Come on,” Eddie shouted so that he would be able to be heard through the thick mask.

           “Let me just check this next room. I’ll be right behind you,” Buck said with such an earnest promise in his face that Eddie found himself nodding and making his way out of the building with the girl. He’d just passed her off to Chim to get some oxygen as well as a full work-up when he heard the all-too-familiar sound of an explosion before the force was throwing him forward against the pavement.

           His ears were ringing and his vision was blurred but he forced himself up so that he could turn to look at the building. His heart felt like it was in a vice and he ripped off his mask, his helmet clattering to the pavement as he swiped at his eyes to clear them.

           He saw movement on the pavement and his chest seized in relief when he read the familiar last name on the back of the turnout gear as Buck pushed himself up onto his hands and knees carefully. Eddie was instantly at Buck’s side and he helped Buck to his feet the rest of the way before he took off Buck’s helmet and mask. Eddie checked him over quickly for any signs of head injury. When he didn’t find any- and he didn’t know what possessed him to do this- he kissed Buck. Buck’s hands clenched against Eddie’s sides and Eddie just held onto the front of Buck’s turnout gear as if he were worried that letting go would make Buck disappear.

           Buck pulled back and Eddie suddenly felt the full realization of what he did crash into him. He’d just kissed Buck. He had just kissed Buck. His co-worker/best friend Buck.

           In Eddie’s defense, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not that he had planned it, but if he had it certainly wouldn’t have been like this.

           “I know, I know,” Buck mumbled, the two of them still close enough together that Buck’s bottom lip brushed against Eddie’s mouth as he spoke. “That was stupid and I should never do it again.”

           “Almost getting blow up, yeah- definitely try not to do that again. Kissing… well, I think I’d be okay with that if you are,” Eddie said, his mouth apparently deciding to run away from his brain.

           Buck frowned a little. “But your date with Ana…?”

           “I told you it was a bust,” Eddie said and watched the little furrow form between Buck’s brow.

           “I didn’t… what?” Buck asked. “The last thing you told me was that you guys kissed.”

           Slowly, Eddie realized what must have happened. Eddie shook his head. “We did, but it didn’t mean anything. We both sort of realized that we just weren’t really into each other that much. Besides, I think I had my heart set on somebody else.” Eddie gave Buck a small, hopeful smile.

           “Yeah?” Buck asked and he leaned into Eddie a little more.

           “Yeah,” Eddie breathed and he couldn’t help but laugh a little through his nose when Buck kissed him again. The wolf-whistles from Hen and Chim- and the reprimand from Bobby later that they both got later- he could have done without though.

[normal-thoughts-official]

A Dis-ass-ter

Rating: M

Pairings: Simon Lewis/Maia Roberts; Simon Lewis/Raphael Santiago; Simon Lewis/Meliorn; Maia Roberts/Raphael Santiago; Maia Roberts/Meliorn; Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood

Summary:

Simon and Maia find out what the Mark of Cain is in an... Alternate way.

Namely, they can't get their spanking session on.

The squad is called in to help.

Read it on Ao3

It's nothing they haven't done a thousand times before.

Really, it's not even complicated. The safety precautions are all very basic, and Maia already knows the drill like the palm of her hand. No pun included.

What could possibly go wrong?

Apparently, this is what.

She tries to land another strike, this time, going extremely slow, making sure she is following the movement of her own hand with her eyes so she isn't missing anything. Just as it was supposed to, Maia's hand lands on Simon's ass the loud slap echoing in the room.

And then she feels the pain on her own ass.

What the fuck?

"Maia? What is going on?" Simon asks, turning his head towards her, which is really pointless, since he is blindfolded. "I hear slapping, but I can't feel anything."

"Well, I can feel it," she says, frustrated.

Simon frowns, which is a really funny look behind the blindfold, and Maia would probably be more endeared if she weren't so lost.

At least I'm a switch, Maia thinks for a second, because she tries to look at things on the bright side. Still, it feels weird to slap her own ass, especially when she has partners who could do that for her.

"Can you explain me what's going on?" Simon asks, sounding genuinely lost, before adding, "...please, Mistress?"

"I can't slap your ass," Maia answers, because that's really all she can say.

Simon sounds alarmed. "Shit, do you need to safeword? That's alright, baby, you should have just told me. I'll just need you to uncuff me and we can do something else, some aftercare, I know you like to watch movies-"

"No, Simon. I physically can't slap your ass!"

"...Do you want me to get it higher up?"

"No! Whenever I do, I feel it on me instead. See?" she says, slapping him again, "Can you even feel it?"

"...Are you sure it is my ass you're slapping?"

"Yes, Simon, I'm sure it is your ass. I did it really slowly to check."

"That's weird."

An awkward silence falls, because that sentence sums it up perfectly and there are no words left.

"Maybe there's a portal on your ass," Maia mumbles. "Did you open a portal in your ass?"

"No??? Why would I do that?? Or how? I can't use magic."

"I don't know, some elaborate prank?"

"Well, I'm missing out on a spanking, so no. Also, you know I suck at pranking, I'd have started laughing before we even took our clothes off."

"Shit, that's true. Then who opened a portal on your ass?"

"I feel like we shouldn't rush to the conclusion that there's a portal on my ass."

"Well, what else could it be?"

"I don't know? The possibilities are endless. I'm a newbie in the Shadow World, remember?" he says, wiggling his butt in an outraged way. "Maybe we should call a specialist."

"A specialist in ass portals?"

"Again, I feel like we are rushing to conclusions here."

"Magnus did invent the portal."

"Sure, call Magnus."

*

Magnus is about to begin very similar activities when Maia calls.

It's been a while since Alec last had a day off, and Magnus was really excited about the new handcuffs (they suppress his magic and his ability to cum. Unless! Alec! Lets him! Yes!), so he almost considers not picking up. But when people come for his help, it tends to be serious, and besides, this is Maia, so he can't make himself. He looks at Alec apologetically, but all Alec does is smile up at him as he passes him his phone. He makes an "I'll be done in a minute" gesture, but Alec doesn't look fooled.

Well then.

"Hello?" Magnus says, in his best I-am-totally-not-naked voice. Alec snorts, and Magnus almost throws something at him, but there aren't many objects available in his bed. "Maia?"

"Magnus!" she says, sounding distressed, and Magnus perks up, alarmed, "I can't spank Simon's ass!"

"Oh," he says, finally relaxing, seeing the way Alec, who had been going for his bow, mirrors his actions, looking curious. Magnus extends him a placating hand, signing to him that it's nothing major. He's glad this is just some teenage drama, not something overly complicated involving, say, magic and the Seelie Queen. Now that would be a problem. "That's alright, dear. I'm sure Simon will understand. Not everyone is into that. I, for example, am strictly into s-"

"No!" Maia screams, still distressed, and Magnus falls silent fast, "His ass is broken!"

Okay, that is definitely more worrying, but Magnus placates himself by thinking that, again, at least it's not related to some complicated magical plot Daylighter thing. "I'm afraid I need more information, dear. What exactly happened? Have you two done research before practic-"

"No! I mean, yes! Of course we've done research. But that's not the problem. I think there's a portal on his ass."

"Like, inside the-"

"No! Just the cheeks! Well, I mean, actually, I don't know. Simon, is the portal inside your ass?"

"There is no portal in my ass!"

"I think we'll have to check."

"Ok," Magnus says, and waiting room music starts playing over the line. Hm, Frank Sinatra, exquisite. He much prefers the original version of Garota De Ipanema, of course, but that is still not bad. He never expected it to be quite Maia's style, but then again, she is pretty eclectic, and-

"I can't fuck his ass!" Maia says, picking up the phone again.

"Ok," Magnus says, scratching his head a little, trying to think. "You said something about a portal. Does it lead anywhere that you can see, or-"

"No," Maia says, and for a second, Magnus has nightmarish visions of mundane television broadcasting the mysterious penis that showed up midair in the middle of Mumbai, but then she continues, "I just can't get in. It goes back. When I tried spanking him, it slapped my ass! Why is his ass leading to my ass?"

"That doesn't sound like a portal," Magnus says, calmly. "It might be some sort of blocking spell. Like a shield. They can't really differentiate between, uh, friendly and unfriendly intrusions." Then he pauses, "Although it is weird that the pain came back to you. Are you sure that you are not the one cursed?"

"Me?" Maia asks.

"Yes. I know a hex like that, every time you try to inflict pain, it is inflicted on you instead. Not that difficult to pull off, I should be able to undo it easily. We should move fast, though, because if the person plans on attacking you, it means you can't defend yourself," Magnus says, magicking some clothes on. Looks like the plans are officially cancelled. He can see Alec nodding, putting the handcuffs, blindfolds, vibrators, plugs, paddles, collars, wax, condoms, gags, and dildos they had selected for today all back in the box. "But we need to be sure. Where are you?"

"Uh, we are home, but- give me a minute, I think we need to test. I'll call you back?"

"Of course, my little pretzel."

He can hear her smile on the other end of the line. She sounds more calm when she says, "okay, bye."

"Looks like I'm on call," Magnus says, shaking his phone a little bit for emphasis. "By the way, Maia likes my nicknames."

*

Maia stares at her phone for a second, thinking of who they can ask for help with this. She never considered she could be the hexxed one. Fuck.

"What if it's Russell?" she thinks, a little scared. "Do you think he would do that?" It sounds pretty cowardly, making someone unable to fight you like that. It's not like she and Russell ever came to that before. Then again, she would totally kick his ass.

"I don't know. You know I don't love the guy, but it doesn't sound his style," Simon says. "Maybe we should test, like you said." He adds, trying to go for calming and cheerful and hitting unsure and slightly hysterical right on the head.

"Yes, you're right," she says, running her hands through her hair. "How do we do that?"

"Well, could you untie me first? It's weird that you're just, like, talking to my ass."

"Right, sorry."

*

They come to the conclusion that they should call someone else for Maia to slap and to slap Simon, so they can check which one of them is it about, or if it's about the both of them somehow. Meliorn is the obvious choice, since, well, they've done this before.

"Mel," she says, "I need you to come here and slap me and Simon."

"I do not wish to inflict harm on either of you," Meliorn answers, in the tone of someone who is looking up at a tree and trying to figure something out and is not interrupting that activity to talk, but is still paying attention to the conversation anyway. Meliorn has very precise entonations.

"No, I know, it's just a quick slap, just to test something. Please? Si- I- We might be in trouble."

Meliorn shows up in front of her. Maia turns off her phone, sighing, and feeling just a little safer with them there. She really hopes Russell isn't planning anything. At least with Meliorn she'd have someone to protect her.

"I resent that. I literally have superstrength, of course I'd protect you too," says Simon, who apparently can read minds now.

"Yeah, but I mean, still. Meliorn has magic, that's always more helpful."

"So my cool powers mean nothing to you, huh?"

"I fail to understand how slapping could help either of you," Meliorn interrupts, looking very calm and ethereal-like as they stand in front of Simon's Naruto poster.

"It's just for a test. Actually, I'd have to be the one to slap you, then you'd slap Simon," she says.

"That is only a minor difference," they reply, but nod. "Any preference for a place?"

Maia extends her hand, looking at her hesitantly. She just looks back at Maia, immobile. Maia bites her lip.

"You have my full permission," Meliorn says.

Maia slaps her shoulder. Not too light, since tapping Simon had no effect, but not too strong, either. She doesn't feel anything on her own shoulder. Or her ass.

"So?" Simon, who apparently can no longer read minds, asks.

"Nothing unusual," Maia says.

"Nor on my end," Meliorn replies. "Should I slap Simon now?"

"Yeah, sure."

Meliorn slaps Simon's shoulder, and then makes a little noise.

"I didn't feel anything." Simon says.

"So it is you who are hexxed," Maia says.

"Yeah, thank G-d," Simon replies. Then he adds, "what? At least it's not you,” when Maia looks at him weird.

"You are the sweetest, did you know that?" she asks.

"Careful, we're going to start being disgusting again."

"Okay, so this is definitely some kind of shielding spell," Maia agrees. "Should I call Magnus again?"

*

Magnus says that he doesn't know any spell quite like that, at least not any that allows it to be done without being initiated by the person spelled. He still shows up to check on Simon, though, which leads to seeing some unfortunate items they forgot to put back on their places and also the diagnosis that whatever it is, it is Seelie magic, not a warlock's.

"Seelie magic? Could it have anything to do with the weird ritual the Seelie Queen performed on me?"

“No, I’m sure it’s something else,” Magnus says, dryly, “The Seelie Queen performed an unknown ritual on you and you didn’t even consider it might have something to do with that before??”

“Well, I mean, nothing in particular happened at the time.”

“And you thought maybe the ritual was just for the shits??”

“Well, no, but Maia was staring at my forehead for a really long time trying to figure it out, and then I said, ‘I mean, even if you figure it out, what are you going to do, kiss my booboo away?’ and then she kissed my forehead, so we started being all cute and stuff, and I forgot.”

“Why am I only now hearing about this?” Meliorn says, sounding distressed, because obviously they had nothing to do with the ritual or anything about that particular plotline, since that would be ridiculous. “And why didn’t you come to me before?”

“Simple: I am a himbo,” Simon says.

“Simon,” Magnus sighs, pressing his fingers to his temples, and thinking that maybe he should send Alec a text to let him know that his totally super quick visit to Simon’s place, babe, I promise, seriously there’s no need to raincheck do NOT put it all back in the drawer I’ll be right back will actually not be that quick and maybe they will have to raincheck. Maybe. "Can you explain to us what exactly happened?"

So Simon describes the whole thing about how the Seelie queen branded his forehead with the help of some totally not-Meliorn seelie (again, why would Meliorn do that? That would be ridiculous and OOC) and all that pizzazz, finishing the whole narrative off with a "crazy, right?"

Magnus and Meliorn look at each other, and Maia is totally expecting that they will say, "of course! We know exactly what this is and it is very easy to solve and Simon's ass will be fuckable again in no time," but instead they say, "we will need to do research. I've never heard of anything like this before."

As Magnus' portal closes, they can hear him say, "Alexander, I'm afraid we'll need to raincheck," to which Alec deadpans, "no, really?". Meliorn leaves a kiss on both of their foreheads and says that she will get to the bottom of this before disappearing with her own portal.

So it's just Maia, Simon, the messy bed, and the ropes and blindfold they need to put back under his bed again. And there is nothing they can do but wait.

*

Simon is like, spectacularly drunk.

That is not too hard to happen, of course, because he is a known lightweight and Maia's bloody Marys (ha! That's right, they have blood) are strong. Still, after a week with no relevant news from either Magnus or Meliorn, it looks like Simon was even more helpless to the effects of alcohol. Either that, or he really needed an excuse to scream,

"THE SEELIE QUEEN HAS CURSED MY ASS!"

At the top of his lungs in the middle of Hunter's Moon.

The rest of the clients ignore him, because they have heard all about it before. Raphael, who is beside him, nurses his own bloody Mary with a way too amused smile. He looks absolutely fond, which is a weird way to react to Simon mumbling, "what does she even have against my ass?", but that's Raphael for you. At least Maia doesn't have to worry about Raphael having a weird time at their triple date. Then again, she's sure he already knows how weird they are at this point.

"Has he been whining like this ever since?" Raphael asks, doing a shit job of hiding his laugh as he takes a sip.

"Yup," she replies, checking a cup against the light to make sure it's dried. "Tried everything to make him look on the bright side, didn't work. Guess all we can do is wait for Simon and Meliorn."

"We can trust them," Raphael says, sounding absolutely serious. "They will figure it out."

She smiles at him. "Yeah, of course they will," she answers, ruffling his hair a bit, because she can't help it. Raphael lets her, because he also can't help it. "We'll just have to deal with him up until then."

"Labour division," Raphael nods. Maia laughs.

Simon continues with his rant. "I am completely unfuckable. No butt business at all, nada!" He says. "We tried everything. I have THREE whole partners, and NONE of them can fuck me!!"

"Well, I have never fucked you," Raphael points out, unfazed.

"Yes," Simon says. He then turns towards the camera to look directly into your eyes as he continues, "That is true. Raphael and I don't fuck, and we never will, because he is asexual and sex-repulsed and is not interested in that, with me or anybody else. He won't fuck any of his other partners either, and that is wonderful and valid and should be respected by the fandom." After that, Simon turns back to Raphael and says, "but that is not the point! It's not about you, it's about my ass!!"

"Of course, my apologies," Raphael deadpans.

"Simon, come on. We'll figure this out. We just need to… Talk to the seelie queen," Maia says, her voice faltering at the last words. "I mean, what she's gonna do? Kidnap us again? That's gotta have gotten old by now."

"You shouldn't test her like that," Raphael says, voice serious and eyes hard. Maia can see the way his fists clench as he says it, and she can't help but smile as she takes his hand and places a small kiss there.

"We'll be fine, I promise," she says.

"You'll let me know if you need help, right?" Raphael asks, instead of taking Maia's empty promise.

At that moment, Simon's phone rings.

*

"It's something called the curse of Cain," is the first thing Simon says after he hangs up his phone.

"The Daylighter curse??" Raphael asks.

"Yes- wait, you knew about this? And didn't tell me?"

"I knew what the curse of Cain is, I didn't know that's what was. All you told me is that your ass was 'sealed shut', there was nothing about that in the spellbooks."

"So Cain is withholding information," Simon mumbles.

"Maybe that just wasn't his priority," Maia suggests.

"Maybe he never tested," Raphael adds.

"Maybe he just left me to perish," Simon counters.

Raphael rolls his eyes. "Come on. Let's get you home. You need to be sober when we go talk to the Seelie Queen."

*

A whole commission was sent on a diplomatic mission to get Simon's ass back, including Maia, Raphael, Magnus, Alec, Meliorn herself, and even Cain, whom had not been seen by anyone in millions of years but Simon was able to track down in the New York sewers that very same week. How convenient!

Meliorn designed their strategy for talking to the Queen, and her and Magnus led the negotiations. Raphael also spoke in the name of all of the vampires, saying Simon's interests were theirs as well, which Simon thought was totally sweet.

Magnus and Meliorn's speech was very in sync, a result of long rehearsal, and everything went down smoothly. Cain offered to let the Seelie Queen observe him in Simon's place, so she wouldn't miss out on her shiny, unique toy. They all kneeled before her as Meliorn finished her speech, saying, "we beg of you, my queen, let the Daylighter make his own choice."

The Seelie Queen then said, "k lmao," and undid the spell.

*

It isn't until Simon is back in the safety of the regular realm that he throws his arms up and says, "my ass is back!", promptly leading to a montage of celebratory cheers and hugs among the commission.

"We should celebrate!" Maia suggests, "Finally, Simon will stop crying about this."

"I agree," Meliorn replies, smiling slyly at the both of them. "We should celebrate."

"Alright, I'm out," Raphael says, because he is a sex-repulsed ace and not interested in that type of celebration. "Have fun," he adds, because he is happy for his partners.

And have fun they do. Once Magnus and Cain leave as well, of course, because otherwise that would be weird.

[s3ungyoun]

❝my eyes want you more than a melody❞ [single dad!seungwoo x reader]

genre: smut, fluff (?)

warnings: explicit language + content, age gap, unprotected sex, it’s kinda soft ngl 

word count: 4.4k

a/n (please read 😭): sorry for being so inactive!! exams + personal issues have been killing me lately. i’ve been sitting on this au idea for a couple months and i finally finished it so i wanted to post!! comments and feedback are greatly appreciated. i feel like this has a lot of unnecessary build-up until the smut which i usually don’t do, so pls let me know if u like it this way or not <3 ty pls enjoy

Seungwoo was untouchable.

Disregarding the fact that he was sinfully attractive and unbearably kind (aka, way out of your league) — he also just happened to be the dad of the child you babysat most weeknights. Harboring a crush on an actual father was not exactly ideal, yet you somehow managed it anyways. 

It was the little things, really, such as the way he would ask you to stay for dinner in his honey-like voice, or how his long, slender fingers looked as he ran them through his hair, rousing it in the process. Or maybe even the way he would always give his son a goodnight kiss, melting your heart as you wished he would give you one too.

“What are your plans for tonight?” your friend Yohan asked, snapping you out of your reverie. 

“Hmm? Oh, I’m watching Dongpyo.”

At that Yohan let out a slight chuckle, leaning back in his chair and mockingly raising his brow at you. Your crush on Seungwoo was painstakingly obvious to everyone except for him and Dongpyo (which you constantly thanked god for, seeing as the child couldn’t go a day without running his mouth). Seungwoo and Yohan were close family friends, and Yohan had actually assisted you in getting the job — unable to watch Dongpyo himself due to his busy schedule. Being a broke college student, the job was practically magical; the pay good and hours more flexible than other jobs available to those your age. Which was exactly why Seungwoo was so untouchable. You needed this job, and the thought of ruining it over a simple crush haunted you through every interaction. 

“The fact that Seungwoo-hyung hasn’t noticed obsession with him yet still amazes me.”

“Shut up,” you groan, glaring at him. “I’m not that obvious.”

“You look at him like you want to get railed.”

“And? I do.”

Yohan scrunches his nose up in disgust. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that.” 

-- 

Picking up Dongpyo from school was something you enjoyed immensely. The walk home was spent with the 7-year-old ranting about his day, whether good or bad, and you nodding your head as if you totally agreed that his classmate, Minhee, was selfish for stealing his crackers during snack time — or whatever petty drama elementary students dealt with. 

Today, Dongpyo had gotten in trouble for talking back to his teacher, and you couldn’t help but coo at his pouty expression, reaching out to pat his head in sympathy. 

“Just follow her orders next time. Then you won’t get put in time out.”

“You don’t understand!” he whined, shaking his little fists. “She was wrong, I just wanted to correct her! She’s so mean to me.”

Chuckling, you turn to grab the child’s hand as you both cross the street, soon arriving to his and Seungwoo’s apartment building. Dongpyo switched the subject as you rode up the elevator, now telling you about Hyeongjun’s epic birthday party. This was the best part of your day — bonding with Dongpyo. While Yohan and Hangyul assumed you only liked the job for the perk of talking to Seungwoo, you did genuinely enjoy his son’s company. Not only was he adorable, but funny and warm-hearted as well, all traits you assumed he inherited from his father. 

The apartment itself was clean and sleek. While you had initially been surprised at the size of it, you quickly learned that Seungwoo’s job, whatever it was, paid quite well. 

Despite the apartment’s organization, Dongpyo’s toys still occasionally littered the floor, and you were careful not to accidentally step on a lego or break one of his precious toy cars. On days he felt especially active he would ask you to play with him, but for the most part he studied and stared at his iPad.

You were grateful for his low maintenance. Even though Seungwoo was gracious enough to work with your class schedule, you still arrived home late, leaving you barely any time to complete your assignments. Sometimes you wished the job was a little more demanding, Seungwoo a little harsher — because maybe then you wouldn’t feel the way you do.

--

Seungwoo arrived home a couple minutes earlier than usual that day, and you perked your head up at the sound of keys jingling in the lock, Dongpyo excitedly jumping up from his place on the couch to run towards the door. 

“Daddy!” he yelled, bouncing up and down while waving his arms as a signal for Seungwoo to pick him up. The father complied, his previously weary eyes sparkling in delight as Dongpyo nuzzled his face into his chest. 

“Was he good today?” Seungwoo asked.

“Well...” you began, glancing at Dongpyo. Noticing the pleading look on his face, you quickly changed your expression. “He was great! As always.”

Even if Dongpyo had decided to act up, you never quite felt like telling Seungwoo — seeing the smile come off his face as he solemnly disciplined his child broke your heart more than you wanted to admit. That, mixed with Dongpyo’s unresistable pout, usually kept him out of trouble. 

Seungwoo smiled. “Of course he was, I’m sure you keep him in check anyways. You don’t want to bother our precious babysitter, do you Dongpyo?”

Your face flushed, color lighting up your cheeks as Dongpyo giggled in agreement. “Y/N is the best!”

“Mm, she is, isn’t she?”

Letting out a slight chuckle, you pick up your things, simultaneously wanting to go yet dreading having to leave. Seungwoo puts Dongpyo down and turns towards you.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” he asks, and you feel your heart leap a little. Dinners with Seungwoo weren’t extremely common, yet he did invite you to stay every once in a while It was rare that you took up on his offer, however, too worried you might embarrass yourself in some way that would haunt you for the remainder of your life. Besides, you were busy as well. 

“Ah,” you looked down. “I actually have a lot to do. Thank you, though!”

A flicker of disappointment flashed upon Seungwoo’s face, but he was quick to mask his dismay, nodding and wishing you farewell as you walked out the door. 

There were few sensations in the world that made you feel breathless, as if you were peacefully falling; a moment of tranquility yet exhilaration. Seungwoo smiling was one of them.

--

“Why don’t you just talk to him?��� Hangyul suggested, thumb scrolling through his twitter feed as he laid haphazardly across your couch.

“Yeah, Seungwoo-hyung is nice. He’s not going to fire you for having a crush on him.” Yohan agreed.

Whining, you scowled at them. “How do I even approach that? ‘Hey, father of the child I’m currently making sure doesn’t die, I think you’re hot.’ No, that’s stupid. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.”

“That’s kinda good actually. Brief, but gets the message across. Maybe don’t reiterate the fact that you babysit his kid, though.”

“Wait,” Hangyul interjects. “I have an even better idea.”

“Which is?” you prompt.

“I’ll make a shirt that says ‘Please Fuck Me.” You can wear it next time you go over.”

“Ooh,” Yohan exclaims. “Subtle. I like it.”

You throw a pillow at them. 

--

It was Monday, and Dongpyo seemed to be even more talkative than usual on the walk home. You zoned out slightly, occasionally nodding and mumbling one-word responses as Dongpyo continuously blabbered. In a way, you felt bad, but you had too much on your mind to listen to the seven-year-old complain about his teacher — no matter how adorable he was.

Dongpyo, however, sensed your wavering attention, tugging on your jeans while pouting slightly.

“Y/N,” he whined.

“Yes?” you asked, finally looking at him.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Eyes widening comically, you laughed while crouching down to his level. “No, I don’t. But why would you ask that?”

His pout turned into a smirk. To be frank, you were quite scared of Dongpyo at times — despite his innocent face, he always seemed to be planning something. “Well, Daddy said you were pretty, and Uncle Wooseok told me that when you think someone’s pretty, it’s because you like them.”

“I don’t think your dad said that, Dongpyo.”

“It’s true!” He yelled defensively. “Daddy thinks you’re pretty!”

Standing up, you reach to press the elevator button, ready for the conversation to be over as you head up to Seungwoo’s place. “Whatever you say.”

The walk into Seungwoo’s apartment is met with cries of indignation from Dongpyo, the younger still upset by the fact that you don’t believe him. Rolling your eyes, you shush him, hands coming up to rub at your temples. Your head had started to hurt due to the loudness of Dongpyo’s yells, each hour passing by slowly as you attempted to finish a paper due the next day despite Dongpyo’s words still ringing in your mind. Lying was not something he partook in. While the child did have a big mouth, everything he said was true to a certain extent.

Soon enough, Seungwoo is unlocking the door, Dongpyo jumping up and repeating the same scene that had occurred only days ago. It was heartwarming, really, how much the two loved each other. Basking in the affection in front of you, you completely forgot about Dongpyo’s words from earlier — until he decided to blurt it out.

“Daddy, you said Y/N was pretty, right?” 

“I—,” Seungwoo blinked, startled. “Where is this coming from?”

Blushing again, you were quick to stammer out a response, internally thinking of ways to escape the situation. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer him, he was just saying nonsense earlier—”

“She doesn’t believe me! I told her you said it, and she doesn’t believe me! Tell her I’m not lying, please.”

“Dongpyo,” Seungwoo sighed. “Why don’t you go to your room and play with the new toy I bought you, hmm?”

“But daddy—”

“Go.” He said sternly, watching as Dongpyo stomped down the hallway, lightly slamming his door in protest. 

Stuttering, you motion towards the door, slowly getting up. “Um, I think— I think I should go now, see you tomorrow?”

He focused his gaze on you, smiling faintly when he noticed the blush on your face. “I’m sorry about Dongpyo, he really has no filter sometimes.”

“Oh,” you said. “Don’t worry about it. Kids just have a good imagination.” 

“He wasn’t lying.”

This — this was where the lines truly blurred. Sure, Seungwoo had always been overwhelmingly kind, and at times a bit touchy, but he had never been so blatant before. There were moments of uncertainty, moments in which you wondered whether or not he felt the same way. Of course, you still weren’t sure, but you were at least aware of the fact that he thought you were pretty. And that simple statement was enough to keep locked in both your heart and mind for days or weeks on end, only opening the vault when you felt like further exploring your supposedly delusional fantasies.

You’re quick to leave after that, using the excuse of your paper as you practically run out the door. Once in the elevator, you let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding.

--

Maybe, just maybe you were a bit more delusional after what had happened. But when Seungwoo invited you to stay over for dinner that Friday, you didn’t deny him. 

The dinner itself was good, and Dongpyo talked throughout the whole ordeal, excitedly chattering about the field trip his school had taken that day. You couldn’t exactly pay attention to the food or Dongpyo, however, too flustered by Seungwoo’s constant stare. At first, you were worried that you had accidentally gotten something on your face, but after a quick trip to the bathroom, you determined that he was simply staring for no reason — staring at you.

As the night calmed down and Dongpyo went to bed, you were almost scared of what Seungwoo was going to do. Clearly, he had something to say — or he wouldn’t have stared at you like that. But what exactly was it? Had he found out about your crush? Were you going to be fired? Your stomach churned anxiously at the last question, fingers toying with the rips in your jeans as you sat on the couch, waiting for Seungwoo to return from Dongpyo’s bedroom. 

“Sorry about the wait,” he said as he sat down next to you. “Dongpyo wanted me to read him a bedtime story.”

You internally cooed, your mind immediately picturing the scene: a tired Dongpyo, desperately clinging onto his father as Seungwoo’s eyes filled with adoration, laying him down and—

Snap out of it, you reminded yourself, instead attempting to focus on what new jobs you could apply for when you got home. Maybe a barista?

“So,” Seungwoo started. “I wanted to talk about Monday, but I haven’t gotten the chance without you running out the door.” At that sentence he chuckled nervously, seeming almost as apprehensive as you. 

You gulped.

“I’m sorry if my comment made you uncomfortable. It wasn’t my intention, and I’m fully aware that it’s not my place to say things of that nature to someone who—well, someone who watches my kid.”

“It didn’t,” you stammered, “It didn’t make me feel uncomfortable or anything. I was just, surprised? I guess. I don’t really expect someone like you to think someone like me is pretty.”

He glanced into your eyes, fingers reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of your face. They finally settle on your cheek, and as his thumb strokes your chin, it feels like the air is being sucked out of your lungs, your chest constricting with each movement. “Y/N, you’re very pretty. You’re beautiful. If you weren’t so young and Dongpyo’s babysitter, I would—,” he stops. “Well, that’s not important.”

“You would what?” you implore, subconsciously scooting closer.

His eyes lazily drop down to your lips, and you’re certain that he can hear how fast your heart’s beating. Uncertainty lingers slightly in the air, clouding the mood and making you briefly wonder if this was a good idea — if this was going to ruin everything. You have hardly any time to be nervous, however, as Seungwoo is quick to close the gap between the two of you, molding your lips together. 

It wasn’t rushed nor heated, quick nor sloppy. It seemed to be a perfect meld of everything that is Seungwoo. From the way his fingertips gently combed through your hair, the way his other hand had settled protectively at your hip, or the faint aroma you caught of his cologne — everything somehow pieced itself together to portray his want, to portray the ache he had felt after pining for you all these months. 

You’re the first to pull away, breathing slightly laboured as you both stare at one another, each waiting for someone to speak. You’re not sure why, but every doubt you’ve ever had, every single moment of regret you’ve faced, has somehow been released into your mind. As if a dam had burst, you’re quick to jump up from your spot on the couch, refusing to look Seungwoo in the eye as you hastily took your leave.

You had fucked up.

--

“So, just to make sure,” Yohan said. “He said you were pretty, kissed you, and then you left?”

“Yeah, sounds about right.” 

“Are you fucking stupid?”

You let out an indistinguishable groan, words muffled by your pillow. “Clearly.” 

“I don’t understand your thought process. The man you haven’t shut up about for the past year basically tells you he likes you back, so your first thought is to ghost him?” 

“It’s not that simple!” You yell defensively, strangely resembling Dongpyo in the way you whine.

Yohan sighs in annoyance. “Explain then! What’s not simple about it?”

“First of all, he has a whole child. He’s also a lot older. 

“He’s not even 30.”

“Still! I’m probably too immature for him.”

“Doesn’t he get to make that decision though?” Yohan asks. “If he thought you were too immature for him, he probably wouldn’t like you in the first place.”

Grumbling, you turn to face him, face adorned with a scowl. “Can you stop being annoyingly right for one second? God, it’s suffocating.”

Yohan shakes his head. “If him being a single father bothers you, don’t do anything. But I know you. You love Dongpyo, and you obviously like Seungwoo-hyung too. If the only thing holding you back from pursuing this is the fear that he won’t like you, then, well, you’re even dumber than I thought.”

“I know,” you sigh. “But I kinda already messed everything up, don’t you think?”

“Seungwoo-hyung’s more forgiving than you think. He’s probably just as confused and anxious as you, wondering what he did wrong.”

The gears are slowly turning in your head as you calculate when you can talk to Seungwoo next. It was a long weekend, meaning Dongpyo had gone off to see his mother, and you were off work until Tuesday. While you weren’t quite sure of Seungwoo’s work schedule on the weekend, you still mustered up the courage to go and visit his apartment anyways, Yohan’s words lingering in the back of your mind. 

Tension radiates off your body as the elevator slowly climbs to Seungwoo’s floor. A small voice in the back of your head tells you that this is a bad idea, that it will only result in heartbreak and tears and having to find a new job. But there’s a bigger part of you, a part that is simultaneously fueled by your heart and whatever words of encouragement Yohan managed to give you — and that part leads you to Seungwoo’s door, it leads you to raise your fist and knock on it, and it leads you to step inside. There’s no turning back now, no excuses or hasty exits. Instead, it is you and Seungwoo, finally alone.

He’s the first to break the silence, offering you a drink as you tells you to sit down. You politely decline, making yourself comfortable on his couch, mind reeling back to the events that took place on it a mere two days ago. 

“I shouldn’t have kissed you, it was wrong of me to do so. If you no longer want to work here I understand, and I’m sorry for overstepping any boundaries. I just— I guess I just read the moment wrong, and I’m sorry for that.”

“Seungwoo,” you said softly. “You don’t have to apologize, I kissed you back. I guess I was just a bit overwhelmed with...everything. I like you, I really do. And I’m sorry if you don’t feel that way, if you just felt like kissing me for no reason and you don’t want me to work for you anymore. But—”

He cuts you off. “Y/N, I do want you to stop working for me.”

“Oh.”

“B-but not because I’m mad or uncomfortable or anything,” he laughs nervously, scratching at the back of his head. “I like you too. But that’s kinda hard when you’re, well, my employee.” 

“Are you firing me?” you ask teasingly.

“Do you want to be fired?”

“I want you to keep liking me.”

“Well then, yes, you’re fired.”

Giggling, you bat your eyelashes at him, “Can I at least get a goodbye kiss, then?” 

The kiss is heated this time, Seungwoo’s lips fervently pressing against yours as both of his hands trace your hip bones, moving slightly up and down your lower body. Yours are quick to mold themselves into his hair, gripping softly while his tongue coaxes your mouth open. Urgency is replaced by passion, and any hesitation is swallowed with every movement Seungwoo makes. Slowly, he lays you back against the couch, hovering over your flushed body as he continues his ministrations.

You’re the first to push things further, legs spreading out in order for Seungwoo to situate himself between them, the older man practically enveloping your entirety. As if they have a mind of their own, your hips bucked up to meet Seungwoo’s, a strained moan leaving his mouth at the contact. He’s quick to reciprocate, grinding down into you like a touch-starved highschooler. It’s almost sweet, the notion that you can turn Seungwoo into a groaning mess. But you suppose he has the same effect on you. 

Pulling back, he begins to leave soft kisses on your neck, biting softly when you let out a sigh of encouragement. There’s no doubt you’ll have marks the next morning, but at that moment, you can’t find it in yourself to care. 

Soft kisses and nips soon trail further down until he reaches your chest, Seungwoo immediately looking up at you for consent to continue. You nod, but he seems dissatisfied by this, shaking his head while letting out a hum of disapproval.

“Use your words, princess,” he orders.

“Please, Seungwoo. I want you to touch me.”

“Where do you want me to touch you, sweetheart?”

“Anywhere,” you whine. “Just please.”

He smirks at this, fingers tugging at the edge of your shirt as he lifts it off, unbuckling your bra as well. You’re a bit embarrassed — being so exposed — but the anxiety is quickly washed away by his awestruck gaze, Seungwoo leaning back up to resume kissing you as his hand gropes your breast, relishing in your gasps of pleasure when he lightly pinches your perked nipple. His other hand focuses on undoing your pants, making quick work of the buttons and zipper. 

The two of you briefly break apart in order for Seungwoo to take off your jeans as you almost rip away his shirt. If you were to look in on the both of you, it would seem as if you were starved — two lovers reunited after a painstaking absence. Instead, you were simply hollow, desperately clawing at the other for a sense of love and passion.

And indeed, you both found what you were looking for.

Both of you were stripped down to your underwear, yet no hasty movements were made. It was that moment again — that moment of tranquility yet exhilaration. The moment that was only ignited by Seungwoo’s smile, by Seungwoo’s voice, by Seungwoo. And right now, it was being ignited by the feeling of his fingers delicately tracing your core, your panties practically soaked with each circular motion. Slowly, he pulls your underwear down, tossing them across the room somewhere. Digits circling your hole, Seungwoo pushes one finger in, taking delight in the wanton moan that escapes your lips. 

“More,” you beg, hips moving to meet the thrust of his hand.

Seungwoo complies, pushing in another finger and attempting to scissor your open. The movement of your hips becomes more desperate when he adds a third, and you’re quick to warn him of your impending orgasm.

“S-stop,” you tell him shakily.

He pulls his fingers out, worriedly glancing up at you to make sure you’re not in pain. “Are you okay?” he asks. “Did I hurt you?”

Shaking your head, you point to his hard length pressed against your thigh, practically throbbing with need. “No, just wanna come with you inside me.”

At your statement he smirks, thumbs hooking around the waistband of his underwear and pulling them off. Your eyes widen slightly at his size, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Seungwoo, who leans down and kisses you ardently again, hands taking hold of your thighs in order to spread your legs apart and position himself between them.

Gripping the base of his cock, Seungwoo rubs the head against your folds, collecting your wetness while effectively teasing you. 

“Oh my god,” you whine. “Just fuck me already.” 

With that, he thrusted into you. The stretch was slightly painful at first, but Seungwoo had accommodated for it accordingly, giving you a second to adjust before he pulled almost all the way out, plunging his hips into yours again. Your breasts bounced with each snap of his hips, hands reaching out in hopes of finding something to grab onto you. Seungwoo notices this, intertwining his hands with yours with a look of both adoration and lust. 

“You feel so good wrapped around me, princess.”

You could only moan in acknowledgment, your brain foggy and disoriented from the pleasure. Releasing one of your hands, Seungwoo reached down to rub your clit, causing you to clench around him.

“Shit,” he mumbled. “You’re so tight.”

“Seungwoo, faster,” you whimpered, close to reaching your high.

His hips seemed to move at double the speed, drilling into you while you babbled incoherently, letting out small praises and loud gasps. Everything was overwhelming in a good way, each one of your senses being overcome by Seungwoo’s movements. His brow furrowed in concentration, and you could tell that he was close too, leading you to purposely clench around him. 

“Don’t, ‘m gonna come.”

“Me too,” you said, clenching again. His thrusts became sloppy, fingers lazily circling your clit as you both rode out your highs. The sound of labored breathing and racing pulses filled the room as the two of you basked in the afterglow, only breaking apart once Seungwoo pulled out and a light squeal of sensitivity was heard from you. He stood up, leaving to grab a warm washcloth and returning with fresh clothes. 

Sighing, he looks down, “We probably shouldn’t have done this on the couch.”

You let out a giggle, smiling warmly at him as he cleaned you up and dressed you, ensuring that you were fully comfortable before laying down again, positioning you to lay on top of his chest.

“You don’t regret anything, right?” he implores, anxiously gnawing at his bottom lip.

“No,” you affirm. “I told you I liked you, didn’t I?”

“Mmm, you’re right. It’s settled then, right?”

You look up at him curiously. “What exactly is being settled?” 

“That we like each other. That you no longer work for me. That— that I want you to be mine.”

“Yeah,” you smiled at him. “It’s settled.”

Letting out a sigh of content, he visibly relaxes. “Good.”

“But, who’s going to babysit Dongpyo now?”

“Hmm,” he mumbled, kissing the top of your head. “You should do it for free as my girlfriend, don’t you think?”

You could probably get used to that.

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch7: Ordinary People

Chapter Summary: Frank faces the aftermath of his dumbass choice whilst Mary heads to Boston for a few days. When the court case starts, emotions are running high and Frank finally confesses his feelings to Fliss.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Flashback at the start involving domestic violence.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Contains SPOILERS for the film!!!!! If you haven’t seen it please be aware of that before you read on. As a Lawyer I know how long the types of cases depicted in GIFTED can take, however they can also be done pretty fast. With that in mind, and because it fits with how I want the story to go I’m spreading it over approximately 6 weeks or so, so just roll with me!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 6

"I saw you...he had his hands all over you."

"John, I didn't want him too...he was drunk, just being over friendly..."

Fliss cowered as a sneer crossed her husband's face, the features she found so handsome once upon a time were distorted in anger, his dark green eyes clouded with rage as he towered over where she sat on the crouch. In a flash he had reached out and grabbed a fist full of her hair, yanking her to her feet. Fliss gave a cry of pain, stumbling after him as he dragged her up the stairs. She tripped at one point, her hip colliding painfully with one of the steps but he paid it no attention.

No mercy.

"You're mine, Sugar.” He said, his voice steely. “You know that."

"I know," she sobbed as he threw her into the bedroom where she scrambled for purchase on the bed as he pushed her so hard she fell face down. Before Fliss could raise herself, John had grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her face harshly into the pillows.

"Why do you make me do this, Felicity?" He asked, releasing his hold as his thighs bracketed hers. Fliss heard the tell-tale clinking of his belt and she gave another sob, knowing full well what was coming. He roughly pushed her dress up over her hips, leaving her underwear clad ass exposed.

And then the leather stuck her. Again. And again. And again.

"I'll mark you so hard no one else will ever want you," he snarled as he continued his assault ignoring her screams of pain and pleas for him to leave her alone. “You’re mine..." Fliss sat bolt upright, gasping as she glanced around her bedroom. She was shaking violently, the dream had been so real, so vivid, she could almost physically feel the pain. John had belted her so badly that night she hadn't been able to ride for a week, and she still bore the marks where the buckle had ripped through her skin.

The worst thing was, that after he had finished, he had held her, stroking her hair, soothing her, explaining why he had to punish her so much. It was sick, twisted. Just like him. "He’s gone, he was to blame. I’m strong, not weak, I’m strong, not weak." she repeated her mantra through gritted teeth. Thor, hearing her breathing deeply and her trembling voice, jumped up onto her bed and shoved his head under her arm as she hugged her kneed tightly. Looking down at her faithful dog, she buried her face into his fur, holding him tight as she ran through her calming thoughts in her head. The sound of the ocean, the wind in her hair as she galloped on the beach, the soft and gentle hugs she received from her dad, her mum...and dare she even think it, Frank. And then another image filled her head. The sight of him kissing Bonnie at the bar.

“Wanker.” She muttered, wiping the tears from her face as Thor licked her cheek, his tail wagging as she stroked him. With a few more deep intakes of air, her breathing evened out and she gave Thor a final squeeze before she pushed the duvet down and swung her legs out of the bed and headed to the bathroom.

***** Frank had also woken up to a nightmare. His head was pounding from the shots he’d downed at the bar and being jerked awake by Bonnie’s screams as Mary had turned up in the apartment earlier than she was allowed on a Saturday hadn’t exactly helped the situation. He had fucked Mary’s school teacher for no reason other than the fact he was drunk, stressed and needed a release.

Well played, Adler, you fucking moron.

Thankfully, Bonnie seemed to be in the same place as him about the entire situation, hastily telling him that it should never have happened, something he profoundly agreed with, as he saw her out to a cab, apologising for Mary’s interruption, literally incapable of thinking of anything else to say. It was the most awkward morning after he had ever experienced in his life.

And there was something else compounding his growing bad mood. When he had finally checked his phone as he stood outside for a few moments after Bonnie had gone, hoping the fresh air would sort his head out, he realised he had a number of messages and missed calls from Fliss. Groaning he remembered that he should have called her after the court case but had completely forgotten. Firing her a quick apology, along with a promise to talk to her later when it was time for Mary’s lesson, before he headed back inside.

Mary was sat on the rug with her lego, pieces scattered all over, Ice Age playing on the TV.

“Awkward…” she sing songed

“Mary.” Frank looked at her for a moment and when she didn’t look at him he crouched down “Stop! Stop! Stop with the Legos. Listen.” he took a breath and she looked at him “Do we have a rule about Saturday morning?”

“What?” she asked softly

“Are you allowed in this apartment this early on Saturday morning?” Frank pressed, looking at her.

“No.” Mary sighed, averting her eyes from his.

“No!” Frank nodded, his voice a little louder before he paused again “Are you allowed to... hey!” he reached out to stop Mary as she returned to her Toys. “Stop! Enough with the Lego. Are you allowed to use Roberta's keys?”

“No.” she still wasn’t looking at him.

“No! So, hey! Look at me. Then why are you here? Huh? Can you answer me that?”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears but Frank was too angry at the fact she had disobeyed him to comfort her.

“You broke every rule! You just embarrassed me. We have these rules.” He angrily stood up, turning to head back out of the door into the kitchen “We've gone over them a hundred times!” And then, when he stepped on a piece of Lego in his bare feet, his frustration boiled over as he hopped on one leg, clutching the side of the dresser which was pushed flush against the wall.

“Shit…God, damned it…” He yelled as he slapped the side of the dresser, leaning against it, bending down to rub his foot. “Can I just get five minutes of my own life?”

At that Mary jumped up and bolted into his bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Frank stood up, before he sighed, one hand on his hip, his eyes closed. He’d overreacted, he knew that. He was more pissed at himself for being an idiot than he was at Mary. He ran his hand over his face and glanced at the clock. Mary’s riding lesson was at two and it was now just pushing ten-thirty. Deciding to leave Mary to cool down before he made breakfast, he headed into the kitchen to clear up yesterday’s dishes.

He heard the door to his room click open about twenty minutes later. Giving her another ten he wiped the counter down before he made his way back into the main room and sat on the edge of her bed, where she was snuggled down in her alcove which sported a collection of shells they had stuck to the wood panels and a few photos, one of her mom, one of her and Frank and one of her and Fliss with Monty. She was huddled in the corner, Fred laying on her knee, the laptop resting on his back as she tapped away.

“Nothing that happened today was your fault.” Frank spoke gently and looked at her “I got mad at you...I was really mad at me,” he looked at her and she continued to ignore him, “and the manufacturers of Legos. They should all be in prison. So I'm sorry.” he said gently. She paused tapping but still didn’t look at him. “Do you forgive me?”

“Sure. Whatever.” she mumbled.

“Hey, close the laptop. Come on. Please.” He watched her as she avoided looking at him. “Doesn't count if it's not eye to eye.”

She hesitated so he asked again, gently. “Come on, please.”

With a sigh she did was she was told and looked at him. Her eyes, so like Diane’s, were full of sadness and Frank felt his gut twist in guilt.

“Do you really have no life because of me?” she whispered, her eyes shining with tears and Frank cursed himself for his outburst before.

He shook his head. “That's not what I said.” he looked at her.

“Did you mean it?” she pressed, not buying his statement for one minute, her voice soft.

“Last week you said I was the worst Uncle in the world, and you wished death upon me ‘cause I didn't buy you a piano.” Frank held her gaze. “Did you mean that?”

“No” Mary replied, her fingers tangling in Fred’s fur “Not entirely.”

“Well,” Frank said, not bothering to ask which bit she had actually meant. “There you go. We say things all the time we don't mean. So let's forget it, okay?”

“Okay” Mary agreed

“Okay.” Frank nodded, standing up

“Frank?” she called as he headed towards the door to head down and check the mail. He stopped and turned back, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a piano?”

“No.” he deadpanned, turning for the door.

He strode down across the lawn to the mail boxes, unlocked his and pulled out two letters. One looked like a bill, the other was in a manila coloured envelope, and was stamped with some kind of official seal.

“Was that really Mary's teacher this morning?” Roberta appeared. He glanced at her and returned to his post “And there was me thinking Fliss would stop you doing anything stupid.”

Frank’s head shot up “Fliss?” he frowned “What are you talking about?”

“She came here last night, to see you. Mary roped her into Karaoke before she left and said she was going to come and find you at Fergs”

Frank frowned. “Well she didn’t. I never saw her last night so she-”

Oh,fuck fuck fuck!

He trailed off with a groan as he realised that she had probably seen him with Bonnie and then felt a stinging slap round the back of his head.

“Shit!” He exclaimed, glaring at Roberta “Jesus, that fucking hurt!”

“Good.” she stared at him. “You know I have a book called ‘Fundamentals of Decision Making’. You can borrow it.”

He glared at her, he didn’t need this. Not now. His attention turned back to the letter and he noticed the seal was from the court house. With a frown he opened it. The header- ‘Highsmith, Kistler & Sellers Attorneys at Law’ -greeted him and he started to read. It was an order for him to surrender Mary for two days into Evelyn’s care, at a time and date to be agreed. It wasn’t unexpected but it was pretty fast considering it had only been agreed yesterday. His mother really wasn’t wasting any time.

“What is it?”  Roberta asked, noticing the frown on his face

“Its nothing.” he said, leaning on the post box, still reading the letter. “Looks like Mary gets to go to Boston for a couple days.” He noticed Roberta stiffen and he looked at her. “It's just two days. Relax.” he said gently.

Because he was always honest with Mary, he sat down once he was back inside and told her about the letter. She knew there was a court case going on, he had explained it all to her as best as he could so as not to cause her any worry. She soaked up the information and shrugged before saying that going to Boston sounded kinda cool. Frank simply nodded and said that he would sort out the dates on Monday. They ate a late breakfast-slash-early lunch and once Mary was changed and ready, they headed up to the riding school.

As Frank drove there his stomach was doing flips, the nerves at seeing Fliss were overwhelming, more so because he had no idea what he was going to say to her. It was strange, he felt guilty about the fact he’d slept with Bonnie, even though he had no real reason to. It wasn’t like he and Fliss were an item.

Fliss greeted Mary with the usual warmth before she turned her gaze to Frank, and he could see the hurt in her eyes, compounding that guilty feeling even more.

“Sorry I didn’t call you last night.” he offered and she shrugged.

“It’s okay, I know you were busy.” her voice carried no sarcasm, it was measured and cool but Frank knew she was referring to Bonnie, his suspicions confirmed. She turned away, barking an instruction to Joanne who looked at her, nodding.

Frank leaned on the paddock fence as he always did, a little way from the other parents and watched as Fliss taught the three girls, that gorgeous smile on her face. Mary was certainly getting the hang of it now and was able to trot around unaided. After about forty minutes they were done and heading out of the paddock. Fliss made no attempt to come and speak to him, like normal, and made straight for her office. Casting an eye on Mary who was leading Monty back to the stable he followed Fliss.

“I take it you’re mad at me.” he spoke tentatively.

“Why would I be mad at you?” she asked, pulling three cartons of apple juice out of the fridge for the kids.

“Because you saw me last night with Bonnie.” he pressed.

He saw her stiffen slightly before she took a breath and turned round.

“I’m not mad.” she shrugged.

“Could have fooled me.”

“I just, well I think you could have considered Mary a little more, that’s all.” “What does that mean?” he frowned.

“You know damned well what it means.” she looked at him “Mary told me before when we were tacking the ponies up that she saw Bonnie this morning, wrapped in one of your sheets. I mean, Jesus Frank that’s her teacher. Can you imagine how awkward its gonna be if any of the kids find out that you’re fucking her?” “Ok, I’m not fucking her.” Frank held his hand out to stop her.

“So what were you doing last night then?” Fliss hissed, “Playing scrabble?”

“Hang on, are we really arguing about this?” Frank looked at her, frowning. “Why? Why do you even care?”

He paused, looking at her. Her eyes locked onto his and she swallowed, and for a moment he hoped she was going to tell him what he wanted to hear but she shook her head and shrugged.

“You know what, you’re right. What, or who you do in your spare time is your business, not mine.”

With that she pushed past him and headed out into the yard. Frank let out another sigh before he headed out to collect Mary.

******

Fliss made no attempts to speak to Frank over the next few days. He messaged her to tell her about Mary heading to Boston at the end of the week and she replied politely, telling him that she was sure it would all work out, but beyond that she didn’t reach out further. However, she did call to wish Mary a safe trip to on the Thursday morning just before Evelyn arrived to pick her up, and told her she wanted to hear all about it when she came home on Saturday afternoon. By the time Frank got the phone back, Fliss had hung up.

“Frank she likes you. “ Roberta said when she popped over to wish Mary goodbye. Mary wasted no time in informing her that the reason Frank was in a bad mood wasn’t just because she was going to Boston, but also because Fliss was angry at him. Of course she had noticed, because she noticed everything. “She’s hurt and it’s yo’ own dumbass fault.”

Yeah, yeah he got that.

With Mary gone, he decided that night to take a cool box of beer down to the harbour and work late. He was in the middle of pulling a gear box apart when his phone went. It was a message from Bonnie asking if she could meet him to talk. Which was how he found himself sat on the deck of the boat, her opposite him, both wrapped in blankets and clutching bottles of Bud.

“I have had a series of nightmares, where I'm fired because of what happened. You get it?” Bonnie shook her head, rolling her eyes. Frank smiled at her as she laughed “And then I remind myself, that everything that happened, was just all the alcohol and people do far worse right?”

At that Frank laughed. “Yeah we were pretty drunk.”

Truth be told whilst he did think Bonnie was attractive, there was nothing there, and that was compounded by the fact that as he sat, looking at her, he felt no urges at all. She was simply another one of his Friday night hook ups, only this had turned out to be slightly more complicated.

Yeah, he should definitely borrow that book from Roberta

“So I guess, what I came here to say,” Bonnie sighed, “I think you’re a great guy Frank, and I’ve got your back on this damned custody case but, me and you…it just…” “Oh, absolutely, I’m with you.” Frank hastily agreed, thanking the Gods she’d brought it up before he had to. “It was a mistake.” Bonnie arched an eyebrow and he groaned. “Shit, I don’t mean that how it sounds but, well, it was, wasn’t it?”

She smiled and nodded, cocking her head to one side as she surveyed him. “I do think you need to speak to Fliss though.”

“Fliss?” Frank frowned, “What’s she got to do with this?”

You like her." Bonnie said simply.

Frank paused before he shook his head, smiling. “Is it that obvious?" "Well, if it wasn’t evident from the way you talk about her, the fact you called me by her name twice last night is most definitely a giveaway." Oh Jesus. Ground please open... "I called you by her name? When we- " he grimaced and she chuckled, raising her eyebrows "Oh God. Bonnie, I'm so sorry." He groaned and ran his hands over his face.

“Like we said, mistake.” Bonnie smiled, “Especially when you’re clearly hung up on another girl. “ "Yeah well, I think I've kinda blown it. Story of my life." Frank sighed taking a pull from his bottle.

“Blown it?”

“Yeah she's pretty pissed. She saw us in the bar and has hardly spoken a word to me since”

"And you’re giving up that easily?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t even know if she likes me in that way so…” He shrugged and Bonnie leaned forward slightly.

“If she’s that pissed at you over the fact that you hooked up with someone else then she absolutely feels something for you Frank." Bonnie smiled softly. “And it would be a shame to let something as stupid as a one night stand screw it all up for you.”

Frank looked at her for another moment or two before he finished his beer and offered Bonnie another one which she accepted and then asked him about the court case. Frank filled Bonnie in on the running order for the testimonies which would start on Tuesday before she bid him goodnight and left. He contemplated messaging Fliss once she was gone but decided against it. He would give her a few days to calm down, and give himself some time to figure out what the fuck he was going to say.

***** It was Saturday afternoon when Frank reached out.

Fliss was busy on a lesson when her phone went. Taking a quick minute to look at it, she read the message from Frank asking if it was ok if they swung by as Mary was home. With a deep breath she replied telling him it was fine, before she turned back to her client who was one of the boarders on the yard.

She had just about finished some thirty minutes or so later when she heard Mary calling her name. She turned and gave her a smile and a wave. Once she had finished with her client and taken payment, she turned to Mary and gave the girl a hug.

“Hey!” she beamed as Mary hugged her tight. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too!” Mary beamed “And so has Frank.”

“That so?” Fliss stood up straight and looked at him. He took a deep breath and shrugged, but the little smile on his face told Fliss that Mary had completely and utterly busted him. She rolled her eyes and then gave him a little smile of her own. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, sounds great.” He nodded, gratefully taking the olive branch she had offered.

They made their way into the office and Fliss moved to the small kitchenette area at the back, filling the coffee machine before she turned to Mary, leaning against the counter.

“So, tell me all about Boston.” Mary began to gush about all the things she had done, Fliss listening and asking questions as she made her and Frank a coffee. He took his with a thanks whilst Mary told Fliss how she had looked at some photos, learned more about her mom and then done some complicated Maths for a professor at a University. At that Fliss noticed Frank stiffen slightly and she looked at him, gently shaking her head. He smiled tightly and turned to look out over the yard, taking a few steps outside.

“And she has a piano.” Mary finished, “I mean I didn’t get to play it but…”

“You should come over to my mum’s.” Fliss smiled “She’ll let you play hers. That’s what she used to do, teach people music.”

Mary smiled, before she looked over at Frank who was stood watching a few people riding in the paddock, the lessons for the day having concluded which meant the boarders were free to do what they wanted.

“Are you still mad at Frank?” Mary looked at Fliss.

“Not really.” Fliss shook her head “I got a little bit cross but…” “Yeah, he can make me cross too.” Mary said wisely “He does dumb stuff sometimes.”

Fliss laughed and studied the young girl. “Yeah, you got that right.” “But he’s a good person.” Mary concluded.

“I know.” Fliss agreed, her eyes flicking to him before she looked back at Mary.

“I don’t want to live with Evelyn.” Mary shrugged “I mean she was nice and looks like my mom but…she’s bossy.” Fliss smiled.

“I want to stay with Frank.” Mary continued. “Because I know he loves me. And he did before he found out I was smart.”

Fliss felt a lump in her throat at the girl’s confession. She glanced over at Frank again who ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes underneath his shades.

“Hey, Mary, why don’t you go say hi to Monty.” she said gently. “Tell Joanne I said you could help with the feeds.” “Yesss.” Mary cheered, scooting off her chair and shooting across the yard. Fliss saw Frank follow her with her eyes before he turned to her as she walked over to him.

“How you holding up?” she asked him gently.

“Apart from screwing up my life, I’m good.” Frank snorted, taking off his glasses and tucking them into the collar of his t-shirt. “Just hope I’m not screwing hers up as well.”

“Don’t’ say that.” Fliss shook her head “You know that’s not true. Mary’s fine.”

There was a pause before Frank took a deep breath and looked at Fliss. “I hate that we haven’t been talking. It’s been kinda lonely.”

“I thought you and Bonnie might have, ” she trailed off, shrugging, “gone out or something, I don’t know.”

Frank sighed “I’ve only seen her once since. And that was so we could have a straight up conversation about how what happened was a mistake”

“A mistake?” Fliss raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Frank nodded. “And as far as mistakes go, that one was pretty spectacular.”

“And you actually said that to her?”

He nodded.

“Wow.” Fliss snorted.

“She agreed so we’re both going to try and forget it ever happened.” Frank shrugged and he Fliss’ gaze for a second before he took a deep breath “Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” he pressed “Because you thought me and Bonnie, were, like together?”

Fliss swallowed and looked away, trying to think of something to say that didn’t give her feelings away. He’d hit the nail on the head. She had thought that, and more over she was jealous so had distanced herself on purpose.

“I just,” she looked back at him, “well, I suppose I didn’t want to step on any toes, so to speak, that’s all.”

“There’s none to step on, trust me.” Frank looked at her. “I don’t feel that way. Not towards Bonnie.”

Fliss looked at him, feeling her cheeks growing warm before she turned away and quickly changed the subject. “So err, anyway, she seems to have enjoyed Boston.”

Frank let out a large breath at the fact that Fliss had effectively withdrawn back from what he had felt had been the edge of a breakthrough there for the pair of them but, well, he had no right to be annoyed, especially after everything he’d done. “Yeah.” He nodded with a little smile.

“So what’s next?” she asked.

“Well she has a court interview with the Child Welfare department or whatever they’re called on Monday.”

“Sure it’ll be fine.” Fliss replied “It’s not like she’s treated badly or her welfare is an issue, Frank.”

“And the hearing starts in full on Tuesday.” He explained “They’re opening with a bang.” At his words Fliss frowned as he turned to face her. “Mary’s biological father has apparently signed an affidavit, nominating my mother as Mary’s legal guardian.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Fliss hissed, suddenly seething with anger as Frank shook his head “That’s a real shitty trick.”

“Yep” Frank agreed.

“Does Mary know?”

“No. I’ll have to tell her though, otherwise Evelyn will no doubt.”

“Your mother gets access to her again?”

“Whilst this is going on she gets visitation rights so…” Frank shrugged, and Fliss couldn’t help but notice his despondent nature.

“So when you gonna tell her?”

“Tuesday night, after it’s done. I don’t want her worrying or knowing he’s in town because if she knows and he doesn’t ask to see her, well at least once he’s gone then…” he bit his lip. “She’s gonna be upset either way but, what else can I do?”

“Nothing, just what you think is best.”  Fliss said gently “I told you before that’s all you can do Frank.” He looked at her and she sighed, opening her arms and he gladly stepped towards her, wrapping her up in a hug.

******

Tuesday rolled around far too quickly for Frank’s liking. The interviews on Monday went fairly smoothly, he had a little bit of a questioning over his TV choices for Mary but other than that he’d left that session feeling pretty okay about it.

And then he’d walked into court, seen his mother and the snivelling little shit that was now being questioned by his Mother’s Lawyer.

“Mr. Polland, are you the natural father of Mary Adler?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Frank sat still, glaring at the ass hole sat in the dock.

“And how you can be certain of this?

“Well, I always knew, but then you had me take a DNA test.”

Course they did…

I would offer the test results as result of evidence of that Mr. Polland is the father and natural guardian of the minor. As well as an affidavit from Mr. Polland nominating Mrs. Adler the maternal grandmother as the legal guardian of the minor.”

Frank sat up slightly, his jaw clenching. This ass hole had no right to decide what was best for Mary, he’d never fucking met her. Greg touched his arm, shaking his head, telling him to keep quiet.

“No objections.” Greg spoke.

“Mr. Polland has Mrs. Adler offered you any monetary reward or employment for coming forward today?” Evelyn’s attorney continued.

No, sir. I have a job of my own.”

Frank suppressed a snort. Bullshit she hasn’t paid you.

“Thank you. No further questions, your Honour.”

Greg then stood up and waited a second before he opened his cross examination “Mr. Polland when was the last time you saw Mary?”

“I've never seen her.” Polland shifted slightly and Frank watched him intently.

“Why not?”

“By the time I heard about Diane…passing the baby was gone already.”

Her name is Mary, ass hole. Frank took a deep breath.

“Well, did you try and find her?” Greg pressed.

“Best I could. I couldn't just go and search the entire country.” Polland shook his head, trying to make a joke out of it. Frank was pleased to see the judge wasn’t laughing.

Greg nodded and paused again, before suddenly asking “Do you use a computer at work?”

“Sure.” Polland replied

“You know what? Help me out.” Cullen turned and grabbed his laptop “Let's google ‘Mary Adler’ and see what we find.” he placed the laptop on the dock and turned it towards Polland. He hesitated for a while and looked at the Judge who gestured with his hand, instructing him to do as he was told. Polland began to tap when Greg spoke again “You know what? You better add her middle name.”

Frank watched as Polland stopped, because of course he had no idea what her midde name was.

“It'll narrow it down. Eileen” Cullen informed him. Polland looked up and caught Frank’s eye, his face sheepish. Frank kept his face straight, his chin resting on his hand, fingers making an L-shape round his jaw as Polland looked away and began to tap.

“Yeah, Hit enter.” Greg nodded. “Okay, now head to page two…second hit. Would you please tell the court what you see there?”

Polland hesitated “It's a newspaper article called ‘Not so terrible twos’”

“And one of them is Mary Eileen Adler.”  Greg nodded “Same name as your daughter. Born on the same day as your daughter. With a photograph”

Polland looked at him.

“In your defence, you'd never recognize it…”

“Your Honour, this is...” Evelyn’s attorney stood up but Cullen was quick to cut him off

“Your Honour, if there's one thing here that's sadly obvious it's that Mr. Polland has never been a genuine guardian of the minor and his nomination of Mrs. Adler is no less disingenuous.” he looked at the Judge.

Frank shifted slightly as Judge Nicholls looked at Polland, then to Evelyn, then to him before he turned glanced at the notes in front of him.

“While the state of Florida gives deference to nomination by natural parent, I'm inclined to side with Mr. Cullen's laptop at this time.” he said, nodding at Cullen, effectively dismissing the affidavit. Frank allowed himself a relieved smile as Cullen nodded.

“Thank you, your Honor”

Once court was adjourned for the day, Frank obligingly walked his mother to her car when she asked him to. And as they walked, she told him about his step father Walter. Frank had found it odd how he wasn’t featuring in any of this, but his silent question was answered as Evelyn told him he moved out and bought a ranch in Montana.

“Bullshit.” Frank exclaimed as they walked in the sun, his suit jacket handing over his arm.

“Exactly. A man whose idea of roughing it is being too far from the ice machine at the Ritz Carlton now owns a thousand acres of grass and dung.”

“Walter Price is a cowboy.” Frank smiled, shaking his head, making a mental not to tell Fliss later. “Walter Price puts on a Brooke's brother suit to take out the garbage!”

“Well, now he has a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and a horse that doesn't know dressage.” Evelyn shook her head.

“Is there some logical reason for this?” Frank asked.

“Midlife crisis, apparently.”

“He's seventy.” Frank scoffed

“I know. Must have been on time delay or something. I guess I should be happy it wasn't a twent-five year old cocktail waitress. But then again an affair you can explain to friends in a minute. For this, you put on a pot of coffee.”

“And he's out there right now?”

“Yessiree!” Evelyn imitated a Western accent. “Riding the range!”

Frank lost himself for a moment as he and his mother joked, mocking exactly what his Step Father would look like. He hated to admit it, but at times like this he was reminded how similar he was to his mother. Same dry sense of humour, no nonsense nature…

“The fastest asset management in the West.” he snorted and Evelyn smiled.

“The man who shot Liberty Mutual. That's what I've been calling him” she said as they stopped at her car.

“That's really, really funny.” Frank chuckled, and then sighed as his mother opened the car door. He leaned down and spoke to the driver. “Take her to the airport.” he said, straightening up. “Go home, Evelyn. Or Montana. Rustle some cattle.” he said gently.

“You know I have no desire to hurt you. I hate it that we're at odds.”

And then, he was also reminded just how different they were too.

“We're always at odds.” he shrugged.

“Yes.” She said, almost sadly before she climbed in the car. “Hotel.” she instructed her driver, closing the door.

**** As anticipated, when he broke the news to Mary about her father, she had a meltdown and locked herself in the bathroom. No amount of coaxing from him or Roberta would draw her out. She was sobbing about how her dad didn’t want her…and then Frank was struck with an idea and he pulled out his phone to call in reinforcement which arrived in the shape of Fliss some twenty minutes later.

“I still can’t believe that wank stain was even given the time of day.” Fliss seethed as Frank greeted her outside. “I mean…”

“It’s done, his claim was thrown out but...”Frank nodded to where Roberta was stood outside locked bathroom door.

“Why you had to tell her that waste of oxygen was testifying I’ve no idea.” the woman shot him a look.

“Because it's the truth. And if I didn't, Evelyn would've.” Frank reasoned.

“If I was the dad of a little girl and I never saw her and I was in the same town. I would visit her.” Fliss heard Mary’s crying and Frank saw her face scrunch up in sympathy. “He didn't even need directions. He could've followed you here.”

“Ok, Roberta, can you…” Fliss asked gently. Roberta stood to the side and Fliss spoked to the door. “Mary, sweetheart, it’s me.”

“Lissy?” Mary sniffled.

“The one and only.” Fliss smiled, before she sighed “You know what, you’re right. He could have come to see you. But he didn’t. And that sucks, but it has nothing to do with you.”

“He doesn't even wanna see what I look like.” The girl sobbed again.

“You know I never met my dad either.” Fliss said gently “He abandoned my mum before I was born, made no attempt to see me at all, and then he was killed when I was 4 months old. He died without ever seeing my face. And you know what?”

“What?” Mary sniffed.

“That was his loss.” Fliss continued. “And then my mom met Bill when I was two, and he’s been my dad ever since. He looked after me and loved me, just like Frank does for you.” Fliss glanced at him and he dropped his hand from where it had been cupping his chin, folding his arms round his chest as he shot her a small smile. “Like we all do Mary, you’re so loved. By Frank, Roberta, me…” Fliss continued, “Now come on, open the door.”

There was a pause and they heard a rustle, before the lock on the door clicked and it opened. Mary stood in the doorway, her eyes red and wet from tears before she gave another sob and threw herself at Fliss. Fliss crouched down on one knee and held her back, gently rocking her and Frank felt his chest tighten at the display of affection.

And then he had an idea.

He crouched next to them, his hand gently reaching out to brush Mary’s hair back as she turned her head which was on Fliss’ shoulder to look at him.

“Put your shoes on. We're going for a ride.” he said to her softly. Then he turned to Fliss “You too, that is if you want to.”

“Sure.” she nodded.

“Roberta?” Frank looked at her, and she shook her head.

“Your truck only got three seats.” “We can take mine.” Fliss offered as Mary gently released her.

“No, I think you two got this.” she said, with a knowing smile.

*******

“What are we doing here?” Mary asked as they sat on the seats in the waiting room and Fliss found herself wondering the same thing. She hadn’t questioned Frank, he obviously had something up his sleeve.

“Waiting.”

“We can see that.” Fliss replied playfully, and he looked at her, rolling his eyes as Mary continued.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.” he shrugged, returning to the National Geographic magazine he was flicking through.

“How long do we have to stay here?”

“As long as it takes. And keep your voice down. It's a hospital.”

As long as it takes turned out to be an hour and a half. Through which time Mary had groaned, moaned, used Frank’s legs as a climbing frame, which Fliss noticed he had expertly ignored simply slouching in his seat, legs apart as Mary draped herself over them. Eventually she had curled up next to Fliss and laid her head on her lap, dozing off.

Fliss was busy reading something on her emails when she heard a bit of a commotion and the group at the other side of the waiting room all stood up. Frank’s eyes flew to them and then he gently gave Fliss a smile before he nudged Mary awake.

She blinked and watched as a man walked into the waiting room dressed in scrubs, a huge smile on his face.

“It's a boy.” he announced and the group erupted into cheers. Fliss glanced down at Mary who was watching in awe as everyone started to congratulate the man, all crying, sobbing with happiness, cheering, praising the lord.

“That's exactly how it was when you were born.” Frank spoke softly and Fliss then understood. He was showing Mary that she was loved, that she was wanted.

“This happy?” Mary asked

“This happy.” Frank confirmed.

“Who came out and told everybody?” she asked, and Frank leaned over gently brushing her hair behind her ear.

“I did.”

The emotion of the moment got to Fliss and her eyes watered. Frank raised his head and they shared a look as he smiled and she smiled back before Mary piped up.

“Can we stay for another?”

So they did, and when the next family all celebrated Mary jumped up, heading over to the group. They all smiled at her as she was swept into their celebrations. Fliss reached over and gently took Frank’s hand, giving his fingers a squeeze, a gesture he returned until Mary came back and pulled Fliss over to the group with her. Frank leaned back and watched as Fliss simply smiled and wiped her eyes as she congratulated the family and he let out a sigh, swallowing slightly, lost in his thoughts.

Eventually the family all dispersed to go and see their new arrival and he told Mary that it was too late to stay for another. She fell asleep on the way home against Fliss and when they got home it was a careful manoeuvre to get her out of the car without waking her up. He gently placed her in bed before he walked Fliss down to her car.

“Thank you.” he broke the silence.  “You were amazing before. You’re just amazing full stop.” he said, trailing off.

She blushed slightly and tucked her hair behind her ears.

“I mean it Lissy…” he sighed, “You just…”

He hesitated for a second before he reached out and gently placed his hand on her hip, pulling her softly towards him

“Frank.” she protested softly as his face dropped towards hers, her hands gently on his chest keeping him away from her “Look, I, ”

“I’m sorry.” he swallowed, his head dropping as he sighed at her rejection “You don’t have to explain.”

“It’s not even three weeks ago you were in bed with another woman.” she looked at him and he grimaced, pulling away.

“I know and I really wish that hadn’t happened” he sighed, the hand that had been on her hip moved and ran through his hair “My head was fucked and…”

“How do I know it isn’t now?”  Fliss looked at him “How do I, or you for that matter, know that this…” she gestured between them with her hand “…isn’t just an emotional response to what’s going on as well?”

“Because it’s not.” he shook his head, his eyes not leaving hers as he drove his message home “I care about you Fliss, more than just as friends, and I’m kicking myself now because what I did means you don’t believe me.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you.” she took deep breath, as she looked down at her hands, the fingers of her right hand fiddling with her left. “And it’s not that I don’t feel the same.” She looked up at him, her voice quiet.

At her words a soft smile formed on his face as she continued to talk.

“But right now, you need to concentrate on Mary, and getting through this week.”

He nodded, swallowing “Yeah, I know, you’re right.”

She smiled, and reached up, taking his face in her soft hands. “But I promise you I’m not going anywhere.” her eyes locked onto his “And whatever this is,” she gestured between them once more, “if it’s right, then it’ll still be there when this is all over.”

She stood on her tip toes to place a gentle kiss to side of his mouth and he leaned down, pressing  his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he swallowed. They stayed like that for a moment until Fliss backed away gently, squeezing his hand.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” he frowned

“Yeah, the Wicked Witch of The West is testifying is she not?”

Frank gave a huff of a laugh “Yeah she is.” “Like I said, you’re not alone. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He watched her climb in her car and waited until the tail lights had disappeared before he turned and headed inside. Finally all the cards were on the table, and it hadn’t been a rejection, quite the opposite actually.

For the first time in days, Frank slept soundly that night.

**** Chapter 8

[liebegott]

Passing Cars. | Joe Liebgott

as requested by lia_hale_ on wattpad

(click here to read on wattpad)

feel free to send me a request!

pairing: n/a

wc: 1.5k

synopsis: easy goes to liberate the women’s camp in landsberg.

a/n: she had requested a fic based upon the liberation of the landsberg camps in episode 9. this fic is entirely in liebgott’s pov. in no way, shape, or form am i belittling the experiences of the men. i’ll never know what impact finding those camps had on them.

i’m sorry in advance if this has offended anyone. any thoughts or feedback would be much appreciated. ++ i used almost all my german for this fic plus some help from my dad, so sorry if i butchered anything or got stuff wrong. i’m not fluent 😓 

i hope you enjoy this one! thank you for reading.

i mean no disrespect to the real joseph liebgott. this is all purely based on ross mccall’s portrayal of him in band of brothers.

tagging: @floydtab​ @alienoresimagines​ @order-of-river-phoenix​ @julianneday1701​ @hellitwasyoufirstsergeant​ @wexhappyxfew​ @rarmiitage​ @mavysnavy​ @punkgeekchic

***

Laying on a mattress that felt like clouds, your had your hands over your head to cover your eyes. “Germany might just be the best fuckin’ place we’ve ever been to,” you mumbled, nearly choking on the cigarette between your teeth, “No snow, no Krauts. Hitler shoulda shot himself ages ago.”

David looked up at you from the notebook in his hands, shrugging, “It really is, but there’s something definitely wrong about this place.”

“Aw, shit Web” you replied, tossing your helmet at him, “You’re just jumpy. We’ve had the best food we’ve eaten in months here.” David caught your helmet and set it beside him, ignoring your comments.

Returning to his notebook, you rolled your eyes at him and lay back down on your bed.

Suddenly, “Joe, Web,” a voice called, breathless, and you looked up to see Frank, “You two better get out here. We found something in the woods, and it’s crazy.”

David looked at you, an I-told-you-so look on his face, but the look on Frank’s meant it was serious. “What is it?” you asked as David handed you your helmet, and you flicked the cigarette to the floor.

“I,” Frank paused, trying to catch his breath, “I’m gonna be honest, I got no clue.”

***

When Frank said they had found something in the woods, what you saw was the furthest from what you had imagined. You couldn’t believe your eyes, and the first thing that hit all of you was the smell. What in heaven’s name happened here? You understood now why Frank was so jumpy. Turning to look at him, he had a terrified look on his face. In fact, everyone had it on their face.

You turned away, walking back slowly to the truck. All the men were gathered up in front of the gates, and on the other side, prisoners faced them, clinging to the gate like their lives depended on it. Prisoners? Was this a prisoner camp?

“Liebgott,” Lipton called for you, “Major needs you up front, right now.” You bit your lip and jogged towards Major Winters who was trying to speak to one of the prisoners. You began talking to the man, his frail form trembling in front of you.

“Was ist das für ein Camp?” you asked him, What kind of camp is this? The man responded with a word you didn’t know— Unerwunscht. “Unwanted, disliked maybe?” you said to Major Winters, whose eyebrows were furrowed.

“Criminals?” Major winters asked, and you asked the man in front of you in return.

“No,” you translated as the man spoke, “Doctors, musicians. Tailors, clerks. Farmers, intellectuals. I mean, normal people.”

“Juden,” the man cried, “Juden.” And your heart started beating in your ears, the air escaping your lungs.

“They’re Jews,” you mumble, fighting the thoughts that clouded in your head, “Poles and gypsies.” The man turned to the east, and pointed towards beyond the fence.

“Liebgott?” Major Winters asked, looking at you expectantly.

You sighed, biting down on your lip to control your emotions, “The women’s camp is at the next railroad stop.”

You stood there briefly, watching helplessly as the man knelt and cradled a body on the ground, cries escaping his lips. I can’t take this, you thought, quickly turned, heading back to the truck.

Crouched down behind the truck, your head in your hands, you wondered to yourself, What was so wrong with who they were? What was so wrong with who you were?

***

At the women’s camp, you never expected it to be worse. Again, the smell was overbearing, but your heart hurt so much you couldn’t move. You had cried in the truck on the way here, the men holding onto you so tightly, reminding you where you were.

“Hey, Web,” you said quietly, nudging him with the butt of your gun, your voice still hoarse, “I take back what I said. Germany is the fuckin’ worst.” David didn't say anything in response, and instead squeezed your shoulders tightly.

Stepping in, you nearly dropped your gun, your hands trembling. Women clung to you and all the other men as they swung open the gates, tears threatening to fall from your eyes again.

I can’t breathe, you thought to yourself, as thin hands gripped onto yours, and sobs filled the air. Major Winters spotted you, saw the look on your face, and instead called for Webster to translate. You gulped, prayed a silent thank you, quickly turning and walking away from everyone else.

Taking out a cigarette, you cried softly, your shoulders shaking. You couldn’t understand what was happening. Where the hell were you? We weren’t too far from the town. Why didn’t anyone say anything?

Suddenly, you heard a whimper from below you, and you looked down to see a young girl, her back against one of the huts. Her small frame was shivering in fear.

You tried approaching her slowly, crouching down to be eye level with her, but she quickly crawled away, fear taking hold of her body. The young girl grabbed at the ground and sobbed, shaking her head rapidly.

“Fuck,” you yelled, and she shuddered at the sound of your voice, startled. You bit down on your knuckles and released a whimpered cry, running a hand through your hair. At that, she stopped, and although her hands were bloody, she was no longer crying.

You sat across from her, a considerable amount of space between the two of you. She watched you lower yourself to the ground, her eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes still wet. “Warum bist du hier?” Why are you here? you asked softly, raising both your hands to show her you weren’t holding anything.

The small girl didn’t reply at first, watching you cautiously, and you realised then how pale she was. You took out your canteen, poured a little water on the ground to show her, then slid it across the grass. She grabbed it so quickly it surprised you, and she hurriedly took in big gulps.

“Mama sagt, es ist, weil ich ein Jude bin,” was all she replied, wiping her mouth with her scarred arm. Mama says it’s because I’m a Jew.

“Du bist?” You are? you said, trying to plaster a fake smile on your face, “Ich bin auch.” I am too. The tremble in your voice had given away your facade.

She tilted her head at this and gently put down the now empty canteen. “Warum bist du dann in Uniform?” she answered, wiping her hands on her torn up shirt. Then why are you in uniform?

You stood, believing you had earned her trust, but at your movement, she once again began crying, crawling further from you. “Bitte verletz mich nicht,” she begged, her hands balled up into fists, her fingernails digging into her skin. Please don’t hurt me.

Standing above her, only then did you notice the bruises on her legs and around her neck. You shut your eyes tightly, taking deep breaths, and once again you backed away.

“Wie alt sind Sie?” How old are you? you asked, trying to steady your shaky voice, “Ich were rich night verletzen.” I’m not going to hurt you. You didn’t sit this time, anger clouding your brain.

“Ich bin elf,” she whispered, “Bitte nicht.” She was eleven, and you cursed under your breath. At eleven, you were throwing eggs at passing cars. At eleven, you were drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. But here she was, at eleven, begging you not to hurt her.

“I’m American,” you whispered softly to her in English, in hopes she would understand. Thankfully, she did, and the young girl slowly opened her eyes, allowing you to sit by her. Taking out bread from your bag, you handed it to her, and she devoured it hungrily.

As she ate beside you, you leaned your back on the hut she was perched by and watched as all the other women were being fed slowly.

“Ich möchte, dass du rich erinnerst,” I want you to remember, you said to her, and she looked at you with wide eyes, the bread in her hands already finished, “Es ist nichts falsch mit der Person, die du bist.” There is nothing wrong with the person you are. The young girl nodded slowly, and you stood, extending your arm to help her up.

As you both walked back towards the other women, hand-in-hand, you now fully understood the meaning behind all the sacrifice, the bloodshed, and the tears. You looked down at her, her hand still tightly wrapped around yours, so small and fragile, and yet so strong. She looked up at you and smiled. Despite everything, she still smiled.

Soon, she would be back to drawing with chalk on sidewalks, and throwing eggs at passing cars. And you were glad she could raise hell.

Countless men have lost their lives for that very reason.