#and then I'm like okay I'm done :) and continue writing a second chapter in the tags

[kittlyns]

Wrote out like a 5000 word vent post only for tumblr to scramble the tags so I guess that one is staying in my head forever and ever

[thef1diary]

Little Big Fan | Fifteen

— Little Big Aftermath [aka the end]

Series Masterlist

wc: 3k

we’ve made it to the end guys! I just have to say I never thought I’d complete this story and that too fifteen parts of it but to all those who read it and motivated me to keep writing, thank you. While it is the end of the official story, I will continue to take requests for blurbs on specific scenes you’d like to see. However, there won’t be a set posting date on these blurbs, it’ll be out whenever it’s requested and completed. Once again, thank you so much for those who were here since the first chapter, and here’s to more fic series in the future. P.S lemme know if you want to be tagged in the blurbs.

Your frown grew deeper as you turned in the direction your daughter had pointed, unfortunately spotting Tyler. Luckily, he wasn't looking at you two since he was focusing on the podium celebrations about to happen.

"I didn't know daddy was here, mama." Picking Isabella up, you shook your head, "I didn't know either, angel, but let's focus on Max for now okay?"

She gave a nod of agreement and applauded for the drivers, Oscar and Lando in particular, who finished second and third in the race. She did, however, cheer the loudest when Max, as he has done after almost every race this season, stepped onto the top step of the podium.

He was having trouble finding you and Isabella right away in the crowd, and you could see the slightest frown forming on his face until a smile emerged when he succeeded, connecting his gaze with yours.

Isabella giggled as Max held his hand up to wave at her before blowing a kiss in the air in your direction. His behaviour drew Lando and Oscar's attention to you as well, with the former driver rolling his eyes at Max jokingly and Oscar smiling at the interaction.

However, you didn't realize that someone else was also looking at you because your gaze didn't waver away from Max.

The champagne bottles were popped, and this time Isabella was awake to see it all, watching with fascination as it was the first time she was able to see it in person. "I wanna do that, mama," she pointed at the drivers spraying the alcoholic drink, soaking each other's race suits while laughing. "Maybe when you're older, Bella."

"When I'm 7?" She asked, and you chuckled, "a little more than that, sweetheart."

Once the celebrations were over, a huge part of the crowd dispersed, the teams resuming to their usual scheduled routines, preparing for post-race debriefs and other meetings. "Where's Maxy going?" Isabella asked, watching as he was led away by someone clad in a RedBull uniform.

"He's a little busy with interviews, but he told me that he'd come back as soon as he's done," you explained, knowing that Max had a post-race conference and a few other duties lined up.

Isabella huffed, "but he won the race." She rested her head on your shoulder for a moment while playing with a strand of your hair—the habit formed back when she was a few months old.

"Yeah he did, which means he's very famous right now and so many people want to talk to him," you explained and while she nodded in understanding, she still pouted, "I wanna talk to him too."

"Why don't we wait for him inside his driver's room?" You asked, turning around when she nodded.

You had almost reached Max's driver room—a place he had suggested for you and Isabella to stay to wait for him, but pausing in a secluded area as a familiar voice called out, "Isabella!" then heard your name as well. Isabella squirmed in your lap, wanting to get down after seeing Tyler walk up to you both. You sighed, knowing that you'd have to stop and chat.

"Tyler," you greeted, and awkwardness hung in the air for two seconds before Isabella decided to speak up. "Daddy, you said you were busy, what are you doing here?"

Despite her hesitance to stay at her father's place, which she still hasn't done since the day she was discharged from the hospital, she frequently spoke to him over the phone.

Unfortunately for him, Isabella rarely forgets promises. While he was busy playing the "good father" role after your ultimatum, he had make false promises, agreeing to everything she asked for without hearing her out properly. In that conversation, she asked about the promise he made of taking her to a race before she had met Max.

While you and Max had taken her once, she still wanted to experience the thrill with her father since he was the one who introduced the sport to her.

He glanced at you, silently asking if he did in fact claim that he was busy, and frowned when you nodded. "Oh Bella, sweetheart, I didn't know that I would have the time to be here, it was an unexpected decision or else I would've brought you along, but you're here anyways!" He tried to uplift her mood, but instead of hanging on to every word he spoke like she used to do, she just shrugged.

Deciding to divert the topic of conversation, Tyler asked, "did you enjoy the race?" He stepped forward, kneeling down to be closer to her but on instinct, Isabella moved away, clutching on to your hand tightly.

He frowned, once again glancing up at you after noticing her behaviour, but you didn't let an ounce of emotion show on your face. "I'm so happy Maxy won!" She exclaimed, her mood improving for a moment as she thought about him.

Standing up to his full height, Tyler looked at you, "why don't we sit and chat for a moment?" Pressing your lips together in a tight smile, you replied, "I don't think that's a good idea."

He scoffed, then shrugged, "fine, have it your way like always." You were not in the mood to indulge his stupid comments which would eventually lead to an argument, in fact you were here to enjoy the weekend with your boyfriend who you dearly missed in this moment.

His eyes widened briefly when you didn't respond to his comment, wondering how you changed so much in a matter of a few weeks that you couldn't care less about him anymore.

"Hey Bella, why don't you show daddy the caps that you got?" You prompted another topic, that Isabella quickly agreed to. Tyler's gaze remained on you for a moment, understanding that you truly had no intention on speaking to him longer than necessary. The conversations you did have were only necessary due to your daughter, but even those texts and calls started becoming less and less frequent.

Isabella took off her Red Bull cap, which had autographs from Max and Checo, to expose a Ferrari cap with two more signatures from Charles and Carlos, and then a McLaren cap that undoubtedly featured two signatures from Oscar and Lando. She caught up to Lando and Charles, who had given her their hats earlier, as well as their teammates, to obtain signatures. She then wanted to get autographs on her RedBull cap as well. When she asked Max and Checo, they chuckled with the latter claiming she had them all at her beck and call, but they nevertheless signed the cap.

Isabella ended up stacking all three caps on her head because she couldn't choose which one best matched with her outfit. She began explaining the story behind the signatures, and Tyler intently listened, asking a few questions in between as well.

"And then-" Isabella's gaze wandered off, eyes lighting up in excitement as she spotted, "-Maxy!"

Without any hesitation she ran up to him, colliding with him as she tried to wrap her arms around him, earning a low, "oof" from him.

Picking her up and settling her on his hip, holding her up with one arm, he held up his other hand that had a medal hanging from it. Max placed the medal around Isabella's neck, which he received on the podium earlier along with his trophy. "We won, princess," he commented, smiling as wide as she did.

She held both of her hands up, imitating the action Max did as he held his trophy on the podium, causing him to laugh. You watched the interaction with a smile on your face, and could hear their laughter from a few feet away.

Walking towards you as Max was initially planned on doing, he noticed a man next to you, which based on your descriptions was Tyler. He decided to overlook him for now, instead greeting you with a kiss to your cheek.

Tyler held his hand out, "great race, congratulations on the championship. I'm a huge fan by the way." Max, nodded politely, still holding Isabella in his arms but shaking his hand nonetheless. "Thank you," he prompted, waiting for the man to introduce himself to confirm his suspicions.

"Oh, so you're Tyler." Max glanced at you for a moment, watching as you tried to hide your smile behind your hands because of his antics. "Why do you say it like it's a bad thing?" He questioned, and Max was quick to retort, "well, it's not really the best thing now is it?"

"I don't understand," he trailed off, and your boyfriend shrugged, "I figured you wouldn't understand, it's okay," he patted Tyler's shoulder in faux consolation. You had to take a step back so Tyler wouldn't see your expression, placing a hand over your mouth to muffle your laugh.

Tyler was quick to catch on to the condescending tone Max spoke with, looking at you—after you composed yourself fortunately. "So what, you get invited to one race and you guys are best friends now?" He asked, a hint of jealousy you were familiar with revealed in his tone.

"More like she's my girlfriend and they're here to support me," Max clarified. Tyler looked at Max, then Isabella, finally understanding why she was always so enamoured by him.

He scoffed, "oh great, enjoy my sloppy seconds then mate, I will warn you though, it's not worth it because a few months later she'll show you a positive pregnancy test and force you to be a father."

Your jaw dropped, instantly responding, "in front of my daughter?" You glanced at Isabella who was in fact hearing all the words spoken, only frowning due to yours and Max's expressions as she didn't understand the full context of the words her father had said, just knowing that it wasn't good.

Max wiped his hand over his mouth, jaw clenching while his warm gaze turned cold within seconds. "Apologize, now," he instructed, trying to hold himself back from causing a fight.

"Now why would I do that? It's true." Max placed Isabella back on her feet who quickly shuffled over to you, standing behind your legs. "How dare you stand here claiming to be my fan yet talk shit about the person I love?" The driver placed his hand on Tyler's shoulder again, but this time you could see the fear bubbling up in his eyes as his grip tightened.

Still, Tyler managed to scoff, "love? Bold claims there. Sorry to break it to you but she's probably just with you for your mon-" he couldn't finish his sentence because he was punched square in the jaw by your boyfriend.

"Max!" You shrieked, and watching the interaction, Isabella held on to your hands tightly with tears welling up in her eyes. You picked her up again, noticing that Tyler was fuming in anger. "Gonna fucking sue you for that," he spit out some blood, but Max only shrugged, "try me."

Fortunately, you guys were stood in between the team motorhomes, which meant you were slightly hidden away from public eye due to the buildings covering the scene.

Readying himself for another punch if needed, you shook your head, "it's not worth it, Max."

"Yeah Max, listen to your girlfriend," he taunted, angering you in the process. "Will you ever shut up?" You shot back. Max glanced at Isabella who had hid her face in the crook of your neck, arms wrapped around you. Although he couldn't see her face, he guessed that her eyes were tightly shut.

Nodding as a silent agreement with Max, you decided to walk away from the scene as you didn't want to expose Isabella to any more of this argument than what she has already heard. Glancing at Max once more, you hoped that your expression was indicating something along the lines of, "don't do anything too bad."

However, you could hear Max's words as he began speaking to Tyler, "listen here you little shit..." but you didn't stick around to hear the entire conversation, smiling to yourself knowing that Tyler would finally be put into his place—that too by his favourite driver.

Finally entering his driver's room, you sat down on the couch sighing in relief. Isabella was still in your lap and you ran your hand up and down her back in a soothing motion because you could feel her sniffling against you. "Bella," you murmured, wanting to see her adorable face.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that, sweetheart." You kissed her head before brushing your hand through her hair. You heard her mumble but didn't catch her words, "what was that?"

She lifted her head to look at you, and you frowned seeing the tears staining her cheeks. "Why is daddy so mean? I don't like him."

"Some people are just mean for no reason, and unfortunately, your daddy is one of them," you explained, no longer covering for him knowing that after what Isabella witnessed, she wouldn't want to be near him no matter what you said.

She frowned but didn't respond, leaning her head against your shoulder again. You didn't disturb her peace, knowing that after the eventful day, she needed some quiet time.

Max entered the room a few minutes later, and he smiled to greet you but it fell flat. He pointed at Isabella, then put his thumbs up to silently ask if she was okay, but you shrugged.

"What did you say to him?" You asked, knowing that whatever conversation followed probably wasn't kind. "I told him that I'd ban him from future races if I saw him anywhere near you or Bella, and he left."

You knew that it probably wasn't that easily done, but you didn't ask for more details.

You had thought Isabella fell asleep since she hadn't moved in a while, nor could you see her face, but she lifted her head up to look at Max once she heard some shuffling about in the room.

He paused as soon as his gaze connected with hers, unsure of how to initiate a conversation because he did literally punch her father. Isabella wiggled off your lap, and both you and Max thought that she would walk away further into the room so her next action surprised you both. Running towards Max, she held her arms out, engulfing him in a hug.

"You're better than my dad, Maxy," she muttered, and he audibly sighed, the stress wrinkles on his face disappearing while wrapping his own arms around her smaller frame.

"Thank you, princess," he whispered back, and she pulled back to kiss his cheek. Isabella looked back at you, smiling when she saw you smile as well. "Thank you for taking care of my mama," your daughter told Max, and his heart warmed at her words. "Always."

The ring of your phone interrupted the beautiful sight in front of you, but your eyes widened when you saw that it was your mother calling. As soon as you pick it up, you're greeted by hearing your full name.

"Hi, mum," you stood up and walked further away just in case you were about to get a scolding although you had no idea what you could've possibly done. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.

"Tell you what?" You answered with a question of your own, knowing that she could be referring to anything at the moment. "That you have a boyfriend."

Your mouth dropped open, "how do you know that?" She chuckled, "because a friend of mine called me and told me that she just watched you kiss someone on live television, some racer guy."

Covering your mouth with your hand, you thought back to the moment Max kissed you in front of the huge crowd after getting out of his car, and of course there had to be cameras capturing the moment. "Max, he's a Formula 1 driver," you explained.

"Wait, the same Max that Bella talks about?" You hummed, "the same one."

"I'm glad you finally moved on from your daughter's father, but I'm also sad that you didn't tell me sooner and I looked foolish because I didn't know until my friend told me about it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think my relationship would be broadcasted live. Plus, I think the chapter with Tyler is finally over, for both me and Isabella."

"That's good to hear, she doesn't deserve a father like him. Is Max good to you?"

"He's the best to both of us, she lights up with joy every time she sees him." Your mother hummed as she heard your response, "then me and your father have to meet him one day."

You heard some laughter in the next room where Max and Isabella were, and you smiled at your mother's words, "I hope we can come by soon, I'd love to introduce him to you and dad."

After saying goodbyes and promises to meet soon, you returned to the room Max and Isabella were in, pausing in the doorway at the sight in front of you. Just like how Isabella was sitting in your lap earlier with her head against your shoulder, she did the same to Max.

You were about to make your presence known when you heard your daughter's question. "Maxy, why do you call me princess?"

Max's gaze found yours, always finding you whether you were standing in the corner of the room or in a crowd. "Because your mama is the queen," he responded casually, as if he was stating a fact.

Isabella lifted her head, "does that make you the king?" He shrugged, "I guess it does."

She giggled, "and does that mean we get a happily ever after like the storybooks?" Max reached his hand out towards you, asking you to join them which you obliged to easily.

"Ours is better than the storybooks," he stated, placing a kiss on Isabella's forehead before pecking your lips briefly.

The End.

Taglist: @xjval @mrsmaybank13 @cherry-piee @urfavnoirette @solphin @burningcupcakefire @nessacarty1 @dreamsarebig @omgsuperstarg @wonnou @fanficweasley @redbullgirly @llando4norris @randomgirlnumber13 @dark-night-sky-99 @chanshintien @leilanixx @gisellesprettylies @peachiicherries @monsieurbacteria6 @67-angelofthelordme-67 @arian-directioner @distancedss @morenofilm @sachaa-ff @lighttsoutlewis @teamnovalak @casperlikej @sadg3 @d3kstar @lewisvinga @lpab @queenofmanydreams @honethatty12 @drunk-teens-doing-drugs @its-avalon-08 @yourbane @oconswrld @noneofyourfbusinessworld @ssrcsm @softtina @hockeyboysarehot @formulaal @namgification @tallrock35 @bloodyymaryyy @formulanni @ellouisa17 @phantomxoxo @samantha-chicago

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Just Take It | Jeon Jungkook | Part Nine

Summary: You make the tough call to have that conversation you've been putting off with a certain someone. Pairing: Inexperienced f!reader x Best Friend's Dad Jungkook (20 year age gap) Word Count: 5.4k~ (High key proud of myself because I wrote this in two and a half days lol) Warnings: A heated discussion and some angst and maybe a word or two of explicit language. a/n: Okay so this wasn't what I was planning on writing for this next chapter but I think it was about time since their relationship was starting to get serious. (he's older so he doesn't want to waste any time lol) Start from the beginning

"Jungkook?" I ask, poking my head into his office and he puts a finger to his lips but beckons me to come closer, sitting me down on his lap. 

"I'll go over those case files and get back to you on Monday morning. Thank you, you too" he says, no doubt ending a call with one of his clients that's itching to get their case closed leaving him sighing and hanging up the phone. 

"What is it Bun?" he asks, having noticed the conflicted look on my face and I can't help but get nervous again at the thought of bringing this up. 

"It's been a few months since...well since everything happened" I start and he adjusts me so I'm straddling his lap facing him fully now but he doesn't rush me to continue. 

"Have you spoken to Jina?" I ask, finally looking up at him, fidgeting with my fingers as a nervous habit to which he takes and places a few kisses on my knuckles. 

"Not recently, why?" he asks and caresses my face, giving me a sense of comfort and coaxing me into continuing so I don't shy away from the topic.

"She's no doubt getting pretty close to her due date now so...after all we've been through I still don't want her to go through this alone" I admit and he nods, pondering my words but not saying too much just yet. 

"She's had enough time to hopefully reflect and regret what she's done and she's probably endured a lot of the struggles that go along with pregnancy on her own and I don't know" I trail off at the end and he stays there, still listening since I clearly have more that I want to say. 

"She was my best friend" I whisper, my voice cracking, the emotions of our lost friendship ended in the worst betrayal imaginable coming back to me. 

He pulls me closer and runs his hand up and down my back, telling me it's okay to let it out, knowing that this is something I have yet to heal from. 

"You want me to see if she could come over?" he asks softly once my sobs have turned to sniffles and I nod, my face still buried in the crook of his neck. "Want me to do it right now?" he continues and I nod, sitting back and wiping away the tears. 

"Can you ask if she could come over tomorrow?" I ask, my sniffles still prevalent and he nods and kisses both of my cheeks before grabbing his phone off his desk and pulling up her number and pressing call. 

I don't even notice the way I hold my breath while we wait for her voice, waiting and waiting until she finally picks up on the seventh ring. 

"Dad?" she says, her voice full of pure confusion. "Hey Jina, you busy?" he asks, wanting to be respectful of her time since neither of us has any clue what her life or schedule looks like. 

"I got a second to talk. Is something wrong?" she asks, knowing that this isn't just your normal 'just checking in' chat.

"I just wanted to see if you could pass by the house tomorrow? I...we kinda wanted to talk to you" he says, hesitant on if he should mention me just yet but he knows this is better than blindsiding her. 

"We meaning y/n?" she sighs and all Jungkook does is hum in response. 

She lets out another sigh and thinks about it for a while, rightfully so since she's not exactly sure what she'll be walking into but finally agrees after her pause. 

"I can come around five" she says and I let out another breath that I hadn't realized I had held and I chew on my bottom lip, the time and date now settled giving me a sort of countdown to obsess over until she knocks on our door. 

"Perfect. I can make us dinner" Jungkook offers but she's quick to decline. "I'd rather not if that's alright" she says carefully, all of us walking on eggshells around each other. 

"Whatever you're comfortable with Jina" Jungkook nods and I give him a sad smile in return.

They wrap up the call soon afterwards, me leaving half way through to give them some privacy going into the kitchen and fixing both of us some tea to help us relax after that not too comfortable exchange. 

He comes out of his office just as I'm taking the tea bags out, adding a little sugar to each leaving him taking them soon after and placing them at the kitchen table with me following behind. 

"You okay?" I ask, worried that he's been quiet since he came out. "I'm just thinking" he says giving me a lopsided smile. 

I nod and take one of his hands in mine, running my thumb along his knuckles and he squeezes my hand back, looking down on them. 

"Thank you" I say quietly and he looks at me with a puzzled expression. "I know she's your daughter and I know it's been hard on you choosing between me and her so I'm just glad to see that you're open to seeing her even if you're not sure if you're ready" I say and he nods and mulls over how he wants to respond. 

He's tired. 

I know he's been tired and it hasn't just been from work although the case he's been working on has been all but consuming him at this point.

He's been struggling with something for a while and I know he's been hesitant to bring it up so I'm hoping that this conversation with Jina will in some way help. 

I don't want to say that's all that's been on his mind lately but I know it's been a big part of it. 

"She's seven months pregnant" he mumbles and I hum. "I know" is all I say in response, squeezing his hand again and from the way his breathing is wavering I know he's close to breaking. 

"I'm a horrible father" he says and I shake my head and bring his hand to my lips and kiss it, not pulling him close just yet since I know he needs to process this. "You're not a horrible father Jungkook" I say with conviction but he shakes his head. 

"I pushed away my only daughter after finding out she was pregnant and shut her out of my life for months" he says, taking his hand out on mine and resting both of his elbows on the table, running his fingers through his hair before digging the palms of his hands into his eyes, no doubt trying to keep them from crying.

"You didn't shun her Jungkook, she could've come back to try and mend things" but he shakes his head. 

"We both made her feel unwelcome" he says and although I know it's true it still hurts to hear him say that. "She could've been struggling this whole time and I never would've known" his voice cracks, his body tense and breathing uneven. 

I've been keeping tabs on her as best as I could through social media and from what I can tell she's been doing okay although you never really know. It could've all just been something she kept up with just to save face. 

I scoot closer to him and rub my hand along his back, not saying anything since I know it won't reach him right now. Once I get closer though he breaks and pulls me in, burying his face in my neck and holding onto me as if he was afraid I would leave him if he let go. 

His whole body shakes as he lets out soft sobs, this strong man in pieces in my arms breaking my heart with every shaky breath. 

I whisper to him and reassure him that we're gonna get through this and that everything will work out the way it's supposed to. 

I can't bring myself to say that everything is going to be okay because I don't know that. Jina could turn around and leave this house and never say a word to us ever again so I can't promise him anything other than the fact that I'll stay with him. 

If he'll have me I'll stay with him through it all. 

"I don't even know what gender the baby is" he says, pulling back and sniffling, looking up at me with red swollen eyes and a tear streaked face. "I do" I say softly and his brow shoot up, "Would you like to know?" I smile and brush his hair out of his face leaving him giving me a little nod and leaning into my touch. 

"She's having a girl" I say and give him a small smile and his eyes tear up again. "I'm gonna have a granddaughter?" his voice breaking again. "Yeah, you're gonna be a grandpa" I chuckle and wipe away the tears on his cheeks. 

"Can we get her something?" he asks, his eyes full of stars as he looks at me and I nod. 

"I've kinda been getting her stuff since I found out" I laugh sheepishly and he sniffles, wiping the fresh tears that have threatened to fall. "Really?" he asks leaving me smiling, "Really really".

He cups my face in return, "You're a lot softer than I thought you were" he smiles and I chuckle. "What's that supposed to mean?" gaining me a nose scrunch in response.

"Have you forgotten that I've been here on all the occasions you told Jina and Jared off? What do the kids say these days? You ate them up?" he chuckles, poking my sides making me swat his hands away.

"Don't say stuff like that" I giggle and shake my head. "Why not? Am I too old for it?" he asks and I nod, leaning into his touch when he cups my face. "Yes but before you even ask, no you're not too old for me okay?" I give him a pointed stair so he knows I'm being serious. 

"Having Jina here is going to make all of us uncomfortable but we can't hide from each other for forever right? It's time we had some of those conversations we've been putting off" I say and he nods. 

"You know, for being a lot younger than me you're a lot more mature than me in some areas" he teases but I shrug. "We just compliment each other. That's all" I say, not really taking the compliment so much as acknowledging the fact that where one lacks the other makes up for it.

"How long have we been together for?" he asks making me pause,

"Well that's kind of a complicated question. I kissed you for the first time about four months ago and we had been doing...things off and on since then but I want to say officially we've been together for around two and a half months. Why?" I ramble off and he hums, thinking to himself a little. 

"Just wondering" and I narrow my eyes at that, "About?" I try to coax him but he gives me just as much of a vague answer but one could only assume. "If it's too early" is all he says and moves me off his lap and stands to walk upstairs. 

"If it's too early for what?" I ask, chasing after him and he chuckles.

"You'll find out soon enough Bun" he responds and says no more on the topic making me grumble but he's soon catching me off guard and throwing me over his shoulder and down onto the bed, using distraction tactics that work wonders. 

~~~~

The next morning I wake up in a little bit of a panic, getting up and getting dressed as fast as I can. I get my hair and makeup done and dusted before the sun has even risen and by the time Jungkook finally gets out of bed he's greeted with me pacing back and forth downstairs. 

"Darling?" he yawns and walks over to me once he's descended the stairs, pulling me in for an embrace to stop my senseless pacing. "Did I wake you?" I ask, his warmth and familiar scent calming my nerves with him shaking his head and placing a soft kiss on my neck. 

"No, just missed you" he mumbles and his words bring me more comfort. I'm glad to see that even with what happened yesterday and what's bound to happen today he's still seeking me out for comfort. 

"I missed you too" I smile and hold onto him tighter for a second before leaning back, "Do you wanna see what I got for Jina and the baby?" I ask excitedly, happy I won't have to hide it anymore.

"You got stuff for both of them?" he asks making me nod and I lead him upstairs and into the guest bedroom. 

Once we're up there I have him sit on the bed while I open the bottom dresser drawer and pull out countless outfits for a little baby girl as well as maternity clothes for Jina and place them on the bed. Then in the drawer right next to it I pull out some self care spa day items and some baby scrap books for the first year after her daughter is born as well as a few small stuffed animals. 

He looks over every item as if they're the most precious things he's seen in a long time and I smile.

"I don't know how much or if she'll accept any of it but once I started I couldn't stop" I explain and he looks up at me and smiles, pulling me in by my waist and wrapping his arms around me from his seated position. 

"I know her's and my relationship will never go back to what it once was but I don't think an innocent child should have to suffer for a mistake that was made" I say running my fingers through his hair and he nods, resting his head against my stomach, nuzzling into me.

"We used to talk about having children at the same time and how they would be the very best of friends. How they would play together, go to the same school and how we would have mommy daughter shopping dates every weekend" I chuckle thinking back on it now. 

"I'd like to be a part of her little one's life if possible. She was brought into this world in a hurtful way but I want her to know that she is very much wanted and very much loved" I continue and he nods and props his chin on me so he can look up at me. 

"You don't know how much that means to me" he says giving me a teary eyed smile. "She's your granddaughter and she deserves to grow up in a family that loves her and I'd like to be a part of that if Jina lets me...and if you'll let me" I say and his lashes flutter in confusion. 

"How could I not let you?" he asks and I shrug. "I don't know I guess I just wouldn't want to confuse the child when she sees me with you while she's younger and if the dynamic changes and things don-"

"I hope you know I have the intention of marrying you" he cuts me off and my rambling is stopped in it's tracks. 

"You...what?" I whisper, afraid to even ask him to repeat himself. 

"I said I want to marry you some day, meaning that the dynamic between us will only grow into something even more beautiful and you being a part of our family is a given" he explains and now I'm the one that's crying. 

"You're serious?" I ask, sniffling and he smiles up at me, cupping my face and wiping away the few tears that have fallen.

"It was never my intention to pursue you just so I play with your feelings" he says and nod, hoping deep down that that wasn't the case. 

He hasn't given me a reason to think that that would be the case but my self doubt has made me feel disposable.

"I love you" I sniffle and he smiles and pulls me down onto his lap. "I love you too Bunny" he says and holds me close, never ever wanting to let me go and he knows that I feel the same. 

"I'm not proposing now because I want us to be together for a little while longer okay?" he says and I nod my head, my face buried in his shoulder. 

"When did the two of us become such babies?" I chuckle and pull back, "You crying yesterday and me crying today" I joke to lighten things up because I know we need to be clear headed when Jina comes. 

"I think it's okay to be a baby every once in a while" he smiles, "Plus you're my baby all the time" he teases and boops my nose.

"Okay okay enough with the mushy stuff. Do you think you could help me make a little..." I pause and look at all of the various items I've compiled "...big gift basket for Jina?" making him smile and squeeze me one last time before sliding me off his lap.

"Sure, I think I have an old Easter basket of hers in the garage or something. Be right back" he says and kisses me on the forehead before going on his search for something that might work. 

As I go through rolling and folding up the clothes so I'll be able to set them all into the basket when he's brought it I think about all the good times Jina and I had had together.

I hadn't really let myself reminisce much after everything that happened because honestly it took me a lot longer to heal from everything Jina did than from Jared.

Yes Jared and I were dating and I thought we were in love to the point where I almost married him but Jina was my friend, my twin flame, the one I went to when I felt like the world was caving in on me. 

Going from that to heartbreak worse than that of a lovers did just that, it broke me. 

One might find it dramatic but when you've been friends with someone for six years it's hard to just let them go and pretend like it never happened. 

Living in her home has been somewhat of a self inflicted torture but when laid side by side, me struggling to find a place and make ends meet on my own versus living with her sexy dad who loves me and I love him...the choice is kind of a no brainer.

"This work?" Jungkook asks, bringing in a big pink wicker basket that couldn't have been more perfect. "Yes!" I say and we work on putting it together. 

~~~~

Four o'clock rolls around, then four thirty, then five, then five thirty and I've started to pace back and forth, worried that I might've reached out too soon. 

"Bunny sit down" Jungkook coaxes softly for the fifth time but I shake my head.

"What if she really doesn't come? What if she wants nothing to do with us? What if she wants nothing to do with me?" I ramble and he finally stands in front of me and grabs me by the shoulders to keep me still.

"Then that would be her decision" he says, still speaking to me in that soft tone, knowing it'll help me calm down. "People heal and process things at their own pace so we can't really force her to do anything that she's not ready for" he continues and I nod. 

I know that that's the case. I know I was a complete asshole to her the last time she was here and I know that nothing will be the same after this but I can't keep myself from trying. 

Before I'm able to get out much of a response though there's a tentative knock on our front door, the both of us pausing for a second not sure what we should do. 

"You should probably answer it" I mumble to him and he nods and places a kiss on my forehead before doing so, leaving me standing awkwardly by the couch, waiting for them to sit down. 

"Hi Jina" Jungkook says, his tone full of sadness and longing but I know he's trying to hold it back as best as he can. "Hey Dad" she says, her tone almost mirroring his exactly...like father like daughter I guess. 

I try not to stare at their interaction but eventually Jina and I catch each other's eyes both of us nodding in greeting before they both come back over to sit down, Jungkook and I on the sofa with Jina choosing to sit on one of the arm chairs. 

"How have you been?" Jungkook starts out awkwardly after there's been a bout of silence.

"Good, pregnant. That pretty much sums it up I guess" she says and we both nod, another moment of silence stretches on, none of us knowing where to start so I finally jump in. 

"Thank you...for agreeing to meet with us tonight" I say and she just nods and places her hand on her belly, no doubt a coping mechanism of some sort to keep her grounded. 

"How's the baby doing? I heard you're having a girl" I say and that catches her off guard, clearly not having expected that I would be keeping tabs on her.

"Yeah...yeah I am. She's fine. The doctors say she's strong and healthy" she says and I let out a breath. 

"That's a relief" I say making her thoroughly confused. 

"A relief? My baby being healthy is a relief to you? The baby that I made with your fiancé? You're happy about that?" she says, getting upset already. I was prepared for this but it doesn't make it hurt less. 

"Jina we didn't call you over here to fight" Jungkook says but I hold my hand up as a way to tell him it's fine. She needs to speak her mind and I'll let her this time. 

"Oh so she's got you trained now huh? You think you're so mature and want to call me over and make nice now that my father and you seem to be getting serious is that what this is? Realized that if we like it or not as long as you're with my father you'll be forced to deal with me? Finally feeling guilty about making him choose you over me?"

"Okay Jina that's enough! You're not going to walk into my home and verbally abuse her like you did nothing wrong! All of our relationships have been destroyed because of what you did. Not her" Jungkook says, putting her in her place since he had yet to do that since this whole mess started. 

"So you're still choosing her over me" she scoffs, shaking her head. 

"That's not what this is about. We wanted you to come over here so we could make amends but it's clear that you're not ready for that yet" Jungkook sighs, and Jina makes moves like she's going to get up but I jump in to try and stop her. 

"Jina please, just...just let me say what I need to say and if you really want to leave then I won't stop you and I won't contact you ever again" I say and she seems tired enough after the harsh words she had thrown at us so she does a little wave in the air as a way to tell me to get on with it. 

"What happened between us sucked and I was hurt, I still am hurt but that's besides the point. Our relationship might not ever go back to the way it was and there's always gonna be that level of hurt or even resentment between us potentially for years to come. The fact of the matter at least on my side is I want to clear the air between us. We were friends and we have some fucked up history now but that doesn't mean that I stopped caring about you" I say and it's at those words that I see the slightest change in her expression. 

"Six years of friendship was broken up and it's hurt more than I thought it would. I've wanted to reach out, I wanted to talk to you and ask you questions about it but I knew that that wouldn't do either of us any good" I continue and I see the tiniest nod of her head. 

"I know you might not want me in your life anymore and I respect that but I hope that you'll allow me to be in your daughter's. No matter the situation in which she was conceived she's still your daughter and I care for her. I know it might be selfish of me to say all of this but I just hope you'll understand" I wrap up and let out a small breath. 

"I don't hate you Jina" I finish off, tentatively reaching for her hand that's resting on her knee, "I might've for a little while and there might be a little part of me that's always going to be hurt by what you had done but I just wanted you to know" I end and let a pregnant pause linger in the air for a while. 

It's only broken up a few minutes later with a sniffle coming from her, having looked down at her lap to hide her emotions from us making her reaction catch us off guard. 

"Jina" I whisper and soon comes a choked back sob leaving me kneeling down in front of her and cupping her cheek. "Hey. Hey it's okay" I do my best to calm her but she shakes her head and pulls me into a bone crushing embrace, her sobs being muffled by my shoulder that she's buried her face into, the shaking of her body from the sheer force of them though is not as easily concealable.

Jungkook in the meantime has gotten up and placed a strong hand on her shoulder, showing her that he's still here for her too making her sobbing pick back up. 

As minutes turn to many more she finally stops shaking, her sobs slowed down to shaky breaths and suddenly turned to hiccups making me chuckle and push her back a bit. 

"Feeling better?" I say, my tone soft and my hand on her cheek again even softer and she nods followed by another sniffle quickly ending with another hiccup. 

"A little" she mumbles and I nod, giving her a lopsided smile before handing her the water bottle Jungkook's come back with along with a fresh box of tissues. 

I give her space to breathe once she started to chug the bottle and sit back down in my original place with her coming up for air a few seconds later. 

"Um, can I use the restroom?" she asks and Jungkook nods, helping her up when he sees her struggling a little with her belly getting in the way and leading her halfway before coming back over to me once she's closed the door. 

"You think she's okay?" he whispers and I nod. "She will be" I say and hold my hand out for him as a way to gently pull him back down on the couch with me. 

After Jina's taken a bit of a breather she comes out, no doubt having tried to splash some cold water on her face to stop her eyes from swelling, walking back over to us and taking her seat again. 

We all sit there in silence again and once I see Jungkook getting fidgety I decide to give all of us something else to focus on. 

"Wait here" I say softly and Jina nods, her head still facing her lap just like before and only lifting it once I've placed our gift for her on the coffee table in front of her. 

"What's all this?" she says, her head tilting side to side as she tentatively touches a couple of the items in the basket. "Well ever since I found out you were having a girl I've been buying things here and there and well..." I trail off, the sheer volume of items being a tad bit overwhelming. 

"How long have you known I was having a girl?" she asks, her voice a little horse and I stop to think for a second. "About a month and a half I think" I say and she hums.

"You must've gotten something every other day from the looks of it" she chuckles a little and pull out a little stuffed rabbit I had gotten. 

"I got some stuff for you too" I say and pull out the smaller bag full of the items I had gotten for her. "I would've put it all together but it didn't fit" I say sheepishly and I see her smile widen a bit more. 

"We really would love to be a part of your life again Jina" I say after a while and she smiles to herself. "Take some time though to think things through. I'm not trying to force you into it but again...I just wanted you to know" I say, my tone getting softer towards the end. 

She response with a soft 'Thank you' and after another minute or so of silence I get up and place a hand on Jungkook's shoulder. 

"I'll let you guys have some alone time but thank you Jina for hearing me out" I say and she nods again and I excuse myself, removing the pressure of having her feel the need to respond further but before I head upstairs she calls out for me making me stop my journey up the stairs.

"Thank you...for everything" she says with a weak smile and I simply give her one back, finishing my ascent and head to Jungkook's room, knowing it's the room that is furthest away from the living room to sincerely give them their privacy. 

~~~~~

An hour or so Jungkook comes looking for me and flops down on his bed next to me making the bed bounce. I chuckle and angle my body towards him and run my fingers through his hair, knowing it'll help him calm down since he seems drained after our eventful evening. 

"She gone?" I ask and he nods. "She told me to tell you goodbye for her" he mumbles and closes his eyes, letting out a big sigh. "Well I'd say that's a good sign?" I say and he nods, rubbing his face with both of his hands before finally turning his attention back over to me.

"Thank you" he breathes out and I hum. "How was your guy's talk?" I ask, continuing to comb my fingers through his hair. "It went alright. You definetly took the edge off for me so it was easier to level with her with her walls still down a bit" he relays and turns on his side now fully facing me. 

He watches me for a little while and I smile, "What?" and he just smiles back. "I'm just thinking about how I chose the right person to fall in love with" he says easily, making me almost not catch the sincerity of it. 

"You can't just say things like that" I scoff and lay down on my back, placing my hands over my face to hide my cheesy grin. "Hey it took me almost forty years to find you and six more until I could finally say it so I'm just trying to make up for lost time" he chuckles and I flip over onto my stomach. 

"Yeah and almost twenty of those years I wasn't even thought of" I say into the pillow and he hums and pats my ass a few times. "Exactly my point" and I groan at that. 

"You know you keep on bringing things up that point out our age difference recently. Are you trying to scare me away?" I ask, turning my face onto my cheek so I can look at him. "Is it working?" he says with a devious glint in his eye that tells me he knows the answer already.

"No" I narrow my eyes at him and his grin gets wider. 

"Then you have nothing to worry about" 

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[maidragoste]

Chapter Two: A United Front

The Hunger Games AU

Katniss!Jacaerys x Peeta!Reader

Chapter One Chapter Three

First of all, thank you very much for all the support that the first chapter had! It made me really happy to see every comment and reblog, it really motivated me to continue writing 🥰🥰

Please let me know again what you thought of this chapter in the comments, as always, likes and reblogs are appreciated too 💖💖

My inbox is open so I'm always willing to read your headcanons, opinions and answer your questions.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes.

Jacaerys was irritated. Firstly, because it is evident that you had already begun to play in front of the cameras since when you two arrived at the train station you did not bother to hide your tears, you probably thought that perhaps this way you could get a sponsor or else your strategy was to show yourself weak and like an easy prey to later fight in the arena. That's what Sabitha Vypren, from District 7, had done in her games.

The second reason for his irritation was his uncle. Larys hadn't said a word to him since before the Repair or even now that they were on the train heading to the Capitol. This was supposed to be the time for them to prepare strategies together, for Larys to give them advice on surviving the arena, but his uncle seemed more focused on enjoying the pork chops and mashed potatoes. Jacaerys was also eating, he was ready to eat everything he could to gain the most muscle mass before the games started, but now and then he would stop and stare at Larys hoping that at some point his uncle would decide to speak.

“So, what do we have to do for Jacaerys to win?” you asked, breaking the silence and making him choke.

You were the first to react, you quickly got up and started hitting him on the back until he finally spit out the piece of meat. Effie looked at him with disgust.

"Are you okay?" you asked, looking at him with concern and now caressing his back. Jacaerys noticed how his uncle looked at the two of them with interest. He had no idea why, neither of you two had done anything extraordinary, he made a fool of himself by choking and you ran to save him…Well, I had to admit that your action was striking, someone else would have let him die by drowning to have one less competitor in the arena, not only that but you just said that you wanted to help him win. It didn't make sense… Unless it was another strategy to gain his trust only to then stab him in the back in the arena.

"I'm fine," Jacaerys responded, putting his hand on your arm to stop your caresses. You blushed and moved away from him as if you had been burned by his touch. “What do you mean by that you said earlier?” he asked you once you sat back down.

"You have a chance to win, Jacaerys," you declared as if it were obvious. Evidently, he couldn't hide his confusion because you continued talking "You know how to hunt and you have good aim. Every time my father buys you squirrels he says that the arrow always hits the eye, you never ruin the body" the boy felt the heat rise to his face at your words and he was sure he was blushing because suddenly you seemed to be stopping yourself from smiling. "So if either of us has a chance of winning it's you. I'll probably be one of the first to die but I think I can be of help in the interview" you said the last thing looking at Larys.

Jacaerys felt his appetite disappear. It didn't sit well with him to hear you talk as if you were already resigned to dying. "She's got a good right hook," he said, looking at his uncle. He couldn't let Larys give up on you quickly, if you lost his interest then he surely wouldn't bother trying to help you win. "Lucerys told me. She hit a boy who was bothering him and gave that idiot a black eye."

"Jacaerys, I won't be able to win just by hitting people. Besides, there are surely tributes even bigger than that boy, they will attack me before I can even land a hit on him."

For a moment he had the image of an unknown tribute mercilessly attacking you with a sword before you had the chance to defend yourself. His stomach fluttered at the image of your broken body.

"You, on the other hand, can attack from afar with your bow. If you hide well you can have an advantage" you continued and went back to eating without realizing that your companion was looking at you with a frown.

Your attitude was irritating him. You should have been trying to impress Larys by saying what other things you can do but instead, you keep talking about him. It did not make sense. It had to be a strategy or maybe you were thinking it was a lost cause to try to win the games by having him as a district partner and his uncle as his mentor. You probably believed that Larys would choose to put all the chips on him just because he was his nephew. That made him furious.

"She can lift weights. I saw her lifting sacks of flour"

You suddenly dropped the cutlery sharply on the table. "Enough, Jacaerys," the annoyance was evident on your face and in your voice. "Don't try to make me feel good just out of pity, please. I know I'm going to lose. Everyone knows that." "You made a gesture with your hand to let you continue talking when you saw him open his mouth." Do you know what my mother told me when she came to say goodbye to me? There may finally be another winner in 12. She wasn't talking about me" you said looking into his eyes.

Everyone knew that your mother was a witch but Jacaerys never imagined that she would be one with her own daughter. It was cruel to tell you that when perhaps it could be her last talk. She should have faith in you. Or at least give you the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to comfort you but he had no idea what to say. Besides, he didn't think his uncle would be happy if he saw him being nice to you. He would tell her that he was weak and that he didn't come here to make friends.

So Jace settled for looking into your eyes, hoping that you could somehow understand that he didn't want you to give up.

"Oh, darling, that's horrible," Effie said, breaking the tension between the two of you, placing a hand on her heart, she seemed genuinely moved. "I think you should try hard to win and prove your mother wrong."

You didn't say anything, you just gave a sad smile to the district escort. A moment ago Jacaerys felt bad for you but now he can't help but think that maybe you only told your last conversation with your mother to gain Effie's sympathy and get her to talk about you to her friends in the Capitol. He hated analyzing everything you did but he couldn't let his guard down with you if he wanted to go home to his brothers. He was sure that if Lucerys was with him and could see what was going on in her mind he would tell him that he was being paranoid. But maybe it wasn't wrong for him to doubt you, Jace thought when he noticed that Uncle Larys seemed to be evaluating you with his gaze.

“Let's start to see who his competitors are,” Larys finally spoke, ending the dinner.

Jacaerys was relieved to see that your stylist had put you in an outfit just like his, at least if he ended up making a fool of himself at the parade he wouldn't be the only one. You're wearing the same shiny leather boots and the same full-length black leotard with the cloak that flutters in the wind. The only difference between the two of you was that your suit seemed closer to your body, highlighting your curves.

As you are taken to the lower level of the Renewal Center, Portia, your stylist, along with her team can't stop talking excitedly about what a sensation you two will be. Cinna, Jacaerys' stylist who came up with the idea of setting their outfits on fire, seems tired of the congratulations. Jace couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he, too, was nervous that it wouldn't work and would end with them dead. You didn't look nervous, which shouldn't surprise him considering you were probably used to fire since he worked at the bakery.

Once they arrive, they basically find a giant stable. The opening ceremony is about to begin so the stylists are having their tributes ride into carriages pulled by a group of horses. Cinna and Portia lead you and Jacaerys to their carriage, both of them carefully arranging the posture of the two of your bodies and your cloaks before stepping aside to talk something between themselves.

“What do you think of the fire?” Jacaerys asked you in a whisper. He tells himself that he's just talking to you to distract himself from his nerves.

“At least we're not naked,” you replied, shrugging your shoulders. Jacaerys grimaces as he remembers those poor tributes who had to parade naked covered in black dust. It had happened years before his uncle became a victor, the only reason why everyone knew about that incident was because whenever the games approached on television they did a recap of the best kills, the best dressed as well as the worst deaths and the worst dresses. In the latter, those poor tributes always appeared.

“Uncle Larys definitely wouldn't have let that happen. He probably would have hit them with his cane as soon as they told him that idea,” Jace said with a small smile as he imagined his uncle hitting the stylists and scolding them. You must have imagined the same thing too because you started laughing. Your laughter was contagious so he soon joined you, feeling his nerves disappear for a moment as well as the heaviness in his shoulders. Cinna and Portia will probably be upset that you two lost your posture but neither you nor Jacaerys seemed worried about it.

"If something goes wrong I promise to take out your cloak while you take out mine," you said trying to get serious again but from the corner of your lips, it was evident that you wanted to smile.

"Deal," he agreed with a small smile.

Jace's calm demeanor disappeared the moment he saw his uncle. He tensed as he watched him walk towards the carriage, ready to feel his eyes judging him and scolding him for acting like a child. His uncle was right to be angry, now the other tributes would see them as weak and stupid.

"I want you to present yourself as a united front," Larys said, surprising his nephew.

"What?"

"If you want to win then you have to do everything I say" the mentor reminded them "So you will go out, hold hands, and greet the audience" In his tone of voice there was no room for discussion but Jacaerys had many questions. He couldn't do any of them because when started playing the opening music Larys headed for the exit.

"Come on, don't look so upset. It's not like I have scabies," you nudged him. If he hadn't been focused on seeing the tributes from District 1 in his glowing robes then he would have noticed how the sparkle in your eyes seemed to have dimmed.

It's not many minutes before you and Jacaerys are near the doors. As the District 11 tributes leave, Cinna appears with a torch. You and Jace don't have time to back away when the stylist turns on both of your cloaks. The three of them sigh in relief when they see that it worked.

“Remember head up and smile. Oh, don't forget the most important thing, hold hands. They're going to love you!" Cinna quickly tells them before getting out of the carriage.

Jacaerys hesitates before taking your left hand. Unlike him, you don't hesitate to intertwine your fingers with his. You give him one last smile before his carriage enters the city. The crowd seems alarmed at first when they see the fire but then they soon begin shouting both their names. Jace can't help but feel overwhelmed by the feeling of everyone's eyes on him so he focuses on staring at the screen. For a moment he is breathless, the two of you look wonderful, especially you look brilliant as you wave and blow kisses to the crowd. In the low light of twilight, the fire illuminates both of your faces and your cloaks seem to leave a trail of flames behind. Cinna got what he wanted and gave you both a chance, no one would forget about you two, you really made a sensation.

You squeeze Jacaerys's hand and remind him under your breath to “Smile.”

Then he tries his best to give his best smile and starts greeting you. Someone among all these people must have wanted to sponsor him. This was an excellent opportunity to win over the audience and he had to take advantage of it. He remembers the words of his uncle Larys, so he raises their joined hands, making the screams increase even more. When they enter the City Circle they lower their hands but neither you nor Jace try to let go. During President Snow's speech, Jacaerys is distracted by feeling you caress his skin with your thumb, he tries not to think about it too much, he tells himself that you must be nervous and you do it unconsciously. Luckily it doesn't take long for the national anthem to be heard and the carriages travel around the circle for the last time. Jacaerys notices that the screens seem to show you two more than the other tributes.

He finishes confirming that it was not his imagination once you arrive at the Training Center and get off your carriages. As Cinna and Portia remove their cloaks, you and Jacaerys notice the angry glances of the other tributes, especially Royce Baratheon, the burly boy from District 2 who volunteered, and his district partner Agatha Durrandon.

Jace notices that the two of you are still holding hands so he lets you go.

"The flames suit you well and you have a beautiful smile" you declared with a smile making him blush.

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~Veils of Crimson~

Chapter 3

<chapter2> <chapter1> <chapter 4> <chapter 5: part 1>

Pairings: oz cobb x reader (Carmine Falcone's daughter)

Chapter three is here!! We got Al's ya-know-what in this one and maybe a more intimate moment with our fav big scary man, too :)All jokes aside, from here on, the chapters overall are gonna get much darker, that's what I initially wanted with this story-I don't know yet if reader is gonna be happy in the end, I mean, I paired her up with the guy that killed her brother, tried to light her dad up in front of the whole police department and we still have yet to see what he's gonna do with Sofia. Also, there will be no “cat fight” or big interaction between reader and Eve, I hate that shit, lets say Oz stopped sleeping with her some time before reader comes back home,mkay?Remember we are seeing this through the eyes of the reader, shes infatuated with him and naive in a way. Please take everything I wrote and I'm gonna write with a grain of salt, this is fiction and Oz "The Penguin" Cobb ain't a nice guy and that's okay, I don't wanna change him-I wanna make him worse!

Again, I took my inspo from Driving Miss Falcone by (https://www.tumblr.com/genevievedarcygranger here on tumblr), check out the story if you can.

Enjoy, give feeback if u want xoxo.

Warnings: mature language, smut (not in this chapter sorry AGAIN next chapter i pinky swear), general horniness.

“You’re just as gorgeous as I remember.”

It felt nice hearing him say that. You hoped that the nerves you felt inside didn’t show up on your face as well.

“Nice car, Oz.” You simply couldn’t help yourself from mentioning that. “Purple’s a nice color.”

He raised an eyebrow and, while still smiling, said, “Well technically it's plum- but I know, right?”

“We three of us have a lot of catching up to do. Why don’t we go for dinner?” your sister interjected.

Oz tore his eyes off of you when hearing her. “Sure, we cou—”

“How about right now?”

Once seated at the restaurant and after ordering some food, Sofia was the first to break the awkward silence.

“Are you nervous, Oz? I would hate for you to be nervous with me. ‘Cause despite what you might think, I don’t blame you.” Okay, here she goes. “I mean if you haven’t gone to my father.”

Oz started fiddling around, smoothing out the tablecloth. “He left you no choice.”

When the food arrived, Sofia had no qualms digging in like a neanderthal, so Oz and you chatted about the last few years, like nothing changed. Except, things did change. Oz ran the Iceberg Lounge; he served as your father’s lieutenant of sorts, and from what you understood, he also ran the drops operation. He asked you about life in Europe and if you missed it. You told him that nothing compares to Gotham.

“Yeah, you’re right about that one, kid.” You don’t know why, but Oz seemed really lost in thought after that comment. He seemingly stopped saying anything and just looked at you.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt this little love affair you guys got going on, but I would also like to ask Oz a few things.” Sofia was done eating and now was on her second martini. Great, she's going to dig into him now.

“Alberto told me he was going to your club last night to get to our father’s loft. I—well, we—” she gestured toward you, “wanted to join, but he has been so protective over us lately that he didn’t want us leaving the house. It was all part of this plan; it was our shared secret. But today I hear you talk about revolutionizing the drug business.” Sofia was right to mention that. How on earth did he know?

“How do you know about his plan?” she continued. “And why on earth would you pitch it as your own? You know, it’s so brazen that you either have to be blindingly stupid or wildly confident that he isn't coming back to reclaim it. So I ask you again: do you know where our brother is?” she asked.

“Listen, Sofia—” Oz glanced at you. “You two are the surprise here.”

“Excuse me?”

“Al never told me you guys were back or that you were in on this thing with us.” All right, so that explains things. “You know me and my stupid mouth. Ya know, I screwed up. Maybe you could put in a good word. I—I don’t wanna put that on you, but he was so passionate about his plan, I thought there was no reason not to move forward, just because he is on another bender, you know the shipment arrives in a few days, right?”

Bender? What was Oz talking about?

“Bender? What do you mean, a bender?” you interrupted.

Oz moved his eyes toward you and said, “Al’s an addict, sweetheart.” You could see him trying to break this news as softly as he could. “He’s got a penchant for drops.” He looked at your sister again. “And booze and gambling, and I’m pretty sure he’s got a sex thing too-so yeah- but look, this isn’t the first time he has gone AWOL. He always comes back.” Oz continued, “And if he was at my club last night—I wouldn’t know. I was actually drowning my sorrows with my lady friend last night, Eve.”

So Oz has a girlfriend. That’s interesting.

“But if it makes you feel better, we can go there right now, scour the joint—I doubt anything is gonna turn up, but it’s worth a shot, whatever will put minds at ease.”

“You know what? You’re right. I think we are both just being crazy. He’s probably gonna turn up. Let's stay in and enjoy our meal.” your sister said.

As you were all ready to leave, you couldn’t help but feel jealous. Eve—what a lucky lady. You wondered what she probably does for a living—you could certainly find out. It’s been five years, you know, expecting anyone to stay celibate in order to wait for you, if you even arrived at all, was unnatural.

After your sister put on her coat, she got on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She whispered something in his ear you had no idea what, but he looked once again frustrated, lost in thought. Maybe Oz was lying. Maybe not. She immediately disappeared outside, leaving you all alone with him. If she kissed his cheek, now you gotta do that too. Thanks, Sofia.

He winked at you and said, “Next dinner’s on me, all right, doll? You still owe me one after you left me hanging.” He smiled, flashing those gold teeth of his.

Raising your eyebrows, you asked him, “You remember?”

“Of course I do.”

“All right, Oz, you got a deal.” You smiled and raised yourself up to hug him properly. He was one big man. He wrapped his big arms around you and you felt so warm. Being this close to him, smelling him and holding him like this felt almost euphoric. “I missed you,” you said, your voice low enough so that only he could hear. You didn’t want any prying ears to run to the press, even if you did know they would after seeing you and Sofia back in Gotham at a very expensive restaurant.

He lowered his voice and told you, “Missed you too, doll.”

The road home was very quiet. Sofia was too busy looking things up on her phone. Every once in a while, you would mention something, like the floods or the spike in crime ever since your dad passed. You say “passed” so you don’t have to say, “he was shot dead by a crazy maniac while being arrested with the literal entire police department next to him.” Life feels so weird lately, like a dream. With your dad being gone, Al has to step up.

Now, the thing about being a mob boss was that once you die, there is always gonna be a power vacuum. Like sharks, all your enemies and friends are gonna push themselves so they can get to the top; best man will win.

Once in a while, she would acknowledge you with a nod or a tiny smile, but nothing compared to the hour-long conversations you guys used to have. You knew she was angry at Oz, at your family for writing all those letters that solidified her reason to stay there—anyone would be. Arkham was a jungle; it was eat or be eaten—but this quest for vengeance, this anger inside of her, was going to eat her alive. You knew that. Alberto told you all about her fears and how she felt.

Alberto, God, you hoped he was okay. You loved your brother; he was rash and careless, quick to anger and naive in his arrogance—but he was still your brother. He should be running the show; he deserved it.

As you looked outside, you saw some of the destruction that those floods brought. Maybe you and your sister could help make things right for some of these people; maybe you could redirect a percentage of the money toward helping them rebuild Gotham, rebuild the Falcone’s reputation.

She declined your request. Of course she did; why would we help them? “We have so many problems on our back right now,” she said, and while true, you also heard what Oz said. He wouldn’t lie to you or your sister like that, right?

As the hours passed, Sofia became more and more restless. She HAD to find him. You too were worried sick. You wanted to go with her to search the Iceberg Lounge, but she said it’s more important for you to stay, so nothing bad happens to you too. All right, you stayed.

In the meantime, you talked to Viti and Milos. Maybe you could help the family’s reputation. They looked at you like you told them you were gonna start stripping. So you did what you could and sold some of your old clothes, jewels, and shoes that day. You knew just the guy that would buy your stuff; he was surprised to see you but happy. Unlike the people that saw your sister again, you were happy—so very happy. All that money went to a good cause, you could finally appear on the news for a good thing and you weren’t gonna wear some of those old things anyway. As you texted your aunt, when you arrived back home; a car sped past you and crashed into the fountain.

What the hell?

Sofia exited the greenhouse, dressed in all black, like she was going to a funeral. You yelled out her name, scared that a bomb would go off when she got close to the car. Everyone else exited the house- armed guards ready for whatever the fuck that noise was.

The door to the driver's seat was open, and a brick was placed on the gas pedal. You weren’t close enough to see what she was looking at when she opened the trunk; you only read the writing on top: ‘PAYBACK.’

What the fuck was this?

The scream your sister let out was unlike anything you ever heard, and then you knew.

Your brother was dead.

Not long after the discovery of his body you learned who could be responsible for it. Your brother was murdered by the only people crazy or powerful enough to go after the Falcone family—the Maronis.

If Sal Maroni had the sort of power to do something like that while in jail, what else was he capable of? What was his next step? Was he going to go after your sister and then you?

You had to push those thoughts aside. The news of your brother's murder was blasted on every news outlet in the city, and you were constantly reminded of how dangerous this life, that you didn’t even choose—neither you nor your siblings—truly was. You needed to be protected.

A man like Carmine Falcone struck fear in the hearts of his enemies and, well, he struck fear in the hearts of everybody—no one dared to touch you or even look at you weird or disrespectfully.

You knew that Sofia was never going to be allowed to be in charge—she was a woman AND a certified crazy woman at that—so Viti called your uncle Luca to come over and step up as the boss. Another slap directed toward your sister.

As she explained to you, the family’s operation of Drops was being moved. You were losing a lot of profit with those terrible floods and all.

Viti and Milos didn’t even care about the “family” or your guys’ reputation; they couldn’t care less about your sister or you. The more quiet you were, the better.

Well, Sofia wasn’t like that—in times like these, most especially in times like these, you needed all hands on deck.

Every day you checked the news. First thing in the morning, a small part of you hoped you would see your brother there, with the news that he was alive after all—that everything was just a dream. His funeral was tomorrow, and you didn’t even know if you had the strength to get up, get dressed, do your makeup, and then be surrounded by like a hundred people.

As you lay in bed, texting your aunt, filling her in with all the information you could remember about your current situation, you heard cars screech in front of the mansion. A shiver ran up your spine; you stopped dead from texting and tried to listen to what was happening downstairs. You were terrified—were these the Maronis? Coming to kill all of you?

When you heard all the familiar voices of your armed guards in the house, you were relieved but still worried. You ran out of your room as quickly as your slippers allowed.

You saw  Oz come inside, brows furrowed, hot and heavy and all bloodied, you ran to him.

“Oz! Are you okay? What—what happened?” you asked.

“Yeah—yeah I’m okay, those sons of bitches caught—” he started, but Viti interrupted him.

“OZ! Come inside, tell us what happened, now.”

He looked at you apologetically, but you told him to go.

While Oz was yelling inside, you were listening to Castillo’s retelling of what happened: the Maronis attacked the shipment, so the situation was clear—this was an all-out gang war.

Not long after, your sister came home as well. You exchanged quick hellos, but she bolted into the meeting room, conveniently leaving the door slightly ajar—an invitation. Get your ass inside; Dad’s dead, everything has gone to shit, and you’re not 19 anymore.

You followed her in, touching her side affectionately as you passed to let her know you were there for her. Oz was still yelling about how he saved the men there, and Viti was very fucking pissed. You leaned back against the table overlooking the men sitting there. It felt like an episode of a reality show.

“Is that all you care about? The product? The money we lost?” Sofia said, smoking.

Oz glanced at you and gave you a quick smile.

“We can get more money, gentlemen. I think you’re missing the point here—the Maronis humiliated our family. They took my brother and shoved his body in the trunk of a car—like he was a piece of trash.” Ugh, maybe you should’ve just gone to your room. “He deserves justice.”

“Look, Sofia, we all cared for Alberto—” Milos started.

“Well, I doubt that, Milos. I really do. Justice is what matters, and that is what my brother, your nephew, deserves,” she said, pointing at your uncle, Luca.

“WHY AREN’T HIS KILLERS STRUNG UP ACROSS THE CITY?!” she shouted. Okay, maybe that was a bit much, you thought. Killing them would be enough, geez.

“When the time is right, the Maronis will pay,” Johnny said.

“Well, if they knew our route, they weren’t working alone. There must be someone on the inside” Everyone turned towards you and the tension in the room was palpable. " helping them—someone in our own family.”

“How dare you two come in here, like you mean something,” Viti sneered, God you hated this asshole. “You don’t call the shots around here—”

“Johnny!” your uncle stopped him from insulting you. “Neither do you. And those are my nieces you’re talking to. Show them some fucking respect! " Luca said. Viti called both your names and apologized, but you could see the insincerity behind his eyes, almost like he was mocking you with the way he apologized.

Luca instructed everyone on what they had to do, and the meeting broke up-he called it a night.

“Do you need anything from me, boss?” Oz asked.

“You’ve done enough,” Luca replied, his voice firm.

As everyone started to leave, you told Oz the hour of the funeral tomorrow. He urged you to get some rest and promised he would see you then.

On your way upstairs, you heard him stop Sofia. You didn’t catch much of their conversation, just something about being desperate.

The next day, at the funeral, the press, the photographs, the protests—it was all too much. You couldn’t find Oz either and you wanted to get home so bad. You quickly went to the bathroom to gather yourself, and when you came back, you spotted him.

“Hey. I didn't see you in there. I thought you didn’t come,” you said, relief washing over you.

“You looked for me?” he asked, surprise in his voice.

“Yes, of course. You promised,” you replied, stepping closer. The suit he wore reminded you of a simpler time; when he was just your driver.

“How are you holding up, kid?” he asked, his empathy evident.

“I’m okay, for the most part. He shouldn’t have gone the way he did. The Maronis will pay, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, they will. I promise.” Standing with him, overlooking the crowd below, you felt a mix of despair and hope. “You know, I’m very well aware that the mob needs a strong hand—an iron fist—to lead it. But an iron fist can be gentle too. It all depends on who has it.”

There was a pause as he took in your words. He nodded, took a deep breath, and continued, “You know, we didn’t have a service for my brothers.” You felt a pang of sorrow for him, knowing how deeply the loss affected him. He went on about his mother, how grief consumed her, how one day-all of a sudden- she got out of bed, told him to get ready and they went dancing to lift her spirits. You knew his brothers were dead and his mom too, but he nevet told you this story.

He looked into your eyes, then at your lips, then back into your eyes. Did he want to kiss you? Oh no, was your lipstick smeared?

“Do you want to go with me to listen to some music and eat some good food one of these days? You promised.” he asked, and excitement bubbled inside you.

“What about Eve, or whatever her name was.” You asked.

He was surprised by your question but he nevertheless told you “Theres all sorts of friends out there, no?” Ok, whatever that means.

"Yeah-sure I'll go. You kept your promise, I'll keep mine, plus I owe you." you said, trying to hide your enthusiasm.

"I'll have my driver-" he started

“You have a driver?” you didn't mean it to sound so stuck up, shit.

“Yeah, I do. What? You think a club owner doesn’t have one?” Oz joked, you were so glad he wasn't bothered by that comment, maybe he knew you didn't mean it like that.

For the first time in a week, you felt genuinely excited about something.

As the funeral dragged on, your mind wandered to what you would wear. You settled on a stunning Yves Saint Laurent dress from the '90s—black velvet, understated yet elegant. You added Oz’s gift from long ago as your necklace and a pair of Tiffany earrings to complete the look. To avoid drawing attention, you had your driver take you to the restaurant instead of arriving together.

When you arrived, Oz was already seated. As soon as he noticed you, he gave a low whistle and flashed that dazzling smile of his. You walked over, and with your heels clicking on the floor, you greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. God, he smelled amazing.

You couldn’t help but notice the stares from the other patrons. A beautiful woman smiling ear to ear with the scariest man they’d ever seen—it was a spectacle.

As Oz took your jacket and helped you get seated, you soaked in the atmosphere of the restaurant. It was bustling but cozy, with soft lighting and a stage at the center where musicians were preparing to play.

“You look gorgeous, I mean, wow,” Oz said, his gaze lingering on you, especially your breasts "Nice necklace you got."

“Well thank you! You don’t look too bad yourself. Nice seat you picked out; we can see everything from here,” you replied, smiling at him

“Yeah, I know the owner- he made us a reservation yesterday. This place is a big deal, ya know?”

“I figured-there's a lot of people-all looking at us.” You wondered if they recognized you.

He chuckled to himself “Ha, trust me doll they are sure as shit all looking at you.”

Your waiter came by and by the time the performance started you already drank half the wine they poured for you. 

The songs were amazing, the food great, the performance was amazing-it was loud, but not too loud so you couldn’t hear each other speak- and the company, whew, the company, was out of this world.

You shared with Oz memories from France and you guys reminisced about the sort of bullshit you used to be up to, from sneaking out to maxing out one of your dad’s credit cards. You don’t remember the last time you laughed this hard.

“Oh this is one of my favorite songs.” Oz said and you quieted down to listen to the music, as he looked at the performance, you had some time to look at him in this light.

You thought he was one of the most handsome men you ever saw in your life, the scar that ran up from his top lip to his cheekbones, gave him this look about him -mysterious and dangerous- he could kill someone in cold blood and then be the sweetest man in the whole world-I mean, what's there not to like?

His brown eyes had such a gorgeous shine. Sure, his hair was thinning at the top and no one in a million years would expect a girl your age and status to be with someone like him. But there was something more about Oz, this charisma he had, he could talk his way out of anything, you wondered what else he could do with that tongue.

The wine is starting to speak now, maybe regular you as well.

He noticed your wine glass being empty and he grabbed the bottle from the table and filled it up again. 

“Thank you.” you giggled. God you wanted him to kiss you. 

He smiled at you. 

“You wanna dance?” he said, gesturing with his head towards the dance floor in the middle of the room, 5 couples were already dancing together and even if you had two left feet, slow dancing was another thing, he leads, you follow-you were way more comfortable with that.

You didn’t answer him, you just got up and followed him to the dance floor. 

Now everyone has a reason to stare at you. 

“How do you feel? Better?” he asked. You were so close to him, you could stretch your neck and kiss him 

“Yeah, I do feel better. Thank you.. for this.” you answered, this wine man, you don’t know what they put in it but it's good. 

The pause that followed wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable, you were both staring at each other and Oz broke the silence

“You know” he started chuckling to himself more like “I think you might be the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.” 

“Yeah right” 

You didn’t even notice when you got so close to his face or when his lips pressed against yours, all you knew your stomach was doing jumping jacks and that you wanted to break out in a smile-which you did. 

It was a very sweet kiss, but rudely interrupted by Oz whispering in your face 

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

This time you kissed him, the scar on his lip felt so peculiar, but nice too.

After your little make out sesh on the dance floor the music stopped and you were forced to do the walk of shame back to your seats. Some of the older people there gave you some dirty looks, like-couldn't you two get a room- maybe it was that, maybe they thought it was wrong to be kissing a much older man-who was clearly- a gangster.

After you two got to your seats, you checked your phone and your smile and good disposition disappeared immediately when you finally saw that you had around 15 missed calls and about 10 messages from Sofia-the last one reading:

“WHERE ARE YOU?”

Author's note: These past few days I've been writing like crazy. It feels nice to be passionate about things. Thank you for reading. Next chapter is gonna be up tmrw, probs.

[gudfornuthin]

The Baker and the Ballerina

Chapter four

Pairing: Frank Castle x fem!reader (au)

Summary: The reader tells Farah about her interaction with the hot baker. Frank drops by with some fresh treats.

Word count: 1.4k

Series warnings: slow burn, cliché tropes, mentions of PTSD, mentions of abusive relationships, (eventual) smut, violence

A/N: this is the most committed l've ever been to any story I've attempted to write lol, so I thank anyone who is reading and enjoying. I'm proving to myself that I can stick with an idea and see it through. Feedback is as always appreciated :)

"Did you say anything else?"

"Not really, we just introduced ourselves and then left it at that."

Y/N and Farah are walking down the street together after having a brief lunch break while the latter had the time to spare. It'd only been two days since the brief interaction between Y/N and Frank, and since then Farah hadn't stopped bugging her about it. When she said she wanted to live vicariously through her friend, she wasn't kidding. While Y/N continues telling her that the conversation was nothing special, and not worth all this fuss, Farah chooses to ignore her and continue grilling.

"What'd he smell like?"

Y/N scrunches her brow. "What?"

"I bet he smells amazing, like cinnamon and sugar cookies-"

"Yeah, don't think I'm gonna sniff the guy I just met-"

"Was his voice deep and slightly husky?"

"Farah-"

"Oh god," Farah grabs her friend's arm. "Don't tell me hot baker has a nasally, whiny voice."

Y/N stops walking, a headache beginning to form. From lack of sleep or Farah's incessant badgering, she isn't entirely sure. "Okay, you've had your fun, but can we drop this now? I had one conversation with the guy, if you can even call it that, and it's done. Over." She's about to continue walking, but stops once more, turning to her friend. "And like I keep telling you, his name's Frank."

"Frank," Farah rolls her eyes. "Kinda disappointed. I was hoping for something like Grayson, or Adonis, or Alexander."

"Jesus, his name's fine. It suits him."

Farah smirks slightly. "Sorry, didn't realise you'd be so defensive over the name of the guy who you definitely don't care about."

The pair continue walking, Y/N deciding not to give Farah the satisfaction of arguing back. She has no interest in Frank. She doesn't need to defend herself over it. Sure, he is good looking, and if things were different, she knows she'd be fighting off anyone who so tried to get between them. The second he made eye contact with her; she was prepared to drop everything and jump on him right in front of anyone who walked by. But she didn't, and she won't. Because relationships are difficult, and speaking from experience, Y/N doesn't want to go through the same hardship again. It's better this way. That's what she's trying to tell herself anyways.

Farah notices her friend's quietness so moves her thoughts to something else. "How're the workers getting on at the studio?"

Maybe not the best topic to pick, as Y/N cringes, finding it hard to hide how she feels about it all. "They're a lot slower than I want them to be. And the bill only seems to keep adding up more each day."

"Absolute bullshit," Farah chooses not to hide how she feels at all. "Why don't you stand up to them, it's not like you're some shrinking violet. Tell them how you feel."

Y/N shakes her head. "No, I don't wanna cause arguments or start confrontation just because they're not quick at their job. They want it to be perfect, and so do I. For now, I'll be patient."

Farah shrugs, deciding not to fight back on this, as the pair turn the corner and head towards the studio. Y/N spots a tall figure standing outside the entrance to the building, an apron wrapped around their waist. Speak of the devil. Just seeing Frank makes her heartbeat faster. Why? How can a random guy she's spoken a few words to have this effect on her? This is bad. Or maybe good. It's difficult to say at this moment.

Y/N is ready to grab her friend's arm and drag her in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, Farah has other plans, as she too spots Frank and sucks in a dramatic breath. She picks up the pace, rushing ahead of Y/N before she has a chance to stop her.

"Oh god," Y/N mutters under her breath as she tries to catch up with her over-excited friend.

She makes it over to where the pair stand, as Frank's attention is now on Farah. They shake hands and introduce themselves to each other, even though the woman already knows far too much about the baker.

"She hasn't stopped talking about you," Y/N catches the end of Farah's sentence, assuming it's directed at her.

"Oh really?" Frank teases, looking over at Y/N and smiling slightly.

She smiles back, her eyes glancing down and then back up to the man in front of her. "Farah's the one asking so many questions about you." She notices the paper bag gripped loosely at his side. "So, uh, anything I can do for you?"

Frank waves her off, holding the bag out towards her. "Nah, just saw the builders over here again and thought l'd come by, drop some things off for ya."

Y/N takes the bag and looks inside, the smell of freshly baked goodness wafting into the air. A similar mix of pastries and sweet treats like the ones she bought the other day.

"And I put one of the cookie dough croissants in there, 'cause I know you like them so much," Frank continues, rubbing the back of his neck, almost appearing shy.

Y/N can feel her cheeks heating up, the gesture affecting her more than she realised it would. He's just being nice, stop reading too much into it.

"She also really loves raspberry muffins," Farah butts in, decidedly ruining the sweet moment.

Y/N rolls her eyes, but Frank just laughs. "I'll keep that in mind." He looks up as the noise from the open window catches his attention. "So, how's work on the studio doing?"

Y/N goes to reply, but Farah once again cuts in, knowing her friend will play the situation down. "It's a piss take."

Frank huffs in jest and Y/N slaps her friend lightly on the arm.

Farah shrugs her shoulders. "Well it's true! They're taking advantage of you."

"I'm sorry that's happening," Frank responds.

Y/N tries not to make a big deal about it. "She's being dramatic, honestly it's fine."

Frank isn't convinced. He hasn't known her for long but can't help but feel angry on her behalf over the way she's being treated.

"Well hey, if you need help, I can have a word with them," Frank says. "I'm not afraid of being an asshole."

Y/N laughs slightly. "Thank you, but I promise I'm good."

They stand there for a few extra moments, just smiling at each other. Farah clears her throat, sending a knowing look to her friend.

Y/N holds the paper bag tight. "Uh, I'll let you get back to work. Thank you for these, you really didn't have to."

Frank nods. "No problem, you need anything else just come over, David and I'll help in any way we can."

They bid goodbye, as Frank heads to the bakery and Y/N and Farah enter the studio building.

"Nothing there, yeah right," Farah snorts. "I was drowning in the sexual tension."

Y/N scoffs, placing the paper bag on the table. "What sexual tension? He bought stuff over and then left."

"Oh, please," Farah continues. "He gave you free pastries and made sure you knew your favourite was in there. And then told you he'd 'have a word' with the workers that are bothering you? That man wants you bad."

"You need to stop reading those dark romance novels," Y/N replies.

She sets everything from the bag out on the table, feeling prepared just in case the workers want anything. The cookie dough croissant is wrapped separately. Y/N places it down, then spots something scribbled on the side of the wrapping. A phone number, and Frank's name next to it with a smiley face.

She doesn't notice Farah standing behind her also reading the scribbles. "He wants you!" she exclaims, making Y/N jump.

It's not a big deal, that's what she tries to tell herself. But as she takes her phone and inputs his number into a new contact, the fluttering in her stomach is hard to ignore. She types in his name, along with a small croissant emoji next to it. She sends out a quick text, just so he has her number too.

'Bakehouse 31 has a new regular - Y/N :)’

- - -

Taglist: @nialhero-blog @luvrgirlsworld @britt217 @solstararis (apologies if some tags didn’t work)

[skulkiee]

So i have been writing a story about Epic where Polites lives. Kinda. And its about the sirens because i like getting ramdom characters and making them relevant. How i wrote the characters probably aren't accurate in any way, probably most of it isnt accurate actually, but im enjoying writing this so that doesnt matter to me. Um, its got four chapters so far, and i have done no planning really but here you go i guess. Anyways yeah.

Thankyou @ant-nikki your little comment about wanting to see this was one of the things that actually gave me confidence to put this here :D

Echoing where my ghosts all used to be (oh my, oh my)

Polites wakes slowly.

And then his brain catches up with the fact he is waking up at all, and that he can feel a heartbeat in his chest, and he panics.

Because he died.

-(Arms wrapped around his body, scooping him up. He lent his head against their chest, and he could hear a heartbeat much stronger than his failing one.)-

Polites snaps his eyes open, and comes face to face with another person. Their eyes light up when they see him, and a bright grin crosses their face, "They're awake!"

-(He had grinned up at Eury, and his friend's eyes had widened then, too, "He's alive!" He had shouted at someone Polites couldn't see. Polites had reached up for his face then, despite the pain radiating through his whole body.)-

Polites lashes out at the person, and they jerk backwards before his hand can come into contact with their face.

"Woah! Buddy, calm down-" they yell, "Help!"

Polites feels another person grab him from behind, "Got him!" They shout back, pinning his arms against his sides, and he thrashes in their grasp until he can't anymore.

"Are they okay?" A third voice joins in.

Polites tries to breathe to calm his nerves and just gets a mouthful of water, and that doesn't help at all, because suddenly he's drowning again- hes drowning again-

-(Polites had gasped and coughed while he tried to speak to Eury, but he could barely breathe past the blood in his lungs, let alone speak.)-

"Of course they're not okay, Alope, they must have just died to be here! And from the looks of it it wasn't a very nice death." A fourth voice mutters.

"Hey, 'Troclus, you got here the most recent, you see if you know them." The second voice snaps, their voice much too close to Polites' ear for his liking.

"They also wouldn't be okay because they just got turned into a siren, Alope." The fourth voice continues.

Polites snaps his eyes back open at that, and yes, he does not have legs. He has a dark, rusty-red -(like the blood that covered the flowers in the clearing when the boar got Odysseus, like the colour that has haunted him for the past ten years, like the colour that covered his whole body just moments ago)- tail with jagged fins and nasty almost-gold scars. Everything only makes him panic more.

"Shut up, Cleito." A new voice that Polites feels he should recognise, but in his panicked state, he can't, "Hey, hey, can you look at me?"

Polites does, and he gasps (inhaling water again), "Patroclus? How-"

"Shh." His old friend from the war cuts him off, pulling him into a tight hug, "This might look terrible, but i promise you're safe now."

"So you know them?" The second voice asks again, and their voice sounds commanding.

"Yes. We're friends." Patroclus- is he a siren too? -confirms, and the owner of the second voice lets go of him finally. Polites clings to his friend that he saw die.

But then didn't he die too?

Did the other, what, four people here die too?

"So what's your name then? I'm Alope!" The chirpy little voice that had asked him if he was okay speaks again.

Polites lifts his head slightly and looks at the small figure next to him. She has pale skin and freckles and long blond hair and bright blue and turquoise scales and fins and eyes and a bright grin.

"Alope, give them a moment to recover," it's the fourth voice, the one that had been saying all the reasons why he wouldn't be okay. She's large, with darker skin and purplish- pinkish scales and intelligent eyes. She ruffles Alope's hair, "I am Cleito."

Polites smiles and gives the pair a little wave.

"And i'm Hyacinthus!" It's the first person who spoke, his voice incredibly enthusiastic, his bright lilac scales matching his bubbly personality perfectly.

Polites recognises his name, even if he wasn't raised in a family that constantly told tales of what happened to the mortals who got too entwined with the Gods, he would think that most people would know the name of the person who got caught between an Olympian and a Titan's son.

"And obviously you know me." Patroclus offers him a smile, before pointing behind him to a siren with red hair and even redder scales, "That's Epolenep, she's the eldest of us and our leader."

Epolenep folds her arms across her chest, "Welcome to the pod, newbie." She grins, though it's more of a bearing of her fangs. Polites shivers.

"Polites." He says, answering her unspoken question, "My name's Polites."

"How'd you die?" Alope asks merrily, "I drowned, ironic, isn't it?"

"And i was killed by a God! I know, cool aren't I?" Hyacinthus joins in.

Epolenep sighs, "You two maniacs." She mutters fondly, "Of course, Polites, you do not have to say, but it would be useful to know."

Patroclus nods, "How we died affects how we live now, Alope, for example, drowned, and sometimes now, she has trouble breathing, or wakes up in a panic over the water in her lungs." He pauses, "Those scars along your tail don't look too nice, and personally, i would like to know what happened after you left Troy. I would have thought you Ithacans would be the first home, with how much Odysseus talked about his Penelope."

Penelope. Polites wonders what his sister will think when his friends get home without him. He hopes she won't miss him too much. He hopes none of his family will miss him too much. He knows they will. Especially Eury and Elpenor and Penny.

"Cyclops." He says quietly. Theres a round of murmurs from the people around him, "We left Troy, and the Gods sent up a storm and we got lost and ran out of food." He says, for Patroclus, "I found an island. Me and Ody went ashore, and then we got told about a cave. I persuaded him to go there-"

Polites pauses when a realisation hits him. -(He lay in Eury's arms, and tried to block out the screams of his comrades. Tried not to look over Eury's shoulder at Odysseus' shocked, frozen form as his men cried for his orders, for his help. As the men, the friends, that Polites had dragged here, died around them.)-

"Gods, how many of them did i get killed?"

I guess i'll put the next bit here tomorow?

(please someone tell me your thoughts on this)

Also i will welcome any tips or ideas please :D

[duelacadatoolshed]

it's a bitch convincing people to like you {Evan/Reader/HABIT}

Part 2/4

{ part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 }

Summary: Despite all of HABITS's neon red flags, you stay with Evan. On the pros and cons list of your relationship, there's only really one, and yes it's a big one, but you decide that it's worth it. HABIT deciding to start coercing you into being complicit in his atrocities, since his ego doesn't like that you refuse to think he's special, is actually less of a down-side to you than anyone might think, though you'd take that thought to the grave.

Warnings: suturing a wound, violence, HABIT breaks a bone in your hand, arson, mind manipulation, knives, murder, mentions of torture, HABIT typical cruelty & behaviour. Unedited.

A/N: continuing to emhpost in 2024. HABIT is distressingly fun to write. I love HABIT and reader's dynamic, Alexa play No Children by The Mountain Goats. That's not the song for this chapter, but it is the song for their relationship. Hand in unlovable hand. Again, like it if you like it, if you like, or comment, or anything. Print it, shred it, grind the remains to powder that you can cut with coke, and snort it. If you hate it, tape it to a punching bag.

Evan wakes with a start, terror in his eyes, and starts apologising so much the second he sees you that he quickly becomes incoherent. As he scrambled to sit up, your cool facade breaks and you smile at him, taking his face in your hands, assuring him that everything was fine. It seems like he can't quite believe you, forehead pressed to yours as he wraps his arms around you and pulls you close, still apologising all the while.

The two of you stay like that, on your kitchen floor, for almost an hour until you finally convince him to shower. He spends another hour in there, emerging wrapped in a towel, and you sheepishly tell him you bought him some s sweat pants, thinking something like this would happen. Evan turns pink actually looking a little endeared at that, and he changes in the bathroom before coming back to join you in bed. You ask him if he remembers anything, he admits that he doesn't, that that's why he was terrified to wake up and see you, so scared something had happened to you. He's glad, but still genuinely shocked, to know nothing had. Well, almost nothing. He is quick to clean the shallow knife wound in your back, but grimaces when he mentions that it'll probably need stitches. Again, you hesitate but admit to going overboard with getting medical supplies after researching him and HABIT. Evan goes very quiet at that, before asking what you'd learned.

You hand him the suturing needle and medical thread, and ask if he's okay to do this. Swallowing hard, he tells you he is, that he's done it before for the guys. The rest of EverymanHYBRID, you realise. So you lay on your bed, and Evan sits beside you, taking care of your wound as you try your best to explain your research.

"I'm sorry if I come off like a creepy stalker-" you mumbled softly, but Evan, who'd finished stitching you up and was now dressing the wound, cuts you off.

"I should have told you before any of this happened," he paused, sighing deeply, "I didn't know how. I didn't-" his voice catches in his throat, and his hands still against your back, "I'm sorry," he mutters finally, "it's a fucking miracle that you're alive and it's my fault for being a coward and putting you in that position. We hadn't even been together that long, I - fuck," he hisses, "thank you for taking me in for the night despite everything, I'll get out of your hair tomorrow." Slowly, you sit, getting to your knees, regarding him with a soft smile.

"There's no way I would have believed you if you'd told me," you admitted, "I have no clue how you'd even start that conversation," you laugh softly, and Evan's just looking at you with the saddest little expression, "but believe it or not, this isn't a deal breaker for me; I care about you, Evan." You take his hand; Evan looks at your fingers laced with his like he can't quite believe it.

"You should be running far, far away from me," he mumbled, but you gave his hand a squeeze.

"HABIT, probably. You? No."

For a long moment, Evan just looks at you, wide eyed, disbelieving. Then, all at once, he surges forwards, kissing you frantically. He peppers you with kisses, telling you he loves you, and something eases in your chest when you finally get the chance to say it back.

Later, the two of you curled up beneath the duvet, Evan holding you securely against his chest, he asks you about what happened earlier that night with HABIT. What had you said to end up with only a bruised cheek and shallow knife wound to the back, but alive. So you recount the conversation to the best of your ability, parts of which actually startle a laugh from Evan at your boldness.

"You're actually kind of terrifying," he laughs, grin pressed to your back, "I can't believe you."

"I know I've poked the bear," you admitted softly, "I know he's going to hurt me, probably badly, probably even kill me, but..." you trailed off, "it doesn't feel scary when it feels inevitable. I know we haven't been together long, but I really, really like you, Evan, so a little bit of pain isn't the end of the world. I know your heart is good. HABIT's isn't, but he's not you."

Evan's holding you so tightly it feels like your ribs are about to crack. He has no words in this moment, so you just gently tell him to get some rest. There's more to talk about, but that can happen tomorrow.

For a long time after that, things with Evan are good. Really good. Still, he's adamant that you don't spend the night at his place even if you've been over there countless times. If HABIT wakes you up again, there's far too many weapons around for him to sleep comfortably with you in his arms.

Sometimes he will disappear for days at a time. You know it's HABIT. Sometimes he'll text you during these periods.

[what's your address again?]

[nice try habit. fuck off]

[🥺 PLEASE I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU]

[is it a weapon to injure me with?]

[YOU RUINED THE SURPRISE]

[no you're just predictable]

[YOU'RE SUCH A BITCH]

Evan is thoroughly disconcerted by these exchanges whenever he comes back to himself. He always apologises for them even though you assure him he has nothing to apologise for. You help where you can with his investigations while keeping up with your own studies and keeping tabs on HABIT out of curiosity.

Except then there comes a day where you're out with Evan at the museum, and when he disappears for a moment to look at something, HABIT is the one who comes back. You can tell just by looking at him, the way he seems kind of lost, almost confused and disgusted to be here, that it's him.

And the smile that lights up his face when he sees you is a dead giveaway. If he weren't a monster, it might actually be endearing. Instead, you begin to grow a little nauseous, but don't let it show on your face.

"Rabbit, you are a sight for sore eyes," he loops his arm in yours forcefully, voice low in your ear, "were we on a date?" He teases sharply. As you try and wrench your arm out of his grip, he just holds you tighter, tutting disapprovingly.

"I was on a date, with Evan," you spat back icily. His nails dig into your arm uncomfortably as he calls you quaint. When you cut to the chase and ask him what the hell he wants, HABIT sucks a sharp breath in between his teeth, calling you a stubborn bitch under his breath. You elbow him in response and he tells you to watch it.

"Today, you're gonna be my good, little helper, and you're gonna play along, or I'll make you play along."

"Well not to skip the foreplay but I'm not going to play along, so either posses me or piss off," you told him candidly, much to HABIT's ongoing frustration.

"You're such a buzz kill," he actually whined, and you couldn't help but smirk at that, "there's no fun in that."

"I know," you couldn't help but snort, "you should probably just kill me." HABIT is quiet for a very few long moments after that, though he's still steering you both towards the exit, "you're thinking about it, aren't you?" Your tone is teasing, and he makes an amused noise in the back of his throat.

"Making a pros and cons list in my head, except I can't find any real cons."

"So why aren't you maiming me? I know you have no problems causing a spectacle," in the sunshine, you stop, turning to him. By now you know how to play this game, you think you know the answer. It's there in the way he looks at you, like you're a puzzle he's enjoying the game of solving. Except you're surprised by how much you like the way he's looking at you.

"Call it intellectual curiosity."

"Your ego can't handle the fact that I don't think you're special for wanting to hurt or kill me," you counter. This conversation really shouldn't be this light, you really should speak with even a bit more caution than you do. But then HABIT smiles, and your heartrate picks up for all the wrong reasons.

"You are going to be so much fun to break," he murmurs, and you have to fight back your automatic response, because Jesus Christ, why is your automatic response to say something flirty? Really, what is wrong with you?

"Good luck with that," you give a cold smile, and attempt to walk away. Attempt to. HABIT grabs your hand and starts to drag you down the street; his grip is unyielding, and only grows tighter, until you yelp, tears stinging your eyes as you feel the sharp, intense pain of a delicate bone snapping in your hand.

"I didn't just mean psychologically, rabbit," HABIT offers cheerfully, giving another pointed squeeze. An involuntary sob escapes you, and you've never seen someone's attention be drawn so quickly.

"I'm in pain, I'm going to cry," you rolled your eyes, despite your wobbly voice, "the fuck did you expect, you silly bitch?"

"Did you just call me a silly bitch?" It's like he can't believe you're giving him attitude right now.

"If the clown shoes fit -" you have to bite down to muffle your whimper of pain as he squeezes your hand again. Your whole face scrunched up, tears shine on your cheeks in the sunlight, and when you open your eyes, HABIT's regarding you with the most curious expression.

"You get hotter when you cry," he comments idly, "I'm probably biased though, I might just think you get hotter when you're in pain, I think everyone does -"

"You're a sadist, shocker," you say sarcastically, "get hard on your own time; can you focus on forcing me to help you commit atrocities so we can get this over with?"

"You're sassing me right now? With a broken hand? This is like if you stepped on an ant, and when you look under your shoe the fucking ant flips you off despite his mangled ant legs."

"You'll get over it."

"I don't know if I will, rabbit; you wound me," he presses his free hand over his heart, but his smile is wide and incredulous.

"I should be so lucky."

HABIT's smile turns dangerous once more, but the conversation drops, and he leads you on. As you continue on, he tells you about his victim, a conspiracy theorist getting too close to the truth and had to be silenced. When you ask what truth, HABIT's grin is cruel.

"Doesn't matter, not like any of his findings 'll ever see the light of day."

When you ask how he plans to kill him, HABIT sounds almost dreamy when he says he's still figuring that out. Turning down a street in nearby suburbia, HABIT looks over his shoulder at you.

"You're gonna get us inside."

"The hell I am."

"Its not a choice kind of situation, rabbit," he says flatly, but he perks up again, "though I am curious about how your mind works, so I'm gonna nudge you into obeying, but the details are up to you,"

There is suddenly an ice cold presence in the back of your mind, a voice you know is HABIT's true voice, not the one he manages to coax from Evan's throat. It orders you to say thank you, and you do so with a scowl, through gritted teeth. He sighs, shaking his head as if terribly disappointed, and just asks that you at least try and be believable with the victim. Then, he's in your mind again.

HABIT's presence in your mind is sweet, almost eerily seductive as he murmurs for you to figure out how to get them into the house you'd both stopped in front of. The voice is cold but ultimately smooth as it adds, be good for me, rabbit, be believable. It's like your mind and your body are two seperate entities, one desperately trying to revolt while the other turns to HABIT. You ask him to squeeze your hand again; he seems surprised and delighted by this turn of events, and complies. Immediately you burst into tears, and he seems taken aback, but you furiously hiss for him to put his arm around you as you both stumble to the door.

"Hello? Hello is anyone in there? Please help, please- we need help," you sobbed loudly, leaning into HABIT's arms, half collapsed against him.

"Who are you?" Comes a terse, nervous voice from behind the door.

"I- my name's Amelia, sir, please, I tripped and hurt myself, there's something following us," she whimpered, dissolving into tears.

"Someone?" The voice behind the door asks sharply, but before she can answer, HABIT plays along.

"Someone maybe, but it- I don't know how to describe it, sir, it was so tall-" the door opens swiftly, and they're ushered inside. HABIT holds you tightly, even as the man ushers you both into his living room. Locking the door, you both hear several chains being locked after, and he mutters something irritated about Chinese security cameras and shipping time. You're curled up, mostly in HABIT's lap, his arms around you. He's murmuring softly to you, lips against your forehead, telling you it's going to be okay. It's sickening the part of you locked away and still capable of free thought. He rubs circles against your back as you tearfully apologise to the man, babbling weakly about how it could have all been a misunderstanding, but there was something unsettling about the tall figure in the suit you swear was following you. The man goes very quiet, drilling you for any details you remember, interrogating you both. Finally, he asks if you were okay.

"I think I did something to my hand," you sniffled, still holding it to your chest. Nervously, when the man asks to take a look and check, you offer it, but before he can even touch you, every part of you recoiled, burying your sobbing face into HABIT's chest as he curls his arms around you and apologises for how skittish you were. He sounds so much like Evan in this moment you can't help but genuinely start to cry harder.

The victim asks if you're sure you were being followed, and you and HABIT quietly nod. In the next moment, he disappears back down the hall, and you feel HABIT's grin turn wicked against your temple.

"So you do know how to act scared," he muttered. You his for him to shut up, but he just laughs under his breath. The have that had been wrapped around your shoulders moves to your face, fingertips gently caressing your jaw, your cheek, even once stopping with his fingers beneath your chin so he could run his thumb along your bottom lip. It's so bloody innocuous, so why did it all feel so strangely possessive? It's also surprisingly soothing, and despite all odds, you find yourself relaxing somewhat against him as he rambles, "it wasn't exactly a creative solution, but he folded like a sheet. I told you, you get hotter when you cry."

"You're an asshole," you whimpered, "I hate you." With a softness you hadn't realised he was capable of, HABIT holds your jaw, tipping your face up to meet his gaze. He's so much closer than you'd expected, even if you know, logically, that it makes sense since you're all but in his lap.

"Yeah, clearly," he sees fit to mock you, considering the circumstances, how close you still seem to insist on being. How you're looking at him now. Something about the way he's looking at you, the affection in his eyes, it almost reminds you of Evan. If not for the way his gaze burns behind it all. Behind his mask of humanity, HABIT is all razor sharp intensity, trapped inside the visage of your boyfriend. You wonder how many people have gotten this close and lived to tell the tale.

HABIT makes short work of tying the victim up when he gets back, bored of the facade, he explains. Still he assures him that he won't draw this out like he usually would.

"It's rabbit's first murder, I'm still trying to ease her into it -" he explains, and the crying victim now looks to you in a panic.

"I'm sorry," you blurt out; while HABIT hasn't forced you to continue playing along and deceiving the man, he has kept you frozen in place, watching, helpless.

"No she's not," HABIT laughs, undercutting you immediately.

"I am!" You tried to insist, "I don't want this to happen, I don't want to do this -"

"It's like you keep finding new ways to get on my nerves," HABIT snapped suddenly, "go be useful; start as many fires as you can." And your body obeys without your consent, picking up the lightest from the stove. All you can do is disconnect from the process, squeezing your eyes shut while you're body moves around like a puppet, going through the house room by room and clicking the lighter to life every time.

The fire is beginning to chew through the house by the time you get to HABIT, and his praise makes you feel a little ill. The feeling only grows when he asks you to open your eyes, and he's standing before you, knife in hand, covered in blood.

"I've made it easy for you, little rabbit," there's something so sinister about his sweet tone. HABIT places the handle of the knife in your hands, curling your fingers over it, holding your hand steady in his own grip, "at this point, it'd be crueler to let him live," and stepping aside to reveal the horror show he'd made of the victim in that sort time; you feel like you're about to throw up, but you can't move. Except then he's behind you, his chest firm against his back as he wraps one arm around you to keep you secure, while the other once again holds yours as it holds the knife, guiding you.

"Don't make me do this," you whispered, even as the man before you begged for it all to end. HABIT's laughter is warm against your ear.

"There's very few ways to die that are more painful than burning alive," he mutters against the shell of your ear, voice turning into a low, almost pleased growl, "you're a fucking monster."

"I'm not a monster for not wanting to kill someone."

"You're a monster for being too selfish to put this guy out of his misery, making him suffer like that,* but HABIT sounds downright appreciative, and he holds you a little tighter against him. A traitorous, pleased shiver runs down your spine.

The bound man is downright unrecognisable, clearly suffering, praying for you to provide him a swift and merciful end. Honestly, to help him escape enduring another moment with HABIT, even through death, would make you something of a saviour to him in his final minutes, you tried to reason.

But HABIT's no longer in your mind, and the dark little voice that whispers insistently that you'll never get a chance like this again, is entirely your own. An eldritch abomination has decided that you were intriguing, that you were worth the effort of corrupting; HABIT is acting like you're special because you told him he wasn't. Despite your better judgement, you do really find him fascinating.

You tell yourself a million different things to try and rationalise what you're about to do, even lying to yourself that you can still feel the last of HABIT'S supernatural influence curling at the edges of your free will. It's not. HABIT's hands on yours, still holding the knife, is firm but still, he doesn't puppet you into this act of cruel mercy, all he does is still the shaking of your hand. His thumb brushes over your knuckles almost tenderly; you close your eyes.

"I'm so so sorry," you murmur to your poor victim, steeling your resolve. HABIT just laughs.

[mirrorbvllhoon]

COFFEE: 300 takeout coffees later

Masterlist

Cafe owner!reader x idol!Sunghoon

a/n: I just recently recovered from covid and could gather enough strength to write this chapter, I'm in the middle of exams (since here in Mexico it's already exam season, at least in my college) Hopefully I'll start to upload the next of the chapters weekly.

Hope that you enjoy !

WC: 2.1 k

You found yourself cleaning the café, it was close to midnight but after a tiring weekend there were a lot of things left to do and the rest of the employees had to leave early for different circumstances, leaving you alone. 

After mopping the floors and washing the dishes ,you debated yourself between finishing the dough for the cookies or preparing the tiramisú for the next morning, your eyes fluttering wishing to be shut, telling you to go to sleep yet there you were in the middle of the café staring at the mirrors that adorned the place, your eyes looking tired and in the midst of your tiredness you heard the bell ring, you forgot to lock the door…again.

“We’re closed we will open tomorrow at 10 am…”, your voice had a shade of irritation in it

“I know, I just… I forgot something”, the familiar voice answered, it was Sunghoon again, however, you had cleaned the place already and hadn’t seen anything, either way you nodded and allowed him to roam all over the place.

Time was ticking so you decided to finish the cookie dough and finish the tiramisú that would be served the next morning, and after you left everything inside the fridge, Sunghoon was standing in the door frame.

“I already found it”, he said shyly, you nodded in response waiting for him to leave, “Is that tiramisú?”, He asked, seeing the small portions served the leftovers that you often saved for you and the other employees that decided to stay after the closing hours, however that weekend it was only you, and the boy in the doorframe with the puppy eyes and moles adorning his face.

“Yes, do you want some?” you asked, seeing the shyness in his eyes but the small smile in his lips you continued, “I usually save two portions to eat after we’re done cleaning after closing, but today the rest of the employees had to leave early, so… you can have the portion if you want to… on the house of course” you said, your voice was now filled with a hint of sadness and tiredness but Sunghoon could trace a small hint of sincerity in your words, so he accepted the tiramisú portion.

“If you want to leave since it’s already late I can put it inside a “to-go” container”

“I actually want to stay, if you’re okay with that”

After the long day you debated yourself on what to answer, “I actually need to close, so if you want we can eat it in my house, it’s around the corner… like literally around the corner…”

“You live in those departments?” he asked, signaling the ones that looked across the window of the cafeteria, you nodded once again, arranging the portions of tiramisú inside a to-go box.

“I mean I barely know you… you don’t even know my name… I shouldn’t have said that” you tried saying, recognizing how stupid you had sounded just a few seconds ago.

You knew his name, but you decided to ignore that fact, not wanting to creep him out at the moment or in any upcoming moment, “I’m Sunghoon” he said finally.

“I’m y/n”, you answered and he smiled.

“Well then I think I can say yes to the offer”, he answered, unsure of why he had agreed as easily, maybe there was something in you that surprised him, maybe that’s why he had came back to the cafe in the middle of the night, inventing a stupid excuse of a lie to see you again, hoping that you hadn’t seen through the facade.

You smiled once again, and after taking the container and your bag, you closed the cafeteria and guided him to your department. The cozy interior welcomed the both of you and although you wished for it to be tidier than it was, you couldn’t blame yourself… The weekend had ruined your sleep schedule completely, not allowing you to clean or to sleep properly as a matter of fact, yet now you were sitting in front of Sunghoon who ate the tiramisú as if it was the best thing left on earth.

“It’s really good…” he said, you giggled for some seconds, “I think I need to eat this everyday”

“Well, at least now you know where to find it”

The time passed and you hadn’t even noticed the second you fell asleep on your own chair and table, in your own department, but your already-too-tired eyes decided not to open anymore, what a surprise when you woke up, thanks to you alarm, in your bed, tucked and covered with your blanket and hugging a pillow, and just when you were about to walk to the bathroom, a smell hit your nostrils, fresh coffee.

You decide to step into the kitchen, seeing Sunghoon preparing an espresso in your own machine.

“Good Morning”, he said, as if staying there the whole night was normal and mundane, as if you were already close friends who stayed in each other's departments because of the already built trust, but you weren’t, you had barely known him and neither did he know you.

“You stayed?”, you asked, confusion lingering on your face, your brows joined together as if skimming for an answer that was so oblivious you hadn’t noticed it.

He nodded, “You fell asleep and I decided to take you to your bed, and then I fell asleep on your couch, hope that you don’t mind”, you turned to see the couch covered in a thin throw blanket, his skin filled with goosebumps every second that passed, of course he was cold, “Then I decided to prepare you coffee as a “thank-you” for me staying over”

You found him and his actions cute, but you could notice how cold he was and that was stressing you a little, you decided to grab him a wearable blanket, one that resembled a hoodie, and handed it to him, telling him you would finish preparing the coffee and some breakfast, before the two of you could depart, you to your cafeteria and him, to wherever ídols like him go.

“Don't you have other places to be? I don't mind you leaving at all”, you said, hoping that your voice sounded concerned and not rude.

“No, we ended the comeback promotions yesterday and we have this week as a kind of vacation”, he answered, and while your reminisced your busy weekend you do remember seeing one of those promotions on the TV screen, and now that very man was in front of you, 

You nodded your head slightly, “What would you like for breakfast? I can make you eggs benedict or if you want something sweeter… pancakes or waffles…”

“Anything goes well”, he said and smiled once again, his eyes turning upwards as if resembling a smile and his mouth peaked his fangs.

Since you liked having a salty breakfast you prepared the eggs benedict, however you decided to prepare him some pieces of pancakes so he could have them with his coffee.

“So… Do you enjoy working at the café?”, Sunghoon asked, his voice lacing over the kitchen sounds of the eggs breaking.

“Yes, It can be tiring but I really enjoy it, that was my dream after all…”, you answered while opening the fridge and taking a pack of salmon and milk out.

“To work at a café?”, he asked while you whisked the sauce for the eggs

“To own a café”, you said and he chuckled, changing the atmosphere of the place as you flipped the pancakes and took out two plates to serve the breakfast.

“Do you want the coffee prepared as the one from the last time?”, you asked, preparing your own cup of coffee while waiting for his answer.

He nodded, so you took out the vanilla syrup and prepared him an iced latte before sitting in front of him.

“Do you enjoy being a singer?”, you asked in order to break the ice.

“I do, it can be tiring but I feel like my friends also help me overcome all of this, and then performing in front of the fans it’s also amazing…”

“And did you always want to become an idol?”

“No, I actually wanted to be a figure skater, but then I just fell in love with the music and dancing… all of it, and now… here I am”

“I used to dance when I was a kid, but I broke my ankle and haven’t tried since… then after all those College years of drinking coffee I kind of loved all the process behind it and here I am now ” you said while taking a sip of your iced americano.

“College years? what did you study?” 

“Linguistics and phonetics… but I no longer work in that area, not since the café”, you said once again, taking a bite of the eggs, “You should eat otherwise it will get cold”

He chuckled at your comment and started to eat the food in front of him until there were just hues of the sauce and small residues on the plates that would be thrown in the dishwasher alongside the cups in a few moments.

“It was nice being here”, he said after some seconds, “Hopefully we can talk again, I enjoyed your company”

“I can say the same about you”, you say before guiding him through the door.

“Hope to see you later y/n”

You smiled before closing the door once he left into the empty corridor, and you went back to prepare for the day ahead.

₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿ ☕︎‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

The time flew by, and before you could notice it was already noon, the day had gone by pacific, with only a few people stopping by to grab a coffee and have a small chatter, and with some high-schoolers grabbing a coffee milk and bun before their day went by, since your store was relatively unknown you barely had delivery orders, and they were even less unusual during mondays, your coworker could see the surprise in your face when a notification rang through the computer.

  4 latte

         / 1 add on vanilla syrup

  2 Americano

  1 lavender taro

  1 tiramisú

  2 coffee buns

  1 almond matcha croissant

  1 choco-mint muffin

Total: ₩ 40,500

        Tip: ₩. 40,500

“Hey… come and look at this…” you told the worker next to you, “Since when do we receive such large tips?”

“Are you sure the system isn’t glitching?” she asked you, refreshing the page on the computer, but the same balance appeared over and over again, “Maybe… we should send a message to the buyer… just to make sure”

I nod my hair, not believing the screen in front of my eyes, I tap the message option and send a quick message.

“Hi, thanks for your purchase, just to make sure… on our system it appears that you left a 40,500 tip on the purchase you made… is that correct?”

“Yes” was the only answer that appeared under the message you sent, and without thinking about it twice, you started to prepare the beverages and the pastries, waiting for the rider to arrive and pick the food to deliver.

The day continued as boring as a monday could be… and then the day ended before you could even notice you were home, cleaning and organizing the mess of a department you called home.

And then Tuesday arrived, and not even an hour had passed since you opened the café. You had a delivery order, this time two elements but a huge tip, the same as the day before.

1 Latte

         / 1 add on vanilla syrup

1 Tiramisú

Total: ₩ 9400

       Tip: ₩ 40,500

On Tuesdays you worked alone, since it was the slowest day of the week for the café, and the same thing as the day before happened, you prepared the order and it got delivered, not a busy day…you went home at nine sharp and had eight hours of sleep a luxury you hadn’t had in a long time.

Weeks went by and there was not a single day that went by were you didn’t receive a delivery order that contained a vanilla latte, sometimes iced others hot, paired with a tiramisú and a tip of  ₩ 40,500.

You were oblivious as to who could be ordering the same thing over and over, for almost a month, until you went home during that chilly october evening, missing your favorite wearable blanket, an accessory you wore on days like this, but after searching for every part of your department you couldn’t find it… because you didn’t have it anymore, it hit you like the rain falling to the pavement, like the sound of lightning.

Sunghoon.

[scarletqueenx]

chapter eleven - danger zone

Dean Winchester x Female Reader

Summary: After a few months dating, Dean abandoned you in a motel room without giving you any explanation, years later his brother and he saved you from a demon and now you hunt with them discovering every day new mysteries about your family and the destiny that awaits you. Heaven, hell, demons, angels, vampires, witches and much more.

A/N: English is not my first language. This is my first time writing in the readers perspective, as i'm used to write oc´s.

series masterlist

You were in the middle of a nightmare while asleep in the Impala's back seats when the ringing of your phone woke you up. Although to Dean and Sam it looked like you were sleeping peacefully, the memories inside your head wouldn't leave you alone. And just as he had done the night from which all those bad dreams came, this time it was also your father who woke you up.

Henry had an idea.

It was an idea that solved one of your greatest fears. What if a demon possessed you? You didn't want to end up like Carter. You didn't want to hurt anyone.

But the solution your father was proposing also forced you to face another of your fears. A more common, mundane one. Stupid compared to the other. But still, you felt the anxiety run down your spine as you let an unknown man, full of tattoos, put one on you.

It had been pathetic, you thought. How you'd looked at Dean with teary eyes, pleading for him to hold your hand in an even more pathetic silence. You had a habit of playing tough. It was in the DNA of older siblings, you assumed all your life. You never asked for help for anything and Dean knew that. But he also knew the look you'd given him that night in the tattoo store. So accepting your silent plea, Dean intertwined his hand with yours as he gave you a small reassuring smile. His touch like a soothing to your pain and fears. You felt safe as that scary needle stabbed your skin multiple times to imprint that strange drawing on your back.

Dean and Sam were the next to get the same symbol tattooed, this time is their chest. Right on the side of their hearts. Both facing that situation with much more composure than you. Or than your little brother.

"But... tattoos hurt, don't they?" Peter shifted nervously next to Maddie as they walked into that tattoo store in San Francisco.

"It depends on where you put it." She replied. Peter nodded slightly as his head continued to race with thoughts.

"I just don't understand why we have to do this. My father said there are charms."

"He also said it's easy to get them taken away from you."

"Yeah, but... You didn't want to have anything to do with this world. Why would you let them put a mark on you that would remind you forever of what happened? About your mother, about the other night?" Peter asked, genuinely confused.

"I'm going to remember it anyway." Maddie shrugged. "At least this way I'll be safe."

"Even if they can't possess you they'll still be able to attack you, you know that, right?"

His words were like knives through her chest. Of course she knew that, but to think that tattoo would be the solution to all her problems made her feel somehow better. Even if it was only for a few days, hours, seconds.

"I know you're scared, but you don't have to be a jerk about it."

Peter immediately felt bad when he saw the pain in the her eyes. He had seen that look before in other people. Every friend he ever had would end up walking away from him with that same look in their eyes. Peter was his own self-destruct button. You were the only one who had never left his side despite how badly he sometimes treated you.

But for the first time, Peter didn't want to lose a friend that way either. So he reached out to Maddie and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

Surprised by the gesture, Maddie turned to him, seeing the look of regret in his eyes. She quickly gave him a reassuring smile, tightening her grip on his hand to make sure he knew that everything was okay and she wouldn't leave his side.

Her hand remained clasped in his as the tattoo was being done. Because if there was one thing the three Holloway siblings had in common, it was their fear of needles.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Bela had a funny way of making the Winchesters' lives impossible. First she stole the Colt from them. Which left them without a weapon to kill demons if it weren't for the fact that they still had your knife. And then, just when they finally thought they had found her, she had exposed them to the police. To an agent especially determined to find them after they had committed illegal actions to solve two supernatural cases that were very difficult to explain to someone who had nothing to do with that world.

Now, Agent Henriksen wasn't looking for you for any reason, but being with two criminals like the Winchester brothers gave him the authority to arrest you as well.

He seemed very pleased watching them from outside the cell of that police station in Monument, Colorado.

"You know what I'm trying to decide?" Henriksen asked.

"I don't know. What? Whether Cialis will help you with your little condition?" Dean said sitting next to you.

"What to have for dinner tonight." He corrected. "Steak or lobster, what the hell, surf and turf." He smiled while Dean smirked cynically. "I got a lot to celebrate. I mean, after all, seeing you two in chains..."

"You kinky son of a bitch. We don't swing that way."

"Now, that's funny."

"You know, I wouldn't bust out the melted butter just yet. Couldn't catch us at the bank, couldn't keep us in that jail." Dean pointed out.

"You're right. Screwed up. I underestimated you." Henriksen admitted. "I didn't count on you being that smart but now I'm ready."

"Yeah, ready to lose us again?" Dean raised his eyebrows

"Ready like a court order to keep you in a Supermaximum prison in Nevada till trial. Ready like isolation in a soundproof, windowless cell, so that between you and me... probably unconstitutional."

Sam and Dean looked at him in silence, realizing that Henriksen was in fact been serious.

You on the other hand felt strangely calm. Henriksen had nothing on you other than having found you with two criminals who had escaped from a prison. Meaning, you could lie and say you had been kidnapped, although that didn't make much sense given the close relationship you seemed to have with the Winchester brothers. Stockholm Syndrome, you could plead. If they set you free you could look for a way to free Dean and Sam. Though that didn't seem very possible if they were put in such a secure prison as Henriksen was describing.

"How's that for ready?" Dean remained silent at his question. As he also tried not to show any expression of fear or defeat. "Take a good look at Sam – you two will never see each other again."

Sam and Dean stayed silence as they looked at Henriksen, disconcerted.

"Now, you." Henriksen turned to you. His eyes scanning you, looking for anything that would confirm that you were just as guilty as them. "What are you, the smart girl hacking and helping from the outside, huh? You got them out of that bank and that jail, didn't you?"

Letting out a sigh, you shifted in your seat, raising your gaze to him.

"I'm sure you'd love for my answer to be yes, but you're wrong. I barely know them." You said in a calm tone.

"Oh, is that so?" He raised his eyebrows skeptically. You nodded. "Well, that may be true, but it doesn't erase your past. Tell me, does this sound familiar?" He questioned, pulling a page of an old newspaper from the inside pocket of his suit. " 'On the night of May 2, 1994 Carter Holloway woke up and inexplicably began attacking and chasing his entire family around the house in what could be described as a scene from a horror movie. Laurel Holloway, his mother, was found dead in the kitchen with several stab wounds. His sister, the middle child of the couple, was found with her baby brother Peter. She was bleeding while holding the child in her arms after her brother had removed her spleen with the same knife used to stab her mother. While the father, Henry Holloway, was found in the backyard of the house, unconscious'."

Noticing the confused and doubt-filled looks from Sam and Dean, you shifted nervously in you seat. Which only confirmed to Henriksen that he was in fact right.

"There was no sign of Carter. Still to this day they hadn't found him." Henriksen continued speaking. "A lot of us cops are obsessed with this case. Why would a kid everyone described as kind and good do something like this? To the little sister that he protected and cared for so much. He had to be a psychopath who just snapped, god knows why. Maybe it runs in the family. What do you say? Was it all a plot? Did you all want your mother dead? Because if not I don't understand why your father has made sure over the years that no one remembers that tragic night."

Dean watched you closely. Noticing how you clenched your fists in frustration, how your muscles tensed and the red color of anger rose in your cheeks.

So before you snapped, Dean interrupted Henriksen's interrogation, drawing his attention back to him.

"You got the wrong guys."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. You fight monsters." Henriksen nodded. "What? Are you going to tell me that her brother was also a monster?"

"Possessed by one." You corrected in a whisper, answering one of the many questions in Sam and Dean's heads.

"Possessed." Henriksen repeated in disbelief. "Sorry, guys. I think the truth is, your daddies brainwashed you with all that devil talk and no doubt touched you in a bad place. That's all. That's reality."

"Why don't you shut your mouth?" Dean complained, annoyed by the mention of his father.

"Well, guess what. Life sucks. Get a helmet. 'Cause everybody's got a sob story. But not everybody becomes a killer."

The sound of an approaching helicopter could be heard from outside at the same moment a shiver ran down your spine. It wasn't like the one you had felt at Mystery Spot, but it was just as disturbing.

"And now I have three less to worry about." Henriksen smiled before looking back at you. "That's right, sweetheart, three. Because thanks to you I have closed one of police's oldest cases." He looked down at his watch and tapped it. "It's surf and turf time." He laughed as he left the room.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Dean and Sam didn't ask any questions for the next several minutes. You didn't know what was worse, the silence with which they were treating the situation or the alternative of them uttering a million questions to you. It didn't matter much either, as soon the door to the cell room opened again. You were the first to look up towards it, watching as a man entered in the company of someone you immediately recognized.

"I can walk, thank you very much." The boy grumbled as the man pushed him towards the other cell. Letting out a snort his blue eyes met the confuse gaze of his little sister. A smirk peeking through his lips as he saw you locked in a cell. "Hi, Smarty."

Dean and Sam, who watched the scene in silence, looked over at you as they noticed how you uncomfortably shifted next to them.

"I'm Deputy Director Steven Groves." The policeman spoke, closing the cell where he had locked Carter. "This is a pleasure."

"Well, glad one of us feels that way." Dean was the one to respond.

"I've been waiting a long time for you two to come out of the woodwork." Steven said as he suddenly raised his gun and shot Dean in the left shoulder. Dean grunted as he fell back, while Sam jumped up and grappled with Steven through the bars.

You had barely processed your older brother's arrival when Steven fired several more shots into the cell. Thankfully missing you as Sam gripped his arm. Regaining control of your body and mind, you leaned toward the man across the bars of the cell, beginning to recite an exorcism in Latin. That caused Steven's head to whip from side to side.

"Sorry, I've gotta cut this short. It's gonna be a long night, fellas." The demon inside him spoke as he flashed his black eyes at them before leaving Steven's body.

"Yeah that sucks." Carter commented as they watched Steven's body hit the floor. "At least he's dead."

Sam, Dean and you turned your gazes towards him just as two officers walked into the room with Henriksen behind them. Seeing the gun in Sam's hand, the latter didn't hesitate and pointed his gun at him.

"All right, put the gun down!" One of the officers yelled.

"Wait. Okay. Wait." Sam pleated as he move to put the gun down.

"He shot him!"

"I didn't shoot him, okay. I didn't shoot anyone."

"He shot me!" Dean pointed to Steven's body as you reached his side with a concerned look in your eyes.

"Get on your knees, NOW!" Henriksen exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, okay. Don't shoot. Please. Look. Here. Here." Sam did as he was told and passed the gun through the bars. "Look. We didn't shoot him. Check the body. There's no blood. We did not kill him. Go ahead, check him."

With hesitation, one of the officers decided to listen to him, kneeling down and checking Steven's body.

"Vic, there's no bullet wound." He then said.

"He's probably been dead for months." Carter said, leaning against the bars of his cell.

"What did you do to him?" Henriksen turned towards him.

Carter raised his hands.

"We didn't do anything." Dean spoke gaining his attention back.

"Talk or I shoot." Henriksen threatened, now pointing his gun at him.

"Why? You won't believe us anyway." You noted. "He was possessed."

"Possessed? Right." Henriksen scoffed. "Fire up the chopper! We're taking them out of here now."

"Yeah! Do that!" You exclaimed, starting to get angry. Still, you tried to remain calm as you tried to check Dean's wound.

"Bill?" One of officers said over the walkie-talkie. But all he received in response was static for the other end. "Bill, are you there?"

As the other agents continued with their guns pointed at the four of you, the officer left the cell room after getting a nod from Henriksen.

"They're dead. I think they're all dead." His voice came over the walkie-talkie a few minutes later. Your eyes quickly met your older brother's. Carter had taken a step back into his cell, realizing what that meant. If one demon had found them, others had too. And that scared the hell out of him.

Suddenly, a loud crash came form outside.

"What the hell was that? Reidy? Reidy?!" Henriksen asked over his walkie-talkie but no one answered him. "What the hell was that? Come in? Reidy? Reidy?"

"We're all going to die." Sam, Dean and you were able to hear Carter's mumbling more clearly once Henriksen and the officers left. The oldest of the Holloway siblings was curled up in one of the corners of his cell, his hands on his head as he slightly rocked. "We're all going to die. He's going to make me kill you all. It's like May 2, 1994 all over again. May 2, 1994 all over again."

Pulling away from Dean, you gripped the bars of the cell and looked at your older brother in pain.

"Carter, listen to me. It's not May 1994, okay? No one is going to make you do anything."

"He's going to get inside me and he's going to finish what he started that night. He's going to kill you." Carter assured sharply as his gaze rose to meet your.

You gulped harshly at his words. You blinked several times and took a step back as you remembered the night your brother was speaking of.

As soon as your back bumped against Dean's chest, you seemed to snap back to reality. Quickly, you gave him a small reassuring smile and began to treat the bullet wound on his shoulder without another word. Sam narrowed his eyes, watching you and Carter silently.

Neither he nor Dean could help but notice that that date was also significant to them. May 2 was also the youngest Winchester's birthday.

"All right, don't be such a wuss." You chuckled when Dean grunted once again.

"What's the plan? Kill everyone in the station, bust you two out?" Henriksen walked back into the room.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean grunted,

"I'm talking about your psycho friends. I'm talking about a blood bath."

"Okay, I promise you—whoever's out there? is not here to help us."

"Look, you got to believe us. Everyone here is in terrible danger." Sam tried to make him understand.

"You think?" Henriksen looked back at him.

"We're all going to die. He's going to kill us all." Carter mumbled once again.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Henriksen asked, looking at him with confusion.

"What? Did you think my father put him in a mental institution just for fun? He's mentally ill and traumatized." You looked back at him.

"He shouldn't have killed your mother then." Henriksen scoffed. "Are you really defending him, after what he did to you?"

"He didn't do anything. I already told you. He was possessed." You rose back to your feet as Henriksen rolled his eyes. "Why don't you let us out of here so we can save your asses?"

"From what? You gonna say 'demons'?" Seeing that you remained silent, Henriksen snorted in frustration. "Don't you dare say 'demons'. Let me tell you something. You should be a lot more scared of me." He said before turning around and leaving.

Letting about a sigh, Sam sat next to his brother.

"How's the shoulder?" He asked.

"It's awesome." Dean answered, tossing the blood stained paper away. "I'll live. You know, if we get out of here alive. So, you got a plan?"

Sam shook his head as he checked Dean's exit wound on the back of his shoulder, which caused Dean to grimaced in pain.

Leaning against the bars of the cell, you watched your older brother with pity. You had never seen him like this. So traumatized and frightened. A part of you had always wanted to keep seeing him as the villain, but now you saw more clearly that he had just been another victim.

Then you saw her. From the corner of your eyes, you could see how the girl who clutched her rosary when Sam, Dean and you had enter the police station was now peeking around a corner, watching you from a distance.

"Hey." You spoke. Scared of being caught, the girl backed off. "Hey, uh, please. Please. We need your help. It's... it's Nancy. Nancy, right?" She kept quiet, but you were positive on your guess. "Nancy, my... my friend's been shot. He's... He's bleeding really bad. You think maybe you could get us a towel? Please? Just one clean towel? We're not the bad guys. I swear." You pleaded while Sam and Dean gave her a little smile.

Despite your efforts, Nancy kept looking scared, watching you for a few seconds before turning around and leaving.

"Nice try." Dean looked up at you.

Letting out a sigh, you sat down next to him. But then, as you turned around you saw Nancy approaching the cell with a clean towel in her hand.

"Thank you." Sam stood up as she carefully came closer. "It's okay." Sam held out his handcuffed hands.

With slow, careful movements Nancy put the towel inside the bars as Sam smiled at her. Slightly calmer, she smiled back at him. But then, suddenly, Sam grabbed Nancy's arm and dragged her against the bars.

"Let her go! Let her go!" One of the officers approached them with a rifle after hearing the girl's scream. Sam did as he was told and let go of Nancy. "You're okay, Nance?" The man asked, pointing the gun at Sam. She nodded as he looked back at Sam. "Try something again, get shot. And not in the arm."

"Okay." Sam nodded, watching them walk away.

"What the hell was that?" You hit Sam's arm in confusion.

Sam looked back at you, holding Nancy's rosary.

You sighed as Dean let out a soft chuckle. The rosary, even though it seemed useless, was your best weapon now that you knew there were demons around. And after yours had been taken away, stealing Nancy was your only option.

Sitting back down next to Dean to continue nursing his bullet wound, now with the help of that towel to stop the bleeding, you let out a deep breath.

Dean looked at you with concern.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just fine. It's not like we're locked up and threatened by demons. All while Henriksen exposed my family's biggest trauma and brought in my formerly possessed, murderous and traumatized older brother." You sighed.

"Well, at least you haven't been shot." Dean commented.

"I think the shot would hurt less." You admitted, shifting your gaze to Carter.

Dean nodded slightly, looking at him for a few seconds before turning his gaze back to you.

"So this is what you've been hiding, uh?" He asked.

"Yeah." You nodded, letting out a sigh.

"Salem?"

"My father had him locked up in a mental institution to protect him. I had the great idea to visit him after more than 10 years without seeing him." You explained.

Sam, who had been listening to your conversation, sat next to you.

"Why would a demon want to kill your mother? Your whole family?" He asked with confusion.

"She broke a deal." You explained. "My mother wasn't allowed to use her magic, which belonged to Ophelia, after they brought Christine back to life after the camp massacre."

"A bit macabre, don't you think?" Dean scoffed.

"What else did you expect from demons?" You pointed out.

"They wanted to punish me too." Carter spoke, gaining their attention. "They wanted to kill Peter, punish you and transform me into one of them."

"What?" You frowned at him.

"I still don't know why, but I heard him say that in my head." He said in a low tone as he looked down at the floor. "And now they are coming for us all."

"Did you heard him say that too?" You rose to your feet alarmed. Carter nodded. "When?"

"Right now."

"Wait, what? You have some kind of connection to the demon radio?" Dean looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, something like that." Carter nodded with an amused smile on his lips that could only be compared with Peter's. Their resemblance brought a warm sense of familiarity to you, calming your nerves and giving you exactly what you needed to trust him.

"They could be possessing anyone now. Anyone could just walk right in." Sam said.

"It's kind of wild, right?" Dean looked back at his brother. "I mean it's like they're coming for us. They've never done that before." Dean smiled. "It's like we got a contract on us. Think it's because we're so awesome? I think it's 'cause we're so awesome." He lost his smile as soon as Sam looked at him, unamused.

You ignored their conversation, fixing your gaze on the man that had just entered the cell area. You quickly recognized him as the sheriff and thought he would ask you some questions. However, the man approached the cell where the three of you were locked up and opened it.

"Well, howdy, there, sheriff." Dean said, standing up.

"It's time to go, boys."

"Uh... you know what? We're – we're just comfy right here. But thank you." You took a step back with a little smile on your lips, trying to keep things smooth.

"What do you think you're doing?" Henriksen asked, appearing at the cell's door.

"We're not just gonna sit around here and wait to die. We're gonna make a run for it." The sheriff answered, looking back at him.

"It's safer here."

"There's a SWAT facility in Boulder."

"We're not going anywhere." Henriksen stated, coming inside the cell.

"The hell we're not." The Sheriff reached out to grab your arm, holding you tightly. But before he could do anything else Henriksen pulled out his gun and shot him in the head.

As soon as that happened, Dean and Sam grappled with Henriksen. As he tried to break free from their grip, you grabbed his head and plunged it into the toilet water. This water, now holy thanks to Nancy's rosary began to burn his skin as you said the exorcism.

Dean crouched down and grabbed Henriksen's gun to point it at the officer coming toward them with a rifle.

"Stay back!" Dean yelled at him.

The demon in Henriksen lifted his head up out of the water. Skin burning as he yelled. Replacing you, Sam shoved him back into the toilet bowl as you continued the exorcism.

"Hurry up!" Dean exclaimed as the demon lifted his head back again. His eyes completely black.

"It's too late. I already called them. They're already coming." He said before Sam shoved his head back into the water and you finished the exorcism.

Taking a step back, Henriksen screamed. Black smoke came out of his mouth, shooting up into the air vent in the ceiling.

"Is he... is he dead?" Nancy asked when she saw Henriksen's body fall to the floor. Before any of you could answer, Henriksen regained consciousness and coughed.

"Henriksen! Hey. Is that you in there?" Sam looked at him.

"I... I shot the sheriff." He mumbled as he got up to sit on the bed.

"But you didn't shoot the deputy." Dean joked with a smile and you and Sam glared at him in disbelief.

"Five minutes ago, I was fine, and then..."

"Let me guess." Carter spoke form his cell. "Some nasty black smoke jammed itself down your throat?"

Henriksen looked up at him and nodded.

"You were possessed." Sam said.

"Yeah, welcome to the club, buddy." Carter smirked.

"Possessed, like... possessed?" Henriksen looked up at Sam.

"I owe the biggest 'I told you so' ever." Dean said as he handed back his gun to him.

"Officer Amici." Henriksen stood up and addressed the other officer in the room. "Keys..." Officer Amici handed him the keys and he unlocked Sam, Dean and your chains. "All right, so how do we survive?"

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

"Are you seriously going to leave me in these handcuffs?" Carter complained, following your footsteps through the police station.

"I got you out of the cell, that's the best you're going to get. Stop complaining." You replied, walking past Henriksen and Officer Phil Amici, who were preparing their guns.

"Oh, great. So your boyfriend, his brother and you can fight demons, but you leave me defenseless."

Letting out a sigh, you stopped and turned around to look at him.

"Stay by my side. If they come in, I'll take off the cuffs. I promise."

Carter narrowed his eyes, watching you for a few seconds. He could sense the lack of trust in your eyes. He couldn't blame you, he didn't trust himself either, much less with that many demons after them.

"Fine." He sighed.

Carter stood still there in the middle of the hallway while you walked over to Dean to tend his wound now that you finally had a first aid kit. It was the sound of the spray paint Sam was using to draw devil traps on every door and window that snapped him out of his thoughts and made him continue his walk to catch up with you.

"Well, that's nice. It's not gonna do much good." Dean commented as he saw Phil and Henriksen enter the room with a lot of weapons.

"We got an arsenal here." Phil said.

"You don't poke a bear with BB gun. That's just gonna make them mad."

"What do you need?" Henriksen asked.

"Salt. Lots and lots of salt."

"Salt?" Phil frowned.

"What, is there an echo in here?" You snapped at him, making him roll his eyes.

"There's road salt in the storeroom." Nancy spoke up.

"Perfect. Perfect. We need salt at every window and every door." Dean said. Henriksen and Phil left the room to get the salt, walking past Carter, who was just walking in.

"How you holdin' up, Nancy?" You asked when she handed you the tape for Dean's bandage.

"Okay." She paused "When I was little, I would come home from the church and start to talk about the devil. And my parents would tell me to stop being so literal. I guess I showed them, huh?"

"That's a good way to look at it." Carter commented, receiving a warning look from his sister. "What? I used to tell Dad that I heard voices in my head and he ignored me completely until one day that voice took over my body and..."

"Okay. I get it." You cut him off, turning your attention back to Dean's wound, placing the last piece of tape over his bandage. "That should hold."

Dean looked back at you giving you a soft smile. "Thank you."

You nodded, stepping away from him as Phil came back in the room with some bags of salt.

"Hey, where's my car?" Dean asked him.

"Impound lot out back."

"Okay." He nodded, putting on his shirt.

"Wait. You're not going out there are you?"

"Yeah, I got to get something out of my trunk." He answered, walking out of the room.

"Wait, are you serious?" You followed him with concern under the watchful eye of your older brother.

"Our weapons are there." Dean pointed out. "Your knife is there. It's the only thing that can kill demons."

You sighed, knowing he was right. "Okay, but be careful."

"I always am."

As you rolled your eyes, you let out a sigh before getting up on your tiptoes to press your lips together in a kiss.

Taken aback by that gesture, Dean took a few seconds to react, but soon his hands found your cheeks, pulling you closer to him as he deepened the kiss. It was Carter's throat clearing behind you that forced you two to separate. Annoyed by the interruption, you turned around to look at him as Dean took that as an opportunity to leave and get the weapons.

"Sorry, sis." Carter said as you let out a frustrated sigh seeing Dean leaving the police station. "I thought you might want this back."

Seeing your mother's necklace in his hands, you walked over to him to grab it, but Carter took a quick step back.

"Take off the handcuffs."

"We've been over this. Not unless it is necessary." You responded.

"It will be." He assured. "You're forgetting my... how did Dean call it? Oh, yeah, demon radio connection."

As if he had summoned him, Dean walked back into the station much faster than you expected, interrupting your discussion.

"They're coming! Hurry." He exclaimed, running past you carrying a bunch of weapons and other things in his hands.

Black smoke hit the window near Nancy, making her scream as Sam, Dean, Carter and you ran to the main office area, where Henriksen was. Without wasting another second, you pulled the handcuff keys from your pants and released your brother while Dean tossed a gun to Sam.

The lights in the main room started to flicker, making the room much darker as Nancy clutched the cross she wore around her neck. Moments later, as Dean handed you your knife, dust rained down from the ceiling and the building shook.

"Everybody okay?" Sam asked when the black smoke in the windows disappeared and everything became quiet again.

"Define 'okay'." Henriksen answered.

"All right, everybody needs to put these on." Dean turned, giving each of them a protection charm from the ones Bobby had given Sam and him. "They'll keep you from being possessed. There you go."

"You'd think Dad would have known about this kind of stuff and given one to me." Carter commented when Dean handed one to him.

As if he had opened your eyes, you turned your head to him, looking at him carefully as you took in his words. He was right.

"What about you three?" Nancy asked with concern and confusion.

Dean and Sam tugged the collar of their shirts down to show the tattoo of the protection symbol that was printed on the left side of their chest. As you came back to reality, you turned around and moved your hair out of the way to reveal the tattoo on your upper back.

"Smart." Henriksen admitted. "How long you had those?"

"Not long enough." Sam sighed.

"Yeah, definitely, as soon as I get out of here I'm getting one of those. Can I take a picture of it?" Carter looked at you.

"I'll draw it for you." You replied, walking over to one of the desks. Carter smiled, following you.

"Thanks, Smarty. I love you."

"Whatever."

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

A few minutes had passed since the black smoke attack. The police station had been silent ever since and everyone had spread out around the place to cover more territory in case any of them came in.

You had decided to stay close to your brother, so at that moment you both found yourselves sitting on the floor of one of the hallways, right next to one of the entrances.

"You think Peter will like me?" Carter broke the silence between you.

"Sure, as long as he doesn't know what you did to mom." You replied with a snort. "Why do you even care? Do you really think dad will let you come back home?"

"With a tattoo like yours? Why wouldn't he?" Carter answered. "That will block the demons, right? They won't be able to possess me or get inside my head."

"I don't know." You shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. I don't know if I want to go back either." Carter admitted. "I just... Sometimes I like to think about Peter, you know? Imagine what he's like. Tell me, does he look anything like me?"

"He has your eyes. Blue as the sky."

"That's my boy." Carter smiled proudly. "Wait, don't tell me, he's blonde?"

You nodded. "And curly-haired, like dad."

"Of course he is." He sighed.

"He is like mom in so many ways." You recalled. "Too smart for his own good and full of witty ideas. He loves scary movies too."

"Of course he does, those are the best ones." Carter smiled.

"He's expanded your DVD collection, by the way."

Carter looked at you in surprise. "Dad didn't throw it away?"

You shook your head. "He told him it was Mom's."

"Well, either way. I'll probably never meet him, and if I do he'd probably hate me, but... I like knowing we have somethings in common."

You closed your eyes in frustration.

"Those demons robbed us of our childhood, of our family. Why? Why us?"

"I told you..."

"Yes, we're special. Or so they think. But... why?" You asked. "Because mom was a descendant of witches? That's Ophelia's fault to begin with."

Carter shook his head.

"I think there's more to it than that. When Dorian talked to dad the other night while he was in my body, he talked about a prophecy. He and Ophelia want to destroy God's creations."

"God's creations? Like the Heavens and the Earth?" You frowned.

"Yeah, I think so."

"That sounds like fiction."

"Sounds like an omen."

Before you could say anything there was a loud crash. Getting up to your feet, Carter and you ran into the office where Dean, Sam and Henriksen had just walked in.

"How do we kill her?" Henriksen asked pointing his rifle at the woman trapped inside a devil's trap.

"We don't." Sam answered, lowering Henriksen rifle when he recognized the woman.

Ruby.

"She's a demon." Henriksen pointed out.

"She's here to help us."

"Are you kidding?" Phil asked from around the corner, where he stood next to Nancy.

Dean and you sighed in exasperation.

"Are you gonna let me out?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, right." Carter snorted before he watched as Sam scratched the devil's trap on the floor with his knife. "Wait, what the hell are you doing? Are you serious?"

"And they say chivalry's dead." Ruby spoke as she took a step out of the trap. "Does anyone have a breath mint? Some guts splattered in my mouth while I was killing my way in here." She walked past everyone and into the main office. Dean, Carter, Henriksen and you followed her, while Sam stayed to fix the salt line and the trap.

"How many are out there?" Dean asked.

"30 at least." Ruby replied, looking back at him. "That's so far."

"Oh, good. 30. 30 hit men all gunning for us. Who sent them?" You asked. Ruby looked past you to Sam who now stood by the door with a guilty look on his face.

"You didn't tell them?" Ruby asked him. Dean and you shared a confused look.

"Tell us what?" You asked.

"There's a big new up and corner. Real pied piper." Ruby answered.

"Who is he?" Dean looked back at her.

"Not he. Her. Her name is Lilith."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Carter said, running a nervous hand through his hair as he sat down in a chair.

"I'm not. And she really, really wants yours and Sam's intestines on a stick. 'Cause she sees you both as competition." Ruby explained, looking back at Carter.

"Wait. What?" You frowned.

"You knew about this?" Dean asked his brother. However, Sam didn't answered. "Well, gee, Sam. Is there anything else we should know?!"

"How about the two of you talk about this later? We'll need the Colt." Ruby spoke, looking at the Winchester brothers. "Where's the Colt?"

"It got stolen." You answered for them.

"I'm sorry. I must have blood in my ear. I thought I just heard you say that you were stupid enough to let the Colt get grabbed out of your thick, clumsy, idiotic hands. Fantastic. This is just peachy..."

"Ruby..."

"Shut up." She snapped at Sam, raising her hand. "Fine. Since I don't see that there's no other any option. There's one other way I know how to get you out of here alive."

"And that is?" Carter looked up at her.

"I know a spell." She answered, looking back at him. "It'll vaporize every demon in a one-mile radius. Myself included. So, you let the Colt out of your sight and now I have to die. So next time, be more careful. How's that for a dying wish?"

Feeling her eyes on him, Dean smirked. He actually looked quite pleased to be able to get rid of Ruby once and for all.

"Okay, what do we need to do?" Dean asked.

"Aww... you can't do anything. This spell is very specific. It calls for a person of virtue."

"I got virtue."

"Surely not the kind she's talking about." Carter chuckled, standing up. "You're not a virgin."

"Nobody here is a virgin." Dean laughed. "Are you a virgin?"

"Because I have been locked up for almost half my life? Nice try, but no."

Ruby sighed looking at Nancy, who quickly looked away.

"No. No way. You're kidding me, r–. You're..."

"What? It's a choice, okay?" Nancy cut Dean off.

"So, y-you've never... Not even once? I mean not even – Wow."

"Can we not... judge people by their decisions?" You asked, coming to the girl's defense. "Thanks."

"So, this spell. What can I do?" Nancy smiled at Ruby, happy to be able to help.

"You can hold still... while I cut your heart out of your chest." Ruby smiled back at her.

"What?" Nancy lost her smile.

"Are you crazy?" You looked back at Ruby.

"I'm offering a solution."

"You're offering to kill somebody."

"And what do you think's gonna happen to this girl when the demons get in?" She argued.

"We're gonna protect her. That's what." Henriksen said.

"Very noble." Ruby scoffed.

"Yeah, how exactly do you think you're going to fight those demons, huh?" Carter looked at Henriksen. "They're not as friendly as they look inside human bodies. They will kill you slowly and painfully. They will chase you and torment you and..."

"Would everybody please shut up?!" Nancy cut him off. Everybody looked at her with surprise. "All the people out there... will it save them?"

"It'll blow the demons out of their bodies. So if their bodies are okay... yeah." Ruby answered.

"I'll do it." Nancy stated after a few moments.

"You really don't have to." You said in a soft tone. "We can find another way."

"There's no other way." Ruby and Carter assured at the same time.

"We don't sacrifice people. We do that, we're no better than them." You looked back at them.

"We don't have a choice." Ruby said.

"Yeah, well, your choice is not a choice." Dean looked at her.

Seeing that Dean and you were completely against her idea, Ruby turned her eyes towards Sam looking for support. "Sam, you know I'm right."

Dean smiled, in the expectation that Sam will agree with you two.

"Sam?" He called his name, but Sam stayed quiet. "What the hell is going on? Sam, tell her."

"He doesn't want to disappoint you, but Sammy knows we're right." Carter said.

"You shut up!" Dean and you exclaimed at the same time.

"They're the only ones who can call me Sammy." Sam complained simultaneously, pointing to his brother and you.

"It's my decision." Nancy spoke.

"Damn straight, cherry pie." Ruby smirked.

"Stop! Stop! Nobody kill any virgins. Sam, I need to talk to you." Dean yelled, before walking off the main area with his brother.

"Do not touch her." You pointed toward Nancy before following the Winchester brothers into the hallway.

"Please tell me you're not actually considering this. We're talking about holding down a girl and cutting out her heart." Dean looked at his brother.

"And we're also talking about 30 people out there, Dean. Innocent people who are all gonna die, along with everyone in here." Sam argued.

"It doesn't mean that we throw away the rule book and stop acting like humans. I'm not gonna let that demon kill some nice, sweet, innocent girl, who hasn't even been laid. I mean, look, if that's how you win wars, then I don't want to win."

"Exactly. Ruby's plan is stupid." You said, gaining their attention. "And even if you guys agree, I won't let you touch Nancy."

"Then what? What do we do?" Sam asked with desperation.

You sighed as you turned away for a moment.

"I got a plan." You said after a couple of seconds. "I'm not saying it's a good one. I'm not even saying that it'll work. But it sure as hell beats killing a virgin."

"Okay, so, what's the plan?" Dean asked.

"Open the doors, let them all in and we fight."

"And Ruby's idea is the stupid one?" Carter scoffed behind you. You rolled your eyes, turning towards him. "Come on, sis. You've gotta have something better than that.

"I do." You assured. "Remember how I got Dorian out of your body that night?"

"Oh, we're going to pull one of Mom's book plays?" Carter smirked. "Sounds cool. I like it, Smarty."

"You guys mind sharing that idea with the group?" Dean asked.

"Get ready. Carter and I will take care of it. Trust me." You pleaded, looking back at him.

Dean sighed, looking into your eyes for a few seconds.

"I trust you." He then said.

When Ruby heard your idea, she clearly didn't like it, so she decided to leave. Meanwhile, the rest of the group prepared to fight. Henriksen, Sam and Dean positioning themselves at different spots of the building.

"All set?" Dean asked.

"Yeah!" Sam answered form the main area.

"Ready!" Henriksen replied.

"Let's do this." Dean sighed before breaking the salt line in front of him.

Sam and Henriksen did the same. Breaking the salt lines and the devil's traps near them. A few seconds past before the demons started to get in. Pointing their guns filled with salt bullets at them, Sam, Dean and Henriksen shot.

"God, I hope this works." Henriksen muttered as he opened a flask full of holy water and splashed it on the demon near him.

Meanwhile Nancy and Phil were on the roof, watching as more demons ran into the building. When they saw them all go through the doors, they both went down and closed them, putting lines of salt on each one before doing the same thing in the windows.

Just as all the demons surrounded Dean, Sam and Henriksen, Carter activated the station's speakers and you began speaking into the microphone, pronouncing an exorcism. The demons stopped their movements and covered their ears.

You said the exorcism several times before the demons began to scream in pain leaving the bodies of their vessels in several shots of black smoke that soon disappeared into the night.

The bodies dropped to the ground and there was an explosion of light on the ceiling before everything went still.

Sam and Dean slid down the wall to the floor and looked at each other. Carter and you then emerged from the microphone room. You crouched down next to the Winchester brothers, looking worriedly at them as the electricity flickered back on. Henriksen walked into the office and chuckled slightly as he wiped blood from his lip.

"We need to start listening to you more, sweetheart." Dean smile at you. "That was a hell of an idea."

Letting out a small chuckle, you shared a relieved look with your older brother.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

You were surprised when Carter decided to join the three of you at the motel. You figured that after everything your brother would leave as quickly as possible, taking advantage of his freedom and his newfound knowledge of anti-possession symbols. Despite what he had done, Carter deserved to live his life away from the supernatural. But his big brother instinct, his need to protect his little sister, remained in him even if he wanted to deny it.

Henriksen had decided to give you up for dead and let you go free after saving his, Phil's and Nancy's lives. But since Carter had no money, Sam and Dean had booked him a separate room at the motel.

A knock on the door was what kept you from falling asleep after taking a shower.

"Turn on the news." Ruby said as she walked into the room when Dean opened the door.

Letting out a sigh, Sam did as she said, seeing that on TV the news reporter was talking about a fire that had occurred at the police station.

"The community is still reeling from the tragedy that happened just a few hours ago. Authorities believe a gas main ruptured, causing the massive explosion that ripped apart the police station and claimed the lives of everyone inside. Among the deceased, at least six police officers and staff, including sheriff Melvin Dodd, deputy Phil Amici, and secretary Nancy Fitzgerald as well as three FBI agents, identified as Steven Groves, Calvin Reidy, and Victor Henriksen." As she was talking, pictures of them popped up on the screen. "Three fugitives in custody were also killed. We'll continue to follow the story here at the scene, but for now, back to you, Jim."

Guilt washed over you as Ruby turned off the television and looked at the three of you with an 'I-told-you-so' look.

"Must have happened right after we left." Sam assumed.

Having watched the news himself in his room, Carter walked through the door that separated their rooms. His eyes immediately searched for his sister.

"Considering the size of the blast..." Ruby started, tossing hex bags to each of you. "...smart money's on Lilith."

"What's in these?" Dean looked up at her.

"Something that'll protect you. Throw Lilith off your trail... for the time being, at least."

"Thanks." Sam said.

"Don't thank me. Lilith killed everyone. She slaughtered your precious little virgin, plus a half a dozen other people. So after your big speech about humanity and war, turns out your plan? was the one with the body count. Do you know how to run a battle? You strike fast and you don't leave any survivors. So no one can go running to tell the boss. So next time... we go with my plan." Ruby said before leaving the motel room.

Carter crouched down in front of you, placing his hands on your knees. You sat silently, staring at the hex bag in your hands.

"It's my fault." You said, eyes full with tears.

"No, it's not. You tried to save them."

"And now they're all dead." You looked up at him, letting the tears fall form your eyes.

"Listen to me." Carter held your cheeks, making sure you were paying attention to him. "I know that now it feels like you killed them, but you didn't. That's what demons do, they play with our humanity, they take advantage of it and then they stab you in the back. I didn't kill Mom, just like you didn't kill Nancy, Phil and Victor. Dorian and Lilith did."

"He is right." Dean said, sitting down next to you, hugging you by the shoulders and pulling you close to his body. You buried your face in his chest and reached for his hand, intertwining your fingers. Dean squeezed your hand softly.

"You guys keep on hunting, I'm going to make sure Ophelia and Dorian pay for what they did to us." Carter stated as he stood up. "I promise you, sis. I'll make it all up to you."

Keep Reading: Chapter Twelve

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[arcane-vagabond]

Don't Hang'em Til Noon: Chapter Twelve

Don't Hang'em Til Noon: Chapter Twelve

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: Jake "Hangman" Seresin is a notorious leader within the Dagger Gang of the old western territories of the United States. You, a recently orphaned socialite from the eastern seaboard, find yourself swept off to live with your older brother who has set down roots in said western territory. Determined to to make the best of your situation, what will you do when said outlaw sets his sights on you?

Warnings: Smut (fingering, p in v), Dirty talk, Language, Flirting, Miscommunication, Fluff, Romance, Jake being an idiot. Think that's it.

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: Wow, okay. I told myself I wasn't going to be emotional, and yet here I am. Crying. This has been such an incredible journey, y'all. This fanfic got me through my lowest this year, and to finally see it finished now that I'm in the spot that I am? I am truly without words. A special shoutout to @goldenseresinretriever who is not only my fan club president, but one of my dearest, dearest friends. I hope I continue to do justice by these two, but I know you'll be there to make sure I do! And a shoutout to @fanficfandomlove as well! Thank you for all of your support, and I'm so lucky to count you as one of my friends! Friendly reminder that I have two writing challenges going at the moment! My Christmas Challenge and my Playlist Challenge are both still taking entries! As always, reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated!! 18+ ONLY!! Find me on AO3 under arcane_vagabond! If You're feeling kind, please consider donating to my ko-fi!

Masterlist || DGU Masterlist || Playlist

The house was still when you entered, the afternoon light streaming through he windows and illuminating the room in such a way that it made you question reality for a moment. You clung to Jake who stood beside you, his arms strong where they were wrapped around your frame. He had almost died. You had almost been too late to save him.

You collapsed to the ground with a shuddering gasp, a sob escaping seconds later. You clasped a hand over your mouth to try and stop the noises coming from you. You had to be strong. You needed to be strong. But the sobs kept coming, wracking your body and you were vaguely aware of Jake kneeling down next to you.

“Scout,” he said gently, running a hand through your hair. “It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m safe.”

“I know,” you sobbed, reaching over to cling to him. “I know, but you almost weren’t, Jake. I almost lost you, and there would have been nothing I could have done about it.”

He was silent for a moment, letting you calm down before he continued.

“But you weren’t, sweet girl. You never gave up on me, and you made it. I’m right here with you, okay?” He cooed, helping you to your feet. He gently wiped your tears away, pressing a sweet, lingering kiss to your forehead. “But if you ever pull something like that again, I will take you over my knee, do you hear me?”

You balked, pushing away to look at him. He was grinning, but there was a look of seriousness in his eyes and you began to splutter.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am, honey girl.”

“Jake Seresin,” you growled, “I just saved your life.”

He chuckled, leaning in closer to you, and you felt your cheeks warm at the proximity.

“And while I’m very thankful for that, sweetheart,” he drawled, eyes growing dark as he looked you up and down, “it doesn’t change the fact that you put yourself in danger.”

“Unbelievable,” you groused, pushing past him and towards the stairs. You made it up the first three steps before he grabbed you, causing you to let out a shriek as he threw you over his shoulder. He gave you a swat on the rear, chuckling when you yelped.

“That mouth of yours is gonna get you into trouble one day,” he murmured playfully, walking up the stairs and towards your bedroom. Once inside, he tossed you down onto the bed where you landed with a bounce. He was on you in an instant, molding his lips over yours in a kiss that you eagerly returned. The kiss was one of desperation and relief, knowing that the both of you were alive and safe and just needing to feel one another. He nipped at your bottom lip as he pulled away, chuckling when you chased after him with a whine. He placed a chaste kiss to your lips before pulling away once more.

“Are you gonna be a good girl for me?” He rumbled, green eyes meeting yours. You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak as you got lost in how dark his eyes had become. He clucked at you disapprovingly, shaking his head. “Need to hear that pretty voice of yours, honey girl. Let’s try again. Are you gonna be a good girl for me?”

You swallowed thickly, shifting slightly under the weight of his stare. “Y-yes.”

“Yes, what?” He smirked. You took a steadying breath, meeting his gaze with your half hooded one.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be a good girl for you.”

He hummed, leaning in to steal another kiss from you. His tongue delved between your parted lips, licking languidly into your mouth. You moaned into the kiss, reaching your hands up to run your fingers through the soft locks of his hair, tugging slightly. It was Jake’s turn to moan, and he pulled away, breath coming out in pants as he looked at you.

“Strip for me.”

You moved out from underneath him to stand, turning to face him as you began to undress. Jake watched you with hungry eyes as you slowly revealed yourself to him, stopping once you were standing in only your chemise. Without breaking eye contact, he moved to his feet, taking slow steps towards you. He ran his fingers over your cheekbone before cupping your jaw and kissing you once more.

“I love seeing you like this,” he whispered, voice low and gravelly. “But when I say strip, sweet girl, I mean all the way.”

Your breath hitched, eyes going wide and face heating with embarrassment. This man had seen you before, but somehow this time felt different, filled with more anticipation than nervousness like the first time. He cocked an eyebrow at you before slowly kneeling down and taking the hem of your chemise in his hands.

“Here,” he murmured, mischief in his eyes. “Let me help you.”

He slowly peeled the garment off of you, moving to stand as he did so. He pulled it gently over your head, tossing it towards the corner as he looked at you. You could practically feel the trail his eyes took as he gazed hungrily at you. He began to unbutton his own shirt, untucking it from his trousers as he gestured towards the bed.

“On the bed, Scout.”

You did as instructed, watching with hooded eyes as he stripped bare before you. Once he was finished, he crawled up the bed towards your waiting arms, meeting you in a passion filled kiss. His right hand crept up to palm at your breast, causing you to mewl into his mouth.

“Can practically smell how wet you are for me,” he growled as he pulled away, placing hot, open-mouthed kisses along your jaw and down your neck. Your fingers once again found purchase in his hair, desperate for something to cling on to.

His lips left a trail down your chest until they enveloped your nipple, alternating between sucking and licking. You let out a keening cry as you arched into his mouth, hands holding his head steady.

“Feel good, sugar?” He smirked up at you, nipping at the surrounding skin. “Let me hear how good I make you feel.”

“Jake!” You cried, eyes clamping shut as you squirmed beneath him. He pressed more of his weight into you in a bid to keep you still, the hard length of him pressing against your thigh.

“You feel what you do to me, honey girl?” He murmured, moving back up to capture your lips with his. This kiss was all tongues and teeth as you bucked up into him. “Feel how hard you make me?”

“Jake, please,” you whined, eyes begging as they stared at him, letting out a gasp as he snuck a finger between the two of you to press against your slit. “Need you.”

“You have me,” he cooed, pressing his finger into you slowly, earning a high-pitched cry from you as he began to slowly pump in and out. “Let me make you feel good first.”

“Jake,” you gasped, fingers moving from his hair to his shoulders, surely leaving scratches behind. “More, please.”

He slipped another finger inside of you slick entrance, scissoring them before crooking them in search of that special spot inside of you. You cried out as he found it, stars in your eyes as you called out his name, practically wailing when his thumb circled your clit and sending shocks of pleasure through you.

“Can feel how close you are, sweet girl,” he whispered, placing chaste kisses against any piece of skin he could find. “Can feel you squeezin’ my fingers. God, you’re so fucking tight. Can’t wait to feel you wrapped around my cock. Need you to come first, though. Come on, baby. Come for me.”

“Jakey,” you cried, the coil inside you snapping as your vision went white, a soundless scream on your lips.

Your breathing was ragged as you watched him slip his slick soaked fingers into his mouth, humming at the taste.

“Taste so good, honey girl,” he murmured as he looked at you, the greens of his eyes practically swallowed by his pupils. “Gonna taste you-”

“No,” you said breathlessly, causing him to frown. You shook your head as you fought to control your breathing. “Want you inside me. Please, Jakey.”

A grin broke out over his face at your words.

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” he chuckled, already moving to line himself up at your entrance. He ran his length through your folds, coating himself in your slick before slowly pushing in. You sucked in a breath as your nails dug into his shoulders, Jake groaning at the combination of pain and pleasure you were provoking in him.

“Shit, baby,” he gasped, head flying back as he continued to slide into you. “Can feel you sucking me in. So wet and tight. Shit.”

You wrapped your legs around his waist once he was fully seated inside of you. The two of you basked in the feel of finally having each other so close, the emotions of the past two days catching up with you. You didn’t even notice that tears began to fall until Jake was wiping them away, still seated inside of you.

“You okay?” He asked, eyes filled with concern.

“Yeah,” you nodded, cupping his face in your hand. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” you said firmly, nodding once more. “Need to feel you. Need you to move.”

“I’ve got you, honey girl,” he smirked, thrusting slowly into you. You gasped out, head thrown back as he built a rhythm, finding an angle that worked for the both of you.

“Always feel so good,” he groaned, nuzzling into the crook of your shoulder as his thrusts became harder. “So wet and warm. Always such a good girl for me, yeah? Made just for me. Love the pathetic little sounds you make as you’re creamin’ all over me. Makin’ a mess of the sheets as I ruin you.”

“Jakey,” you whined out, barely able to form a coherent thought as he rutted into you, the pleasure becoming overwhelming.

“What’s the matter, baby?” He smirked, pulling back to look at you and brushing a stray hair out of your face. “Too cock drunk to answer me? Am I makin’ you feel too good?”

He pulled out of you, and you cried at the loss. His hands landed on your hips as he flipped you onto your stomach, positioning you on your knees. A crack sounded in the room and you let out a gasp as Jake’s hand landed on your ass.

“Jake!” You exclaimed, eyes going wide as he landed a second blow to the other side. You could practically feel yourself grow wetter, and your cheeks heated with shame.

“You going to stay out of trouble from now on?” He asked lowly, kneading the flesh of your ass greedily. He landed another blow when you didn’t answer, and you jolted forward, but his hands held you in place.

“Jake, please,” you whined, pushing back against him in a bid for him to slip back inside you. He tsked before landing another light slap to the other side, soothing the sting before answering.

“You gonna answer my question, sweetheart? I can do this all day.”

Two more smacks resounded accompanying your moan of pleasure. You could feel yourself practically dripping onto the sheets below with how wet you were. Tears of frustration began to prickle at your eyes the longer he kept you like this.

“What’s this?” Jake mocked. “Is my honey girl a slut for pain?”

“Jake!”

“Answer the question, Scout.”

“Yes! Yes, I’m a slut for pain.”

Another smack landed on your ass, and your head fell forward onto your arms as you let out a sob.

“Are you going to stay out of trouble when I tell you to?”

“Yes! Yes, please Jakey!”

He hummed as he leaned back, admiring his handiwork. You were sure your ass was as red as it felt, and you hung your head in shame as his fingers ran through the slick that was running down your thighs.

“Who knew you’d love being treated this way,” he rasped, leaning in and licking a line up your slit. You cried out at the sensation, your hips surging back to seek out more. He chuckled as he ran his length through your folds once more. “Who knew the prim and proper lady from Baltimore was just a cock hungry slut. Is that what you want, sugar? You wanna be filled up, nice and full?”

“Yes,” you hissed, arching your back as the tip of his cock slipped into you. “Want you to fill me up.”

“As you wish,” he smirks, slamming back into you. His pace was relentless, hips slamming into yours with a force that nearly knocked you over. Jake gathered your hair into a ponytail, using it to guide you back until your back was flush to his chest. His hand drifted down to wrap around your neck, squeezing slightly and earning a debauched moan from you. He slowed his pace until he was gently rocking into you. He pulled your head to the side to face his, hooded gaze meeting hooded gaze.

“Open your mouth,” he commanded, and you did as he said. Jake spit into your mouth, and a part of you knew you should be disgusted at how he was treating you, but another, larger, part entirely craved it.

“Swallow.”

You closed your mouth, swallowing. You opened your mouth without prompting, earning a wicked grin from the man behind you.

“Good fucking girl,” he growled, one hand moving to guide your hips back onto him. “Love having you like this. I’m gonna fill you up so full, you’ll be leaking me for days to come, you hear me? Can’t wait for you to be all round and swollen with me, with our baby. Gonna keep you full for as long as you’ll let me. You like that? You want me to fill you up? To breed you?”

“Please,” you gasped, feeling the coil tighten in your belly for the second time. Jake released your throat, snaking his hand down to toy with your clit. You keened as the precipice approached, and you could feel him begin to twitch inside you.

“Need you to come for me, honey girl,” he rumbled, pace faltering as he neared his own high. “Need to feel you squeezin’ me and milkin’ me dry.”

You flew over the edge with a cry, the coil snapping once again as you came harder than you thought possible. Jake groaned behind you, hips stuttering as you felt spurts of warmth fill you, triggering another, smaller orgasm as you continued to flutter around him. Moments passed as the two of you rode out your highs, breathing slowing to a calm.

Jake slowly lowered the two of you to the bed, rolling to the side as you turned to face him. His skin shone with sweat in the afternoon sun, his hair sticking up every which way as he smiled softly at you. You were sure you looked a similar state, but you couldn’t find it in you to care as he cupped your jaw and pulled you into a slow, sweet kiss. His tongue ran gently over yours, and you sighed as you basked in the feeling of being there with him. He pulled away, but stayed close enough to nuzzle his nose with yours.

“I love you,” he murmured. You couldn’t help the grin that broke out across your face as you placed a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“I love you too.”

“I meant it, you know,” he started, eyes uncertain as they watched you. “I want to have a family with you. We’ll get married, and I’ll build us a new house. One where you and I can grow old together.”

“Do you promise?” You asked, voice barely above a whisper. He nodded earnestly.

“I’ve never meant anything more in my entire life. Your aunt and uncle already gave me permission to marry you.”

“They did?” You asked, brow shooting up in surprise. You thought back to your trip those weeks ago. “Is that what she whispered to you before we left?”

“That?” He frowned, shaking his head. “No, they gave me permission after the first week of us bein’ there. No, Aunt Jo told me…”

“Told you what?” You pressed as he trailed off. His eyes held confusion as he shook his head.

“It didn’t make much sense, but she said ‘Adeline would approve.’”

You felt a pang in your chest at his words, and tears flooded your eyes once more. Jake looked panicked as the tears began to fall.

“Scout, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?” He asked frantically.

“No, not at all,” you laughed, wiping the tears away. “Adeline was my mother, Jake.”

He froze, eyes growing wide as he took in your words.

“Yeah,” you nodded. “And she’s right. She would have liked you. Both of my parents would have.”

“You think?” He questioned, eyes hopeful.

“I know so.”

You sat at the bar of the saloon, head buried in your hands as you let out a frustrated sigh.

“I just don’t understand,” you said for the umpteenth time, raising your head to look at the girls that surrounded you. “Why hasn’t he proposed yet?”

“Are you two fighting about something?” Birdie asked. You shook your head.

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for the right time,” Penny suggested. Nat snorted, rolling her eyes.

“Knowing him,” she started, fixing you with a look, “he’s just being an idiot.”

“You don’t think he’s changed his mind about me, do you?” You whispered, fear gripping at you at the possibility. You knew that Jake had never had any intention of marrying before you came along. Maybe he had grown tired of you? Was the thought of marriage and a life together too much for him now? Things had seemed fine between you, but you were now into spring, and still no proposal. You fidgeted with the pendant around your neck. After your reunion, Jake had been quick to put it on you, chest puffed out in pride every time he saw you wearing it, which was always.

“No!” Penny assured you, resting against the bar top. “No, that boy is smitten with you, Scout.”

“You know,” Bunny spoke, causing all eyes to turn to the usually quiet girl. “If you’re really doubting his feelings for you, maybe you should try pulling back. You know, to see if he does something.”

You were quiet for a moment as you all pondered her words.

“It could work,” Penny conceded thoughtfully. “Jake is new to this kind of relationship, and asking him directly might not work. Try it Bunny’s way and see what happens.”

You nodded, moving to leave.

“And let us know what happens!” Nat called after you, earning a chuckle.

Another week had passed, and you had effectively been avoiding Jake at every turn. Every kiss dodged, every moment alone averted, and every conversation kept to a minimum. You could tell it was driving Jake crazy, but you knew he needed to be the one to confront you. How else were you supposed to know where his mind was at? Jake was kind, and perhaps he was trying to find a way to spare your feelings? No, he needed to be the one to say something.

You were carrying a bucket of feed into the barn when someone grabbed you and pushed you up against the wall. You let out a gasp as the bucket fell from your hand with a clang, your arms trapped between yours and Jake’s chest. His hands were on either side of your head as he pressed a heated kiss to your lips. You kissed him back with fervor, hands gripping onto his shirt. You had missed this. This week had been just as hard for you as it appeared to be for him.

You shoved him away, Jake stumbling back a few steps as you attempted to calm your racing mind, the both of you panting and glaring at each other.

“Why are you avoiding me?” He growled, eyes running up and down the length of you. You swallowed thickly, straightening to your full height.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, yes you do,” he snapped, pointing a finger at you accusingly. “You have been dodgin’ me left and right all week, and I wanna know why.”

“Are you tired of me?” You blurted out. All anger drained from Jake’s face as it was replaced with confusion.

“What?”

“Are you tired of me?”

“Scout, that’s a stupid question,” he huffed. When you didn’t say anything, he rolled his eyes and fixed you with another glare. “No, of course I’m not. Why would you think that?”

“Then why haven’t you proposed yet?” You murmured, bottom lip wobbling as you fought to keep your composure. “It’s been weeks since everything happened, and you still haven’t asked me to marry you.”

Jake looked at you incredulously, taking the few steps until he was standing right in front of you.

“Well, shit, honey girl,” he chuckled. “I gave you the necklace, didn’t I?”

“What?” You blinked up at him.

“I gave you the necklace,” he continued, picking up the pendant and toying with it. “Figured that was as good as declaring we were gonna get married one day.”

You stared at him, his words slowly running through your head. You shoved him back again, this time following him as you slapped at his chest and shoulders.

“Ow, hey! Scout!” He hollered, grabbing your arms to stop you. Once you realized you were immobile, you stamped your foot, glaring up at him.

“Jake Seresin,” you shrieked, cheeks warm from exertion, “giving me the necklace does not equate to a proposal!”

Now it was his turn to stare. His bewildered expression melted into one of mischief and wonder as he ran his thumbs up and down your wrists.

“Alright, honey girl. You just wait. I’ll blow you away,” he smirked, bringing his forehead to rest against yours. You hummed, melting into his touch as he released your arms to wrap his own around you, swaying the two of you side to side.

“You better,” you muttered, a ghost of a smile on your lips. You felt him place a kiss to the top of your head as he held you tighter.

“How are you feelin’ now?” He asked, running a comforting hand up and down your spine as the two of you continued to sway.

“I’m happy,” you whispered, closing your eyes and pressing your ear to his chest. His heartbeat was strong and steady, a sound you’d never tire of.

“Yeah,” he hummed, resting his cheek against the top of your head now. “I’m happy too.”

Coming January 2024...

[hapuchika]

Chapter 10

Yay, New chapter!

Also, I'm not sure how it's going because I had to quite literally force myself to write this chapter and post it.

Hope you have fun reading!

Chapter summary: Reader attends the party. Whole bunch of fluff (little angsty in the start but nothing too bad)

Chapter warnings: Talk about death, injuries, brief mention of wanting to fuck wandanat (who wouldn't want to though lets be honest)

Series Masterlist

x--x--x

Shortly after putting their respective marks on you, Wanda and Natasha went back to their separate rooms to get ready for the evening.

You decided to get some work done while you waited for them. You opened your Stark-issued laptop and began writing the report for your most recent mission. Thankfully, Natasha had shown you the format for writing them a couple of weeks ago.

You smiled when you remembered how excited you were that Natasha fucking Romanoff took the time to sit right next to you and explain how mission briefing work, the protocol for post-mission briefings, and how to write mission reports in detail.

You remember inwardly freaking out when Natasha kept on scooting closer to you until she was practically trying to fuse into you. Claiming it would be easier to show you on her computer rather than just tell you.

You remember how giddy you felt when Wanda decided to join in to help you understand, effectively squishing you between them. From the very beginning, you loved how their touch always calmed you down and how safe it made you feel, whether it was in the form of a hug or simply having your pinkies touch when you sat down next to one or both of them.

Shaking your head, you leaned forward and continued with your mission report. The memories of them flowed through you, how loud the alarms were, how it took you hours to rescue all the survivors and heal them as you carried them. How the ground was littered with more blood and dead bodies the closer you got to the heart of the facility.

You were so lost in your thoughts that you didn’t hear Natasha knock on your door. You definitely didn’t hear Natasha walk up behind you, leaning forward as she read your mission report from over your shoulder.

“YOU DIED?” Natasha asked incredulously.

If not for what she read, Natasha would have definitely burst out laughing at the scream you let out as you jumped out of your chair and fell on your ass.

Heart pounding, you stood up and turned to face Natasha, intending to scold her for scaring you like that. The words died in your throat as you took in what she was wearing.

Your insides tingled as you took in what your partner was wearing. Her curly red hair framed her face perfectly, stopping just as they touched her shoulder. Her bare collarbone looked oh so inviting. Your heart fluttered as you noticed that her earrings complimented your outfit.

You almost lost what little composure you had left when you took in her expression. Equal parts stunned and furious. Her gorgeous green eyes that had flecks of hazel seemed to pierce through you.

For the second time that day, Wanda burst into the room expecting a fight. This time, she seemed to be wielding lipstick as a weapon.

When your eyes flicked to Wanda, you were sure the two women were trying to kill you.

Her gorgeous dress seemed to match Natasha’s hair. Her fingers were littered with rings, and her necklace complimented your outfit. Her exposed thigh seemed to be calling out to you.

You were a total gay mess, and these two were not helping that one bit.

“What’s going on?” Wanda asked, a slight smirk playing on her lips since she definitely heard your thoughts.

Natasha doesn’t move but simply points at your computer.

Frowning, Wanda starts reading your report. Within moments, her eyes shift to you.

“Malyshka, what do you mean you died? I thought you couldn’t die?” Wanda asked, concerned.

“I.. um. It’s jus-.. I..”

“Just talk,” Nat ordered.

“It’s hard, okay?” You snapped. “The both of you look hot as fuck, and I’m having trouble thinking about anything other than fucking the shit out of both of you.”

That seemed to break the tension. Wanda snorted and started cackling. Natasha tried to hide her smirk but ultimately failed.

You sighed. “Look… I’m okay. It was an accident. I tried to heal someone, but they turned out to have died a while back, and I accidentally attempted to bring them back to life. The feedback killed me for a minute or two, but I came back. I always do. I’m okay. I promise”

Wanda had stopped laughing but still had a soft smile as she nodded slightly.

Natasha was not as convinced. You could still see the undertones of worry. She knew you were more than capable, but for some reason, she had trouble controlling herself when it came to the both of you.

You walk up to Natasha, take her hands, and gently put them on your face. You look directly into her alluring green eyes, promising your safety.

She finally lets out a small smile when she sees you nuzzle into her hand the moment she starts to caress your cheek with her thumb gently.

You decided to complete the report either later tonight or tomorrow morning. In the meantime, you were going to escort two stunning women to the party.

X–X

The party had started a while before the three of you arrived. Some would say you were fashionably late. Some… wouldn’t.

You spent the first twenty minutes with Tony interacting with what looked like different versions of the same old white man.

There were several moments when you upset whatever guest you were speaking to due to your lack of etiquette and inability to kiss ass. Tony seemed to find their baffled state hilarious, knowing your lack of experience attending formal events or even socialising.

You finally sat down opposite your girlfriends, already exhausted with the unnecessary bureaucracy. Wanda gave you a sympathetic smile and went back to her conversation with Clint and Natasha.

“My my, don’t you look stunning?” you heard a voice behind you.

You turn your head, grinning, seeing Pietro in an all-black suit. He flops down beside you, loosening his tie a little bit.

You felt relieved that you had someone to talk to. It was not that you didn’t want to talk to your girlfriends; they just seemed to be discussing something, and you didn’t want to interrupt.

“I hear congratulations are in order”, you heard Pietro say.

You looked at him, confused. He merely rolled his eyes.

“A little birdie told me that you happen to be in a relationship with a spy and a witch.”

You chuckled. “As if you didn’t already know.”

He merely grinned. “Oh, I knew. You three weren’t exactly quiet about it, remember?”

Your ears burned as you looked away, causing him to laugh out loud.

Pietro leaned in closer. “Although… I have to say, y/n, I think you and Natasha chose the wrong twin. I can assure you I’m much better.”

Your nose wrinkled in disgust. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, Maximoff. You’re not my type.”

“Besides,” you say softly, poking Pietro’s chest. “I wouldn’t trade what I have with Wanda for anyone or anything. She and Nat mean the world to me.”

Pietro leaned back into the sofa, a proud smirk on his face.

You frowned at him in confusion. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

The man merely shrugged, his smirk widening.

Deciding you didn’t want to bother with his antics, you looked elsewhere, only for your eyes to land on your two gorgeous girlfriends who were staring… At you.

Wanda was positively beaming at you while Natasha looked at you with a soft smile, eyes shining with affection.

You were utterly clueless, and more importantly, you were famished.

It seemed life decided to be kind to you at that moment because a person made his way to you holding a tray full of food.

“Would you like a vegetarian spring roll, ma’am?” He asked.

You thanked him and did your best not to look too eager when you took a spring roll. Your brows shot up in surprise when Wanda, Natasha, and Pietro took a piece each.

To the best of your knowledge, the spy and twins had an aversion to vegetables if meat was an option.

“They’re for you, Draga. We know you haven’t eaten since breakfast,” Wanda reassures you.

If not for the fact that you’re pretty sure you’re immortal, you probably would have died from all the love and affection these people were giving you.

True to their word, they gave you the spring rolls one after the other.

Four spring rolls later, you realised just how hungry you were.

You seemed to have gained some good karma as numerous members of the catering staff graced your group with yet another tray full of yummy food.

By the fourth person, you realised that all the food you received thus far had been vegetarian. Before they could leave, you spoke to the server.

“I couldn’t help but notice that all the food I’ve seen so far has been vegetarian. Are there no non-vegetarian options for today?” You asked, worried that your teammates won’t be able to enjoy tonight properly.

The server merely smiled and shook her head, “We have plenty of non-vegetarian options. Mr Stark had simply given us strict instructions to provide you with a wide variety of vegetarian hors d’oeuvres before anyone else.”

With that, the server took her leave and went to give other guests the remaining hors d’oeurves. You simply sat there in shock with a smile on your face.

Despite never having attended a party such as this one, you were enjoying yourself immensely. Other than the occasional greeting to strangers for political reasons, your teammates did their best to make sure you didn’t feel uncomfortable.

You were at the bar with Natasha, explaining how you can’t get drunk due to your healing when you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder.

By the glare Nat was giving the person behind you, you could only assume it was the very same person who had tossed you against the wall in the morning.

You squeezed Nat’s hand in reassurance and turned to him. Smiling at his awkward face.

“Hi there, Dr. Banner. You cleaned up nicely.” You said as you asked the bartender for a glass of water for the scientist.

He merely chuckled awkwardly, accepting the glass and downing it in one go.

“Rough night, eh?” You joked.

He smiled half-heartedly, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, presumably to gather courage for whatever he wanted to say.

“I’m sorry” he stated.

You merely looked at him, urging him to continue.

“I.. was scared. When I say you with Natasha, I.. um.. felt very protective. I thought you were forcing yourself on her. I let my anger get the best of me, which isn’t really much of an excuse, especially for me… I really am sorry,”

You simply patted his shoulder.

“You like her, don’t you?” You asked gently, standing a little closer to him.

His flinch told you everything you needed to know. He looked in the mirror behind the bar and saw Natasha talking to Wanda and Clint.

“I did.. or at least I thought I did. I’m starting to realise. I just admired her and appreciated how she didn’t treat me like a monster or a liability. I felt special, but I see the way she is with you and Wanda. The way she looked at you earlier. I just- I wanted that for myself.”

Your heart broke for him. You gently put your hand on his, his head snapping to you.

“I’m sorry you’re treated like that, Bruce,” you said genuinely.

“I know it doesn’t help, but I’d be more than happy to be your friend.”

He simply stared at you.

“If it’s any consolation, I’d love to be your friend... I mean, it’s not like you can kill me..” you joked.

You could see a slight smile forming at the corner of his mouth. It dropped a second later; he looked at you seriously.

“You may not die, but the- the hulk could genuinely hurt you,” he warned.

You let out a giggle at that, confusion clouding his face.

“I can assure you, Brucey, nothing the Hulk can do to me hasn’t already been done. Now, enough of this depressing talk; let’s go hang out with our teammates.”

He let you drag him to the lounging area where your teammates were sitting, his face baffled as he processed the new nickname.

The two of you joined the group, and you sat next to Pietro while your girlfriends sat opposite you. The glares your girlfriends gave Bruce caused him to shrink inwardly.

You patted his shoulder in understanding and began talking to him about FRIDAY.

A look of understanding passed your partners, and they chose to continue with their conversation, deciding to forgive Bruce just this once.

X—X—X—X—X

The rest of the party flowed smoothly until you could not handle it anymore and proceeded to say your goodbyes.

You heard Wanda mutter a “finally” as she got up and stated that she, too, was exhausted and would be heading back to the compound.

Nat wordlessly stood up and made her way to the main entrance.

You decided to ignore the whistles from Tony and Sam and walk to the main entrance, where your two girlfriends were waiting for you, intent on hiding your burning face from your teammates.

The three of you sat in the back in comfortable silence, allowing you to fall asleep.

Natasha let out a slight chuckle when she noticed your head on her shoulder.

She kissed the top of your head and went back to looking at her phone; news about the Avenger’s newest teammate was already spreading.

She glanced back at the sight of you and Wanda, where the latter was slowly nodding off.

Upon arriving back at the compound, the three of you wordlessly went into your separate rooms to get ready for bed.

Once ready, you peeked into Nat’s room only to find it empty.

You quietly opened Wanda’s room and saw both of them watching what seemed to be an old TV show.

You silently closed the door and went back to your room, deciding to give them space.

You watered all the plants in your room and headed to bed.

Not even a few minutes after you were in bed, your door opened, revealing a very grumpy witch and an exhausted spy.

Wanda flopped onto your bed, getting under the blanket and immediately snuggling with you.

“Got tired of waiting for you”, she grumbled, her eyes already closed.

You turned your head to Natasha, who seemed to be fluffing her pillow (seriously? THE black widow fluffs her pillows???) in preparation for sleep.

Nat merely shrugged at your questioning glance.

“We got tired of waiting for you to come to us, so we came to you.”

You grinned as she cuddled into you, the warmth from both of them making you feel safe and comfortable.

You closed your eyes as the three of you fell into a deep slumber.

Maybe you could get used to this..

x--x--x

A/N:

I'm really sorry for disappearing off of the face of the earth. I had my final thesis, and then a bunch of personal stuff came up.

Thankfully, I've had @bookwo-rmy to keep me sane.

Now that my little block is over, I'm going to try to write a little more, but I can't promise anything at the moment.

Thank you so much for understanding. Stay safe y'all.

ALMOST FORGOT TAGS tags: @marvelwomen-simp @nothanksbye07 @jono723 @luadyjcmd @alexawynters @falloutboy-lover

[dominimoonbeam]

Lonely Hearts Club - Chapter 5

I wrote something. <3

the gavin/asher/david cafe au continues.

if you want to read it from the start it's on ao3. it's also adult as shit, like almost everything i write.

tags: sex, navigating relationships, communication, new and fragile, i feel like it's been so long since i posted that i've forgotten how to do this

if you're still with me, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy it! <3

Lonely Hearts Club - Chapter 5

A -You’re still coming tonight, right?

G - I’m definitely cumming tonight

David bit the inside of his lip. He wasn't sure what he'd expected when he sent that first text two days ago but it wasn't this. He didn't always know what to say in the group chat but somehow he wasn't falling out of it either.

At first the group chat felt voyeuristic. He was watching them. They flirted and sexted. They shared pictures that were either completely innocent snaps or lewd as fuck. David had looked at them more than he'd be comfortable admitting, more than he'd ever looked at porn. Strangers had never done anything for him, but these two… 

One of the pictures had just been Gavin from chest up, sunk deep into a couch, holding his shirt up in his teeth with his eyes dark and his other arm low. Fuck. The look he'd been giving the camera…giving them.

Asher flirted but it was Gavin that nudged that flirting into full-blown sexting. And the shit Asher said… sometimes he sent audio recordings. Sometimes he was breathy and pleading, saying the best, dirty, things. But then there was the time he was quiet, breath catching, and the sound of his hand going, going, going…. And then his raspy, small voice asked if he could cum. Asked if they'd let him.

David had been stroking himself in his own living room and actually groaned. And then he realized Gavin wasn't replying. Asher was waiting. Whining. Struggling. 

It was the first time David sent an audio to anyone, but he couldn't leave him like that…and, really, he wanted to be the one who made him come apart.

That had been last night. Tonight they were actually meeting at a club. What had he gotten himself into?

Asher sent a picture of two shirts on a bed.

A - Davey?

He got a little thrill every time Asher called him that. He wasn't sure why. He'd never liked nicknames before.

D - left.

It wasn't a hard decision. But would he really go with the one David picked?

“...earth to David,” Milo called, not for the first time.

He pocketed his phone and looked up only to roll his eyes and look away when faced with Milo's grin. “Don't start.”

Milo had come by just after he started closing up the cafe. “Who you talking to?”

“No one.”

“Are you getting back together with–”

“No,” he double checked everything was turned off before grabbing his jacket and hitting the lights.

Milo nodded but added, “They seemed nice.”

David headed for the back door, his friend on his heels. “They are but I wasn't feeling it.” He deflated a little. That didn't explain it right. It didn't sound like enough. There was nothing wrong with his ex. Maybe it was him?

Milo nodded again, slower. “Okay. So…who are you talking to then?” He stopped in the doorway, preventing the heavy door from swinging shut, effectively trapping David there in the alley waiting for him.

“Who says I'm talking to anyone?”

Milo laughed. “Fair enough. I guess you could be watching porn.”

David almost smiled. Almost. It was dangerously close to the truth.

Milo stepped into the alley, the door snapping shut. He reached back and tried the handle to make sure it was locked on second nature. “Do you want to come over tonight and watch the game with us?”

“I'm busy.”

Milo blinked. “With what?”

David ignored his stare. “I'm going out with some…friends.” Oh, that didn't sound right. His phone burned against his thigh. Those were not friend texts… 

“Who?” Milo wasn't smiling anymore.

“Seriously?” David snorted, fishing his keys out of his pocket. Milo’s bike was in the shop so David had offered to give him a ride home. 

“Where do you know these people from?”

Oh shit. Milo was really digging in. “The cafe.”

“Where are you going with them?”

“Out.” David unlocked his truck and got in the driver's seat.

Milo opened the passenger door but stood there and frowned at him.

David laughed. “Really? What are you getting worried about?”

Milo blustered and jumped in. “You can't just go out with some strangers without telling anyone who you're going with or where! What if something happens?”

David started the engine and tried not to think about all the things he hoped would happen. “What? You think someone's going to kidnap me? Fucking look at me, Milo.”

“I'm looking,” Milo said, dead serious.

David stared back. No one but Milo would worry about David's safety like this. “I'll tell you where I'm going if you promise not to go or talk about it anymore.”

“Deal.”

Fuck. “Crush.”

Milo stared. “You said you hate that place.”

“You agreed not to talk about it.” He pulled away from the curb and into slow traffic.

“You said it was a meat market. You said the music was shit and too loud!”

“You're too loud but I'm here, aren't I?”

They both went quiet for a stretch.

He took a right.

“Are you still coming to my dad's for dinner Sunday?” David asked.

“Of course,” Milo answered without pause. It was basically a family thing. Their parents had been friends for as long as either of them could remember. “Are you bringing your…friends?”

David groaned. “You said we wouldn't talk about it…”

“I said we wouldn't talk about the club.”

“Which we immediately did…”

-

Gavin met Asher in line for the club. It was the first time they'd met in person since he took him home earlier that week and they spent the whole night together. It was dawn by the time Asher left and, even then, the only reason he'd had to go was because he had work.

Gavin liked people, but this was different. He couldn't get enough of Asher and now David was in the mix too. He hoped David showed up tonight.

Asher beamed when we saw him, immediately offering a hug that Gavin was more than happy to accept. The night wasn't too cold, which was good since Ash was only wearing that tank top David picked out. 

Gavin had at least worn something with sleeves…even if they were sheer.

They exchanged smalltalk in line but Asher seemed half focused.

“Are you worried he won’t show?” Gavin grinned and then added, “Or worried he will?”

Asher turned toward him. “What? No. I’m not worried!”

Gavin nodded but he could see how wound his friend was. He brushed his hand against Asher’s. It was simple enough that it could be ignored as an accident. As much as he wanted to touch him, as much as he always wanted to be touching Asher, Gavin wasn’t exactly sure what the rules were here. Yes, at some point tonight they would be dancing and at some point there would probably be a lot of touching, but they were still in the line outside and they were, afterall, friends.

Asher’s hand automatically pushed back into his, turning to lace fingers even while his big eyes still darted around at all the other people on the sidewalk.

Gavin smiled and took a step closer, pressing right against Asher’s side. He loved the way the other man visibly relaxed at that pressure. He slid a hand against the low of his back. “Tell me why you’re nervous?”

Asher looked back at him, surprise written across his face. Asher was a delight to watch–his reactions and feelings constantly cascading across his features. But being able to see his emotions did not mean Gavin could read his mind. “I’m not.”

Gavin waited.

Asher exhaled and smiled. “I don’t know. Overthinking?”

Gavin nodded, dropping his head to place a kiss on the other man’s shoulder. “How about this,” he said, as they shuffled a step closer to the entrance. “We go inside, have a couple drinks, dance until we’re both so hard we can’t stand it…”

Asher smiled.

“We’ll meet David if he shows, if he doesn’t that’s okay. And when we’re ready to go, if you need more time or if you don’t want to fuck for whatever reason, you say something about how you’re starving.”

Asher laughed, shooting him a look. “Yeah? And then you’ll tell me you’ve got a big–”

“No,” Gavin laughed too but shook his head, holding the other man’s gaze. “You say you’re hungry, and I’ll take us to a diner instead. We can cool down and you can decide if you want to go home with us both, just me, or on your own.”

Asher’s joking smile fell into something sincere. Surprise? Relief? He relaxed and nodded, and then added, “Assuming David even shows.”

“Assuming that.”

“And if he does, it doesn’t mean he’s going to want to…”

Gavin laughed again. “You wore a tank top that’s more holes than fabric and jeans so tight I can see your dick, he’s definitely going to want to.”

Asher blushed and inhaled, ready to argue, but the bouncer waved them through and whatever nonsense about those pants not being that tight was lost in the pulse of music.

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Shooting a Movie part 4

Note: another thanks to @foxyanon for encouraging me while writing! & thanks to @legitalicat for coming up with a little nickname for a certain character ;)

reblogs & comments are very much appreciated, and make sure to read the previous chapters: part 1 - part 2 - part 3.

Warnings: 18+!! smut and a bit of angst.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f) / Modern!Masema x you (f)

summary: you continued to work with Sihtric, as well as with Masema.

wordcount: 5,4k

Masterlist

Your trip with Sihtric from Durham to London had been pleasant so far. He was a good driver and his energy was always positive and warm while he also eased your mind about your upcoming photoshoot. He would be there with you, and he promised that if anyone would even do as much as look at you the wrong way, he would tell them off. You were still nervous for your shoot, but knowing someone you feel safe with would be by your side made it easier.

You shared a hotel room together during your five day stay and also slept in the same bed, but Sihtric was respectful and never tried to have any sexual activities with you during the first two nights, despite aching to be intimate with you. He didn't know you would have never turned him down if he were to initiate something, but you also held off from making a move yourself because you wanted to keep things professional. And beside that, Sihtric was a real gentleman anyway, taking you out for lunch and dinner every day and always making sure you had everything you needed during your stay.

The first evening together was a little strange. You were both quite unsure about how to behave, as you were together for the first time without having any job to do or script to discuss. You eventually decided to watch some random tv in bed and, almost naturally, you ended up cuddling under the sheets. The butterflies you felt were overwhelming when you rested comfortably against Sihtric's bare chest while he had one arm wrapped around you, and you fell asleep like that not much later.

The second day you went over your contract together for the photoshoot, as Sihtric wanted to know what exactly you had agreed to, and after that you just did some sightseeing in the capital city. You ended up roaming the streets together, hand in hand, while you both slowly began to open up about some more personal things in your lives. And later that night, after dinner, you ended up all cuddled up in bed again to watch some easy tv, while Sihtric uploaded some content to his OnlyFans which he had already made before the trip. 

Sihtric chuckled when he saw the notification pop up on his phone that you had liked the video he had just shared, which was a rather sensual video of him jerking off in his shower, and you grinned when Sihtric looked at you with a mild side-eye.

'What?' you snorted, 'you know I see that stuff when you post it.'

'Yeah, well,' Sihtric laughed a little shyly, 'it's weird to see you're watching me touch myself while I'm literally next to you.'

'You should've thought about that before,' you smiled and shrugged.

Sihtric shook his head lightly and rolled his eyes while he smiled, 'Yes, okay, just… just stop watching now.'

'Fine,' you fake huffed and locked your phone, then rolled over to your other side of the bed and switched off the lights.

'Hey,' Sihtric complained.

'What?' you shrugged, 'I have to get up early tomorrow.'

'Fine,' Sihtric sighed, not even close to being annoyed but still pretending that he was, and he also put his phone down. 

And then, once again like the night before, he almost naturally cuddled up to you from behind while you both dozed off.

Today, the third day of your trip, was the day of the photoshoot. You arrived to set early to get your hair and make-up done, while Sihtric was present in your dressing room and just minding his own business, mainly scrolling on his phone and keeping up with what was going on in the industry. You occasionally glanced at him, without his knowledge, by looking in the mirror and seeing him sit behind you, looking so ridiculously sexy while he was just wearing some simple black sweatpants and a loose fitted black shirt, while the unshaved side of his head showed his messy curls. You felt truly blessed to have him around and cherished every second in his presence. And once you were all dressed and ready, Sihtric followed you quietly when you were called on set.

'Good luck,' he smiled and gave you a wink, to which you felt yourself blush and thanked him before you carefully walked in your enormous white latex heels to the mark on the floor.

Everything started off well, and Sihtric was glad to see you were treated decently. He was also glad to be there to witness your stunning look, as you were dressed in a tight fitting and dangerously short skirt with a matching white, stretchy crop top. And it all went fine, until the photographer, who Sihtric then realised was the Aethelred, told you to lower your top seemingly out of nowhere. Sihtric carefully monitored the situation from a distance and he watched your response before deciding if he had to interfere or not.

'My top? But…I,' you stammered, a little bewildered, 'I wasn't told…that…'

'Listen,' Aethelred sighed and threw his hands up, 'show those tits or go home, okay?'

You stared at the photographer, desperately fighting your tears and the tremble that was about to take over your lower lip. You were too ashamed to look for Sihtric in the crowded room, and your shaky hands then slowly reached for the neck of your white stretchy top, and you curled your fingers around the fabric as you swallowed hard. You came all this way and you needed the money, while Aethelred was also one of the most famous explicit photographers in the business, so you felt like you were in no position to disagree. But just before you could unwillingly expose your breasts, Sihtric jumped up from his chair and stormed over from across the room.

'Hey!' Sihtric shouted, which startled everyone on set, 'was that in the contract?'

Aethelred stared at you and then at Sihtric, not sure what to say as the man with fury in his mismatched eyes came closer, so he just laughed awkwardly while he felt his face turn red.

'Well, showing more skin will make her more popular,' Aethelred nervously argued while Sihtric got up in his face.

'But was that in the contract?' Sihtric asked again, more threatening this time as he already knew the answer to his own question.

'I… well…' Aethelred stammered.

Sihtric then looked at you and asked you the same question.

'No,' you said, barely louder than a whisper, 'this was not described as a topless shoot.'

Sihtric looked back at Aethelred, who was fuming as much as he was actually terrified.

'Well,' the photographer cleared his throat, 'if she wants to continue working in this industry, she better listens-'

'I think we both heard enough,' Sihtric cut him off and backed away, 'come,' he said as he came over to you, 'we're leaving.'

'But, Sihtric, I… I need the money,' you confessed quietly.

'You don't, let's go,' he said and held his hand out to you but he saw the clear doubt in your eyes, 'I got you, okay? You're not going to work with this guy anymore. Don't worry about the money.'

'But it's Aethelred,' you whispered, 'he… you know he's big in the industry, Sihtric, he can ruin my career if I leave now-'

'No,' Sihtric protested, 'he will not ruin your career. That is just what everyone makes you think so they can pressure you into undressing for them. But this is not how it works, sweetheart, trust me. This is not okay, and we're leaving,' he said sternly.

You needed a moment to let his words soak in, but then you took his hand. Sihtric attempted to walk you with him, past Aethelred, but the latter suddenly grabbed your arm and you gasped as he pulled you towards him and away from Sihtric.

'I will make sure you will never get hired again,' Aethelred hissed at you.

Sihtric turned and saw Aethelred's bruising grip on your arm, and he gave the photographer a harsh shove away from you to which every employee on set turned their heads and became quiet.

'If you touch her again,' Sihtric growled, 'I will fucking sue you!'

'Do you know who I am?' Aethelred scoffed, arrogantly.

'Do you know who I am?' Sihtric asked, to which Aethelred took a few steps back, 'and do you have any idea how hard I work to create a safe space for these girls in this industry? To keep them away from assholes like you? And I… I will fucking ruin you,' Sihtric nearly whispered as he got full up into Aethelred's face, 'and not ruin you in the pleasant kind of way, sweetheart. I can expose you for the creep that you are and then I will make sure you never get hired again. You got that, Aethelcunt?'

Aethelred didn't speak, he just stared at Sihtric with his jaw clenched. He knew his behaviour with girls had been awful, but no one had ever dared to confront him about it so he never cared, until now.

'I asked if you got that?' Sihtric pushed his question.

'Y-yes,' he said hoarsely.

'Good,' Sihtric said, 'now apologise to the lady.'

Everyone held their breath as they stared at Aethelred, the famous photographer who was finally being put in his place for his misogynistic behaviour over the years, and they all secretly enjoyed how embarrassed he was.

'I… I'm sorry,' Aethelred mumbled.

'What was that?' Sihtric spoke up, thickening the awkward tension.

'I said I'm sorry!'

'Good,' Sihtric smiled, satisfied at humiliating the poor excuse of a man, 'if I ever see your face again…'

Sihtric didn't have to finish his sentence for everyone to understand what would happen if they crossed paths again, and he circled his arm around your waist to help you walk back to your dressing room in those ridiculously high heels. You changed back into your own short black skirt with a comfy hoodie on top without saying a word, and after that Sihtric drove you back to the hotel, the drive being just as quiet as the dressing room had been.

There was a tension between the two of you since that moment on set, not an uncomfortable one or a threatening one, but there was something lingering and unspoken. A heavy pressure you both felt, which was building up as the drive back to the hotel continued, and with each passing second that gnawing feeling intensified. Sihtric felt his heart pounding in his chest when his eyes trailed off the road and to your bare legs, while you heard the sound of your own blood pumping in your ears as you looked at his hand clenched on the gear stick. You silently imaged his hand around your throat, while Sihtric imagined your legs thrown over his shoulders, and the quiet tension became thicker once you got out of the car and stepped into the hotel elevator. 

Sihtric stared at doors as they closed, his jaw clenched and his eyes dark, and the light shock the elevator gave when it went up seemed to be the moment you both lost control. You grabbed Sihtric's shirt while he immediately reached for your face, pulling each other closer and crashing your lips together in a passionate and heated kiss. Sihtric pushed you up against the steel wall and hooked his arms under your legs, lifting you with ease and you instinctively enveloped your legs around his waist while your lips never left his. You felt his tongue in your mouth as he kissed you with such force, it was almost painful but you were desperate to kiss him until your lips were bruised. Your tongues slid around each other's and your hand moved up in his curls, the other settled on his neck to keep the kiss as deep as possible while Sihtric moaned into your mouth and squeezed your buttocks with such force it bruised your skin.

The elevator came to a halt at the eleventh floor, and Sihtric lowered you down before the doors could open. You felt the ground beneath your feet as soon as the elevator bell sounded and you grabbed Sihtric's arm to pull him with you immediately once the doors opened. You almost tripped over your own feet because of the haste you were in, but Sihtric caught you in time and pulled you flush against him while he pushed you to walk backwards to the room.

'Eager,' Sihtric chuckled and kissed you intensely again.

Your back hit the door of your hotel room and, while Sihtric kissed you, your hands searched the pockets of his sweatpants for the keycard, but you felt something much more exciting and began to rub his hard cock instead.

'Back pocket,' he murmured and pushed his hips into yours.

You reached for his back pocket and fished out the card, then turned to swipe the key, but before you could open the door Sihtric had already shoved your skirt up and pressed his clothed arousal against your ass, while you were trapped between his body and the door. You smiled and pushed your behind back against his crotch, which earned you a low chuckle from Sihtric and then you finally pushed open the door. You both almost fell into the room and Sihtric was fast to kick the door shut behind him, then picked you up and threw you on the bed.

'I wanna fuck you so hard,' he breathed while mounted on top of you, lips lightly touching while he grinded his hips against yours, 'lovingly though,' he chuckled.

'Then fuck me hard, Sihtric,' you whispered with a smile and teasingly traced his jaw with your fingertips, 'lovingly or not.'

The next morning you woke up in Sihtric's arms, and you both figured you needed a shower after you ended up having sex once again the night before.

'You go first,' Sihtric murmured, still half asleep.

'No, you can go,' you smiled while you tried to keep your eyes open.

'Well,' Sihtric said and paused to yawn, 'maybe we should shower together then.'

'Maybe we should,' you giggled, your hands roaming his naked body under the sheets.

'Oh, you want it to be that kind of a shower?' Sihtric smiled, then rolled over and picked you up in his arms with ease and carried you into the fancy bathroom.

'Should we… film something?' you asked almost shyly.

'Do you want to?'

'Yeah, I mean now that I won't get paid for that photoshoot, you know,' you shrugged lightly, 'I need to earn some money.'

Yesterday after dinner, and after another wild sex adventure, Sihtric had told you that you should consider making exclusive content for your OnlyFans, while also making stuff on your own terms and selling it to the studio you have a contract with. That is exactly what Sihtric did and it worked for him, being in control of his own footage and who he works with while also having a safe environment to work in. It was a new way of working for you and you needed to get the hang of it, and you figured why not make a short video with Sihtric as your first exclusive OnlyFans content, as the demand for you two together was clearly there.

Sihtric was up for it, without a doubt, and he was quick to grab his tripod and the camera he always travelled with and used to shoot his own footage whenever he felt like it. Within minutes he had it set up and rolling, starting the shoot with you from behind, completely naked and sensually leaning in to feel if the running water had a pleasurable temperature. And everything that followed after was just as hot and steamy as you hoped it would be, and only a few hours later you had the ten minute long video uploaded to you page, which quickly gained the interest of many and you saw the number of your paid subscribers increase with each passing minute.

And so you figured that maybe Sihtric was right. Maybe this would be a good way for you to work and make money while still enjoying it, as you had full control over who you decided to work with, if with anyone. Because, like Sihtric, you could also just make solo content. And with that newfound motivation and confidence, you went home the next afternoon, after having shared the bed with Sihtric a few more times though.

'Thanks for everything,' you said after he had dropped you off at your home, 'for looking after me and helping me and all that. It means a lot.'

'Anytime,' Sihtric smiled, 'you take it easy. Focus on making your own content and I promise you will be just fine. And only work with those you are comfortable with, okay?'

'Like you?' you chuckled.

'Sure, like me,' he laughed softly, 'I'm always just a text away, sweetheart,' he said and pulled you in for a hug, then kissed your cheek to say goodbye and you promised each other to stay in touch this time.

While you and Sihtric texted on a regular basis since your trip, you found out after a few weeks that your OnlyFans content wasn't just popular amongst the porn consumers, but suddenly a lot of fellow adult movie stars wanted to work with you privately as well. And one of them being very persistent was Masema. Masema was all about making money, and he knew that right now you were one of the people who he could make a lot of money with. You knew he wanted to work with you again ever since that movie you made with him, but it seemed that after he saw your short video with Sihtric, and the success it had, he had only gotten more eager. 

He suggested shooting at least two videos, one for his page and one for your own, and maybe some explicit photos as well. You liked his idea and you couldn't lie either, you wouldn't mind shooting some footage with him, so you decided to accept his request. You met him a few weeks later at his insanely fancy house again, while dressed in one of your signature short skirts with knee high boots and a faux leather crop top.

'It's good to see you again,' Masema flirted right away with his soft spoken voice as you both had a seat on that famous loungeset near his pool.

'Good to see you too,' you smiled and couldn't hide a faint blush on your cheeks.

He looked insanely good, as always, wearing tight black jeans and a black shirt. You didn't feel the same way about Masema as you felt about Sihtric, but you weren't completely unaffected by his good looks and his smooth voice either. And Masema clearly knew the effect he had on basically every lady he met with for work, and he used it to his advantage. He thought you were hot, but he wasn't in love with you, yet he'd go out of his way to try and make you believe you were the only one for him to make you want him more and more. And so he lightly brushed his fingers against your arms and shoulders while you had some small talk, setting you on fire with each touch and making you so desperately needy for him.

'So you're good with the idea?' Masema made sure to double check.

'Two videos, right?' you recalled, 'one blowjob, which will be exclusively for my page, and one of us just fucking for your page, right?'

'Yeah,' Masema nodded, 'that should do it.'

You agreed and Masema took your hand, 'So what are you up for first, pretty girl?'

'I think we should film that sex video first because we both know you're going to ruin my make-up when you shove your cock down my throat,' you said deadpan, to which you both burst into laughter seconds after.

'Yeah, I'll apologise in advance for making you cry,' Masema said softly and took your chin as he leaned in, 'but you do look so fucking sexy all ruined by me like that,' he trailed his fingers down to your neck, 'and it makes me so fucking hard.'

'Shouldn't you save that talk for the video?' you purred.

'We better start filming then,' Masema murmured with a cheeky smile.

He took your hand and led you back inside and up the stairs. He had a large spare room set up, from where he filmed most of his videos, and it had a comfortable looking bed and a large couch against the wall. The entire room was painted a fresh white and it was cleaner than a dentist's office, which showed you how professional Masema actually was underneath his rugged and stern look.

'I'm surprised to see no chains and leather stuff,' you chuckled as Masema switched the camera on which he had set up already.

'I got another room for that, gorgeous,' Masema smiled, 'but I know you're not into that, or at least not as experienced yet, so I have no business taking you there.'

'You have another room?'

'Yeah,' he scoffed with a laugh, 'why do you think I have so many bedrooms? I have one room that's just where I sleep, and all the other bedrooms are more or less different sets for shooting at home.'

'You don't really shoot at studios then?' you frowned.

'Absolutely not,' Masema shook his head, 'I did it with you that one time, but it's not something I usually do because I want to be in full control of what I do. And as soon as I got well known and respected enough to be in control of that, I designed every room here to be a different space. This industry is nasty, sweetheart,' he sighed, 'it's better to be in control of your own footage, trust me.'

'Y-yeah,' you cleared your throat and sat down on the large bed, 'Sihtric told me the same thing. He also prefers to make his own content.'

'Sihtric,' Masema mumbled, 'yeah, he got his business well arranged too it seems. But you know all about that, don't you?' he smirked.

'What's that supposed to mean?' you chuckled.

'We all saw that livestream you did with him,' he said as he neared you, 'and that shower video you uploaded a few weeks ago. I gotta ask… are you two dating?'

'What? No,' you blushed, 'we're not dating.'

'You make a lot of footage together.'

'Yeah, but… we're not dating. He's been helping me set up a safer place too, like you did here for yourself. He's looking out for me, you know?'

'That's kind of him,' Masema said half-heartedly.

'Yeah,' you smiled, 'he really is the sweetest guy I know. No offence.'

'Well, fuck,' Masema laughed, 'you're in love with him, aren't you?'

'Oh, shut up,' you laughed and slapped his muscular chest.

'Fine,' he leaned in, smoothly taking your chin again, 'you could belong to me, you know?' he lied.

Masema was not a guy to settle down, but he enjoyed knowing he could probably steal a girl away from someone. And Sihtric was competition in the business, so if he could hurt him somehow, he'd do it.

'I don't belong to anyone, Masema,' you said quietly while your heart skipped a beat at his touch.

'I don't care if you belong to someone or don't,' he whispered and traced your lips with his thumb, 'because regardless, I'll make you forget about everyone else when I fuck you.'

Masema smiled darkly and winked, then moved away to start filming while you moved off the bed and took your position on his white couch, leaning back relaxed and seductively to welcome him over. Masema joined you by sitting next to you, and you started off easy by making out sloppily until he had you so needy, you sat in his lap and grinded his thigh desperately, to which he smiled darkly once again. He truly had corrupted you that first time, making your shy and innocent side disappear as soon as he kissed you, seeing you change into the needy girl you were for him, and he loved it.

'Good girl,' Masema smiled as he looked up at you, sitting back with his arms spread across the backrest, just watching how you tried to get off on your own.

'Please,' you whined after a few minutes, 'Masema,' you breathed, 'fuck me, please.'

'Beg for it,' he said sternly and didn't move an inch.

You then moved off him and down on the floor in front of him, looking up with pleading eyes as Masema got up and towered over you. He took your chin firmly as he leaned in.

'I said beg.'

'Please,' you mumbled with a dazed smile, 'fuck me, please.'

'Good girl,' he whispered, 'take off my belt.'

He stood back as you obeyed, taking off his belt and unbuttoning his jeans while your mouth nearly watered, but you knew you couldn't suck him off now, you had to save that for later. There was no oral pleasure planned for this video, just sex.

Masema took off his shirt and you kissed your way up his toned torso, leaving red lipstick smudges all over his skin and he picked you up before you could kiss his lips again. He threw you on his bed and tore your panties off along with your skirt. He grabbed your ankle and pulled you towards the end of the bed where he stood, and he wrapped his hand around your throat pleasantly while he pulled his cock out and spat on his hand before he gave himself a few good strokes.

'Beg,' Masema said curtly.

'Fuck me, please,' you said with your cheeky laugh as you squirmed desperately on the sheets, 'please.'

You spread your legs for him, and he teasingly slapped your wet pussy with his hard cock a few times before he entered you. You arched your back and moaned with pleasure as soon as he began to thrust into you so deeply, easing you into it at first, but before you knew it he fucked you so hard into the mattress with his hand still wrapped around your throat and the other holding your waist almost bruisingly as he had his way with you.

'Fuck,' you moaned, 'ah, god, yes, fuck me.'

'You dirty slut,' Masema growled and only went harder while you clenched the sheets in your hands, not holding back or having to fake any moans and gasps while you were ravaged in all the right ways until you could barely remember your own name.

You climaxed fast but Masema kept going, promising he'd make you cum twice while he continued to ravage you. He tossed you around the bed, taking you in different positions and spanking your ass multiple times.

'I'm going to cum again,' you whined as he fucked you hard and fast.

'I told you,' he breathed, 'that's okay, sweetheart, cum for me.'

'Fuck, fuck,' you nearly screamed and clawed at the pillows your face was pressed into, 'oh, please, fuck.'

'That's it,' Masema moaned, 'that's it, that's it, cum for me.'

You came with another loud moan and Masema pulled out shortly after, he stroked his cock almost violently while he pulled you to sit up and he grabbed your face with his free hand.

'Open,' he said with a low grunt.

You did what he asked while still half dazed and allowed him to cum on your tongue as you had stuck it out for him.

'Good fucking girl,' Masema said hoarsely as he stroked himself through his high, and he then kissed you before he switched off the camera.

In between filming that first video and the second one, Masema took good care of you by making sure you were all cleaned up and comfortable while you both recovered. You were dressed in one of his comfortable oversized shirts while Masema wore his black jeans again. You had made your way downstairs to the kitchen together, where he made you some "dinner". You quietly looked at the salad he was preparing as you sat on one of the barstools, and you suddenly missed the pizza and tacos you had with Sihtric after you had sex with him that afternoon you had walked away from the photoshoot.

Masema was very kind and wanted you to be comfortable, but you secretly longed to be with Sihtric now. Masema was not as lighthearted and also very strict about his working out and diet, while your other co-star was just as good looking and not strict at all. With Sihtric it was always comfortable and you could truly be yourself, but Masema's personality was so different that you always felt you had to stay in work-mode around him, so you never really had any deep conversations or got to know each other better. Which was fine too, but you couldn't resist texting Sihtric to let him know Masema was making you a salad while you missed the fast food you had shared in the hotel weeks ago.

To your disappointment Sihtric didn't reply and left you on read, which was an odd thing for him to do because he usually replied within minutes. You tried to not think much about it and, luckily, Masema was nice looking company too so you just observed him while he served the food. You both ate in silence, which was almost awkward, and after that you helped him load the dishwasher which was just as awkward. And the time you spent together in his living room was just as awkward for you as the previous moments had been. You and Masema had chemistry during sexual activities, but other than that there was genuinely no vibe.

'So, ready to shoot?' Masema asked about an hour later, much to your relief.

'Ready when you are,' you smiled.

You went upstairs again and both undressed, and you shot what was probably the sloppiest blowjob you had ever given someone in your life. The result was filthy but you were proud, because you knew this would earn you some good money. You both fixed yourself up separately and got dressed again, but as you wanted to leave you both suddenly saw the weather outside had turned rather dangerous as rain and wind was gushing forcefully.

'It's not safe to drive,' Masema said as he stood in the front door with you, 'you should stay until it clears up.'

'But that's tomorrow morning,' you said and showed him the weather app on your phone.

Masema was quiet for a moment as he stared in the dark distance, mindlessly tracing his fingers across his bare chest.

'Well,' he said softly, 'I guess it's better to stay the night then.'

You agreed, not entirely reluctantly, but you'd rather sleep in your own bed. Or with Sihtric. And the difference between both men became evident again once you laid in bed together, on the opposite sides of the mattress and with your backs turned to each other after having said good night.

You grabbed your phone and saw there was still no response from Sihtric, which unsettled you. You decided to upload the video that was shot for you OnlyFans, so it could spread across the viewers while you were asleep, and you tried to go to sleep then. You tossed and turned in bed for a while as Masema was already snoring next to you, and you grabbed your phone again after a few long minutes, checking to see if Sihtric had texted you back already. But there still wasn't any reply, and with a lump in your throat you decided to text him again.

You: thinking of you, handsome xx

You saw Sihtric read your message immediately upon sending, as he was in his own bed, contemplating to text you before you reached out again. He ached, badly, knowing that you had been with Masema that night and having seen the video you shared had simply crushed him. He knew it was just work, and that's all it was, but he couldn't get over it and it frustrated him beyond words. Maybe this business wasn't for him anymore, he pondered before he finally wrote you back, and then threw his phone across the room and cried himself to sleep.

Your eyes teared up when Sihtric's message appeared, and you wept silently while you laid next to Masema in the dark and quiet room.

Sihtric: missing you deeply, angel, so much I feel it could kill me.

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[luciaintheskyainthi]

Hii, i admire you a lot, every chapter of ECM encourages me a lot, i hope yo are well and im sorry for the bad english in my cuestion😭

Your best writing tips? Everything is valid, whether writing in general o writing fanfics, whatever you think for sure is good, thanks for writing 🙏💗😔

thank-you so much!! I'm glad my writing can do that for you!!

Oh man, I have soooo many things to say, but I'll give you some simplified ones to start with! Buckle up buttercup, this is a long'un!

General Writing Tips:

I know it sounds dumb! But just write. Write a little, write a lot, just try not to get bogged down with it being 'good' or 'bad' or anywhere in between. I'm a firm believer in writing being like a muscle: the more you do it, the easier (and the better) it becomes. And also, crucially, this shouldn't be a time where you do things like... a) hunting for the perfect word b) doing research c) cross reference with a past chapter This is a writing only time! Make yourself place holders (I write XK for words I can't think of, as it's 2 letter that will never appear together so I can CTRL+F it easily! I make comments in the draft specifying what to check or research. I highlight parts I know need LOTS of work) so you can quickly move past what's blocking you and continue writing.

Find a writing habit and environment that works for you. Typing? Hand-writing? Coloured pages? White pages? Dictating? Working in a public place? A private space? (When I start out a story, I often handwrite. And I'll turn back to it if I'm stuck, too. I also write a lot in public, as I find the pressure of other people around me stops me wasting time on my phone... or Tumblr lol).

Get yourself a writing friend! I have a friend I see almost weekly and it's my most productive time of the week (For example, today I wrote 5600 words! Crazy!). Online works too (if you use the pomodoro, you can compare word counts, make a competition of it). If you're doing it IRL, DO NOT expect to get anything done the first time. Or the second time.... but the more you do it, the easier it is for you both to fall straight into writing. (This is the exact same advice I giving to my students about 'study dates' 😉 )

If you find it hard to 'break the seal', then try a warm up. Set yourself a 5-10 minute timer and write based on an activity. E.g. tell a story from the POV of an object in your room! Write a detailed description of your foot! Write a 5 sentence story! Find a picture and write a scene inspired by it! Or get yourself a prompt list and use that. These are all things I would do for students back when I ran a creative writing club at school.

Use the pomodoro system when writing (it's great for studying too!). That's 20 minutes of nothing but writing - no searching up stuff! No looking at your phone! Just writing. Then take a 5 minute break. Then another 20 minutes of writing. Rinse and Repeat! You'd be amazed at how much you can get done!

THIS ONE IS SO IMPORTANT: 👏 The first thing you write is the worst thing you write! That's not just okay! It's expected!! 👏 This is something I tell ALL my students and equally myself. The editing process is SO crucial and honestly, the best thing you can do to improve is - and you'll hate me for saying this! - rewrite your entire first draft. This is why I say, 'don't worry about the first thing you've written'. Because it won't be the end product. (This is why I so often hand-write. Because typing it up then becomes the rewrite.) The re-write is when you should be thinking carefully about your phrasing, and when you can go and do that research. (I will note, I actually don't do this much anymore, but I've also been writing obsessively for 19 years... so do with that what you will (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Read your work out loud. What reads fine in your head might come out as nonsense out loud. This is especially true for dialogue! The better it flows out your fabulous mouth, the better it reads. I've done this so much I've mostly internalised it, but I always always do my final edit as a read through out loud. All 140+K of ECM has come out my gob at least once.

Actual writing tips:

When it comes to sentence structure and phrasing, one of the best things I ever did for myself was read the book Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale. I don't expect every writer to do so, but I do think it's worth reading (I'd like to specify, I generally HATE reading non-fiction but I found it a valuable read).

Here are a few things to keep in mind when actually writing:

Bad repetition: it's a classic, but overuse of certain words sticks out like a sore thumb. Even now I'll do it and won't notice until the final read through (out loud! See my previous tip haha). That is NOT to say that you should just right click 'synonyms'! It's better to edit the sentence itself, think about whether that word is even necessary before choosing to select another word).

Nuance in language is soooo important. This is why I generally discourage just the right-click 'synonym' option. Certainly in the nonsensical English language, there are subtleties in word choice that are critical to preventing your work for turning into nonsense (something I wish my students would understand!). Think of the different meanings conveyed through choices like house / bungalow / condo / flat / apartment / mansion / Mcmansion. All have differing connotations and can't be used interchangeably. Same with floor vs ground. Make sure you understand the connotations (associated meanings) of the word you're choosing before you use it.

Following on from this, Choose specific nouns and dynamic verbs, rather than relying on your adjectives/adverbs to do all the work. Not ' one storey house': bungalow. Not 'walk tiredly': stumble / trudge. Of course, you don't have to do this all the time and I'm not saying adverbs/adjectives are evil! But I think a lot of writers become overly reliant upon them.

Avoid redundant language. Consider the words that are doing the heavy lifting in your sentences. Is there anything in the sentence that doesn't need to be there because you've already implied it? e.g. Sara trudged tiredly into her bedroom and fell onto her bed. In this example, 'trudged' already implies exhaustion. And one would assume her bed is in her bedroom. Likewise 'fall' isn't the most exciting of verbs. So I'd change it to something like this -> Sara trudged through the doorway to collapse onto her bed. (Note here I'm also thinking of the implied meaning of 'onto' rather than 'into', which would suggest her bed is still made up).

Keep in mind who your narrator is and adjust your writing accordingly. Consider their personality, their background and the influence of their culture on the ways in which they'd think / write things. For example, as Peter is a character prone to ramble, I'll sometimes have him do the same in his narration. And because he's a silly little guy, I'll also have his train of thoughts turn in silly ways. His science background means I'll occasionally throw in a science reference too (though it's not my strongest knowledge base these days! So it requires more research lol). In contrast, Jason's love of literature make him more likely to use 'fancy' words like 'eschew', literary references and more elaborate metaphors. But at the same time, his Crime Alley upbringing means I have him use a lot of contractions. And because I see him as a character who is both a dramatic bastard and a highly efficient guy, I will use a lot of one word, or very short sentences. (If you're using multiple narrators, it might pay to write these ideas down!)

Anyways, I could go on, but it's also 20 to 11PM here and I've already written 5600 words today �� My phalanges are tired!

I at least hope you can find something helpful or encouraging from all of this!

[hahaifolded]

The angstist chapter for me was "Still not enough", the reader earnestly believing they're lacking when it's the tf that has their heads up their asses. I think Price and Ghost fucked up the most, they're both in place of power and not only were cruel to the reader, they actively enabled and encouraged the mistreatment from others.

I think a good way to make both the TF141 and IO suffer might be the other TF requests IO as their IO and Laswell approves it. New IO comes in and they're not a POC, and because the TF141 learned their lesson (not really) they treat the new IO better but reader IO thinks it's because they're not POC. Bonus if the new IO is a genuinely nice person but they're not as good but the TF141 still treats them better.

I personally love this series, I have notification turned on for whenever you post. This series just scratches my angst itch and my go to for when I want to hurt my feelings. Also it kinda makes me feel seen, cause I've been in the spot where my work is overlooked and degraded but it's also wish fulfillment because TF141 comes back groveling.

Okay I'm done annoying you, byyyeeee. <3

Can you believe that Still Not Enough was supposed to be the last one in this shitshow? But literally I was in the car and went, “but what if… there’s more suffering?” And boom it continued!

And you’re right about Price and Ghost. I think it’s something I didn’t consciously do but inherently did because ultimately what they do is a lot worse because of the power imbalance. Because Price gave the command to everyone and Ghost followed it to a T.

As for your idea… MAN YOU RIPPED MY HEART OUT, STOMPED ON IT, and THREW IT BACK ON MY CHEST. It hurt so much that… I’m not doing it. Like don’t get me wrong, amazing idea, but I’ve been in a similar enough positions where I saw my white counterparts get treated better that I genuinely think id crash out if I had to write that pain.

Because imagine, IO!reader here is working their ass off, juggling with the fact that they think it’s their fault for 1) the 141 not liking them and 2) no one wants to work with them. Then suddenly, the 141 starts treating a new white IO better… the utter rejection and just reinforcing of idea that the IO!reader is the problem. That no matter what they do, they will always be the problem. If they’re kind, they’re unprofessional. If they’re professional, you’re rude. Sure the new taskforce likes them but so did the 141 in the beginning. It’ll only be a matter of time till they turn on them. Maybe they’ll realize that having a POC!IO isn’t all that great, the novelty will wear off, and for a second time, they’ll be cast aside. As angsty it can be, it’s just too real for me and for that I can’t.

Also you having notifications on is crazy to me just cause I can imagine you seeing my recent posts being like “yes! Next part” and it’s just my dumb shit 😂

Thank you for following along! Sorry to hear that you’ve been in a similar position cause like SAME! Also you can’t be annoying me if I deadass asked for this!