nyaria1029

[jeremyfragrancebf]

Was anyone gonna tell me that Bill Pullman had a hot Hollywood nepo baby son or was I just supposed to find out myself by watching Top Gun: Maverick and saying ‘hey this guy looks like Bill Pullman’ the first time we see Bob??

[callsign-bobsgirl]

Baby On Board

Pairing: Bob Floyd x f!Reader Summary: There seems to be a misunderstanding between you and the Dagger Squad about your husband's callsign. Word Count: 1.3k Warnings: Unbeta-ed, rusty writing and one clumsy allusion to smut. Otherwise none.

When the gang found out that Bob could actually talk to women, they were shocked.

When the gang found out that Bob had been talking to, coming home to, and loving on the same woman for the past ten years, they were somehow less shocked.

What shocked Bob — although in retrospect it probably shouldn’t have — is just how adamantly everyone insisted on getting to meet the Mrs. Bob Floyd. The mystery that the quiet WSO kept under wraps. This Friday at the Hard Deck, seven o’clock.

Which is what he groaned into your neck early that afternoon after Mav had sent everyone home early as a reward. The two of you lazed about on top of the covers, the box of clothes half unpacked and forgotten at the foot of the bed the minute Bob walked through the bedroom door.

“I was hoping to keep you to myself for just a little longer,” your husband whined; turned humming as you ran your hand through his hair.

“I’m more hurt you didn’t immediately tell them about your hot wife in Lemoore,” you muse, “I mean what if I came down to surprise you, hmm? What if I popped down to the Top Deck before we permanently moved down huh? And that … Flameman or whatever tried to hit on me because he didn’t have it burned into his skull that I’m the lovely Mrs. Floyd hmm? What then?”

Groaning, Bob lifted himself to his elbows, pressing kisses to your jaw, “When we meet Hangman at the Hard Deck, he’s probably gonna hit on you anyways, if nothing else than to try and get a rise out of me.”

“Ah yes, you and your famous impulsive temper,” you tease.

Sliding a hand from Bob’s torso up to his shoulder, you quickly flip him over so you’re on top. Grinning cheekily you lean back on your haunches, getting to work on Bob’s belt while he fiddles with the hem of your t-shirt, waiting for his turn to strip you of the offending cloth.

“I’ll talk to my sister, see if she can’t reschedule some stuff for Friday,” you say, reaching your hand down your husband's briefs and getting a pleased hum in response.

—

When the two of you walked into the Hard Deck, you for the first time, you let Bob lead you through the crowds of people and he pointed out the different ranks of aviators, the obvious gaggles of tag chasers, and the old-timers who were loyal to the bar. You did your best to listen but you were busy smoothing down the sundress Bob loved so much and it was really loud in here.

“Stop worrying,” Bob leaned down to say in your ear, “You can run miles around these guys.” The WSO paused for a second, “Maybe not … physically, but in every other way.”

You laugh as you slap the back of your hand against his chest, “will Phoenix be here at least?”

“You see the guy in the Hawaii print?”

“Uh-huh”

“See the woman who just jabbed him with the pool stick?”

“Yeah?”

“Phoenix.”

The two of you approach the pool table everyone is crowded around but before you can announce yourself, a boyish-looking man with amber skin whistles and waves across the pool table, bringing everyone’s attention with him.

“Mr. and Mrs. Bob!”

Everyone clamoured to meet the new arrivals, but you didn’t miss how one of them — a blond, cocky-looking son of a bitch with a toothpick dangling from his lip — held back, only to eventually push his way past an ‘LT. Fitch’. 

“Well Darlin’, it sure is nice to finally meet you,” his grin sure does take over his face, huh, “callsign Hangman, but you can call me Jake,” he says with a wink.

You share a look with Bob — who had just returned from the bar with your cocktail and his peanuts — and yeah, Hangman was exactly as you imagined him.

Saying a quick thanks to your husband and making sure to drag your fingers across Bob’s as you take the glass from him, you turn back to the other blond who won’t stop with the cocksure smirk. If Bob hadn’t warned you that Jake, for all that he was like … well this, was harmless and wouldn’t actually try anything; you’d be throwing the drink in his face.

But you also figured the alcohol would do better in you than on him.

Later in the evening, after everyone had had a few drinks and you’d loosened up, Topman sauntered back over to your stool where you were admiring your husband bent over the pool table.

“I gotta admit, I am mystified at how our Baby on Board managed to snag you,” the pilot kept going, finally getting a chuckle out of you.

‘Cause yeah, ‘Baby On Board’, that was funny you’d give Bagman that one. You didn’t get why it made the rest of the squadron look at you weird though.

“What?” you ask. 

You also couldn’t stop yourself from chuckling when Rooster swatted the back of Hangman’s head, but Phoenix is the one who elbows herself up to Hangman, going between glaring at him and raising her eyebrow at you.

“You … you do get what Bagman’s saying about Bob here, right?”

You nod, still not getting where the miscommunication lies.

“That Bob is … you know, a baby?” she explains.

Right as you emphatically exclaim, “fucks!”

And boy if that didn’t get the guys hooting and hollering, as your husband’s face turns bright pink.

Did these guys not get it? There’s a reason your Robby was one of the only two squadron members who’d even made it down the aisle. The way his hair was never out of place in uniform, how it bounced when he was out of it, and how soft it felt between your fingers. Those blue eyes that demanded your attention and turned you into a puddle when they darkened. Did his squad think you could let him do more than an hour of yard work in the summer, chest all sweaty and glistening before you beckoned him back into the privacy of the house? Or even worse, when he danced from the kitchen to the living room, carrying mugs of hot chocolate, on Christmas in those ‘family matching’ pyjamas.

‘Bob is a baby’ for the best of the best in the navy, these people were fools.

“I don’t get what the big fuss is,” you tell the aviators, “honestly, with every year that passes I half expect a kid to reach out from wherever he’s been deployed over the years.” Which gets another round of laughter out of your husband’s colleagues.

Robby knew you knew how insanely in love with him you were and how much you trusted him, and you knew how deep his devotion to you was — which is why instead of defending himself he just hid his red face in your hair. Already hearing the jokes he’ll face on base next month. You bringing a hand up to clumsily yet comfortingly cup his jaw helped though.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Payback says sincerely, “it's just that the Bob we know, the Bob we work with … it's kinda hard to see the Bob you know in him.”

And that’s when you realize. If Robby hadn’t told his squadron anything about you, then he definitely hasn’t said anything about …

“No I get it, my Robby can be on the quieter side, and probably downplays his moves at work” You hear Robby groan in your ear, knowing exactly what you’re about to reveal; and you gear yourself to revel in the shock you’re about to create. 

“But he did get three kids out of me.”  

The yelps of surprise and demands of proof had everyone in the bar glancing over at the pool table, but you and Bob just laughed at them as he handed over his wallet: showing off the five of you in the small ID window.

_____________________________________________

A/N: this is 100% from my own misunderstanding of Hangman's joke the first few times I watched the TGM, I truly thought he was implying Bob must always have a baby on the way because look at him??? Anyways, first time posting in the fandom. Come on over and say hi! And ... idk, live laugh love long and prosper.

also s/o to @sailor-aviator for helping my brain when it wasn't braining ♡

[koji-haru]

Time Travel AU Part: 1

Well, that took longer than I planned. Anyway, here it is!

It had been a few weeks since Adam woke up back in Eden, and honestly? Life was great, he didn’t have to go to meetings, deal with paperwork or put up with those patronising angels. Eden was truly a paradise. Although, he did miss his girls. Oftentimes they would go to their favourite restaurants or to the movies after a long day’s worth of training. His girls were badass. They were THE bitches! And right now they should still be celebrating yet another successful extermination, each boasting their kill count. Except right now Adam was stuck having to pretend to know nothing as he named the animals (again) by the river while Lilith named the plants. 

During the first few days, Adam did try (somewhat) to at least be civil with Lilith, but that woman was just as obnoxious as ever. Always wanting more, never satisfied. Sometimes even butting in to recommend a name for an animal she thought was more suitable. Sure, Adam was controlling and arrogant, but so was Lilith. They were made to be equals after all. Today too, Lilith was trying to flaunt how she knew better than him. Except this time, Adam actually had the upper hand, having the experience of a ten millennium lifetime.

“Actually Lilith, I think I’ll keep the name ‘otter’ for this little guy,” Adam said as he patted the otter back into the river. “But I’ll be willing to help you name the plants when you need it. You do seem to need them sometimes”. He gave a small smile, his head tilted ever so slightly as his golden eyes bore into Lilith.

Lilith remained at her spot just across Adam, shuffling slightly before she huffed, “I was just offering a different perspective, but I suppose you don’t want them”. 

As if I’d want anything from you.

Brushing her long blonde hair behind her shoulders, Lilith turned away from Adam as she made her way towards her favourite spot under a massive tree deep within the forests of Eden, no doubt about to complain to Lucifer about how awful Adam was, which, yeah he was. He turned up even more since Lucifer started visiting them, just to move the plot along a little quicker. He has decided that, no, he can’t share the garden with those two. Eden just wasn’t the paradise that he deserved if those were present with him. So, the quicker those two were out the garden, the better. That way he also didn’t have to act so naively almost every waking moment, it was really getting tiring. 

Luckily for Adam, him acting more and more obnoxious as the days went by seemed to push Lilith and Lucifer together faster. Now he just needed for them to act on, a witness, and voila! Perfect paradise! 

The soft crunching of grass beneath approaching footsteps snapped Adam out of his thoughts. 

Speak of the Devil. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her lithe form laid upon vibrant green grass a contrast to her porcelain skin, her long locks as bright as the midday sun framed her delicate face, and when she finally woke up, her eyes sparkled like the purest of amethyst. Confusion in her bejewelled eyes surfaced but for a moment as it was quickly replaced with purpose. Her gaze wandered as far as she could see, fully taking in the world around her as Sera welcomed the new human to paradise. Lilith was perfect, as expected of the first woman. 

The first man, on the other hand, took longer to wake up. Adam, as he was to be called, was moulded and completed at the same time as Lilith, and yet while Lilith was already taking in her surroundings, his tanned frame simply laid limp on the grass unresponsive. Thinking perhaps he needed a little more time, the seraphim stood by, eagerly awaiting the moment he would take his first breath. A moment passed, and then another, then another. The angels shared a look amongst each other. Sera kneeled beside Adam placing her hand on his cheek, gently ushering him to wake up.

“Wake up”.

Nothing.

“It’s time to open your eyes”.

Adam stirred a little, eyelids fluttering ever so slightly.

“Um…did we make a mistake? Maybe he’s not finished yet,” Lucifer commented, a little worried. 

“No, he should be complete. The woman woke up just fine,” Michael added. Their Father told them that these two, ‘humans’ he recalled, were his most perfect creation. So it was not possible that there could be something wrong with the first man.

“Come on, you can do it,” Sera tried again, this time successfully.

 Adam was beautiful too, but his was a different kind of beauty from Lilith. While she looked to be of jewels with her dazzling grace and aura of untouchable perfection, Adam was that of the earth that formed those jewels. His warm tone that belonged with earthly life, and his brown hair carefree like that of Eden’s presence. A beauty, but nothing in comparison to Lilith was what the angels initially thought, at least until he finally opened his eyes. A deep molten gold embedded in his sockets, like an enticing lure of what was inside. Lilith was out of this world, while Adam was the world. Both God’s perfect creations.

Sera welcomed the newly awakened man into his new home as she ushered Lilith to come near. Lucifer leaned a little closer, his curiosity always unceasing. How would Adam react? What would his voice sound like? Would it be as divine as Lilith’s? Much to Lucifer’s disappointment, the first man made very little effort to get up and didn't even so much as utter a single word. Adam remained rooted on the ground, his eyes briefly scanned his surroundings before his gaze fixed upon Lilith. Unlike Lilith who’s gaze studied her new surroundings with interest, Adam’s felt scrutinising and guarded, like he was waiting for something to happen. 

“But this is paradise, there should be nothing to worry about,” Lucifer mused, looking around them. 

Sera bid the two humans goodbye, allowing them time to acquaint themselves to each other, and as bright light enveloped them, transporting them back to heaven, Lucifer briefly shared a glance with Adam. He doesn’t know why, but those eyes unnerved him.

—----------------------------------------------------------—----------------

Lucifer sat beneath a large oak tree, humming a soft tune. The spot had become his and Lilith’s little secret meeting area. Lucifer went to check on the two humans a few days after their creation, to gauge their progress. He and Lilith instantly hit it off, their minds similar in that they both always crave for more, to push beyond the boundaries. He appreciated Lilith’s independence and probing attitude. It was a breath of fresh air from Heaven’s blind faith. To always obey, never question. On the other hand, his interactions with Adam had been less… pleasant. While yes, Adam hadn’t done or said anything harmful, he couldn’t help but feel like there was always a bite to his words, even when he was complimenting and smiling at Lucifer. And those eyes felt like molten gold melting through his being.

“But maybe that’s just how Adam or male humans in general are,” Lucifer wondered. The other angels mentioned that humans were emotionally complex beings, so perhaps it was one of those intricacies he hadn’t fully grasped yet.

 Regardless, Adam’s demeanour was something he and Lilith also bonded over. Lately, Lilith had been complaining to Lucifer how Adam seemed to have worsened. More arrogant and controlling. Always having his own things to do and refusing to even consider Lilith's feelings, sometimes even insinuating how she wasn’t as good as he was. 

Today too, seemed like one of those days. Lilith marched towards Lucifer, her expression sour. He could already tell what had happened, well, it wasn’t like there was much to happen in the garden. Still, he and Lilith had gotten to know each in the last few weeks, maybe even a little too well. At first he felt guilty, he was ruining Lilith’s and Adam’s relationship before it had even taken root, but lately he didn’t feel as sorry for going behind Adam’s back. The man didn’t treat Lilith the way she deserved, plus with the way he seemed to antagonise her more and more often, Lucifer might as well think Adam didn’t want her at all. Still, Heaven wouldn’t approve of this, so it’ll have to be a secret for now.

“What’s wrong, my lily?,” Lucifer smiled softly, arms wide open.

Lilith settled down beside Lucifer, wrapping her arms around him as she buried her head in his chest. She closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips, as she enjoyed Lucifer’s calming presence. Lucifer hugged her back, one hand gently brushing her soft blonde locks. 

“The same as usual, huh?”

Lilith nodded. Oh his poor love didn’t deserve this. Maybe it was time for Lucifer to talk to Adam.

—----------------------------------------------------------—----------------

“Hello Adam, I haven’t seen you in a while,” Lucifer greeted. “How are you doing? I heard you’ve named a lot of the animals already.”

Adam rolled eyes. Just when he thought he could have some time for himself. He knew what Lucifer was here for, he wasn’t stupid. The angel rarely interacted with him, and when he did it was only due to his job of keeping an eye on the first humans, and that included him. It was no coincidence that Lucifer suddenly decided to pay him a visit minutes after Lilith left sulking.

Adam took a deep breath. He really wanted more time to be himself, but he supposed it couldn’t be helped. He turned around and put on a wide smile accompanied with sparkly eyes. Eugh.

“Lucifer!”

Adam patted the ground beside him, and Lucifer accepted, pleased with the warm reception. 

“This could go smoother than I thought. Adam really isn’t all that bad, he just needs some pointers.” 

Adam then went on and on about all the new animals he discovered and named, hands gesturing freely. Meanwhile, Lucifer sat quietly beside him, not fully listening, but wondering when and how he could bring up the topic of Lilith.

“That’s really interesting Adam. Also, I heard from Lilith that you two were by the river today, helping each other.”

Adam nodded. “Well, something like that. I never really needed her help, but she seemed to need them sometimes, so I offered instead!”

Lucifer gave a tight lipped smile to that. “Adam, don’t you think a fresh point of view is nice sometimes? Lilith was just offering that.”

“So we just have to work better together.”

“Yes, but also–”

Adam clapped his hands, cutting Lucifer off. “Alright! We’ll do that next time then.” Adam got up from his spot, ready to leave Lucifer.

“Oh, where are you headed?”

“It’s getting a little dark, so I’m going to go get Lilith and we can find dinner together. You know, working better together like you said,” Adam smiled looking Lucifer in the eyes. 

Lucifer remained at his spot. He didn’t understand why, but that look from Adam always unnerved him. Adam normally had an easy atmosphere around him, but sometimes, for just a brief moment, the air seemed to shift around him. He couldn’t make assumptions though, Adam hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary, and when he briefly mentioned it to the other seraphim, none of them seemed to have noticed anything.

“Alright then, I’ll see you next time.”

—----------------------------------------------------------—----------------

I swear this is guitarhero. It's just a really slow burn.

Prologue

Part 2

[artificialqueens]

🎁 Part of Your World, Ch. 3 (Raja x Adore) for Dartmouth420 - Grinder

AN: Hey, Hi, Hello! So, here’s another chapter of this cute story. I’m so glad it’s being received well. Also, thank you to Eevee for the information on snakes, I know you absolutely adore them so you obviously were the first person to run to!

Anyway, enjoy chapter 3!

By turning her human, of course.

There had to be a way.

“I mean, there has to be, right?” Raja pleaded with Brooke, the leader of the water witches.

Brooke sighed, making her way across the camp to start training with her baby witches. “I don’t think so, honey. Nothing I can do, anyway.”

Fuck.

“We can turn frogs into princes, so,” Raja left the statement open, now standing in Sasha’s home, leaning on the back of the witches chair.

Sasha flicked through the pages of her book, skimming for any information valuable to Raja, “hmmm…it appears not.”

Shit.

“Come on, Bianca. Help me out here.” Raja, later, pleaded with Bianca, sitting before a burning fire in the middle of the camp.

“I mean, you gotta be kidding me.” Bianca chuckled, “you can’t be seriously thinking about this, right?”

“Why would I be joking around about something like this?” Raja held her hands out in questioning.

“Raja,” Bianca stepped forward, taking the dark witch’s shoulders in a tight grasp, “She’s a mermaid. Her home is the ocean. Do you know how long it’ll take for the bitch to adjust here?”

“It’s worth the work. She’s worth the work,” Raja’s eyes bore into Bianca’s.

“Look,” and Bianca sighed, “all I’m saying is that it’s a bad idea. And I’m not going to facilitate any of this.”

“Tell me. Now.”

“Tell you what?”

“You know how I can do it.”

“No, I don’t, Raja.”

“You do, Bianca.”

“No, Raja. I really don’t. I mean,” Bianca pulled her hands off the dark witch, holding them up in defence, “I know someone who might be able to help you out, but I’m not going to give you that information.”

“Yes, you will,” Raja’s voice was stern.

“No, I will not tell you to go to Raven…” and Bianca’s hand flew to her mouth. How the fuck did that just slip out.

Raja smiled triumphantly, lifting a now glowing hand.

“Oh, you fucking bitch,” Bianca shoved Raja away from her.

“Hey, I’m a dark witch. What else did you expect from me?” Raja leaned forward, kissing Bianca, before walking away.

Bianca leaned back in the grass, her stomach knotting. “This is a really bad idea! Just…think about what you’re doing!”

-_-_-_-

Yes, Bianca was smarter than Raja, but the dark witch didn’t care. Not when she was so in love like this.

Adore had just gotten out of the tub, her legs returning to her, and now she wanted to spend all her time with Raja. But the dark witch had business to take care of.

The mermaid had been on dry land for a week now, and everyday, she just seemed to grow more curious about this world around her. Hey, maybe it was a good thing Raja was making this decision. The little mermaid loved this new environment, and with permanent legs, she could explore as much as the barrier would let her.

“Alright, Adore.” Raja was close enough to Raven’s foreboding home now when she turned and took the mermaid by the shoulders, “I have to go and talk to someone now. Okay?”

As usual, Adore said something nonsensical, following it up with a giggle and leading Raja towards Raven’s place.

“No. No,” Raja pulled her back. “It’s very important.”

The mermaid was clearly disappointed, her face falling.

“I’ll be ten minutes,” and Raja looked around, anything to distract the mermaid. “Hey. Look, there’s Alaska! You don’t really know her all that well yet. Go hang out with her.”

Adore’s aqua-green gaze followed where Raja pointed – a blonde witch sitting on a patch of grass nearby, whispering unintelligible words to a snake.

“She’s really nice. I promise,” Raja stole her attention again, “ten minutes. That’s all,” she kissed Adore, “I love you.” And she quickly made her way to Raven’s home.

Adore let her eyes stay on Raja for a moment longer, just watching her walk into Raven’s place. Why couldn’t she come along? She wanted to spend every moment of her life with Raja.

“Mermaid.”

The voice made Adore turn, Alaska now looking over at her.

“Hiiee.” Alaska waved.

And Adore did as she was told, striding towards the witch and sitting down in front of her.

“So, you’re Raja’s new - -”

Adore cut Alaska off with that signature mermaid kiss. Of course, when she pulled away, the witch’s smile appeared.

“Wow. Girl, you are just the cutest, aren’t you?” Alaska flipped a strand of blonde hair over her shoulder.

Adore loved kissing. To her, it wasn’t necessarily a sign of love or lust. But a friendly greeting, just like how these witches all seemed to do to each other. So she smiled, happy to talk to Alaska while her tethered went off and did ‘business’.

The mermaid’s green eyes trailed away from Alaska, looking down at the small snake. The thing slithered around in the grass, seeming to move right towards Alaska.

“It’s pretty, right?” Alaska watched the mermaid curiously. “It’s my speciality — the ability to talk to snakes. Some think it’s kind of a useless gift. But these babies carry secrets. Perfect for gaining information on any enemy I need. And these bitches want to talk about useless gifts. Fuck, look at Trixie. I mean, God forbid we ever go to war with the other covens out here. What’s she going to do? Sing them all to death?”

Adore wasn’t paying much attention, not that she could understand anyway. Her interests more solely in this snake.

She spoke to it, her mermaid language impossible for Alaska to understand.

But the snake witch chuckled anyway. “'Menarayo rinajopé,’” she tried to repeat the statement, “that sounds fun.”

Adore giggled, holding a hand out towards the snake.

“You want to hold her? She’s a planes hognose,” Alaska didn’t wait for an answer. She took the small snake carefully into her hands and passed it to Adore. 

Safe to say Adore was in love with the creature. Alaska could have broken her heart just watching the mermaid kiss the snake on the head. “Finally. Someone who appreciates my babies as much as I do.”

-_-_-_-

Raja entered Raven’s dimmed home with caution. She never had an issue with this bitch, but Raven was too dark of a witch for Raja to recognise her as one of her own.

Raven was there at her brewing table working on something only a dark witch would know of.

“I can smell the night shade, Raven. Who are you giving warts to this time?” Raja asked, nearing the witch.

“Just Tatianna. The cunt thought it would be funny to slip some tainted elderberries under my pillow last night and give me a fuck tonne of nightmares. With the shit that I’ve seen, I don’t need nightmares.” Raven accepted a kiss from Raja, then going to kiss the witch’s hand. 

Raja pulled it away, “you don’t need to do that.”

“Why not? It’s the tradition to kiss the hand of the Mother Witch.”

“Well, I’m not the Mother Witch, am I?”

“Oh, you will be.” Raven dropped some poison from toad warts into the elixir. “What do you want?”

Raja hesitated for a second. How could she go about this? Getting Raven on her side.

The two never quarrelled or fought. But it was clear Raven wasn’t the fondest of Raja. For whatever reason, the dark witch didn’t know. But there was just always some level of disdain there. And even though Raja herself never had an issue with Raven, other than the fact she disagreed with some of her practices, she needed the bitch on her side now.

“Tell me; is it possible we can turn a creature of another species into a human?” Raja asked carefully.

Raven glanced at her, brow raised on her forehead. “If I were you, Mother Witch, I’d be careful about the words you say. You know me. When people ask for a favour, I’d rather not know the purpose. When the work is done, it is out of my hands and I will not be held responsible for the consequences.”

“What do you mean 'consequences’?” Raja’s brows joined, her tone almost challenging.

Raven didn’t answer however, instead lifting her small ladle and pouring some of the elixir into a vial.

“Raven, tell me.” Raja demanded.

And Raven looked back at her, a teasing look in her eye. “Oh, don’t you worry, honey. I’m an expert at my craft. Nothing will go wrong for your little mermaid.”

“Don’t fuck around with me. What consequences?”

“Don’t mind me. Forget I said anything.” Raven slipped the vial in between her cleavage. “So, that’s what you want to do, huh? Turn your lover into a human forever?”

“Nice. At least your brain works.”

“Shut up. Look, all I’m saying is that it’s dark magic.” Raven’s eyes glowered, “very dark. A bit too dark for you. I mean, is this even what she wants?”

And the dark witch seethed. “What? Of course, she does. She loves it up here. I know you haven’t seen a lot of her considering you stay in this fucking nasty smelling hut all day, but you just have to trust me.”

Raven put one hand on her hip, and the other on her work desk. “Is that so? Well, sure,” she shrugged, “I can turn her into a human.”

Raja concealed her excitement. “Good. Glad that you’re cooperating with me.”

“But,” Raven held up a finger, “just know that this spell will take a long time, a lot of energy and a fuck tonne of preparation. Are you willing to be patient with me?” She cocked her head.

And Raja held out a hand, “deal.”

Raven took the hand confidently and shook it. And before she let her go, she pulled Raja closer to her. “I hope you’re ready.”

-_-_-_-

The next morning, when Willam was starting to raise the sun, Raja cursed the bright light seeping over her bed.

The dark witch groaned, turning on her back as if it would make any difference to the brightness. A few more hours, and she’d be ready for the day. Not that anyone else would be getting up this early anyway. 

Well, save Willam. That poor bitch, she hated having to be the daylight witch what with her being the most non-morning person ever.

Raja stretched her legs, trying to get comfortable again when they made contact with something at the bottom of her bed. 

Or someone.

Her eyes shot open, sitting up as she assessed the situation. And only now did she register the sound of pages turning.

Adore was sitting at the bottom of the bed, tail gone and already fully dressed. She seemed to be skimming a book, flicking through the pages at a speed too fast to be really reading it.

“You’re up early,” Raja rubbed her eyes with the back of her wrist.

Adore glanced at her, “I was bored.”

Raja’s eyes widened, “wha- -” she blinked. “Adore…you just - -”

“I know,” the mermaid beamed proudly.

“Y-You can understand me.” Raja pushed herself further up in the bed. “You’re speaking our language. How?”

Adore held up the book in her hands, “I learned.”

This was all too much at once. Raja rubbed the back of her eyes again. “How? How? How can you just…learn the whole witch tongue just from reading one book?”

Adore tossed the book to the side, the thing falling to the ground with a hard thud. She then climbed the length of Raja’s body, “Best part about being a mermaid,” her face was inches away from Raja’s now, “We’re pretty and smart.”

The mermaid giggled, and Raja’s heart melted. 

“You are just…” but Raja couldn’t find the words for it. She lifted a hand, sweeping a strand of pale blonde hair out of Adore’s face.

This only made things so much easier. Raja wouldn’t need to tutor Adore in speaking the language — one step closer to making her human.

And with that thought. “Alright, now that you can talk,” Raja gave her a small kiss, “I want to know, are you…happy here?”

Adore returned the kiss, “with you? Yes.”

Again, Raja’s heart ached. “Glad to hear.”

And they kissed once more, this one even hungrier. Raja’s fingers were getting lost in the mermaid’s hair, Adore’s hands creeping around under the witches’ night dress.

But before things could get more heated…

“Okay. Another thing,” Raja pulled away, placing her finger on Adore’s now swollen lips, just for the mermaid to kiss the tips. “You have to stop eating my seaweed.”

Adore’s eyes shot to her.

“It’s just…I’m running out at an alarming rate, and it’s hard to come by stuff that good,” Raja further explained.

“I’m sorry,” Adore leaned away, a look of shame now painted on her face.

“No, it’s fine. I’m not mad or anything,” Raja caressed the mermaid’s soft cheek.

Adore’s smile returned, nuzzling her face against Raja’s hand, turning to kiss the palm sweetly.

“We’ll have breakfast soon. Trust me, you’ll really like it,” Raja continued to comfort her tethered one. “Trust me.”

-_-_-_-

Adore stared down at…whatever the fuck this was in front of her.

Of course, she had no idea what any of it was. Having already tucked into her own, Raja glanced at the mermaid’s plate, sensing the unease. “You know, there’s power in everything, Adore. And by consuming this, it’s how our magic abilities strengthen.”

Still, Adore just stared.

Raja blushed, unsure of what to do. She could have just given in and gave Adore more seaweed. But the witch wasn’t kidding when she said she was running low.

She glanced around to the other witches, everyone sitting outside, under the warm sun, feasting on their breakfast as they usually did.

And already, bitches were staring shamelessly.

Raja flushed again. “Okay, so,” she pointed to Adore’s plate. “There’s pinecones, grapes, berries, flower petals, twigs. That’s all it is.”

Adore picked up the twig, inspecting it like it was an insect. 

A nudge stole Raja’s attention away, and looking around, she already knew Bianca had some snarky comment.

“She going to put that in her mouth or shove it up her brand new asshole?” Bianca quipped a little too loud.

“That’s awful,” Courtney punched Bianca on the shoulder.

“Yeah, Bianca. You know she can understand our language now, right?” Raja whispered harshly.

“Impossible,” Bianca scoffed. “Hey, Adore!”

“Hey, Bianca,” Adore shouted back, even louder than Bianca had spoken.

Raja suppressed a laugh.

Already, Bianca’s smile was faltering. “Oh, come on.” She glared at Raja, “you could have taught her that.”

“Taught me what?” Adore’s brows joined.

Now Bianca’s smile had truly fallen. “Holy shit.”

“Stop making a show of her and eat your food,” Courtney scolded Bianca, tucking in to her own meal for two.

Raja gratefully nodded to the pregnant witch before turning her attention back to Adore.

“Ignore her. Here,” the witch picked up a red grape, holding it in front of Adore’s face, “try these. They’re really good.”

Again, the mermaid was hesitant, but sharing a quick reassuring glance with Raja, she took the small fruit, inspecting it at first.

Raja was well aware of eyes still on them, but she didn’t care so much for the others now. Only the bitch across the circle from her. 

It was nice of Raven to join them for once, and that was sarcasm. The darkest witch of them all was being intrusive, eyes shifting from Raja and then to Adore.

“Bitch,” Raja said under her breath.

When the two locked eyes again, a smirk began to appear on Raven’s face.

What the fuck was this bitches - -

Raja’s trail of thought was cut off when she heard the rattling of her plate in front of her. Looking down, only now did she see how Adore had eaten all her grapes and was now feasting on Raja’s. 

And when she was done with those, the mermaid looked to her other side, eyes pleading with Katya.

The blonde witch had watched in amazement as Adore had practically swallowed the grapes whole. So she lifted her plate, holding it out to the mermaid. “Yes, of course. Take them.”

Adore beamed, scraping the grapes onto her own plate.

And all Raja could do was watch.

Another nudge from Bianca came.

“Honestly, I think you and I can go fishing today. She can’t take all of our grapes next.” Bianca said.

[lolita-lollipop]

Hey hey!! I saw your ask is open... I don't really have anything to ask but I've had this in my notes for a while so i hope you can make something out of it. You seem to enjoy writing yandere so... Write it to your liking i guess? Anyways thankies ;)

"You cry and cry and cry, begging to be let go and then you just stop. Your stop crying for help. No more hopeful hopes to be saved or to be rescued by your beloved hero. By your trusted lover.

You just... Accept your fate to die at the hand of your lovers' enemy but it never came. The enemy... he never kill you, heck he doesn't even let you have a scratch on your delicate skin.

As if he was in love but with who? You? Yeah maybe with you."

SOFT YANDERE BAKUGO X READER X POSSIBLY YANDERE (?) MIDORIA

*brief cursing from bakugo

Your fiancé, Izuku midoria, was always worried about your safety, as he was the number one hero, and he had, many, many enemies who would just love to crush the quirkless lover dating the number one hero. You’d known him since preschool, you and him were best friends, along with a Certain blonde boy, eventually, in high school, as third years, you’d started dating, and here we are now, ready to be newlyweds. He was especially protective when… he was involved.

Bakugo, well bakugo had a big falling out with the two of you after graduation, you’d been in the business course, always checking up on the two of them and the class, bakugo had to watch as you and the quirkless deku became closer and closer, whippee! They’re dating now! It made him sick to his stomach to see HIS girl get sucked up by some manipulative bitch claiming to be a hero.playing fair wasn’t an option anymore, he’d only gone to that stupid hero school for you, and you only, once you left, he had no obligation to stay good, he wanted you, he wanted to hold you, to cuddle you, to love you, if he had to break the rules of society, so be it.

You hadn’t seen bakugo in over two years now, only heard of all the bad things he’d done on the news, your fiancé didn’t speak of him, jsut told you to be extra careful everytime a new occurrence happened. You missed the best friend you had, you missed the man who would hold you close when you got scared of thunderstorms, you missed the man who bought you food that your mother never allowed you to eat, you missed the sweet, loving, bakugo. You wished you could see him one more time, just speak to him once more.

God how you wished you could take it back

You’d done nothing but walked home ten minutes late, Izuku had called you, and you had explained that the lind was long at the store, and a few teenagers had held you up for a little bit, calling you a multitude of names, you were just the quirkless loser lucky enough to score the number one hero, you wouldn’t tell izuku that of course, he would worry to much. Then you were snatched up, you didn’t know by who, or why, but you did know that your wrists were tied with a gentle silk, you were on some concrete ground, harsh against your backside, and peopel were talking above you.

“Really! Fucking concrete? I though it’s you would be able to get it through your muddy little brain tgat I wanted her comfortable! In my bed! What. In. Fucks. Name. Did. You. Do” a gravelly voice spoke above you, sounding fairly familiar. But still muffled, due to the things covering your ears and eyes, you waited for someone to come and hit you, or for some quirk to make you feel pain, yelling was never a good sight… ever.

“S-sir, this is what we do with all captives. It’s against our protocol to bring them into your personal chambers-“

“Damn the protocol, I started this whole thing, you listen to me either way. You put her down there with all those bodies, and weapons! Go in against my direct orders dwarves punishment, I’ll deal with you later. Get out” the voice continued to speak, uoj flinched at the footsteps gradually coming closer and close to you. Hoping that they already got whatever they wanted with you, probably just to scare your husband.

“Darling? Are you alright? I’m sorry they scared you, I’ll have her felt with soon enough, Cmon, let’s get you out of here” the voice once again spoke, much closer so you could hear it clearly, it sound so familiar, why is it so familiar? Then your facial covering was untied, just to reveal, the one and only katsuki bakugo. And you panicked. You thought you could handle being face to face with a villain, one wearing the face of your best friend, but oh no, oh god no you couldn’t.

A scream left your lips, piercing his ears like a dagger, you squirmed away, tugging at the fabric tied around your wrists, a full gallon of panic washed over you, making your breaths shallow, your movements desperate, and your screams curdling. You started sobbing, tears left your eyes in involuntary streams, he jus looked so… different, the spiky blonde hair now has black freaks in it, highlighting his Red eyes, he was wearing a dark black suit, and everything about him just screamed “villain”. It terrified you.

“Get back-DONT TOUCH ME! GET OFF OF ME” you screamed, kicking at his face when he tried to grab your arms to calm you down, he just wanted to help you? Almost immediately your face was shoved into the ground, he steadied you, untiring your wrists, you hoped for Izuku, for someone, anyone to come help you. You always had someone to come save you, sometimes it was even bakugo before he turned, now… now no one was going to come, there wasn’t any hope to give anymore, you are utterly helpless and at the hands of the man you were once close with.

You waited for anything. He released pressure on your face, and he released your wrists, which you’d flung into his face, but still, you were waiting for this “villain katsuki” to make an appearance, this was his revenge right? Taking you away from midoria, killing you, just to make a statement, you waited for that lasting to come out, the one who raided Tokyo for money, the one who killed thousands. Not your katsuki, but a villain. You’ve accepted it, he’s gonna kill you for no reason, you’re death will be meaningless, you just wished you didn’t have to go so suddenly. You waited to see him, to feel any pain, to die. Yet, it never came.

Your cries silenced, as you squeezed your eyes shut, waiting for th simp act of a billet in your Brain, or in your chest, or the slam of a baseball bat, or anything. If you stop crying, it’ll just be over quicker

“I’m not going to hurt you, I swear on it. Cmon? You knew me for 14 years! I would never, ever, hurt you, you’re way too precious to me for that” he grumbled, picking you up into his arms, which you could do nothing but cry into. This reminded you so much of those nights you would spend crying into his chest when you and Izuku hit a road bump j your relationship, when the two of you fought, bakugo was always there to soothe you, to snuggle with you, to rub your tummy and make you feel all the much better.

Maybe this was your katsuki, maybe he hadn’t changed at all, maybe this is just a dream! And you’re asleep in bed with izuku right now. No, Of course you aren’t, what idiot would think that?

“K-katsuki? Why? Why would you do all this? What do y-you even want with me?” You questioned, looking back up at him, meeting the eyes of your best friend, your katsuki. He smiled, a rare occurrence, stroking your hair out of your face, his touch was gentle, and warm as ever, he hadn’t seemed to cHange all that much, you know, from going firm a hero student to a supervillain. You missed this version of him, the soft bakugo that you only get to see when he’s with you, not the murderer, not the villain.

“I’m keeping you here because I’m in love, and I want to protect that love at all costs.” He lulled, giving you one of those excruciatingly sweet bakugo smiles, his mom had the same one, and his mom was the best. Wait… he’s in love? That’s why he bright you here? He wnTs his girlfriend to have a friend? Wow, so you’re gonna be a third wheel the whiel time, well that’s just wonderful. You wouldn’t take bakugo as the “in love” type, you really hoped his lover was nice, and you know, not a murderer.

“You did? With who? Can I meet them?” You questioned, suspiciously, if THE katsuki bakugo fell in love, it would have to be some amazing person. He has the highest of high standards, so any person to day him would have to be perfect, or he would be harsh, you’d witnessed it in person at multiple double dates where the girls would always run out crying.

“Oh y/n, too naive and innocent for her own good. I don’t fall in love with nobodies

I fell in love with you”

———————————————————————————————————

Tell me if you liked it! It was fun to write but I’m not sure how quality it is, as it’s 1:00 and my eyes are half dead.

Thank you for requesting! Have a wonderful day today! @wans-shit

[nanasparadise]

“Imprisonment” Yan!Jolyne x female reader

This blog was in dire need of some wlw content. In that sense, I hope you had a happy pride month and enjoy this piece! 

Summary: You are the target of many inmates in Green Dolphin. That changes when Jolyne becomes your cellmate, for the better or worse. 

TW: toxic relationship, prison, bullying, violence, insults, threats, slight gore (ear mutilation), noncon kiss, allusions to NSFW, MATURE AUDIENCE ONLY/MINORS DNI

Word count: 2853

I do not condone any yandere behaviour in real life. 

„Get your ass moving, girl!”

You truly hated it here. A day spent at Green Dolphin felt like being ten years in hell. The queue in the prison cafeteria moved forward quickly, since everyone got the same horrible food. As you hadn’t reacted fast enough, you’d received rude comments. At this point, you didn’t care about the insults anymore. You were used to them, you had no affiliation with anyone here, meaning the other inmates saw you as fair game. In addition to your nature as a pushover, you weren’t surprised to be the target of many prisoner’s sadistic streak.

You took your tray containing your lunch – a portion of rather questionable meat and some mashed potatoes – and went to your solitary table. A blissful sigh escaped your lips when you finally were alone in your corner. No, worse than any insults or solitude were the threats, hidden under fake smiles. Not a single day went without them. You always were forced to do ‘voluntary tasks’ for the designated mean girls of Green Dolphin or ‘lend’ them money. It was humiliating, really, but you didn’t want to end up beaten to death in your cell, so you followed their instructions.

Once you completed the laundry task, you decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in the library, hoping to find an interesting enough book to teleport you away for a couple hours from your harsh reality. You settled into the couch with a novel in your hands, enjoying this slight moment of calmness. Your peace was short-lived though as a blonde woman approached you, a saccharine smile plastered on her face. Oh no, you knew where this would go.

“Hi! How are you doing today?”, she greeted you with a fake happiness swinging in her tone.

“Fine”, you mumbled quietly, not being able to assert yourself.

“I’m glad to hear that!,” she replied, though you knew she didn’t give a shit about your well-being, “Look, I’m so sorry to bother you again, but could you give me ten dollars? I need them for something very important and you’ll get them back in no time!” She batted her eyelashes at you, seemingly coming across as innocent.

“I would, but I forgot the money in my cell”, you countered, trying to come up with an excuse.

“Then stand up and get it.” Her voice had already shifted into a menacing tone, eyes gleaming like a predator.

“I don’t know if I-“

“Y/N, that was your name, right? Well, if you don’t get me my money, our friendship will be ruined and you’re aware of the consequences of that, aren’t you?”, your fellow inmate replied while pulling you by the collar of your uniform up from the couch.

“Right…,” you whispered, accepting your defeat, “I’ll get it for you.”

“Awesome!,” the blonde chirped, all sunshine and rainbows again, “I’ll wait for you here,  just don’t take too long.”

That was how your life went. You didn’t complain too much, you knew it could be way worse than that. And it wasn’t as if you had much of a choice to change it anyway. You weren’t going to be released from prison in the next twenty five years. “So just accept it and move on, day by day”, you mused, repeating that thought every day.

Your life took a turn, however, when a new inmate joined Green Dolphin. She was a young woman around your age, dark buns adorning her head and a green fringe framing her face. You had been spared from a cellmate, but that all changed now, as she was your new roomie. “Great,” you thought bitterly, “now my last bit of peace has been stolen from me.”

She introduced herself as Jolyne Kujo. Jolyne seemed to be still quite naïve when it came to prison life, claiming she’d been conned and that her lawyer would certainly take her out from there. “It’s time to face the fact that no one cares if you’re here for a valid reason or not, trust me, I know it from experience”, you thought, though you didn’t dare voice that to her.

She actually turned out to be nice. And with that, you meant that she respected your private space and didn’t threaten you. In exchange, you offered her some advice on who to avoid in jail, which the woman gladly accepted.

At first, the change was barely noticeable. Jolyne kept herself quiet except for the occasional small talk in your cell or during a shared task. Instead, she chose to lounge around two other inmates you hardly knew, one with dark braids and the other with a weird-looking green cap. You were glad to see that at least she formed a group, being able to protect herself now better from potential harassers if needed.

Of course you were still exposed to them. You made your way to the shower as a woman with broad muscles approached you, face turned into a dark grimace. By her build and expression, you’d first assumed she was a guard until you’d noticed the familiar uniform.

“You there!”, she shouted at you, a finger pointing menacingly at you as she came closer, “Give me your money, now!”

You cowered back into the corner of the shower room, panic flooding your system. “I’m sorry,” you stuttered, “I don’t have anything on me, I can give it to you after-“

“Don’t fucking play with me, bitch”, she brutely interjected, nostrils flaring up angrily due to exhaling. Your aggressor stood now in front of you, a strong hand wrapping itself around your throat and threatening to cut off your airflow. She yanked you up in the air as she continued her assault. “You think you can pick and choose? Does this place look like fucking Disneyland to you? You better give me my money now if you don’t wanna end up choking water and being beaten up like the dirty street mutt you are.” You were already flinching when the prisoner raised her fist to punch your face as a voice suddenly interrupted you.

“I think that’s enough”, Jolyne said in a firm tone, a fierce expression marking her face.

“And who the hell are you? Wanna join your little friend here?”, your tormentor commented, unimpressed by your cellmate’s entrance.

“Big words for someone who’ll soon be nothing but a bloody pulp”, Jolyne answered, not faltering under the inmate’s glare.

Your harasser proceeded to laugh out loud at her words, obviously not taking her seriously. She dropped you unceremoniously as she shifted all her attention to your saviour instead. Desperately, you panted for air, your hands moving to your hurting throat. You remained in your corner as you observed the scene unfolding in front of you.

“As if you weakling could do anything against me,” your tantaliser spit out, still chuckling at Jolyne’s words, “I’d kill you with my pinky finger.”

Jolyne remained strangely calm, choosing to smile at the threat. “We’ll see about that”, was the only thing she uttered before she lunged at her with incredible speed.  Clearly, you weren’t the only one surprised as the inmate’s eyes widened as well. Jolyne turned the bully’s bewilderment into her advantage, her fist immediately connecting with the inmate’s nose. The latter let out a shrill scream, blood dripping out of her nostril. Clearly, she didn’t expect your roommate to do any real damage, let alone break her nose.

Jolyne shook the hand she punched her with, her knuckles reddened and slightly torn open from the assault. You kept staring at both of them, petrified and unsure about what to do now. 

“I’ll kill you for that, you bitch,” your aggressor barked out angrily, “and your little friend will pay, too.”

You started trembling at the thought of her hand around your neck again. 

“I’ll look for a guard, Jolyne”, you eventually said, the fear barely hidden in your voice. You decided this was enough and someone had to put an end to this. 

“Stay here”, your cellmate replied authoritatively. For the first time, you were actually scared of her. “I’ll teach this woman that she needs to face consequences for her actions.”

With these words, Jolyne placed her fingers on your tormentor’s right ear. You wondered what she’d do next when a sudden yell disrupted your thoughts. The inmate’s cry was far worse than the previous one, emitting all of her pain and agony. You could hardly listen to it. 

Then, with great horror, you finally noticed it. Her ear shell laid on the floor, blood coating the cut off organ. Your gaze travelled to Jolyne, waiting for an explanation to your unvoiced question, though she kept her eyes fixated on the prisoner’s pain-ridden face. 

“You won’t touch Y/N or me ever again, did I make myself clear?”, she asked, her voice coated with barely concealed anger. Your bully only gave out a whimper, but the answer seemed to satisfy Jolyne. “Good. Now, if you see any guards, you keep our names out of your mouth, unless you want to lose another body part.”

The following weeks, Jolyne had become overly protective. She clung to you like a lost child, afraid that you’d be hurt or threatened again without her presence. You didn’t know if you should be grateful or terrified for her protection. 

You’d asked her how she’d been able to cut that one prisoner’s ear off, but her explanation had been more confusing than enlightening. She’d talked about a Stand ability and how only so-called Stand users could see and wield it, but nothing made sense to you. You started to believe she’d just lost her mind. 

Jolyne had also introduced you to her friend group. Ermes and Foo Fighters seemed nice enough, though they behaved in the same weird manner as your cellmate did. You felt awkward in their presence, not knowing why you were even there in the first place. 

In the end, you decided to be thankful. With Jolyne and her friends by your side, no one bullied you anymore. And if your peace meant to spend some time with your cellmate, that was a small price to pay, right? 

~

You didn’t notice the pair of chartreuse eyes observing every bit of your sleeping form. You never did. 

Jolyne had been looking at you for many nights. This time, it wasn’t an exception. She tentatively brushed her hand over your cheek, marvelling at your slight reaction as you furrowed your brows at the touch. 

“You’re really cute Y/N, do you know that?”, she whispered to you. Of course you were unable to answer. 

Jolyne had been unusually shy around you. She was well aware of the fact that after her act of violence, you felt uncomfortable around her, possibly even scared. She tried so so hard to make you see that she was only protecting you! In fact, the young woman wondered how you could have even survived in Green Dolphin before her arrival. 

She had a hard time picturing your life without her in it. At first, she’d been furious and crushed at the revelation that her ex-boyfriend had purposefully framed her for a crime she hadn’t committed. She had loved Romeo, so naturally, her heart had been broken. 

But then, you entered her life. She saw now why she needed to be here. Who else could protect you, love you, like Jolyne? You were everything she had ever wanted. 

Lovingly, she placed a small kiss on your cheek. You stirred slightly from the feathery peck. Nevertheless, you continued your slumber. Jolyne wished she could touch you more deliberately, more intensely. She’d grown tired of this little hiding game. The prisoner didn’t want to secretly let your brush run through her hair anymore, imagining it were your fingers instead or coo at you when you were sleeping. No, she wanted to feel you, to be touched and loved by you. 

Sure, you might feel uncomfortable around her, but that was only because you didn’t see how much she cherished you. Maybe it was time to be bolder around you. 

~ 

“Hey Y/N, could you give me my toothbrush, please?”

“Sure”, you replied casually as you handed the desired object over to her. 

“Thanks, you truly are the sweetest.”

Your face heated up at her flirtatious tone. “She definitely didn’t mean it in that way”, you thought to calm your nerves. 

“You still don’t want to join me showering? I’d hate for you to get attacked again”, your cellmate asked you, concern swinging in her voice. 

“I’m good,” you mumbled, “I’ll just go next morning. And I doubt anyone’s gonna threaten me again after your lesson.” The thought of Jolyne mutilating another inmate terrified you, no matter how much your former aggressor deserved it. 

“Come on, you’re just afraid to see me naked,” Jolyne teased while giving you a toothy grin, “it’s alright, you can tell me. I don’t mind.” 

You didn’t think you could get more flustered. “That’s not it!”, you countered hastily, “I mean not that you're not a beautiful woman or anything, it’s just that…”

Jolyne stopped listening and straightened her back. You thought she was beautiful? Was this finally the moment she’d been waiting for? A dreamy expression marked her bright eyes. 

“You think we could be a thing?”, Jolyne interjected your rambling.

“What?!”, you stuttered, unsure if you heard her correctly. 

“I mean, I do really like you.” Suddenly, she stood up from her bed and moved over to you. You stared at her big-eyed, still not knowing what was going on. A hand came resting on your cheek as her gaze was locked on you. “Who am I kidding? I’m totally in love with you.” She softly traced her fingers over your skin, sending a chill down your spine. 

“Jolyne”, you whispered quietly. You had no clue how to handle the situation, images of her brutal side flashing up in your mind again. You gulped harshly. “I didn’t know you felt this way, I thought we were friends.”

“We are friends,” the young woman retorted, “we could just be more, you know?” Jolyne leaned into you, closing the space between you, as her lips landed on yours. She kissed you with gentleness and care, as if you were made of glass. When you felt her teeth slightly tugging at your bottom lip, begging for more, you eventually snapped out of your surprise and pushed her away from you. 

“What was that?”, you asked her out of breath, unable to conceal your anger. 

“I’ve kissed you, silly.”

“I’ve just told you that I’m not interested in a relationship!”

Ah yes. That must have been when Jolyne had blended you out in favour of marvelling at your compliment. 

“I think you should think about that again”, your cellmate replied, a dark edge manifesting in her voice. 

“And why is that? Do you want to cut my ear off too?”, you asked, your iritateness making you feel reckless. 

Jolyne huffed at your comment. She did that for you! 

“At least you could be grateful for what I did,” she spit out, “but no, I’d never hurt you. I can’t guarantee the same thing about the other inmates though.”

You immediately caught onto the threat. Your anger easily transformed into fear again as you realised what impact your words had on the woman in front of you. When Jolyne noticed you wouldn’t counter, she put her hand on your body again, this time deciding to let it travel up and down your arm. 

“If you keep saying mean things to me,” she said, her voice still sounding menacing despite her gentle hand movement, “I might just not talk to you anymore. Once the others see that we’re not hanging out anymore, they’ll just change their mind and choose you as their target again. And what do you do without my protection? You don’t want to be their punching bag again, do you, hm?” 

“No”, you managed to utter silently, eyes cast onto the floor. 

“Look sweetheart, I can make an exception for today. I’ll forget your behaviour and you reciprocate, right? Unless you want to go back to your initial position.”

“No!”, you answered a bit too fast, your eyes looking at her face again. You could only imagine what the inmate with the mutilated ear would do to you… “I’ll be good, I promise.”

Jolyne took hold of chin, ensuring that your eyes were still trained at her. Then, she kissed you again. Despite your feelings, you gave in, much to her pleasure. When she eventually removed her lips from yours, she shot you another love-struck gaze. 

You knew your life in Green Dolphin had been shitty before Jolyne, but now you only felt what it meant to be truly imprisoned. 

“I’m glad to hear that, honey,” the young woman said with a bedazzling smile on her face, “I’d suggest we finally take a shower, after all I can’t wait to see everything of my darling.” 

Her grin gained a sinister note. 

“And we’ll see how the night goes after that.”

[jmoriarty-221b]

So I saw somewhere a post that talked about how some fictional characters just have a divorce vibe going on, like, at no point in time were they ever married but they just give off that feeling that they got divorced

And now I can only think of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor having that vibe

And I spent close to an hour talking about this to my sibling and how it would be a good idea for a new DC show like, you can make so much money off of just the main Batfam alone and there are literally so many people in there that it’s just an amazing idea to have them all in a show together but kind of like a Good Luck Charlie kinda thing because there’s more than enough angst in the world

But in the case of not having enough of a budget for so many characters in one show I turned to the Superfam (Batfam is Huge like, I don’t even know half of the extended family version and that’s like at least ten characters so I could see why it wouldn’t be entirely feasible to have a show that included everyone while still being good with nice character development without having a billion dollars for the budget)

The Superfam, in my personal experience, is composed of Ma & Pa Kent (farm vibes plus I refuse to have either of them die in my AU), Clark Kent (main Superman), Lois Lane (Lana? was Smallville Lois i guess??? But idk enough about her so she’s not here), Jon Kent (Superboi II), Kara Danvers (Supergirl) & Conner Kent (Superboi I)

Now I’ve stopped watching CW shows like, forever ago??? But my brother kinda keeps up with them and basically the gist is that the ratings of every other show suck Except for the Superman & Lois show (because it’s 💫new💫) and I saw the cover of the poster like “Ah, the werewolf dude. . . mmmhhmmm that’s Lois yes, yes that’s Johnny boi, and um is that???? Nooooo, they wouldn’t do that to Conner right???? Please tell me they didn’t make Conner blonde” and I was informed that the blonde teen is Chris???? Like

Whoms’t do ye speak of

I’m not even joking but the only way I even know of Chris is from a random fanfic I read where Dick Grayson gets his own super from an alternate reality named Chris, that’s my only point of reference for this character

But let’s talk about how Conner Kent (OG Superboi) was excluded

Now I haven’t seen any episodes of this and I probably never will (no hate I’m just really unmotivated to start new shows at all) so idk if they might mention Conner or even allude to him in one scene or something

But this was my main motivator as to my new Superfam TV Show Idea

Have Lex Luthor not be a Superman villain, he’s mainly a successful businessman, a little shady but who isn’t, and he doesn’t want to Kill Superman, he just wants to be able to have some sort of viable protection against a Kryptonian in case of an invasion (see Man of Steel + CW’s Supergirl) or suddenly having a mind controlled Superman on their hands (see Justice League series or just look up what Red Krytonite does) so he makes it like his side thing to figure out ways to neutralize or hold back a Kryptonian, Clark totally thinks that Lex is obsessed with finding a way to kill Superman because they had a bad end to their friendship in high school so he’s always suspicious of Lex, Lex hasn’t really ever tried to kill him though because 1. It’s not that deep Clark ok? And 2. He’s a busy busy man with a very important job position and a company to run so does he look like he has time to harbor an obsession over someone who rejected him back in high school??? You’re more of a constant side quest Clark, so stop trying to put him on the JL watchlist ( btw ik about Lena Luthor, haven’t forgotten her but she doesn’t really play a part in this AU so let’s just have her and Kara off to the side doing their own thing ok? Ok)

Lex, Bruce & Oliver all knew each other when they were kids and went to the same school, this is just an extra detail I wanted to happen because Lex and Ollie definitely know Bruce is Batman and absolutely HATE having to deal with Brucie Wayne because “I know you’re just doing this to irritate me Bruce, you just want to see if you can make a vein throb in my forehead but I will valiantly ignore your dumbassery because I know you hate being Brucie just as much as we hate having to put up with Brucie so suck on that you petty bitch” because they bonded in ye olden days, childhood friends so to speak

Anyway so Cadmus tries to get Lex to make an investment in their company, seeing as Cadmus is shadier than Gotham when it rains Lex is basically like ‘no ❤️’ and doesn’t make a deal with them, Cadmus gets mad at not having Lexcorp financially backing them so Lex has an ‘accident’ and they steal his DNA, then they steal Superman’s DNA somehow and *boom* a Superboi is formed

Because I don’t know much about how the Core Four became friends in the first place (Robin Tim Drake, Impulse Bart Allen, Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark & Superboy Conner Kent) I’m just gonna go with what happens in the show Young Justice except it’s the Core Four becoming the Core Four when they liberated Conner (who at this point believes himself to be a clone of Superman and has only been given Superboy as a name) from Cadmus, same shit goes down meaning that Clark is just straight up NOT vibing with Conner, Conner just wants a mentor please, and the Bats kinda give Clark a passive aggressive treatment for not taking Superboy under his wing or at least agreeing to teach him how to control his powers, especially Tim because that’s his Bestie so yes

Anyway, YJ saves ppl and is on the news or whatever and Lex finds out about Superboy’s existence that way, so he researches this new super on his free time, finds out that he came from Cadmus and claims to be a clone of Superman, yet doesn’t have the whole power set Superman has??? Wait, didn’t Lex reject Cadmus’ proposal and the got into a mysterious accident??? Long story short Lex goes connecting the dots, hacks into Cadmus’ files, finds out he technically has a son with Superman and decides to take Superboy under his wing (I’ll go more in depth as to why Lex would want to do this in this AU later but the abridged version would be that he wants a kid but doesn’t have the time nor interest in finding a wife??? Also the radiation that made him bald as a kid also affected his reproductive system so while it’s not impossible for him to conceive kids he would have a very hard time actually getting to father a kid)

Him and Conner, who still goes by Superboy at this point in time, meet up and Conner finds out that here is a parent figure that is both available and actively wants to be a part of his life, so he agrees to get to know Lex and the series would focus on them becoming a family, with a special episode when Conner asks Lex for help in choosing a name for himself and it ends up with him agreeing to become Conner Luthor, it would be heartwarming and Mercy would make sure it happens within a day (Mercy is Lex’s bodyguard/PA but they’re also besties and she becomes the Responsible yet Chaotic Aunt as Lex and Conner’s father-son relationship progresses)

Obviously Clark becomes super suspicious of Lex getting close to his ‘clone’ and when Conner decides to go public as Lex’s son he’s like *GASP* and calls up Bruce because we need to get on this Bruce, Lex is a villain and blah blah blah but Bruce would be over Clark’s shit and hit him with that “actually, Lex was also an unwilling genetic donor to Superboy, who actually is not your clone either, and has agreed to take him in, I’ve been on this shit since they first met and the kid is doing just fine so if you keep poking your nose in their business then that’s your problem but you better be ready to pay child support bitch . . . have a good day ❤️”

The series would just focus on Conner getting to have a good parent figure in Lex and go more into their civilian lives rather than focusing on the superhero thing, Conner, Bart, Tim & Cassie have a sleepover at Lex’s house at one point, Lex totally Knows what’s up but it’s all good because these are his baby’s friends and they’re good people who are more than willing to prank Superman for rejecting his kid and giving his baby self worth issues (Mercy supports them)

Anyway, that’s basically the idea for a new Superhero Show

[alfredosauce50]

You’re gonna go far, kid [Punk! England x reader]

Synopsis: Ever since coming to England to study, you haven’t had the time to do what made you come in the first place--tourism! The only friend you have is an exchange student from Russia, Ivan, so why not kill two birds with one stone? He schedules a little playdate with Arthur, a local, so he can show you around the hottest spots in London. You two immediately hit it off. Ivan is quick to notice his interest in you, so he starts teasing the poor man and making things hard for him. Camden is the last destination, and there’s no saying when he’ll ever see you again. Will he be able to get over himself and ask you out before the night ends?  Note: Attractions are italicized and have a link to a picture. Wordcount: 4,641 The reader is referred to as she/her.

This was the day you had been dreading, and yet, looking forward to. The first part was easy to explain. Picking up your hot latte, you set it down after a quick sip. You didn’t even have time to enjoy it. Not when you were typing away at your keyboard like a speed demon. You promised your friend you would finish your assignment before today’s meet-up, but your procrastination habits were a bitch. Nevertheless, you were eager to uphold your side of the deal, even if it meant stressing your hair out to get it done. 

So long as he didn’t show up before you were done, right? 

After burning your tongue for the second time that morning, you let out a small groan at the sting you felt but gasped at what you saw outside the window. It was a sound made from genuine terror--rather than the quiet streets of London at seven AM, you spotted a man pressing his face right up to the glass. And he was staring at you, menacingly. 

Anybody would’ve been creeped out by the sight, but you knew the guy. “Aha--Ivan! Hey! Morning?” You began rather awkwardly. 

He waved in response, and his glower melted away in exchange for a childlike smile. “Dobroye utro, (F/N)! I hope that’s not your assignment you’re doing.” He hummed, placing two hands on the glass to peer at your screen from outside. Oh shit. Glancing briefly at said screen, you turned it away before clicking the upload button. 

“Of course not.” You grinned, shutting your laptop immediately after. “I was just... Surfing the net. Checking Instagram. You know?”

“Is that so? I’m gonna check.” He made his way inside. And in no time, he was looming over your shoulder to start browsing through your internet history. You, on the other hand, were sweating balls. 

“You’re so funny, (F/N). Who checks Instagram on their computer?”

It seemed like only yesterday he was the oblivious exchange student from Russia who had no concept of social media. He had been a country bumpkin through and through, but a few semesters after befriending you, your influence rubbed off on him. Even you had no idea what went through your head when decided to talk to him, the intimidating new kid who spoke broken English, but there was no turning back now. He was attached to you by the hip and picked up on your habits faster than you could deal. 

He only became more of a menace when he discovered Twitter.

A displeased expression contorted at his expression when he saw that there was no evidence of you ‘surfing the net’. Google Docs couldn’t possibly count, after all.  “... Hm... Apparently, not you. Why didn’t you finish this yesterday, sunflower? Remember our promise?” 

You sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. I passed out last night. But hey, I technically finished it before you came, didn’t I?” 

He craned his head from side to side in thought. “Maybe. But if you hadn’t, you know what that means.” Ivan coiled his arms around your neck and a sickeningly sweet smile curled up at his lips. 

“You will come with me to Moscow for Christmas!” 

A chill ran down your spine at the thought. Going to Russia was bad enough. But during Winter? You were never good with the cold. If you could barely handle London, Moscow was out of the question. “Oh God, please no.” He nodded giddily. “I’m never going to Russia. Maybe I’d consider it during Summer, but--anyway, that’s not the point here! I didn’t break any promises so I won’t be turning into a popsicle this year. Got that?” 

He pouted. “Aw...” 

“You damn sadist.” 

“Hehe.” 

“I wonder how you even became friends with him. Arthur, was it? Poor dude.” You mumbled, but he didn’t look all too offended. 

He tapped his chin and hummed. “Now that you mention it.” Then, he let out a short laugh. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say it was a happy little accident.”

“Unfortunate.” 

“But don’t worry! I don’t plan on bothering you as much as him today.” Ivan clarified, earning a slow nod from you. Phew. The clock was inching closer to eight and you weren’t much of a morning person, so hearing that was like music to your ears. “That’s why I wanted you to finish your work yesterday. I want him to be the only one making mistakes! It’s interesting to see him mess up and get embarrassed.” 

You had to wonder if he was using ‘interesting’ as a synonym for fun because he was clapping. “... Ivan, you really are a sadist.” 

The two of you stayed in that café for another hour or so, ordering some breakfast during your stay. Once the table was cleared and the bill was paid, you and he caught a bus to the London eye. You could marvel at the iconic ferris wheel for a few minutes as you walked up to the London aquarium next to it, your first stop. The building was huge to start with, and it didn’t look like they’d be storing fish in there considering how fancy it was. But wasn’t everything in England fancy? 

“He should be waiting in the front. Look for a short grouchy man with a bad taste in fashion.” You shot him a weird look, beckoning him to elaborate. 

“... And blonde hair.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll try my best.” Glancing around the sea of people filled with tourists, couples, and families, you skimmed the crowd for someone who fitted the description--but to no avail. It was only when they walked up to you both did you find the guy. He had short and choppy blonde hair that framed a heart-shaped face, and under his fringe was a pair of lime green eyes staring on with a neutral expression. And did Ivan say he had bad taste?

You couldn’t agree. Yes, his charcoal pants were ripped and he had a bandana tied around his neck with a Union Jack on it. But he still had a kind of style you liked. Under his black leather jacket was a gray shirt, and combined with the piercings in his right ear, you couldn’t help admiring him for a second. 

“Arthur! I was wondering if you were trampled because we couldn’t find you.” Ivan began, causing the said man to furrow his brows. And boy, were they thick. 

“You just arrived, so don’t start now you twat.” He grumbled. Ivan never teased you for your height, even when you were a little shorter than the Brit. He always found it cute, but you figured it was only because you didn’t care. The Russian always found amusement in poking fun at others, after all. “Anywho, I’m glad I won’t be spending the whole day alone with you.” 

Turning to you with a soft smile this time, he held out a hand for you to shake. “Kirkland. Arthur Kirkland.” 

You shook it, but not without a laugh. It hadn’t even been a minute since meeting him, and his personality seemed to clash violently with his appearance. He sounded so prim and proper, but his outfit screamed punk rock. 

“(L/N). (F/N) (L/N).” 

He released you from his grip. Placing his hands on his hips with an accusing stare, he felt a grin upturn his lips. “Are you copying me, (F/N)?” 

“I don’t know. Do all British people introduce themselves like James Bond?” 

Arthur clicked his tongue. “... Not all of them. Just a force of habit.” 

“Mhm. Right, right. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Arthur. I’m a student here too and I could only imagine how busy it gets for you--so thanks for coming out today!” He didn’t respond to those comments and simply nodded. 

Ivan stayed quiet in the back, but he was probably reading the atmosphere like he always did when he didn’t speak. 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” The blonde turned on his heel and closed his eyes. “As much as I’d like to stay out here and chat, we can do that in the aquarium. Wouldn’t wanna waste our tickets, do we?” 

While the group of three wandered slowly through the establishment, Ivan lingered in the background while you walked in the front with the Brit. For the first ten minutes, you’d look at him expectantly, gesturing for him to join in the conversation. As the mutual, wasn’t he supposed to be the icebreaker? He’d shake his head every time, offering you a smile as if to say, go and make some friends. But soon, this brief spell of irritation morphed into gratitude.

“I’ve been here probably a hundred times, so don’t take it personally when I don’t seem as excited as you.” Turning to him to watch his face as he spoke--which was filtered through a bluish tinge from the Antarctic setting-- you only caught a brief glimpse of it before he turned away. Huh. Maybe it was just you not paying enough attention. 

Either way, what came out of your mouth next would surely grab his. 

“Don’t worry about it. But hey, this is the first time you’ve been here with me, so look alive, won’t you?” It happened to be a slip of the tongue, something bold and improvised, but luckily, he reacted fairly quickly before the regret set in.

“Oi, you better not be flirting with me already,” Arthur grumbled, feeling another smile come as he heard you chuckle. Since when was he this expressive? He pinned it on the fact that he was starting to have a little fun himself. 

“Couldn’t imagine it.” Before he could add anything else, you hopped in front of the penguins and started waving your friend over with great gusto. “Ivan, c’mere. Arthur, mind taking a photo of us?” Once he joined your side, the two of you held up peace signs for the Brit to snap a photo. 

“Ivan, change your pose. We can’t have both of you doing the same thing.” 

The said man moved his peace sign to the back of your head so he could stick two fingers over it. “Is that better?”

“... Better.” Trailing his emerald eyes to you, he felt his cheeks heat up a touch at the sight of you grinning ear to ear. What the fuck, Arthur. Just take the damn photo. And that was exactly what he did, showing you both right after. Whatever just happened, he boiled it down to him idealizing a stranger. That was right. He had yet to get to know you, so his perception of you couldn’t be any better at this stage. 

But there was one thing he couldn’t deny.

“Damn, I look really ugly in this. You two better not post this anywhere.” You settled a hand over the screen to lower it with a nervous laugh. Then, you looked away, and what was that? You looked a little flustered. 

You were cute.

Hanging his head to look at the photo, he knitted his brows together. You? Ugly? He couldn’t imagine it. 

“... I bet I could take an even uglier one of you.”

Spinning back to him, you folded your arms. “What did you say?” 

“Nothing.” He shook his head slowly, and the amusement in his voice made it blatantly obvious he was lying. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

Walking off at that, Ivan followed. Because he was behind him, he could brush his shoulders against his. Arthur looked up at that, but almost wished he didn’t. Ivan was smiling down at him so shrewdly, it was threatening. Then, he raised a hand to his mouth so he could laugh softly. “Huhu. You like (F/N)~” 

His eyes flew open and blood rushed up to his face. “What the hell gave you that impression? I literally just met them!” As adamant as he sounded, he knew deep inside he liked you, but only platonically. Your personality was refreshing, and talking to you was as easy as breathing. Even if it wasn’t platonic attraction, he was endlessly frustrated the other figured it out earlier than he could. 

Whatever it was, he was certainly more sociable than usual, even to the point of being a tease. And not to mention the rosy cheeks. Maybe he should’ve just kept his trap shut--otherwise, his huge outburst let Ivan milk the obvious. Fuck. He even started to giggle like a schoolchild. 

Giving him a rough shove, he muttered a string of curses under his breath.  “I bloody hate your arse, you know that?” He hissed, his face now redder than a tomato. God, why he did have to be born so pale? Every slight change to his complexion was jarring, and it was embarrassing. 

“Don’t hate me because I’m right,” Ivan hummed, joining his side as your back came into view. “Once you realize, it’ll be too late. I’m not letting you have (F/N). I will always be (F/N)’s number one.” Lighting up at that, he skipped off to you in the front. “Wait for me, sunflower! Don’t leave me alone with Arthur!”

Arthur stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists. How annoying. If he was going to continue being a little tyke, then he figured he’d up his game as well. He didn’t know what that exactly entailed yet, but he’d do it. Ivan didn’t even sound like he wanted anything more than friendship, so what was with that? Pointing a finger at him as he walked off with you, his face scrunched up. 

“What did you even call me out for then, you idiot? I’m supposed to be guiding you both!” Picking up his pace at that, he slotted himself between you and him. Flashing you a brief smile, he gave Ivan another push without breaking eye contact. “It’s a tight fit for three, so he’ll stay in the back.” 

“Hey, no fair!” 

By the time the whole aquarium was toured, you and Arthur were laughing to yourselves while leaving through the exit. 

But the joyful atmosphere was short-lived. 

The Ferris wheel just outside was the next stop, and the Brit offered to splurge a little to have a carriage without strangers. That way, you could run around as much as you wanted, even if that meant leaving the two men to sit in their lonesome. While Ivan was sitting on the bench in the centre out of his own volition, the same couldn’t be said for him. 

Sitting back to back to the other, he pressed his legs firmly together and leaned over in a hunch. Then, he dug his hands through his hair, all while keeping his round eyes fixated on the ground. His heart couldn’t stop pounding, and his head was spinning like a carousel. What was he thinking, taking you here? That was right. This was an iconic destination you couldn’t miss, that was why. He was initially planning on staying back there on the ground, but you were so excited, he couldn’t help but hop on with you. 

Fuck. Maybe Ivan was right about him. But he wouldn’t let him know it. Speaking of the guy, he didn’t know if he was sitting there by choice, or just rubbing it in. While he was incapacitated by fear so he couldn’t even stand, he was sitting there because he wanted to. 

“You should’ve stayed on the ground if this was going to happen.” 

Arthur screwed his eyes shut and tightened his arms around his stomach. “... Shut up.” 

“I was just saying.” Ivan murmured, looking at him over his shoulder. Poor guy. He really was down bad, wasn’t he? Down bad for you, that was. Too bad Arthur was hoping he wasn’t convinced--but it was too obvious. So all Ivan wanted was to prove his point, and later on, keep you away from him. But maybe he’d save it until after the ride was over. “... This ride is thirty minutes long. You’ll live.” 

He heard the other groan. “Thirty minutes? How long has it been?” 

“Mm... Ten.” 

“Fuck me.” 

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before you would pull away from the railing and return to the company of the two. Arthur had been praying that somehow, you’d leave him alone sitting there, pathetically, but he couldn’t expect something so cold from you. So while he hung his head, he wasn’t surprised to feel your hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey, you okay?” He heard you ask, but he never looked up. 

“... Yeah. Just give me a minute.” 

“I have. Ten, actually.” Taking a seat beside him, you leaned down to peer at his face, which was a few shades paler than normal. He didn’t even have the energy to respond, and kept his eyes fixed to the ground. Concern immediately contorted at your features, especially when he looked so shaken. “Arthur, you look a little sick. What’s wrong? Can you talk?” 

He shook his head slowly before managing a weak smile at you. “Sorry, love.” It didn’t even faze him he just called you that. He was far too uncomfortable to feel the embarrassment from a nickname he should’ve saved until a little later. 

“I’m not... Too good with heights. Never have been... I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.” His voice was slow and faint, and you were beginning to suspect he was having a panic attack. “... Sorry if I seem a little lame.” 

“No, of course not.” You frowned. “Things like this happen. Just breathe with me, okay? You can do it. Just count to ten.” 

Arthur took a deep inhale. “... Okay.” 

Around ten minutes later of these exchanges, he calmed down some, especially when you kept on reminding him that the carriage was finally descending. Once the ride was over, you had to help him up and walk him out. Now that he had his two feet planted firmly on the ground, it didn’t take long for him to recover. Even then, you remained rather cautious and stuck with him on your journey to Soho. By the time everyone took their seats in Circolo Popolare, a beautiful Italian restaurant Arthur so kindly booked, you were still looking out for him.

Leaning over to rest your head on the table, you glanced up at his face with a soft smile. “... You okay now?” 

A light blush dusted his cheeks and he nodded. You didn’t need to be this observant with him considering he was well now, but he loved your attentiveness. It wasn’t something he was used to. “Yeah, I’m fine now. Thank you. Now quit worrying about me, alright?” Rubbing the nape of his neck at that, you couldn’t help lingering on his body language for a moment.

It didn’t matter what he dressed like, or what his personality was. He could be endearing when it came to it, and a total softie too. And the thought made you smile even wider. If he thought you were cute, then you thought he was adorable. “Fine. I’ll leave you alone.” You slowly turned to Ivan, the action making Arthur tense up a little. 

Reaching out to your hand, he took it. “I didn’t mean it like that.” 

The feeling of his warm fingers around yours made your heart skip a beat. Did he just? Your thoughts manifested into your look of shock, and you darted your eyes over his neutral expression to try and decipher it. Before you could come up with anything, there was a phone in your face, followed by a flash. 

“Wha--?” 

He turned the screen to you to reveal a photo of you, and in your opinion, it was the least flattering picture anybody had ever taken of you. “I said I’d take an uglier photo of you, didn’t I?” Arthur grinned, the words acting like a cold splash of water to bring you back to reality. 

“... You sneaky little shit.” You growled. “Delete that right now!” 

“How about no?” 

“I’ll never forgive you for this, Arthur.” 

“I think you already have, love. You’re smiling right now.” 

You stared at him wordlessly for a few seconds. Then, out of nowhere, you reached out to snatch his phone right out of his hands. Tapping furiously on the screen to get rid of it, you heard his chair scrape back violently as he tried to retrieve it. “Why, you--” 

But it was too late. Gone forever. Lost in the abyss of cyberspace. And so, he immediately channelled his frustration by jabbing his fingers into your sides. “If I can’t have that photo of you, at least let me do this!” You burst into a fit of laughter so loud, nearby patrons turned their heads. Only then did he pull away, leaving you to recover through breathless wheezing. 

“Fuck you, Arthur.” You whispered, but it was on an affectionate note more than anything. As you glowered at him from your seat, you never noticed Ivan doing the same thing, but he was glaring at the Brit for an entirely different reason. Arthur had to be the most self-aware person out there, and to make a scene in a restaurant like this? He really fell for you, didn’t he? 

When he realized Ivan’s scorching gaze burning into him, he froze. 

Not just out of how intimidated he was, but the epiphany that he was right all along. Why else was he acting so out of character? The only explanation was this--in the short time of being with you, he may or may not have developed a little crush. But that was no problem, right? 

All he needed to do was to ask you out. 

But that would prove a task easier said than done, especially when Ivan decided to attach himself to you by the hip after that stunt. That cunning bastard knew what he was doing. After a little window shopping around Bond street and Mayfair, he stuck to you like a tattoo, and kept it up until night fell. While the group walked around Camden, Ivan kept you by his side with a firm grip on your hand. 

When you asked why he was suddenly so clingy, he simply justified it with, “It’s dangerous for small people like you to wander around at night!” 

But Arthur called bullshit. Especially when the other went ahead and smirked at him right after saying it. Maybe he liked you too, but was refusing to admit it. How hypocritical. If not, then he probably didn’t want you making friends when you were the only friend he had. Whatever it was, he wasn’t about to back down so easily. Camden may be the last destination for the night, and perhaps, the last time he’d see you again for God knows how long, but it was his trump card.

If this didn’t sweep you off your feet enough to get you to pull away from Ivan, nothing would. 

As a town famous for its thriving nightlife and punk culture, it encompassed everything he was passionate about, and he’d give anything to show it to you. So he included a visit to the bar here on the agenda today, one that hosted live music. While you and Ivan got comfortable in your seats, Arthur never made a move to sit down. 

It was already dim inside, so you never noticed him leave. The next time you saw him, it was a few minutes later when he was on stage with a few other musicians. Leaning forward with surprise, you watched him strap on a bright red electric guitar. Walking up to the microphone, he adjusted that. No way. 

You were still trying to process him being a professional performer, but a lead singer as well? 

The second he strummed the strings to start a guitar riff, he opened his mouth to start singing.

Play this while you read

Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time

And turning all against the one is an art that's hard to teach

His fingers never stopped moving as he belted out note after note. His voice was so different to how he talked, you had to do a double take. He sounded a little more rasp, a little more punk. To say you were impressed was an understatement. 

Now dance, fucker, dance, man, he never had a chance

And no one even knew it was really only you

While he jammed out on stage, he was electric. The energy in the bar exploded, and he had everyone singing along. You could almost see the confidence in him shoot up from the excitable crowd, because he was smirking. 

Nice work, you did. 

You’re gonna go far, kid! 

Turning his head to you as he sung that line, you raised a hand to your mouth. Whether he did that on purpose or not was a mystery. But no words could describe how attractive it was. Hell, it even made you mind blank for a few moments. This was Arthur? He was like an entirely different person! Needless to say, you were completely star struck. 

You couldn’t even make out what Ivan was telling you when the music was blaring in your ears. But you didn’t care. Arthur had you caught in a trance with his voice and guitar all until the end. When the song finally ended, the band bowed graciously and threw up hand signs as the audience erupted in applause and cheers. 

When he stepped off the stage, you didn’t hesitate to run up to him. There, you practically pounced on him for a tight embrace. “Oh my god, you were amazing! I didn’t know you could play so well! And sing, too! Why didn’t you tell me!?” You exasperated, pulling away to be met with his dazzling smile. It was the first time you’ve seen him so energetic, as if performing sparked a fire inside him that burned with youthful intensity. 

“I was dying to show you all day. I wanted it to be a surprise, and I had to save the best til’ last, didn’t I?” He grinned, feeling his heart swell up with warmth as he watched you light up. 

“Well, good on you! I loved it!” Squeezing him again, you felt his chest shake under his laughs. When you pulled away, you reached up to cup his face. But it felt so natural in the spur of the moment, even he didn’t seem to care. 

“Thanks again for today, Arthur. I really appreciate you taking us out today. You completely blew me away.”

The way how you phrased it reminded him of why he was here in the first place. That was right. He still had to ask you out. And with Ivan watching on from afar, this was his chance. The thought reddened his cheeks, but while you had his face in your hands, he couldn’t feel more comfortable. “Is that so? If that’s the case, how about I take you out again?” His expression grew serious. “A proper date, I mean.” 

It was your turn to blush, but you managed a quick answer. 

“No need to look so serious, love. Of course I’ll go on a date with you.” 

He chuckled and leaned in to peck your lips. “Stealing my vocabulary now, are we?” 

“Stealing kisses now, are we?” 

“Touché.” 

Now a third wheel of the group, he breathed out a soft sigh and rested his cheek on his hand. “I guess my job here is done.” It didn’t really look like it, but he had been trying to play the wingman all along. Arthur was always one to go a little crazy when he wanted something, and only more so when he was desperate. So all he gave him was a little push in the right direction. 

Maybe he would thank him later, but for now, he’d leave you two be. 

This is a request. Thank you for requesting.

[agwitow]

Alpha Wolves

content warning: swearing, mild violence

Marcus yawned, his jaw cracking, and shook out his pants. It had been a long night, helping two pups with their first change. They were already packed into their parents’ SUVs, fast asleep, and on the way to their homes. In a few months they would be good to join a pack. It wasn’t always as simple with new shifters, but those two each had a parent who was one as well. Even at eight and ten, they knew a fair amount of what it meant to be a lycanthrope.

Dressed in sweats and a light cotton long-sleeved shirt, he ran a hand over his jaw and sighed. Full moon changes always made his hair grow. Even though he’d been clean-shaven before the change, he had what felt like two-days of growth now. Shaggy hair didn’t bother him nearly as much as a beard did, though by the end of the three days he’d need to get that trimmed as well.

He padded barefoot into the little cabin that served as his base of operations while helping new shifters and started a pot of coffee brewing. He hated the stuff, but it would be at least a couple hours before he could head home to sleep, so he needed something to keep him awake.

While it percolated, he checked his phone. Three emails from work, two from the pack, and some spam. He’d just opened the first email when the phone rang.

“Porter Consulting.”

“Mr. Porter, it’s Deputy Palerma from the EKSD,” a male with a pleasant tenor said.

East Keddol was a small town several miles from Hapburgh, the city Marcus lived and worked in. It was in the interesting position of being almost perfectly between Hapburgh pack territory and Redview pack territory. Surprisingly few places fell into the odd in-between spaces between packs, and, as far as he knew, no one had developed any specific protocols for dealing with them.

“How can I help you today, Deputy?”

“We have a shifter—twenty-three-year-old male—who attacked his friends when he shifted for the first time. Miss Davidson recommended I call you.”

Kaelyn Davidson did for the Redview pack what Marcus did for the Hapburgh one. She was, if he remembered correctly, also a month or two out from giving birth. Handling an adult shifter who’d already hurt people was probably not high on her list of ways to spend her time.

“I see. Is your new shifter awake?”

“No. We had to hit him with a tranq to be able to bring him in. He’s changed back, but hasn’t woken up yet.”

Marcus snorted. Safety Departments were, mostly, better than the old police system, but sometimes they were still a little too trigger happy. At least it was a tranquilizer dart instead of a clip of bullets. “I’ll send someone to pick him up. He’s going to wake up before they get there, and he’s going to be cranky and hungry.”

“I’ve taken the class on shifters, Mr. Porter,” Deputy Palerma said, sounding offended. “There is a post-shift recovery kit in the fridge.”

He stifled a sighed. “If that’s all you have, that’s fine, but it would be better if the new shifter could get freshly made food. Eggs, nuts, oats, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt, and pumpkin seeds are best. Avoid meat, if possible, especially red meat.”

“I thought shifters need protein the morning after?”

“We do, and the foods I listed are all high protein items. New shifters can find meats to be… an issue at first. As I’m not able to speak with your young man at present, it’s better to be cautious.”

There was a moment of silence on the line before Palerma said, “Alright. Who will be coming, and when should we expect them?”

“It’ll depend on who is free.”

“Can’t you just tell someone to do it? You’re the alpha, aren’t you?”

Marcus had to grit his teeth to keep from groaning. That damn study from the 40s. “That’s not quite how things work. All pack members have proper ID.”

“Fine,” he said, the word ending with an annoyed click of his tongue.

“Thank you. Someone will be there between 10:30 and noon.”

Once they’d said their farewells, Marcus sent out a quick message through the pack’s group chat.

New shifter, East Keddol holding, possible alpha complex. Any takers?

He set the phone down and poured himself a cup of coffee, adding enough cream and sugar to make it mostly palatable, before settling on a stool at the tiny kitchen’s bar-height table. He’d drunk half the cup before a chime indicated he’d gotten a response. Two more chimes rang out before he’d picked the phone back up.

Eddie: I’m free but never handled an alpha complex b4 wdin2k?

Ksenia: lol take a muzzle

Julianne: y can’t the Reds take em?

Marcus rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighed, and replied: Kaelyn’s 8 mo. Pregnant. Take the green SUV, put him in the back, and keep the divider up.

Eddie: is it that dangerous?

Thomas: alpha-complexers are just assholes

Julianne: TOM! There are CHILDREN in this chat

Thomas: no regrets!

Marcus temporarily turned notifications off for the group chat, replied to the most important of the work emails, set up reminders for the other two, then headed for the cabin’s futon. By the time he’d make it to his apartment in the city, he’d barely have any time to sleep before he’d need to head back out to meet the new shifter. So he’d nap on the futon and feel stiff for most of the afternoon.

#

A little after 2pm, the rumbling and crunch of a vehicle coming up the gravel drive to the cabin announced the arrival of Eddie and the new shifter. Marcus set aside his laptop and headed out to the porch to greet them. He was still barefoot and wearing sweats and the long-sleeved shirt, but he’d run a trimmer through the beard so he felt less like a back-woods mountain man.

The car had barely come to a complete stop before the back door opened and a young man stepped out with a glower. He was around average height, with enough muscle mass to indicate he worked out at least somewhat regularly. Dark blond hair hung to his shoulders and a thick beard wrapped his jaw—though whether that was a stylistic choice or the moon driven change accelerating his hair growth even more than it did for Marcus was unclear.

“You Marcus?” the young man demanded.

He raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and leaned against one of the porch supports. “I am. And you are?”

“Joseph.”

He nodded and shifted his gaze to Eddie, who’d stepped around to the front of the SUV. “How was the drive?”

Eddie shrugged, his gaze darting to Joseph and then away. “S’okay. Wouldn’t want to do it again, though.”

“Don’t blame you. Thanks for doing it, though. See you next week for a run, okay?”

His shoulders relaxed and he smiled. “Of course. Later, Marcus.”

Joseph scoffed. “Like he would be any good.”

Marcus shook his head and stepped down off the porch. He was a little shorter than the new shifter, though broader in the shoulders and with more muscle mass. “You will respect each and every member of our pack, or you’ll be sent to Palstead Institution. It is not a pleasant introduction to being a shifter.”

“Whatever, man. Just give me whatever stupid speech you’ve got so I can challenge you.”

“There will be no ‘challenging’ here.”

“Fuck that. I ain’t no submissive bitch.”

“What you do or don’t do in the bedroom has no relevance to this situation.”

Red flooded Joseph’s face a moment before he took a swing at Marcus. He’d obviously had a little bit of training, but the movement was still too big to be truly effective.

Marcus side-stepped and twisted a little so that he had more leverage as he placed a palm against Joseph’s arm and pushed. It wasn’t a big push, but the kid had overextended himself and it knocked him off balance enough to make him stumble. He took a step back and waited for the next attack he knew would be coming.

Joseph didn’t disappoint. He came up swinging wildly, rushing toward him as if he couldn’t decide whether to beat his face in or tackle him to the ground.

Marcus calmly deflected each blow, leading Joseph in a circle as he side-stepped and backed away from the attacks. Less than a minute later, Jospeh was panting and struggling to even come close to landing any blows.

“Have you finished with your temper tantrum, yet?” Marcus asked.

Joseph glared at him but stopped, bending over with hands on knees as he panted.

“You seem to be under the misunderstanding that pack members fight each other. Different packs rarely even fight each other.”

“How…how do you know who’s alpha, then?”

“There is no ‘alpha.’ Not the way you’re thinking, anyway.”

“What?”

Marcus sighed and took a seat on the ground. The grass was soft and, thanks to a sunny morning, contained no hint of dampness. After a moment’s hesitation, Joseph slumped down as well. “Pack is family. Would you pick a fight with your dad to try and take over the family?”

“No…”

He shrugged. “Picking a fight with a pack member makes about as much sense. We each have a role to play, and that role is based on our skills and personality and knowledge. Not on who we’re able to beat up.”

“Aren’t we wolves? At least partly?”

“Yes. And that’s how wolves behave.”

Joseph stared at him blankly.

He sighed again. “Come inside. I’ll make you a tuna sandwich and you can read one of the brochures.”

Joseph followed him inside, silent, but with a simmering edge of anger beneath his exhaustion. Once the full moon was over and the forced changes weren’t sapping his energy, he would be a real pain in the ass if Marcus couldn’t nip the problem in the bud.

“Here,” he said, picking up a glossy tri-fold and handing it over. “Have a seat. Read. I’ll make the sandwiches.”

He settled onto a stool, shoulders hunched and brows drawn. “Why Alpha-Dog Theory is BS,” he read. “Seriously?”

“Mhm,” Marcus replied. “Some of the pack wanted to title it It’s Not Your Inner Wolf, You’re Just an Asshole, but that seemed a bit confrontational.”

“… Oh.”

“Mhm.”

(Moon-Bound - part 2)

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[levis-hazelnut]

Summary: when you and your best friend, Hanji, were younger, you had made up stories about your dream guys - what they would look like and how you would meet. What happens when the one you had made up appears to be real?

Warning(s): I don’t think there are any in this chapter. But, please do tell me if there are any.

Taglist (closed!): @castellandiangelo

Status: completed!

part 2 > part 3 > part 4

series masterlist

With every step he took, I slowly felt the tension rise and awkwardly stood there, slurping on my iced drink. "Eren, you know Levi. And, these two are Isabel and Farlan," I announced and gestured to introduce themselves. "Hi, Eren!" the hyper girl smiled. "Nice to meet you," the more composed, blonde male replied. As those three spoke, I stood opposite Levi. "Looks like we ended up going bowling after all," I smiled, easing the tension. "Is your argument with Eren over?" "I guess, yeah... Anyway, it's my turn now. What lane are you on?" "We're a few lanes apart. Make sure you don't cry if you miss me too much, darlin'."

I playfully rolled my eyes and said a small 'bye' to all of them as they went to play as well. I approached Eren to see him smiling, which made me frown. "Why are you smiling?" "Because those two people are nice. Now, I get why you're so comfortable with them." "Does that mean you don't have any problems now?" "No. Isabel and Farlan weren't made up, correct?" he asked and I nodded. "So, I don't care if you hang out with them because there isn't anything fishy about them like there is about Levi." "Tch. Fine. I don't want to argue again and I understand what you're saying, so let's carry on. We still have a few more turns." Now, it was me who was throwing a ball and Eren who slurped the slushie, making his tongue blue, which he was yet to find out. I squealed when I knocked down all ten of the pins and did a little victory dance, no matter how embarrassing it was. I looked at Eren to get his praise; I got a grin and messy hair since he decided to ruffle it. An inaudible huff left my lips as I fixed my hair, using my phone's black screen. "... I'm getting kind of hungry," I stated as I stood behind the brunette, watching the bowling ball roll towards the pins. "Let's finish this game then go and eat. What are you feeling?" "Hmm... I don't mind. You choose." "I don't mind either." "I don't understand how we've made any decisions together. We’re so indecisive" I joked and I heard a small puff of air leave his nose as he smiled. "Anyway, let's go somewhere close by." I picked up my phone and began to look for food places near us. "(Y/N), it's your turn." "Okay. Here, look for a place to eat." I shoved my phone into his hands and picked up a ball, getting ready to throw it. "Hi, darlin'," a voice whispered, very close to my ear which made me jump and accidentally drop the ball, with a bang, and it decided to make its journey down the lane. "Levi!" I pouted. "Don't do that, you prick, you ruined my chances of getting a strike. What are you even doing here?" "I'm getting drinks, and to do that, I have to go past here. Also, you might want to look at how many pins are left,” he told me, so I looked towards where he was motioning and a grin planted on my lips. I got another strike! "Bye." "I still hate you for scaring me." "I know you don't," he smirked and walked away. "Hey, are you up for some pizza?" Eren questioned, causing Levi's smirk to dissipate in my mind and I faced him, strolling towards him and sipping on the beverage that he held. "Yeah, sure. It's your last turn, by the way," I told him, taking the drink and my phone from his hands. "Oh, okay. Aw, you have so many more points than me." "Do you know why?" "Because you're/I'm amazing," we both said at the same time, causing a laugh to erupt from my mouth before a smirk settled onto my lips. Eren was able to knock down nine which he cursed at. One pin was always almost impossible to hit. "Good luck~" I sang teasingly. Soon, nothing was in his hold as we both watched the ball roll on the floor, making its way in the correct direction towards the last pin. The ball brushed it. It wobbled. And it slowly fell. I playfully punched his bicep with a smile. "Well done." "Thanks." "I'm going to go say bye to them." He nodded and followed me towards the trio. Isabel was the first to spot us and she grinned and waved. I love her energy; she's somehow always able to be enthusiastic, I seriously wonder how. "Hey, we're going to go." "Aw, okay. Hope you had fun with your boyfriend." "Uh, no, he's not my boyfriend. He's my friend." "But why does he have his arm around you?" I didn't even realise since he does that most of the time, it became a norm to me. "... Don't know. It's just a thing he does." "Her shoulders are the right height for me to rest my arm on," Eren spoke. "Wow, so you're just using me as an armrest?" "Yeah." I gave his chest a light push and he chuckled quietly, coming back to my side. "Anyway, I'll see you guys next week." "Bye, (Y/N)! Bye, Eren!" "Bye," the male beside me smiled. "See you later," Farlan said. "And, I'll see your annoying ass on Monday, Ackerman." "The same goes to you, darlin'." "Are you going to wear that same unicorn shirt?" I smirked as his glare burned into my very soul. "Don't bring that up again." Eren and I left with a wave and his arm came back on my shoulders. "... Why does he call you darling?" "Eren, don't. I'm not in the mood to talk about anything negative. I just want to enjoy this day without any conflict." "Fine." ~/~ "Nope." "Aw, (Y/N), please," Hanji begged as I ignored her and stepped into my room, closing the door behind me and locking it so she can't come in. "It was a party you planned so don't bring me into this. You clean up after your guests." "Why're you being so mean? You'd normally help me out." "Yeah, I'm just not in the mood today. I thought we already established that if it's your guests then you clean up. I wasn't even home so don't drag me into this." I heard a sigh of defeat from Hanji and some footsteps padding away from my room. Finally, I could just rest without interacting with humans. Yeah, I had fun with Eren today, but ever since I walked into my university in the morning, I wanted to be home. Once I changed into my pyjamas, I turned off the lights and nestled under the covers, staring at the ceiling for a while before getting interrupted by my phone since someone decided to call me. "Hello?" "Hey, (Y/N)~" Jean’s voice sounded. "Idiot," I whispered to myself. "Are you drunk?" "Yes... But not that much. I'm not going to have a mad hangover or forget everything once I wake up." "Okay. So, why did you call me?" "I wanted to hear your voice," he muttered. "Also, we only spoke at lunch today. That's not enough time to talk." "Are you at home?" "Yeah, I took the bus." "What do you want to talk about, then?" "I don't know. Even if you don't talk, it's fine. I just want your company..." he mumbled. "I missed you over the month I was gone, you know." "Mhm. I missed you, too." "And I miss having you near me all the time like I did when we were dating. Do you miss it as well?" "... You still have me and you aren't going to lose me." "Do you miss it?" he repeated. "I don't know what you want me to say, Jean." "I want you to say the truth." "... No, I don't," I admitted. "But that's only because I can still talk to you and act normal around you. The only thing that's different from our relationship is that we don't give each other affection. I mean, you still flirt with me, but I know you only do it as a joke." "Thank you for being honest with me, (Y/N)," he murmured, giving me a hint that he was falling asleep. "Jean, I think you should sleep. It's late," I told him in a quiet voice and I heard him hum. "Yeah, okay. Night, (Y/N)." "Goodnight, Jean." And with that, I hung up, letting out a huff. Starting to feel bad, I called Hanji (since I wasn't bothered to get out of bed) and she answered five seconds later. "Hey, Hanji, do you still need help?" "It's fine. I'm nearly done," she spoke in a hushed voice, which is something I rarely hear. "Are you sure?" "I mean, it would be helpful, but I'm guessing you're already in bed." "Yeah, well, now I'm standing up. I'll come and help you." "Thank you." "You can cut the phone now, I'm right next to you," I smiled and she softly laughed. We both did the last few things like brooming, which I did, as she put dishes in the dishwasher. Few words were exchanged but we were both tired so it was understandable. I wiped down any surfaces and put things back in their places, like cushions or any kind of furniture. "Hanji, did you see how much Jean drank?" "Not much. He was a bit tipsy but I'm sure he got home fine. Why?" "He called me, sounding drunk but he said he didn't drink that much. And then, he started to tell me that he misses our relationship before asking me if I did." "Did you say yeah?" "No. He wanted the truth so I wasn't going to lie. I doubt he heard what I said, though, because he sounded like he was going to knock out." "... I think he still has feelings for you. He hasn't dated anyone else and he persistently flirts with you. Maybe he wasn't happy with the breakup, but decided to go along with it to make you happy." "I was thinking that as well. I don't want him to stop himself from moving on but I don't know what to do." "Talk to him about it. Most things are solved by words." "But what do I say? 'Get over me and go date some bitch'?" "Along the lines of that. Just not rudely and don't call a girl 'some bitch'." "Anyway, are you done? I'm going to go to bed now." "Yeah, go. Thanks for helping me." "No problem." I walked inside my room, quietly closing the door and plopping down onto my bed, once again snuggling under my covers and eventually falling into a deep sleep. ~/~ "I'm so glad we get to go out since we barely hang out. I only see you around but we never have time to speak," the strawberry-blonde female piped beside me and I smiled at her, thinking the same. "I know. How's everything going for you?" "Great. Though, I have a project to work on. Thankfully, they're giving us two weeks to do it. What about you?" "Nothing important. Just going to lectures as usual." "... I've been wanting to ask for a while now... You know that guy, Levi, you've been hanging out with...?" "Go on." "I was wondering if he was single." I nodded slowly, forcing a smile onto my lips as we strolled around, going no place in particular. "Yeah, he is." Oh, Petra was so much more beautiful than me. So much smarter than me. So much more pleasant to hang out with than me. And, she also happened to have her eyes on the same man as me. "Well, I was kind of thinking of asking him out. Could you help me out since you seem close to him?" Another thing, it's been two months since I met him and Eren had given me permission to be all over him (not really, but you know what I mean) and he gave me Levi's number. This was such great timing, I could just squeal in excitement... Yeah, right *eye roll* But I can't stop others from asking him out since I don't want to. "Of course. He deserves someone like you." Oh, how much I wanted to rip my lips off my face so I didn't have to fake smile. "Aw, thank you so much." But Petra was a wonderful girl who also deserves Levi. They'd make such a perfect couple, it makes me want to cry just by thinking of it. However, I'm still going to stick by my promise and help her. Even if they end up getting married, I'll carry on smiling because I'll be happy for them as I slowly die internally. A hand was placed on my shoulder, knocking me out of my daze. Instinctively, I twisted around and thrust my fist into the gut of the jerk who decided to put their nasty hands on me. I heard a groan, I saw his face, and I bit back a smile and apologised. "Sorry," I snorted. "Are you secretly part of some gang or something?" he managed to speak with a strained voice as he clutched his stomach. I giggled at his response as we moved to the side to get out of people's way. "No. I thought you were some pervert." "I'm the pervert? Think before you speak, darlin'--" "Yes, yes, I know. You're going to say I'm a perv. Anyway, once you recover, I'll introduce you to Petra," I said, giving a knowing look to the female. "He's not this weak, he's just being a drama queen." "Tch. Sorry I don't have abs of steel." How are you going to lie like that? You clearly have the most perfect abs, I thought. "Are you about done complaining?" I arched an eyebrow and he sighed before nodding as we started walking again. "So, this is Petra, a lovely person that isn't weird like my other friends who you prefer not to hang out with." "It's not that I don't want to hang out with them, it's just I have no idea what you're talking about because all I hear is laughing and incoherent words that you somehow understand." "Yeah, well, with Petra, you can have a civilised conversation." "Well, then, it's nice to meet you, Petra." "The same goes to you," she beamed. "Where were you guys going?" "Nowhere. (Y/N) and I were just walking around," I let her respond so they could talk some more. "What about you?" "I was going to get tea since I've run out." "Oh, okay," she paused, thinking of what to say next, so I lightly nudged her and mouthed some words. "Um, do you want company?" "No, it's fine. It'll be quicker if I go by myself." "Yeah, but the more, the merrier," I blurted out to which Levi lifted a brow to. "Well, since you're basically on your knees, begging to come, let's go." Petra mouthed a quick 'thank you' and I grinned in return, saying that I was going to quickly grab a coffee and then join them at the store. Both of them nodded and I went to the cafe Eren worked at. Oh, looks like he isn't here. I ordered a coffee and waited by the side, looking down at my phone. "Why are you so upset, princess? Missing your favourite waiter?" a voice teased, causing me to look up at the grinning Eren. I mirrored him with a grin of my own. "Yeah, but only because he gives my broke ass a discount," I retorted as he softly chuckled. "I'm surprised I don't see you with Levi." "I actually was, but he went to get tea from the shop down the road with Petra." "Petra?" "Yes... You've met her a couple of times." I bit down on my lip. "And I may have promised her that I'll help her get together with Levi," I told him as he took a customer's order. Once they paid, he started to prepare their order. "Why would you do that?" he questioned with furrowed brows. "Because I couldn't just say no. And I shouldn't stop girls from asking him out just because I don't have the guts to." "You're too nice. You have to learn to say no. And, if I were you, I would punch every girl that talks to him." "Yeah, but I'm not violent like that. Even though I just punched Levi." "Why?" "I thought he was some random dude who put their hand on my shoulder, so of course, I would punch any idiot who thought it would be a good idea to touch me." "He got what he deserves," Eren mumbled as he faced away from me to give the customer their order, but I vaguely heard him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Leave him alone," I childishly pouted. "He's done nothing to deserve your hatred. He doesn't have anything against you, so I don't know why you're still bothered." The teal-eyed male sighed. "I don't know either. I'm just being bitchy." "I'll prove to you that he's a decent person that you don't have to be worried about anymore." "Sure." "Excuse me, miss? Here's your coffee," the young man smiled and passed it to me. "Thank you," I replied and he went to serve some other person. "Anyway, I've got my coffee and I'm distracting you from your work, so I'll see you later." "Wait, give me a sip." I gave him my coffee and he smiled as he passed it back to me. "Bye, princess." I playfully rolled my eyes before leaving the cafe and making my way towards the store Levi and Petra would be at as I mentally prepared myself for whatever was to come. I entered the building and saw them at the till, paying for Levi's tea and some other things as they held a conversation.

I waited by the exit, leaning against a wall and taking small sips from my coffee as to not burn my tongue. They approached me and I pushed myself off of the wall, walking beside Petra, who was in the middle of us. And I mean that metaphorically and literally since she's stopping me from forming a relationship with Levi (it's my fault so I can't really blame her) and she's also walking in between us. After Levi had gotten his tea, he went home since he said he 'didn't feel like going anywhere'. That left me and Petra as she thanked me for helping her and introducing her to Levi. We ended up going to the library and whispered to each other about whatever we had missed, forgetting the books that we were reading. We then got some food that I decided to eat at home since I wasn't hungry when we got it. That's when our day together ended and we parted ways. Now, here I am, at home, cocooned in some blankets with a bowl of popcorn as I watched a show Hanji's been telling me to watch with all the lights off. About halfway through an episode, I heard the front door open and in came Hanji and her boyfriend. I paused it, knowing I would miss an important part when they come into the living room. Oh, just a heads up, by the way: Hanji's boyfriend is also one of my professors at our university. "Hi, (Y/N)," Hanji beamed as Erwin gave me a nod as a greeting. "Hey--" "Oh my gosh!! You're finally watching it!" "Yeah, but I'm only on the third episode." "I don't care. I'm so happy you decided to watch it," she squealed. "Anyway, I don't want to disturb you, so bye." She doesn't want to disturb me, huh? More like she doesn't want to waste time on this conversation when she could be doing other things with her boyfriend. And I'm so glad that the doors and walls are all thick, almost as if they're soundproof. I resumed it before having to pause it again due to my phone ringing. Doesn't my phone ring at the perfect times, like when I just want to relax? I answered the call after reading the name. "Hello?" "Yeah, hi." "What do you need?" "Why were you acting weird today?" "What do you mean?" "You know exactly what I mean. You may have seemed happy, but you didn't look it at all." "And what is that supposed to mean, Mr Moody?" "Yeah, you were smiling but it was forced. And you spoke with a happy tone, but your eyes didn't match it." "Why the hell are you staring at my eyes?" "(Y/N), just tell me what's going on." "... Why do you even care?" I muttered. "Because you almost never act like you did today." "Well, it's something I prefer not to share. I'm flattered that you care so much about me, but don't worry about how I'm acting," I responded, throwing some popcorn in my mouth and grinding it with my teeth. "Fine. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Sorry for caring." I sighed and held my phone to my right ear now, instead of my left. "No, I'm sorry. I am being a bitch." "You're always one, darlin'. You're being a grumpy bitch today." As he said that, I could imagine a smirk etching onto his lips as his hues shimmered with amusement. Oh, how much I wished to see his face and I wished I hadn't told Petra to basically 'Go ahead and marry the love of my life'. "Oi, are you okay?" "Hm. Oh, sorry, I just zoned out. You should know I do that a lot by now." I loved his soft voice that sounded like a purr. I could imagine that he was either lying in bed or on the sofa because there was no sound of movement. Maybe just staring up at the ceiling as he spoke. Isabel and Farlan were probably in their rooms because it sounded like he was alone. I bet there was a hint of Earl Grey tea on his breath. Oh, imagine if he was lying down shirtless, exposing his sexy abs that I have yet to see. Yeah, I sound like a complete weirdo and perv but we've gone over that already, so it shouldn't be a surprise. "Anyway, you should probably go to sleep now since we've got uni tomorrow." "Yeah... Wait, when's our first lecture?" "Ten o'clock." "Okay, thanks. Looks like I can finish off this episode before going to bed." I couldn't see him, but I could almost sense that he rolled his eyes. "Make sure you get some sleep. Goodnight, darlin'." "Yeah, night, Ackerman." I locked my phone once he cut the phone and I was finally able to watch the damn episode. ~/~ "What did I tell you?" was the first thing someone said to me the next morning. "Hush. I don't feel like getting a scolding right now," I murmured and massaged my temples as I felt a headache arising. Not only did I lose precious hours of sleep, but I also happened to start my period this morning, so on top of my headache, I had cramps. Aren't I just the luckiest person alive? Even though his mouth never opened, I could just tell by the way Levi was looking at me that he was mentally cursing at me for not sleeping well so I rolled my eyes. "At least you don't look like a corpse, though." "Why, thank you," I replied sarcastically. "Hey, do any of you have painkillers?" I asked both males - Jean shook his head and Levi fished something out of his bag. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much." I took a water bottle out of my bag and gulped it down, along with two pills. I'm not overdosing, don't worry, it's just how many I take since one doesn't work on me. "Thank you," I said once again and he simply nodded as Professor Erwin (aka Hanji's boyfriend) walked in. Of course, he would be smiling more than usual (if you know what I'm implying). As the lecture went on, I forced my eyes to stay open and made sure that I wouldn't nod off. At one point, I had no idea how or when, but my head ended up on Levi's shoulder. I don't how long it was there for, but he gently nudged my head with his shoulder which woke me up. I found out that it was the end of my lecture and let out a huff as I packed my stuff away and followed other people out of the hall. As I did that, I spoke a few words with Historia, another civilised human that I often talk to. "I'll talk to you later, (Y/N)," she beamed with her glistening blue eyes and walked away as I waved at her. "Hey, sorry for falling asleep on your shoulder." "I don't care. But you're taking your ass home and having a nap. Our next lecture is at one so you can have a two-hour nap. Just make sure you aren't late." "Yeah, yeah. I need a human alarm, though. Do any of you want to hang out at my place?" "Sure," both males replied and shrugged as I smiled at them and we all proceeded to mine and Hanji's apartment. Once reaching our destination, I slipped my shoes off, dropped my bag to the floor and plopped down onto the sofa on my stomach, closing my eyes. Before I could fully relax, I felt a weight settle on top of me. "Ugh, I hate you, Jean," I groaned once turning my head to see that he was sitting on my back. "Love you, too," he teased. "Okay, shhh. Let me sleep."

[annab-recs]

I Promise - JJ Maybank

You and JJ have been fighting more than enjoying time together like you used to, and when you have had enough, do you stay, or do you go?

Requested by an amazing anon 💙

Warnings: some curse words; mentions of alcohol and drinking

Word Count: 2.4k+

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

“Kie, I don’t know what to do anymore. We fight more than we talk about normal things and it is exhausting. I don’t want to end things, but I don’t want things to keep going as is,” you spill to the girl sitting across from you. Normally, you would go to Sarah for these things because she knows you better, but now, you need someone who knows JJ better. Kie chewed on the inside of her cheek as she pondered ways to help you.

“I don’t know, y/n. I know he’s in love with you and that he wouldn’t risk losing you. I don’t know what has gotten into him lately, but I know he loves with all his heart. Just don’t give up on him, okay?” Kiara’s big brown eyes begged you. You wanted to tell her that you would not give up on your boyfriend, but you honestly didn’t know how much longer you could deal with the constant arguing.

“I’ll try, but he’s got to try too,” you sighed as you ran a hand through your hair.

“He will! I know he will. He loves you, y/n.” You nodded at her statement before looking at the ground.

“Hey,” Kie grabbed at your chin to lift your head up.

“We’ve got a kegger to go to tonight and we are gonna have fun. If JJ is still gonna be a whiny bitch, then fuck him. You can have fun with me and Sarah and the other guys.” She grabs your hand and pulls you up off her bed with a smile. You return her one, though not as enthusiastic as her own but she understands.

“Let’s go!”

…

You sat on some of the driftwood that was all over the beach with a red solo cup in hand. With Sarah to your left and Pope to your right, both were cracking the dumbest jokes and that was exactly what you needed right now. As giggles filled the air around you, they were interrupted by the blond who you were not on the best terms with at the moment.

“Pope, can you man the keg? Topper and John B are getting into it and I gotta help in case the other two knob heads show up.” Pope nodded and left for the keg as JJ ran off.

“I’m gonna go see if I can cool them down. It’s probably about me anyway,” Sarah spoke softly as she patted your leg before hopping off the wood.

So, it was just you, alone. Kie walked off with some girl who was really into saving the environment, paper straws and all. JJ, John B, and Sarah were somewhere out of sight. You could see Pope. He wasn’t but maybe ten or fifteen feet away, but he was busy with the line of Outer Banks inhabitants, a mix of kooks, pogues, and tourons. The poor guy could probably use some help so that is what you decided to do.

“Need some help?” You chuckled as you approached the Heyward boy. He shot you a goofy grin as he nodded and handed you the cups. From there, you two started a little assembly line. You would separate and hand him the cups. He’d grab the cup, fill it, and hand it to the person in front of him.

“Hi, are you from here?” A boy with gorgeously tanned skin, jet black hair, and bright green eyes asked you as you pulled out another cup.

“Yeah, I am. Are you?” You are quite sure you’ve never seen him before because he is definitely the type of guy who would catch your eye, but you don’t know every single person on the island. You tend to stay in your tight-knit group of pogues.

Pope reached over to your hand to grab the cup you pulled from the stack since you were distracted and weren’t handing it to him. You muttered a ‘sorry’ before facing the guy again.

“No, I’m just visiting. My aunt lives near here and likes to come here a good bit. We were at the beach earlier and some girl invited me to this so here I am,” he finished his words by flashing you a kind and bright smile.

“Outer Banks is a great place to be,” you chuckled, and he joined in with you.

“I’m Daniel, by the way,” he introduced before sticking his hand out for you to shake. Gladly, you took his hand in yours, shaking it.

“I’m y/n,” you smiled at him before Pope handed Daniel his drink. Daniel stepped to the side to be out of the way of the line but was still beside you to talk to you. You smiled down at the cups in your hand as you grabbed one to hand to Pope for the next person in line.

“So, what do people from here do for fun?” Daniel kept up the conversation.

“Umm, we surf and hang out with our friends whether that’s on a boat or at the beach or at someone else’s house, but that’s about it. There isn’t much to do as a local. It’s a great visit for tourists though.”

“Yeah, that The Wreck place is so good,” Daniel tells you before taking a sip of beer.

“Oh, that’s my friend’s family’s place. It’s my favorite restaurant her-” Your words were cut off by someone clearing their throat rather loudly, clearly wanting your attention. Your eyes leave the jade ones to meet a set of ocean blues.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, y/n?” Based on the tone of JJ’s voice, you knew something was wrong, but you had no idea what the problem was. A sick feeling settled in your stomach when you realized that it would probably end in a fight.

“I see you later, Daniel. Kie, can you take over the cups?” You asked the girl who randomly showed up out of nowhere. She nodded before giving you a look telling you that it will be okay. The corners of your lips lifted slightly in a ‘thank you’ smile before you left to see what was bothering your boyfriend.

“So, while I went to go help my friend, you go and flirt with other guys.” Your jaw dropped at the accusation.

“Excuse me?” you spat as your blood began to boil in your veins. “I was helping Pope with the keg that you decided to leave because John B can’t handle himself and a touron started talking to me. You can go ask Pope. He was beside me the whole time we were talking, and he’ll tell you we weren’t flirting.”

“I saw the way you were looking at him, y/n! You used to look at me that way when we first started talking.”

“Yeah, but all we ever do is fight anymore, JJ! Look at us right now! We are fighting again! It’s exhausting and forgive me for having a nice conversation with someone who doesn’t constantly pick arguments with me.”

“Bullshit! We don’t always fight,” he fumed, shoulders rising and falling with the deep breaths he was taking.

“When was the last time we spent a few hours together and it didn’t end in a fight?��� you asked him. You were genuinely interested in his answer because you could not remember when the last time was.

“The other day when we were all surfing, we didn’t fight.”

“You got mad that Rafe came up to me and when I was trying to handle it, you came out of the water fuming. Once he was gone, we fought about how I can handle myself without you and you said that you were my boyfriend and that is your job to protect me.”

“Was I wrong?” He questioned, bringing back the argument from a few days ago.

“JJ!” you scolded.

“What?” He did not seem to see a problem.

“We aren’t fighting about that again. I am so tired of the constant fighting and arguing. I told Kie I’d try to stay, but JJ, if things keep going how they are going,” you paused trying to collect yourself as tears pricked your eyes, “then I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”

“Y/n,” JJ’s voice sounded defeated as he reached out towards you, but you didn’t fall into him like you normally would. A tear slipped past against your will as you looked away.

“I-I can’t,” you whispered, scared your voice would break if you spoke any louder. You walked away from the blond as you searched for another.

“Sarah, can we leave?” you asked your best friend. Her honey brown eyes looked sad as they met your tear-filled ones.

“What happened sweetheart?” She asked as she brought her hands to cup your face, her thumb sliding across your cheek to wipe away the stray tear. Her eyes left yours for a moment to look behind you. You turned to see what it was that caught her attention and met JJ’s eyes. Turning back to her, you nodded your head at her.

“John B, get your friend under control before he loses the best thing that has ever happened to him,” she told John B but the venom in her voice was directed towards JJ. She grabbed your hand and led you to her car. The ride to Tannyhill was short and you kept your eyes trained out the window. You two pulled up to her house and when you got to her room, you let it all out.

“I’m just so tired of fighting. I’m tired of arguing. I’m tired of it and it’s all we do anymore, Sarah,” you spoke through sobs as Sarah wrapped her arms around you. You love JJ with all your heart, but as you said, you were exhausted from the continuous fighting.

“I know it, baby,” she whispered as she comfortingly rubbed her hands up and down your back.

“You know I asked him earlier when the last time we hung out without fighting was and he told me when we were surfing the other day. I told him that we did fight that day and he tried to bring that argument back up. I love him, but I can’t stand him,” you poured your heart out.

“Let’s just get some sleep. You need some sleep.” And with that, you wiped your tears and fell asleep.

…

“Sarah,” you whisper as you shake your best friend awake, but it was not working. You rolled your eyes before trying again.

“Sarah!” you whisper shout and shake her more. Eventually, her eyes flutter open and meet your own.

“What?” She looked around curiously as she asked in a groggy voice. Once again, you heard the commotion from downstairs that you heard earlier before you woke her up. Brown eyes dart to your own and her eyebrows furrow together.

“What was that?” She wonders out loud.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to check it out alone,” you told her as you got up out of the bed. She followed your actions before heading for the door, leading the way down the stairs. As you two approached the source of all the noise, you could make out the words and who they were coming from.

“Calm down, Rafe,” Ward said, a soothing voice to help calm his angered son.

“No, Dad! Not when some dirty pogue-“

“Dirty pogue?” you asked, effectively shutting Rafe up. All eyes turned to you and Sarah placed a comforting hand on your arm. You met the blue eyes that you hadn’t seen since last night and you weren’t planning on seeing today.

“You’re here? I went to your house, but you weren’t there,” JJ spoke desperately, a happiness evident in his voice that he found you. Sarah leaves your side to pull away Rafe and Ward follows his two oldest children. You walk up to JJ, grabbing his arm and guiding him outside.

“Why are you here?” you questioned, a little angry that you were woken up this way and were not ready to talk to him just yet.

“When you weren’t at your place, this was the next best thing. Y/n, I am so sorry for how I’ve been acting. I love you so much and like Sarah said last night, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you.” He takes a pause and you stand there, waiting for him to continue.

“Last night and the other day with the Rafe thing when we were surfing, I was jealous. You are a beautiful girl and you are so amazing. I am terrified that I am going to lose you, or you are gonna realize that you can do so much better than me and leave. I know I’ve been a jealous asshole, but I love you, y/n.” You feel the tears coming back, but you keep them from falling.

“I love you too, J, and I am not going to leave as long as the fights stop. We can fight every now and then like a normal couple, but not like how we have been lately. And you have absolutely no reason to be jealous. You are the only person I have eyes for. No one else on this island stands a chance against you. Okay, baby?”

You step forward, placing his face in your hands. It was nice to see him so caring and thoughtful rather than enraged. While seeing him so angry was really hot, it was not as enjoyable when you were who he was mad at. He nods his head in your hands as he brings his hand up to your face, wiping away a tear that managed to escape against your will.

“I promise to do better, y/n. I mean it.” You nodded your head as you pulled him into for a kiss, a feeling you had missed so badly. You two had only shared hello or goodbye kisses lately, but a passionate kiss like this one was one of the many things you longed for while things between you and him were rocky. The two of you pull away, staring deeply into each other’s eyes.

“How about we get out of here? I’ve missed you, you dirty pogue,” you giggle as a big smile spreads on your face.

“Dirty pogue? Oh, you’re gonna regret that.” With that, JJ throws your body over his shoulder and a yelp escapes your lips.

“JJ! Put me down!” you squeal as you slap playfully at his back, wanting to feel the ground beneath your feet again.

“I’m gonna make you regret calling me a dirty pogue, sweet cheeks.” And after that statement, you knew you were in for it later.

[jui-imouto-chan]

Ouran High School Host Club AU (Inspired by this post)

Yes, I used everybody they offered as the characters (and more!), it’s just a really big club. 

(It will 200% get bigger if I keep writing this, don’t test me)

Ship Tags: MiyaHina, AtsuHina, OsaHina, OiHina, KurooHina, BokuHina, AkaaHina, TsukiHina, UshiHina, AoHina, HyakuHina, NishiHina/NoyaHina, Hinata Harem aka Hinata/Everyone. 

Loosely follows plot, but a few things have been changed to match Haikyuu more, such as:

•Hinata isn’t an honor-student, he’s on an athletics scholarship (and while there are plenty of decent athletes there, they’re all rich enough to not need a scholarship)

•Hinata wears blue-light glasses often. He has good vision but having the glasses framing his vision helps him focus in class instead of getting (as) distracted.

•Yachi and Hinata switch off on some Haruhi stuff but Yachi isn’t the one the guys are all simping for.

•Yachi is an actual honor student but she’s not on the kinda full-ride scholarship Hinata is on. She’s like, partially rich, but not enough for Ouran (so she gets bullied or at least teased.)

•Hinata and Yachi got to be really good friends at orientation since she can sympathize with him better than all the actual rich people, and she helps him with his studies so he doesn’t completely flunk his classes. 

•The Twins, like Hikaru and Kaoru, have the same color hair (brunette) atm

•Hinata’s mom is a drag king to parallel Haruhi’s dad’s sitch

•Oikawa doesn’t let Iwaizumi into the club because he kills his eccentricity and egotism. None of the others can vibe check him the way Iwa-Chan does so that’s why he seems even more unbearable and thus more Tamaki-like.

••

Hinata tried to figure out where Yachi disappeared to, peering down halls and into classrooms through small openings of the doors. “Yachi-saaaan...”

He barely registered the vague scent of roses and sweets saturating the air as he pushed the door softly. 

The wood swung open as though pulled, Hinata stumbling through with a shout. A breeze and rose petals drifted by his face as he opened his eyes, head whipping up to view the silhouettes of the boys not too far from the door.

“Welcome to the Harukou Host Club!”

“Th-The... --What’s a host club?”

Hinata watched as all of the boys’ faces fell into befuddlement. 

“W-What a funny joke,” a brunet, sat upon a throne-like chair, commented, his fingers interlocked beneath his chin. “Isn’t that cute? Trying to win our hearts with humor.”

“But--”

“So, what kind of guys do you like? We’ve got plenty of types to spare, and I don’t think any of them have any problem attending to a male--ah, sorry, what’re your pronouns? That was rude of me to assume.”

Hinata’s instinctive, “He/him,” came out before he could attach his protests at the services offered, his stress elevating as the brunet hopped out of his chair and sauntered over to him, hands extended in shows of eccentricity.

“We haven’t gotten a boy, yet, huh, ‘Tsumu?” one of the guys still in the group commented, his arm draped over the shoulder of his exact copy (sans the parting of the brown locks). 

“No, but that’s because the only boys we’re involved with are each other,” the copy, ‘Tsumu(?), said, grabbing the other’s chin to hold his gaze. They stared into each other’s eyes for a second before their faces got a little green, the two of them separating to mime vomiting whilst laughing.

Hinata had to tune back into the brunet approaching him, who seemed to be going off on a tirade about beauty and elegance. He tuned back out almost immediately, finding even schoolwork to be more interesting.

“’Tsumu and ‘Samu are awful at the twincest-schtick, don’tcha think?”

“Right? I thought so, too. We’d be ten bajillion times better at it if we were identical twins!”

The ravenette rolled his eyes, although he drew in the other smugly. “Identical or not, the reason we work is because I’m a good actor.” Then, placatingly, he amended, “And you’re not hard to tease and smother with affection.”

His silver companion’s eyes lit up. “Man, you’re so cool, Kuroo.”

“Make sure to call me Tetsu when there are girls here.”

“Oooh do I get a nickname? Like, Kouta instead of Koutaro?”

Kuroo grinned, “Don’t give me an offer like that. I’ll call you Honey or Beloved, and while we’re raking in the cash, Akaashi’ll sell a bunch of merchandise with it.”

Another ravenette, probably Akaashi, nodded calmly as he penciled into his notebook. Beside him, a tall blonde smirked, his glasses flashing menacingly as he tapped away into a calculator. Kuroo and the silveret both paled and protested at him, which he seemed to ignore.

Speaking of ignoring things...

“You’ve been talking a long time, haven’t you?”

The brunet, knelt on the floor near a table, glanced over at him like he forgot who he was talking at. “Is that praise of my oratory skills? I’ve always been told that people get lost in my speeches, and it’s no surprise that you’ve gotten so enthralled with one!”

Seems like I wasn’t the only one who got lost, Hinata thought, noting the despondent, glazed eyes of some of the occupants. A short guy with a patch of blonde hair jumped up into a handstand on the shoulders of one of the taller guys in the back with white hair, and it was made evident that, no, some of them just always appeared completely detached from reality.

“So, anyway, what kind of guy is your type, Mr. Athlete? Maybe you like the cool type? The boy lolita?”

“—I AM NOT THAT SHORT—”

“You are quite that short,” the brunette continued, “Or maybe you like the strong silent type? —We have three of those. We also have twins—identical and fraternal— if you’re into the taboo kinda stuff. We don’t kinkshame here.”

“Maybe we should,” muttered the blonde guy with the calculator. His mouth was covered by a silver-haired guy with black ends, whose face betrayed no emotion even as the blonde fought against his palm irately.

“I’m not into this kind of thing,” Hinata said quickly, “Besides, doesn’t it cost money? I don’t think I’d be able to afford something like this, anyway.”

“Speaking of not being able to afford things... Shouldn’t we check up on her?” Probably-Akaashi motioned to a corner of the room with a piano and a familiar blonde girl hiding beneath its bench, sobbing meekly into her knees.

“Yachi-san!”

Hinata raced over to her, her head whipping up at his call. Her teary eyes let loose some sparkling droplets as she leapt at him, although the rope binding her ankles to the bench prevented her from fully reaching him. He thankfully was close enough that he saved her from a tumble to the floor.

“Hinataaaa,” she whined into his shoulder, “I’m going to have to sell my organs!!!”

“What!?”

“She came into our clubroom earlier and broke the vase we were supposed to sell at an auction,” explained one of the twins.

“It was worth eight million yen, and she told us she doesn’t have enough money but that she’ll sell her organs in order to pay us back, which is impressive in the dedication but very concerning.”

“We had Wakatoshi-kun put her on the bench to calm down, but she tied herself to it because she thought she would be our prisoner as a punishment.”

Yachi clearly tuned them out, too busy crying and hiding in Hinata’s arms. The redhead patted her on the head, wondering how things could get this weird in less than twenty minutes of her being out of his sight.

“Yachi-san.”

No response. Her blubbers were even less coherent now.

“Yachi-san!” He shook her by the shoulders until she blinked up at him. “I’ll help you, okay? Just promise me you’ll be more careful. And help me with my homework again!”

“Hinata...”

He grinned at her and patted her head. When he turned back to the group of boys, he could see they parted somewhat to allow the brunet to be visible whilst lounging on his throne that was turned to face them.

“I’ll be taking on Yachi-san’s debt,” he declared. The brunet rested his cheek on his fist and peered down his nose at him, smirk drawing his lips.

‘Kuroo’ spoke up, “Hoh? All eight million? Are you sure you can make it up, Chibi-chan?”

“You couldn’t even afford a school uniform; how do you plan to pay us back?” said the blonde guy, eyeing his white-and-pink tracksuit with no lack of judgment.

“I’ll...” Hinata glanced back at Yachi, her eyes glistening, and steeled his resolve, “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Then, Chibi-chan, from here on,” the brunet guy’s voice, initially dropped, lilted upward as his amusement mounted, "You’ll be our bitch.”

“What.”

•

Hinata frowned at the smudges all over his lenses, ignoring the twins (both sets) measured him for his uniform. 

He almost didn’t notice when Kuroo bent down to meet his eye-level and gently grasped the frames of his blue-light glasses. “Alright, Chibi-chan, we’ll be taking these. Though it doesn’t even seem like you need them, huh, since these lenses don’t really have any magnification?”

“Well, no, but since we have a lot of work on laptops here I thought they’d be better to have.”

Kuroo hummed and slipped them off his ears and nose, and all of the twins gawked at him as he blinked up at them.

“What?”

Osamu kicked Atsumu’s calf, and the Miyas dragged Bokuto away with them.

“Nothing,” said Kuroo, “Maybe they just forgot you’d have a face behind these.”

“Oh, I’ve done that before! Like when people are sick for a long time and they wear a mask, I kinda forget they have mouths!”

“Yeah, just like that.” 

•

“What kind of coffee is this?” The brunet, now known to be Oikawa Tooru, asked, beckoning Hinata over with the most obnoxious “come-hither” motion to ever exist.

“Instant. I don’t really understand coffee, but this is what my mom buys. It’s just cheap enough that I still have money for lunch.”

Oikawa sputtered at Hinata’s lackluster funding for his nutrition, although his mind finished processing what was said about the coffee itself before he could really express any amount of disbelief at the former.

“What do you mean ‘instant’? Are the beans already ground or something?”

Hinata blinked. “Coffee’s made of beans?”

Oikawa sighed heavily and drew up to his full height, holding the coffee container skyward as a few girls approached for their hosting appointment.

“Alright, you know what? I’m up for a challenge! I’m going to try some commoner’s coffee!”

The girls in the clubroom gave shrieks of surprise, Oikawa’s announcement drawing the attention of the entire room. Hinata longingly and despondently stared outside at the people running around the track and beginning practices for their various sports, allowing himself to be dragged away by the club president.

“Darn rich people,” he mumbled.

•

Oikawa was very clingy, Hinata found. Every spare second he had at the club was spent with the other nearby, coddling him and encouraging him to learn up close. It was so draining that the Miya Twins and the Fraternals dragging him into their games was infinitely more appealing, but that could also be his bias for Bokuto coming into play. 

Kuroo was cool, too, yes, and the Miya Twins gave him food, but Bokuto’s energy was so perfectly aligned with his that Kuroo whined about his brother being snatched away on multiple occasions.

This time, with Oikawa monologuing as dramatically as ever, Hinata had no sets of twins to free him from the absolutely boring speech. He spaced out so hard, he didn’t notice Oikawa coming closer and hugging him to his chest excitedly. 

He shouted, the fright sending tears into his eyes, and he reached desperately at the tall trio nearby. “Help!”

All three of them instinctively drew closer, but it was the white-haired eyebrowless one who pulled him out of Oikawa’s grasp by the armpits, Hinata’s legs dangling in the air while the brunette sat stupefied. 

“A-Aone-kun, you didn’t have to go so far...” Oikawa tried.

Hinata smiled at Aone in thanks and patted his head gently to express further gratitude. Whence he was placed down, Aone bowed to him, and he bowed back.

•

Nishinoya was a very fun person to be around, although their interactions were sparse. He shone under the attention from the girls, and if Hinata didn’t know the girls were paying for his time, he’d have assumed the reverse was true. But it made sense, you know, since Noya-san was just such a cool dude.

The girls cooed at him and giggled at his jokes, and his dorky personality coupled with his small-but-wild looks made him a charmer. He also offered Hinata cake on a frequent basis, and often accosted the others to make sure they ate up--especially Tsukishima, who seemed prickly enough that Hinata didn’t want to get near him with a ten foot pole. 

Unfortunately, Tsukishima was also the one mostly in charge of handling his debt, so he could not actually be avoided. Hinata was assured by Akaashi that he’d remove any undue charges Tsukishima would add to the debt, although Hinata would’ve preferred he hadn’t said anything about those undue charges and just did the removals with Hinata none-the-wiser, as then he wouldn’t be paranoid about the things Tsukishima would charge him for.

•

Hinata hadn’t meant to attract the attention of one of Oikawa’s most attached clients. She gave off a weird vibe and when he mentioned her to Yachi, the blonde girl went a little paler than usual (which, while a frequent occurrence, didn’t fail to raise alarm bells in the redhead’s mind). 

“She’s territorial,” Yachi managed, eventually, and Hinata had to go through all of the lessons the girl kindly drilled into his head in order to remember what that word meant. 

“Oh. So why would she be interested in a guy at a host club? Isn’t he, like, one step from prostitution?” Yachi choked at that, shaking her head to fight down any amusement.

“I don’t think she thinks those other girls are a threat.” 

Hinata hummed, “Well, she keeps glaring at me, so maybe she’s just a little dumb and confused.”

Yachi pursed her lips, barely able to keep her laughter contained.

•

Hinata wondered why Yachi’s schoolbag was tossed into the pond. Alongside it sat his, and as he began running through the halls to go attend to the issue, he spotted that client. 

Hinata quite pointedly ignored her, continuing down the halls and stairs. He felt a small flame of rage light up in his chest at seeing Yachi’s notebooks scattered across the surface of the water, covers just buoyant enough that the papers were only starting to soak in water, and he prioritized getting her items out and organized before he could even ponder grabbing his own. 

He’d been in the pond for twenty minutes, thankfully having managed to salvage most of her things, before a voice broke through the quiet of the grounds. “What are you doing?”

Hinata didn’t need to glance over his shoulder to know it was Oikawa, his voice light and airy, with a hint of playful exasperation. 

“I can’t find my wallet.”

“You’ll get sick with your clothes all wet. Can’t you just let it be?”

Oikawa didn’t seem to understand the necessity of what he’d likely consider pocket change. “I need the money for food. I’m not going to get paid for a couple days and I don’t want to starve in the meantime.”

There was a lengthy period of silence. He wondered if Oikawa left, trying desperately to make out the shape of his coin pouch amidst the colorful pebbles lining the bottom of the pond. He nearly growled in frustration as a series of ripples tore through surface, though as he heard the telltale sound of someone wading through water, he spotted the brunette with his pants rolled up and bare feet gingerly resting on the stone. 

“What are you doing?” Hinata quarried, eyebrows drawn up in confusion. 

Oikawa’s face was concentrated yet somewhat peaceful as he copied Hinata’s searching motions, fingers gliding across the smooth pebbles. A few strands of hair caught the water and were left with shimmering drips that occasionally fell back into the pond. 

“I’m helping.”

He never turned to look away from the bottom, focused mostly on the task at hand. Even his distant, deeper, and yet airier voice conveyed how little attention he was giving his words, and Hinata could only wonder if this was the most genuine he’d ever heard the other in their past week of interactions.

“Why?”

“Well, why not? I mean, everyone tells me I’m dripping with good looks,” he chuckled, the breathy quality sending something through Hinata that made him duck his head down and resume seeking his funds.

The two sought it out for over ten minutes before getting any results. The small coin purse, shaped like a small black crow, sat cradled in Oikawa’s palm. He proffered the item to Hinata with a wink, the redhead unclasping it and sighing in relief at the dryness of its interior.

“Thanks, Grand King.”

As Hinata beamed up at the other, the reflected light from the water seemed to hit Oikawa’s eyes harder, as though a flare traveled across the distance between the earth and the sun solely for this moment. He held up a peace sign and smiled back at the other, wondering if such luminance could ever be reproduced. 

(If it could, then he’d love to bottle some up and save it for a rainy day, but maybe there was a hint of greed in that thought.)

•

“Oh, dear, I can’t believe someone would do such a thing!” the client across from him cooed. Her face tilted down a bit, and shadows draped across her eyes and cheeks. “Still, I can’t believe you got Tooru to scrape through that filthy pond for you. He always has been excessively charitable.”

“Yeah,” Hinata mumbled, stuffing a bite of cake into his mouth. The sweetness was significantly dampened by the presence of the girl. What was her name, again? His focus shifted to trying to recall it.

“I couldn’t imagine having so little shame that I’d be a charity case, though. I mean, doesn’t it embarrass you to have Tooru waiting on you hand and foot?”

Yachi, who’d been standing just within earshot, turned to their conversation just then, a disgruntled look on her face. Despite the anxiety that spread quivers across her body from her sternum, she frowned heavily and managed to inquire, "Aren’t you just jealous?”

Something flashed across the clients face then: anger, most likely. Hinata was drawn out of his attempt at recollection by her hand shooting across the table to yank him over to her, a scream escaping her as they toppled to the ground. Teapots and cups burst apart upon contact with the pink tiles, some of the tea soaking into the knees of his gifted uniform pants as it puddled.

Hinata’s palms and wrists ached from the way they slammed against the floor, on either side of the client’s head. People were quick to crowd them, murmuring and gazing in horror. 

“Help!” she cried, “He attacked me! He just jumped across the table, I--” she scooted out from under him, and he slowly sat back on his haunches before accidentally falling onto his bottom. The discomfort of his soaked clothing did little to distract him from the confusion welling within. 

She crawled over to Oikawa whence the brunette stepped closer to the scene. He was the first one over, ever keen regarding the club’s new pet, but only after surveying the situation did he close the distance. 

Her fingers clutched at Oikawa’s pant leg, creasing the fabric as she shivered with tears in her eyes. Hinata’s jaw was slack. Did he do something? Did he try to do anything to her while he was spaced out? He was sure she pulled him, but should he have been expecting such a thing and made to avoid it?

He slowly turned his eyes over to Yachi, whose face was creased in an anger he’d never quite seen before. Her meekness took a sideline to the frustration and disbelief drawing together her brows and tugging her lips downwards. 

“Tooru, please, you have to do something. He was like an animal, I--”

Her desperate face fell into shock as warm water rushed across her face and scalp, soaking the top of her uniform dress. Her panting became a squeaking staccato, and she blinked as her brows drew up steadily. 

“Tooru?” she whispered, before whipping her head around to the Miya Twins, who glared down at her, unimpressed. “What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me?! I--”

“God, you pigs sure like to squeal, don’tcha.”

Osamu glanced down at the jug in his grasp. “I oughtta grab another one at this rate.”

“Why did you--” Hinata startled as Yachi stepped in front of him. 

“You pulled him to you! I saw it! You were envious that he got Oikawa-san’s attention and tried to frame him!” she blurted. 

More whispers and gasps spread across their audience easily. Oikawa’s face was steely and impassive as the client stared up at him with a cocktail of hurt and anger. “You can’t believe her, Tooru, I--”

“You really are beautiful,” Oikawa interrupted, his fingers gliding under her chin.  “But nothing more than that. It seems you’re not classy enough for our club, my dear, and so I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, Hinata’s heart clenching with a mild bit of sympathy, before she got to her feet and took off, her broken shout of, “Tooru, you idiot--!” echoing through the clubroom.

“I’m sorry, ladies; regrettably, we’ll have to cut our time short for today.” Tsukishima said with his paper-thin smile. It dropped as Akaashi continued for him,

“All of you will receive a full refund of the costs for today’s appointments. You can also use those same funds to reschedule, if you’d like to. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience.”

The girls cooed and cheered, and Tsukishima barely kept his frown from forming.

Eventually the clients filed out of the clubroom, exclaiming their farewells to the hosts. Hinata and Yachi silently stared after them, not wanting to look back to the hosts surrounding them.

“So, what should I do about you?” Oikawa said, drawing Hinata’s reluctant attention. The appraising look and grasp of his own chin were not reassuring at all; Hinata and Yachi glanced at each other and gulped. “Hmm, Tsukki-chan?”

“Don’t call me that,” the bespectacled blonde groused, before pushing up his glasses and smirking. “Since our guests had to leave and receive refunds, our profits for today are at a zero. And because of the drama earlier, we have a few broken teapots and cups from one of our specialty sets, as well as a table that needs to be repaired. To make up for all the damages and overall loss... Akaashi?”

The ravenette typed into a calculator quickly. Bokuto hid behind a sinisterly-grinning Kuroo with his fingers half-heartedly covering his eyes from fear of Akaashi. Akaashi presented the calculator screen within a second.

“Approximately one hundred thousand yen.”

“H-Hundred...”

“Thou...-sand...” Yachi’s eyes swam. Hinata caught her as she half-fainted, both of them shaking with tears welling in their eyes.

“That’ll be added onto your debt, you two. You’d better hope one of your descendents pays it off.” Tsukishima’s smirk shaved additional years off their lives, and Hinata had to pull Yachi’s soul back from the air to shove it back into her body. 

“Darn rich people,” he whined. Kuroo cackled.

••

That was fun ngl. Like, some things go slightly different than in OHSHC, but overall it has some of the same vibes I think

I feel like Bokuto and Akaashi as Honey and Mori respectively would be funnily fitting despite the roles I have them in here, but I think I’m gonna be fluid and loosey-goosey about who is which OHSHC character most of the time (since Noya isn’t entirely Honey-like and there are lots of people who can fit different roles). Kenma and/or Kuroo can fit Kyoya and Tamaki roles too, now that I think about it. Damn this show for having so many characters.

Also this is a nightmare to tag since a lot of characters have multiple spellings for their names and there are so many characters. Heck, that’s why I wrote all the ships at the top!

Anyway, I hope y’all liked it! Might write more if asked 

Also, should I cross-post some of this to Ao3? 

[lunarliza]

Fake Boyfriend | Chapter 4: Kook Conventions

JJ x Kook!reader

series masterlist | prev. chapter| chapter one

my masterlist

You’re a Kook Princess who has everything you ever wanted... until your handsome Kook Prince dumps you for a hot new fling. To save your reputation, you bribe the one person he hates the most, JJ Maybank, to pretend to be your boyfriend for the summer. All’s fair in love and war. But where do you draw that line when you’re suddenly wishing your fake boyfriend is your real one?

note: slight mention of panic attack

If there was anything you learned about JJ that Friday, it was that he was the absolute worse at sticking to the plan.

For one, he spent so much time looking for the tennis courts, instead of following your clearly written out instructions, that he ended up being late altogether to pick you up. What was supposed to be a grand gesture turned into you sitting on the front steps, while the sun was near done setting, waiting for stupid JJ while everyone else had already left.

“What the hell took you so long?!” you scolded, slamming the truck door shut in annoyance once he finally showed up.

“This place is confusing as hell! I kept having to make loops. It is called Figure Eight for a reason,” he tried to justify, pulling out of the lot.

“JJ I texted you specific instructions on how to get here!” you groused, rubbing your temple, “Anyways, it’s fine, whatever. Let’s just hurry home so I can get ready. My house is just a little bit up that way.”

“Yeah, uh, about that,” JJ mentioned sheepishly, keeping his eyes on the road, “I kinda have to help Pope and Poppa Heyward with something right now. It will only take an hour tops! I’ll just meet you at the party after I’m done.”

You groaned loudly, face-palming yourself. “JJ what the hell! I told you specifically to cancel your plans tonight. It was supposed to be our debut!”

“I did! I just,” he scratched the back of his neck, “kinda broke one of their carts this afternoon, so I have to help them fix it for tomorrow. I think they’re catering your little brunch thingy.”

“How did you even break the cart to begin with?!”

He hid his face from your dagger-eyes and admitted in a low voice, “I, uh, tried to surf on it down a hill when they weren’t looking.”

You had to fight the urge to smack him upside the head, but you didn’t want to risk him veering off the road. Lucky bastard.

“Fine,” you grumbled, “Just make sure you’re on time to the party.” You then eyed his outfit up and down. Even in the little sunlight that emitted from outside, you could tell it was all dirty from his day activities. “And please change into something a little nicer,” you added, “These Kooks would run you to the ground with that on.”

JJ dropped you off at your house and sped away as you unlocked the door into a near empty house. Looks like it would just be you and Alfred for dinner.

Your parents were headed off to the mainland for some business convention. Thankfully, your presence was not needed which saved you an entire day of pretending to be a perfect obedient daughter. It was an exhausting act.

Most teens your age would kill for a night alone, but after countless nights sleeping isolated in a big empty house, it got old and depressing. Most of the time, you’d sleep over at Sarah’s for some kind of company. You were always welcomed at the Camerons’.

Greeting Alfred your usual hello at the foyer, you darted upstairs to wash off and get ready with the little time you had left. The aroma of filet mignon and freshly seasoned veggies filled the house air.

“Oh and Alfred,” you called out over the intricate metal banister, “It’ll just be me eating tonight, so just set the table for one please.”

“Miss Y/n, your friend is not coming?” he asked with hints of concern. You just shook your head with a sad smile. “No, he had to run last minute.”

Alfred gave you a curt nod, making way back into the kitchen while you dashed into the bathroom.

—————————————————

Instead of throwing JJ straight into the shark’s tank (even though, given his already poor track record, you strongly contemplated throwing him to literal sharks), you decided it was best to ease him into the whole boyfriend role.

You figured he’d be more in touch with his aura if you invited him to a Kook party first— which was exactly where you were, furiously texting him where on earth he was.

It was already ten o’clock. The party started hours ago, and he was nowhere to be found. An hour with Pope your ass!

Flopping onto the giant living room couch in Billy Irvine’s mansion, you frowned amongst the throng of drunk privileged kids. Around you, the Glossy Posse was gossiping with other Kooks about some of the summer newcomers while sleazy guys from out of town tried to grab their attention. It never worked.

“So y/n,” Chloe asked next to you on the couch, “I have some great news! It’s no secret that you need a date to the all the fundraiser events, and I might just have one for you! My cousin, Gerald, is coming into town next week, so I can totally set you guys up!”

She proceeded to show you pictures on her phone of a lanky tall guy with discolored hair and a creepy smile. You resorted to taking a gulp of your drink to hide your horrified expression. “Thanks, but, uh, no thanks. I actually have a date already,” you informed, typing away heatedly at your phone for JJ to arrive that instant or so help you.

“Ooh, who is it?” Ivy nosily chimed in at the mention of you finally having a date. From the couch over, you also saw Anne-Marie and Warren lean their heads closer to get the scoop.

Jeez, were people really that interested in your love life?

“It’s-”

Before you could reveal the name, a loud ‘ding’ went off from your phone followed by a text from JJ to alert you that he was out front. “Oh! He’s actually here right now,” you announced, hopping up from your seat to collect your very problematic date.

“You’re late, again!” you scolded to the blond standing all gloomy at the front of the stone curved driveway. He changed into a nicer grey long-sleeve with khaki shorts and his signature red snapback, much to your relief. It didn’t quite match with your intricate white romper, but it would do for the time being.

“The guard wouldn’t let me in the gate! I ended up having to sneak through one of the fences,” JJ explained. You rolled your eyes at his ridiculous excuse. “Then why didn’t you just call me to let you in?” you pointed out.

“It was more fun this way,” he peskily grinned, earning himself a smack on the arm. The guy was impossible. “Ow!” he whined, rubbing the spot. Ignoring his complaints, you seized his hand and led him inside. It was about time!

The foyer flashed with various-colored LED lights while thundering rap music echoed from basically every corner of the house. All around, eyes gawked at you stepping through the Victorian-style entryway with a Pogue of all people. It was like walking into a cave of bats.

“Anyways,” you began, disregarding all the probing eyes, “This is Billy Irvine’s place. It’s the nicest house on the Eight. His parents are out of town right now, so we’re celebrating the Glossy Posse’s birthdays.”

It alway was a coincidence to you how all three of them had birthdays on back-to-back days. Witchcraft, honestly.

“Those bitches?” JJ grimaced at the mention of his sworn female enemies, “Ew why? They hate the Pogues.”

“Just shut up and suck it up. Here,” you grabbed a glass from the champagne tower in the middle of the spacious room, “Have a drink to get your mind off it.”

“Champagne? What the hell is this, England?” he yelped, taking a swig. Rolling your eyes, you hoped the alcohol would alleviate his irritability for the night. Fortunately, the blaring music was enough to drown out his constant bickering.

“Now put your arm around me! It’s time to make our rounds,” you demanded. He obliged and you turned on your best lovestruck game-face, giving him the grand tour of the mansion.

Billy’s mom was also one of the important people of the Island Club, so you had been going over there ever since you were nine being that your moms were friends. Still, you were always amazed by the extravagance of their house. You could tell JJ was also in shock of it all too.

It looked like a castle with two grand marble staircases circling the front with a tall vintage Tiffany chandelier hanging over everything. The floors were the shiniest white marble even with hundreds of teenagers recklessly dancing and slipping all over it.

“Damn, so this is how the other side lives,” JJ commented, marveling at how the LED lights reflected off the diamonds on the chandelier.

He slid his hand down to your waist as you stood closer to his side, taking a whiff of his teakwood cologne. Deep down, it was nice to have someone to attend parties with you, even if it was fake and with JJ.

You took him up the right staircase where plastered kids— some you recognized from school, some just in town for the summer— stumbled up and down the stairs or sloppily made out while pinned to the side walls. Realistically, it didn’t seem that off-brand to JJ’s party scene.

“We’re only staying an hour right?” JJ reminded in your ear as you approached the open bar upstairs. Yes, the Irvine’s had a literal bar in their second level.

“Yes, grumpy!”  

“Do you know if Sarah and John B are coming?” JJ continued to question. You settled on top of a retro bar stool as he leaned against the Irvine’s prized rustic bar.

“No,” you answered, “Sarah doesn’t come to these because Topper’s here. And she hates Kooks.”

“She’s the smarter one of you two!” JJ shouted among the loud music. You shook your head and whacked him again, but lightly this time. Seemed that would be you guy’s thing— hitting.

Even in their inebriated states, Kooks were still staring at you like you had grown a third arm. Which, honestly, was what being with JJ felt like half the time. From the corner of your eye, you caught a glimpse of the Glossy Posse and Warren making their way to you with either wide or curious eyes.

Oh boy.

“Y/n!” they exclaimed, shoving through the crowd. You matched their seemingly gleeful expressions, though you knew deep down they were judging you hard.

“You must be y/n’s date,” Ivy stated without much of a formal introduction.

“Aren’t you that Pogue from the Boneyard that always tries to hit on us?” Chloe brought up once she got a better look at JJ’s face. You snorted, but no one heard you.

You were slightly worried JJ would take their snarky comments the wrong way and lash back, but his cocky grin still laid proudly on his face as he held his hand out to your girl friends. “Name’s JJ. And yeah, I’m y/n’s new man.”

New man. Well, that was certainly a title. All of the Glossy Posse’s threaded eyebrows shot up at the word.

“Y/n,” Anne-Marie said in amazement, “You didn’t tell us you were dating again.”

“Yeah, well, I wanted to keep it kinda lowkey,” you lied, signaling JJ to put his arm around you again.

Expecting your friends to stick up their nose at him or give you guys condemnatory looks, you were surprised to find they were more stunned than snobby. Intrigued, you caught them eyeing JJ up and down as if he possessed some kind of magical charm.

From behind the group, you saw Warren trying to stick his hand out at JJ to introduce himself as the girls did kinda take center stage earlier, shielding him out. “Don’t believe we’ve met yet. I’m Warren, Warren Van Doren.”

JJ had to hold back a laugh at the sound of his rhyming name. So immature.

“Hey man, I’m JJ. Nice to meet you,” he greeted, shaking his hand, “Wait a sec, aren’t you that quarterback that got in that fight at regionals last year?”

Warren smiled sheepishly and looked away. “Yeah, that was me.”

You remembered that fight. The video of it actually went viral for like a week. Warren was a very nice guy, but pissed of, he was an animal. He pummeled the shit out of some of other players during that game. The topic of fighting seemed to bond the two boys as they unknowingly drifted away in their own conversation. Thank God, you were glad that at least one of the boys there would be friendly towards JJ.

“Wow, look what the cat dragged in,” Chloe announced, gesturing towards the stairway. All four of your heads turned to see Max and Anya parade up to the top step linked to one another.

That was the cue.

Furtively, you nudged at JJ’s side, interrupting his football conversation. You gave him an alerting look that said ‘look like you’re in love with me ASAP’ and he quickly enveloped his arm around you to pull you close.

Given the fact that you and JJ hardly knew each other, much less touched, it was a very ungraceful and awkward gesture. Even Warren shot you both a weird look. Either way, you figured it would be perfected after going at it a few times.

Just as the Hollywood couple sauntered in to the packed bar area, JJ dipped his face closer to yours. It was a nice touch to the act. He started whispering some stupid joke in your ear that you could hardly make out among the music and chatter, but you went along with it anyway, playfully slapping at his chest. He even placed his snapback on your head backwards. You almost yelled at him for ruining your hair, but for the sake of the show you were putting on, you pretended it was the cutest thing.

You tried not to look at Max as he passed, as you didn’t want to make things so obvious. But in the split second you did glance his way, his mouth flew agape. In that moment, you knew you had him right in the palm of your hand from twenty feet away. The evil laugh cackled inside your head while you raked your hands through JJ’s hair. It was surprisingly soft.

For the next few minutes, you could feel Max’s stare bore into you back as you leaned closer to JJ, kissing up his jawline and cheek. 

“Damn, y/n, didn’t know you felt like this about me,” JJ teased.

“Shut up. I’m giving them a show,” you hissed with an infatuated smile to mask your threats.

“They’re gone now,” JJ noted lowly in your ear. You both detached like repelling magnets.

Fortunately, the posse and Warren dispersed among the crowd while you and JJ acted out your little PDA scene— it was probably from discomfort, if you were being honest. You did make sure not to hold anything back while you were draped all over JJ.

“Is that it?” JJ droned, back to his normal whiny self, “Am I done? Can we leave?”

Clicking your tongue, you shook your head, but with a grin this time. “Yes, you idiot, we can leave now.”

“Finally!”

JJ’s hand crept to your lower back as you both weaved through the mass of people to the exit. Before you could make it halfway down the staircase, however, you heard a rumbling behind you that stopped both your tracks. Warren’s six-four gigantic self was rummaging down the stairs, leaving booms in his wake.

“JJ! JJ!” he called out, grabbing hold of your fake boyfriend’s arm, “JJ dude, you gotta check out this new game system Billy has upstairs in the game room. You can play live Madden!”

“What?!” JJ’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas as Warren tugged you both back up the stairs with his giant football-player muscles.

“Dude it’s fucking sick! You gotta try it out,” Warren kept insisting. You knew JJ wouldn’t be able to resist. His eyes were practically glowing with excitement when he turned back to you as if to ask for some kind of approval.

“Okay, I’m just going to stay for one game,” he swore but you were a hundred-and-ten percent sure he’d be hooked and you could stay for much longer.

“Knock yourself out, Maybank,” you responded with a knowing smile, shooing him off to some depth of the Irvine’s enormous home. When he disappeared, you took the liberty to go search for your friends and finally enjoy the party for yourself.

As you predicted, one game turned into thirty real quick. It was well past midnight and JJ was still buried away somewhere doing who knows what. You didn’t mind. Warren was very responsible and you trusted him to take care of your date.

Plus, it gave you enough time to take rounds of various colored jello shots with Billy, dance on Mrs. Irvine’s countertops with the birthday girls, and devour the four-tiered tiramisu cake with fake-puking Barbie doll toppers that you helped pick out at the bakery.

When it got around one thirty, you grew a little concerned about JJ’s whereabouts so you sent him a quick text just to make sure he was okay and not shoving his head down a toilet. Your phone chimed back instantly—

Im jus fine y/n!!! One mor game! I almos beat War Ins Ass! Fuckin kwarter back!

Oh yeah, he was definitely gone. You texted your family’s driver to come by in about thirty minutes to make sure he’d get home safely. Then, you proceeded to dig in to your third slice of cake. Unlike the rest of your friends, you embraced the joy that was carbs— especially when you were drunk and there was chocolate involved.

JJ came downstairs a few minutes later and found where you were sitting on the couch surrounded by your circle of friends. Even amid the dark yet colorful beaming lights, his hair was still its usual sweaty mess with eyes a tad droopy, indicating just how drunk he was.

“Y/n! There’s my baby!”

He walked up and collapsed right onto your lap, tossing a dangly arm around you. You kept his snapback on for the entire night, assuming your hair was probably a bird’s nest underneath it. Everyone around seemed amused at the sight, and a few girls from school even began asking how you two started dating.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

Well, that was until your thigh circulation began ceasing due to JJ’s bony ass on it. You immediately demanded that you switch places with him, and he sloppily obliged. The throng around you giggled, intrigued by the new lovey-dovey couple. Secretly, you ate up the attention and knew JJ did too.

He was in the middle of telling everyone a dumb Boneyard party story when Max and Anya entered the living room premises. They looked like they were fixing to leave. Your date felt you tense a little in his lap and caught on to your sudden judder.

Boldly, JJ made direct eye contact with Max and threw him one of those ‘what’s up’ nods. Then, out of nowhere, in his completely trashed state, JJ cupped both of your cheeks and planted a very brazen kiss on your lips for everyone to see. Shutting your eyes, you heard a few whistles from the crowd around you, especially when he, very obviously, added his tongue to the mix.

JJ was a good kisser, you had to admit. It quite literally, took your breath away when he pulled back. Biting your lip, you mimicked his shit-eating grin while he pressed his perspiration-filled forehead on yours. It was a huge acne-hazard just waiting to happen. But, like the snapback, you didn’t care. It was the most thrilling thing you had done in months.

“Don’t look now, but Vega and his girl have their jaws dropped to the floor behind you,” he muttered in your ear. You giggled and held onto him closer, leaning your head on his chest.

It was probably be best fifteen hundred bucks you had ever spent.

—————————————————

The next morning was your mom’s weekly Saturday brunch. By default, you showed up an hour early to help greet the guests, frequently checking your watch and phone to see when JJ would arrive.

You had a tennis tournament earlier that morning, however, you didn’t even bother making your fake boyfriend go. After the events of last night, you knew he’d be too hungover in the morning and wouldn’t wake up in time for it. He was getting to be very predictable.

At t-minus five minutes until the brunch started, everyone had already made their way into the ballroom. That left just you waiting in the lobby area for your date. The look on your face was just about ready to kill JJ whenever he walked through the door. You also didn’t see Sarah and John B arrive either, so you assumed they would be a no-show yet again.

About a minute past noon, the blond sauntered past the doors wearing a black suit that looked two sizes to big for him with hideous shoulder pads. You presumed it was his dad’s old one. He also had on jet black sunglasses to mask the grogginess from the party, but it was pretty evident he looked and felt like shit.

“You’re late again!” you hissed through gritted teeth, snatching his hand like he was an uncontrollable child. Maybe you should invest in a leash and collar for him since he could never get his attendance right.

“What do you mean? You said noon,” he yawned, unfazed at your irritation.

“The brunch starts at noon!” you jeered, “That means you have to show up early!”

“Well you failed to mention those rules,” he tried to bicker back, but you flashed him one of your bitch-looks before he could go any further. That had him shriveling at the sight.

“Whatever, just hurry up and let’s get seated,” you ordered, leading him through the majestic looking double doors, “And take off those sunglasses!”

Much to your dismay, the doors made a very loud creaking noise when they opened. Just about everyone did a double-take to see you arrive late and with a woozy-looking boy shoving sunglasses in his suit pocket.

Eyes were glued on you while judgmental whispers filled the already tense air. There was a small churn in your stomach as you weaved through the round tables. Something was also gnawing at your brain, telling you that it was a terrible, terrible idea. You attempted to brush it aside, though, as you and JJ took your seats.

For some odd reason, the Glossy Posse didn’t show the same enthusiasm towards JJ like the did at the party. They were back to their pretentious ways— you figured it was probably just their hangover attitude.

On the other hand, Warren happily greeted JJ when he sat down, exchanging one of those typical ‘bro’ handshakes. They started chatting on about the previous night while you tried to make small talk with the girls. Unfortunately, they were still being short with you and were, very obviously, throwing looks at JJ, along with their dates.

Glancing to your parents’ table, they didn’t look like they cared too much about your situation, having just flown in from their trip. They were too engrossed in entertaining their friends to really pay you any mind. Sometimes you were grateful that they were oblivious to some things. When you look over at the Vegas, however, Mr. and Mrs. Vega both sent you a disapproving look. The other families followed.

You couldn’t help but feel like you were in over your head at that point. Was it a mistake bringing JJ to this event?

The servers came out and made their rounds at the tables, setting bowls of water in front of everyone.

“Thank God, I’m starving,” JJ piped, taking his dessert spoon to sip water from the finger bowl.

“JJ,” you yelled-whispered as guests continued to stare.

“What?” he chided back with an attitude, completely unaware of his surroundings.

“The water is for your fingers.”

His face shot up from the bowl and scanned the room at people dipping their fingers into their respective bowls. “Oh shit,” he sputtered as your entire table tried to hide their snorts.

When the food finally came out, it didn’t really get any better. Baked chicken was on the menu and, well, JJ was the only one in the room who didn’t use a fork and knife. Everyone stared at him incredulously as he used his hands to gobble up his plate. Though, the boy didn’t seem to notice any of the baffled eyes.

Attempting to shield your red face, you continued to take tiny bites from your food, hoping the next hour would go by fast.

You hoped too soon.

As soon as JJ was done eating, he let out a loud belt to where the tables around you could hear. Warren high-fived him. At least someone got a kick out of it. You, along with the rest of the guests, had nothing but revolt on your faces.

Once the plates were cleared, the servers brought out creme brûlée for dessert. You were grateful it was something semi-clean to eat. JJ seemed to get a knack out of all the food. He even leaned over to you with his mouth full and muttered, “This food is fantastic! My compliments to the chef.”

You half-smiled back in embarrassment and took a spoon-full of your dessert. Thankfully, your mom waltzed over when you were half-way through to ask for your help carrying in the posters and stands from the lobby that displayed all the charity and donation information.

Immediately, you rose and scattered out, away from all the the dense room.

At the front, you began picking up the easel stands to bring inside until you spotted the jet-black locks of the last person you wanted to run into that afternoon. You almost dropped the large items in your hands when he came up to you.

“So, I see you brought Maybank here. Looks like he’s really enjoying himself in there,” Max commented dryly beside you. Mrs. Vega must have asked him for a hand as well.

You winced at the oozing criticism in his voice. It was the first time you had spoken to him one-on-one since the breakup.

”Yeah, we’re, uh, kind of together now,” you mentioned, lugging a display. He grabbed the two remaining and rushed to keep up with you, following you back in.

Out of nowhere, he let out disbelieving laugh, “You can’t be serious, y/n, you and Maybank?”

Taken aback by his brashness, you stopped right before the ballroom doors, frowning. “Yeah,” you shot back sternly, “Why not? I get along with him fine.”

“Doesn’t look like it to me. The guy’s a total tool. I’ve told you that from the beginning. Trust me, I know.”

“Know what? What’s good for me?” you pressed, growing more and more exasperated at the sound of his deep and raspy voice.

It was sexy, no doubt, but just the things that were coming out of his mouth made you want to slap him silly. How dare he prance up to you in his gorgeous light blue Armani suit and tell you what’s good for you!

“I just know who you are, y/n,” he went on calmly, with not an ounce of anger present in his tone, “And JJ’s just not a good guy for you.”

You were seeping with outrage at that point. Hiking in a breath, you spoke with the speckles of tranquility you had left in you. “Well I appreciate your concern, though I hardly understand why you have any for me. But we broke up, Max. You completely lost the right to tell me any of that.”

With that, you furiously stomped into the brunch and set the displays at the front for your mom. Max looked dumbstruck as he trailed behind. But you didn’t care.

“Everything okay? Did something happen with Vega?” JJ asked when you got back to your seat. You remained silent. It was the only way to keep yourself from screaming.

It was all too much— the piercing stares, the messy eating, Max.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” you informed to JJ as he listened to another one of Warren’s football stories, “And then we’re leaving.”

Before he could respond, you were already racing to the bathroom as fast as your Jimmy Choo wedges could take you.

You needed air. And fast.

Bursting through the bathroom door, you heaved yourself into the biggest stall and flopped down on the toilet seat, taking in deep breaths to calm yourself. It didn’t help much. The room was still twirling like you were on the Graviton at a carnival. Too nauseous from it all, you didn’t even care that you were ruining your new white Valentino dress.

You just wanted to hurl inside the antique-decorated bathroom but couldn’t. It was miserable. But at least the bathroom was empty.

All the seeming success of last night crumbled away with every disapproving look or whisper of the guests. And then Max— that fucking asshole. Your head was thumping endlessly as you felt the stress knots crawl up your spine.

What were you thinking? Maybe you were in over your head. No one was believing it. Not for a second.

Even JJ was terrible at playing along. You should’ve known it was just wishful thinking. You knew you had to throw in the towel and told yourself you would call it off once you found some way to stop the hot tears that were streaming down your made-up cheeks.

As you felt your breathing start to normalize, you slowly lifted from the toilet seat and smoothened out your dress. When the bathroom door slammed open against the wall, you immediately fell back down, wanting to avoid any form of human interaction for the rest of your life.

Titters and snickers echoed the air as two girls stumbled in, mid-conversation. They didn’t seem to notice you in the stall at all. Thank God.

“Would you believe y/n? Bringing that dirty Pogue here? She’s gone insane!” A nasally voice spoke by the sinks.

You scrunched your nose, trying to catch a glimpse of their shoes from the opening underneath the stall. You nearly puked. Nameless brand heels? Unacceptable.

“I know! He’s so disgusting and that suit is just repulsive! Does she not have an ounce of embarrassment?” the other one added.

You didn’t recognize their voices, but assumed they probably went to your school by the way they knew you and JJ. A part of you wanted to charge out of the stall and drag their pitiful selves to the ground. But seeing as you were just recovering from a near panic attack, you didn’t have the energy. And they didn’t deserve your breath.

Nevertheless, they still went on. 

“Ever since Vega dumped her for California girl, she’s completely gone off the rails. First the hair change and now she’s dating a Pogue like Sarah Cameron is. It’s so pathetic!”

“Seriously, train wreck of the year if you ask me.”

Train wreck? Pathetic? You’ll show them what pathetic is! Especially with those god-awful shoes. Do they have an ounce of embarrassment showing up here with that kind of atrocity?

You were seconds away from emerging from your ashes to put them in their place. But, lucky for them, they escaped before you could come out of confinement.

Huffing, you stormed out of the stall and towards the mirrors to fix yourself. God forbid you’d ever let anyone see you with smeared mascara!

Dabbing a wet cloth on your cheeks to soothe out the redness, you heard the creak of the door opening behind you and immediately tossed it into a bin. You pretended to fix your hair. Fortunately, the redness faded to a soft pink to look like blush.

Anya strolled in the bathroom behind you. Ugh, the cherry on top of the cake.

You faked a tight smile at her. She threw a cheery one at you, walking up the sink next to yours to toss up her bouncy, voluminous hair. “So, I thought you said that guy out there wasn’t you boyfriend,” she pointed out, not taking her eyes off her own reflection.

“Oh, psh, well you know,” you sputtered, not expecting the sudden inquisition, “One thing led to another that night at the Boneyard and it just kinda… happened.”

It was the first real conversation you had with her, and you wanted to hold your breath at the awkwardness. Anya nodded at your answer, puckering her lips slyly. “I just think it’s cute that you’re trying to make Max jealous.”

You almost did a double take. It was so subtle and smooth, her comment almost flew right over your head. “Excuse me?” you shot back, turning to the blonde-haired home-wrecker.

She didn’t even flinch a muscle at your snub expression, just continued to ogle at herself. It was menacing. Evil really did take form in Anya Carmichael.

“Oh, did I need to spell it out for you?” she blinked, “Y/n, you’ve been out of the picture. If you think showing up with that god-awful guy in his dad’s raggedy suit is gonna change Max’s mind about you, I assure you it won’t work.”

She crinkled her eyes in a hateful smile.

What was with people and their audacity that afternoon? Whatever was in their water, you were not about to have any of it. No one spoke to you like that.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you said blandly, wanting to get under her skin.  

“Yes you do,” she snarled back, placing both hands on the sink in a threatening manner, “Look. Max and I are together now. You need to get that in your tiny pea-brain head. Do not play dumb with me. I see you looking over at him every five minutes. Get. Over. It.”

“Like I said,” you responded back in a fake-innocent tone just to push her buttons some more, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Anya. I think all the hairspray is really getting to your head.”

Two can play that game.

She narrowed her almond eyes at you and straightened up proudly. Even though she was way taller than you in her six-inch heels, you still stood your ground, blinking up at her tauntingly. At least your swanky parents taught you that much.

She scoffed. “Give it up, seriously. Using that guy to try to get back at your ex is just pathetic. Max was right about you. You’re just a shallow virgin with a handbag.”

With that, she tossed her hair behind her shoulder and strutted out the door. Your blood was boiling, having half a mind to go out there and rip the bottled-blonde right off her head. You should’ve known it was all an act!

Fuming, you treaded back to the brunch table, your face doing a complete one-eighty once you stepped through the doors. A lady never showed her seething anger underneath.

JJ spotted you and promptly stood up, snatching your purse, and getting ready to leave.

“Sit,” you demanded, pushing him down by the shoulder so his ass plopped back firmly on the chair. The look of utter shock flashed on his face, but he just took it.

“I’m feeling better now. We’re staying,” you informed as if you were a commander at war. You glanced over at the Vegas’ table where Anya hung her arm proudly on Max’s bicep as he made some joke to his table. She threw over a glare at you. No one but you noticed.

You draped an arm on one of JJ’s ridiculously large shoulder pads, nuzzling your nose to his neck. He was still as confused as ever though, but still went along with it, digging his fork into your half-eaten dessert which he later finished.

If Anya wanted a war, you’ll give her one. May the best bitch win.

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

note: YES SHE WENT THERE! you kno i had to stir in anya- y/n drama!!! 

pls message me to be tagged! 

next chapter

tags: @2kayla64​​ @jewel25​​ @rudyypankow​​ @rafecameron​​ @ultranikilove​​ @wicked-laugh​​​ @outerbankslut​​ @agirlwholovescoffee​​ @tovvaf @obxlife​​ @ilovejjmaybank​​ @celestialmaybank @erraaxh​​ @poguecollins​​ @jolomez​​ @x-lulu​​ @danicarosaline​​ @teamnick​​ @outerbankslut​​​ @sweetlysilent​​​ @5am-cigarette @n1ghtsh4d3-67 ​​@duskangxl @hollandary​​ @rudths​​ @meaganjm​​ @bluesiderudy​​ @http-cherries​​ @allycat449-blog​​ @pink-meringues @mendesmaybank @lunaposey @natsiboo​ @primroswx​ @wtfkie​ @heyitsmeimdead @ilymarkchan​ @drewwbabyy-blog @kookkyra​ @mayybankz​ @ifilwtmfc​ @annedub

[awanderingdeal]

Simply having a wonderful Christmas Time [Part 1]

Merry Christmas to all those folks who celebrate today! This one is dedicated to those of you of who are perhaps not spending Christmas in the way that you would like this year. I hope this brings you a little bit of Joy. Please note that this fic is filled with happy Christmas people so if that is going to make you feel worse then please avoid. I’m hoping to have a Coops instalment up for those who celebrate on the 25th and O’Knutzy on 26th for all those who have boxing day and second Christmas.

CW: CHRISTMAS AND FOOD TALK

Rating: T, there are some sexual implications but I’m pretty happy leaving this at a T. Let me know if you think that needs to change. 

And finally, to @lumosinlove. Thank you for creating the sweater weather universe and in particular the fabulous OC’s that feature in this fic. They really have been a light in the darkness of this year. 

Anyway, let’s get on with this show.

P.S. Yes, we are just ignoring the fact that hockey players most definitely do not get two weeks off at Christmas.

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

Alex had bitched for days about spending his Christmas in the heat of Mauritius - he wasn’t supposed to be opening presents in shorts, dammit - but he’d been willing to concede that he may have been wrong from the very moment that he had stepped through the door of their beach front villa.

He was tired and groggy from the day of travel. The recycled air of the plane had made his throat scratchy; he needed a long, hot shower, and he was generally miserable. 

“Almost there now, sweetcheeks,” Natalie reassured him as the taxi rounded a corner. “You’re going to love it, I promise.” 

The villa was one that Natalie and Kasey had stayed in a few times before, boasting of it’s view and proximity to perfect waves. Right now, Alex didn’t really care about those things. As long as the villa had a comfortable bed and a large shower, he’d be satisfied. 

Natalie was right, and soon the three of them were piling out of the car, hauling bags of luggage behind them. They were only there for two weeks but somehow had five large suitcases between them. 

“I swear, I’m going to sleep for two days,” Alex grumbled as Kasey keyed in the number to obtain the keys. 

“Try and stay awake for a few more hours,” Kasey said. “You’ll feel way better tomorrow for it.”

“Yeah, yeah, jetlag, blah, try to acclimatise to local time, blah -” Alex’s rant was cut short as he stepped through the door. “Wow,” he gasped. 

The villa was gorgeous. He’d expected the large expanse of open plan luxury; a haven of polished metal and glass windows that showed panoramic views of white sand meeting a crystal clear sea. What he hadn’t expected was the giant Christmas tree, at least a few feet taller than himself, and the rest of the expertly placed decorations. 

“Do you like it?” Kasey asked. Alex saw the glance that he and Natalie shared. They were probably worried, he’d been frozen in place for the last 30 seconds. 

Alex nodded, taking a moment to find his words, “It’s incredible. Just like home. Better.”

Everywhere he looked there was something new. A wreath on the wall. Faux furs draped over the seating. A garland that snaked all the way up the spiral staircase. 

“Are those?” Alex stepped towards the stockings that hung on the wall. Each one had a name sewn into it. Natalie. Alex. Kasey.

“Yeah,” Natalie nodded. “One for each of us. Lils made those.”

Alex let himself be pulled into Kasey’s arms, feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

“We know that Christmas with your family is very important to you and we just want you to know that we are incredibly grateful that you decided to spend it with us this year,” Kasey said softly. 

“Finn already bailed anyway,” Alex gave a small laugh. He felt Natalie join them and her arms were also there, enclosing Alex between his two favourite people. 

“We told them to leave the tree. Thought we could decorate it together?” Natalie told him.

“God, I love you two.” Alex breathed. 

That had been ten days ago. Now, a cheesy Christmas movie played on the TV but Alex wasn’t paying it much attention; enjoying the memory and being curled into Kasey’s chest. His fingers played idly with Natalie’s blonde waves as she snored softly in his lap.  

It was the perfect end to a perfect day, a delicately balanced mixture of tradition and newness. Alex saw how hard his partners had worked to give him a Christmas day that rivalved those of his memories with his family and Alex couldn’t wait to thank them properly for it tomorrow. For now though, he was content to just bask in the moment.

“Al,” Kasey whispered. “Do you want to head to bed? I’m not really watching this.”

Alex looked up at Kasey, a gentle smile resting on his lips, “Yeah, bed sounds good to me.”

“Shotgun, not waking Natalie up” Kasey laughed.

“No need to wake her up. I’ll carry her,” Alex said. "Besides, she’s not that bad.”

Kasey frowned, “She bit me once.” 

“Yeah, and did you clap in her ear like you did to me that time?” Alex replied. “Because if so, then you deserved it.” 

“Not my fault you both sleep like the dead.” Kasey mumbled under his breath, switching off the TV and taking their dirty glasses to the sink. 

Natalie gave a small grumble as she was picked up, wriggling in Alex’s arms before settling herself into the crook. 

“God, she’s so cute.” Alex spoke quietly. 

“You both are.” Kasey said with a grin, pressing a kiss first to Natalie’s cheek and then Alex’s. He led them the short distance to the bedroom, pulling the thin sheets on the bed back so that Alex could lie Natalie down. 

“I’m just gonna brush my teeth,” Alex started to walk towards the en-suite but suddenly his phone was vibrating against the bedside table. The noise seemed extraordinarily loud in the quiet room. “Fuck, that’ll be Finn. Get that please, Kase?”

Kasey grabbed the phone and Alex heard a snort as he read the contact name, Fillet O’Fish. 

“Hi!” Finn’s voice boomed a few seconds before his face appeared. 

“Sssh.” Kasey hissed, rapidly hitting the down volume key. 

“Oh, hi, Blizz,” Finn said. “Don’t know why I wasn’t expecting you. You’re naked. Why are you naked? Am I interrupting something? Is Alex naked too? I don’t want to see that.” 

Alex plucked the phone from Kasey’s hand with a laugh. “He’s not naked, we’re just getting reading for bed,” Alex replied, panning the camera down and showing Kasey’s plaid pyjama pants to prove his point. 

Alex pecked Kasey on the lips, “I’m going to take this to the other room.” 

“Alright,” Kasey returned the kiss. “Merry Christmas Finn,” he added, giving the camera a wave. 

“Merry Christmas, Kase!” a chorus of replies was heard. 

Alex wandered from the bedroom, settling himself into a seat that gave a stunning view of the beach that their villa was sat on. 

“Wait, isn’t it only 9 pm there?” Finn asked. “Why are you going to bed already?” 

Before Alex could answer, Logan appeared in the frame, leaning over the back of the sofa to wrap his arms around Finn’s neck, “So nosy, Fish. Maybe they tired each other out, eh?” 

Finn’s nose wrinkled with a look of disgust, “eww.”

“Nothing like that,” Alex laughed. “Not this evening anyway,” he continued, a slight twinkle in his eyes.

“Get it, Alex,” Leo teased, flopping himself onto the sofa next to Finn. 

“Look at this view,” Alex said, turning the camera so they could see the idyllic scenery in an attempt to change the subject. It only served to trigger a memory from earlier that day, one that he probably shouldn't have been thinking about whilst on the phone with his brother. 

Alex sighed happily to himself as he looked down at the watch on his wrist. It looked out of place against his bright blue and pink flamingo shorts, but Alex had received it from Kasey earlier that morning and he refused to take it off. 

It was barely 11 am. However, it was Christmas day, so Alex didn't feel even the slightest bit guilty about the cosmopolitan balanced between his fingers, as he waited for Natalie and Kasey to come back from their surf. Alex wasn’t the biggest fan of the water, preferring to stay in the shade of the giant umbrella they had set up despite Natalie’s playful chirping. 

Alex had pointed the watch out on his and Kasey’s first date without Natalie. They'd been heading to the aquarium when Alex had spotted it in the window of the jewellers. He'd made the briefest passing comment about how beautiful it was and it made Alex's heart sing that Kasey had remembered. 

As if they knew that he was thinking about them, Alex saw the sun bronzed figures of his partners making their way towards him. They looked good; fitted wetsuits showing off their toned bodies and their faces brightened by laughter. Alex loved Kasey’s laugh, people thought it was rare but he just saved it for those that he thought truly deserved it. Apparently, Alex was one of those people now. 

“Close your mouth, O’Hara.” Natalie teased, grabbing a towel and piling her hair into it. 

“Hmm,” Finn nodded, pulling Alex from the memory too soon. “That is beautiful. I think mine has been better though.” His brother's eyes glanced back towards Logan with a smirk and Alex had a sneaking suspicion that Logan's torso wasn't the only thing that was bare. 

"Yeah, you can keep that one for yourself," Alex retorted. 

“Hey Haz! Did Kase like his present?” Leo asked. 

Alex had enjoyed getting to know his brother’s second boyfriend. He offered a stabilizing presence to Finn and Logan’s chaos and to paraphrase shrek, “he was like an onion, he had layers.” Leo had been Kasey’s secret santa and Alex hated to admit it, but he had done a great job. 

“Unfortunately yes,” Alex pretended to glare. “I suppose I have Finn to thank for helping you with that?”

Leo shook his head, “Your mom actually. She was more than willing to send many photos of baby Alex.” 

Alex barked out a laugh, “Of course she was.” He couldn’t really be mad. The three of them had spent an age flipping through the scrapbook of his childhood photos, laughing at the annotations that Leo had added in his delicate script. 

The alarm on Leo’s phone blared. “Sorry, that’s the timer for the potatoes,” the blond apologised. “I better go and check on them.”

“I can come and help.” Finn said.

Alex saw Leo visibly wince before he replied, "No thank you sweetheart. Y’all stay and talk with your brother.” 

Alex raised an eyebrow, “Do I even want to know what disasters you are causing?”

“You cannot talk, Alexander,” Logan defended. “You nearly burnt your kitchen down making toast.”

Alex didn’t have an argument to that, it was true. He hadn’t been much help with Christmas dinner either. 

“Are you sure that you don’t want me to do anything?”  Alex asked for the thousandth time. Besides setting the table, he really hadn’t done much to help with the meal and he didn’t feel great about it. 

“Yes,” Natalie insisted. “We really do not need a trip to the ER today. Just sit down and look pretty.” 

He protested a little but did as he was told. He watched Natalie and Kasey work, moving seamlessly around one another. And then Alex was standing again. He went back inside, ignoring his partner's queries. He was only going to be a moment anyway. Alex reappeared with his camera. He may not be able to cook, but he was excellent at photography. He remembered how they had found so much joy in looking at the photos of himself earlier and wanted to document their first Christmas together. Hopefully, in years to come it would bring them similar joy. 

He took photo after photo of the meal coming together. Kasey flipping the steaks on the BBQ. Natalie glazing the prawns in sauce. The private glances they shared. 

The camera was taken out of his hands and he heard the shutter snap as Natalie fed him pieces of peach. 

He beckoned the two of them over and took a few shots of the three of them together, Santa hats perched on their heads, until Natalie was cursing about something burning.

He’d go through the photos later but he doubted there would be many that he wanted to delete. 

“Earth to Alex!” Finn shouted and Alex blushed as he realised that they had been trying to get his attention for a little while.

Logan rolled his eyes, “You and Finn make the same stupid faces.”

“Oi!” Alex and Finn exclaimed together. 

“C’est Vrai,” Logan chimed.

“I’ll admit to being a hopeless romantic.” Alex shrugged. “It’s part of my charm.”

Finn snorted at that, “It’s not my fault that you and Le are so cute.”

“Agreed.” Alex nodded. “Nat and Kase should be less perfect. It’s all their fault really.”

“You’re both disgusting,” Logan groaned, but he was pressing his lips to the bare flesh on the back of Finn's neck, and Alex had known those two long enough to know exactly where that was going. 

“On that note, I am going to bed. Have a fantastic Christmas, boys.”

[amyscascadingtabs]

rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky

It’s the perfect little getaway, exactly what they needed. It would be even better if she could only stop thinking.

“So, tell me.” Jake holds her hand over the table, forcing her back to reality. “Five top moments for us 2019, go. Countdown-stylez.”

Three different New Year's Eves, as celebrated by Jake and Amy (and Mac).

read on ao3 💕

december 31st, 2019.

The hotel guests checking in before Jake and Amy are a family. A little girl with blonde hair, maybe four or five years old, is carrying her own pink backpack and making up dance steps around her father’s feet as he goes through the information with the receptionist, and an even younger boy is hiding behind his mother’s legs as he watches the people in the lobby with wide eyes. Looking up, Amy realizes that the mother’s open coat is revealing a baby bump, too. She’d put her at six, maybe seven months pregnant. Three kids. Amy feels a pang of jealousy.

Even with the observation skills of an experienced detective, it shocks her how good she’s become at picking out families and pregnant women in any crowd. It’s an interesting talent, but measured against the pain it causes her, Amy wouldn’t call it a very useful one. She notices Jake looking at the kids as well, a daydreaming look on his face, and somehow, that makes her pain worse.

The idea behind going away to a hotel upstate for New Year’s was so they could get away from the stress for a moment; go somewhere else, rest and relax, forget about the pregnancy master calendar they’ve stared themselves blind at for a few days. Amy didn’t realize how impossible it would be to get away from all the other reminders.

She draws a breath of relief when the family in front of them gets the keys to their room, the little girl running first towards the elevator and her brother laughing as he chases after.

“Cute kids,” Jake whispers, watching them longingly.

“Yeah.” Amy tries not to think about the negative pregnancy test she threw away in the bathroom trashcan before they left. “Really cute.”

//

“I’m excited you said we could drink tonight.” Jake toasts his White Russian with her glass of Sauvignon. ��It’s been a while.”

“I know, “ Amy feels the guilt wash over her. “Well, it’s not New Year’s Eve every day. I think we’ve earned it.” And I already took a negative test, she thinks.

“We sure have.” He gives her a closer look, pressing his lips together like he always does when he’s worried about her. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Just tired,” she says. It’s not technically a lie. “I didn’t sleep that well last night.”

“Lucky we have a huge hotel bed to help with that tonight, then. Seriously, this place rocks.”

Amy’s prepared to agree on that part – she did her research the moment it stood clear they would both get New Year’s Eve off. After getting their room, they’ve spent the evening getting massages in the hotel spa, dining at the surprisingly nice restaurant, and now they’re admiring the view from the bar on the top floor, waiting for the fireworks. It’s the perfect little getaway, exactly what they needed. It would be even better if she could only stop thinking.

“So, tell me.” Jake holds her hand over the table, forcing her back to reality. “Five top moments for us 2019, go. Countdown-stylez.”

“Number five!” She rolls the r and holds on the i, earning herself an amused look from the older couple next to them. “Okay, I’m going to go with… that date you took me on for my birthday. I can’t believe you got into the puzzle bar this time!”

“I might have convinced the guard to let me in because it was your birthday, but still a good one. Number fooo-uur… the Cinco de Mayo-heist. God, that was fun, even if the tasing hurt like a bitch.”

“Agreed. Number three – when Holt finally invited us to that dinner party and I almost didn’t lose my cool once.”

“You keep telling yourself that, babe. Number two… the Jake way. Seriously, I still think we should try that again. It was awesome.”

“It was, but also way inappropriate,” she reminds him, but he just shrugs. “Number one, then.”

“I know which one is mine, but you go first.”

Amy swallows, then sighs. “Mine is after the manhunt. When we decided to start trying. That’s still my favorite moment.”

“Mine, too.” Jake looks her in the eyes, and she knows the bittersweet feeling is shared. “It’s going to happen, Ames. I know it. Maybe this month’s the one.”

Amy doesn’t have the strength to correct him, tell him she’s already taken an early test and that she’s lacking any confidence there’s going to be a second line when she tests again in a couple of days. Luckily, she doesn’t have to, because right then, the fireworks that have been going off a few at a time in the distance begin to multiply as the countdown starts.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four…

Amy leans forward so she can be kissing him already when the new year begins.

Three, two, one… happy new year!

The crowd around them erupts into cheers as the sky glows with colorful explosions when burning bits of metal lighting up the darkness outside. Jake kisses her deeper, seeming to forget that there are people around with a bit of alcohol in his system and his hands cupping her face. For a moment, Amy lets herself just be happy.

~

december 31st, 2020.

The instant Amy closes her eyes for the more-than-well-deserved nap Jake told her to take while he made dinner, Mac begins to cry from his crib again.

“McClane, please,” Amy pleads, as if reasoning with her two-month-old would solve his discontent. “You can't seriously be hungry again, that’s insane.”

She tries with the pacifier first, checking his diaper, even standing up and walking around with him for a bit to eliminate anything else, but Mac is still clenching his fists and only looking even more furious with her, so Amy gives in. She sits down with him again, unhooks one side of the bra and lets him find his grip, exhaling when the peaceful suckles begin and the desperate crying finally ceases. She swears it looks like her son is side-eyeing her for taking too long, but to her defense, she fed him for a good forty-five minutes only a little over an hour ago and it's exhausting being used like a human pacifier. Growth spurt, Camila Santiago said when Amy called her in tears yesterday, and the problem-shooting section in the 0-3 months baby-binder had agreed. Amy would argue that sounds way too innocent for something which is turning her otherwise happy and smiley baby into a constantly hungry and crying mini-monster who won't close his eyes for more than twenty minutes at a time.

There's a soft knock on the door after a few minutes, and Jake peeks in. He’s wearing his fancy kitchen apron, which Charles gave him for Christmas with the comment that there’s nothing sexier than a dad who can cook. It hasn’t magically improved his cooking skills, but Amy’s willing to admit that it does look good on him.

“You guys doing okay?”

“He is, for now. I’m going crazy. How’s our dinner going?”

“Well, I haven’t burnt it yet, but there’s still time,” he grimaces, sitting down at the foot of the bed. “Do you need anything, babe?”

“Sleep, but that’s not going to happen.” Amy rubs her eyes. “It’s fine. He’s got to fall asleep at some point, though, this is nuts.”

“Don’t challenge him, he’s breaking records,” Jake says, leaning forward to tickle Mac’s feet. Mac reacts by kicking at the boob he’s not currently feeding from, making Amy curse. “Oops, sorry. Anyway, I’m sure he will fall asleep at some point, and we can have a nice, calm New Year’s dinner. I mean, he has to be exhausted, right?”

“God, I hope so. I’m starving.” She can see Mac’s eyelids getting heavy, but every time she thinks they’re about to fall closed, it’s like he twitches and stares at her, wide awake. “He’s lucky he’s cute.”

Jake grins. “Lucky indeed.”

Mac starts pulling away at that moment, a little bit of milk still dribbling from his cheeks. Amy reaches for one of the muslin blankets that’s never more than a few feet away in their home nowadays, lifting him so he’s upright against her shoulder and patting him on the back. She expects a burp, but instead, she gets an unpleasant surprise when he spits up, managing to get sour baby puke down her back and in her already greasy hair. She groans, giving Jake an exhausted look when she sees him stifling a chuckle.

“Hey, I’ll take him. You go take a shower and I’ll put him in the BabyBjörn. Maybe that will do it.”

“That’s the hottest thing you’ve ever said,” Amy mumbles, and she’s not entirely kidding.

She makes the shower as long as she possibly can. Most days, she has to shower with Mac in the baby bouncer on the bathroom floor, so even the chance to be alone in the bathroom for more than five minutes feels like a luxury. She lets the shampoo really lather and the conditioner take its time to sink in, trying to massage the knots in her neck and shoulders under the hot water. She can hear Mac still fussing from the kitchen, and it makes her feel guilty even though he’s barely left her arms today.

“He’s fine,” she whispers to herself like a mantra. “He’s fine. Jake can handle it. He’s perfectly fine. Everything’s okay. You deserve this.”

She still skips the make-up and nicer clothes she had been planning to put on, throwing on a pair of maternity leggings and one of Jake’s old hoodies instead.

The dinner looks fantastic, some sort of chicken baked in the oven with rice and a lemon sauce, and Amy’s actually impressed. She imagines it would have been even nicer if she could have eaten it warm and together with Jake, but they only make it through toasting in orange soda and the first two bites before Mac wakes up from his ten-minute-nap, wailing as if he truly believed he’d just been abandoned. They end up having to take turns eating and walking laps around the living room with him, because he starts crying again if they stop moving for a second or as much as make an attempt to put him down. Amy is suddenly relieved they said no to her brother Tony’s New Year’s party-invite.

She can barely believe it when after what feels like the fiftieth or so feed of the day, Mac falls asleep. Curled up like a little frog on her chest and letting out the cutest of baby snores, he finally seems to relax, and Amy doesn’t even dare to breathe too sharply for the first ten minutes. Eventually, though, once it seems like he’s not going to wake up from the slightest movement or a raised voice anymore, Jake tucks them both in under a blanket and gets the Ben and Jerry’s from the freezer and orange soda from the fridge. Then he gets another blanket for himself, and they snuggle up together in the corner of the sofa in front of the tv. From live footage at Times Square, Amy can see crowds of people waiting for the ball to drop.

“Wishing you were there?” Jake winks, but she just laughs.

“Are you kidding? Cold, crowded, and you can never even get a good view. This is better in every way.” She strokes her thumb over Mac’s dark hair. “I have this one and you. That’s all I need. And ice cream,” she adds, digging out a piece of cookie dough from the tub.

“You’re right, it’s pretty damn close to perfection. Top five moments of 2020?”

Amy shakes her head, pointing to Mac. “No point. They’re all about him, anyway, and they’re all too good to compare.”

“True that.” Jake shakes his head. “Hey, isn’t it crazy that although he’s been kind of a nightmare today, I’ve already forgiven him?”

“No, it makes perfect sense, because I’ve almost wanted to give him away several times and now I can’t even remember why.”

“Having a baby makes us kind of crazy, huh?”

“Oh, absolutely. I wouldn’t change it for the world, though.”

“Me neither. Not even if I was offered a role in the next Die Hard-movie and Taylor Swift did the soundtrack.”

“That’s pretty big,” Amy laughs, leaning in for a quick kiss. “Would Taylor Swift do the soundtrack for Die Hard, though? Realistically speaking?”

“It’s a daydream, Ames!”

She has no time for a comeback, though, because right then, the countdown starts on the tv and Jake raises the volume a few bars so they can hear.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four…

p;

“New Year’s kiss,” Amy says, holding Mac up slightly so they can both reach him.

Three, two, one… happy new year!

They both smother his cheeks with kisses at the same time as the fireworks explode over the sky in the distance outside their windows and the crowd begins to cheer on tv. Mac doesn’t even flinch, completely oblivious to the celebrations going on outside. Amy sighs.

“How can he magically sleep through all of this, but wake up the second I put him down in his crib at night?”

Jake shrugs. “Babies, man.”

~

december 31st, 2021.

Amy has only started to take off Mac’s winter overall before he starts trying to flee, kicking wildly with his boots and pointing towards the kitchen where he’s already spotted Rosa. Jake notices her struggle and is quick to help her, and the instant the toddler is free, he hurries off towards his best friend.

“Wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo!”

“Mac! Hey, happy new year, man!” Before Amy can even take off her own jacket, Mac is already in Rosa’s arms and babbling excitedly as he plays with her gold necklace. Amy wonders how much of what Mac’s saying actually makes sense to Rosa, but she’s nodding and smiling and seems to have abandoned whoever she was previously talking to in favor of the one-year-old.

“Jake. Amy.” Kevin appears to take their coats, shaking their hands. “Welcome. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres are in the living room, and I see your small child has made himself at home.”

“He found Rosa, yep.” Jake grins. “And he has a name.”

“Ah, yes… McClane.” Kevin nods. “Very well. I have to go check on… the kitchen. Enjoy your evening.”

  “He’s never going to like me,” Jake whispers to Amy the moment he’s left.

“Well, I think we both might have lost a few points with the name choice, babe.”

“He’s one to talk names, he’s got a dog named after a cheese!”

“I know, but we can’t tell him that. Come on, Jake, I have to find something to chew on before I get sick.”

“You can always blame it on the alcohol, if you do.”

“Jake.”

“Just kidding,” he grins. “You go check on Mac and Rosa and I’ll locate the snacks.”

 It turns out Rosa is more than willing to guard Mac for the evening, currently showing him the model train she's found in the library. Mac is watching with focus as Rosa helps him turn on the button that makes the train drive around the tracks, laughing as it lets out a choo-choo sound.

“Your son is much cooler than the rest of these lame partygoers,” she shrugs when Amy asks her if she's sure it's fine. “He says what he's thinking, unlike the rest of all these dum-dums.”

“Dum-dums,” Mac repeats, proud. Rosa nods.

“Exactly. I’ll call you if something happens.”

 And so, in an unexpected turn of events, Amy finds herself able to sit down for most of the evening without having to chase a wild toddler around to keep him from whatever dangers he could somehow manage to get himself into in Holt’s and Kevin’s house. She supposes it looks quite antisocial of her, and maybe it is, but she’s six weeks pregnant and the early symptoms of nausea and fatigue seem to be coming on both stronger and faster the second time around, so Amy doesn’t really care. She’s got lemon sparkling water for a non-alcoholic drink, a paper plate of carrot sticks, salted crisps and almonds, and she’s not going to talk to anyone unless they sit down next to her. It’s practically heaven. Jake checks on her from time to time, assuring her multiple times that they can just leave early if she wants to, but however tired she feels, Amy doesn’t want to insult Holt that badly. They’re staying until midnight as per proper New Year’s party etiquette, and then — and not a second later — they can go home so she can crash in bed.

 Rosa finds her again when Mac begins to get sleepy, rubbing his eyes and yawning but still shaking his head when Amy asks if he's feeling a little tired. He crawls over to her arms anyway, laying his head on her shoulder and hugging his arms around her chest.

“Thanks for looking after him,” she tells Rosa, but she just shrugs.

“No worries. I don't get to hang out with him enough. Your kid is dope.”

“Douh,” Mac whispers, mimicking her, and Rosa laughs.

“Repeats every word you tell him, too,” Amy says. “Yeah, he’s pretty awesome. Come over to our apartment at five-thirty in the morning on any weekend and you can hang out with him all you want. I won't stop you.”

Rosa scrunches her nose. “I’ll consider it.”

“He’s in a great mood then, I can assure you that.”

“I'll take your word for it. Also, Jake was tipsy talking baby names with some etymology professor when I saw him last, and he seemed very intense about it for a guy who's not currently thinking of naming any new babies. Or?” She raises an eyebrow.

“No, he just get thats intense when somebody implies McClane is a weird name,” Amy says, and makes a note to herself to remind Jake about their agreement not to tell anyone else at least until the twelve-week mark. “Which, to be fair, I warned him that people would think. But here we are anyway.”

“It is a weird name. Couldn’t imagine him being called anything else, though, even if I still don’t understand why you agreed to it.”

“There was a really good PowerPoint involved.”

Rosa looks at her questioningly, but Amy shakes her head, knowing there’s no point in explaining the unexplainable.

“Hmm. You guys are weird. You make pretty great kids, though.”

“Yeah.” Mac has fallen asleep by now, drooling a little bit on Amy’s shoulder. She kisses the top of his head and thinks of the abstract idea of her second kid, the thump-thump of an already present heartbeat they got so lucky as to hear on an early ultrasound yesterday. “The best.”

 As midnight draws closer, most of the guests take on jackets, scarves and shoes to venture out into the garden to watch fireworks. Not wanting to be left out, Amy and Jake manage to get a half-sleeping Mac, who wakes up suddenly interested when he hears about the promise of fireworks, into his overall and join them. It’s a surprisingly good view from the garden, the cold winter air waking them up, and Jake points out the vibrant displays in the sky to a drowsy Mac, who blinks at them dazedly. It’s so cute it makes Amy tear up. Being both a mom and newly pregnant does that to her; she’s given up trying to fight it.

  It’s hard to believe that two years ago, she was toasting in champagne in a hotel bar and wondering if they would ever make a baby together, and now she’s standing in a garden watching Jake with their one-year-old son and knowing that next New Year’s, if all goes well, they’ll be parents of two.

“What are you thinking of?” Jake must see her tears, because he looks worried, but Amy just smiles.

“Just how quickly things can change. How happy I am. And how much I love you.”

“Love you, too. Top three-hundred-and-sixty-five moments of this year,” Jake says, hugging her close so they’re standing in a little family bubble. “Every single day I get to wake up with and then come home to my family.”

  Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four…

  They both lean in so they can smother their son with kisses, and he laughs as he figures out what’s about to happen.

 Three, two, one… happy new year!

  The sky explodes with color, Jake and Amy attack their son with kisses, and as the new year begins, Amy thinks she might just be the luckiest person in the entire world.

~

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch24: Kintsugi

Chapter Summary: Fliss has a final show down with her ex-John…

 Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Very light smut…NSFW and NO UNDER 18s!!!

 Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

 A/N: Please bear with me…I’m a Brit so don’t have a wonderful knowledge of the US Health service… thanks to those of you who helped me with this one, you know who you are… ;-) 

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

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 23

If I never get to see the Northern Lights, or if I never get to see the Eiffel tower at night, oh if all I got his your hand in my hand, baby I could die a happy man.

Fliss stared at her ex-husband as she continued to reverse, until her back hit the side of the kitchen unit.

“No hello?” John asked, cocking his head to one side.

“How did you…” Fliss took a deep breath “How did you know I was here?”

“Guess” John said with a shrug as he looked around the kitchen, his cold grey eyes scanning the wooden units, matching counter tops and stainless steel appliances. He wrinkled his nose, the décor clearly not to his taste, before he turned back to Fliss. “It’s not that hard to figure out really, Sugar…” Fliss swallowed as she stared at him, pondering whether or not screaming for Evelyn was the right thing to do. If she did so she alerted him to the fact that someone else was in the house, and risked riling him. He always hated it when she screamed. If she kept him talking, kept him calm, then Evelyn had to come downstairs at some point…surely…

Or at least she hoped.

 She licked her lips and looked at John, giving him a shrug “How could you know I was back in the area?” “I didn’t…” he said, “Not until this afternoon anyway…” And then the penny dropped. And Fliss felt like such a fucking idiot.

“Richard…” she let out a breath, cursing herself for not even considering the fact that his brother could have been in the hospital.

“Clever girl…” John smiled “Turns out Orthopaedic Surgeons are in short supply…he was doing some Locum work and spotted you.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you got this address.” “I didn’t. I followed you.” “You…you followed me?” Fliss frowned “So you were what? Watching me at the hospital?” “Watching the main door but…yeah…” Fliss shook her head, a soft huff escaping her “You that desperate to see me John? Seriously…” “Watch your mouth…” he said, sternly “You know I don’t like it when you take an attitude, Felicity.”

“You didn’t like anything full stop.” Fliss said, looking at him. “When I had an attitude, when I didn’t…” “I won’t tell you again…” John stepped forward.

Fliss swallowed, she was scared, there was no denying that. But as she stared back at John’s face, she realised that something was different. It felt like a different fear. She was afraid of being hurt, yes, but she wasn’t afraid of John. It was strange, almost liberating in a way to know that, despite the fact she understood she was in a precarious position, the man in front of her held no power over her now.

She was free, free from his mental abuse, free from his hold. Because she had a new life, a new home, both with Frank and Mary. And a new love, a real love, a love that was gentle and nurturing and…fucking normal. 

All John could do now was hurt her, physically, and if he gave her a beating…so fucking what?

She’d heal…just like she had before, but this time the only healing she’d need would be physical, because her soul and her mind had already mended. She was whole again, and no matter what he did or said John wouldn’t break her that way again.

She tipped her chin up to look at him, defiantly, and she saw the anger flick across his face. He hated it when she made eye contact with him like this, he saw it as challenging his authority.

Well that was exactly what she was fucking doing.

“You have no right to be here John.” she said, her voice calm and firm. “You’ll be back inside tomorrow…do yourself a favour and go home before your ankle bracelet sends a trip to say you’ve broken your curfew.” John’s tongue poked the inside of his cheek as he looked at Fliss, before he gave a snort.

“I know full well what’s at stake.” he shrugged “I go back inside, serve the rest of my sentence…be out in another 2 years…I’ll track you down again.” “Course you will.” Fliss said, shrugging “And then what? You come kick the shit out of me? And go back inside…it’ll be a never ending circle John, and for what?” At that John’s hand raised and he back handed her straight across the face. It was enough to knock her side ways and she stumbled slightly, before she steadied herself and raised her hand to wipe the thin trickle of blood away from her split lip. Taking a look around she realised he’d inadvertently knocked her towards the door that led to the lounge. If she could just make it in there, she had a chance…a chance of out running him…maybe.

“Don’t talk to me like that.” he snarled and her attention flicked back to him as he strode towards her. “You’re mine…you always will be…” “No I’m not.” she spat, glaring at him, standing her ground. “I don’t belong to anyone…” “Not even Frank?” John looked at her and she shook her head.

“I love Frank, I don’t belong to him, there’s a difference.” she shook her head “I’m not a fucking possession, I’m his girlfriend…”

“You’re my Felicity…” John’s voice was gathering in pitch and volume, the way it always did when he was annoyed but Fliss felt nothing but anger in response at that fact that he still thought he had any claim to her whatsoever.

“I’m Frank’s Lissy…” she shot back

“YOU’RE MY WIFE!” John roared. “NOT ANY MORE!” Fliss screamed back “You were the worst mistake of my life!” John’s hand flew out and he gripped her chin, painfully, forcing her to look at him.

“Don’t you dare speak to me like that.” he looked at her, shaking his head, his dark grey eyes flashing with rage.

“I’ll speak to you how I want…” Fliss grit through her teeth, as his left hand tightened its grip on her face before his right grabbed her wrist painfully and he twisted the joint sharply, an action she knew was designed to break it. As always, he stopped short of the point where he knew he would snap the bone and he looked at her curiously, as she stood stock still, not a whimper of pain nor a word of pleading or begging for him to stop slipped through from her lips. Instead she looked at him, and smiled.

“You can break every bone in my body and it won’t matter” she looked at him “Because you broke me, in a way I never thought possible, you isolated me, made me feel I was worth nothing. But you’re wrong. I’m worth everything!” “And I suppose Frank tells you that?” John said, his hand twisting a little more.

“Yes he does.” she said simply “But more importantly, he makes me feel it. Because he loves me with everything he has. He’s gentle, kind, warm. He cares about me, how I am, how I feel. And that makes him ten times the man you’ll ever be.”

She knew that would rile him, and as she watched his face contorted into a snarl. The hand that was gripping her wrist let go and moved to the side ready to strike again, but Fliss lashed out with her foot and kicked him as hard as she could in the shin. John, having severely underestimated exactly how different Fliss now was, hadn’t been expecting that. She’d never hit back before. His hand released her wrist and Fliss turned on the spot and ran for the door. However, he was quicker and she felt him grab hold of her hair, and at that point she started to scream.

She screamed and screamed as she kicked out behind her, and with a sharp tug she was yanked backwards. John turned them both, sending her flying back into the kitchen where she stumbled and her head connected with the corner of the wooden unit. With a pop she felt the skin split on her temple and the warm flow of blood as it trickled down her face. Dazed, she began to push herself up, scrambling forward but John was there again, his hand once more fisting in her hair as he pulled her to her feet.

“You little bitch!” He snarled, his hands closing around her neck as he pushed her up against the wall, “I’ll fucking kill you…” With that be began to squeeze her neck, the fury etched into every line of his face. Still fighting, Fliss hit out with everything she had, her hands connecting with his face, chest, shoulders, but the fact was he was simply too strong. As his grip tightened further, a silence started to wash over her, almost like she was floating, a sense she had felt once before when he had almost drowned her in the bath. But unlike then, she had something to fight for, something to live for. Or more specifically someone. She gripped at his fingers with her own, attempting to prise them off her throat but to no avail. So, instead she raised her knee, but the lack of oxygen was making her weak and John simply sneered, forcing his knees in between her legs, effectively rendering them useless.

The white spots started to float in front of her vision, and her mind flicked to Frank and Mary…before she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. She allowed her lids shut and she clung to the image of her Sailor, of their little blonde-haired Short Stack…because she was damned if John’s face was going to be the last thing she ever saw.

But suddenly the pressure was gone and her throat opened again.  Her legs buckled and she slumped to the floor coughing and spluttering as she took a huge, painful gasp of air. She continued to breathe deeply, her lungs felt like they were on fire, and then a pair of gentle hands softly came to rest on her cheeks.

“Fliss…” Evelyn spoke, looking at her, “It’s ok…you’re ok…” Fliss coughed some more, Evelyn smoothing her hair back, speaking softly to her and as Fliss began to focus, her hand flew to her painful neck whilst her eyes fixed on the floor behind Evelyn.  John lay face down, unmoving, fragments of shattered glass all over the floor, glistening in the soft kitchen lights. Fliss tried to speak, to ask Evelyn what had happened but her words wouldn’t form and the woman gently shook her head.

“Shhh” she soothed gently “Just breathe…” “Police…” Fliss managed to croak and Evelyn nodded.

“Already on their way.” she said, “I called them as soon as I heard the screaming.” The tears then began to sting Fliss’ eyes and Evelyn gently wrapped her arms around her as she shook, staring down at John on the floor. Fliss gave an involuntary gasp as she saw the crimson liquid billowing around his head like some kind of macabre halo. Evelyn turned to look at him and gave a tut.

“That’s not blood, more’s the pity, it’s Malbec. And a damned good one too. What a waste.” Evelyn sighed as Fliss looked at her, before both their eyes darted to John as he stirred a little on the floor. “Can you stand?” Evelyn said and Fliss nodded. Together they both rose, Evelyn keeping hold of Fliss as she was a little shaky, led her down the hallway where she grabbed two jackets from the coat stand along with a set of keys and led her outside, locking the door behind them. She sat Fliss down on the step and gently draped a jacket over her shoulder, before she pulled one on over the towelled robe she was wearing and sat next to her, not saying a word.

Before long the sounds of sirens filled their ears and Fliss glanced up to see a number of flashing lights in the distance. A police car zoomed up the drive and skidded to a halt just in front of where they sat. Evelyn gave Fliss’ shoulder a squeeze as she stood up to greet the officers and spoke to them both before one of them nodded and walked to Fliss, crouching down in front of her.

“Ma’am?” his voice was quiet and kind. Fliss looked at him and he gave her a soft smile “You wanna sit in the car whilst we go inside?” “Yeah…” Fliss nodded. The officer helped her to her feet and walked her slowly down the steps, sitting her in the back of the car before he straightened up and spoke into his radio, before he looked at his colleague who gave him a nod. Evelyn said something and they followed her up the steps to the door which she unlocked and then moved back to allow the two men to step inside.

The rest of what happened was pretty much a blur to Fliss. She was aware of an ambulance arriving, and a paramedic checking her over, declaring that her neck would be sore for a while, as would her face…but Fliss knew that from various previous experiences of his beatings. However, the gash on her temple needed attention, or sutures to be specific. Evelyn assured the paramedic that she would have Fliss taken to the hospital to avoid them having to call another ambulance, and satisfied with that, the paramedic covered the wound temporarily and then headed into the house to where her colleague was attending to John.

The police spoke again to Fliss, this time asking her questions, and she explained what had happened. She told them how John had found her, how he had gotten into the house, how he had attacked her. The two officers were satisfied it was a pretty clear cut case of self-defence, especially as they had enough history on John as it was. He’d also broken his curfew too, which meant there was an instant warrant for his arrest even without this incident.

Eventually they wheeled John out of the house, he was moving and groaning slightly. Fliss followed him with her eyes before she heard Evelyn’s indignant voice hit her ears.

“Stay in the area in case you need to speak to me again? My son’s girlfriend has just been attacked, my granddaughter is currently in hospital recovering from an operation, where the hell do you think I’m going to go? Cape Fucking Verde for a holiday?”

Fliss turned to look at Evelyn, a small smile flickered across her face as the woman was glaring at the police officer, who was looking a little abashed at her fury.

“I know I’m not going to be winning any Mother of the Year prizes any time soon but give me some bloody credit…”  Evelyn shook her head before as she glanced at Fliss and her face softened a little before she looked back at the police officer “Now, I’m going to go back into my house, get dressed and then how about you make yourself useful and drop us at the hospital so I don’t have to call my driver?” *******

Frank was dozing in the chair when the door to Mary’s room opened. He looked up, blinking and frowned as he saw his Mother. She was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a large, oversized knitted sweater.

“What…” he began to say but she jerked her head, gesturing for him to step outside the room. With a glance at Mary who was sleeping, he stood up and headed into the corridor.

“There’s been an incident…” Evelyn spoke.

“Incident, what do you mean?” he asked, before he realised she was on her own “Where’s Lissy?” “She’s downstairs…” Evelyn said, her voice calm.

“Downstairs?” Frank’s brow furrowed as his throat went dry “What the fuck is going on?” “Her ex-husband…” Evelyn said and Frank felt his chest constrict “He followed her home, got into the house…”

Frank let out a loud yell, and Evelyn softly touched his arm “She’s ok, Frank, just a few bruises…”

“I’ll fucking kill him.” Frank snarled and Evelyn shook her head.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll end up inside yourself!” “It’ll be worth it.” “No, it won’t.” Evelyn said simply “The police have him. But if it makes you feel any better I gave him a good whack on the back of the head with a wine bottle…” Frank blinked, and he looked at his mother for a second, before his brain kicked in again.

“I need to see her…” “Yes, I know.” she said “I’ll stay with Mary, you go. She’s down on the ER…” “Ok…thanks…” He said, and without so much as a glance back he sprinted off towards the stairs, deciding not to wait for the elevator. He took the steps 2 at a time, ignoring the curious and occasionally annoyed glances he got from people he either dodged round or bumped into.

He burst out of the stairwell onto the ward and stopped, glancing around for someone to point him in the right direction when he did a double take as he saw a stretcher being wheeled in his direction, which was accompanied by a police officer and a security guard. He paused, and as it neared him he recognised the man on it instantly from the photo’s he had seen and felt the blood beginning to pound in his ears. Frank stood, stock still, chest heaving, fists clenching by his side as it came closer and then he got the first proper up-close look at the man who’d made his girl’s life hell. The group paused by the elevator opposite him and he watched as John looked round. When he spotted Frank his face fell into a look of recognition.

“Ah, here he is…” John smirked, “The boyfriend…” Frank’s eyes locked onto John's steel grey ones, the sneer on the man's face grew wider, goading, taunting him as he continued to speak, making various comments about Fliss, and Frank made towards the gurney, his striding matching his mood, murderous. He was going to kill the bastard, rip him limb from limb. But, as he crossed the linoleum floor, his Mother’s voice flickered in his head and then for some reason the warning she had departed less than 5 minutes earlier morphed into something Bill had said to him once as they had been sat outside with a beer… "He's a master manipulator, Frank. Anything anyone gave him could and would find a way to use it, and that's the only thing that stopped me beating him within an inch of his life that evening, the fact that it might have jeopardised the case against him." He stopped dead in the middle of the corridor. As it stood, John was fucked. He had breached his parole in countless ways and there was a fresh assault charge too. He was going back inside and he knew that, so he was trying to goad Frank into doing something stupid, something that would put him behind bars too, leaving Fliss broken. Because that's what this was about. Breaking Fliss. Frank knew that John would have realised by now that he couldn't break her in the way he once could. The card and calls would have proven that, which is why he sent the photo of Mary and why he was goading Frank. He was going for the one area in which he knows she has a weakness. Her Achilles heel...the people she loved. 

“What you stopping for?” John practically yelled as a police officer told him to shut up. “You know she told me before how gentle you are with her…we all know how rough she likes it at times…” Frank's chest heaved as John's taunts about Fliss continued to ring in his ears. As some further crude remark about her bedroom antics hit his consciousness Frank clenched his fist, simply trying to think of something to say, something that left the cunt in no uncertain terms as to why exactly he wasn’t going to give him what he wanted, and be goaded into kicking 7 bells of shit out of him... And then he suddenly why should he? If he gave the bastard the satisfaction of realising that the very thing Frank wanted to do he couldn't then he was letting John gain a victory. A small one, but a victory none the less... And Frank was giving him fuck all, well, almost fuck all. Because there was one thing he could do that would show the bastard the utter level of contempt he deserved.

In a flash Frank lunged forward, and as the officer by John's bed stepped into his path, Frank leaned round him, snapped his head back, and spat right in John's face.

There was a moment’s pause before John yelled out, jerking the hand that wasn't cuffed to the bed to his face, screaming every name under the sun at Frank who took a step back as the police officer sternly gave him a warning. "You're an irrelevant sack of shit." Frank snarled, looking at John, before he backed away completely, hands up in surrender to the officer who was pushing him back. "That the best you got?" John yelled, "what about the promise you made to my brother, about killing me if I came near your family or her?" At that Frank let out a bark of a laugh "I never said I'd kill you, just put you in hospital...but looks like my mother beat me to it. How does that feel, huh, ass hole? Being put in here by a 65 year old woman?" Another growl of rage and this time the police officer turned to Frank "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave...I'm assuming you're Miss Gallagher's partner?" Shit...Fliss... he needed to be with her. She was far more important. He nodded to the officer "I'm going..." and the man gave him a curt nod as he turned to leave. “How does it feel to know Felicity will never be over me?" John's voice continued to follow him as he walked. "That she's so broken and ruined? She ran from Boston even when I wasn't there anymore, what does that tell you, huh?” Oh now that really was pathetic! A desperate, final shot and Frank barked out a laugh as he turned around, folding his arms.

"Kintsugi." He said simply "Ever heard of it? It's an ancient Japanese art form. Broken ceramics, things like that are fixed with a glue laced with powdered gold. The repaired item is different, but no less beautiful than it was before, often even more so in some eyes." Frank shrugged with a smile "And that's Fliss. Is she the same person she was before she met you? Probably not…but I tell you something I will love the person she is now for a lifetime." John's face slipped, and in that moment Frank knew he had won. He had refused to give John any semblance of control and he couldn't help the satisfied smirk that spread across his face. "But you are right about one thing." Frank added "She did run. And she ran to South Pass, where I met her...so for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart." John sat still for a moment before he jerked up and began to try and get off the gurney, screaming threats of murder and whatever else he could conjure. Frank smirked as the police officers all piled in to restrain John, and he took one last look before he turned and strode away. Beating John on a cerebral level might not have given Frank the physical relief of kicking the crap out of him, but he knew that his words would stick with him much longer than a few broken bones and that was far more satisfying.

Frank eventually stopped a Nurse who kindly directed him to where he could find Fliss and he strode onto the ward where he headed towards the minor treatment room at the back. He yanked the door open and saw a Doctor was gently examining her temple which now sported a cut and a few stitches. But that wasn’t what got to Frank, it was the finger shaped bruises that covered her neck which made his breath hitch and he looked at Fliss as her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, Honey…” he stuttered out and crossed the room. The doctor tactfully stepped away and Frank dropped onto the bed next to her as he pulled her to him and she buried her face into his neck as he pressed a kiss to the top of the head. He looked at the Doctor who gave him a small nod before he left the room, closing the door. Frank couldn’t think of anything to say, nor did he actually trust his voice at this moment so he simply held her close, his face pressed into her hair. Eventually he felt her pull back slightly, and he glanced down at her, taking her face in her hands.

“Let me see you…” he said gently, his eyes scanning the injuries he hadn’t already noticed and saw that her right eye was slightly swollen, and there was an angry red mark on her cheek which was going to bruise. She raised her right hand to gently place her hand over his and he saw the angry marks around her wrist too.

“I’m so sorry….” Frank looked at her, his eyes filling with tears.

“Hey…” Fliss said softly, her voice was raspy as her hands cupped his cheeks “This is not your fault.”

Frank shook his head, closing his eyes as Fliss gently placed a soft kiss to his lips.

“I fought back” she said, pulling away to look at him “Something I would never have had the courage to do if it hadn’t been for you. The last year we’ve spent together, you taught me I was worth so much more, and knowing that today…well, I wasn’t the same meek old little lamb he used to knock about.” “The lamb became a lion, huh?” Frank smiled, brushing her hair back.

“Something like that.” Fliss shrugged “And he’s going back in side. The Police reckon he’ll serve the original 2 years he had left and be looking at another couple for Assault, violation of his probation terms, breaking his curfew…” “With a bit of luck someone will kill him when he’s inside.” Frank spat and Fliss arched her eyebrow. “Sorry…” he said as she smiled, and shook her head. “I love you.”  he said again after a moment’s pause, his forehead pressing against hers “I don’t ever want to be without you. Ever.”

“You won’t be.” she looked at him “I promise.”

Frank smiled again, giving her a soft kiss before he pulled her back into her arms and she sighed, the tension in her shoulders, melting away at his embrace.

It wasn’t too long before the doctor came back and stated that, provided Fliss had someone at home, he was happy to discharge her. Frank assured him that she wouldn’t be alone and so, with care sheet that Fliss really didn’t need they both made their way back up to Mary’s room…well, that is after Frank made Fliss face up to the one call she didn’t want to make…

Bill was absolutely raging when he found out what was happening, so much so Fliss couldn’t deal with speaking to him so she passed the phone to Frank who had thankfully found his calm head at this point. After he spoke to Fliss’ dad, he managed to convince him not to hop on the next available flight, instead told them to come tomorrow when Mary had been discharged and things had calmed down a little. He knew it was slightly hypocritical, given the way he had hot footed immediately to Boston to be with Mary, but Fliss had begged him to put them off for at least a night as she was talked out after being interviewed by the police and wanted to rest. With a final gruff goodbye, Bill hung up and Frank curled his arm round Fliss as they walked towards Mary’s room.

They had been back in there for about 5 minutes when the Ward Sister appeared and at first was rather shitty with Frank at the fact Mary’s room was sporting 2 additional visitors out of bounds, until she spotted Fliss’ injuries. Her demeanour softened slightly but she was still insistent that Fliss and Evelyn needed to leave, but did allow them to wait in the room instead of the main reception until their car arrived.

Frank didn’t want his girl out of his sight, he wanted nothing more than to hold her all night long, humming songs into her ear the way he often did when they were huddled together, making her laugh as he changed the lyrics to various songs to include her name, his, Mary’s, Thor’s, Fred’s Cap’s, Heidi’s…or whoever else came to mind. He wanted her safe in his arms, wanted to be there when she woke up, but he knew she needed a good rest and even if she could stay, she wouldn’t get that on a camp bed. So, when the time came he reluctantly released her from where she had been sat on his lap and after she gently dropped a kiss on Mary’s head, the girl having slept through all of this, he followed them out into the corridor.

Evelyn turned to Frank but before she could speak he swept her into a hug and pressed his face into her hair, placing a soft kiss to the crown of her head.

“Thank you.” he said softly, before he released her. Evelyn stepped back, tears in her eyes as she gave him a small smile then turned to the elevator, leaving him to say goodnight to Fliss.

“Get some rest…and if you need me for anything, if you can’t sleep…whatever, call me ok?” he asked, his large hands gently cupping her face. “I love you.” “I love you too.” she said softly as his lips met hers in a soft but lingering kiss. He pressed his forehead to hers, their noses gently bumping against one another before she smiled and stepped away “I’ll see you tomorrow.

He held her hand for as long as he could, her fingers gently slipping out of his until eventually her hand was free and she turned and headed after Evelyn. He stood watching until they were in the elevator, giving them both one last wave before he turned back into the room. Once in there he cast a look at Mary before he slumped down on the chair he’d been in, the weariness seeping into every bone in his body as he bent forward, arms resting on his knees, face buried into his hands and he began to cry.

**** Frank climbed out of the car and lifted Mary onto his hip as he followed his Mother and Fliss into the cool hallway and he set Mary down and looked around his once childhood home. It looked, smelt, felt the same. He could almost see Diane sliding down the banister, him catching her at the bottom until their stepfather found them and threatened to flay them both alive if he caught them doing it again for fear of them breaking their necks. He could remember playing basketball on the large drive after Walter put a hoop up for him over the garage, the long nights of homework in the study, essays his mother made him re-write over when they weren’t good enough, always groaning when he was told it was time to practice his piano…he doubted he could even remember a single scale now, what a waste of time and money…

“Why don’t you go get some sleep.” Fliss looked at him, and her voice once again made him want to cry. It was so soft and croaky, but the doctor had said it might take a week or so for her vocal chords to recover. Another reminder of what the fucker had done to her. “I’ll wake you in a few hours when it’s time to go get Mum and Dad.” “You’re in your old room.” Evelyn said gently

Frank nodded and turned to Mary. “Don’t be running around like a lunatic, you heard what the doctor said.” Mary looked at him, her hands on her hips “I’m not stupid.” “Jury’s out.” he teased and she glared at him.

“We’ll watch some TV.” Fliss assured him, her hand rubbing at his back.

“Was kinda hoping you’d come lay with me.” he said softy.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Evelyn nodded, “Me and Mary can occupy ourselves.” “Oh, can we do some of those equations…” Frank glared at Evelyn, who held her hands up “I haven’t once made her do maths…” “They were in a book I found.” Mary looked at Frank. “They look really interesting…” “Frank…” Fliss soothed “If she wants to do Math, what harm is it gonna do? She’s gonna be missing a few weeks of school.” “Fine.” he sighed “But…oh,I dunno, just…” He trailed off shaking his head, he was too beat to argue anymore. He turned and headed up the stairs without another word.

“Is he mad at me?” Mary asked, her eyes wide.

“No, honey of course not.” Fliss shook her head, her hand cupping Mary’s cheek “He’s just tired, it’s been a long few days…” “Are you feeling ok now? Frank told me you got attacked but I wasn’t supposed to ask you, but I wanted to…”

“I’m fine.” Fliss assured her. “Just bruised…nowhere near as much recovery to do as you.”

Satisfied Mary nodded and Evelyn told her to go and sit on the sofa and Fliss headed upstairs. Frank was already in the shower by the time she got into the room so she kicked off her trainers and flicked on the TV, absentmindedly watching the news channel that filled the screen. She took a deep breath, her eyes flicking to the closed door of the en-suite. She knew Frank was hurting, beating himself up about both her and Mary, and there was nothing to do other than let him sleep for a while and hopefully wake with a clear head.

Her mind began to wander back over the last 12 months and everything they’d been through. From nearly not actually getting together thanks to his little Friday night fuck with Bonnie, to that day she had bared her soul, told him everything. With a fond smile she remembered how he’d held her that night, the way he’d tenderly washed her in the shower when she was too broken to do anything herself…and then an idea came to her. Maybe she could show him some of that strength he always provided her.

She stripped off, adjusted her pony tail so her hair was piled up on her head, out of the way, and walked into the en-suite, casting a look as Frank was in the large cubicle, his head bowed, water beating down on him. His head turned to look at her and he gave her a questioning look as she stepped in next to him.

“Lissy?” he asked, and she gently took his hands, lacing her fingers into his before she stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss.

“Turn round.” she said softly.

He did as he was told, his back to her and she gently slid her hands up his back and began to work at his shoulders which were ever so tense. With a soft sigh he relaxed into her touch, her thumbs working at the stiff muscles along the blades and his neck. He rolled his head from side to side, and stayed still, hissing slightly as she hit a particularly bad spot but then told her not to stop as she eased off. It was bliss. Eventually he felt her touch lighten before she instructed him to stay where he was, reaching round for the shampoo that was hooked on the shelves at the side. She began to massage his scalp, her nails scratching at his skin and he gave a soft moan tipping his head back. When she was done he turned, rinsing off and then glancing down he gave Fliss a soft smile as he dipped his head and kissed her softly.

“Feeling better?” she asked and he smiled, nodding.

“Should be me doing that for you.” he said softly, and she shook her head.

“Frank, I’m fine.”

“I didn’t mean to be so crabby.” he sighed, and she shrugged.

“You’re tired.” she said, reaching behind him to turn the water off. “Tell me honestly, how much sleep did you get?”

“3, maybe 3 and a half hours” he sighed as she stepped out of the cubicle and wrapped herself in a robe, handing him a towel. He quickly dried himself off, wrapped it around his waist and followed her into the bed room. Fliss picked up her phone and smiled.

“Mum and Dad are at the airport already.” she said, “They’ll be here in about 5 hours…which means you can get some sleep.” Frank nodded before he pulled the towel away, slipped on a pair of clean boxers and then roughly rubbed at his hair. Fliss laughed softly as he emerged, his dark brown strands stuck up everywhere and she moved over, smoothing them down with her hands. Once they were finished they both slipped under the duvet and she gestured so that Frank could lay his head on her chest. She softly placed a kiss to his forehead, her fingers running through his hair.

Less than 10 minutes later, he was out for the count.

He slept for a good 3 hours and when he woke he felt a lot better. Things slid into perspective a little. Yes, John had hurt Fliss, but she was ok, and he was out of their lives. Yes, Mary had been taken ill, but the operation on the whole had been small all things considering and in a week or so post a final check-up she should be cleared to fly home. Alan had messaged him telling him not to worry about work, so he knew he could stay with Mary here until the time was right, and his mother wasn’t irritating him half as much as he thought she would. In fact, she was being positively maternal, making him a sandwich and a coffee, fussing over him as he sat at the table in the kitchen. Another time it might have freaked him out but not now. He knew something had shifted over the last 48 hours and so he wasn’t going to dwell on it, he was going to simply let it roll. Whilst she was playing ball, so would he.

Frank declined Evelyn’s offer of sending a driver for Bill and Verity, because he knew Fliss would want to be there in person, and as did he. So at just after 3 and an argument with Mary about the fact she was absolutely not going with them on account of her needing to recover, to which she had replied some smart arsed remark about Fliss also being hurt, which his mother had simply stepped in and uttered a line he had heard so many times growing up ‘you do as we say, not as we do…” she stropped off to the living room, seething and that had allowed them to slip out, borrowing his mother’s Mercedes SUV for the trip.

It wasn’t a long drive through to Logan, and they chatted away as they headed over into the city, Fliss smiling and telling him how much she was looking forward to New York, that is if Mary was ok enough to go. Frank had assured her she would be, the recovery time wasn’t that long and knew full well Mary would have a tantrum to end all tantrums if he stated it was a no-go. Besides, he himself had big plans for that trip. There was no way in hell they were missing it.

They parked up, strode through to the arrivals and bought themselves a coffee, settling down to wait and it was about half an hour later Fliss’s eyes flicked to a spot over his shoulder and she gave a huge grin. She pushed her chair back and jogged across the lounge, throwing herself at her father.

“Oh, Titch…” Bill mumbled into her hair, his voice cracking as she wrapped her arms round him and Verity joined them, the 3 of them embracing. Frank hung back a little, until Verity waved him over and he walked over, giving V a hug before he shook Bill’s hand, the man pulling him into a huge embrace. He didn’t miss the angry look on Bill’s face as he took in Fliss’ injuries, nor the tears in Verity’s but neither of them said anything about it. As they all moved to head to the exit, Frank offered to take their case, but Bill declined.

“Not quite over the hill yet, Frank.” he teased and Frank laughed.

“I wouldn’t dream of suggesting so.” he grinned as they made their way over towards the car.

“How’s Mary?” Verity asked, as Frank opened the trunk to allow Bill to toss his bag in.

“Still a pain in the ass.” Frank said, and Verity scoffed.

“You leave my little Pudding alone.” she said.

“She had a tantrum.” Fliss grinned “Frank made her stay home to rest. She didn’t appreciate being left behind.” “Clearly desperate to see me.” Bill said simply, as Fliss told him to get into the front passenger seat. “Everyone knows I’m her favourite.” “That’s because you ruin her.” Frank said simply. Bill shrugged, a smirk on his face.

“Isn’t that what Granddads do?” he asked. Frank smiled, and looked at him as Bill’s smirk grew wider and Frank sighed.

“What did you bring her?”

“Nothing…” he protested, “Well, except a new pair of Tigger Pyjamas and a few books…” Frank rolled his eyes “Like I said, ruined.”

The drive home was pleasant. Frank took the long way round so that Bill and Verity who, despite Fliss having lived here for some time, had never spent long in the city because of John, could see the sights. They made arrangements to have a day out, Fliss gushing about the shops she could visit to buy some stuff for New York, Frank smiling at her in the rear-view mirror, before he glanced at Bill, the man’s jovial nature seemed to be ebbing away with each mile they drove.

Once they arrived back home, Fliss led Verity up the steps to the house whilst Frank hung back with Bill, heading to the trunk. As soon as the women were inside, Bill rounded on him.

“What the fuck happened?” he said, his eyes searching Frank’s “How did he find her?”

Frank took a deep breath and explained all about Richard tipping him off, how he had followed her, how she wasn’t alone but his mother was upstairs, how she’d stupidly not closed the door properly, how Fliss had fought him back, but he’d still overpowered her until his Mother had smashed a bottle over his head. He didn’t miss the pained expression that crossed Bill’s face as the large man simply shook his head a growl erupting from his throat.

“I’m so sorry Bill.” Frank hung his head, and at that Bill’s eyes turned to see the man in front of him, looking down at his feet.

“Sorry?” Bill frowned “What the hell are you sorry for?” “I wasn’t there…I should have kept her safe…” “You weren’t there because your little girl was in hospital.” Bill said, looking at him. “Frank, you couldn’t have been in two places at once…” “She wouldn’t have been in Boston if it wasn’t for me…I should have made her stay home…” “Right, you listen to me…” Bill said, his hand gripping Frank’s shoulder. “Look at me Frank.” Frank turned his head up to look at Bill, who stared straight back.

“You DO NOT blame yourself, Son.” Bill shook his head. “You hear me? Christ knows I tortured myself for long enough about keeping her safe. She’s my daughter and…” he trailed off, his own eyes misting up. “But one thing I realised over the last few years, this is no one’s fault but his.”

Frank sniffed and looked away. He knew Bill was right, but that still didn’t ease the enormous ball of guilt he felt in his gut.

“You said she fought back?” Bill said and Frank nodded. “Well, if you want any evidence of exactly how much you have kept her safe that’s it right there…she’s a different person. She’s the old Fliss, the one we knew way back before he ever turned up.” Bill wiped at his eyes as he glanced at the house then back to Frank. “And I cannot begin to thank you for the change we’ve seen in her.”

“Me?” Frank frowned.

“Yes, you.” Bill insisted “None of us can go back, Frank. The only thing we can do is move forward and you’ve helped her do that. You’ve given her something, something else to focus on other than her work and memories…” he took a deep breath, his hand falling back to Frank’s shoulder, his eyes locking onto his “…and when the time comes, I want you to know you don’t need to ask my permission, because there’s no one else on this earth I’d trust more than you to care for her for the rest of her life.”

Bill’s words sunk in and Frank looked at him, his eyes misting over before the man pulled him in for a fatherly hug, gently slapping his back.

“Right, now that’s over with…” Bill stepped away, turning for his bag “Please tell me your mother has some decent scotch because fuck do I need a stiff drink.”

****** None of them stayed up late that night. They retired to bed at little after 9 and Fliss snuggled up next to Frank, her head laying on his chest. The only problem with that, was that Frank then woke at 3 the next morning, and couldn’t get back to sleep. He glanced at Fliss who was fast asleep besides him and gently climbed out of bed. The chilly air hit him and he shivered slightly, grabbing a t-shirt off the side which he shrugged on before he headed down stairs to grab a bottle of water. As he reached the bottom steps the soft sound of classical music hit his ears and there was a chink of light flowing from underneath the study door. He knew instantly it was his mother. He headed into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water and was about to head back upstairs when he paused, his eyes drifting to the study door. He hesitated, before he made his decision and walked back gently pushing it open.

Evelyn looked up, frowning slightly “Frank?” “Needed a drink, saw the light was on.” he said simply “Couldn’t sleep?” “Something like that.” she mused.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

With a soft smile she beckoned him over and he walked into the room, noticing for the first time she had a photo album open. Frank peered down and felt his own smile creep across his face as he looked at the photo of him, along with his Mother, Father and Diane on Francis Street Beach in Nantucket. It was the year before his Father died.

“I remember that trip.” Frank said softly. “Spur of the moment decision to go for a long weekend in the holidays. Dad capsized the kayak on purpose because I kept splashing him.”

“You were so excited to go.” Evelyn smiled. “Because the beach had the same name as you.” Frank huffed a laugh. 

“I know you’ve heard me say this countless times but you really are ridiculously like Preston.” Evelyn looked at him and Frank looked down at her as he straightened back up, cracking open the bottle of water he had. “Seeing you with Fliss…” she trailed off and sighed, “I loved Walter...but it was nothing compared to how I felt about your father.” Frank looked at her, as she gently ran her hand over the photo on the page “I often wonder if he had still been here how different things would have been, but then I remind myself that he was-“ she trailed off and stopped dead. “Anyway, no point-“ “He was what?” Frank frowned.

“Nothing…” “Mother.” he said sternly. Evelyn looked at him and he stared straight back before she took a deep breath and hung her head slightly.

"He was leaving me. He said he didn't love me anymore...hadn't for a while and once the issue with Diane’s schooling was sorted, he was moving out." Frank blinked. That had surprised him because as far as he had been aware his mother and father had been solid as a rock until his Fathers accident. He looked at his mother who was looking back down at the photo album, her face sad…and suddenly to Frank it all made sense. "That's why you wanted to hurt me, all the business with Mary?" Frank looked at her, folding his arms and Evelyn shifted slightly "Because I hurt you first. I left you, just like dad?" Evelyn sighed "I'm not proud if it...but yes, I expect some psychologist could boil it down to that. But, it wasn’t all about hurting you Frank…I failed Diane and when I heard about Mary, how she had inherited your sister’s talents…I saw it as a perfect opportunity to try and make amends”

Frank rubbed at his eyes. He didn’t have it in him to be angry about any of this. Maybe last year, but not now. His mother had simply confirmed what he had suspected, but he was glad she’d admitted it finally. That it had been partly spite, and partly because she accepted some responsibility over Diane. Evelyn wasn’t to blame for Diane’s death, he knew that and would never in a million years dream of accusing her of such, but Diane had suffered from a mental illness which Evelyn had chosen to ignore. But he now understood that she hadn’t been ignoring it because she thought it was a weakness, she had feared it.

“I'm not proud of how I behaved Frank” Evelyn looked at him and his eyes flickered back to her.  “Far from it. But knowing Mary now, I'm not sure I'd change it because...I love her. And I'm glad she’s in my life. And you too for that matter.”

“What’s done is done.” he said gently, “I’m tired of being angry and bitter about it.” “Me too.” Evelyn said.

“Well…” Frank said, thinking back to what Bill had said to him earlier “There’s nothing we can do about the past. I suppose it’s how we choose to deal with things going forward that matters.”

Kintsugi…

Evelyn looked at him “That’s very philosophical” she teased and Frank gave a chuckle.

“Old habits die hard.” he shrugged before he sighed "Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked quietly, “About Dad?” "Preston was your hero.” Evelyn looked at him, smiling softy “And rightly so, he was an amazing man. And I thought you deserved to at least have some good memories of one parent"

Frank looked at her as she held his gaze, her words echoing around his brain. She’d been trying to protect him, behaving again in a way that she thought was best. Shielding him from hurt and anger and pain.

Being a mom.

With a soft nod he acknowledged her point and with a final smile he bid her goodnight and headed upstairs. Slipping back into bed, he gently pressed a kiss to Fliss’ neck, holding her close to his chest, simply laying still, and then she shifted and turned to face him.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” he asked softly and she shook her head.

“No, but I woke up and you weren’t here…” she yawned as he brushed her waves off her face, his thumb gently skating her bruised cheek “Where did you go?”

“To grab a drink. Then I was talking to Mother.” “Everything ok?” Fliss asked and he took a deep breath, nodding.

“Yeah, yeah I think it is, or at least it will be.” She smiled softly at him in the dim light and he dipped his head to kiss her gently, his hand dropping to her hip. She moved closer, tipping her pelvis up to meet his and he gave a sigh into her mouth as he felt her rub up against his crotch.

“You want something?” he asked, and she gave a soft chuckle.

“You gonna make me beg?” she asked.

“Never, baby girl…” he smiled, rolling her over onto her back.

 Before long they were both naked, sharing kisses, soft teasing touches. Frank’s mouth softly caressed her bruised neck, her collar bone before moving down to her breasts, lavishing affection at her pebbled nipples causing her to arch her back, pressing into his touch. He loved the way she keened underneath him, her body begging him for more, so needy and so ready for him. When neither of them could stand it any longer, both aching for one another, Frank’s hands gently cupped her face as he pushed into her, causing her to gasp slightly. He gently rolled his hips, his movements slow, deep, rocking into her as opposed to thrusting, not wanting any inch of his body to be away from hers.

It was slow, soft and quiet. Everything about it was pure love and affection, not for one single moment about chasing that surge of ecstasy. But when that relief inevitably came, Fliss head tipped back in a silent cry, as Frank nuzzled at her jaw with his nose before he slanted his mouth over hers, kissing her deeply before he himself came, hard, with a surge that he wasn’t quite sure he’d felt before. As they lay there, tangled around one another, soft kisses and touches being shared in the afterglow, Frank found himself wondering just how on Earth she kept managing to make him fall deeper in love with her by the day.

He knew he would probably never get the answer to that, but he didn’t care. All he knew was this woman was his world, his home.

And he was going to make her his wife.

**** Chapter 25