#and ofc he says this because he came with arthur to protect him

[call-sign-shark]

Little Lamb part. 2 || Arthur Shelby x Reader x OFC

Summary: You discover that Arthur is already married when you are faced with his wife. Worst, she seems to already know about you. Did she see you flirting with her husband? (Yandere! Arthur Shelby x Reader x Yandere!OFC)

TW: (for the entire short series) Toxic dynamic, polyamory relationship, murders, torture, graphic depiction of violence, heavy allusion to smut, obsessive behavior, possessive!lovers, angst and horror. Inspired by the song The Things I Do For Love by Bludnymph.

Words: 1.3 K

Notes:

✞ 0 proofreading, it's also prolly bad written but it's just a little something I write for fun.

✞ Heaven in Reader in the ongoing Arthur x You series Heaven in Your Eyes.

PREVIOUS PART

Six months ago.

She hasn't stopped crying since they came back from the doctor's office. With his long and bony fingers lost in her wild silver mane, Arthur gently massages his wife's scalp in a desperate attempt to chase her troubles away.

"It's goin' to be okay, love." His usually loud baritone voice had turned into a tender hush. Gathering all his protective nature to remain the reassuring one, he presses a kiss on top of her head,

"No, it's not! What's wrong with me?!" She roars through her sobs, her fists weakly hitting Arthur's chest in frustration as her pain blends with a self-targeted rage. Usually, Heaven Shelby is not the emotive kind — quite the opposite, the young French girl's tears were as scarce as the most precious stones, only falling from her aquamarine eyes when the situation was truly catastrophic. Arthur himself could hold count of the few times she cried on a single hand. Yet, she seems unable to stop, her face hidden in the crook of her husband's neck and her salty tears dampening the fabric of his shirt.

"Don't fucking say there's someth' wrong with ya." Trying his best to remain gentle, Arthur shifts a little before cupping her doll face and then forces her to face his stern steel-blue eyes. The look she gave him, filled with inconsolable sorrow, broke his heart into pieces.

How he hates watching her in pain — it makes him feel powerless and boiling from the inside because, this time, there is literally nothing he can do to fix it. Nothing his fists can destroy, nothing his kisses can heal. All he has is words, and God knew how bad he is with them. "I don't care if ya can't have a baby, what matters is you. Only you." Still, he tried, wiping her tears and the remnant of her mascara with a soft caress from his thumbs. “Please stop crying…”

"But you've always wanted to be a father." She said through gritted teeth, her fleshy lower lip trembling and her eyes overflowing once again as she fought against another wave of uncontrollable sadness, "The night of our wedding I promised I'll give you a family and look at me! Look at me Arthur! I can't even be pregnant! This is... This is fucking unfair..." Her voice cracked. Unfair that John could spawn a whole football team. Unfair that Tommy got Grace's pregnant after fucking her only once when she came back from America while she couldn’t for the life of hers. Arthur let out a long exhale through his nostrils before wrapping his arms around her waist again, forehead pressed against forehead and eyes locked together in a tender embrace.

"Listen, little one. I don't care about babies. Don't care about anything in all this fucking world as long as you're by my side. If you can't have children and wanna grieve about it well it’s fine with me, but if you do want one we'll find a way. I promise we’ll find a way.”

"Arthur told me about you." No matter how patient and calmly she expresses herself, you can't help but feel each of her words like painful razor blades.

Discreetly behind the bar, your grip clenches around the wooden counter for you are convinced your legs wouldn't handle your weight if you let go of it. "Made me curious about this new pretty barmaid, even though the last one ended up dead and cold. Gun wounds in the chest area are pretty deadly. I truly hope you'll last longer."

As you stand there, eyes wide open and face dropping a few shades paler, an overwhelming wave of terror crashes through your body and leaves you petrified. Every muscle tenses, locking you in place as your heart pounds furiously in your chest. You don't know what it is about her — the frozen beauty, the frightening discourse, or the faulty contact in her eyes when she smiles — but it made cold sweat trickle down your spine. . "Oh, eeerr... I—" You try to speak but your brain just doesn't cooperate and your breath remains stuck in your throat. All the confidence you've built these past few weeks is destroyed in one batting of her doe lashes.

She notices it.

Hell, you're so obvious that everybody does.

"Hey," She says, her creepy smile withering and the ice of her iris melting, "I was just messing with you, little Lamb." Nimble, she leans over the bar and reaches for your face, her sly fingers offering you the most gentle caress you've ever felt grazing your skin. Her flesh is cold, smooth like marble, but despite everything the physical contact sends warmth into your soul, and in consequences your body quickly retrieves its ability to move, "I'm sorry, I knew I was terrible at making friends but not that much." The white-haired doll winks before stepping back to give you more space to breath, concluding her sentence with a little candid chuckle.

"Oh no, it's my bad!" You quickly replied, a sense of utter guilt washing over you for having thought she was being a bitch by trying to scare you, "I haven't got much sleep lately and it makes me quite sensitive. You've done nothing wrong." With a grateful exhale, you close your eyes briefly, savoring the sensation of safety as well as the fragrances of her refined perfume that envelop you. A shy smile finally enlightens your face.

"I wish I'd look as pretty as you when I'm sleep-deprived but unfortunately, I turn into a goblin when I don't have my beauty sleep." Her joke sweeps away the remaining tension and snatches genuine amused laughter from you. Heaven finally offers you one last smile before making her way to Arthur, who was sitting further, far too busy talking with John and Finn.

"Hey! Your glass of wine!" You call her.

"It's yours! Cheers, babe." She replies cheerfully, almost singing as she leaves your side.

You've tried to hate her, you’ve really tried, but you couldn't.

She didn’t make it easy either.

During the same evening, each time you came to the Shelby table to refill their glasses, you ended up quickly distracted from the pain of seeing her all snuggled up against Arthur's chest by how kind and bubbly she was when you were around. Always complimenting you and eager to chat with you — little insignificant and transparent you. So much that a part of you felt horrible at the thought that you have been flirting and planning to get involved with her husband. When they left the pub late at night -or rather early in the morning-, you found a ridiculous amount of money on the table, and under those banknotes was a little bracelet made of daisies, their stems carefully intertwined together by skilled fingers.

Did you wear it? Of course, it was made with love.

In the days that followed this unexpected meeting, Arthur's wife came to the Garrison and always left a homemade something for you to eat since you had told her that you struggled with eating more than one meal a day due to your financial problems. The food wasn't just good, it was certainly the most delicious dishes you had ever tasted. France, they say, has one of the finest gastronomy in the world and you learned the veracity of this statement the best way. It didn't take long for both of you to become friends first, then inseparable after some time.

Alongside this very unexpected friendship, Arthur's demeanor toward you hadn't changed the slightest — which didn't help forgetting about him. Every slight touch, every smile, and every word exchanged made your heart race in your chest the same as before, if not faster.

Lost and torn by the conflicting feelings of a friendship you genuinely cherished and your growing affection for your best friend's husband, you felt like your own reflection in the mirror was judging you. But if there was something you weren’t it was wicked.

Maybe that was why this battle between desire and loyalty had led you to stutter the following statement to the white-haired and crystal-eyed angel:

"Heaven, I'm so sorry. I think I am in love with Arthur."

Taglist: @adaydreamaway08 @jomarch-wannabe @esposadomd @zablife @woofgocows @anathemasworld @anastasia0000 @kate654 @kxnnxy @babayaga67 @meowtastick @shelbyssins @sarai-ibn-la-ahad @bluevenus19 @justrainandcoffee @kishie8 @alexandra-001 @dearshelby @alexizodd @helen06dreamer @kmc1989 @emotionalcadaver @peakyswritings @peakyltd @chaosinkest1996 @vanhelsingsbigtoe @cherubswhispers @he6rtshaker @bemyqueenofdarkness @cljordan-imperium @cjarbo @rysko @red-riding-wood

[castelled-away]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mergwenthur beginnings from Merlin‘s pov bc he has the potential to make all of this SO angsty mmm

Like think abt Merlin feeling like he imposed on Arthur & Gwen's relationship simply bc he thinks the 2 are perfect (Merlin is obv so gone for them) & therefore perfect for each other but without him mixed into it bc „he doesn’t have a place there in their relationship“

Or him already feeling insecure abt a potential position in a 3-way-relationship bc of the whole thing with Lancelot’s shade & probably thinks Arthur would therefore react badly or hurt

Or maybe throw in a magic reveal where Guinevere & Arthur are both shocked at first ofc & Gwen gets over that & is all reasonable/starting to understand & Arthur is still blown away/angry & just can’t understand so maybe Merlin sees their different opinions on the magic matter & thinks he’s or at least will soon be tearing a rift between Arwen through that

Or maybe him not feeling good enough for them since not only is Arthur the king but Gwen as his queen has ALSO risen in rank & is now „above“ him as well (tho I think this is a bit ooc for Merlin)

Or to try & keep Arthur away from him/not tempt himself (bc Merlin still has to hide his magic& therefore cannot get too close to anyone) Merlin pushes Gwen & Arthur together with effort & he thinks he’s left alone & that both of them will/can never know how much he loves them or know who he really is. Then Arwen ask why he wants them to be together SO BAD since the 2 don’t really ever want to spent time together without Merlin (bc they’re all in love your honor) & Merlin just explodes with a whole speech like because if you two don’t end up together all of the pain & the suffering I have gone through while having to watch from far away was worth for nothing & then Gwen thinks Merls were in love only with Arthur & Arthur thinks Merlin were only in love with Gwen & then they are all being stupid & sad abt that whole love triangle till it comes out that Merlin loves them BOTH at the end

Or ofc the Lancelot-Gwen-Arthur fiasco, but where Merlin & Gwen get enchanted by Morgana instead & they’re all super angsty abt this (there’s the fic, it’s great: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46578598 by @burglarhobbit)

While reading this fic the idea came to me that maybe Merlin takes the blame for Morgana’s love spell volunteeringly so that Arthur doesn’t get hurt by thinking Gwen cheated of her own free will & takes her back, but Gwen (the goddess that she is) straight up tells Arthur no, Merlin wouldn’t ever do that, it must’ve somehow been Morgana & they ask Merlin why he lied & his answer is I just wanted you two to be happy but then followed with I guess that I’m just selfish for wanting you two to love me as well, that would have been to good to be true anyways

Or Arthur seeing Gwen & Merlin hug like they used to do all the time in the show bc they’re best friends & always help each other through their hard stuff, so cue Arthur having his big bi panic & while still being a bit traumatised by the whole Lancelot’s shade-fiasco, he mistakes his romantic feelings for them as jealousy/insecurity/fear of Gwen leaving him for Merlin & saying smth like „you wouldn’t take her from me would you?“ to Merlin (maybe even just as a dumb joke without all those negative feelings) & Merlin being all surprised no ofc i wouldn’t do that, not to you Arthur, to neither of you, you mean too much to me to do that & being scared that he somehow crossed a line while talking to Gwen or smth to warrant this kind of question from Arthur

Or Merlin thinking: You already have to take care of Arthurs destiny (protecting him, be loyal to him, make him see magic is good without outing himself as a sorcerer etc.) you can’t also take his heart/feelings aswell. You can’t do that to Gwen.Arthur is already forced to spend forever with Merls due to destiny, let him choose Gwen on his own free will, so that means Merlin thinking his connection to Arthur is less important that Gwen’s connection to Arthur bc of destiny

Or Gwen & Arthur together trying to court him & invite him into their throuple so they kiss him on separate occasions without the other one present & Merlin is just alone walking with Gwen through the halls of Camelot & reeling with why did she just kiss me isn’t she in love with Arthur?? & Arthur then also kissing him or giving him gifts & he’s starting to catch on/hope that they might return his feelings but then he overhears Gwen telling Arthur that he (Arthur) is her everything (bc Arthur is emotionally constipated & needs reassurance & affection like he deserves), so Merls tries to gaslight himself à la oh those kisses where just friendly, friends kiss each other sometimes don’t they??? Gwen probably just missed me that 1 time/wanted to reassure me of something & Arthur was probably still high of of a particularly good fight during training OR he thinks maybe they were just playing a joke on him OR he assumes he’s just their mistress/playtoy now & therefore are his connections to them second to their marriage connection OR even angstier, he thinks they’re both cheating on each other with him & don’t know abt it & he fears they have problems in their relationship & is plagued by guilt bc he doesn’t know how to tell them that they’re kind of cheating with the same person (lol) & anytime he looks at them he asks himself how do I tell you that your wife is cheating on you with me, but I’m actually in love with the BOTH of you? Arthur surely won’t believe that for a second, he’ll just be rly angry

OR the 3 of them already being an item but like still in the beginnings & then the magic reveal happens & Arthur is just like you didn’t enchant us to fall in love with you right? (don’t worry, Arthur isn’t that bigoted, he’s just surprised that he feels so much love for not 1 BUT 2 whole wonderful ppl & starts to doubt bc he’s constipated like that) & Merlin says no, I wouldn’t do that, I don’t even know how to do a spell like that, but then comes the rocky acceptance-of-Merlin’s-magic-phase where everything including their budding relationship gets difficult & Merlin is doubting with thoughts like they don’t seem very in love with me anymore so maybe I DID put a love spell on them without knowing? Maybe I wanted them to love me so much so that my magic/I just enchanted them subconsciously??? Maybe all we had, all that THEY felt for me was a lie & I have been using them for my own personal gain?? And he’s just beating himself up over that in a puddle of guilt & heartbreak

[arthurslesbian]

"sometimes, you puzzle me" // "you never fathomed me out?" // "no"

[genshin-obsessed]

heck yeah!! okay- can u please write kaeya, diluc, venti, and if its not too much zhongli(if you write for him ofc) with an s/o who's super shy n sweet but knows how to make a comeback? like say someone makes fun of s/o and they make a super savage and sarcastic comment and it takes them aback! ty if u do write it 💜

Ok, ok, ok. So I had a bit of a hard time with this, like I have decent comebacks but it’s gotta be in the moment. I didn’t have a moment. So all of them (except kaeya) are borrowed from friends or online :’) I also hate these and feel like I did no one any justice T^T so I’m sorry

He’s always felt really protective of you. You’re cute, shy, adorable and there’s nothing wrong with that, but whenever someone makes you uncomfortable, he HATES it [see: “When Someone Flirts with You”].

Your shyness was so cute though. He loved doing little things to tease you and watch as you turned into a blushing mess.

Now you see, the one thing he didn’t know about you was that you’re shy BUT YOU AREN’T SCARED TO PUT A BITCH IN HER PLACE.

Kaeya’s pretty. Believe it or not, he’s actually quite popular with the girls (roast me if I’m wrong). Well, there was a girl who knew you were dating him and she still insisted on hitting on him.

You were really calm with it too, standing behind her with your arms crossed and a light glare pointed towards her.

“You look like a Hilichurl on drugs. Walk away.” And she did.

Venti loves your shyness. It’s cute- too cute for him to handle at times. He likes it when you blush or when you hide your face in your hands or behind your hair. He used to wonder if you were maybe non confrontational. He would completely understand it, but seeing as how shy you were, it was safe to say if someone did come bother you, you may need help.

Venti’s a tiny guy, but he’s pretty strong. He’s an archon after all. He’s got his arsenal of insults or witty comebacks but boy oh boy, he did NOT expect yours.

Venti was a bard, and he loved singing for you and others. One day, later in the evening, Venti was performing for you and you were happily enjoying the show. Until a guard approached you two, one you knew well. He’d been quite a problem recently.

“Hey! You stupid bard! Why don’t you get a real, stable job?!” You didn’t even skip a beat before saying:

“Why don’t you get a stable marriage?”

Venti’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between you and the guard before he slowly turned around and left.

You often had a habit of hiding behind Diluc when it came to bothersome people. He just radiated intimidation.

Because of this, Diluc was always weary of people bothering you. He was really good at picking up on cues and he would know if you were upset or uncomfortable.

Because of all of this, he didn’t expect that you would have some serious comebacks and insults. Every time you respond to someone with that sass, he dies a little on the inside.

He’s so damn proud of you! He just stands there with his arms cross with a smirk on his face. 

There was a girl, one who knew you well, who just wouldn’t lay off. She would often shamelessly flirt with Diluc RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. Normally, you’d ignore her and Diluc shut her down every time. But this once… just this once…

“Ok, listen here you soggy piece of moldy bread, I have tolerated you for far too long. You know Diluc and I are in a relationship and if you continue to talk to him, ignoring my existence, I’m going to kick your ass so hard, whoever pulls my shoe out of your ass will be crowned King Arthur.” She never bothered you again :)

He’s a really nice, sweet, intelligent man. But he doesn’t mind smacking a bitch up for you.

You’re his amazing, beautiful, shy girlfriend. He loves you so much and he just wants to keep you safe. He loves it when you get super shy and blushy, that’s his favorite look on you.

He does get a little worried when people bother you. You aren’t confrontational and when people pelt insults at you- if they dare- he’s at your side ready to handle the situation.

The first time he heard your rare insults, he almost choked on the tea he was drinking. He really didn’t expect it, but he LOVED it. Every time someone pushes your buttons, he just waits behind you excitedly.

“This can’t be the person you’re dating!”

“I am and if you keep that up, I’ll break every bone in your body in alphabetical order. Oh, the trash gets picked up tomorrow, so be ready.”

[pegging-slenderman]

This is my first time writing for rdr2 and also my first time using this format so please don't judge

javier x a heavily pregnant reader im talking like extremely hormonal in a fuck load of pain just waiting to relise this crotch demon (set in shady belle) tw: spoilers about character deaths minor angst and details abt child birth

To say the least he would be really concerned for your and the baby's health

Would probably be asking some of the women around camp (like Abigail a miss Grimshaw) if it's normal for you to be pregnant for this long and still not give birth

They reassure him its ok and just tell him the best thing he can do is try and find some remedies that can induce labor

he rides out immediately to get said remedies because 1 he can't stand to see you in pain and 2 he can't wait any longer to meet his baby

Anytime he leaves camp he makes sure to give you and your belly a bunch of hugs and kisses beforehand

He hates going far from camp scared of missing his child's birth

When you guys had moved into the new camp duch gave you guys your own bedroom not wanting you to sleep on the ground

At night when you two are laying in bed he will wrap his arms around you feeling up your baby bumb

When the O'Driscolls raided the camp he pulled you into cover immediately making sure you were safe praying to whatever God out there that you didn't get hit by any bullets

Luckily Charles was taking cover behind a wagon right next to yall and helped him get you inside as fast as possible

Javier normally doesn't cry in front of people but his eyes were filled with tears once he held you his arms asking you " mi amor are you alright?! You didn't get hit did you? Please tell me our baby's okay!" Whilst holding his hands on your tummy

After you reassure him that you and the baby are okay he kisses your head and tells you to stay in cover while he gose helps the others

After the ramianing O'Driscolls run off and everyone Is going back outside looking at keirens dead body javier encourages you to stay inside

Mainly cause he's scared of anything else hurting you

He's pretty tense the next few days not wanting to be more then a foot away from you in fear for your life

Ofc the day he finally decides you can be out his sight safely is when you finally go into labor

As he's sitting by the edge of the alligator infested water all he hears is you scream In pain and he's jumping up running as fast as can towards you

Once he finds you your already being helped by miss Grimshaw into the tent she had set up specifically for when you gave birth

He followed in asking all sorts of questions until he was silenced by your yells of pain that's when just shut up and held your hand letting Ms Grimshaw take over striping you of your skirt and undergarments and placing a blanket over you

He felt stressed watching you in so much pain as birth was not exactly a fast 123 done type thing

You were in labor for 30 painful hours

You would squeeze his hand so hard his knuckles turn white

He would be trying his best to comfort in his native language you buy given your in labor trying to translate what's he saying is not top of your to do list "mi amor lo estas haciendo tan bien"(translation: my love you are doing so well) you just glare at him "either speak English or shut the hell up"

Once you finally give birth to a healthy baby girl javier Is crying tears of joy while holding his little angel in his arms smiling seeing you finally getting some peaceful rest

Oh any you know he is extremely protective of both you and the baby girl you decided to name Veronica after his late mother

The two of you have him wrapped around your fingers

When he was leaving to go rob the Saint Denise Bank he gave you a loving kiss and huge you and Veronica tightly "Los amo a los dos más que a nada en este mundo"(translation: I love you both more than anything in this world)

Ofc when he didn't return it worried you

You feared having to raise this baby on your own whilst mourning your husband

As Charles returned he informed everyone about hosea and Lenny's death and that everyone else escaped on a boat

All you could think about was javier

And all he could think of was you and Veronica pleading whilst being dragged by a donkey "¡por favor! Tengo esposa e hija"(translation: please! I have a wife and daughter)

When he had returned first thing you did when you saw him was jump into his arms crying "I thought you died!" He would hold you close "mi amor I would never leave you and Veronica "

He cried first time he held Veronica again much like he did when she was born

As yall moved camp to beaver hallow you two would have some arguments "you keep doing these goddamn suicide missions your going to leave our baby fatherless!!" He groaned "amor I don't have a choice I just want a better life for us!" You shook your head "yes because being a widowed mother is a better life!!"

One night he was holding Veronica rocking her to sleep and arthur walked up to him looking more sickly then ever

"Your a great father Javier "

"I know "he didn't even look at arther just his baby girl

"Look I get your loyal to duch but something bad is about to happen and I want you and your family safe when that goes down"

"What do you want me to do?! Go up and run with my wife and kid?! I have no money im wanted almost everywhere I go and I haven't know a life where I wasn't on the run since I was a teenager!"

Arthur reached in his coat and pulled out a stack of money placing it on the table in front of javier "just think about your family first "and walked away

The next night you and javier were packing up a wagon just a few more things then you two would get out of there

Arthur came over watching you two pack "I see you listened to my advice javier "

"I had to I can't keep my family at risk like this it's not how I want my daughter raised "javi said as he packed the last bag "thank you Arthur "

"Don't thank me" Arthur shook his head

You walked over and gave him a big hug "im gonna miss you the most. I'll make sure Veronica remembers her uncle Arthur "you smiled

Arthur just smiled and looked at Veronica "that girls gonna go far in life".he then looked at javier again "what are you waiting for get out of here before someone notices!"

Javier helped you get on the wagon then handed you Veronica before getting on himself taking the reines you waved at Arthur as you rode off

[nextstopparis]

What about some merlin questions are you up for that?

I'd like to know what your favorite episode or story arc is and also if you could write a canon compliant alternate universe fic that would come true which episode or moment would that be?

OHHHHHHH OKAY omg idk if this will be long but. if it is im sorry

my favourite episode has changed over time. it used to be the eye of the phoenix episode (bc of gwaine, ofc, but also bc competent/smart arthur is nice to see every now and again etc), but i think now its 2.08 (which im sure no one saw coming😫) however special shoutout to 1.09, 2.12, 3.07, and 5.13 bc 🫶🫶🫶🫶 (i also want to give SOME props to the troll eps because while they do make me uncomfortable and i think theyre ehhh… i also think some of the best writing for arthurs characterization came from them so. sigh. you win some u lose some i guess)

my answer for everything else sort of branches off from 2.08 being my favourite. i love the history between nimueh and uther and ygraine and i looovveeeee all the complications and twists and implications that come with arthur being born of magic. that the thing uther has raised him to hate and fight and whatever is directly responsible for his birth and so very inherent to him as a person—not just bc of his destiny but because its literally responsible for his existence. like we always talk about how big of a hypocrite uther obviously is but i dont think ive ever seen anyone talk about how deeply fucked up it is that uther has such a deep rooted hatred for the thing that—sure, may have killed his wife (though thats his own fault) but also—made the birth of his SON possible. and then made his son hate it and fear it as well. (and just the fact that it never quite stuck, anyway.)

i really like the story arc of 2.08 and how arthur proves himself noble and worthy to morgause just by virtue of being himself and sticking to his ideals. i love the interaction he has with ygraine (and the fact that it could be ygraine or it could be not ygraine or it could be mostly ygraine but not fully). i love that the first thing he says to her is sorry. i love love love getting a glimpse into how arthur thinks of his mom and the relationship he has with her and her ghost and so on. just everything about that interaction (from the hug to the reveal to the sudden loss to the lighting to the fact tHAT HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE HER to her saying she loves him shes proud of him uthers betrayal doesnt matter she wouldve given her life willingly anyway) is so so so good to me.

i also like the confrontation with uther. i cant tell you which one i like more because the idea of arthur having such vulnerable and significant interactions with BOTH his parents maybe a day apart is overwhelming even for me but. theyre both excellent in different ways. i love how cold he is at first when confronting uther and i love how he figures uthers hypocrisy out in 2 seconds flat and i love how he progressively loses the cold control and becomes so betrayed and angry and HURT and sksbsksnksjsks just. 2.08 is honestly one of the best episodes ever. i could go on about arthur in the scene with uther but like i dont even know how to articulate it. “you speak of honour and nobility. you’re nothing but a hypocrite and a liar.” really just speaks for itself. (ALSO THE FIGHT SCENE WHERE HES LITERALLY FOCUSED AND ASSESSING HIS FATHER LIKE AN ENEMY AND UTHER FUCKING AIMS TO TAKE HIS HEAD OFF EVEN THOUGH THAT MOVE IS NOT NECESSARY IN ORDER TO PROTECT HIMSELF? LIKE HE LITERALLY GOES FOR A KILL AIM AT HIS OWN SON TWICE DESPITE SAYING I DONT WANT TO FIGHT YOU AND IM UNARMED AND BLAH BLAH BLAH) (like this episode is great for arthur and thats the main reason why i like it so much, but its also a very telling episode for uthers character. LIKE HE HAS A CHANCE TO COME CLEAN AND JUST FUCKING LIES ANYWAY AND ACTS LIKE THE VICTIM OHHHHHHH IM sorry im getting angry. love the ep but the anger i feel because of how they chose to end it will keep me rolling in my grave).

that being said, if i COULD write a canon compliant fic (i mean u can find two here) i would change the ending to that episode. i dont care if merlins there and just doesnt lie or if merlin somehow is absent, all i would change is that arthur would not be lied to again. i would make it so that he knows the truth. thats it. i dont care if he kills uther (to be honest i dont think he wouldve anyway but maybe thats just me) i dont care about literally anything else id just. id let him have the truth he’s entitled to. and id let him have that memory of his mother.

[crankynewt]

Chapter Three - You Said Forever

Another Love Series Masterlist

Pairing(s): Regulus Black x Fem!Reader, Remus Lupin x Fem!Reader

Song: driver’s license - Olivia Rodrigo

Warnings: Angst, shoddy timeline, swearing, (I think that’s it??).

Word Count: 2.8k

Masterlist

Author’s Note: I made an angst series using sad songs, ofc I had to use driver’s license eventually! Also, although the characters have gotten a bit older, I’m still using Andrew Garfield and Timmy Chalamet as the face claims! I hope y’all enjoy this chapter, it’s a big one!!

(Neither gif is mine, all credit to the creators!)

If the decrepit walls of 12 Grimmauld Place could talk, they would tell the tales of misery and anguish. The house had not seen much happiness since it’s construction, especially during the period Walburga, Orion, and their children inhabited it. It was only following the deaths of all of Sirius’ family that he took up residence there with you when the anguish was displaced with joy, if only for a short period. It’s no wonder that you moved to a cabin in the middle of nowhere with Remus following the events of October 31st.

Standing in the front entry once more, the ghosts haunting the dwelling seemed to be whispering unintelligible warnings against proceeding further into the house. You could hear the shrieking of Walburga’s painting upstairs, a familiar nuisance that had your blood boiling in an instant. Your husband’s arm draped protectively across shoulders as he rubbed soothing circles with his thumb was the only thing keeping you sane at that moment in time. 

Through the open door at the end of the hall you could see the face of Sirius Black, the light in his eyes slowly returning as he spots two of his favourite people in the world. He quickly stood, rushing out the door to embrace you both in a warm hug as you dropped your trunks to the floor. He held the both of you close and tight, afraid that should he let go, he would wake up alone in his cell once more. 

The Order reuniting was the perfect distraction for both you and your husband, your recent unemployment resulting in a sense of unease in both your minds. Luckily, both Sirius and yourself had inherited enough money that you needn’t worry about working, but the void that your children left when they returned to Hogwarts the following year was certainly hard to fill. Summer break couldn’t come soon enough for any of you. 

Towards the end of that summer the Weasleys came to stay, Molly and Arthur bringing their four youngest, meaning that mischief lay just around every corner. About a week after their arrival was when Hermione showed up, the same day that Moody had taken a small group to retrieve Harry from the Dursleys.

Hearing the opening door, you rushed from the kitchen where the meeting had been taking place to see that Arthur had returned with the young girl who he’d picked up from her muggle household.

“ Professor (Y/L/N)!” She smiled, lugging her cart behind her with one hand while the other cradled her ginger cat. 

“Oh please, Hermione, I’m not your teacher anymore.” You said. “(Y/N) is fine.” You knew the girl had seen you as a role model, both academically as a skilled teacher but also following the story Harry had detailed to her about how you’d worked for the Order to relay Death Eater secrets to them. You can still remember the slap across the head she’d given Ron after he let her secret slip during class, the young girl embarrassed that you knew how she idolized you.

“The rest of the kids are just upstairs if you want to join them, Ginny will show you to the room you’re sharing.  Harry should be getting here in about half an hour, and dinner will be at six-thirty!” You explained, the girl smiling as she carefully let Crookshanks down to the floor before she dragged her case up the stairs behind her.

Returning to the table, you sat in the seat across from your husband as you shared a tight-lipped smile. The two of you had decided that it was probably best to maintain a level of professionalism around your fellow Order members, the pair of you keeping all talk of your relationship outside of the meetings. These gatherings, however, continued to consist of endless bickering over the topics of Harry and Voldemort, the only subtle comfort you’d found during the evening had been Crookshanks crawling upon your lap for a snooze.

“I’m just saying that we can’t risk telling Harry about this, it’ll just be putting him in more danger and we never know who’s listening.” You said. “I mean, look at Pettigrew! He hid in your house for years without anyone knowing! Who knows what he’s shared with ‘You Know Who’!”

“Yes, but there aren’t exactly unregistered animagi running around everywhere, (Y/N).” Sirius remarked. 

“Says the unregistered animagus to the other unregistered animagus.” You snapped, glaring at your in-law from across the table.

You forced your mouth shut after that, not wanting to continue bickering with your friends, letting your thoughts wander until Sirius’ comment forced it’s way back to the front of your mind. You weren’t exactly sure as to why it was bothering you so much. Even after the meeting had concluded and you were the last one in the kitchen, baking cookies for the teens to snack on the following days, you couldn’t shake an odd feeling. As if there was something that your subconscious had registered that your conscious mind hadn’t yet comprehended. 

It was only when you turned to grab the tinfoil from the cupboard behind you that a cold sweat found your body, your mind finally registering what you’d missed when something caught the corner of your eye. Maybe you hadn’t noticed it because you didn’t want to believe it, or maybe it was that part of you realized just how long it would take for this shock to fully register.

“You must think I’m stupid,” You began, refusing to turn away from the dough you were scooping onto the cookie sheet, “or maybe you’re still just as arrogant as you were in school.”

You didn’t receive a response right away, causing both a wave of relief and disappointment to wash over you at your incorrect suspicion. But that all went away when you heard a shifting sound and the screeching of a chair.

“What gave me away?” A voice called from behind you in a smug tone you’d heard countless times many years ago.

“Oh please, Regulus.” You said, finally working up the courage to turn around as you fought desperately to conceal your emotions. He was older now, crinkles reaching the corners of his eyes, and his previously neat clothes were now battered, torn, and bloodstained, but apart from that he looked just as he did when he walked out the door years ago. “We were married - I know you better than you know yourself.”

He gave a silent chuckle as his smirk became a tiny smile and he looked towards the floor. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as a strong, unnamable tension continued to grow between you. While you expected an explanation, Regulus seemed to have anticipated a much happier reaction from you. 

“What, you’re not happy to see me?” Regulus commented, his confusion continuing to build at your indifference to his sudden appearance. “I’m still your husband, you can’t spare me a smile, at the very least?”

That’s when it hit you - he doesn’t know. Regulus, or Crookshanks, rather, hadn’t heard anybody mention that you’d moved on. It must have been some luck or twisted fate that he’d never been in the room when your relationship had been mentioned, which means he also doesn’t know about Teddy. But does he know about Archie and Cassie? Surely he would’ve asked about them immediately if he was aware.

“You’ve been gone for a very long time.” You said, your bitter tone contrasting the quietness of your voice, yet your volume grew with each word until you were shouting. “You abandoned me, how dare you show up now and expect me to welcome you back into my life with open arms. Do you have any idea what I have been through the past sixteen years?! You have no fucking clue exactly what you left me to deal with! And now you sit here with that smug expression, daring to call yourself my husband and expecting me to forgive you for the hell you put me through?!”

Regulus sat there with his mouth opening and closing, the first time you’d ever seen the quick-witted boy speechless. You could see the hurt in his emerald eyes as his mind desperately searching for something, anything to say. But you never got the chance, as the door opening as a third voice filled the room.

“Honey, it’s starting to get late, I think you should come to - dear god.” 

Both your and Regulus’ heads snapped towards the over of the voice, only for your eyes to meet your other husband. It didn’t take long for Regulus to process why Lupin was calling you “honey” and exactly where his comment was going, his eyes darting between the two of you over and over again, before a sigh escaped him.

“So that’s why.” He said, leaning further back into his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “How long was I gone before you and the werewolf started -”

“Don’t!” You bit, probably a bit too loud because that was what finally caught the attention of two sets of ears upstairs. In the long, dark hall, two doors opened and two sets of eyes stared at each other from across the way. The eldest and youngest of the Black men eventually made their way down the stairs together, careful to be quiet as they attempted to discern what the voices in the kitchen were arguing about.

“There is a lot more going on than you realize, you can’t just expect everything to go back to normal after so long. Now if the two of you would stop bickering like children we can discuss everything like adults.” They could hear Remus say, presumably attempting to diffuse the situation considering how level-headed the man typically is. 

There was no sound as Sirius slowly peeked his head through the already open door, utterly disbelieving the sight before his eyes as his shocked exclamation broke the eerie silence.

“Holy shit!” 

“What?!” Archie gasped from behind him, squeezing into the room behind Sirius and peering over his shoulder to see a face that he’d only ever seen in photos before.

Regulus’ eyes widened at the sight of the young Black, clearly seeing so much of himself in the fifteen year-old boy. You being pregnant when he left definitely wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities, you were married after all, and suddenly a lot of your anger towards him seemed justified. 

“Is that my… Were you…”  He trailed off, unable to find the words he wanted to say as his mind still processed this new information.

Remus suddenly covered his shaking head with the palm of his hand, quickly exiting the room and heading out the front door to get some air. He didn’t want to watch Regulus steal his wife and his kids away from him - he just couldn’t.

“Fuck.” You cursed under your breath, holding your own head in your hands as you attempted to make sense of the insanity around you. “Archie, go back upstairs, I’ll be up in just a minute.”

“But-” Your son didn’t get to finish his protest, the look in your eyes when your head shot up to look at him scared him into compliance. In his entire life, he’s never seen that look of utter fury, especially not from you. He quickly left the room, anxious to fill his sister in on everything that had just gone down.

“Sirius, please deal with your brother while I go find my husband.” You breathed, not sticking around to hear a response as you made your way down the hall.

“Now where,” Sirius began, pulling out the chair at the head of the table and quickly sinking into it, “have you been?”

“I was the cat.” Regulus stated simply, the smirk he typically wore working its way back onto his face.

“You were Hermione’s cat?!” Sirius laughed, finding the irony of another “dead” person in his life winding up as being one of the trio’s pets. “Maybe we need to take a look at Harry’s owl.”

But the humour of the situation didn’t last very long, both their faces quickly falling as reality gained their attention once more. 

“I can’t believe I have a son…” Regulus trailed off, still in utter disbelief about the existence of the boy who looks exactly like him.

“And a daughter.” Sirius added, his brother’s eyes widening to saucers once more. “Twins, to be exact. Arcturus and Cassiopeia.”

“What’re they like?” He asked, desperate to learn more about the children he’d never known existed. Of all the things Harry, Ron, and Hermione talked about around him, they couldn’t have mentioned his children at least once?

“They’re perfect - don’t know where they get it from, probably somewhere on (Y/N)’s side.” Sirius said, a small smile forming as he talked about the kids he adored so much. “They’re both in Slytherin, just about to go into their sixth year. Archie is the quieter one, just like you were, while Cassie is a lot more extroverted and even joined the quidditch team her first year.”

“And (Y/N)...” Regulus suddenly grew solemn again, letting out a disappointed breath as he looked away to a random point in the room. “I need to win her back.”

“Regulus, I- I don’t think you can.” Sirius said, causing his brother’s head to whip back around to him, fury written all over his face. “Remus and her have been together for years, that’s not something that’ll just go away. He raised your children with her and they also have another son together, Teddy.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Just give up?!” He snapped, a sinking feeling beginning to set in as he began to realize just how difficult getting you back to himself will end up being. 

“What’re you supposed to do? You’re supposed to get to know and form a relationship with the children who’ve thought you were dead their entire lives!” Sirius said. “And maybe you’ll establish a new relationship with (Y/N) again, one as co-parents. But her and Remus have both been to hell and back, so please, just promise me you won’t go about trying to sabotage their marriage.”

“But what about our marriage?”

Remus couldn’t hear any of the typical sounds of busy London that night, he was too anxious and all that he could pick up were the sounds of his heavy breathing. He was so distracted, in fact, that he didn’t notice you quietly slipping through the front door or sitting down beside him until you leaned your head on his shoulder. 

“How’d he come back?” Remus asked, wondering just what had happened to tear his life apart. 

“He was Hermione’s cat.” You said, your voice soft and sorrowful. “Turns out the Marauders weren’t the only unregistered animagi at Hogwarts. I’m just embarrassed it took me so long to figure it out, I knew it was his patronus but I guess I just didn’t want it to be true.”

“What does this mean for us?” Remus asked the dreaded question looming in his mind.

“What do you mean ‘what does this mean for us?’ Why would this change anything?” You asked in disbelief, raising your head from his shoulder to look at him.

“But he’s Archie’s and Cassie’s father-”

“So are you! You’re also Teddy’s dad.”

“And you were married. He was your husband first.” Remus added, gazing at you with a look of nothing but misery. “We were at Hogwarts together, I saw how utterly obsessed the both of you were with each other for years. You never even spared me a second glance, the only reason you even knew I existed was because I was friends with his brother… I’m not even mad about it, you should be with whoever you want to be with, and that’s Regulus. You’ve always deserved someone better than me-”

“Now you listen to me Remus John Lupin.” You began, your husband flinching at the use of his full name, something that you only did when you were angry. “You are who I want to be with, not Regulus; there’s no one better than you. If anything, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. Yes, we were married first, but that was for less than a year and happened seventeen years ago! We’ve been together for fourteen years, Remus, you’re my life now. I loved him in the past but he abandoned his family, you’re my life now and the one I want to grow old with. He might be Archie and Cassie’s father, but you’ll always be their dad.”

None of your eyes were dry by the end of your confession and you both spent the next several minutes just holding each other, relishing in the fact that the both of you were going to be okay. 

“Let’s go to bed, yeah?” You said, Remus nodding in response as the pair of you stood up. “We can deal with the rest tomorrow, Sirius can handle it for now.”

A/N: Okay, so I don’t personally believe the theory that Regulus never died and was actually Crookshanks, but it was what worked for this story so that’s what we’re going with! I’m so grateful for all the support this series has gotten, you guys are the best!

Join the Another Love series taglist here!

Series Taglist

@ladycomplex @lunalovecroft​ @datrie​ @tomshollandz​

[hiimsociallyawkward]

the darkest hour pt 1

the destiny and chicken podcast is finally back so I finally started rewatching merlin season 4. so basically i'm just going to make a list of things that I thought about while watching

'rests on the shoulders of a young man'??? PLS BBC

the opening scene in camelot. i just love it so much. tbh i'm kind of in love with all the "inner working" stuff of working in the castle

ok also, is this the first appearance of merlin and his purple shirt????? i love it

HIM IN THE KITCHEN?? GWAINE AND PERCIVAL?? I LOVE THIS.

BRO. LANCELOT. FRICK THIS. I LOVE LANCELOT BUT ALSO JUST SANTIAGO IN GENERAL. I LOVE HIM. I'M GONNA BE SAD IN THE NEXT EPISODE

literally. merlin and arthur are so domestic. can they please no. bro bro bro i'm crying. AS;FDLKJF;ASLKD THERE'S A GIF THAT I'VE BEEN SEEING ON TUMBLR OF ARTHUR LOOKING BASHFUL ESQUE AND HE THROWS HIS QUILL DOWN AND I LOVE IT WHAT THE HECK PLS STOP I'M CRYING

gwen is absolutely perfect. how is angel coulby so pretty. also, her serving the king after everything she'd done to him. wow

morgana and morgause going to the isle of the bless 💀💀

FRICK. YOU. AGRAVAINE. I. D E S P I S E. YOU. PLS. DIE. ALREADY

omg the feast back in camelot. when merlin falls and lancelot is the one who runs after him??? and arthur ?? Idek what kind of reaction that's suppose to be. right off the bat it looks annoyed?? but it could also be 'oh i'm the prince, but also i'm worried that's merlin, jeez keep your composure man. come on now, overcompensate so no one knows how you're actually feeling'

again, it's only lancelot and gaius with merlin after he passes out.

merlin wrapped in a blanket like a little burrito is just 🥰 he's talking about the dorocha but still

also they mentioned samhain and i want to talk about but not here. anyways, i'll get back you to guys on this note.

MERLIN WAKING ARTHUR UP. stop that was so homely and i loved it.

when arthur is comforting the girl who came to camelot because her village was raided?? idk if raided is the right word but that's what i'm going with rn

oh haha when the gang rode out to the girl's village and we get jump scared by the chicken?? yes, yes i did get jump scared by the chicken

gwaine and his apples?? yes pls

i just kept on thinking that the dorocha kept reminding me of dementors. idk it's not exactly the same because dementors sort of suck your happiness and merlin couldn't use magic against the dorocha, but still idk i just felt connection vibes

literally angel is so pretty. and then gwen goes to check on the soldier despite SO MUCh danger?? i love her.

omg when gaius goes "no mortal has ever survived their touch" and i'm just thinking. MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN. anyways

alskfjalsjfa;sdlkfa when merlin and arthur are in arthur's chambers and the candle rolls away and they're pals. they're actually PALS. like they have some quips here and there but they're honest to god pals and not even arthur can deny that

'definitely not humorless' 'that's because you're not funny' PLS

when pervical saves those children and elyan saves them?? i love them all

ofc arthur is gonna sacrifice himself. freaking savior's complex. 'i love him though' to pieces.

UGHHH 'MY LADY' 'MY LORD' PLS. I ASDJFALSDJFALSDFJ

omg. i hate uther with everything that i am, but still arthur taking to his father and giving him a forehead kiss before he goes off to die?? and uther saying 'don't leave me" "please"??? come on. i'm crying

SLAK;FJSLAJF. idc if you ship merthur i sure as hell do but still. these moments between arthur and gwen and just *golden*. just this whole scene. i love them so much. i love arthur so much.

god this show. having the gang walk in slow mo?? pls spare me

FRICK MY LIFE. when arthur gave agravaine the seal it reminded me of the deleted scene where arthur gives merlin the seal and i just get MAD again that they cut it out. PLS

merlin's whole speech about dying for arthur. i mean, we all knew it was coming but still. and gaius. gaius sucks but still, merlin is practically his son at this point, and gaius just has to let him go and i'm crying

fricken hell the knights in their capes?? i can't handle that they look so noble omg

AHH GWEN AND LANCELOT. FIRST SANTIAGO LOOKS SO GOOD BUT LANCELOT'S SMILE WHEN HE SAYS HER NAME.

until the line where gwen goes 'will you grant me a favor' i completely forgot about this heart wrenching fic that I read. Die for you in secret by @emrysofmagic ?? dude your fic absolutely ripped me to SHREDS and i completely forgot about it until the one line and i PHYSICALLY screamed. good on you you're the best.

anyways. i'm dying at this. when lancelots says he'll protect arthur with his life and that gwen has his promise?? pls.

literally, any scene of just lance and merlin reminds of that fic now. whenever i see lancelot looking at merlin i just think he's pining and i'm crying.

god some of the scene are actually beautiful.

LITERALLY

the knights all working together?? bros being bros

merlin using magic and then doing that little lip quirk half-smile at lancelot is just UGH

aw when merlin insists on getting firewood with arthur and arthur asking if merlin is the right person and merlin saying as if arthur knows what he's talking about when it coming to collecting firewood and the knights LAUGHING?? i love them

just the whole scene of merlin and arthur together

i would parse out individual pieces but tbh just the whole thing

i love it

i love them

the callback line where they think they might've 'gotten on' if things were different?? pls

TOGETHER?? STOP RN

oh god you knew this was coming

merlin throwing himself at the dorocha instead of arthur.

all of them running towards merlin

merlin's FACE

anyways. i'll be back tomorrow to rant more about the darkest hr pt 2 so i'll see you then!

[shima-draws]

Tell us abt the story, Shima. I would D I E for your stories (also, an ATS game would make my entire LIFE I would be so broke on it)

[[Anonymous said: hey- hey shima.... what;s ur new story about?]]

uwu

So this is based off of Arthurian lore and has some elements of it but it’s mostly (?) original!

It starts out in a normal high school setting, centered around these two kids named Elin and Niro. Niro’s had a life of total misfortune—his parents died when he was little and there was nobody else to take him in, so he was forced into foster care, and has switched schools so often that he never really got to make any permanent friendships. He’s a quiet guy, sort of weighed down by all of the loss he’s experienced, so that sort of makes him a mysterious and attractive sort of person, which gains him immediate popularity as the school’s handsome new kid. (He’s in his senior year, now, and has been at this school for almost the full year.) Despite his withdrawn personality Niro actually gets along well with his peers, but mostly because he’s a very agreeable sort of person that just goes along with what he’s told to do to fit in. He’s just going through the motions at this point, trying to survive and figure out what he wants to do in life. It isn’t really working out too well because Niro has major depression so every day is a struggle, but his current “guardian” at the foster home he’s staying in helps a lot with that, and Niro views her as sort of a mother figure to him, and it’s soft :’)

Elin, on the other hand, is the school’s laughingstock, and gets picked on a LOT by his classmates. He never fights back and tries to stay out of everybody’s way, so people think him even weirder because of it. He rarely talks and is always found with his nose stuck in a book, which has also labeled him as a major geek, so you can bet he gets targeted a lot because of this;;

Unfortunately, the kids that Niro’s friends with are the group that picks on Elin the most, and it always makes Niro uncomfortable but he’s too hesitant to really speak up about it, especially since Elin just. Sort of takes it and never outwardly complains. It’s basically just Niro making excuses to himself, and whenever he DOES try to talk his buddies out of it they’re like come on man we’re just joking around it’s not a big deal. So that sucks. One day when Niro’s walking to school he notices he’s being followed by a weirdly dressed girl. Eventually she corners him and she’s like “Merlin’s been taking too long to find you so I took things into my own hands since we’re running out of time” and Niro’s like ???? Excuse me? But she doesn’t explain and literally yanks him into a portal and that’s that. LMAO

When they emerge, the girl introduces herself as Lunete, and reveals that she’s taken Niro to the world of Avilion, in the kingdom of starlight called Inlustria. Niro’s still processing that he’s been pulled into another world entirely when Lunete begins to escort him to the castle, and pretty much dumps the world’s lore and his Destiny™️ on him on the way.

Rest is under the cut to save space because it is loooong lol

Lunete explains that there have always been two central figures in Inlustria, for many centuries across many generations. Those figures are Merlin, the wizard, and Arthur, the king meant to wield the holy sword and unify the five kingdoms on the continent together. Currently there are two Merlins, with the second being younger and newer to the position, still in training. However, she adds that this particular Merlin is the most powerful they’ve ever seen in the long history of Merlins to exist, and that he’s basically a child prodigy. It is Merlin’s task to watch over, guide and protect Arthur, so that peace can remain and the cycle can continue anew. The current Arthur is sadly old and very ill, practically on his deathbed, so the process of choosing a new Arthur to replace him had to be rushed.

Lunete then tells Niro that the Arthurs are chosen by fate before birth and are always humans from the other world. Arthurs are always loyal, confident and kindhearted, so there’s never a chance of an Arthur going astray (unless their Merlin purposefully leads them down that path). Niro’s like why are you telling me all this and Lunete goes well isn’t it obvious? Why else would I be telling you. And then Niro realizes that he has been chosen as the new Arthur, and immediately goes into panic mode. Lunete apologizes for the abrupt introduction and Avilion crash course lol but she says that usually it’s the Merlin’s job to remain in the human world, scout out the new Arthur, and bring them to Avilion, since they’re naturally drawn to them by their magic. But this Merlin is particularly stubborn and wants nothing to do with Arthur or his born duty to essentially serve the king, so he’s been stalling on locating him out of sheer spite.

Lunete and Niro arrive at the castle and she leads him into the grand library, where Merlins usually spend most of their time. Niro is shocked to find out that Elin is Merlin, and Elin immediately goes “You have GOT to be kidding me” when he realizes that the new Arthur—who he has to spend the rest of his life with btw—is Niro.

Niro’s even more shocked to find out that Elin is a completely different person than how he is at school. Elin is witty, arrogant and very sassy, and constantly throws shade at Niro for doing nothing while he was being bullied. (Niro then accuses Elin for not standing up for himself when he’s CLEARLY capable of it with both his silver tongue and his knack for magic, but Elin explains that it’s a rule for Merlins not to make a big presence of themselves in the human world. Then Niro feels very guilty.) Elin swears off of accepting Niro as the new Arthur and says he can protect the kingdom all on his own.

Naturally Niro is very reluctant to take on the position of Arthur and become the ruler of an entire kingdom, but Lunete tells him he doesn’t really have a choice, and that all Arthurs fall into the role eventually, so it will be something he’ll automatically adapt to because he’s The Chosen One and it’s meant to be. Niro continuously tries to reach out to Merlin, but he’s notoriously stubborn and refuses to acknowledge Niro.

Eventually Lunete lets slip that Merlin had a complicated history with another human in his childhood that ended...not so well (and no it’s not Esca lol), hence his general distaste towards the other world and humans in general. Ofc that’s not all Merlin is hiding, there’s another enormous secret he doesn’t want coming into the light. And you bet Niro’s going to discover them all ;)

So yeah there’s obviously a lot more that goes on after that—Niro trains to fit into the Arthur role (with a lot of sexy swordfighting training montages), Merlin eventually accepts him and they grow closer (yes. In that way ;D), Merlin shows off how skilled he is with his magic and Niro goes oh no I think I might be in love with him, there’s trouble with the northern kingdom they’re trying to deal with involving a new villain that’s popped up, Niro gets to meet a king from the southern kingdom who sort of becomes his father figure/mentor so that’s cool? Niro finds out exactly what sins Merlin committed in the past, and that past sadly catches up with him and nearly ruins everything so that’s fun. Niro finds out some shit and almost abandons his role as Arthur but eventually returns to Inlustria and obtains Excalibur to save Merlin’s ass, etc. etc. I think after the “main” story ends I’m going to send them out to sea so they can go on an epic magic pirate adventure, because when Niro was a kid he was super into pirates and treasure hunting and the ocean, he was never really a “magic and kingdoms” type of guy which is super ironic. Merlin’s excited about traveling but it turns out he’s really seasick and it’s hilarious. Somewhere down the line they’ll probably find out why there’s always been a “Merlin” and “Arthur” role in their kingdom as well. So LOTS of fun stuff is in store! And my brain hasn’t been shutting up about lore and worldbuilding for this story ever since I came up with it >;)

[holylulusworld]

Sorry is not enough

Summary: It’s an eye for an eye and a life for a life tonight.

Pairing: Mobster!Dean x Reader, former OFC!Frank x Reader

Warnings: angst, mentions of forced marriage, mentions of domestic violence/physical & emotional abuse, protective Dean, hurt & comfort, violence, torture, blood, knife play (non-sexual), burning with cigarettes

Characters: Sam Winchester, Benny Lafitte, Ruby, Jimmy Novak, Arthur Ketch, Charlie Bradbury, Alex Jones and Impala the dog

A/N: Please head the trigger warnings for domestic violence which gets mentioned. Please also head the warnings for torture, blood, and violence.

A/N2: Part 3/3 to  Too late to be sorry… & Never too late to be sorry

“Where is he?” Dean looks at the monitors, following Benny, Jimmy, and Ketch while they sneak around a house. “Is that bastard in there?”

“Take a deep breath, boss. Sit over there and just watch. The boys got this, okay. I hacked into the security system and made sure the phones won’t work.

He’s in there, along with his boss and partner who watched him hurt Y/N.” Charlie explains while she sips at her coke.

“You enjoy this a bit too much, Charlie. I guess working with me, and Sammy made you hard as steel.” Dean smirks as Charlie gives him a curt nod.

“Not hard as steel, boss. I know what we normally do isn’t exactly legal but, this is fun. Punishing an abusive asshole, his boss and partner - a good day for Charlie Bradbury and Team Winchester.” Snickering Ruby looks over Charlie’s shoulder.

“Sam insisted on going with them. He’s out for blood, you know, he never forgot about Y/N. Sam often told me she was like a sister when he was younger.” Ruby gets her knife out to clean her nails, a smirk on her lips. “Do I get the chance to cut one of those bastards? Please?”

“You can have the boss and partner. Treat the leftovers however you want to, Ruby. That bastard is mine.” Dean’s eyes narrow watching Benny break through the front door. “I reserved a special place in hell for him.”

“I guess that messing with Dean Winchester or his girl is a death sentence. Good thing I fuck your brother.” A smirk on his lips Dean crosses his arms over his chest.

“Won’t save you if you fuck us over. Now one messes with the Winchesters, not even a pretty little thing wrapping my brother's dick around her fingers. Be good, and we treat you well.

Be bad, you end up six feet under with my brand on your ass.” Ruby swallows thickly watching Dean’s arms bulge. “Not that Sammy does not like you, though.”

“Never thought about fucking you over. I prefer fucking your brother…” Charlie sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Can you two stop talking about fucking or fucking someone over? I have to provide back-up for the boys. I need to be their eyes and ears. Now silence. Benny is about to go in…” Dean falls silent, just like Ruby when the minute's tick by.

“Benny, can you hear me? Can you give me a status update?” Concerned Charlie tries to reach her friend. “Got it. Can you repeat it? Good. Pack everything and bring him here.”

Watching Benny drag Frank’s partner out of the house via the dashcam in his car Charlie squeals. “That’s number one. Good job, Benny. Secure him and wait for my orders.”

“Awesome…” Dean gives Ruby a high-five chuckling lightly. “Don’t tell Sammy or he believes I start liking you.”

“Wouldn’t dream about it…” Ruby retorts.

“Sam, can you…oh-great. Hit him with your best shot big boy.” Squealing Charlie jumps up to do a little victory dance. “Sam got Frank, broke his hand, and drags him out now.”

“Damn, if he brings me that monster, you can marry, Ruby.” Blinking a few times Charlie giggles at Ruby’s pained expression. “What? You want my baby brother, make him an honest man…”

“Slow down, Winchester.”

“Guys, silence. I am trying to reach Jimmy, but he doesn’t answer. Give me a minute here.” Charlie ends the awkward situation. “Jimmy, can you…oh-yes. Confirming Sam and Benny got their targets. Perfect. Bring him out.”

“He got the boss?” Dean watches Jimmy drag Frank’s boss out of the house. “Say goodbye to your cozy home, bastard. Does he have family or the partner?”

“Had a wife, got divorced according to the information I gathered last night. Uh-huh-juicy. She accused him of having an affair with one of his colleagues. I bet my favorite pair of panties it was Frank.” Hands balled into fists Dean paces around the room.

“He let Frank hurt my girl as he was banging him? Are you fucking kidding me!”

“I guess you want to know why we brought you here?” Looking at the men, chained to chairs Dean smirks as Frank’s partner looks like a scared little mouse. “It’s because all of you were part of my girl’s misery.”

Frank’s head snaps upward and just now he recognizes Dean’s face. Sam can see the fear in your husband’s eyes as he tries to fight the gag in his mouth.

“What did you try to say?” Mocking Frank, Dean moves one hand behind his ear. “Didn’t get that, sweetheart.”

“Don’t you worry, Frankie boy. You’ll get your chance to scream your lungs out later. For now, we want you to sign the divorce papers and for you to give everything you own to Y/N, your beloved wife. Later you will write a farewell note.”

Ruby circles the man, her favorite knife in her hands she slides it over Frank’s partner’s cheek, cutting deep enough to make him whine.

“Shush, little pig. Don’t be a girl about it, take it like a man.” Ketch leans against a wall, enjoying Ruby’s way to play with the men. “Wasn’t that exactly what he said to Y/N?”

“It was Arthur. My girl told me everything about that night. She finally gathered all her strength and called you, Michael Waters, her husband’s partner to ask you for help. She also called you, Victor Murdock, his boss.” Sam looks at your diary, the one you handed Dean days ago.

“Do you know what my girl wrote? You pigs came to her house and watched her husband hit her, hard enough to make her bleed, and lose a tooth.

When he was done hitting her, he got a belt and spanked her back, thighs and ass while you just watched him.” Dean’s eyes turn cold when Sam slams the diary shut.

“Ready or not…” Ketch snickers when Dean gets up to light a cigarette. “Here we come…”

Screams echo through the house and you wrap your arms tightly around ‘Impala’. You know Dean came back hours ago, Frank, his boss and his partner in tow.

“Everything is going to be alright, Impala. He’ll never hurt us again, baby. Promised. Dean will hurt him.” Sniffling you look at Alex who tries to ignore the men’s pleading. “If you want to go, Alex, I will understand.”

“My dad liked to push my mom around, Y/N. He always acted as if it was an accident, but I saw the bruises and the blue eyes he gave her.

I know what an abusive asshole looks like and Frank is one of the worst I ever met.” Alex sits next to you to squeeze your hand. “We will listen and remind ourselves, they deserve the worst…”

“Look at you with my girl's name written on your chest.” Dean muses while Ruby cuts the last letter of your name into Frank’s boss ' chest. He’s impressed by Ruby’s handiwork, even though, he would never tell her so.

“A masterpiece. Now…give me the salt.” Victor shakes his head furiously but Ketch hands Ruby the salt, a grin on his face. “I think you will look good covered in blood and salt, just like the pig you are…”

When he starts screaming again Ruby slaps his face. “Take it like a man, pig. Don’t you dare to lose consciousness, or I will carve my name into your dick.”

“She will do so, asshole. Believe me, my girl likes to carve her name into things and people.” Sam snickers at Victor’s pained expression. He grits his teeth, tries to breathe through the pain but Michael isn’t better.

While Ruby plays with Frank’s boss, Benny does the same to his partner. “Mine looks way better. Look, I carved a flower next to her name.” Ruby huffs, not caring about the rose Benny carved into Michael’s flesh.

“I think, we are done playing.” Dean claps his hands, still only staring at Frank who looks like he’s about to scream like a schoolgirl when the tall mobster walks toward him, a cigarette between his lips.

“Boss, can we bring the leftovers out and finish them?” Ketch rubs his hands, already imagining where he will plant the bullet ending Michael and Victor’s life. “Fast, or painful?”

“Painful.” Frank flinches at Dean’s words but dares not to look at his partner or boss. He knows, he’ll die tonight. He reached the end of the rope and he can’t escape Dean’s wrath.

“Leave Frank to Dean, I’ll stay here to help him out if he needs me to.” While Benny, Jimmy, and Sam drag the other men out of the room Ruby and Dean stay behind. “Shall I carve her name into his chest too?”

“No, Ruby. This is my job.” Dipping his head Dean blows the smoke of the cigarette into Frank’s face, enjoying the tears run down his face and the fact Frank peed his pants.

“A little and scared man, that’s all I can see. Nothing special. Only someone hurting vulnerable people, women, children…even your granny.”

“Piece of shit.” Ruby spats, sitting onto the table behind Dean’s back. “I’ll be waiting for my turn, Frankie. We will have so much fun.”

“Nah, he’s all mine.” Dean fists Frank’s hair before he removes the gag. Frank pants, sniffles before he chokes the word ‘sorry’ out.

“Oh, poor little Frankie. Sorry is not enough for what you did to my girl. It will never be enough.”

“An eye for an eye, Frank. Or rather your life for the life you almost took. Now, be a man about it and take it…” Ruby laughs when Dean presses the burning cigarette to Frank’s forehead.

Frank screams, even whimpers as all the memories of his father’s abuse flash back up. “You had a chance, Frank. You could’ve treated people better than your piece of shit of a father did. We decide who we become, not our parents.”

“That’s right! My mom was a bookkeeper and look, I am a goddamn sexy killer. She was a nice woman, always treated me right but I became a bitch.” Snickering Ruby watches Dean rip Frank’s shirt open. “Knife, boss?”

“Yeah…I think he deserves Y/N’s name on his chest but first. Maybe we will end you fast, you were smart enough to sign the papers after all.” Dean plays with Frank, always giving him hope just like he did with you. “No, I think…”

Dean’s fists meet Frank’s jaw and his head lulls back at the sheer force. For a heartbeat, Frank believes Dean is done but the fist comes back…again, and again, and again until nothing of Frank’s face is left than a bloody mess.

“Shall I or do you want to do it?” Itching to carve your name into Frank’s chest Ruby stand behind Dean. “Please…”

“Do it. This is my wedding gift for you and Sammy, crazy bitch.” Dean smirks when Ruby starts carving your name into Frank’s flesh. “I’ll get more salt and acid. I want him to scream for me…”

“Dean?” Watching Dean emerge from the showers you grasp for his fist. “Does it hurt?” Smiling Dean kisses your temple, not saying a thing just to savor the moment. “Dean?”

“He’s gone, and I can tell, he paid for what he did. Frank was kind enough to sign divorce papers and to give you the house, car, and everything he owned.” Dean carefully helps you lie onto his bed.

For a few days, you live with him in his room, the one he wants to share with you for the rest of his life . “I…thank you. I hate to admit it, but I am glad he’s dead…”

“Sweetheart, I promised to reserve a special place in hell for him, and I did,” Dean smirks when you curl into his side. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Dean.”

He’s wrapping his arms around you, not mentioning he sold Frank and his friends to not very friendly people. People who like to torture and hurt people like Frank.

Dean fulfilled his promise. He made the rest of Frank’s life living hell…

More tags in reblog.

Dean/Jensen Forever Tags   

@spnfamily-j2

@supernatural-bellawinchester

@negans-lucille-tblr​

@deans-baby-momma​

@thefaithfulwriter​

@squirrelnotsam​

@roonyxx​

@neerness​

@deansgirl-1968​

@spn-dean-and-sam-winchester​

@butifulsoul125​

@lyinginthegingerlocks​

@neen-illustrates​

@janicho88​

@woodworthti666​

@thevelvetseries​

@dreaminemz​

@akshi8278​

@midnightsilver16830​

@mrspeacem1nusone​

@ria132love​

@caligraphee​

@the-witch-in-silence​

@justanotherwinchester​

@multisuperfandom​

@jason-todd-squad​

@jadesupernatural​

@psychicforest​

@luciathewinchestergirl​

@magssteenkamp​

@palefiregiver

@tranquility-or-chaos​

@jxackles​

@michellemxndes​

@addictedtofictionalcharacters​

@gabifernandessn​

 @waywardrose13​

@team-free-will-you-idjiot​

@myopiamystical​

@rintheemolion​

@isthatabutterfly

@bluecornflowers​

@rosalynshields​

A/N: If your name is crossed out Tumblr won’t let me tag you.

[straykidsnerd255]

Sooo i had this idea for a while but how about a oneshot where Shorters daughter is dating Arthurs son (and ofc parents wouldn’t let them date) and later Shorter find a letter saying that his daughter is eloping with her boyfriend

Anonymous said:

Hiii can I request a headcanon where Shorter has a teen daughter and one day she tells him that she has a boyfriend. Turns out that her boyfriend is Arthur's son, so ofc he would oppose and that’s why his daughter decided to run away and get eloped

SOOOOO SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER TO GET OUT!!!!

I just combined two of the same requests and deleted the other one. Hope you enjoy! 

Shorter and Reader’s daughter eloped and ran off with Arthur’s son, with a twist 

Shorter was pacing the floor of their apartment when the news of their daughter disappearing reached him. He turned to see Y/n with her eyes closed and breathing in through her nose and out her mouth. He knew that she was scared shitless but there wasn’t anything they could do at this point. However, something about the calm nature of his wife made him confused. “Honey, why are you so calm? Our daughter is missing and the police can’t even get a trace of her.” Shorter said walking over to her and sitting next to her. She opened her eyes and turned to her husband. 

She reached into her front pants pocket and pulled out a letter. Shorter took the note and began reading the note. He could feel his blood boiling as he gripped the note, crushing it in the process. “I am going to kill Arthur.” He growled. He grabbed his keys and jacket and headed downstairs. Y/n sighed, knowing where this was going to go and followed after her husband to the car.  Shorter was pissed and Arthur was going to feel the wraith. Y/n closed her eyes and shook her head. She had told her daughter not to date Arthur’s son because of some complications they had when they were younger. 

Shorter pulled into the driveway of Arthur’s house. He turned the car off and headed towards the front door. He hit the door hard enough that he could have broken it but didn’t. Arthur opened the door to find a fuming Shorter ready to punch anything. “I’m sorry we woke you Arthur, but we have an issue. Your son and our daughter, are, how do I put this….they eloped and ran away from home.” Y/n said. Arthur’s eyes widened and it looked like he was about the scream. They stayed there for the night as Shorter was too angry to even drive back home. Y/n and Arthur’s wife stayed in the kitchen to talk. They had been friends since they were young and they knew that their husbands didn’t really like each other but they still got together and talked.

As the sun began to peak over the tall buildings, the sound of the front door opening and closing made all the adults lift their heads up. “ D/n.” Shorter’s voice echoed out. “S/n.” Arthur’s voice called out. “Shit.” Arthur’s son hissed out. The two walked into the living room to see their parents standing there. They could see their dad’s were about to blow a fuse with the way they were standing. “D/n. What have I told you.” He said. His voice held anger in it. “To not date him.” She said looking down. Tears filled her eyes and she knew that she was going to get in bigger trouble when they found out she was pregnant. Shorter and Arthur were about to start yelling at the two when Y/n noticed her daughter was starting to gag. Arthur’s wife noticed it as well and led them to a bathroom. “I’m sorry mom. I’m so so so sorry.” Her daughter started babbling. Y/n was confused before sudden realization hit her. 

“Sweetie, are you……” Y/n looked to her daughter only to see the massive tears falling down her face. Y/n pulled her daughter into a hug and rubbed the girls back. “Honey, it's ok. I’m not mad. I’m about you running away and just leaving a letter.” Y/n said, pulling back from the hug. However, I need to know if this boy is willing to protect you and love you.” Y/n said.  “He does mom! Last night, we went out for a bit and this guy wouldn’t leave me alone so he beat the man up.” Y/n’s daughter said smiling. 

You both return to the living room and you shake her head. “Shorter!” You yelled. Both Shorter and Arthur froze and turned to look at you. “Enough. I am done with this stupid feud the two of you have going on. I have had it! We are hurting our kids because of that stupid feud. Let's just end this problem once and for all. Shorter, our baby girl is all grown up. She should be able to choose who she loves. Not to mention, we are about to become grandparents.” Y/n said. 

Arthur’s wife squealed and ran over to D/n and pulled her into a hug. “I’m gonna be…..You’re pregnant D/n?” Shorter asked dumbfounded. D/n nodded her head and smiled at her dad. “That’s why we came back this morning Sir. I knew something wasn’t right with your daughter when she woke up throwing up, so I wanted my mom to take a look at her.” Arthur’s son said. Y/n and Arthur’s wife looked at the two. “Your daughter is 19 right?” Arthur’s wife asked. Y/n nodded. “Your son is 20. Has a stable job and income. I think they were made for each other.” Y/n said gushing. “I was just about to say that!” Arthur’s wife called out. Shorter and Arthur looked at each other before Shorter held his hand out. 

“Let’s not fight anymore. I can clearly see your son makes my daughter happy. That’s all I want for her is to be happy.” Shorter said. Arthur grunted but took Shorter’s out stretched hand and shook. “Same here. My son is smitten with your daughter and I don’t want to take that away from him. “They can be married tomorrow.” Arthur said. Shorter nodded his head and turned back to see his daughter smiled and hugging her boyfriend. ‘I’m happy for you sweetheart.” He said.

[fuckingthefictional]

Cross my heart- Part 19

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x OFC, John Shelby (platonic) x OFC

Warnings: Pregnancy?¿

A/N: I’ve had serious writers block with this. So apologies for the crappy writing! Xx

Previous//Next

The days turned to weeks and the weeks waned into a full month. There was no progress in Eliza’s memory.

Her mind felt dazed constantly- it was frustrating to her.

She felt strong emotions to certain people or things- but she didn’t understand why.

It was like Eliza’s instincts were screaming at her- her mind pleading for her to remember why.

She never did.

She was only certain of a few things. One of which was that she was pregnant- it had taken her a while to come to terms with it, but now Eliza couldn’t imagine life any differently.

The mother to be had even taken up knitting, it was soothing and she enjoyed making little hats, booties and blankets for when the baby arrived. It also gave her time to think, and try to recollect any memory she could.

And then there was John, he still came over, bringing a plum pie made my his aunt and sister every few days.

He claimed that “plums aided in the reversal of memory loss”, so far there was no luck with it.

Sometimes he took Eliza on “outings” which were really just trips to his family’s house on watery lane.

Eliza liked it at the house, it was homely and always abuzz with some sort of domestic chaos.

Finn, the youngest, has become quite taken with her- and Eliza and Arthur got on swell.

The only other brother, Tommy- didn’t seem too keen on her. It confused her to no end.

Had she done something wrong to offend him? Did she do something to him that Eliza’s thoughts wouldn’t let her remember?

It got to the point where the middle Shelby wouldn’t even look at Eliza, it made her heart become heavy and burdened.

It was on one evening at the Garrison, when the atmosphere was quiet and the bar was practically empty- that Eliza finally stood her ground and questioned the man.

Thomas was sat at the bar, sipping at his whiskey, a cool and concentrated look across his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Eliza stood beside him, her arms folded and a frown on her face.

If Harry could’ve seen his younger sister, he would’ve made a snarky comment about how toddlerlike she was being.

But Tommy kept avoiding her eyes, he instead gulped down his whiskey and replied.

“Go home Eliza.”

“Oh so he speaks.” Eliza huffed, “He isn’t mute after all?”

The man shook his head, trying to keep the conversation one sided.

“Y’know I’ve known you Shelby’s for about a fortnight now- and you haven’t spoken to me once.” Eliza grit her teeth, “What the hell did I do so wrong that caused you to hate me so much.”

He sniggered, shaking his head as he knocked the crystal glass back, “Just leave it- go back upstairs.”

“No.” Eliza replied, sitting in the chair besides him, “I’m going to follow you around until you tell me why you hate me.”

It looked as if Tommy was calculating the outcomes in his head. The atmosphere was silence and tension filled.

A few moments later he spoke again, “Eliza I could never hate you.” Tommy looked at the remanence of the whiskey in his glass, “I will never hate you- If anything I hate myself for not being able to protect you and for failing you.”

It was Eliza’s turn think deeply, but her words failed her and refused to come out.

Did she mean something to him, was she apart of his life?

“What did I mean to you?”

“Everything. You meant everything to me.”

//

“John?”

“Yes.”

“Was I ever involved with Tommy- romantically I mean?”

There was a pause in his footsteps; looking across, Eliza saw him staring dumbfounded- a blank expression covering his face.

“What brought this up?”

“Just something Tommy said the other night.”

John looked even more dumbfounded, “and you didn’t think to tell me?” He began dragging Eliza across the road to a secluded area, away from prying eyes and ears. “Look, im going to be honest- because you’re my best mate.” He sighed, “You and Tommy had a thing before your accident, you’d sleep together and spent a fuck tonne of time together alone.”

“Does that mean...” She couldn’t bring herself to say what her thoughts were suggesting.

“That he’s the baby’s dad? Yes.”

Eliza hadn’t expected John to be so honest, so firm. It was unusual to hear him without at least a bit of sarcasm or humour in his tone of voice.

It made her feel numb, she was in a state of overwhelming shock.

“I need to talk to ‘im.” The girl began to pace in the direction of the betting shop.

Only to be stopped by John.

“Leave it for now- you have a fuckin’ appointment to get to remember.” John was acting completely differently to what Eliza remembered.

//

Eliza let out a shaking breath, it was her first proper appointment regarding her pregnancy.

She was in the waiting room, still anticipating the moment they called out her name.

John had booked the appointment, so it was put under the name Shelby. He claimed it was so her name wouldn’t be tarnished.

“Missus Shelby...”

Her head snapped up, anxiety riddled her entire being. But apparently she wasn’t the only person using the same surname.

“It should be Mrs Thorne actually, Shelby is my maiden name.” The girl beside Eliza, spoke up.

The nurse checked her clipboard, shuffling and lifting papers to investigate this potential mistake.

“Apologies Mrs Thorne, you have been put down as Mrs Thorne. There is another patient who has been booked in under the name Shelby.”

The woman looked around incredulously, trying to seek out this person who was using her family’s name.

“Missus Shelby- Missus Eliza Shelby.” The nurse called out once more, as Eliza slowly raised her hand to signal her presence, “Right, come on through then Missus Shelby.”

The woman who was sat formally sat next to Eliza, looked as if she was in a state of shock.

Before Eliza could walk away, her hand was held back by the brunette.

“Meet me here when your appointment is finished- we need to have a little chat.”

TAGLIST:

@peachy-aisha @eternallyvenus @marvelschriss @annabethgranger123 @captivatedbycillianmurphy @shadow-of-wonder @affection-rabbit @itzmegaaaaaaan @tscamander @annabelrose5

[littlestarofthewest]

Ok so umm another thought: what if when John was a teen/young adult he was very talkative and open to everyone, and then he left for a year and came back more serious and stoic and Arthur knew something had happened but,,, he couldn't NOT feel something different for him 😳 he really liked his new "dom" vibes and ofc he was mad at him for leaving but he,,,, hhim,, hhh

Coming for me with morston, that's a cheap shot 😁 but isn't that pretty much canon? 😆

Funny enough, I kinda wrote something like that into a fic which you wouldn't know because that fic might never see the light of day unless my chaotic ass gets more organized. Have a little teaser in the meantime.

Arthur steers his horse off the road, and sure enough, he finds hoof marks in the loose earth between the trees. Grabbing a rifle, he leaves his horse there and sneaks through the trees, closer to the house.

Arthur finds John soon after, kneeling behind a stack of wood, peaking over to the house. "Whatcha doing, Johnny boy?"

John startles before aiming his gun at Arthur's face. "Jesus Christ, Morgan! I almost shot you."

"You better. I'm tired of dragging your greasy ass back to camp."

"Then don't," John says, putting his gun away and looking back to the house. "And don't call me Johnny boy."

He says the words but it's without his usual vigor. Whatever he's doing here, it must be important to him. "What's with that place? You got a girl in there?" Arthur asks.

"What?" John laughs, looking at Arthur like he lost his mind. "No. No girl."

Again, he answers the question without acting like a little brat. It makes Arthur curious. "What then? I just wanna know, then I'll be on my way."

"You'd leave me here? On my own?"

"I ain't Hosea."

They stay silent for a while. Then John turns around and leans against the wood to look at Arthur. "I heard these two guys talking outside the saloon. They're sitting on some gold, but they can't cash it in at the bank because they're both wanted. Seems they gonna sell it to some rich fella for less."

"I see. And now you wanna take the gold?"

"I thought about taking the cash later. Easier to carry." When Arthur doesn't answer, John narrows his eyes. "What? It's a solid plan."

"It is. That's why I'm surprised."

John hits Arthur's shoulder. "Shut up."

"I'll leave you to it then." Arthur turns around although he doesn't want to. There's a lot that could go wrong and he'd rather protect John, but he's not Dutch or Hosea. He has no business telling John what to do.

He's halfway to his horse when John grabs him by the shoulder and turns him around. "I wanted to do this on my own, but if it's the two of us-"

Arthur surely likes the sound of that. "Go on."

John watches the house, thinking. "We could take care of these idiots right now, take their places. We wait till that rich guy shows, then take the money and keep the gold."

"Now that's what I call a solid plan," Arthur smiles. He can't help being proud. "Let's do that."

That's when Arthur begins to notice that John's not a stupid kid anymore and it gets worse from there 😆 I reeeally need to work on that damn fic.

Thank you for the morston feels. That sure hits different for me.

[psycheswritings]

Nothing’s Fair in Love and War - Nine

Title: Nothing’s Fair in Love and War

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Daphne Scott (OFC)

Warnings: Swearing, a little misogyny and a lot of angst.

Word Count: 4795

Author's Note: So, how have you all been? Good, I expect. This chapter is a little, well, angsty. There is a lot of emotions going around and things start to go wrong for everyone. I will post the playlist for the fic soon but I warn you, I'll break your heart there might be some spoilers in the lyrics. The music recommended for this chapter is "Big Guns" by Ruelle. A big, huge thank you for everybody who still reads the fic even after nine ass long chapters. Be prepared for a lot more. As always, this haven’t been proofread, so feel free to report any mistakes back to me; warnings are expecific for each chapter; tags are at the end of the post and if you want to be added, let me know. Also, your feedback is also highly appreciated.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Tommy discovers that Arthur and Michael are in prison and confronts Campbell about it. When Daphne discovers the whole ordeal about Arthur's prison, she and Alfie have a discussion that doesn't end all that well.

Nine

Things were going smoothly for the Shelby family - the pubs in London were earning a god profit, the exportation of the alcohol had encountered no hindrance so far and then there was Daphne, that had finally give in to his advances. Tommy should have expected that something would go wrong, because things had always been like that for them. It had been this way when his mom died and his father ran away, it had been like that with the war, this time was no different.

“We had a deal.” He entered the church to find the irishman on his usual spot, reading the newspaper. “Hey! We had a fucking deal!”

“I would think that you would moderate your language in a place of worship.” His tone didn’t conceal the disdain and Tommy has had enough of the attitude, so he rips the paper out of Campbell’s hands and throws it away, pointing a finger to the policeman’s face.

“We had a fucking deal.”

“Mr. Shelby, if you read the papers, you might have seen that the Home Secretary has got himself into a bit of a fizz about certain moral issues. Prostitution, protection, racketeering, drinking, cocaine and, of course, gambling. He has demanded results.” As the Irishman lectures, Tommy starts to pace around, breath uneven, trying his best to not let his anger take over. He had to think of a way to get them out of this situation.

“You offered me protection. You promised me protection.”

“Well, no, you see it was Mr. Churchill that made you that promise. And the Home Secretary outranks him, so…” Campbell observes as Tommy walks around before saying. “And I can hardly be blamed if your demented brother decided to go on some sort of blood orgy during dinner.” The little patience that the gangster had was gone and as he approaches the policeman he is already shouting at him.

“Don't fucking lie to me! Do not sit here in your fucking church and lie to me!”

“You will need to contain your emotions or this meeting is at an end.” Tommy faces Campbell for a moment, his only wish is to put a bullet through his head, has been for a long time, but he tries his best to regain his composure, stepping back from the man and turning his back from him, resting his hands on the benches on the other side of the aisle. “Good. That's better. So, let us review the new situation. I have your brother in a prison cell charged with the murder of Billy Kitchen. The case against him is strong and I have no doubt that his destiny is to hang. And then there is Polly's son, Michael. He has already admitted to helping Arthur burn down the Marquis pub. He was a tough nut to crack, that boy, but crack he did. So I have your brother facing the noose, I have your cousin facing five years for arson. And I have your entire organization in disarray in Birmingham and in London.”

“What do you want?” Tommy asks, facing the policeman again.

“What do I want?!” Campbell looks at the gangster like he is not making sense at all. “I don't understand.”

“I have already agreed to do your fucking killing for you. Now, what is it you want from me?” Tommy’s voice is low and he punctuates every word. Campbell stands up from the bench to get closer to the gangster and the younger man just observes him, trying to conceal his anger.

“There you go, you see. An agreement is not the same thing as an assurance, now, is it? You see, I found I wasn't sleeping so well. It wasn't just the smell and the noise in that room, no. It was the nagging doubt. The knowledge… The knowledge that Tommy Shelby is not afraid to die. Therefore, the threat to your own life might not be enough to make it certain that you will obey me on the given day. I needed also the power of life and death over your family. And that I now have. Your brother, your cousin and your sister. I have known her address in Primrose Hill since the day she moved i, she is safe only as long as I want her to be. I have been ahead of you every step of the way. And, as my father used to say, to make sure your dog obeys you, you have to show it the stick once in a while.” He holds his cane up, as to illustrate his words, before walking out of the church, the echoes of the walking stick filling the air as Tommy stands there, weighing down his options.

#* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #

“Tommy, Arthur is in solitary confinement. Michael is in the remand wing of…” Lizzie follows him when he enters the office, but he is only partially registering what she is saying to him, the sound of the telephone ringing on the background.

“I already know. Get out, shut the doors.” She does as he says and Tommy sits on his desk, hands resting on the wood, eyes observing the telephone before he picks it up.

“Tommy? It's me. Tommy, can you hear me?” It’s impossible to not recognize the voice and the gangster is not sure about the way it makes him feel.

“Yes, Grace.”

“I think you called. I haven't slept.” He takes a deep breath before answering.

“Grace, this is not a good time.”

“I can call you back.” There is a hint of desperation on her voice, like she is clinging to something, a thread of hope perhaps. He should expect that, between her proposal before she left to America and the letters she kept sending him even when he didn’t answer none of them, even after she married, but part of him still felt a little surprised by her tone.

“No, it's fine. It's all right.”

“Can we meet?” The words had barely left his lips when she talks again and something occurs to Tommy - maybe this is the chance he has to balance things between him and Campbell and find out once and for all how he feels about her.

“Yes. We'll meet.”

“When?”

“Grace, there are some things I have to do first.”

#* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #

Tommy entered the Shelby house to find Polly sitting at the table in the room connected to the betting shop, smocking. He walked past her, entering the other room where John, Esme and Finn where waiting. Stooding near the table, hands behind his back, he prepared himself to survey the damage containment. “John?”

“The coppers have lifted ten of our men in Camden Town, the rest of them are on the run.”

“Tom, they've taken Michael.” It was Finn, clearly worried about his cousin’s situation.

“Business first.”Was all Tommy said to his brother to silence the boy.

“They took Michael last night...” Polly got up from her seat, clearly exasperated by the fact that her son was now in jail. All she wanted was a way to get him out, business be damned.

“I said business first.”

“They picked him up…” Tommy didn’t let her finish, raising his voice and looking at her as he said.

“Polly, business first!” She leaned into the doorframe, restless, her nephew ignored that, turning to look at his brother. “John?”

“They took all our whisky, so no doubt they'll be supping that for Christmas. They've impounded all our vans, put their own locks on the warehouse. The Eden Club and all our pubs have been raided by the coppers and handed back to Sabini and Solomons.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “The Black Country boys think it was Arthur that killed Billy because that's what the coppers told them. So there'll be no more free passes for our whisky boats.”

“I don't give a fuck about whisky. I don't give a fuck about Billy Kitchen. I want my son out of prison. Now.” Polly came forward talking directly at Thomas.

“Thomas, I spoke to Johnny Dogs...”

“This meeting should just be family.” The older woman interrupts Esme, not boring herself to look at the girl.

“I can help.” John’s wife protests but Polly directs her answer to Tommy again.

“It's family only, she is not blood, Tommy!”

“Let her speak.” The gangster says, trying to maintain his voice low.

“Or is this a business? Have you forgotten…”

“Enough!” He screams looking at his aunt. “Enough, Polly.” The man turns to his sister-in-law. “Esme?”

“I spoke to Johnny Dogs. The Lees are kin.”

“The bloody Lees!” Polly exclaims, not believing that Tommy is really considering the offer.

“They can give us men!” Esme argues.

“We don't need more fucking men! It's men that have done the damage! It... It... is men fighting like cockerels that have put us here in the first place.” Tommy just ignores his aunt outburst, knowing that she is not thinking rationally because of Michael’s situation.

“Esme, I'll take up their offer. We need men.” He takes a brief look at Polly, who stares at him, shaking her head before taking a step closer to him.

“If Michael ever gets out of prison, I am taking him away from this family. For good.” She marches up to Finn, taking the young boy by the arm, all the while Tommy observes her, quiet. “This life is bad. This life is all bad.”

“Aunt Pol, what are you doing?” The youngest Shelby protests as she forces him out of the room with her.

“Shut up and walk.” There’s just him, John and Esme on the betting shop now. They listen to the door opening and then closing. Tommy leans his hands into fists on the table, before sitting down on the chair in front of John.

“Thomas? Should I go and speak to Queen Mary Lee at the Black Patch?” Esme takes a step closer to her husband, watching as Thomas rests his elbows on the table, hands intertwined together in front of his mouth.

“Yes.”

“She can give us soldiers for a few nights.” She says and he just murmurs.

“Mm, good.” Fingers moving restlessly as he looks down onto the table, mind racing to think of solutions.

“John, go and bring up the car.” The other Shelby looks up at his wife, that just nods her head towards the door. He gets up from the chair, giving a last glance at his brother who is still silent, then he picks up his hat and leaves. Esme walks to the door to certifie herself that he really left before coming back to the table and inclining herself on the table to get closer to her brother-in-law. “Imagine riding away, Thomas. Living the real life, you know? Your Gypsy half is the stronger. You just want to ride away.” Thomas looks up at her, just observing quietly as she talks. “France is the new place for us, they say. Lot of metal lying around still. Guns and trucks and spent shells and things. Then you go south. Saintes-Maries, where the Black Madonna is. My brothers go sometimes for the fair. It's like a home for us. They still let you get lost there.” He lowers his hands to the table and leans closer to her, speaking low and calmly.

“I've been to France, Esme. So has John. Now get your coat and go with your husband.” The gangster just observes her for a moment, before taking her face between the fingers of his left hand. “And if you ever talk about getting lost again, I will cut you from this family.” After he releases her, Esme looks around, as to make a point, before speaking.

“What family?” And then she leaves and Thomas can’t help to think that she is not all wrong.

#* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #

Daphne doesn’t see Alfie before going to the bakery that morning, what she finds a little strange, because they usually go to work together, but she brushes it off as overthinking. Yet, things get weirder as she approaches the bakery and all the man go dead silent as she passes then. She ignores it too, like she ignores the little remnants of blood on the floor and the fact that Ollie seems more nervous than usual around her. That is until she has to get out of her office to ask something to Ollie and overhears a conversation between two of their employees - a conversation about the prison of one of the gypsy brothers.

She stops dead on her tracks, the two men see her and look at each other like they’ve just seem a ghost, until Ollie shoo them away, looking back at her with a very frightened expression. It’s then that it all comes weighing down on her - Alfie’s extrange behavior for all these past months, the fact that he wanted her out of the house last night, his cold demeanor towards her since the wedding.

Ollie tries to intercept her when she starts walking again but there is no stopping her as she storms through the corridor to Alfie’s office. Her breath is uneven and she has a hard time recognizing what exactly is the feeling bubbling under her skin - is it anger? Or maybe it’s betrayal but she can figure it out why she would feel that way. When she opens the door, unceremoniously, Alfie immediately looks up from whatever it is he is working on. He nods at Ollie, who is standing right behind her, and the younger man leaves, closing the door.

“You already know then?” There was no reason to pretend he didn’t know why she was there, he had been preparing himself for that all morning. Alfie reclines himself back into his chair, letting his glasses fall to his chest as he looks at her. She doesn’t sit on her usual chair, right in front of him, doesn’t think she can, not in the state she is in and that is his first sign of what is about to come.

“That’s what you’ve been hiding from me all along?” If he didn’t knew her so well, Alfie would think that she wasn’t unsettled by the news. Standing there, in the middle of his office, speaking to him without raising her voice, her speech did not falter, like this was just a normal conversation about the business and not the questioning that he knew it was, Daphne showed few signs of the raging battle roaring inside of her. She had always been good at concealing her feelings even when she was a kid, having been raised to be a proper lady, not letting others know that underneath all that pretense lived a real woman with real feelings.

“I knew you would vouch against it if I told ya.”

“Then you just decided that it was better to do it behind my back?” It was already bad enough to think the exact same thing on his head, hearing her said it out loud only made things ten times worse and he kinda hated himself for that.

“Look, love, I’ve told ya we were going to use them to win the war and then get rid of the fucking gypsies, haven’t I?” Rolling her eyes she asked him.

“Sabini is not a problem anymore then, is he?” Alfie almost swore under his breath - she was too damn perceptive, he had been fooling her for far more time than he thought was possible. The Jew took a deep breath before stating.

“We’ve made an agreement.” She laughs, humourless, hands resting on her waist before she traps him in her gaze.

“An agreement.” A pause. “Let me guess, he promised you that our bookies could go to Epsom this year in exchange of your help to get rid of the Blinders?” Daphne waits for him to say something, which he doesn’t, and she caughts herself massaging her temples as she paces around the room. “And like all the other times, he will deceive you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Don’t I?” She snaps at his tone, walking to his desk, standing between the two chairs and propping her hands, closed into fists, on the wood.

“We have a written deal.” He tries to hold his ground but stops as he hears her laugh again, mockingly.

“A written deal, of course, how haven’t I thought of this before, huh?” Her hazel eyes search for his blue ones. “Tell me, Alfie, this is what you call winning a war?”

“What do you know about winning wars, Daphne?” He regrets the words the moment they left his mouth, specially when she flinches away from him, taking a step back from the desk.

“I know plenty about war, Alfred, you know that better than anyone.”

“Daph…” The Jew almost gets up from his seat but she stops him before he could finish the movement.

“Don’t.” Turning her back to him, Daphne closes her eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply, trying to keep her cool. “What did you do?”

“We’ve taken all of the clubs back and Arthur is in prison.” She looked at him from over her shoulder.

“For what?”

“The murder of Billy Kitchen.”

“That was your plan all along?” She hears him exhale loudly before his voice is heard.

“Not in detail, but yeah, it was the plan since the beginning, aye.” 

“And you didn’t told me before… why?”

“Because you’ve turned soft, Daphne.” When she turned to face him his expression had changed, it’s like he was telling her something that is obvious. “I knew that from the moment that that fucking gypsy put foot on this bakery.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I knew you wouldn’t accept the deal with Sabinni because of Thomas.” He leans forward, resting his forearms on the desk, hands intertwined, venon in his voice.

“Tommy has nothing to do with me thinking that this deal is bad for us.” She snaps back at him and this time he is the one who laughs.

“He has everything to do with it, love, because you love him.” He pauses to gauge her reaction. Daphne shakes her head in denial.

“You are out of your damn mind.”

“I am out of my mind?” He stands up, leaning onto his fists, his tone of voice higher than before. “Are you even hearing yourself and how much of a hypocrite you are being, huh? How’s he any different than all the ones we betrayed before him, huh? I will tell you the difference, the difference is that you’ve let yourself fall in love with him, that’s the fucking difference, innit?”

“You know me well enough to know that I would never let my feelings get in the way of the business.”

“You don’t deny it then? You do love him, don’t you?” She doesn’t answer him and that only seems to add fuel to the fire. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you were already sneaking around with him, huh? Opening your…”

“STOP!” Her scream seems to get him out of his trance and the hurt in her eyes is like a knife to his heart. “Don’t say something that you will regret later. Don’t make me hate you, Alfie, because I don’t know if I can come back from that.” They just stare at each other for a long moment before she speaks again. “Why do you keep me around, Alfie? Why do you keep me around if you truly believe that I will betray you at the first opportunity I have?”

“Because I made a fucking promise…” His tone is lower and solemn but she doesn’t let him finish.

“Fuck you and your promises. It’s not me you have to worry about, Alfred, is yourself.” His expression softens and Alfie almost takes a step back at the sheer force of her words. “You push everyone around you away, always have something up your sleeve to try and gain something from everybody. You want to call me a hypocrite, fine, maybe I am, but so are you. Because you stand there, looking at me and talking about fucking promises when you’ve been lying to me for months in a row and even after all these years that I’ve been nothing but loyal to you, you have the nerve to look me in the eye and tell me that you’re afraid I would betray you for somebody else.”

“Daph…” He walks around the table to get closer to her but she steps back, not letting him talk or get closer to her.

“If I really wanted to do that you really think I would choose Thomas? That I would have waited all these years listening from everyone how crazy I was to still be around you, hearing people calling me your mistress and God knows what else behind my back. If I really wanted to betray you, Alfie, I would have done it a hell lot sooner, because that’s all that Sabini has been waiting.”

Silence fills the room and neither of them is really sure how many time has passed when she speaks again.

“I’m going home. I’ll be there tomorrow morning, don’t wait for me.” He reaches for her as she turns to leave, catching her wrist on his hand, forcing her to face him.

“Are you leaving?” There is a certain level of desperation on his voice and there is no mistaking the worry in his blue eyes, she almost caves in.

“Yes, I’m leaving.”

“Where are you going?” Daphne takes a deep breath, holding his gaze.

“To a hotel. I need some time alone. I will still come to work, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“It’s not about the fucking work I’m worried about, innit?” There is silence again and she recognizes the conflict on his face. “And if I don’t let you go?”

“I’m not asking for your permission.” She breaks away from his hold and walks to the door while Alfie waits for her to look back. She doesn’t.

#* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #

“Where've you been?” Ada asks her aunt as she enters the room and sees her taking a bath.

“I went to the Spotted Dog in Digbeth for a glass or two of rum.” The younger woman observes her aunt and frowns, asking.

“Was it one glass or two?”

“It was three.” Polly looks around. “Where's the baby?”

“Sleeping.” Ada reclines herself into the couch. “More like five.” The older woman groans lightly, lifting her arms from the water to rest it on the rim of the tub ad look at her niece.

“It was more like six.” She reaches for the cigarette, resting on the ashtray on the table near her. “Did you meet the maid?”

“I talked politics with her, she got bored and went to bed.” They both chuckle at Ada’s statement. “I phoned James. He talked to the lawyer anyway. He said he'd take Arthur's case for free, so we don't need Tommy.” The older woman exhales loudly, clearly disturbed by the topic. “Pol? We'll get Michael free, as well, I promise.”

“There's no need, they're letting him out in the morning.” Her expression changes to something somber and Ada frowns, worried. “Do you still talk to Daphne?” The question sounds strange to the young woman, but she answers anyway.

“Yes.”

“Then tell her that the best thing she can do is stay away from your brother. She is a nice girl, has certainly suffered enough. There is no future for her besides a man like him.”

“Pol, why…”

“If the baby wants anything at night, ring the bell by the bed. She gets paid to work twenty four hours, that girl, she's getting lazy. Well, take advantage if you're nice.” Ada observes as her aunt leans into the tub and concludes that the best think she can do is leave her, so that’s what she does.

#* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #* #

Daphne doesn't sleep that night. She tosses and turns on the bed, restless, thinking about her fight with Alfie and how the Shelby’s might be dealing with all the trouble, until she decides that there is no reason to stay laying down when no sleep will come to her. So she gets up and sits on one of the armchairs by the fireplace, a glass of whiskey on her hands, eyes focused on the fire burning there.

She recalls the words exchanged between her and Alfie that morning and starts to question herself about his accusation. Had her judgment of the situation been tainted by her feelings towards Tommy? Had she really let herself be blinded by love, like Polly had waned her? She, who always had done her best to conceal her feelings from everybody and leave her life dealing with things as rationally as she could?

The burning of the alcohol down her throat brings her back to the present and she hears the banging on the door. Daphne tries to ignore it, thinking that it might be Alfie or one of his man. She doesn’t have the strength or the patience to deal with neither now. Then she hears talking and all of a sudden the doors opens and Harriet comes in - no makeup, loose hair and wearing a simple plain gray dress, a worried expression on her face.

“What happened?” The courtesan closes the door behind her, approaching the other woman, taking a sit on the vacant armchair. Daphne turns her face to look through the windows, noticing that is already dawning, she haven’t noticed how many time she had been there.

Harriet looks around before fixing her gaze on her friend again - the bed is disheveled but just one look at Daphne says enough for her to know that the woman hadn't had a minute of sleep in the past few hours. Her legs are pulled up on the chair, closer to her chest, hair messily tied in, an empty glass of whiskey in her hands.

“Ollie called me in the middle of the afternoon saying that Alfie was beyond himself and that you had left.” There is still no response, the only reaction she gets from Daphne is that she rests her head on the back of the armchair, body relaxing into the armchair as her gaze falls onto the fire. “He keeps saying that he fucked up and that he doesn’t deserves your trust but he refused to tell me the meaning of it.”

“We fought.” Harriet is almost giving up, preparing herself to leave, when Daphne’s voice resounds on the room.

“That much I could tell.” Hazel eyes focus on her and the courtesan sighs. “What about?”

“Thomas.” Daphne pauses, inhales deeply before moving to serve herself another glass of whiskey. “Well, I thought it was about the business, but you can say that the main reason was him.” Harriet says nothing, waiting, because she knows that pressing her right now is not the best of choices. “Did you knew?”

“Knew what?”

“About his plans to serve the Shelby’s to Sabini on a silver plate.” They look at each other for a moment before Harriet answers.

“No. I had my suspicions that he would do something about them soon but he never told me anything.” Daphne only hums in response, taking a sip of her drink. “What did he do?” The other woman sneers.

“He made a deal with Sabini so our bookies could work Epsom this year. They have raided all the clubs taken by the Blinders and Tommy’s older brother is in jail, framed by the murder of one of their men.”

“Oh my…”

“That’s what he had been hiding from me all these months.” Daphne downs the rest of the whiskey, observing as she turns the glass in her hand. “I told him that Sabini was going to betray him like he has done so many times before and he told me that I was being a hypocrite questioning his actions because we have done that before.” She takes a deep breath, looking at the fire again. “And that I was only doing that because I loved Tommy.”

“What the fuck! Alfie is out of his damn mind?!” Harriet gets up from her sit, takes the glass from Daphne's hands and pours whiskey on it, taking it in one gulp.

“He is not.” The courtesan turns to face her friend, who is still sprawled out on the armchair.

“What…”

“He may have said some things that he shouldn’t, but he is not out of his mind.” Daphne’s expression is devoid of emotion and she is calmer than she had been on the previous day. “The thing is... The thing is he is right, Harriet. Alfie is right. The only difference between Thomas and all of the other people we betrayed is that I love him.”

Taglist: @stressedandbandobessed7771​

[singeramg]

Midnight: Chapter 14

Paring: Clark Kent/ Metahuman! Black! OFC

Rating: M

Warning: None other than some angst and maybe some tears if you are sensitive...

A/n: Hey everyone! I am back again! Did you all enjoy my last chapter? If you missed it check out my masterlist! 

Midnight: Chapter 14

Previously:

 “Are you blocking again Gia. You always block when you aren’t ready to hear the truth but this is it. You are absolutely right...about everything. I still don’t how I managed to mess everything up so badly between us, but I do know I will spend the rest of my life regretting it if it costs me you forever. Please Gia don’t walk away again. I can’t watch you leave when I shouldn’t have let you go the first time..”

 “What do you mean you shouldn’t have let me go the first time?”

 Currently:

 I felt my stomach drop but in a way that I couldn’t understand. Clark is staring at me, his blue eyes capturing me and I’m conflicted on whether to run into his rather large arms or slap him across his dumb handsome face, damn the wrist sprain I’ll suffer. 

   “I should have fought harder for you. I got cold feet about what we could have been and I stayed comfortable rather than trying something new. I messed up badly and all I’m asking for is the opportunity to make it right.”

 I roll my eyes and poke him in his chest. Feels like I am poking a wall but I don’t care. Clark doesn’t give any indication that I've poked him, only looks at me as softly as he did before.

  “Is this about your conscious? This feels like you are apologizing to get that guilt off your chest. Clark I told you a long time ago and just now that you don’t have to feel bad about loving Lois. She was a natural choice. She is gorgeous, red hair, soft eyes, driven, accomplished. Who wouldn’t want someone like that? It was okay that you loved her. You don’t need to apologize for that.”

 He laughs slightly and says

   “Yes Lois is all of those things. And Yes there was a time where I thought she was it for me. You, however are more than that, you always have been. Now, here you are, the mother of my child and all I want is you.”

 There it was.

 Clark didn’t want me truly, he just wanted the family. What the good ole’ Bible Belt told him he needed to do and be when you had a child. I shake my head in disbelief that he thought I would fall for something like this. That I would fall into his arms because of a child. Here I was about to foolish again, believing that there was anything for me in his heart. I step even further away, snatching up the pj’s that I pulled out and going over to the bathroom. I didn’t even have the heart to yell at him. I was tired of the yell and the explaining of myself and emotions to Clark fucking Kent. I didn’t feel like trying to re-program him and trying to make him see sense. If he didn’t understand my feelings weren’t for playing around and weren’t for him to call on for a ego boost by now, then he never would.

I had one child to raise, I didn’t need other in Clark’s teenaged behavior. I knew I would never not love him. It was clear as day, I never could forget this, but I also know if I didn’t put an end of this AGAIN then it would build until I felt like I could do was run away again. I would take Kalen and run and that would only make things harder for me and Clark to co-parent. It was a shitstorm of epic proportions that needed a conclusion.

   “Kal you can stay in the room with Kalen all you want. You two should bond, but as far as you and me goes. There isn’t a you and me. We can learn to be friends again, make that part work for the sake of Kalen. Goodnight Kal-El.”

 The kicked puppy look Clark shoots me, almost made me think he was serious. I knew Clark and he was just reeling from having gone down knowing he had an almost Fiancee to waking up and having her married to someone else. It had to be jarring for him and now he was looking for comfort in having a family, to feel normal again. He was willing to settle with me. 

I didn’t want his pity settlement/ entitlement.

I closed the door to my bathroom, listening for the door to my room to open and close. When I did I let out the breath I had been holding. He didn’t love me. Not in the way I still loved him...

 *Two days later*

 I watched with the rest of the world as trash and war ships were dumped back on the land, and I worried for my friend. Arthur wasn’t the type to keep a phone and considering he was spending most of his time in the water. He was unreachable, and I worried as the various news channels tried to identify him. The worry for Arthur helped take my mind off Clark as terrible as that sounded. 

I was avoiding him like the damn plague and that was because I didn’t trust myself around him. It was easy to avoid him when he radiates so much energy, and in case he tried to alter his emotions to get to me, I had them off every time I knew he was in the area.

I of course looked after Kalen but I made sure to stay clear of him, Ms. A doing her best to be a bumper between the two of us. I hated that she was leaving me. She had become the grandmother I never had, always being around to help and love on Kalen. It was for her own protection but as I sat on her bed, watching her pack the things Bruce purchased for her while Clark took Kalen to the farm with his mother, I was sad.

   “Pick up your face child, I’m moving not dying.”

 She jokes and folds a sweater away into the black suitcase.

   “Yes but California is far away Ms. Alphonse.”

   “Yes, but think about how you and Kalen can come visit me in the warm weather! My niece wants to meet you!”

I smile.

   “I want to meet her too. We will plan a trip soon, Kalen and I.”

   “And Clark.”

 I roll my eyes and huff.

   “I think he needs to stay around here, can’t solve crimes that far away.”

   “The man can fly, I don’t think that’s the problem. Oh and don’t think I haven’t been noticing you avoiding him. Always sending me in with Kalen when he is here. I’ve been going along with it, but you do know that is coming to an end right?”

   “Yes I realize that, but then I’ll just have Alfred do it.”

   “Gia. Why are you avoiding the man? Do you know he asks about you every time he sees me? Looks shattered when I tell him I don’t know.”

   “Long story short he thinks that a family will fix all of his abandonment issues. I decided a long time ago I was done with the wrangling of a superhero.”

 Ms. A laughs at me which makes me pout slightly.

   “Why is that a bad thing? If he wants to be a family with you...I mean you can’t get much better than Superman.”

   “That’s Just it. I’m just me, he is Superman. He can have any woman he wants. He is only trying this because Lois got married and his own upbringing says you should have a family together with your child’s mother. I know him, it’s only a matter of time before he realizes again that I’m not it. I’d rather avoid the heartbreak later by ending it now.”

 She comes back over to her bed, sitting next to me before pulling me into a hug.

  “Baby I know you’ve been through a lot in your life and I also know that when someone burns you you think the best thing to do is cut the head off. It’s like a Hydra it always grows back with two more heads. The real question is are you fixing it or hiding it away? I’m going to tell you right now that you are only hurting yourself.”

   “I need to hurt myself before someone else does.”

   “Gia baby that is no way to live...”

 *At work*

 I was at work again much to everyone’s chagrin, but Victor was on a remote babysitting duty tonight. I knew I was going to have to quit because of those people that had taken me before found my house so quickly, it would only be a matter of time before they tracked me down again, but in this case more time out of the house meant I was less likely to run into Clark. It was the middle of the week, meaning we had a few regulars but no large crowds which was good for me. I was washing out some tumblers and hand drying them for later use, when a throat cleared behind me. I turned around and almost dropped the glass I was cleaning when I found  Lois sitting at the bar. This was the last place I expected to see her but her face gave no indication as to why she was there.

   “Oh wow... Look Lois, if you are here to slap me then come on get it over with. I already feel like shit.”

  “Is that how you greet all your old friends?”

She says with a wry smile in my direction.

   “Only the ones that want to fight me.”

   “Well then pick a different greeting then because I am not here to fight you Gia.”

 I raised an eyebrow.

  “Really? You aren’t just saying that to get a drink on the house are you?”

I smile slightly and go to make the drink I always knew was her favorite. She takes a long sip.

  “This drink might actually be heaven great job. Now let’s cut the bullshit and get to why I am really here.”

She says to me and takes another sip.

  “There’s the Lois I know.”

  “Exactly. The Lois who is a friend or at least thought she was AND has a few questions.”

  “Okay break me down reporter.”

  “Clark told me about your son together. I have a few questions I need answered woman to woman.”

 I sighed, I knew the woman to woman talk was going to have to happen eventually.

   “Alright. How about you head over to the booth, I’ll take my break and we can talk.”

 She agrees and takes her drink, her camel colored mid length coat covering the nice clothes that clearly signified she came from work to talk to me. It didn’t bode well for me because that meant she has been thinking about this all day. She was going to chew me out and I was going to have to let her because let’s face it, I was the third in a duo whether I meant to be or not.

I signaled my coworker to watch the bar for me, even though there was only  a few patrons in at the moment. 

 I slide in across from her, a glass of water in front of me. I eye her nervously, surely picking up on her energy, but she is radiating a swirl of things the most prominent being nerves, confusion, sadness all tied together with happiness. 

Very unsettling considering everything 

     “So As I said Clark told me that you two have. Son together. He also told me about the timeline of his conception. I guess I can’t truly say that he cheated with you because he didn’t but in a odd way it kind of feels that way slightly. Like when he and I took that break it was because I wasn’t sure his heart was in it anymore, plus all that stuff with Bruce and I needed time to think. It hurt to think he was able to be with you so easily. I’ve made peace with that. What I really want to know is why you left? At the end of everything we were friends, you could have asked me for help.”

   “Lois yes we were friends but be real, if I had come to you immediately after Clark died and said ‘aye yo’ sis I know you loved him and everything, but he and I did the deed and now I’m carrying your dead boyfriend's child’ Lois I know you. You would have absolutely hated me and never believed that it was only the one time.”

 She had the grace to look ashamed.

   “Maybe at the beginning. I would have still understood and as I said you were my friend. I was more upset about you abandoning me once Clark died than anything. I thought we were better than that.”

 I looked at her saddened, somehow feeling more terrible than I had about anyone because she had been a good friend to me. 

   “We were. Maybe I shouldn’t have left, but I couldn’t handle you and Martha hating me. I already felt like an invasive species in your world.”

  “You weren’t and I’m sorry if I never expressed that you weren’t. Besides, I should have bowed out a while ago.”

I looked at her confused as she took another drink. I followed suit with my water.

    “Huh?”

    “Gia how long have you been in love with Clark?”

 I know I looked like a deer in headlights as I stared at Lois, who only had a small smirk on her face as she watched me panic. This had been one of my fears. That I would have to look her in the eyes and explain that had sat in her face smiling all the while loving her man. It was shady as fuck at best.

   “W..wwhat do you mean? I don’t love him.”

   “So now we are going to sit in each other’s faces and lie? Come on Gia, I am a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative  journalist and at the end of it all, I am a woman. I knew. I choose to ignore it because I was being selfish, trying to hold on to something that was never meant to last. Honestly, trying to keep up with a superhero? Knowing he was out facing evils and putting himself at risk? Knowing I had no way of stopping it? One of the reasons I needed to think without him was I was coming to the realization that I wasn’t cut out for feeling helpless. That’s never been me.”

 I still didn’t want to say it out loud.

   “Gia all I am asking for is a little honesty. Don’t let poor little ole me go into the world thinking I’m crazy, when I know I’m not.”

   “Fine. I guess it didn’t start that way and I know he was completely dedicated to you. I thought at first it was like me being young and dumb, you know that public figure crush that everyone gets when faced with an attractive public figure, then maybe I thought it was a whole bonding because of the trauma, then I don’t know what happened. And I tried not to feel that way. Honest Lois I did, because it was hopeless for me to feel that way. I was learning to be okay with being his friend. Then that night happened. It changed everything.”

   “And how did he tell you he was still going to be with me.”

   “After he disappeared on me for a week, he came by and told me that he and I shouldn’t be around each other.”

 I left out the part that I saw them together first, and until that moment I was holding out for him to come back to me.

  “Clark has always had foot in mouth syndrome. He is very intelligent but sometimes he just says the wrong thing.”

   “You can say that again, Jesus.”

 We laugh and somehow it gets serious again as awkwardness fills the room.

  “ That night that Clark died was certain about your feelings. I was grieving him but the way you grieved him was different. It almost felt intrusive to watch how you sat next him and just cried, your hand on his, literally trying to push energy into him, you don’t even realize you were begging him not to leave you, it was so quiet and heartbreaking that if I hadn’t been listening over his chest I wouldn’t have heard you at all. It was like a private moment that you shared with him, even in death.“

 I was shocked. Everything was such a blur that night. I didn’t remember asking Clark not to leave.

 “I felt even worse when I found the ring he had for me.”

 “It was a beautiful ring.” I noted.

 “I didn’t tell anyone when I found these.”

 She pulls out two envelopes. One with her name and the other one for me.

 She sides mine across the table, and I pick it up recognizing Clark’s neat writing, indicating that he took his time, because it was impossible to be that neat if he was rushing versus him taking his time.

  “I was upset when I read mine, but I never had any intention on not giving you yours. Like I said you disappeared.”

The paper feels heavy in my hand and I don’t want to open it. 

   “I never read it just an FYI. The letters were hidden in his stuff in the apartment. I actually found the ring a while before I found these. My letter basically said that he loved me and he always would but I didn’t deserve to be with someone who couldn’t give me their whole heart. He wished that he had the courage to say that to me, that our time together had made everything he’d done in his life worth it and hoped that someday we would be friends.”

 I looked at her shocked. Clark had actually planned on leaving her?

 “I..Lois..I don’t know what to say...”

 “There is nothing to say. Just read your letter.”

She shrugs and I open the slightly brown envelope. 

 Dearest Gia,   I am writing this letter to you because I’ve always been better with the written word than talking. The confidence I have in spades on a normal day disappears when I am around you. I want to say that I regret not staying with you. It’s not that I don’t love Lois but you walked out my life two weeks ago and I haven’t been okay since. It’s like you took all of my hopes, dreams and happiness with you. This is why I am breaking things off with Lois for good. I can’t love her that way now that I have experienced being with you. The mistake I made haunts me night after night and I can’t sleep, not without feeling you next to me. I’m not a creeper” as you would have called me, but most of the time I stay up watching your apartment and hoping you change your mind. Ask me to come back to you.    There are so many things I want to say to you and I can’t because you don’t want me... at least not the way I want you. You were perfectly okay with being my friend, and I ruined it by not being able to stop myself, because I had to have you. Even if it was for only one night, one night that you entrusted me to be with you and I ruined it as soon as I possibly could. This letter is the only chance I suspect I’ll ever have to tell you exactly how I feel, because if I know anything about you, once you dig your heels in about something then that’s it. That goodbye you spoke to me felt final, and I am not okay with that, but I can’t deny you from whatever you want from me.   However, I cannot let you leave my life without telling you that I love you. I know that you don’t feel that way for me and I selfishly wished you did because I could call you mine. Finally.    As I said in the earlier part of my letter I’ve never been good with voicing my feelings, especially around you. The feelings I have for you run deep and maybe someday when I see you married or with someone else’s child I’ll get over you, but  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over you.    This letter is getting long and I’ve probably taken your attention away from someone who has a chance with you. I won’t bother you again, but I do want you to know that  I’ll always listen for your voice,  I’ll always come when you call for me.   Yours,   Clark Joseph Kent

 I looked back up at Lois with my eyes and face wet.

   “I meant it when I said I should have bowed out a long time ago. I told you I never read your letter, but if it says what I think it does then my suspicions before i had a conversation with him were correct. The reporter in me wanted to read it, but my morals wouldn’t let me intrude on a private moment between the two of you, plus I honestly didn’t know how I would deal with reading if I had said something to you that I wasn’t ready to accept. If your letter was anything like mine then it was personal and I knew what it said.  Clark looked at me like I was the only woman in the world for him, but you Gia... Gia, he looked at you like you hung the moon. At first I didn’t understand why it wasn’t me, what was it about you besides the whole power thing? I realized that while I was Clark’s biggest cheerleader, he didn’t need a cheerleader, he needed a partner. Someone he can pass the ball to when it gets too tough for him mentally and in your case physically as well. I can be there for him and be proud of everything but I don’t think I won’t be able to fully understand what you all go through in your lives. I can write about hard decisions but I’ve never had to make them.”

 Her words hit me right in the chest as I felt her sadness. I could tell what she had just told me hadn’t been something easy to admit to herself much less another person. 

  “I am so sorry Lois.”

  “Don’t be sorry for me. I don’t need that. I met my husband Matthew not too long after that letter and it’s been a worldwide adventure and I realized that my hero can be a regular guy. Matt has been a saving grace more than I can count. If you two can make each other happy then just know that if it helps you have my blessing. All I am asking for is that even if you don’t want to be with Clark can you at least go see him? He is starting to emit a permanent aura of doom and gloom. I’m surprised you can’t feel it.”

   “I’ve kinda been blocking all incoming emotions anytime he is around. I didn’t want to have to feel the pity, the guilt, the complacency he would have to be with me. I didn’t know any better.”

 Lois shakes her head with a smile.

   “You two deserve each other because you are both impossible. Blind leading the blind.”

 I laugh with her and glance over at my coworker who is watching me as well and I realize how much of a mess I had to look like. He looked like he was going to come over any second but I shook my head no once we made eye contact. Lois looks over at him and offers him a head tilt and then looks back at me. She gets up and grabs her bag and coat that she took off once she sat down in the booth. Once prepared to leave she turns to me with a fixed yet soft stare and says

   “Please go and see him.”

   “I will.” I agree and try not to let it show how much I would like to leave at that very moment to tell him.

  “Good. Stay in touch Gia, I didn’t just come to be Clark’s wing...girl. I came to get my friend back.”

She offers me a hug and I take it. 

  “I’ve missed you Lois Lane.”

   “Oh don’t worry you won’t get rid of me now, because you are way too fucking hard to track down. Also let me tell you that I swear if you make me track you to a strip club again I will hurt you.”

 I sighed, and did my best to look nervous. The strip club had not been my finest hour, but the only saving grace was that I’d only been a bartender there too. However the people there were nicer than any other job I had ever had since then,  I didn’t think anyone could find out about that.

   “Alright alright already. Get out of here, I’m sure you are expected home by now.”

 She agrees with a laugh and goes on her way.

 At my return to the bar, my co-workers look at me nervously as if I was going to burst into tears again at any second. I ponder how quickly I can leave to go find Clark. 

   “I’m fine John. You can stop holding your breath. I won’t cry on you.”

 He visibly relaxes at my joke.

   “Damn all this time Tiffany,  I’ve been waiting to be a  shoulder for you to cry on.”

   “With those lines you will be waiting for a long time...”

with that I count down the time until I could leave to find Clark...

A/N: Does anyone need Kleenex? I did and I wrote it lol 

Good news is that Gia now knows exactly how Clark feels about her. Will they finally stop dancing around each other?

Thank You for reading and the taglist for this story is open. I appreciate every reblog and comment. I promise you I am going to do better with responding to the comment that I left because I really enjoy them and don’t want them to stop! 

TAGLIST:

@bloodyinspiredfuck​ @romyr4​ @p3nny4urth0ught5​

[theweekinarrowfic]

Completed Arrow Multichapters on AO3, February 2-8, 2020

NOTE: I’m now crossposting to https://theweekinarrowfic.dreamwidth.org Need more Arrow in your life? Why not try one of the multchapter fanfics recently completed by our talented fic writers?

Olicity

Dancing Around the Lies We Tell by allimarie_xf for Swiftlet_in_the_Cloud (3/3, 08 Feb 2020) - The anonymous hacker who’d been helping Oliver Queen in his mission had first contacted him seven months ago, though “contacted” hardly felt like the right term. He’d arrived at the foundry and booted up his computer one night only to find the entire system had been upgraded, and simple text document saved to the desktop:; I’m truly stunned that no one managed to trace the redistribution of Adam Hunt’s funds back to you. No one else, I mean.; She certainly had a way with words, and in their months together she’d often surprised him with her uncannily insightful observations. Before he realized it, she had come to haunt his thoughts. Who was she, in her normal life?; He was resigned to never knowing. His life was his mission, and there was no room for anything else. Or so he told himself.

Mort Rouge by Amelia_Queen (3/3, 07 Feb 2020) - Oliver se fait droguer pendant une mission et il ne peut demander de l’aide qu’à une personne, Felicity. Mais seule, elle n’est pas sûre de pouvoir le sauver.

Love Lost in Time by Mellowyellowdiamonds (3/3, 03 Feb 2020) - Oliver gets his miracle reset and sets out to woo Felicity all over again.; A humourous take (I hope) on a reset Happily Ever After.

Stuck With Me: The Rest of Our Years by MariaVT (11/11, 03 Feb 2020) - It has been twelve years since their journey began and with the exchanging of vows and rings Oliver and Felicity are setting off on a new journey, one that will last the rest of their lives.; There will be some unexpected challenges, and some unexpected victories, but most of all there will be a life they have forged for themselves full to bursting with love.; This is the fourth and final installment of my Olicity high school - adulthood AU; *Complete*

Other Ships/Characters

Long, Live, Love by Kayemen22 (Oliver/OFC, 25/25, 04 Feb 2020) - Starling is still reeling from the destruction brought on by Malcolm Merlyn. This city needs a hero and Oliver Queen decides he's ready to be that hero,but behind every great hero is a woman with a weird nickname who he's been in love with for practically his entire life.When it seems things are going right, dark secrets of the past seem to threaten to tear them apart. Oliver/OC

New Hopes by siberakg (Arthur Weasley/Molly Weasley, Oliver/Felicity and Ron Weasley/Roy are side pairings; 26/26, 07 Feb 2020) - A creature watched and sometimes decided to alter the events took places in the Multiverses.; I've mixed up all the series to make it up so the events that take place during the 6th year of the Golden Trio,the Season 2 of Desperate Housewives,post Captain America Civil war,Season 2 of the Flash and Season 4 of Arrow and Glee are set in the same time.The different worlds that make up the Multiverses are parallel and set in 2010.This is an alternative Galaxy far from ours.So sit down and travel through the numerous worlds that compose the Multiverses with all your new friends or foes.Watch out because the Multiverses are full of pains,crimes,hypocrisy,betrayals,bad feelings and dangers.Can these poor sools find happiness?; Slash.Character bashings Death. Violence. Love.Tragedy.Adventures.

The Husbands Of Felicity Smoak by always_a_queen for Abbie, StoriesOfImagination, ohemgeeitscoley (Tommy/Oliver/Felicity, 26/26, 06 Feb 2020) - “I love her,” Tommy says helplessly, glancing down at the ring on his finger. “I do. And as happy as I’ve been with her, I’d go back and trade places with you in an instant if it meant she never had to go through the pain of losing you.”; //; When Oliver Queen dies to protect his sister, Felicity Smoak becomes a widow at the tender age of twenty-seven. She doesn’t expect she’ll ever get married again, but Tommy Merlyn has always been someone who defies her expectations. For four months, her marriage to him gives her a joy she’d never thought she’d experience again…; …and then her first husband comes back from the dead.

Wrath of the Ex. by Supergirl2015 (Kate Kane/Reagan, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Oliver/Felicity among side pairings, 41/41, 07 Feb 2020) - What would happen if Reagan's ex came back to Gotham? And crashed Kate's bar's grand opening.