#anyway my notes tonight have reminded me why i’ve hated posting lately

[jaeminlore]

Landslide | Mark Lee

summary: time makes you bolder. even children get older, and i’m getting older too.

words: 7.1k+

category: teacher!mark, single parent!reader, fem!presenting!reader, graham is the sweetest kid, mark is that teacher that lets kids pick earthworms during recess, friends to lovers, mark’s apartment is flooded so now he has to live in domestic bliss with his secret crush oh nooooo

warnings: talk of absent fathers

author note: it’s my birthday tomorrow so i wanted to give u all a present for supporting me for so long!! here’s to you <3 (cross-posted on /honklore)

Mark helps one of his kids press their palms onto the wall. When they release their palm, pink paint remains, making a sort of leaf to the tree branches painted onto the wall.

“Now write your name,” Mark advises another kid, whose orange paint had already dried.

“G-R-A-H-A-M,” the boy writes out with a large permanent marker. “Can I take a picture? For my mom?”

All the rest of the children begin to shout their agreements, also wanting to bring home a picture for their parents. Mark grabs his yellow Polaroid camera and takes a picture of each handprint.

He keeps all of the pictures in the chest pocket of his denim jacket. “Okay, guys— to the sink! Whoever has the cleanest hands gets to help me pass out snacks!”

“Why are we having snack time so early?” It’s Graham that asks, the little one always eager to be around Mark.

Mark ignores the boy’s paint covered hands poking at his clean jacket, and answers him as politely as he can. “Mr. Lee forgot his lesson plans today, so we’re going to watch a movie instead.”

“A movie?” Graham’s eyes widen.

“Yep,” Mark giggles. He crouches down to Graham’s level and whispers, “You wanna pick it?”

“Nature Nut!” Graham cheers almost immediately, causing Mark to wince.

Ah, yes, the wonderful little DVDs of a lonesome man teaching the watcher about bugs and weird types of slugs. Mark actually has the entire collection, and Graham happens to adore them just as much as Mark did when he was a kid.

“Alright, go wash your hands and I’ll get it started.”

It’s a little girl named Hana who cleans her hands the best, so she passes out organic fruit gummies to everyone while Mark puts in the DVD.

While they watch the video, Mark checks his text messages.

There’s one from Taeyong: “I’ve already got Haechan on the couch. Sorry, man. You can have the floor, but it’s not gonna be comfy :(“

Right. Mark forgot that Haechan lives in the same complex as him. His apartment is probably just as flooded as Mark’s is. Now if the landlord would just answer his calls and help him... maybe this situation wouldn’t be so stressful.

Mark didn’t forget his lesson plans; they’re just submerged in his bedroom with everything else Mark has left lying on his carpet. And maybe it’s his fault for not buying more storage bins, but a studio apartment can only hold so much stuff.

Serves Mark right for doing his lesson plans at home instead of at the school like most of his fellow kindergarten teachers.

He lets out a quiet sigh, careful not to disturb the children. He only has a short list of friends left to ask, and while he doesn’t think they’ll mind him asking, he really hates to put anyone in that position.

Besides, most of his friends have roommates or significant others and Mark doesn’t want to ruin their routine. He’d hate to intrude. And he could always sleep in his car for a few days, but the amount of stuff he had to pack because of the flooding has barred any chance of a good night’s sleep.

The video ends, and Mark gets the kids seated with coloring pages until their parents arrive.

One by one, he I.Ds the parents and tells the kids goodbye, helping them put on their coats and take home whatever library book they picked out earlier.

Finally, there’s only one kid left, and Mark is a bit embarrassed of his hyper-awareness to Graham. It’s not even his fault, really. Graham just has a beautiful mom, who happens to be Mark’s beautiful friend, and sometimes Mark gets eager to see you during pickup time.

Whatever. It’s no big deal.

The kindergartener already has his coat on. His curly brown hair is almost unruly as he continues to work on his coloring sheet.

Mark pulls at the hem of his sage sweater sleeves and wonders if his hair looks okay. Maybe he should invest in a little desk mirror; or maybe that’s vain.

“Hey, Mark! Sorry I’m late!” You rush in, holding on to your leather messenger bag. You fix your glasses before they fall off the bridge of your nose, and Mark is so focused on the movement that he almost forgets about your child.

Until said child is scolding his mother. “Mom! You have to call him Mr. Lee! It’s rude to call him Mark!”

“Your mom is an adult,” Mark reminds Graham (as soon as he finds his voice.) “Since she isn’t a student, it’s okay for her to call me Mark.”

Graham pinches his lips together, and then shrugs. “Fine. Mom, we watched Nature Nut today.” He runs up to you and wraps his arm around your middle. “Can we go to the park and look for slugs?”

“Sure,” you giggle. “But we need to get home soon, okay, Bud? I have to make dinner and then we have to clean up the mess we made last night.”

Graham turns to Mark and smiles naughtily, like the trickster he often is. “Mom said I could tear up her papers last night. She said it’s There-pee.”

“Ther-a-py,” you emphasize for the five-year-old.

Mark studies your face, and he can tell that you seem a little more stressed than usual. “Therapy, huh?”

You smile sheepishly. “Well, when your son catches you tearing up old love notes, you have to let him in on the fun, right?”

“You are a team,” Mark acknowledges. He wants to ask more; wants to dig into your heart and extract whatever is hurting you, but your son is standing between the two of you, waiting for him to say goodbye. Mark clears his throat and picks at his sweater again. “Anyways, uh, text me tonight? Let me know you two got home safe. And, I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” you breathe. You smile at him and then take Graham’s hand. “Thanks, Mark. I’ll text you.”

Mark spends the night at a motel down the road. He texts a few of his friends and hopes for good news in the morning, or at least a confirmation from his landlord.

When you text him, a little selfie of you and Graham, holding up what looks like microwaved s’mores, his heart grows fond, and he forgets about his own problems for a moment.

-

Life has never been very easy for you. From the get-go, you have always been destined to fail, growing up with an absent father and an overworked mother. With a dead-end dream like yours (writing, of all things), it’s no wonder you clung to what little breaths of freedom you had.

He was handsome and bold, with a carefree smile and brown eyes that mirrored the sun. The lead singer of a band, with a voice like chimes. And you fell just as hard as one of your many protagonists. Perhaps the mistake always lay in the fact that you put too much fantasy into reality. You have always romanticized the littlest things, and that comes back to bite you more often than not.

You never expected one: to get pregnant your senior year of high school, and two: have to go through it alone.

Of course, most people you come to love leave eventually. It’s something you have always remembered; something that sticks in the back of your brain like gum to the bottom of your child’s Spider-man skechers.

Graham is the only constant in your life. Though you’ve been blessed with a decent job editing for a webazine company, and you can work from home more often than not, Graham is the real thing that keeps you alive.

He’s the most precious boy, with brown curls and big brown eyes. He favors his father, and though that should deter you, it reminds you of innocent days, and it gives a new meaning to brown eyes. Graham is not his father, and he never was.

Graham certainly got his love of learning from you. Though he likes science more than writing, you adore how eager he is to always get to school. It helps that Mark is his teacher.

Mark’s been your friend since freshman year of highschool, when the two of you both took the same creative writing class the local university offered. Though the two of you had differing end goals, you often studied together and encouraged each other. He was there when you found out you were pregnant, and he was there when you found out you’d be raising your child alone.

Now life comes full circle, and you see him twice a day. You could go out on a limb and say he brightens up most mornings, but you would still give that slot to your son.

Mark is standing at the doorway now, greeting all of his students and helping them take off their book bags and coats. He’s wearing monochrome today: red pants, a red sweater, and red shoes.

Graham lights up almost immediately, and you are thankful today that you decided to dress Graham in his red t-shirt. “Mom! We match!”

“I know,” you grin, squeezing his hand.

Mark glances at Graham, and then you. His cheeks showcase that same pink hue they always do, and while it should clash with his red garments, it doesn’t. “Hey, Mark.”

“Hey,” he grins, cheeks full at the sight of you two.

Graham spreads his arms and waits for Mark to help him take off his jacket. “Do you see that we match, Mr. Lee?”

“Yo, that’s awesome, Little Man!” Mark gives Graham a fist bump that seems to appease him, and you wait for Graham to run to his friends before addressing Mark.

“How have you been?”

Mark sighs. He brushes his hair away from his eyes. “Okay. My- uh- my studio apartment flooded so I’m staying at a motel until my landlord can get me estimates on when I can come back home.”

“That sucks,” you frown. “You know, if you need a place to stay, I have a pullout couch in my office. And obviously, Graham wouldn’t mind.”

Mark pales. “Are you serious? I didn’t mean to suggest anything, Like I know you work from home and you need your office.”

“And you’ll be at school until three,” you say. “I’ll work then. C’mon, Mark. I don’t like knowing one of my friends has no place to stay.”

Mark bites his bottom lip and scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll drive over after I check out of the motel.”

“Great!” You smile. “I’ll order pizza.”

-

"Graham, clean your room," you say, struggling to push your desk against your office wall. "We're going to have a guest for a few weeks."

"Mom," Graham whines, "They aren't going to look in my room."

You begin to take the cushions out of the spare couch to start setting up the pull-out bed. "Mr. Lee is coming over, Graham.  Don't you want to show him your collections?"

Graham's brown eyes grow wide. "Mr. Lee? You didn't tell me he was coming!"

"He's going to be staying with us for a little bit, okay? So I need you to be on your best behavior."

“Can I show him my worms?” Graham asks, alluding to the compost bin in the small backyard of your townhouse.

“Yes,” you say, thankful that he isn’t putting up much of a fight toward cleaning. You’re also thankful he isn’t asking any questions, as Graham always seems to have a few at the top of his tongue.

Graham cleans up his room quickly. You know for a fact that he’s just shoved all of his toys under his bed, but it’s enough until the weekend, when you’ll have more time to help him organize.

The little guy hoards rocks like no one’s business. You curse the day Mark decided to teach the kids about geodes.

“Wanna help me make up Mr. Lee’s room?” You half-yell, while grabbing spare bedding out of your linen closet.

Graham’s little footsteps are heard before he answers, and soon he’s at your hip with a quick, “He can have my Frozen pillowcase!”

You hesitate to tell Graham that his Frozen pillowcase is currently on one of your pillows, and you can’t give your guest a dirty pillowcase. “That one is in the wash, Buddy. Why don’t we give him your Spider-Man one?”

“So he matches my pajamas!” Graham is easily pleased, and he even takes one of his stuffed bears to add to Mark’s made-up bed. (“So he doesn’t get scared at night.”)

By the time the pizza arrives, Mark is just behind, so you keep Graham busy with a slice of cheese and a glass of diet pepsi (only half of a can, and only because it’s a special occasion) while the two of you bring in Mark’s stuff.

He surprisingly didn’t bring much, and when you ask about it, he grimaces. “My studio is pretty small so a lot of my stuff was on the ground and got mildewed. Other stuff was in bins so I just left it there. I only need clothes and my lesson plans, anyway.”

“Well, here’s the desk and bed. It’s not much, but there’s a lock on the door in case Graham ever gets too inquisitive — bless him — and curtains so the stupidly bright sun won’t wake you too early.”

“Those both sound like personal experiences, Y/n,” Mark teases. He takes off his jacket and throws it on the bed. “Yo! Spider-Man?”

“Graham picked it out,” you say. “He also relinquished one of his bears to keep you safe in the middle of the night. His words, not mine.”

“He’s so cute,” Mark mentions offhandedly. The fondness in his tone takes you back a bit. Not because the phrase isn’t true, it’s just that most people find your son annoying before they find him endearing. The change of tone is nice.

“He is,” you say. “And he’s dying to show you his room after we eat dinner.”

Mark gives you that same lopsided smile he often had in high school. Part of your brain shifts to his personal life, and you wonder why Mark himself isn’t in a romantic relationship. Not that he has to be, but the both of you are getting older, and Mark has always been one to express a fondness for having his own family one day. Maybe he just hasn’t found the right person.

It isn’t until Graham is peacefully in bed — after a very chaotic reading of Goodnight Moon by yours truly, and an argument that Mr. Lee cannot, in fact, sleep in the same room as him — that you actually have a chance to show Mark around the house.

“Here’s the guest bathroom. Graham almost always uses the bathroom in my room because he likes looking at the big tub. He will beg you to play with him, but if you’re busy don’t feel guilty telling him no. He knows what no means and he’s good about playing by himself.”

Mark giggles. “Okay. I don’t mind playing with him, though.“

You show him around the kitchen, where you left little spaces for him in the pantry. You show him the garbage bags and the T.V. settings and the list of compostable ingredients. “And also, please come and go as you please. Like, I completely understand that you’re here temporarily and you aren’t a babysitter or anything like that. I don’t expect you to be in charge of Graham any time outside of school.”

Mark blinks. “But if you ever need time away, you can ask me. I don’t mind babysitting.”

“I know,” you smile. “But Graham is my kid. I don’t need time away from him.”

You’re lying. Mark knows it. You’ve been in this single parenting thing for five years and you aren’t about to reach out for help now.

“Anyways, if you have any questions just ring me or ask me,” you say. “I’ve got to get to bed. Goodnight.”

“Thanks, Y/n.”

-

Mark thinks it’s sweet the way Graham insists on making his own breakfast.

You’re already up when Mark gets out of his (temporary) bedroom with his clothes tucked under his arm. You’re busy arguing with Graham. “You can’t fry your own omelette for the last time.”

Mark quirks an eyebrow at your exasperated face. You look stressed beyond belief, even though the day has just begun.

Mark tosses his clothes back in his room and walks into the kitchen. “Hey, Graham! Do you want to show me your rock collection?”

Graham spins on his sock-clad heels, eyes bright at the thought of seeing his teacher. “Mr. Lee! Yes! Let’s go!”

He grabs Mark’s hand with ease, leaving you room to finish making breakfast.

Graham’s room is fairly simple. The small wooden bed is covered in a green quilt, and beneath that, frozen-printed sheets that certainly don’t match. He has a tub of stuffed animals shoved against a small dresser.

Mark gets distracted by the framed picture on top of the dresser. It’s a picture of you and Graham’s father, a few months before you got pregnant. He’s smiling, and you’re holding up a peace sign. It makes Mark feel a bit sad, knowing that Graham’s dad never stayed around to see how wonderful he turned out to be. Then again, a lot of people in your life left as soon as they found out. In high school, no one wants to be friends with a teenage mother.

Mark reckons that if he had a family like this, he’d never take them for granted.

Graham pulls out a gemstone. It’s a murky green one that Mark has let him take home from class. “Do you remember this, Mr. Lee?”

Mark grins. “Yeah, bud. Thanks for keeping it so safe for me.”

Graham beams. He grabs Mark’s hand and pulls him towards his dresser. “Can we match? I want to look like you.”

Mark feels his heart swell. He wants to smother the young boy in affection, but he doesn’t want to cross a line. He’s your friend, sure, but he’s also Graham’s teacher. He can’t coddle Graham more than the other children. He already has a godchild to coddle. “I’m wearing yellow today. Do you have any yellow clothes?”

“Let’s look!” Graham yanks open one of the drawers and begins pulling out the articles of clothing one by one. “No, no, no... Here!” He finds a pair of yellow overalls, folded amongst the mess he made. “I’ll wear these!”

“Let’s clean up first, okay?” Mark grabs the overalls. “So it’s clean when you come home from school.”

Graham, looking like the last thing he’d ever want to do is disappoint Mark, begins to pick up each shirt with obvious intent. He tries to fold them, and does a somewhat decent job, so much so that Mark leaves it, thinking you’ll find it endearing rather than annoying.

He really loves that about you. He likes your patience with Graham. You’re so young, and in reality, he squashed so many early dreams of yours. No matter your lot in life, you never blamed your child. Mark thinks that’s why Graham is so open, so adaptable, so endearing.

He helps Graham get dressed and leaves him in his room so that he, himself, can get ready.

When he emerges from his shower, hair wet and clothed in yellow, he smells something amazing.

He doesn’t want to intrude on your morning with Graham. He already feels too indebted to you already.

“Have an omelet,” you say. Wisps of hair cover your face. You place a plate down in front of him.

Graham is already eating his omelet, slowly, while flipping through a picture book. He sounds out words he recognizes, but stays silent the rest of the time.

Mark takes out his phone and scrolls through his instagram feed just as your own phone begins to ring.

“Shit,” you curse, and then immediately apologize to Graham. You press the red button and tap anxiously on the tabletop.

“Everything okay?” Mark asks.

You run your hands over your hair and let them rest on the back of your neck. “Yeah is just—“

The phone rings again, and this time you pick it up. “What do you want? ... Why would you tell me that? ... Why should I care? ... Please stop contacting me, okay? Goodbye.”

You slam the phone down and leave the room. Mark watches you disappear down the hallway, sniffling.

“Mommy is upset,” Graham says. He looks at Mark, lip quivering. “At me?”

“No, Buddy! Of course not!” Mark reaches over the table to ruffle Graham’s curls. “Never at you.”

“When we tore up paper, she was crying.” Graham fiddles with his book page.

Mark wonders why your ex’s actions are being brought up five years later. Last he heard, you had fully healed from the breakup long before Graham’s first birthday. But now he’s about to be six, and you're suddenly upset?

He’ll have to ask you about it soon.

“Are you ready to go to school, Buddy?”

“Yeah!”

-

You cradle your face in your hands and try to ease the tears back in. You’ll never get this article proofread and sent if you can’t see the keys.

The door opens, and Graham runs in just in time for you to finish wiping your eyes. “Hey, kiddo! How was school?”

“Mr. Lee let us finger paint!” Graham holds up his palm, covered in dried paint, and grins brightly. “Can I have gogurt?”

“Yeah bud. Why don’t you put something on the T.V.? You can have your snack in the living room today.”

“Yes!” Graham takes blueberry gogurt out of the fridge and — after getting you to tear it open — runs into the living room. Sneakers and backpack still on.

Mark trails behind, clutching a messenger bag to his chest. “What’s going on?”

You sigh and close the laptop. The manuscript will have to wait. “Ben called. About a week ago. His girlfriend is pregnant. Called me to tell me he wasn’t going to leave her— like that would heal what he did to me. Then he called this morning to tell me they’re engaged.” You burst into tears then, and you feel so pathetic for doing this in front of your old schoolmate, that you hide your face behind your palms and allow your shoulders to shake. “Why weren’t we enough? Why wasn’t I enough?”

Mark scoots one of the chairs in front of you and sits, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Hey. Look at me.” With gentle hands, he grabs your wrists and pulls them away from your face. “It is not your fault he left.”

“But it has to be me in some way,” you retort. “He must not have loved me. Something, because now he’s going to raise her child after he left mine. Graham deserves a dad.”

Mark places his forehead against yours. The two of you used to do it all the time in school, mostly with immature giggles in the spaces between, but now it’s heavy with intention. “Graham has not felt even a little bit unloved in your care. You are all he needs, okay? You’re amazing.”

You nod, head still pressed to Mark’s. “Yeah. Okay. Sorry for getting too emotional, there.”

“Be as emotional as you want,” Mark says. “I’ll be here to balance you out.”

Your heart stutters at the words, like maybe they mean something more than he’s letting on. Of course it’s stupid to think Mark Lee would ever even consider you, but just the knowledge that he cares makes your soul feel a little lighter.

“I’m a mess,” you stutter, bringing your fist up to wipe at your nose.

“Nah,” Mark grins. He runs the pad of his thumb across your cheek and grins. “You’re alright.”

-

“It’s snowing!” Graham wakes Mark up by jumping on his chest.

Mark sucks in a breath, winded at the sudden weight, and grabs the boy, lifting him off of his chest and onto the mattress. “Hey, Buddy. Let’s not jump on sleeping people, okay?”

“Okay,” Graham says. He’s already lost interest in Mark, now crawling off of the bed to open the blinds. “Come look at the snow!”

“I see!” Mark rubs his tired eyes and checks his watch. “We might have a snow day, Graham.”

“Yes!” Graham pumps his fist into the air. “Let’s go tell mom!”

You’re sitting on your bed, chewing on a red licorice rope and flipping through a fashion magazine. You look up when Mark and Graham enter.

Mark likes seeing you like this: the domesticity of you in the morning, lazy and true. His chest sparks when he thinks this may be one of the only moments he can capture you like this, so he intends to commit the sight to memory.

“Did I hear snow day?” You grin at Mark, childlike wit in your own eyes — the same as your son’s.

“Looks like it.” Mark rolls up the sleeves of the sweater he slept in. “You want pancakes? I make some mean chocolate chip pancakes.”

You shift your gaze away from his arms and clear your throat. “Uh, yeah. Just let me get dressed and I’ll help—“

“No need,” Mark insists. “Enjoy your quiet time. Graham and I will make the most delicious pancakes you’ve ever tasted.”

“With lots of chocolate chips!” Graham shouts.

You give him a pointed look. “But not too many.”

Graham huffs. “But not too many,” he repeats.

-

Momentary splashes sound from your bathroom, followed by Graham screaming “It’s a dragon! Run for cover!”

Mark giggles from his place on the couch. He’s got mushroom-patterned socks on, and he’s tucked up into the cushions, nursing a can of Monster. “How does he still have so much energy?”

You sigh and pull your beanie down over your forehead. “You’d think a snow day would tire him out. Thanks for constantly carrying him up the hill, by the way. I know you’re a teacher, but sometimes I forget how good you are with kids.”

“I do have a godson,” Mark reminds you.

“But Mikey is a baby,” you say. You only know the baby’s name because of Mark’s constant snap stories about him.

“Most babies and kids want the same thing. Affection and attention.” Mark scoots over to the edge of the couch and pats the cushion.

You sit next to him. “I guess that’s true. You’re really good with Graham. He’s not this open to other adults.”

Mark is clearly blushing now; you can see his pink cheeks even in the light of the television. “He’s great in class, always helping the other kids.”

“He wants to impress you,” you say. You pop open a can of orange soda and take a sip. “He thinks you’re just the coolest guy.”

Mark laughs and shakes his head. “Didn’t you hear, Y/n? I’m handsome and cool.”

“Oh, of course,” you nudge his shin with our own sock-clad foot. “How could I forget? Mr. Ladies Man in high school.”

This makes Mark blush even harder, because he most certainly was not a ladies man in high school. In fact, he was a nerd in all senses of the word, part of the debate club with a few other boys. He had a few dates here and there, but nothing ever stuck.

“Shut up,” he mumbles. “My time is gonna come.”

“Hasn’t it already?” you ask before you can really process your own words. But of course he knows that he’s grown into his face, right?

Mark is positively handsome, eyes bright and lashes long. He’s so warm and comforting to you. He must be just as comforting to everyone else.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re handsome, Mark,” you say plainly.

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do,” you say. “Why would I lie?”

Mark opens his mouth, perhaps to call you out. To tell you you’ve been too honest, but he’s interrupted by your son.

“Mom! I’m ready to get out now!”

“I should go,” you say, still looking at his eyes.

“Yeah,” he says. His sweater has small spots on the shoulders where snow has fallen and since melted. He shivers.

“You should take a shower. You’ll catch a cold.”

“Okay,” he whispers. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

-

Haechan comes over the following Saturday night to hang out with Mark, and you’re surprised at how much he truly hasn’t changed since high school.

He’s still got infamously perfect eyebrows, and his voice is still high despite its blunt sarcasm. “Nice place.” He raises his brows as he looks around.

“Who are you?” Graham is sitting at the kitchen table, watching Minecraft playthroughs (kid-friendly ones you’ve watched through yourself) on your phone to entertain himself while you clean.

“I’m Haechan, Mark’s friend.”

“This is Mr. Lee’s friend from school,” you say, detailing your words so they’re easier for your son to digest.

Graham stares at him for a moment, not quite judging but not quite accepting either. “Okay. Do you want to see my rock collection?”

Haechan looks genuinely excited, and accepts before you can come up with an excuse for him. Graham tells Haechan to stay in the kitchen while he grabs all of his rocks.

“How have you been?” you ask the taller man. “Like, with the flooding and everything?”

“Well, I’m on a couch at Taeyong’s, which is good since he doesn’t charge rent. But that means I’m near Mikey, and that baby has some lungs.”

You laugh. “I remember when Graham was a baby. I was so young, and my mom told me it was my responsibility to wake up and take care of him whenever he cried in the middle of the night. I was so pissed at her for making me do that, but those were some of the best nights to bond with him.” You realize you’re rambling and shake your head. “Whatever. Baby screams are loud as hell.”

“You can say that again. I’ve been talking to my friend Johnny about taking his spare room and paying rent. I dunno how many more sleepless nights I can take.”

“Why would you need to pay rent if you’re just crashing?” You wipe down the kitchen table to keep yourself busy.

“Didn’t Mark tell you? Our landlord is in heaps of trouble because the pipes weren’t up to code and that’s why they busted. The damage is basically too expensive to fix, so we’ve got to find new places.”

You stop cleaning. “Mark didn’t tell me that.”

“Oh.” Haechan scratches his brow. “He probably didn’t want to worry you. He feels really bad that he’s stayed with you this long.”

“It’s only been a month or so,” you counter. “Besides, Mark’s a great housemate. He cleans and keeps Graham occupied. Plus, now I have someone to watch corny game shows with.”

Haechan grins. “Oh. Okay, I get it.”

“Get what?” Mark, finally out of the shower, steps into the kitchen and immediately tackles Haechan in an energized hug.

“Nothing!” Haechan’s voice cracks

You shoot Haechan a weird look, and change the subject. “Where are you guys going?”

“To play video games at Johnny’s.” Mark says, and the thrill in his voice makes you think of high school. Of the debate team bus rounding the corner. Of you standing there, waiting to congratulate him with a big hug and a frosty from Wendy’s.

You miss it. “Have fun, okay? I’m probably going to tuck in as soon as Graham does, so just let yourself in.”

“You’re leaving?” Graham comes in, and his arms are filled with smooth and rough stones and gems he’s both found by himself and bought at random general stores while traveling.

“Not before I see your rocks!” Haechan says with so much enthusiasm, you think he’s telling the truth.

Graham giggles and drops the rocks onto the ground. Of course, he wants your guest to sit on the floor and count rocks. You’re almost embarrassed.

“ ‘ Okay, Y/n?” Mark laughs at your expression. Then he places his arm on your shoulder, thumbs the skin of your upper arm.

And once again, it’s high school. It’s senior year graduation and Mark is the only one who congratulates you. It’s his comforting touch, him coming over in the middle of the night after you texted him a picture of your first sonogram. It’s that same comforting touch. That little “I’m here,” and it melts you on the inside, leaves you in the shell of an eighteen girl again. Scared, and worried, and a little less alone.

“Yeah,” you manage. “I’m okay.”

-

The television plays Cartoon Network reruns on a low hum. Mark is curled up in a blanket, nursing a bottle of water and thinking over Haechan’s words.

You’ve liked her since high school, dude.

Which is a complete lie. Seriously, Mark didn’t have a crush on you in high school. He would know if he had a crush on his best friend. You’ve been his friend since freshman year, and that’s all you’ve ever been.

Now in college, it was different. In college, Mark was alone in a dorm with Taeyong, and you were one of the only people from high school he stayed in contact with. In college, he would bring you your favorite snacks and drinks, and other things you would forget to buy because you were a part-time student and a full-time mom. In college, you would pull all-nighters with him, working on your exams while Graham was asleep, then using energy drinks to get through the next day.

Mark even remembers the time your mom caught the three of you fast asleep on your rug, with unopened monster cans and an empty milk bottle beside you.

Throughout your entire pregnancy he was warned not to stay friends with the pregnant girl — it’d be too much for him, he wouldn’t want to become the new father, and all kinds of other stuff people would mumble to him when you weren’t around.

But you never expected him to be anything other than your friend. You never asked him for the help he gave — though you thanked him always — and you never once assumed he’d take the role of Graham’s dad.

And now… now he finds himself wishing you would.

“Mr. Lee?” Graham creeps up without him even realizing.

Mark jumps, sets his water — and thoughts — aside. “Hey, Bud. It’s really late. What are you doing up?”

Graham sniffs, and Mark realizes that the boy is crying. “I had a nightmare.”

Mark holds out his arms before he can think, and lets the five-year-old crawl into his lap. He wraps them both in his blanket and turns the television up just a little more. “Was it scary?”

“You left.” Graham says, voice less watery, like he doesn’t know the weight of his words. He’s focused on the rerun of Adventure Time that’s playing. He’s not even remotely interested in his nightmare now, with his tears dried up, and his eyes drooping back towards slumber.

“I’m going to leave one day,” Mark says, because he thinks it’s important that Graham knows.

“You should stay with me and Mom,” Graham says. He yawns. “We like you so much!”

Mark’s heart stutters. He tries not to think about it.

-

When Graham’s bed is empty the next morning, you freak out. He’s always in his room in the morning. Even if he wakes up before you, he stays in and plays with his toys.

You’ve already got your phone out, and your mother’s number called, when you walk into the living room.

Relief floods your system. Mark and Graham are asleep on the couch, snuggled up serenely like they didn’t just cause you to have a premature heart attack.

You hang up before the call to your mom can go through and stand there, watching the two boys sleep. Graham has both his arms wrapped around Mark’s forearm. It’s such a sweet picture that you take out your phone and snap one.

The flash is on.

Mark scrunches his nose and winces. “What the–”

“Sorry!” You whisper. “You both looked so cute, I couldn’t help it.”

Mark smiles, still sleepy, and finally opens his eyes. He peers at you, copper brown under fluttering lashes and you’re almost intimidated into looking away. “He had a nightmare.”

“Oh?”

“About me leaving.”

“Oh.” You frown. “I’m really sorry about that. I keep telling him that you’re moving out soon, but I don’t think he fully understands.”

Graham stirs. You reach down and pick him up. Your knuckles brush across Mark’s warm, sweater-clad chest and you suddenly wish you could cuddle with him, too. You shake the thoughts away and focus on your drowsy son. “You’re staying at Grandma's for a few days, remember?”

Graham rubs his eyes and perks up. “And I’ll see her cat?”

“Yes,” you confirm. “But we’ve got to get you dressed because she’s coming in a few minutes.”

-

“Mark Lee!” Your mom’s voice embarrassingly rings through the apartment, and you realize Mark has taken it upon himself to open the door. “Y/n told me she had a temporary roommate but I never thought she would finally ask you!”

“Oh my gosh…” you mumble, buckling Graham’s overalls and hauling him up into your arms. “Mom! His apartment flooded so he’s staying here. Don’t be weird about it.”

“But he’s so handsome,” your mom coos. You’re concerned she might reach forward and pinch Mark’s already ruddy cheeks.

“Thanks,” Mark laughs. “But she’s right, I’m just squatting until I can find a new place.”

Your mom harrumphs. “Well, I don’t see why you can’t stay here forever. Y/n doesn’t even use that office room. And even if she did, the two of you could just share a room.”

“Mom!” You plunk Graham into her hands and grab his overnight bag. “You have to leave.”

“Did I say something wrong?” She sounds worried, but there’s an undisclosed mirth in her eyes that makes you think of your freshman year, when you did have a crush on Mark.

“You said everything wrong,” you say, kindly pushing her out. “Have a good time, Graham. I love you! As always, Mom, call if you need me to come get him.”

“Yeah, right!” She yells over her shoulder. Graham is already giggling, so you close the door with confidence.

You turn back to your roommate. “I’m sorry about that, Mark.”

“It’s fine.” He smiles, but it’s reserved. “But speaking of me finding a place… I know Haechan told you that I can’t go back to my own apartment. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“It’s okay,” you say. You want to say “You can stay here as long as you want, and long as you’ll let me keep you,” but that would reveal too much, and you don’t want to lose the one good friend you have.

“And I was thinking I should move out soon anyway.” Mark pulls his sweater sleeves until they cover his hands. He’s hiding. He’s shielding himself the same way he did in junior year, when he got turned down by his crush to go to the prom. “I don’t think it’s good for Graham to get this attached to me if I’m just going to leave.”

“Oh,” Your sleeves are too short, but you want to shield yourself too. “Yeah, that’s… that’s probably a good idea.”

Mark stands there for a beat, like he’s waiting for you to say something more. Like he hasn’t just taken your heart and pushed it aside. Like this hurts a lot less than it actually does.

But any word out of your mouth would be tearful. It would be honest. It would ruin everything. “I’m going to go on a run.”

-

There’s a cricket outside that won’t stop chirping against your window. You blame it for your insomnia, choosing to ignore the anxiety of eventually losing Mark. It feels so horribly childish, since you’ll see him when you drop Graham off at school. And you’ll see him whenever the two of you go out for coffee on weekends.

But you won’t see him in the kitchen, reaching for the pancake mix so his shirt rises up and you can see the dimples in his back. You won’t see him humming along to the radio while he works on his lesson plans. You won’t feel his warmth when the two of you stay awake, nursing spiked lemonade and giggling at the commentary videos you find on YouTube.

He’ll just be Mark again. He won’t be home anymore.

Startled by the realization, you get out of your covers and rush to your door.

It opens before you can even reach for the doorknob, and there’s Mark in his pajamas, biting his lip and avoiding your eyes.

“I don’t want you to leave,” you say.

Mark confesses, “I love you.”

You open your arms and he dives in, face pressed into the space where your neck meets your shoulder. Warmth envelopes you and the scent of pine fills your nose.

Mark is timeless. Youthful glory and childish pride. He’s a pinch on the side and a push on the swings. Like a rock that actually skips on the first try. Like shoes that you can slip on when they’re still tied. And he’s here, in your arms, squeezing you like you’re something valuable enough to lose. He’s confessing love like you aren’t the worst possible candidate for his heart.

“I can’t offer you much,” you start, but Mark bumps his forehead against yours, boyish and playful — football fields and bright red lockers and secret notes on bathroom walls.

“I’ve known you for years, Y/n,” Mark’s voice is a low rumble. Copper eyes blinking at you like you’re something to second glance at. “I know what I’m getting into. I want you. I want Graham. I want everything this is, and everything we’ve been for the past month. I don’t want this to end.”

You close your eyes, because his are too honest. He’s open and vulnerable and gentle — a child on the first day of school, ready to make friends. You take a deep breath, try to remember what you were like on your first day. Rosy cheeks and shy glances. Knobby knees and a trusting heart. You reach out for whoever you once were — the Y/n with a heart open and willing to be loved. “I don’t want this to end either. I’m in love with you, Mark.”

His grin lights up your world in its entirety. Gold flecks in onyx black disappear as he smiles, too thrilled to keep his eyes open. And when he kisses you, warm lips against cold ones, you feel like a puzzle has just slotted into place.

It would only make sense that you would grow to love the boy you grew up with.

[peepeepotter]

Hogwarts: New Girl AU

A/N: Warning, some canonical changes were made for plot reasons, the biggest being: Harry and Ginny never dated; Harry, Neville, and Draco are all professors; George has a new WWW store in Hogsmeade. Also, she starts off living with the four guys whereas in New Girl she only lived with all four for about a season. I just thought it would be fun!! Also, when I wrote this it felt a lot longer than it ended up being—so let me know if this is too long or too short or just right!! P.S.: I do NOT condone transphobia (I’m LGBT and will defend trans people until the day I die) and obviously I feel JKR is a shitty person, I write because I like writing and we’ll all agree that 5 year old Daniel Radcliffe wrote the HP series :)

Chapter 1: Who’s That Girl?

Pairing: George x Female Reader

Warnings: Cursing

Words: 3k

Series Masterlist

-

“So, you know in horror movies when the girls are like "Oh my god, there's something in the basement. Let me just run down there in my underwear and see what's going on in the dark", and you're like "What is your problem? Call the aurors!", and she's like "Okay" but it's too late because she's already getting avada kedavra’d. Well, my story's kind of like that.” y/n said, remembering the borderline traumatic moment that happened two weeks ago.

-

Y/N sat in the back of a muggle taxi, on her way to her shared apartment with her boyfriend Cormac McLaggen. Only, incredibly uncomfortably, she was completely naked under a trench coat.

“It’s a surprise for Cormac. I’m just gonna walk in and drop my coat, like BAM. There it all is. He said he has this fantasy that I’m a veela with a heart of gold.” Y/N attempted to whisper into the phone speaker.

“You added the ‘heart of gold’ thing, didn’t you?” Ginny asked, chuckling and knowing full well that McLaggen wasn’t exactly a thoughtful person, and wouldn’t have included that in a sexual fantasy.

“Yeah. I wanted to really get into the character, you know?” Y/N tried to get into the fantasy more, hoping it would make her less uncomfortable.

“Oh really? What’s your veela name?”

“Uh...Fleur?”

“That ones taken, Y/N.”

“Whatever, I don’t need a veela name.”

“Either way, I’m so proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone! Good luck babe.” Ginny encouraged.

As Y/N walked into the apartment, she was trying to position herself sexily in the living room. She laid on her side on the couch. Too cliché. She propped herself on the back of the couch. Too masculine. Eventually Cormac entered the living room from the bedroom wearing only his boxers, making Y/N panic about the fantasy.

“Y/N! You’re back early! I wasn’t expecting you—“

Y/N dropped the trench coat. Immediately after a girl, Pansy Parkinson she recognized, followed McLaggen out of the bedroom. Their bedroom. And she was only wearing her underwear.

“Oh.”

-

“So that’s what happened and why I really need a new place to live. Anyway...what was the question?” Y/N smiled at the four men in front of her. They all looked traumatized by her story.

“Um, do you have any pets?” George asked.

“Oh, no I don’t. Sorry,” She chuckled awkwardly.

“You know what’s funny? When I saw your ad on DumbledoresList I thought you were women.” Y/N laughed. “Crazy, right?”

“Hold up, why would you think that?” Draco spoke before the other two could.

“Just some of the vocabulary used. Like sun-soaked and exposed brick daydream.”

“Draco you wrote exposed brick daydream? Oh my god,” George was nearly in tears with laughter, Harry and Neville following quickly. “Jar, right now, dude.”

“Yeah, jar, seriously. Five galleons.” Harry agreed, pointing to a jar on the mantle of he fireplace with a neon green post-it note labeled “Prick Jar.”

Draco rolled his eyes, getting up and putting the galleons in the jar.

Y/N coughed, trying to refocus the attention. “Look, I really like this apartment. I also really don’t want to live with my friend anymore. She’s a quidditch player...all her friends and roommates are quidditch players. They get into some real weird shit.” Y/N felt like she was pleading with them. Just let me stay here!

“Look I still don’t feel like we know enough—” George was interrupted by Draco.

“Oh, quidditch players? When can you move in?” Y/N grinned, hoping the promise of these three men meeting hot quidditch players would help.

“No, no, loft meeting. Bathroom.” Harry ordered, leading the way down the long hall to the bathroom at the end. When Y/N heard the door shut she quickly and silently followed, eavesdropping on the conversation.

“Come ON guys, she’s friends with quidditch players. Next to veela’s and the girls at Beauxbaton, that’s like the hottest girls in existence.” Draco begged the other two.

“The fact that you’re a professor now and you said that is like...incredibly disturbing.” Harry glared at Draco, George and Neville shaking their heads.

“Yeah, and my sister is a quidditch player so I don’t know about that.” George shuddered.

“I’m not going to lie to you guys, I don’t want a girl living here. Sometimes, I get home from a long day of teaching and I just want to strip and lay on the couch. Let the boys chill.” Harry casually shared. Y/N gagged at the thought, but the other three men in the bathroom made noises of agreement, or at least understandment of his statement.

“I am...actually neutral on this one.” Neville shrugged, causing Draco to scoff.

“You would be neutral on this.” Draco rolled his eyes, but directed his attention toward their fourth roommate. “Alright George, tie-breaker. It’s up to you. Is she in or out?”

“You guys know I don’t do well under pressure like this. Just give me a minute let me think.”

Both Harry and Draco started arguing with each other, putting George under more pressure to make a decision. He slowly backed himself into the stall in the bathroom and locked it. Neville watched everything play out, arms crossed with a smile on his face.

“Oh, now look what you’ve done!” Draco said, gesturing to the hiding George.

“What I’ve done! You started it—” Harry replied.

“Whatever, executive decision—she’s in.” Draco announced.

“YAY! I’m in!” Y/N exclaimed, not able to contain her excitement on the other side of the bathroom door. Draco opened the bathroom door.

“Nobody decided putting a silencing charm on the door would be a good idea?” Harry asked the boys in the bathroom.

“Oh you guys have a stall and urinals? Like a public bathroom? Okay, yeah I guess I can get used to that.” Y/N said, looking around the bathroom that reminded her a little too much of the bathrooms at Hogwarts.

“What do you do for a living anyway? Why do you want to live out here in Hogsmeade?” Draco asked as the group of five made their way back to the living room.

“I just became a professor at Hogwarts! I spent a really long time in both the muggle world and the magical world studying creatures. So, I’m taking over for Hagrid.” Y/N smiled, very excited to be doing her two favorite things in the world: working with animals, and teaching bright young minds.

“Oh, Harry, Neville and I are professors at Hogwarts too. I teach potions, Neville teaches herbology, and Harry teaches...Harry what fucking subject do you teach?” Draco crooked an eyebrow at Harry, purposely acting like he didn’t know what Harry taught.

“Defense against the dark arts.” Harry glared at Draco. “And George here just opened a new Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes shop in Hogsmeade.” Harry said, clapping George’s back. George sheepishly smiled at Y/N.

“Oh that’s awesome! I loved pranks at Ilvermorny. Cormac hated pranks.” Y/N started to tear up, staring off into space.

“George gets it, he was dumped, too.” Draco took his turn to clap his hand on George’s back this time.

“Yeah. Dumped,” George scoffed.

-

“George I just can’t do this anymore!” Angelina pleaded with George as he covered his ears, despite only the one really working.

“LALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU! WE CAN’T BREAK UP IF I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” George yelled.

-

“Yeah, I was dumped.” George shrugged. “What about it? It was like eight months ago Draco! Move past it. Pfft, dumped.” George got very heated over...seemingly very little, Y/N noticed.

“Ignore him, he’s still fragile. Which, you aren’t too fragile, right?” Draco asked.

“Pfft. I’m so tough. Don’t even worry about it.”

-

“We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night. … And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do, too. Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of.” Y/N was screaming the words of the monologue from Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca at the television, the four men staring at her from the kitchen.

“Feel like we’ve made a mistake yet?” Harry asked Draco, who rolled his eyes and approached Y/N.

“Y/N, stop.” Draco turned the television off. “C’mon, you can’t be like this! You’re a strong woman! Strong women don’t cry over men who clearly didn’t deserve them in the first place! Strong women go out and hook up with strangers in the bar in Hogsmeade to get over their ain’t-shit exes.” Draco pulled Y/N up from off the couch. “Go take a shower. We’re going to the Three Broomsticks tonight and you’re hooking up with someone.” Draco pushed her in the direction of the bathroom.

“And that gentleman is how you take care of a crying woman. Not that any of you know how to handle women at all.” Draco snipped at the three men, who—to be fair—did not know how to deal with women at all.

-

At the Three Broomsticks, the four men watched Y/N absolutely fail at flirting with any even remotely viable man in the bar. Eventually Draco called her back over to the booth where the four men drank and talked about their days.

“Honey, you’ve got to stop doing whatever it is you were doing out there. In fact, you’re going to stop doing anything. You are going to go sit at the bar and look pretty until a man approaches you, and then you are going to smile and nod and agree to go out with him.” Draco nagged. The three other men were chuckling quietly as Y/N trudged to the bar, hoping for men to approach her.

“Anyway, what is this shit we’re chaperoning on Friday night?” Draco turned to Neville and Harry, hoping one of the two would know.

“I think it’s a school dance but like...not fun for the kids at all. Like I don’t think there’s actually any dancing at all.” Harry summed, confused as well. None of them had ever been to muggle high school, and did not understand what a “homecoming” dance was. The Muggle Studies professor suggested it might be fun for the first Friday back to school, and McGonagall agreed as long as the kids didn’t have too much contact on the dance floor. The Muggle Studies teacher explained to the three men that it was “middle school rules, no touching below the shoulders, room for Merlin in the middle.” if dancing were to be allowed. Neville, Harry, and Draco were clueless as to what that meant.

“Glad I won’t be in on that shit show.” George laughed, taking a sip of his drink.

“We actually signed you up.” Draco said nonchalantly, drinking his beer. George spat his beer out violently.

“Excuse me? I have to spend my Friday night watching a bunch of kids...do what? Drink butterbeer and sit on opposite ends of a room?!” George was clearly pissed off, wanting to have done literally anything else with his Friday night.

“I mean, you’ll see your brother.” Harry offered, which actually eased George’s tensions a bit. He smiled, missing his family.

“Oh, alright. Harry, you charmer, you always know how to get me.” George winked at Harry who waved him off.

“How are things going with you and uh...Loony?” Draco asked Neville. The three other men rolled their eyes, annoyed at how Draco still seemed to live in his own little world.

“Luna. And things are going...they’re going.” Neville shrugged, clueless to his own love life.

“Just as expected, he doesn’t know anything.” Draco shook his head at George and Harry, as if Neville’s cluelessness was their fault.

“Are you blaming—” Before Harry could finish accusing Draco of exactly what Draco was doing, Y/N came back from the bar, squealing about getting a date.

“What did you do?” Draco asked, smirking, just knowing he was right.

“I did what you said! I just smiled and nodded and said I wanted to hookup and he gave me his number and now we’re going out Friday night!” Y/N jumped up and down in tiny jumps, starting to fist-pump.

“This American is so weird sometimes.” Harry whispered.

“It’s endearing, I think.” Neville commented.

“Naive, maybe.” George rolled his eyes, the only one who seemed to notice that she blatantly told the man she would have sex with him.

-

When the night of her date rolled around, the four men found themselves with an unexpected floo guest.

“Ginny, what are you doing—” George stood.

“Who told her it was a good idea to get back out there again? That’s not your job, that’s my job. I’m her best friend, you guys are just some weird adult men living together. No offense brother, dear.” Ginny was in the living room, pointing an accusing finger at the men sat on the couch while Y/N was in her bedroom getting ready. Ginny was clearly ready to go out clubbing for the night, and was dressed in a short dress and very tall heels.

“None taken.” George rolled his eyes, plopping himself back on the couch.

“Now I’m going to go handle the mess you all created, thank you very much.” Ginny glared, walking over to Y/N’s room and walking in.

Y/N laid on the ground surrounded by clothes. Her hair and makeup was clearly done, but she seemed stumped on what to wear. She was currently wearing a witch hat, a crop top, sweatpants, and cowgirl boots.

“Y/N,” Ginny sighed. “What were you going for with this?” Ginny gestured up and down Y/N’s body.

“Witchy space cowgirl.” Y/N shrugged. “It seems like something you’d find in a porn anyway—”

“Here, let’s find you clothes that will actually get you laid.”

After about half an hour, Ginny emerged from Y/N’s room first, dressed in a crop top and sweatpants.

“Now presenting, the new but not improved, still absolutely perfect Y/N.” Ginny gestured towards Y/N’s bedroom, where Y/N emerged. She was wearing the short black sleeveless dress and tall heels Ginny had been wearing when she emerged from the floo. Draco let out a whistle, Harry and Neville started clapping, and George was sat, stunned. Well, until Y/N started fist pumping again, then they all started booing her.

“Don’t let me keep you guys, I know you have plans with a bunch of 11 to 17 year olds tonight.” Y/N giggled, watching as the men stood up at the reminder.

“Don’t worry, we’d rather be anywhere else. Even here watching your weird dancing.” Draco puffed, the other men agreeing.

-

“So yeah, that’s how we got a new roommate.” George explained to Fred, who’s hazy, ghostly form nodded.

“Believe it or not, I actually know her. I was her first friend here.” Fred grinned, pointing to himself. George wasn’t surprised. Ever since Fred died and became a ghost, Fred frequently felt lonely, and George knew that. Besides Peeves, he really didn’t have many friends. He couldn’t interrupt teachers while they were teaching, but since Care for Magical Creatures was not a required class, Y/N had a lot of free time. They bonded over pranks, baked goods, and George. “She’s so cute! You totally would’ve dated her a decade ago.” Fred teased his younger twin.

“Yeah, well, things change I guess.” George felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, and looked at the caller ID to find it as Madam Puddifoot’s store number. “One second.” He told his brother. “Madam Puddifoot?” George asked.

“George dearie, your friend Y/N here was stood up by her date. I figured someone should know, she’s in my shop crying and I have to close in,” she paused, clearly checking the time. “In a half hour. Do you think you could help?” George stood, already walking towards the school’s exit.

-

“Oh hello there.” Y/N sniffled, eyes red and puffy as she looked up to see George taking a seat in front of her. “Don’t you have a school dance you’re supposed to be chaperoning.” She furrowed her eyebrows, pointing a finger at him. She meant for it to be accusatory, but with red puffy eyes, George mostly found it (as Neville said) endearing.

“Some things are more important than watching boys and girls stand on opposite ends of a room.” He shrugged, reaching across the table and grabbing his friends hand. “Listen, real men don’t treat women the way you’ve been treated the past few weeks. I’m sorry you’re going through this. If it makes you feel better, sometimes I still call my ex and leave voicemails in a country accent.” George offered, making Y/N giggled, wiping lone tears.

“Well, you can always call me and talk to me in a country accent instead.” She shrugged, in an attempt to help him the way he’s come to help her. “Do you want to go home and watch—”

“Literally anything other than Casablanca, okay? I will watch whatever sad chick flick you want, but you have watched Casablanca like twenty times this week.” George puffed, standing up and reaching his hand out for Y/N. “Let’s go home and get drunk and cry.” He smiled. Y/N grinned, grabbing his hand and letting him walk her out of the shop. She was still embarrassed, but her heart felt a lot better knowing someone came to help her out of this feeling. She’d never admit it to George, but it was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.

-

When Draco, Neville, and Harry returned home, their suit jackets thrown over their shoulders and looking rather tired from dealing with teenagers all night, they found quite the sight for their sore eyes. George and Y/N were stood in front of the TV, clearly drunk, singing along to Heath Ledger’s character serenading Julia Stiles character in 10 Things I Hate About You. Draco, Neville, and Harry all looked at each other, shrugging. They dropped their suit coats and joined in, feeding the fire that was drunken George and Y/N.

And that was the end to Y/N’s first week in the loft above the Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes store in Hogsmeade.

Taglist: @yllwtaxi @ememseay

Thank you for wanting to be tagged!! Let me know what you think, feel free to message me any mistakes I missed. If you want to be tagged, message me/comment!! Thanks y’all :)

[hmslusitania]

I see we're going ape over buddie and Choices tonight so

Yknow in 2.07, when Shannon comes back and her and Eddie have their first scene together? The argument at the end, after Eddie says it wouldn't be a good idea for her to see Christopher bc she left them, she says she needed him, she needed a husband and a co-parent - and "I needed someone to have my back!"

To which EDDIE says, "I always had your back"

*insert Incredibles "coincidence? I think NOT" gif here*

(Also side note, I do like that the show doesn't try to sugarcoat what Shannon did being messed up, and that Eddie's own actions weren't really the right thing either[thinking about his conversation with Buck where he says he got to pretend he left for a noble cause even tho he was running], and that it was just a sticky situation that neither of them were equipped to handle in any way, and snowballed. I do kind of wish we could've gotten post-divorce Shannon and Eddie and Christopher interactions, figuring out how they fit together, if at all, bc I like those intricate and messy situations but I could see how that might get too close to retreading old ground re: Michael and Athena's divorce. But I do hate how ive seen the fandom like. Seem to oversimplify things with Shannon sometimes? And make her the ultimate villain, and Eddie Did Nothing Wrong, Ever)

Hi Anon!

The decision to have Buck and Eddie's first bonding moment end with "You can have my back any day" and "or, y'know, you could have mine" only to then six episodes later find out that at least a contributing factor to Eddie's marriage dissolving was that he "didn't have her back" is like. Such a galaxy brain chaos move for them to take, honestly. Like?? They could've had the phrasing be literally anything in 2x07 but instead they had it directly echo Buck and Eddie in 2x01. What was the reason? Why did they do this?

As for the rest of your ask:

(gosh this got long and, uh, opinionated. It is Not Pretty below the cut)

One of the things I really liked about Eddie Begins is that we did get to see him at the beginning of his journey in being Chris's dad because it gives us an opportunity to appreciate how amazingly he's grown as a father. Like, he didn't start out as a perfect dad and he was definitely kind of lost in the woods at the beginning there when it came to the whole "how do I parent" thing. And before Eddie Begins, we'd only ever seen the end result of the growth he's gone through, where he really is a fantastic dad whose son is basically his entire reason for being. Before Eddie Begins, we get to hear him say things like "I left first" and "I've failed that kid more times than I can count but I love him enough to never stop trying" but we kinda have to take that on faith? Because we hadn't actually seen him be anything besides a good dad until we saw his Begins episode. (And even then in his begins it's like "area man in his early 20s unsure how to care for small child while also coping with PTSD and a toxic support system" which like. yeah. no shit. there's one hell of a learning curve there)

The thing about Eddie and Shannon as a couple and as parents that always gets to me is that they were so fucking young. We don't know exactly how old Eddie is in the show, but we can guesstimate pretty safely that he's around the same age as Ryan which would make him between 23 and 24 when Chris was born, and it seems reasonable to believe Shannon was around the same age. It's also a pretty common reading in the fandom -- although I'm not sure how much canon support there is for it because we really, really don't know anything about their relationship pre-Christopher unless I'm forgetting something -- that they got married because Shannon got pregnant and that was the Done Thing. And when you're 23-24, baby on the way, freshly married, that is just like. So much. It sure as hell ruined my parents' relationship when they did that exact thing, and then they disliked each other until they were 27 and then they got divorced, and no one was happier than me about it, I have to tell you.

Back to the show, I can only give you my impressions, obviously, but the impression I have always gotten from the whole "I left too" conversation and the context that goes into it and the different behaviours we see exhibited by the characters is that Eddie "left" first and it comes across to me that he was basically an early twenty-something kid running scared from the abstract concept of being a father in general, and then when he was forced home by an honourable discharge, and was confronted with the reality of Christopher, he managed to step the fuck up and become Christopher's dad. It's there in 2x02, right? "Oh, you've got a kid? I love kids!" "I love this one." Eddie doesn't strike me as a Swiss Army Knife all-purpose Dad(tm) the way Bobby is. Eddie is Christopher's dad. (and like, of course, he's obviously moved by kids when he's on a call, we've seen that enough times to know that if there's a child who can even glancingly remind him of Christopher, Eddie's sense of self-preservation goes out the window, and I love that about him as heart-stopping as it can be in practice)

Shannon, on the other hand, didn't run from the idea of being a mother -- at first. When she left, it wasn't from the abstract. She left Chris (and "gave up" on Eddie, thanks Helena). She was not running from a concept, she was running from a reality. I think Shannon is a fascinating character to include in a television show as a side character, because she really isn't a one note character. Like, she was unarguably a bad mother, and from what we saw, she was a questionable romantic partner to have (but as you said, anon, Eddie was also not 100% the best romantic partner when he was with Shannon either; their entire relationship so far as I can tell was built on sexual chemistry which, uh, super does not sustain a relationship), but she also seems to have been a devoted daughter? I mean, yeah, it's entirely possible that her mom being sick was a convenient excuse to bail -- and obviously she didn't come back after her mom died, and didn't, y'know, contact her son or husband in the interim, so yes, I can see that being a valid way to read the situation. I don't think she's the Ultimate Evil, because she strikes me as a very human character in all the ways that people are more often than not really fucking flawed.

But then we get back to the actual break-up scene. The first time I watched it (and second, and third; then the fourth time the person I was watching with was like "I mean, sure, but it could also be read in this light") her "I'm just learning how to be someone's mother" speech really bothered me? Partly because it was the abstraction of it, right? Eddie doesn't like kids, he likes Christopher, and Shannon sort of had the inverse journey there, I guess, where it went from she didn't know how to be Christopher's mother, to she didn't know how to be a mother. And that speech bothered me because it always sounded to me like she was bailing again. She begged Eddie to let her back into Christopher's life (guilt? I guess?) and like, straight up bribed him with sex which was sure a choice, and then decides -- for a second time -- that she's out. It sounded, to me, she was handing Eddie papers and maybe, in a few years, possibly, once she'd had "time" to "figure out how to be someone's mother" she would try again. Just like she had in the interim between leaving when Christopher was little and the time of season 2.

And like, that could totally be a misunderstanding of the scene and what she was saying. It's what I took away from it, but that could very well be influenced by the fact I was raised by divorced parents and my dad had custody and if you count up all the time I spent with either parent when I was a minor, I was predominantly raised by my father and have had an especially tempestuous relationship with my mother that is mostly (sometimes) repaired now that I'm in my late twenties and have not lived with her since I was sixteen.

Back to the show, and to your comment that the fandom tends to treat Shannon like the Ultimate Evil and act like Eddie Did Nothing Wrong, I mean. Yeah. Fandom as a rule tends to shirk nuance. We're all fools here on the internet sitting in our blue industrial waste container crying about a wee woo show. I personally believe a more nuanced take on that might be that Eddie has shown a great capacity to learn from his mistakes (sometimes to make fun, shiny, new ones, but for the most part, just like ends up doing better the next time) and Shannon did not show that capacity in the time we knew her.

I think, depending on what they did with it, there was potential for an interesting storyline if they'd played through the divorce. I don't think it would've been rehashing ground covered by Michael and Athena's divorce because I can't see Eddie and Shannon having reached a point of amicability and friendship. The only thing we know they had in common was Christopher, and frankly, when you boil it down, the ways they engaged with Christopher as a person were so disparate that -- to me -- it really didn't seem like they had Christopher in common when you get right down to it. But I wouldn't have wanted to see Christopher and Eddie dragged through an ugly divorce process. They deserve better than that.

There's also a conversation to be had about Shannon's blatant ableism towards her own son, but that is extremely not my lane since I am not disabled myself. But even from an outside perspective, basically their entire parking lot conversation in Haunted, uh, haunts me with it's repugnance and the fact that instead of calling her on any of it, Eddie "Chronically touch starved" Diaz's response was to kiss her? Gosh golly do I wish that was one of the mistakes he learned from properly instead of finding a new, shiny version.

ANYWAY this got long, tl;dr (although if you clicked on the read more, you probably read it) version is No, Shannon is not the Ultimate Evil, she's a shitty mom not a demon in a skin suit and a pretty yellow sundress; and No, Eddie is not a flawless human who's never done wrong in his life but holy fuck is he trying and he'd be the first person to tell you he's made mistakes (and often has been); and no, sorry, I don't want to see the divorce storyline play out because we probably would've had to see either Eddie Bashing, Shannon Redemption, or Shannon turning up again like a cardboard cut out of a cartoon villain the way Eva did and I want to be witness to exactly zero of those things.

[c-is-for-circinate]

Man, I liked this episode.

Such great character moments!  Really exciting lore.  Plans for the future!  That ending, though!  Yay!

In no particular order, some moments I really appreciated:

Literally everything at the tavern, oh MAN.  Every single one of those conversations was SO GOOD, you know what I actually need to break this down further:

CADUCEUS AND YASHA, holy cow, right?  (it is late enough at night that ‘holy cow’ is doubly amusing, because Caduceus is, in fact, actually a...anyway, never mind.)  But HER HAIR!!!  Caduceus trying to be supportive, trying to Give Advice (Caduceus always thinks it’s his job to Give Advice, but usually it helps), but also falling just enough into actually admitting some of his own feelings.  Hope and worry.  I love them so much.

Beau and Caleb admitting/reminiscing about the early days when they didn’t like each other at all (except that even then, even when Caleb was being driven up a wall and Beau was angry and annoyed and kind of hated the guy, even then, they always liked each other at least a little bit, they never would’ve gotten so angry otherwise).  You know, sometimes it fades away for a while, but every so often I remember just how much I love Beau and Caleb as friends, because it is such a complicated, layered, hard-won friendship.  They both worked so hard for this relationship!  We call them the empire siblings, and it’s true, sometimes, but also it’s not true at all, because they worked so hard to get here, without any blood or parents or shared childhood joys telling them they should.  They built this friendship all on their own.  (And how often do you see such utterly platonic male-female friendships that are this hard-won and this concrete, in fiction?)

Okay I admit it, I made a NOISE at the unicorn thing.  It was just so utterly sweet, so deliberately ‘I know this little thing will make the person I care about smile,’ with no pretense or requirements after that, just because.  It felt like a little bit of Travis and Laura bleeding through, not in an out-of-character way, but in this bright reflection of all the little moments we’ve seen them just be honestly in love on screen.  It reminds me of the time Travis ordered an entire box of doughnuts via PostMates mid-episode delivered to the studio and didn’t say anything until they showed up.  And yes, obviously Travis and Laura’s characters can do and romance whoever they want--but if the honest emotion is there, it’s there, and it’s adorable.

Likewise: Beau and Jester both giggling and a little bit giddy about their respective potential love interests, both genuinely happy for each other.  Is there a sense of loss there?  Maybe, maybe not, who knows--but that mutual happiness is so genuine, and the “Agh, you know I’m scared of my future!” is so real in every direction, I love it.   

All of the shopping this episode made me really happy.  There’s something really special about a party hitting the level where they no longer have to care about money, and get to run kid-in-a-candy-store wild.  Buy ALL the diamonds!  Buy every piece of wizard-grade paper in Nicodranas.  Buy an entire wheelbarrow of fireworks, why not, just fucking do it, we’ve got the cash.  (Side note: as someone from Illinois, ‘going to Indiana to buy fireworks’ is such a familiar and obvious thing to me that I had a whole disorientation moment of ‘wait, Marisha isn’t from--oh my god people do that from the other side of Indiana too?’  I had not realized Indiana was such a national hub for fireworks, although I probably should have, given Indiana.)  Seriously though, the M9 do not care about money-- ‘here, take some of mine to pay for that thing, I’ve got so much I won’t use, just get it, it’s fine.’  But they get so much joy out of buying hundreds of gold worth of joke shop supplies, it’s so delightful, the entire two-city shopping trip was so delightful and I love them all.   

I covered all of my ‘oh man Beau’s imposter syndrome and self-esteem issues’ feelings in an earlier post, but I’m just going to reiterate: fuck, my feelings.   

I love the Eiselcross hook, and I cannot wait for what they find up there.  For one thing, I love me a good fictional deicide.  (I have some THOUGHTS about any potential god-killing weapons, and their potential uses against, say, life-devouring cities or angry sea serpents with a more than conventional number of eyes.  Also man that would’ve been useful for Vox Machina circa their own episode 109 or so.)  I am deeply curious to see what traveling with Vess de Rogna will be like--especially knowing that she was one of the people dealing with Yeza, and now I’m thinking about the fact that Veth was the only person NOT there to meet her today, which, hmmmmm.  I want to see so many things up there.  

There’s an almost-unfamiliar increasing seriousness and maturity to the Mighty Nein lately, and it’s so fascinating to me to watch.  They named their ship the Nein Heroes.  After the Mistake and the Ball-Eater, they went with a name that, beyond just not being a self-deprecating pun, almost sounds like they’re proud of themselves.  And yes, tonight they bought out an entire joke shop’s worth of magical novelties--but they also Sending’ed ahead to two teleportation circles in a row.  Yes, Jester set off a magical stink bomb in a tavern at lunch--but there were multiple healthy and emotionally honest conversations going on during that scene, too.  They thought ahead about their clothes.  They’re not just respected at the Cobalt Soul, they’re respectable. At first glance it just seems like they’ve learned to plan ahead, but it’s not that, or it’s not just that.  Rather, the M9 are doing things, sending messages, picking names, changing clothes, that affect the way they present themselves to others.  They’re not playing games of respectability politics, it’s not like they’re deliberately trying to convince other people that they’re any better than they are--but I wonder if, maybe, they’re doing just a little bit less self-sabotaging in the opposite direction.  If maybe they’re starting to suspect that they can be respected, and it’s not just a lost cause from the beginning. I really want to see where this goes in the coming weeks, whether they go back to chaos crew fuck-it again or this continues to build.  I’ll be curious to see where (and for whom!) it seems to apply, and where it slips.

[whatareyousearchingfordean]

Happiness Continues

Prologue

Summary: Jensen and Y/n take the plunge into their forever.

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Plus Size Reader

Word Count: 5.3K+

Warnings: Language, 

Author’s Note: Well, without further adieu, here she is! I’ve been so nervous to post this series because I wanted to make sure it lives up to all your expectations. Your feedback is gold, so please let me know what you think! xoxo Alex (Bold texts are Jensen, italicized are reader)

Catch up with the series masterlist and then check out Alexandra’s Library for more by yours truly!

The sunlight from the grand windows on the west wall of the hall was quickly being replaced by the soft glow of the lights above and the candles flickering on the table. Indistinct chatter filled the small space that the couple had reserved for their rehearsal dinner. The group’s bellies were full and the drinks were still flowing. 

“You’re looking a bit tired there,” Jensen’s hand landed on his fiancée’s thigh, squeezing gently to get her to look at him. 

“Mmm, I am, but I’m not ready to go,” she hummed, her eyes heavy with the events of the day. 

“Why’s that?” 

“It’s gonna be weird, you know, sleeping away from you. I just got used to you being home lately,” the woman shrugged, placing her hand on top of his. She traced a pattern with her finger over his knuckles, her gaze concentrated on her task. Their friends and family continued to chat excitedly around them as the two slipped away into their own world without ever leaving the table. 

“I know. I’m not used to having a whole bed to myself, or someone not stealing my covers in the night,” Y/n gasped low, looking up at Jensen to find him smirking at her, her favorite dimples on display on the corners of his lips. The woman scowled at him and his ability to be so freaking cute as a grown man. 

“You know,” a mischievous smile grew on her face as she turned his hand over and linked their fingers together. “We aren’t married yet, there is absolutely nothing stopping me from, I don’t know, just not showing up tomorrow.” 

Jensen hummed, “Happy wife, happy life.” receiving the exact reaction out his fiancée that he had hoped for; a sharp smack to his shoulder. 

“Ugh, you know how much I hate that saying.” Jensen couldn’t help but laugh at the way she rolled her eyes. His fiancée joined in on the laughter, only for it to be broken by a wide yawn. 

“Alright, that’s enough for you, honey. You need to sleep. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Y/n frowned at his declaration but she knew there was no use in fighting him. She wasn’t lying when she said it would be weird to not have him in bed with her tonight. Her one hope was exhausting her body to the point of passing out the minute her head hit the pillow. So far, it was working, seeing as she wasn’t even sure that she could stand from her chair and make it up to her room. 

Y/n blinked slowly as Jensen stood from his chair, reaching out to help her to her feet. “Alright, I think it’s time I put this one to bed if I want her to get out of up tomorrow.” 

“Ah, such a kidder,” Y/n mocked as the crowd laughed and bid the couple goodnight. Jensen slipped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her close to his side as he took her to the elevator. The entrepreneur leaned into him as they rode up to her floor, her eyes fluttering closed as she basked in his scent while she still could. The steady drum of his heart lulled her into a place she so desperately wanted to be, but the shudder of the cart had her eyes flashing open too soon. 

“Alright, here we go,” Y/n handed over her keycard to Jensen and he pushed open the door. He let go of his grip on her and urged her in. 

“You coming in?” She turned once through the threshold, looking back at him still in the hall. 

“Nice try,” He smiled, the action softening his features. “One night, babe. We can make it through, then it’s you and me forever.” 

Her tongue rolled out over her lips as she leaned against the door. “Aw, that was an adorable thing to say, you know that?” 

“As long as you don’t tell Jared, then we are safe.” 

“Ahhh, I’ve heard the things he’s said to Gen so he really has no place to talk,” Y/n quirked an eyebrow, eliciting a similar response from the man standing outside her door. 

“Wait—”

“Goodnight Ackles,” her voice trailed off in a soft melody as she closed the door, his muttered ‘son of a bitch’ the last thing she heard before he was gone. 

She made quick work of her nightly routine before settling into the plush comforter of her hotel bed. Her body sank into the cool sheets, the exhaustion winning over her body easily. 

The only thing was it didn’t last for her. Y/n soon found herself tossing and turning under the plush covers. The bed was too large by herself, and every time her hand landed on an empty bed instead of her fiancé, she was jolted awake. She let out a huff as she stared up at the dark ceiling. A small sliver of light appeared suddenly and she turned over to grab her phone.

Hey baby, I hope you aren’t awake like I am, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I can’t wait to marry you tomorrow. 

Y/n smiled at the screen. Even after being together for almost two years, she kept finding more and more ways they were alike. What were the odds that both of them were lying awake in the middle of the night thinking of each other at the same time? 

You’re out of luck. This bed is too big without you.

She shot him back a quick text before locking her phone and holding it against her chest. His reply took no time at all. 

I know how you feel, believe me. Get some sleep, I’ll see you at the altar. 

Y/n had to chuckle to herself.

The only thing coming to my mind now is stupidly cheesy, but I’m gonna say it anyway. I’ll be the one in white. 

Hahaha, you’re right, that is cheesy. But I still love you.

You better.

Y/n put her phone back on the bedside table. Somehow, just talking to him and knowing he was up too made her feel better about sleeping alone. Maybe she should feel bad about smiling at him tossing and turning along without her, but right now she couldn’t care less because all it did was show her that she was making the right choice. 

Y/n was out again within minutes.

****

When they say your wedding day goes by in a flash, they truly aren’t kidding. Y/n woke up more refreshed than she expected when her alarm went off in the morning. She was also far less anxious than she expected as she went about her usual morning routine. Coffee and yogurt were sent up to her room with a note from Jensen telling her he knew she would forget to eat unless he got her something, which had made her chuckle because he was right. 

Her mother was there to pick her up and take her to the venue at noon. The older woman was quiet on the relatively short drive to the manor just outside Austin. Y/n knew it was only a matter of time until her mother was sobbing, so she was thankful for this time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. 

When they finally arrived at The Grand Lady, there were few cars in the parking lot, most of them belong to her bridal party. The guys lucked out with being able to go out for lunch seeing as they didn’t need hours in a hair and makeup chair, a fact which she and Jensen disagreed on. She had insisted that she could do her own makeup and save some money, but he would not hear of her quote, working, unquote on her wedding day, so she went along with him and hired people to make her shine.

Genevieve, Mackenzie, and her high school friends Stella, Delilah, and Grace were already in the bridal suite when Y/n and her mother arrived. The champagne bottle from the mimosa bar was popped before she even had a chance to set her bag down. The young entrepreneur had to remind herself to take the drinks slowly, seeing as she was getting married later that evening, not that her bridesmaids held that same regard. 

Before she knew it, it was nearing time to get into her dress. The photographer had already taken it from the bag earlier to photograph. Y/n stood staring up at the delicate material that glinted in the sunlight coming in the window. This was truly it. It was her wedding day, the day that she had given up on seeing a long time ago. If she thought about it too much, she was sure to ruin all the work that her crew had done on her face. 

“Y/n/n,” Gen called her from across the room. Y/n spun back to look at the ladies enjoying themselves. “I’ve been tasked with handing over something special to the bride.” 

Cheers came from the other women in the room, all eager to find out what exactly Jensen had decided to gift her with. Y/n watched as Gen pulled a decent-sized package out of the closet. It was wrapped in shining silver wrapping paper with a white bow wrapped around it. Her curiosity was piqued, seeing as the pair had not discussed a gift exchange, not that it had stopped her from purchasing a bespoke watch from a little shop in Detroit and having a message stitched into the leather strap. It was an easy choice seeing as her soon-to-be husband was obsessed with watches. The hard part was finding one he didn’t already own.

“This thing is huge,” she noted before quickly adding, “No one comment.” 

All the girls stifled their laughs, watching her as she tore into the paper without care. She tossed the paper to the side, taking in the black and white sound waves embossed on the white background. There was black script in the lower-left corner that read ‘in a world we could call our own’. 

“What’s the song?” Y/n didn’t recognize the lyric, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t heard the song before. 

“On the back,” Stella called from her seat across the room. Y/n flipped the frame over in her hands, noticing the small square taped to the back. Setting the frame on the chair next to her, she broke the seal on the paper envelope. Inside was a simple CD, but on the front was a short message in Jensen’s familiar script that read ‘and it all came down to you, can’t wait to see you at the altar - Jensen.’

“But I don’t—” Her words were hushed as Gen handed over a portable CD player with headphones attached. Y/n turned the gray plastic over in her hand, knowing it had to be Jensen’s idea for her to listen to the disk in this way. Frankly, she was shocked that he didn’t find a way to put in on an eight-track and have Gen hand over a Walkman. 

Y/n placed the disk in the player and put the headphones on before pressing play. The soft melody caught her attention immediately, her head bobbing gently along until Jensen’s voice filled her ears. 

Listened to yesterday

Long before the way it has become

And it all came down to you

I don't really know the way

Played out stranger than it seemed

But what went down came true

Like an all day dream

It seemed saving her makeup was now just a pipe dream. She could feel the tears spilling out of the corners of her eyes. Gen was quick to bring her a tissue and Y/n tried her best to blot up the wetness without ruining everything. 

Everybody was looking at her as the song came to an end and she pulled the headphones off her head. “He uh, he wrote me a song,”  Y/n explained to her waiting friends. The room fell into collective awe. 

“Okay, okay! Enough with my cheesy brother. You need to get in your dress like now and fix your makeup.” Mackenzie was laughing as she spoke, but Y/n caught the hint of water in her eyes as well. She was right, her brother was more than cheesy. It was something that she used to turn her nose up at, but somehow, he found a way to make it work that never seemed to fail. 

“Right,” Y/n agreed, standing up from her seat and heading behind the partition to get into her dress. Her mother and Gen helped her into the heavy material and worked up the buttons along her back. She noticed her mother was tearing up again, much as she had on the day Y/n had said ‘yes to the dress.’

“Mom, come on now, Dad is gonna be in here any minute and I can’t have both of you in tears. I’ve already cried enough as it is.” Truth be told, she had been barely keeping it together since she received Jensen’s gift, and her family was not helping. She just had to keep it together until she was at the altar. Just half an hour longer. 

****

Jensen finished fastening the watch around his wrist before turning it over and inspecting it once again. His bride had chosen well. It was unlike any other he had in his collection, but it suited him well, and of course, it matched his suit to a ‘T.’ He double-checked that the hands on the face were where they needed to be, the realization of the time hitting him in the gut. 

“Hey, man. You good?” Jared’s voice broke him from his reverie. He tugged down the sleeves of his suit, fidgeting inside the snug outfit. 

“Uh, I’m not sure how to answer that.” A nervous chuckle forced its way up his throat. Jared nodded at his friend. 

“Been there, buddy.” Jared clapped his large hand on Jensen’s shoulder, squeezing his fingertips into the navy material. “But before I give you wise words of encouragement, I have to do my brotherly duty.” 

“Duty?” Jensen murmured to himself as Jared cleared his throat.

“If you ever hurt my sister again, I will not be as forgiving. You’re here today because I trust you with her life and her heart. Don’t make me regret that.” Jared again squeezed Jensen’s shoulder for emphasis. 

Jensen couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re funny, Jare.” But Jared’s expression had remained unchanged. “Oh, you’re serious… Dude, you’ve already punched me once. Trust me, I get the picture.” 

“Good, now that that’s settled, all you need to do is focus on Y/n. The rest of it will fall into place. You guys are crazy about each other, forget about all the rest.” Jared dropped his grip on his friend and straightened his boutonniere. 

“Thank you. I do love her, more than anything.” The groom smiled to himself as he watched the hands on the clock tick down. 

“Oh, and remember to take a second for just the two of you later. Go and experience things from afar.” 

Jensen nodded to himself, repeating Jared’s line back to himself. “Just the two of us.” 

“Alright, Jay. Shake it off, it’s time to go see your bride.” 

****

Gen was trying her best to keep Odette occupied as they waited to walk down the aisle. The group of bridesmaids, the bride and her father all were huddled in the corner of the wrap-around porch, waiting for the music to begin playing. 

Y/n had one arm already wrapped around her father’s, her bouquet in the other. Her lower lip was worried in her teeth as the music started from the band behind the altar. A jolt beside her had her snapping her head up to see her father smiling down at her. 

“How are you doing over there?” He asked as her bridesmaids began to disappear one by one. 

“I’ll be okay. Deep breaths, right?” 

“Deep breaths. Come on, someone is waiting for you.” Her dad tightened his grip on her as they began moving. The old wood of the manor creaked as they made their way across it and down the steps. Y/n refused to look up until her feet were on the fabric aisle put together by the wedding planners. When she did finally look up, her eyes cast over her friends and family standing to watch her, looking for the one pair of green eyes that could ground her. 

Jensen had to bite his tongue when his bride came around the corner, the lace she adorned more elegant than he had expected. Her hair fell in waves down her back and the light veil covered her face just enough to hide her blush from him, but it was when she looked up and lock eyes with him that everything else fell away. It was just like Jared had said, all that mattered at that moment was her and Jensen. Like that night back in Vancouver, when she smiled at him from her place in her father’s arms, his heart skipped a beat. It was that smile that did him in still to this day. 

Y/n watched as Jensen’s face broke out into the widest grin she’d ever seen. He clasped his hands together as he lost himself in her. His reaction had her feeling more light than she had ever felt. This was the moment people talk about twenty years down the road when they recount their wedding day. That ‘first look’ feeling was one she was going to remember for the rest of her life. 

“Gerald,” Jensen held out his hand to Y/n’s father, shaking it with a smile before Gerald turned back to his daughter and handed her over to her groom, but not before stealing a kiss to her cheek. 

Jensen slipped her arm under his and pulled her close to his side. “Wow, Y/n. Just… wow,” he whispered to her as their officiant began the ceremony. 

“You’re one to talk, handsome. That blue suit is killer,” she husked, faking a whistle below her breath. She paused for a second to glare at Jared clearing his throat when the crowd was asked if anyone objected to their marriage. She couldn’t be too mad at him though, considering the chuckles he got from the crowd. Jared was just being Jared. 

“So, in their decision to make my life a little easier, Jensen and Y/n have decided to write their own vows, which they will share with you now.” Their officiant waved her hand to them, the couple turning to now face each other. Y/n handed her bouquet off to her matron of honor, Gen, who exchanged it for her written vows, before turning back and taking Jensen’s free hand in her own. 

“Y/n, I don’t know if it’s stupid or cliche to start off with this, but I love you. I do, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being. I had all but given up on my chance to find someone and have a family, and then you came crashing into my life. It all came down to you, my all-day dream come true.”

“Y/n/n, you are a strong, beautiful, and bullheaded woman. You frustrate me, you challenge me and you make me a better man. I promise to love you forever, to carry you through the bad times and laugh with you in the good times. I promise to keep you safe in my arms no matter what life throws our way and to cherish every moment we have together. I promise forever.”

Jensen shoved his vows into his pocket as he finished, his green eyes sparkling in the sunlight as he smiled down at her. For a moment, she let herself get lost in them until their officiant cleared her throat. The crowd chuckled as Y/n mumbled to herself to get a grip. 

“I struggled a lot to put my feelings down into words. This damned piece of paper stared at me for weeks just mocking my brain for its lack of focus. But I soon realized it wasn’t because I couldn’t find the words, it was because there are no words. Jay, you are indescribable. You are everything I didn’t know that I needed before I met you. You always know how to make me laugh, what words to say when I don’t feel beautiful, and how to pick me up from the ground when I’ve fallen to my knees.” 

“I vow to you to always be there when you need to speak and to share the silence when words aren’t needed. I vow to make sure you always smile from all my smart ass comments and to make sure you know how handsome you are. Most importantly, I vow to love you more and more with every passing day.” 

Y/n was barely keeping it together as the two of them exchanged their rings and ‘I do’s’. She had fully expected the tears to be present ever since the pair had discussed writing their vows, but she never expected him to literally take her heart in his hands and squeeze it. Her heart had never been so full than at this moment.

“I think that about does it then, eh? By the power invested in me by the state of Texas and in front of God and all your loved ones, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Jensen,” The crowd laughed as their officiant tilted her head towards Y/n, raising her brow. The couple joined in as Jensen lifted her veil over her head and pulled her to his chest, her hands snaking around his waist and her fingers clutching onto his jacket. Their lips met in the middle, a grin on both their faces. After everything, they were finally here, right where they both wanted to be: with each other.

“Family and friends, I am delighted to present to you for the first time, as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Jensen Ackles!” 

Jensen pulled away from his wife before pecking her nose one last time. He took her hand in his own as Gen handed her back her bouquet. The pair of them ran back down the aisle as the band played “You Make My Dreams Come True” and their families cheered. As they reached the porch around the manor once again, the event coordinator of the hall guided them back inside to the study where the boys had gotten ready for the ceremony. 

The room was mostly cleared of the groomsmen’s items when they entered. For now, it was their place to have a second alone before they needed to begin taking photographs. Y/n set her bouquet down on one of the tables, her other hand still in Jensen’s. He tugged her into his side again, smiling down at her, his lips turned up on one side. 

“Hi, wife.” 

“Hi, husband,” Y/n parroted his sentiment back to him, a chuckle on her tongue. “Are you gonna be disgustingly cheesy now?”

“It’s my wedding day, I think I’m entitled,” he nodded.

“Hmm, well good. I love it.” 

“I knew it!” Jensen bit his lip as he caressed his fingers along her jaw. He ran his thumb over her lower lip, his eyes examining the expanse of her face.

“Jay,” Jensen raised his brow at her, signaling her to continue. “I love you. Thank you for marrying me.”

“I love you too, pretty girl.” He promised, lowering his lips to her own in a quick caress. 

****

It didn’t take long for the photographs to be finished, though it was boring work. Y/n assumed she probably shouldn’t feel that way, but her face was beginning to hurt from smiling so much. In the midst of it all, they’d signed their marriage license, so she guessed that made it all worth it. 

The day was flying by quicker than either of them expected. When people told her to pause and take in everything, she’d thought she’d prepared herself, but before she knew what was happening, they were seated at the sweetheart table across from the stage as Jared took the microphone for their before dinner toasts. 

Feedback reverberated across the makeshift stage and about the yard that was set up for their reception. Jared winced before clearing his throat. 

“Good evening, everybody, I’m Jared for all of you who don’t know. That beautiful woman over there is my baby sister and the handsome troll sitting next to her just happens to be my best friend, my brother from another mother. The two of them have come a long way since their first meeting, a day not unlike today. When Gen and I got hitched, I think they exchanged a total of five words that day. They were ships passing in the night then. It wasn’t until Y/n/n came to work with us on set that a series of events was set in motion that none of us expected. I won’t lie and say I was too happy when I first found out about their relationship, sorry Jensen,” Jared paused as the room chuckled, though outside of their immediate families, no one knew what he was talking about. “I know it took me a while to come around to the idea, but now that I’ve been able to watch the two of you grow together, and laugh together, and love each other, I realize I was being selfish. Y/n, there is no other man that I would trust more with your life and with your heart. I know that he’s always gonna be there to treat you right and pick you up when you’re down. I know this because I will find him if he doesn’t.” Jared waved off more laughs before continuing. “Alright, but in all honesty, I couldn’t be happier for the two of you and I can’t wait to watch you grow old together. I love you guys. To the Ackles!” 

Jared held up the champagne flute into the air before the room took a drink. Gen followed Jared as matron of honor and Josh brought up the rear as best man. All three of them were skilled at pulling out laughs and tears. Dinner was served just after and once the plates were finally cleared, the sun was nearly fully set below the horizon. 

The manor worked on bringing out the dessert table, a wide array of miniature pies, snickerdoodles, banana bread, pumpkin and sugar donuts, scones, a coffee bar, and lastly the wedding favors for their guests, a build-your-own candy apple bar. It was the perfect fall scene for their mid-November wedding. 

Y/n and Jensen made their way through the crowd, hugging family and friends and thanking them for joining them on their special day. A good crowd had formed on the dance floor, and it seemed that everyone was enjoying themselves. 

Miriam, Y/n’s great aunt on her father’s side, had pulled her into a long-winded conversation at her table. Y/n was perched in a seat across from her aunt, trying to stay invested in the conversation. To be honest, the bride wasn’t even sure what she was talking about anymore.

“Hey, Miriam.” Jensen’s voice broke her out of the little trance she had slipped into. He had a wide smile on his face as he knelt beside her aunt. “I know you ladies are having girl talk, but I was wondering if I could steal my wife for a minute?” 

“Oh!” Miriam exclaimed, a delighted smile on her face. Y/n watched, a grin on her face as she watched her husband charm her away from that table. “Of course! Silly me. She’s yours now, to do anything with you please.”

“Okay, Aunt Miriam,” Y/n stood and went to kiss her aunt on the cheek. Jensen took her hand and began to guide her away.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Her aunt’s exclamation had a blush creeping up on her neck, and Y/n had to cover her eyes with her hand. The whole time Jensen was just laughing beside her. 

Y/n was distracted by the small cheers from the people who heard her aunt that she didn’t notice her husband sneak a champagne bottle and a glass from a waiter on their way up to the house. She simply let him guide her up on the porch and over to a dimly lit corner that gave them a view of the entirety of their reception. 

“What are we doing?” She asked him as he handed her the flute. 

“We are taking a minute to ourselves, just to step back and soak up all that’s happened today,” Jensen explained as he filled the glass. 

“Ah,” Y/n let out a breath as she took a sip from the glass. She handed it over to her husband who copied her action. “Isn’t that what our first dance was for?” 

“Eh, everyone had their eyes on us then. This way, it’s just the two of us. We get to be on the outside looking in.” Jensen moved behind her, snaking his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. His wife leaned into his embrace, enjoying the heat from his body as the night began to cool. 

The couple shared half a bottle of champagne as they watched their guests enjoy themselves. Most of the crowd was huddled on the dance floor, shaking away their worries for the time being. Those that were left were smuggling treats from the dessert table. 

It was an intriguing glimpse at a wedding from someone else’s perspective, and the couple was more than happy to just watch their loved ones enjoy themselves. After all, that’s what all a wedding was, a party, and people were supposed to have fun at parties; get rowdy and maybe a little drunk. The kids were carefree, shaking their butts to the melody that helped facilitate all the fun. 

Jensen glanced down at his watch to check the time before kissing the underside of her jaw. “We have to go get changed now,” he whispered to her. Y/n hummed in response, both of them not wanting to break the bubble that they had put themselves in on the porch, but alas, they had a plane to catch, and therefore needed to get out of their nice clothes.

The honeymoon suite that came with the rental of the manor was going to be used by Jared and Gen that night. Y/n and Jensen planned to leave her dress and his suit for them to take home. It worked best for them that they whisked away on their honeymoon right away. Overnight flights to Europe worked best when it came to kicking jet lag in the ass. 

So that was what they did. Jensen changed into jeans and a white tee and Y/n into leggings and a white tee. Out of all the stupid couple things people did on their wedding day, Y/n had opted for matching ‘going away’ outfits. 

The couple triple checked that they had everything they needed as Jared found his way to them. He helped Jensen pack the car with their belongings and before they knew it, they were being seen off by their loved ones, a whirlwind of sparklers lighting their path to the car. The couple hugged their parents goodbye before slipping into the black sedan.

As the car whizzed down the dirt path towards the airport, the crowd that was left meandered back to where the bartender was calling ‘last call.’ On the outskirts of the property, a figure stepped back into the tree line, the shadows hiding the stranger from view. The man dropped the butt of his cigarette into the pile building on the ground, crushing it into the leaves of the forest with the toe of his shoe before disappearing into the night. 

Part 1: The Conception

Forevers: @polina-93 @22sarah08 @callmekda @hobby27 @tranquility-or-chaos @dawnie1988 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @sleepylunarwolf @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan  @akshi8278 @superfanficnatural @malfoysqueen14 @deanwanddamons @waywardbeanie @emoryhemsworth @talesmaniac89 @winchest09 @katehuntington @flamencodiva @janicho88 @anathewierdo @ellewritesfix05 @mrsjenniferwinchester @jensengirl83 @lyarr24 @smol-and-grumpy

Continues: @traceyaudette @death-unbecomes-you @rebelemilu @colbyskoalas @ashleyrose0117 @zpandaqueen @stoneyggirl @parinarain @onethirstyunicorn @smoothdogsgirl @harryhook-lover @deanmonandnegansbitch​ @spnfamily-j2 

My Forever tags as well as for this series are open. Just shoot me an ask to be added. If your url is crossed out, tumblr would not let me tag you

[futurewriter2000]

Hearless - pt. 11

A/N: I know I’m late to post this but I’ve been so exhausted from my morning shifts. I genuenly hate morning shifts because I am not a morning person and days pass so quickly. One minute I’m asleep, the next I’m awake at work. Anyways, this is a bit “normal” part- it’s like an intro to a good ass part. Hope you like it. 

*Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. A person who practises this art is known as a Legilimens. *

XX

You couldn’t decide which shirt to put on for breakfast. If you came down in a T-shirt, then they will ask questions but wearing a sweater in summer isn’t the brightest cover up to come up with. 

“I can just say I’m cold... or something...” you mumbled to yourself as you tugged the sleeves down your hands and bit your lower lip. 

‘I just won’t tell them.’ you told yourself. ‘Just remember what he said to you. Mum and dad already know, so they won’t be a problem but James? He can be such a prick when it comes to my private things.’

---

You walked down the stairs and found Sirius chewing his sandwich toast as he kept reading on the newspapers. “Morning.” he said as he chewed, keeping his eyes on the paper. 

“Morning, Sirius.” you smiled, walking into the kitchen and grabbing yourself a cup to make some coffee. 

It was a simple process every morning; boil water, add sugar, add coffee, pour into the cup, add milk. - And when you have done all of those things, you smiled to yourself at the scent of the wonderful home-made coffee and sat behind the table.

You looked up and saw him staring with one of his eyebrows quirked up. “What?”

“Are you in a sweater?” 

“And here comes yet another marvelous observation, Sherlock Holmes.” you leaned forward, teasing as he rolled back his eyes far back to his head. “Oh yummy.” you reached for his other half of sandwich as he slapped your hand away.

“AH-OI!” he looked at you, all considering serious. “Excuse me, get your own sandwich, lady.”

“Lady?” you scoffed with a laugh. “You owe me, prick. You ate my donuts last time!” you reached again but he took a hold of your wrist and narrowed his eyes at you. “You. Owe. Me.” you narrowed your eyes as well, challenging him into a silent battle of the glares. 

He looked away and let go off your wrist. “Fine.” he threw your wrist away and you gave him a triumphant smirk as your hand reached for the sandwich. “I would have given it to you if you asked nicely, though.” he shrugged, taking another bite.

“Since when do we do nice, Sirius?” you smiled, taking in the bit as he laughed.

“That is awfully sad but true.” he said, letting his smile fade as he swallowed the last peace of food in his mouth. He brushed off his palms and leaned back- then back forward to lean on his elbows as he fumbled with his thumbs. He looked at you.... concern this time. “You should have used my sweater to hide the scars, (y/n). The one I gave you that night with the frog sock. It’s nicely thin, breathable for your skin.” he stood up and grabbed his plate to the sink, grabbing a sponge and opening the water. 

You sat there, stopped to chew and continue to eat. That last bite was hard to swallow when somebody like Sirius told you something like this. You turned your head over your shoulder and looked at him with wide eyes, almost wanting to scream what had happened to you. 

Odd.. this feeling of wanting to confide into somebody about all the things you told yourself you would never in life confide to anybody. 

You stood up and grabbed your coffee mug to the sink, leaning on the counter next to him. 

He stopped washing the dishes, his heartbeat raising as he slowly looked up at you. You crossed your arms over your chest and let your hand travel to his cheek. Your thumb brushed across his cheek as his eyes sent you a flash of desire. 

He blinked a few times, to bring himself back from your touch, shaking his head and scrubbing the plate. “Uh... your boyfriend came over a few nights ago. He gave James a letter to give it to you.” 

You let your hand fall back to your chest, hugging your arms. “Yeah.” you smiled, walking back to the table. “I got it.” you pulled your heels on the edge of your chair and hugged them both. “He was going back to France. Said he would be back after graduation- the last summer before he packs up his things and moves there.” you trailed off, staring at the morning sun. 

“Moves there?” Sirius came back to the table, wiping off his hands with his cloth. 

“Yeah. He decided to live in France, since he was in school most of his life.”

“And you?” he asked, leaning on the chair and staring  at you with intense blazing eyes. 

“What about me?” you gave him a soft smile.

“Will you move in with him?” 

“No.” you laughed. “He wanted me to but I told him we already broke up, so it was useless going back together and moving across the world to France. I don’t even know the language, though I do know some words.” you let out a soft giggle that made Sirius stiffen up. 

He shook himself off jealousy. “You two broke up?” he sat back down. 

“Yeah. That “first date”- was me telling him we kissed and he was so pissed at me from cheating on him that he broke up with me before storming away.” 

“Why would you tell him?” 

You shot your head to him in wonder. “Why wouldn’t I?” 

“I mean, the two of you would still be together. I wouldn’t tell.”

“I didn’t want to be together with somebody when I kissed you, Sirius.” you furrowed your eyebrows at him as he continued to stare with no expression. “Relationship is about trust and loyalty... and truth. I told him because he deserved to know.”

“But it was just a kiss.” 

You let out a soft laugh, standing up and walking to the sink. You grabbed a glass from the cabinet and turned on the pipe. “It wasn’t just a kiss to me.” you mumbled, knowing fair well he had heard you clearer than ever. 

Your whole chest was burning from the fire your heart caused. It was painfully quiet and it was that same pain that made your eyes focus on the cold water flowing from the pipe.

“I’M COMING IN SO IF YOU TWO ARE SNOGGING PLEASE STOP!” James shouted as he covered his eyes with his hands and walked blindly into the kitchen and peeping through his fingers to see if it was safely innocent for his eyes. “Oh, thank God. Morning.”

“Really, James.” you smiled, walking past him to sit back to the table. 

“Might as well make the two of you suffer for that.” he grabbed himself a cup and a teapot, bringing it to the table. “Why are you wearing a sweater? It’s boiling here.”

“Cuz I enjoy sweaters. It’s Britain, James. It’ll get cold sooner or later.” you hugged yourself and continued to watch him sit down and take a sip of his tea. “Plus, mum and dad went on some errands. Said they’d be back soon.” 

“Yeah, I know. Dad left me a note on the desk- oh that reminds me.” he turned to Sirius. “He also said we’d have to go get something into town tonight before five. Said it’s urgent and well, who else to trust with urgent things then his eldest son.” James puffed out his chest and winked. 

“Pompous brother?” you rolled your eyes as he continued to play his child-like smile on his lips.

“That I am not afraid to admit.”

“Good thing-”

“Blimey!” your father apparated into the room with a few bags in his hands and looked up at his three children.”Morning, you three.” he said as he trotted to the kitchen and placed down some of the bags. “Your dear old mother will never let me come home in less than two bags.” he started to unpack the groceries.

“Hey dad, you’re early.” you said as your father looked over his shoulder and smiled at you.

“I know. Got things done earlier. Your mother, however, ran into that- what’s her name again- Mina?” 

“Nina?”

“Yes, her. Her mother and obviously they hopped their way into the tea land.”

“I bet they’re talking about sexy men from Cuba.” James started to tease, making both of you and Sirius laugh. “Nina’s mum is probably telling mum about the man who would be perfect for her.”

“Oh, James, my dear boy.” he walked back to him, tapping his shoulder. “If you ever want that new broom of yours, you’ll be smart enough to shut your mouth.” 

“Gee dad. It’s only jokes.” James lifted his hands in defeat and sent Sirius a wink. 

“This is for you, deary. Just like you said.” your father trotted to you and placed down two large books. “These two were the most recommended.”

“Thanks dad, you took the books and opened the first one.”

Sirius and James exchanged glances, both furrowing their eyebrows like two identical set of twins. “What is this?”

“Books.”

“Bravo, Sherlock.”  Sirius looked at you, giving you an amusing smile before you sent him a smile of your own. He reached for one book in your hands and tore it away as James grabbed the second one and started flipping through it. 

“Legilimency”” Sirius felt more confused then ever.

“Dreams interpretation?”  James was right behind him.

“Haven’t you told them yet?” your father said from the kitchen.

“Told us what?” James asked.

“I had the weirdest dreams last night.” you rubbed your eyes and looked at both of them. “Like there was Remus in them-”

“Oh, Pads, watch out-” James started to tease meanwhile both you and Sirius rolled your eyes in sync.

“Shut up, James.” you cut in. “It was so odd though- like I was a deer and I had a mouse on my head- like a massive fat mouse.” you started to show with your hands the size of your hands as Sirius and James started to process your words, growing more nervous than ever. “And then there was a big black dog in front of me- really ugly looking.”

“Excuse me?!” Sirius exclaimed, widening his eyes before feeling a slap of James’ hand on top of his mouth. He sent James a glare and James gave him back an apologetic look. 

You drew your eyebrows together and gave them a suspicious look. They were acting odder than usual. “Anyhow...” you trailed off, trying to go back to your dreams. “That dog turned into you-” you gestured to Sirius, giving him a teasing smile. “Which explains the ugliness.”

“And then I’m the rude one- really James? You call me the rudest out of here?” Sirius gave James another glare as James laughed nervously. 

“And you looked at me and said if we throw Worm into the lake and let him change in mid air so he can do a canon ball... or something???” you laughed, burying your head into your palms and looking back up at their crooked smiles. 

“Hahahaha!” James forced a laugh. “Worm... Why would- why would- uh, we- uh call a rat worm? Hahahha!” 

“I think... she said mouse, James.” Sirius corrected him.

“MOUSE! Yeah... mouse... that. Not rat... mouse on a stag...”

“I said deer.”

“Well they’re both the same thing..” James started to get a bit offended. 

“Then if I would be a deer, I’d be a doe, not a stag.”

James pursed his lips together and breathed hard through the nose. “Alright... doe then. It still doesn’t explain the books.”

“Doesn’t it though?” you stood up to get the books from both of their grasp, which was lot easier despite they were...well, James and Sirius.  “I’m looking for a meaning.”

“The dog might be an omen?” your father sat beside you, wiping his hands with a cloth. “Like a ghost, perhaps. I mean, don’t you call Sirius Padfoot, James?” he looked at James as James and Sirius looked at each other with wide eyes. “ In Lancashire they call the black dog many things. From Grim to Padfoot and since Sirius was the one who turned into-”

“WOW DAD!” James boomed throughout the room, clapping his hands and standing up. “That’s a great history lecture but me and Paddy here will go to get ourselves ready for that...uh.... urgent thing you gave us.” he sent both of you finger guns and pulled Sirius to his feet. “Let’s go... Sirius.” he pushed him forward, out of the room, up the stairs and into their room. He locked the door behind him.

James turned to Sirius, who was running his hands through his hair nervously. James waved his hands at him, as if he was screaming at Sirius but in reality only came out in loud whispers. “HOW DOES SHE-”

“DID YOU TELL HER?”

“OF COURSE I DID NOT TELL HER! DID YOU TELL HER?!”

“NO I DID NOT TELL HER!”

“You sure?!”

“Why would I tell her!?!”

“I don’t know, maybe because you fancy her!”

“Prongs, will you stop mentioning that! I didn’t tell her!”

“Then who did-”

“It’s your memory, Prongs! You told her!”

“...” James stood there quiet, like a linden statue, staring at his best friend as his brain tried to process it. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. “OH MY GOD-” he started to punch Sirius from the realiasation. “WHAT IF IT’S A TWIN THING! OH MY- DO YOU THINK WE’RE TELEPATHIC!”

“James...”

“MATE! Mate.. mate..” James smiled broadly at his best friend. “How cool would it be if we are actually those twins that can telepathically communicate-”

“James...”

James slapped his hand on his mouth. “Oh- what if she’s listening to me right now.”

“JAMES!” Sirius took James’ shoulders and shook him. “Calm down, for crying out loud. You’re not telepathic. I think she is- sort of.” he shrugged as James kept watching him. “I think she’s a Legilimen.”

[hoeassproductions]

Break A Leg: Chapter 11

Masterlist

***Author’s Note: Hey everyone, I am so sorry that you’ve waiting this long for this story to finish out. I happened to come on here after I haven’t been on Tumblr for almost two years. I honestly thought I had posted the last chapter but realized it’s been sitting in my drafts this whole time! How freaking lame!! Anyways, this got an updated edit and without further ado, the last chapter to Break A Leg! I hope you like it!***

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not own, possess, or have any links to Chris Evans, nor do I profit off of this work. Any claims otherwise are grossly misleading. This work is not to be posted anywhere else without my explicit permission.

If you would like to be added to any future tag list, reply here or send me an ask. I’d be happy to add you! Happy reading!

Word Count: ~2,500

The Beginning

“Sooooo. . .you've been talking to your mom about me?”

Chris begins to turn crimson as he tries to explain away anything Lisa may have overshared.

“Oh god, what did she say? I only told her the good stuff, I promise. I will talk to her about being nosy. She’s a sweet woman. I love her to death and tell her everything.” he says with a shrug of his shoulder.

“I could tell that, yeah.” I say, not being able to hide the smile that beams from my face in listening to him talk about his mom.

“You have no idea.” He chuckles, and I can visibly see the tension leave his body as he realizes I'm not mad.

"Don't worry Evans, I think it's sweet and I don't mind. Just a little taken aback I guess. I don't know, she seemed really excited to meet me. I want to meet her too, don't get me wrong! It's just…" I take a small breathe as I meet Chris eyes as he waits for me to find the words. "… Is she that excited to meet all of your friends?"

"Well, I mean. C'mon Y/N, you're not just anybody! You're…you're you."

Before I can push him further on what he means, he presses on.

"Y/N, about in the hallway before Sandra came out…"

"Yeah… I think that maybe we should talk…" Now its my turn to be nervous as it's not clear where he's taking this.

In the middle of Chris beginning to speak, my phone goes off. We both laugh uncomfortably, the nerves of the new subject getting more frazzled at the second interruption since being alone. Saved by the bell again!

I pull my phone out of my back pocket and I see that it's ringing for a reminder with my date with Jessie. My face drops. How could I forget about… Shit!

When Chris sees the change in expression, he can tell there's a problem. "What's wrong?"

"It's um…it's a reminder. I have to go, I'm sorry." I get up and walk away back to my cabin with conviction in my step. To my surprise, Chris doesn't follow me, but the separation is good. I need time to think.

How the hell did I not remember I told Jessie we could go on a date tonight? It completely slipped my mind. If I never set my alarm, I would not have even batted an eye staying at the dock longer with Chris. Confusion continues running through my mind as I check the clock on my phone again as I reach my porch. Had it already gotten that late? We couldn't have been out there that long already could we? And I rush back here to go on a date?!

I can only think of one thing do at a time like this. With a little under an hour before Jessie shows, I dial Hannah's number. On the second ring, She picks up.

"Hey love, love!"

"Oh Hannah, thank god. I need to talk to you, and I don’t have too much time." I explain to her everything that's happened since I got here and the current predicament. She's listens patiently, and understands my dilemma.

"Hannah, what do I do? With Jessie, and all the old feelings… It's just so easy to fall back into it but Chris…he's something else entirely. I can't get him out of my head or heart. I see small glimmers here and there that maybe he fees the same but I don't know what he wants. It's a risk to lay it all out there not knowing. What do I do? Jessie will be here any minute and I'm so confused."    

Hannah is quiet while she thinks everything over for a few moments.

"Y/N, your heart knows what you want. I know it's scary, but that's why you should go for it. Lean into the fear and trust that it would work out. Given everything you've told me, I would be hard pressed to think Chris doesn't have feelings for you. You know what you need to do. I know you gotta get ready or whatever, but I love you. Call me later if you need to talk, okay?"

"Ugh, okay. I hate it when you're right sometimes. I love you, too. We'll talk soon."

Thinking to myself as I get ready with 8pm quickly approaching, I'm finding butterflies beginning in my stomach. The nervousness of what's ahead sinking in more. Before long, I hear a knock on my door, and open it to see Jessie standing there with a bouquet of wildflowers. I welcome him in while I place them in a vase with some water.

"You look great Y/N! I have some fun stuff planned for tonight…" he trails off as he realizes something is off as I don't make eye contact with him or say anything. "Y/N, is everything ok?"

I take a deep breathe as I sit him down next to me.

'Jessie, look. Given our history, I think that it's very important that I be as open and honest with you as I can right now. All day, I've been completely distracted… and you weren't on my mind even once. I forgot about our date until my alarm went off to remind me to get ready. And then, once that happened I began to get butterflies and so nervous, but - " Before I could finish, Jessie speaks up.

“Listen, I know we've never gotten the timing right with this, but I can’t help but feel like fate has brought us together this time. Like….things have finally matched up and we can, I don’t know, give us a try? Before you say anything, can we agree to take some time this week to feel each other out. No expectations, just getting to know each other better again. It’s been awhile, and I know some things must have changed….I know they have for me.”

Giving thought to his words, my mind can’t help but wander to Chris.

Chris said it himself. TWICE. You guys are just friends. What if I go for it and he still feels that way? But Hannah was right, there is something there…something that feels beyond what I can even put into words. The almost kiss, the comfortability on the dock, him being so trusting and open with me? Why not lean in to it? And this, with Jessie? This is just…..safe. Hannah said I need to lean into the fear if that's what my heart wants…

Gathering my resolve, I think to myself for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell to say. Looking at Jessie, I can feel the right choice planting itself even further in my heart as my nerves continue to grow until the words reach my lips.

“You know what? Under normal circumstances, I would probably say yes to that but…I don't feel like I can right now. I did get butterflies before you came because I know what my heart wants. Falling back into this would be easy and low-maintenance…safe. But I don't want that, I want fireworks and passion. I want to feel electricity from a knowing stare across the room or my heart pounding from an almost kiss. I-I just…we don't have that chemistry anymore, Jessie. I have it with someone else, and I don't know what's going to happen but I know I have to at least try, or I'd never forgive myself. I'm sorry. You're a great guy and you deserve to find someone who feels this way about you, but that's not me anymore. It just wouldn't be fair to you if my heart isn't in it. I hope you understand.”

After some time of silence, the tension releases from my shoulders, and I can see him process my words.

"I guess that settles it then, Y/N. I appreciate your honesty, and to be honest, I could see the chemistry between you and Chris as soon as you guys arrived. I always told myself that if I ever saw you again, that I would try again but I understand now that I just got wrapped up in the past and I'm sorry for that."

At the mention of Chris, my eyes shoot up to meet Jessie's. "But I didn't say who it was..."

"You didn't have to. It's obvious and there's been a lot of talk since you guys got here. I shouldn't have even tried to get you back, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity for us to actually have a shot at what we kept failing at for years. Listen, he's a great guy, and if he's the one for you, I'm happy for you. Truly. You could do worse than him. Just be careful. His lifestyle and career… it's no joke."

We both fall silent for a moment at him verbalizing something I hadn't even considered yet, the fame that Chris has to bear. Where would that leave me if this goes any further?

Seeing the gears turning in my head, Jessie interrupts my thoughts thrown into overdrive. "Have you talked to him about your feelings yet?"

"No, I've been trying to deny them for many reasons…I don't know what he wants. He says we're friends, but I feel like there's more there. I know I want more, but it's scary to approach it without knowing."

"Only one way to find out kid. Follow your heart, and your gut. He'd be crazy not to go for it with you. You're a catch, Y/N."

I walk him to the door, and give him a hug on the porch.

"Thanks Jessie, and thank you for being so understanding"

Pulling away, I see that Chris has walked back, and is just getting to his porch. He waits until Jessie leaves to say anything.

"That's what all the rush was about? Him?" I can hear slight frustration in his voice as he says this to me while crossing the distance to his door. Is Chris…jealous?

"I-I, Yes it was, but I made it very clear to him that it wasn't going to work. My heart isn't in it…it's with someone else."

At hearing this, Chris comes to a halt, key at the ready.

"I had to be honest with him. I Couldn't…not when…" my words trail off as Chris' eyes meet mine and I can feel all of the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Not when what, Y/N?" he says, walking towards me on his porch, and I can see uncertainty dance in his expression.

I feel my anxiety and fear build up inside of me. Tears begin to well in my eyes and I know what I need to say but getting the words to come out is proving difficult.

I take in a shaky breath to gather myself. Y/N, you can do this. Tell him you're worth it. That you both deserve to give this a real shot.

My pulse quickens as my breathing begins to saw in and out of me, but I hold my ground "Not when...my heart is with you. I want you."

I look at Chris and in a matter of seconds, I see confusion and frustration fade from his face to be replaced by the biggest smile I have seen of his to date.

In seeing the change in his demeanor at my admission, the tears begin to spill over, clouding my eyes to point of blurring my vision so when I begin to feel steps on my porch, I was a little startled.

I wipe my eyes and see Chris standing before me. He reaches for me and pulls me into his arms with no words, knowing that I need a minute to compose myself.

I take in a deep breath, his scent settling around me, and I feel myself starting to relax.

"Chris, I'm.....let me explain....I-"

"No Y/N, it's okay. I'm just happy you're less of a chicken shit than I am."

I feel his laughter vibrate our bodies as he lifts his head, and pulls back to see my confused expression.

"Wait-"

"I feel the same way, and clearly you're scared but Y/N, you're one of the most kind and caring people I have ever met. I would be crazy to NOT to be interested in you! Ever since I dumped my coffee all over you and you threw your panties at me, I knew I had to keep you around by any means necessary." I slap his chest as we recall the haphazard way we met a couple months ago.

"Hey, HEY…" he says, as he shields himself from any more of my attack and we continue to chuckle. "What I'm trying to say is that you're amazing and I have feelings for you too. I don't know when it happened but you burrowed your way into my heart and I…I love having you there "

Listening to this, I am overjoyed. I grab Chris and I pull him in close, resting our foreheads together.

"Oh Chris, that makes me so happy to hear. I was so scared that I would ruin this if I said something and you didn't feel the same way but I couldn't ignore it anymore. You're in my heart too, and there's so much we need to talk about and discuss… a lot to figure out but I want to face all of that with you."

"I know Y/N. I know being with me has it's own challenges that a normal relationship doesn’t have to endure but I will do everything in my power to protect you while giving you the world because you deserve it…WE deserve it. You feel that too, right?"

"Yes, I do. I really do. There's a lot a stake when you lead with your heart."

"There always is but you're worth it, what we will build together will be worth it." He holds me to his chest again as I begin to full out cry, the emotions of it all overtaking me. After a few moments, I can feel his tears beginning to mingle with mine, and the realization hits me that this is real. This is my life and he's not going anywhere.

After we both compose ourselves and have calmed down, I embolden myself and look up into his eyes. "I guess there's only one thing to worry about right now then…to finish this."

The question forming behind his eyes before it reaches his lips, "Finish what?"

"The beginning of us."

Recognition falls over Chris face as I pull him in so our lips to finally meet for the first time, and I can feel in my soul; this is the moment I realize he's the only one that could capture my heart.

As we share our first kiss, I feel the world settle around me. This feels right, here in each other's arms without a care in sight. There's no place I'd rather be and to think it all started with a chance encounter.

                                                     ~The End~

Previous 

A/N: Again, so sorry I’m an ass and have kept this ending in my drafts. If you see this and have followed this story this entire time, thank you sooo much! Appreciate all of your likes, reblogs, and words of encouragement to make my first full fic a great experience! Writing is hard and scary, but I really enjoy it and am excited to get back to it! I have some fresh ideas that may just make it on here, so stay tuned!

Tags: @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan  @avenger-nerd-mom @mycapt-ohcapt-writes @mad-for-marvel @vanillabeanlattes @captain-ariel-barnes @emilyevanston @thewife101cevans @loricameback  @plussizeappreciationfics @a-tale-of-two-comics  @melodramaticfanatic @writingcreatingstorytelling  @mywritingsblog @disney-fire-fox @harrinoodles  @lookwhatyoumademequeue @janeyboo @aglarelen @purelyfictionallife  @cevansgirl @mrs-captain-evans @randomcevans  @nomadicpixel @elivanah-writes @katiew1973 @tchitchou26@mackevanstanfan80 @unicornpurplelife

[itzagothamcitysiren]

Welcome to the Family

So yesterday was Tim’s birthday and I had planned out a fic for it BUT I’ve been working a lot and just hadn’t had the time to sit down and write it out. I had kinda forgotten about it and when yesterday came around I was annoyed BUT I was given this idea after going out for the day with my niece. 

We had drove by a Red Robin after eating somewhere else and I was mad salty, cause yesterday would’ve been the perfect time to go. Then for dinner we ordered take out and I kind you not, our delivery driver was named Timothy. Like what the hell? lol, I was dude I need to write something now. 

So today after work I sat down and wrote this. It’ll be three parts, taking place after my mother’s day story. I’ll post up part one and two tonight, and once I finish three I’ll post it tomorrow hopefully :) 

Tell ‘Em That It’s My Birthday pt. 1

           “What day is it?!”

           Halley’s voice seemed to shriek through the room, causing her now startled teammate, Kori Anders, to jerk her head up from her laptop. The girl’s off guard silence caused Halley to go bug eyed, repeating herself but more frantically. “The day! What day is it?”

           The alien princess stared up at the wide eyed brunette unsure as to why the younger girl was so frantic suddenly. The coffee mug she held paused as it touched her lips and now was being held still. Cocking an eyebrow up, Kori gave her a soft and hesitant response,

           “Monday?”

           “Yes, I know its Monday. The date, I mean the date!” Halley shouted back, using one hand to run it through her hair as the other reached for her phone that she had tossed across the couch only seconds ago.

           It was only minutes ago that the device was being held in her hands. She had been ordering herself and her team dinner from their favorite Thai place via Door Dash, it being her turn as Kori treated them to an array of Sushi the a few nights ago. She had found herself chuckling at the realization of the name of their Dasher. His name was Timothy and she couldn’t help but think back to yesterday when she and Kori were out on one of their many shopping trips. They had drove past a Red Robin and she had joked about how if they hadn’t already eaten lunch that they should’ve gone there and taken a picture outside the sign and send it to her Tim.

           Why hadn’t it clicked then, she cursed to herself once her phone was in her hands. She let out the loudest groan she felt like she ever had when the date haunted her vision. It was July 20th; fucking July fucking 20th, she cursed to herself again, furiously rubbing her face with her hands as the phone dropped back down onto the couch. She was literally the worst sister in the entire universe.

           She had been so consumed with her own life that she had completely spaced that Tim’s birthday was yesterday.  She’d never done so before. She had never forgotten a birthday or any day of importance; she’d always made sure to leave herself reminders and be on top of stuff like that. Of course there were times where she would let certain things sneak up on her but she usually had a pretty solid excuse for days like those. But now that she was officially graduated from college she had no other big obligations to keep her truly and utterly distracted.  

           Sure, she was offered a job at the Gazette, but she didn’t have to start until the fall when they had a spot for her open. One of their tenor reporters was moving to Metropolis around then and Halley was more than okay with being able to take the summer off until then. Kori had asked for her help with getting the new Tower back up and running so it was ready for their new team of recruits.

           The team of Titans she knew were mostly disbanded, having gone off to do their own things or another, a new team, a team Tim was a part of, taking over their Tower.  Now Dick was in Bludhaven, Hank and Dawn giving up the hero life, Victor now joining the Justice League and Wally and Roy off somewhere no one really knew. Kori had reached out to Halley, asking her to help train her new recruits; Halley agreed and had been here for the last two and a half months.

           But this was Tim. How could she just up and forget his birthday?

           “Fuck, fuck, I need to call Tim,” She let her hands drop and grabbed her phone once more.

           Going to her favorites, she clicked on the second name, dialing his number within seconds. She tapped her fingers against her thigh nervously waiting for the other line to be picked up. Her heart dropped when it had only been brought to voicemail. She didn’t wait to leave a message, hanging up and calling again. The phone brought her straight to voicemail.

           He was ignoring her, she gulped.

           She held the bridge of her nose, pinching it as she listened through his voicemail, waiting for the beep before opening her mouth to speak.  When the beep rang she found herself unsure of what to say. She couldn’t just wish him happy birthday a day late through a voicemail. Biting the inside of her cheek she quickly composed herself, saying, “Hee-hey Tim. Uh it’s me, Halley er-. Look, can you call me? Please? Okay, love you, bye-,” Stupid, she hissed to herself as she hung up.

           “Well that was almost as hard to listen to as Garfield when he flirts.” Kori chuckled, watching the girl hang up the phone and let her head drop into her hands.

           “Shut up.” Halley spat but was muffled by her hands. She took her head out of her hands, leaning back into the couch and looking up at the ceiling.

           Maybe he wasn’t actually in Gotham. Maybe he was with his own team of Titans. Yeah, maybe he was. And maybe he was on a mission and that’s why he couldn’t answer the phone. No, she frowned. She knew that he was in Gotham. Steph had sent her a snap a few days ago of the two of them out at Bat Burger. Wait, she though, bringing the phone back up to her ear. She dialed the blonde’s number but was met the same fate as with Tim’s.

           “Ugh they hate me!” She cried out, finally meeting Kori’s eye. “I forgot about Tim’s birthday, Kori. He’s hates me now.”

           “Tim would never hate you.” Kori rolled her eyes, waving the girl off and turning back to her laptop and work. “He looks up to you. He’ll understand that it just slipped your mind.”

           “Yea but it shouldn’t have slipped my mind. And he’s clearly mad since he’s ignoring me!” Halley yelled, standing up. “Let Gar or Jaime have my plate; I need to catch a flight to Gotham.”

           “Halley, wait a bit for him to call you back, don’t just jump on a plane.” Kori squinted at her, noting how similar to Dick she had gotten over the years. He had done the exact thing to her once, way back when she hadn’t answered her phone.

           “No, you don’t get it, Kor, we always remember and I can’t believe I forgot.” She frowned, grabbing her phone and heading out of the common room as quickly as she could.

           She was so mad at herself. She knew that Tim wasn’t one to just ignore people and send them right to voicemail. She knew he was mad and she was worried that if she waited for him to call her back it would take a couple of days. Halley wouldn’t wait that long, already trying to think of an apology as she looked up flights on her phone as she power walked to her room.

           As her head was buried in her phone she found herself walking into a hard chest, instantly looking up with narrowed eyes. In front of her stood one of the last members to join the Titans before the newest kids and Halley showed up. The firm chest of the Atlantean sidekick stared her straight in the face as she slowly craned her head up to make eye contact with his purple eyes.

            “Hey Garth, sorry” she said offhandedly, side stepping and moving to walk around him. She frowned when she felt his hand reach out and grip her upper arm, making her stop. “Come on, I gotta go. I have to go to Gotham; it’s an emergency.”

           The Atlantean frowned his playful smirk now showing concern as he let go of his grip. He began to follow her to her room, walking a few steps behind. “Is everything okay? Do you need me to go with you?”

           “I don’t think the Batclan will want an Atlantean in Gotham. No offense,” She smirked at him, looking him up and down. She pressed down the hall further, “But no, it’s not that kind of emergency. I’m an asshole and forgot Tim’s birthday.”

           “You are an asshole.” He teased, stopping behind her when they reached her door. He laughed, raising his hands up in surrender and protection when she turned around to smack him. “Hey, I’m not the one who eats their boyfriend’s kind.”

           “I said I was sorry about that!” Halley snapped, giving him a playful push before opening her door. She didn’t bother to close it, knowing he’d just follow her in anyway. “I told you I would be more mindful; I ordered Thai food tonight, no fish.” She pointed out, laughing at the incident that happened when Kori bought them all home sushi a few nights ago. The Aqualad was less than thrilled about her choice and even less than thrilled when Halley openly dug into roll after roll in front of him. “Also, you aren’t my boyfriend last time I checked.”

           He watched her as she moved to her closet, pulling out a Superman backpack and throwing random articles of clothing into it. His face flashed from frisky to almost jealous, her words throwing him off as he had already assumed they were a thing. They’d met years ago when they were teenagers and Garth would be lying if he said he hadn’t gotten a crush on her back then. But he had only been with the Titans for one mission back then and quickly went back to Atlantis. When he was offered a full time spot on their roster he was excited when he found out Halley would be joining them for a few months.

           It took some time but the pair hit it off, Halley at first reluctantly agreeing to go on a date with him but eventually growing to like the Atlantean. She had only just started dating a few months prior and it was all so new to her but it was somewhat comfortable with Garth. She wouldn’t say that she was falling in love, she was far from it. But she did feel something towards him unlike other’s she dated; she wasn’t bored. It wasn’t as awkward as it was with civilians who knew nothing about her nightlife and it was nice to talk to someone outside of the family who had shared life experiences. She also found herself not constantly comparing everything about him to Jason or holding him to the unreasonably high standards she had to match him.

           “Well I haven’t gotten around to asking you yet.” He shrugged but kept a firm face, wanting to show that he was seriously thinking about asking her.

           “Oh,” Halley said, placing the last thing she needed in her bag. She zipped it up, trying to shove away her sudden nervousness. She hadn’t thought about getting that committed to someone yet. But as she bit her lip, she looked up at him unable to stop herself from speaking. Giving him a sly look, she spoke “Well, when I get back maybe you can get around to it if you want.”

           “I’ll have to make a note of it,” Garth smirked at her, crossing his arms against his chest. “For now let me at least bring you to the airport,” He offered, his eyes followed her as she walked around him and grabbed her phone charger of the plug in the wall and a book from her nightstand.

           “Do mermaids know how to drive?” She teased him before heading out the door.

           “Wow, you really are an asshole.” He teased right back as he followed her back into the hallway, leading the way down to the garage.

[nerdforestgirl]

Hey.  I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted a story or anything useful, really. But @milyrita asked me for a story of Sheldon getting a makeover a few months ago.  It took me far too long, but I finally finished it.  I hope you enjoy.  Stay safe.  <3

Sheldon looked at himself in the mirror. It was his 40th birthday, and he frowned. Not that it was his birthday or that he was another year older. His life was great. He was married to Amy who was pregnant with their first child. He had a Nobel and tenure at CalTech. The reason he frowned that his clothes made him look like a 40 year old toddler. He was going to be a father in the matter of months, and he looked less like an adult than when he was nine. At least back in those days he wore a button up on occasion. He sighed, but went to find Amy and whatever he had planned for his big day.

It turned out that the big surprise was just dinner with his friends, which was more or less perfect for Sheldon. It was their regular Chinese food with cake at the end. Apparently pregnant Amy didn't have much energy to plan anything more. It made Sheldon wish he had knocked up his wife during all of the previous birthdays he had with her.

Still, Sheldon couldn't help but think about his appearance. Then he looked over at Penny who seemed to know things about fashion. Or at least she was always looking at magazines about it. He decided to pull her to the side.

“What's up?” Penny asked.

“Do you think you could take me shopping this weekend? I would like to have a few outfits that make me look like an adult,” Sheldon admitted quietly.

“Really? I've been waiting for this moment for over a decade,” Penny said with a clap of her hands. She happily agreed to take Sheldon shopping. He regretted asking immediately, but he still wanted to appear to be an adult. He would try this. Even if it was just one day.

Penny knocked on Sheldon's door on Saturday morning so they could head out to the mall. Penny asked Sheldon about what kind of clothes he was looking for, but he just shrugged and said something about wanting to look like an adult. He didn't really have any ideas beyond that. It was why he had brought Penny in on this with him.

“Let's try a few things,” Penny suggested as she handed him a black button up shirt. Sheldon saw a plaid one in a similar style so he added it to the things to try on.

“That will make you look like a dad,” Penny said.

“Perfect. That is exactly the look I am attempting to achieve,” Sheldon said with a smile.

Penny didn't mean it as a compliment, but she let him try it on anyway. She hadn't known that was his motivation, but she still wanted him to look like a stylish dad. The man was a Nobel Prize winner, not just some guy mowing the lawn and barbecuing on Sundays. Either way, no cargo shorts would be allowed.

“How's this?” Sheldon asked as he walked out in a pink fitted shirt and jeans. He didn't actually mind these ones. The shirt showed off his figure better than his normal baggy clothes. Penny forgot that Sheldon had been working out with Leonard a few times a week until she saw that he had put on a little bit of muscle.

“I think you should be ready for Amy to jump on you when you get home,” Penny teased.

“You think she will hate it so much that she will attack me?” Sheldon asked. He was disappointed. This was the first outfit that he actually liked so far.

“No. She will find you unbearably sexy and will want to have coitus,” Penny explained.

“Oh,” Sheldon said. Then Penny caught a little grin on his face. She was going to insist that he get his outfit for sure. They spent a couple more hours trying out new looks.

“I told Leonard I would be home in time for dinner with him and the baby. Let's get these, and then I'm taking you to get a proper haircut. If you want to look like an adult, we're getting your haircut too,” Penny said when they had a decent pile of new clothes picked out. He was going to wear the pink shirt and the jeans out of the store.

“I don't need a haircut,” Sheldon insisted.

“Sweetie, you do. Let's go,” Penny told him.

Sheldon pouted and continued to insist that he was fine with his hair the way it was. He liked this hairstyle. He had had this hairstyle since he was old enough to choose it for himself. Then he realized that this whole point of this exercise was to make him look like an adult instead of a nine year old. His hair would grow back if he didn't like it. And perhaps he could get used to a new hairstyle. It took very little time for him to fall in love with Amy's shorter hair after all. Adjusting to change was what becoming a father was all about. He might as well start now while he had a couple months to go.

The new hairstyle wasn't vastly different. Just a little shorter in the back and on top. Plus a bit of product to give it some volume. Not nearly as different as Amy's new cut had been all those months ago, but also not the style of a nine year old boy either.

“You look great, Sheldon. I call this a job well done,” Penny proclaimed when she saw the whole look put together. She thought that maybe Sheldon could use some glasses to complete the nerd chic thing going on, but he didn't need them. Maybe in a few years all the screen time would catch up to him.

“Do you think Amy will like it?” Sheldon asked. She was the only person other than himself whose opinion mattered at all in this matter.

“I wasn't kidding earlier. I think you are going to have a late night tonight,” Penny said.

“A late night? Oh. The coitus because I am attractive. Right,” Sheldon said with a nod. It had only been a week for him, which wasn't very much time, but he knew this was a risk when he went shopping.

“Let's go show her,” Penny suggested.

Sheldon opened the door to his apartment with all of his shopping bags in hand. Penny followed close behind because she wanted to see Amy's reaction to Sheldon's new style. She stepped forward when she saw Amy look up from her book and immediately started crying.

“What's wrong?” Sheldon asked as he rushed to Amy. She cried more now that she was pregnant, but he hadn't become accustomed to it. It still upset him to see her cry.

“Well, have fun, kids,” Penny said and let herself out of the apartment. Something was going wrong, and she wanted as far away from it as possible.

“What did you do?” Amy asked her husband. She barely noticed that Penny was there or had left. Sheldon looked completely different. And Amy hated all of it. She walked closer and he smelled of cologne instead of his normal baby powder. It was like he was a whole different person. She wanted her Sheldon. Not this imposter.

“I wanted to look like an adult,” Sheldon said. He had prepared for a very different reaction than his wife crying. He was startled because normally even if Amy hated something like this, she usually had the tact to say it politely.

“Why on earth did you think I would want that? I want my husband. I want him back,” Amy shouted.

Sheldon nodded and ran into their bedroom. He put back on a baggy pair of khakis and a t-shirt. There wasn't much he could do about his hair, but he brushed it back down to his usual style. He also felt deflated. He hadn't done this for Amy, but he didn't think she would hate it the way she did. He slunk back out to the living room for Amy to inspect.

“Why did you change? You never change anything you don't have to. Are you cheating on me?” Amy asked through tears as she inspected the other clothes Sheldon purchased. All of it was expensive high quality clothes. Not a t-shirt in sight.

“Of course I'm not cheating on you. I barely have coitus with you, and I love you more than anyone else on the planet,” Sheldon said. He was defensive because he never would have dreamed that Amy would even suggest something like that.

“So, you didn't change everything because I'm fat, and you want to be with someone else?” Amy asked.

“You aren't fat, and I'd never want to be with someone else. I bought these things because I don't want to take our son to daycare and have the other parents think I am a very large escaped toddler. I am going to be a father, and I want to look the part,” Sheldon explained.

Amy sniffled and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her sweater. Sheldon made a mental note to have it cleaned immediately. Not everything about him had changed.

“You did look very handsome. It scared me because I don't feel like I match such a handsome man right now,” Amy admitted. It took her some time to actually understand why she was so upset. It took until wild accusations started flying out of her mouth to connect the dots. Now that she had, she felt a little ashamed.

“You are very beautiful, but you are also very pregnant. Your body will not stay this way,” Sheldon reminded her as he walked closer to gently hug her.

“You're right. I overreacted.”

“So, I can keep the clothes and the haircut?” Sheldon asked.

“Of course,” Amy said with a smile.

“But you don't want to jump on me?” Sheldon asked.

Amy looked confused for a moment, but then understood what he meant with the phrase slightly off. “I always want to jump on you. Would you like to show me the rest of the things you bought? We can see which one makes me strip you out of it,” Amy teased. She didn't think they would actually have sex. It had been only a week since the last time. However, if Sheldon was bringing it up, maybe it was on the table.

“I think the suit would really have you going, but it's being tailored. Let me show you the cashmere sweater,” Sheldon said with a renewed smile. He was glad that Amy was coming around. Now they could be the most fashionable couple around.

[thebluenoteblog]

Consequences

Summary: If only you and Vince had met each other before you had met the people you were already attached to. Then maybe, just maybe this wouldn't be such a mess.

Player: Vince Dunn

Word Count: 4.9k

Notes: This is an old imagine that I wrote before I started my blog. I haven't had time to write anything the past couple of days and I really like this one so I decided to post it. I was a little hesitant because of the subject matter so I would like to say that I do not support cheating and I am in no way trying to glamorize it.

Vince pulled his pants back up and pressed a kiss to your lips, pulling you against him. “We just broke so many of our rules,” you mumbled against his lips. You smoothed your hands over the now wrinkled fabric of his game day dress shirt.

He pulled back with a smile, “Who cares?” He asked, “The whole team already figured it out anyway.”

“That isn’t a good thing Vince,” you said with a sigh, looking away from him and shaking your head. “You have Allison and I have Carter. It’s more than just us involved here.”

He nodded like he understood, but there was a frown etched on his face in place of the carefree expression that had been there before. There was nothing he hated more than being reminded that he had a girlfriend when he was with you, except maybe being reminded that you had a boyfriend. He definitely hated that more.

He moved in to kiss you again, claim what wasn’t his one more time before you had to leave and go home to someone else, someone who wasn’t him. However, you turned away with a heavy sigh when your phone started to ring. A familiar ring tone that he hated because it always signaled the end of your time together.

He had a girlfriend, but she was a student at the University of Toronto and rarely visited. It was different. Sometimes it felt like she wasn’t even a part of his life. You were a bigger part, that was for sure, and if he had met you before he had met Allison and you had met Carter, he knew you would be together.

But that isn’t how things had worked out. He’d known Allison since he was fourteen, and he was twenty-three now. Everyone was just waiting for them to get married. You and Carter had been together for three years, and he was a firefighter for god’s sake. How do you break a firefighter’s heart?

You placed a hand on his cheek and said, “We leave for a road trip tomorrow, then I’m all yours for a week.”

Then you were out of his arms and across the room, picking up your phone from where it had fallen to the floor after being knocked off your desk. You answered the call without waiting for his response. Vince tucked his shirt in and pulled his suit jacket on over it, then headed out the door doing his best to tune out the conversation.

He passed a guard he recognized in the hallway and pointed at your office, “Hey, can you walk her to her car when she’s ready? We just finished an interview and I have somewhere I have to be.”

The guard gave him a knowing look but nodded, “Yeah I’ll make sure she gets there safe.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” He paused, about to say something, then decided that at this point, silence was his best defense.

*********

You arrived home to find a freshly prepared meal sitting on the kitchen table. You smiled at Carter who stood in front of the candle lit dinner with a satisfied but nervous look on his face. “You know it’s after eleven o’clock, right?” You asked.

“I’m aware,” he answered as he pulled out your chair, the same place you always sat, “Now come eat.”

You slowly sat your purse down on the couch and took a seat at the table. He sat down across from you and said, “I just put it on the table about ten minutes after we hung up the phone, so everything should be warm.”

You picked up your fork and took a bite. As expected, it was delicious. Carter had always been an excellent cook and in the past three years you had been together, he had only gotten better.

“You’re home late,” he said, “Get held up working on a post?”

You nodded, “Yeah it’ll go up right before we leave tomorrow.” You said. It was a good post, and fans would love to get a behind the scene view of Vince. Though maybe in hindsight it hadn’t been such a good idea to interview him alone in your office after everyone had left for the night. This you would concede too. However, maybe… maybe you wanted it to happen.

Maybe only having him on road trips wasn’t enough anymore. You realized you’d zoned out when Carter laughed, “Must be some post. Can’t wait to see it.”

Yeah. Can’t wait.

You went about your meal and you were just about to excuse yourself and head off to bed after a long, exhausting day with whatever excuse you could think of when he said, “One more thing, (Y/N).”

You smiled patiently at him, it was after midnight and you had to be on the tarmac at noon. “What is it?” You asked.

He stood from his chair and dropped down to one knee in front of you. Your heart flipped in your chest and your stomach churned. Oh god. How much worse could his timing be?

“(Y/N), I know it’s late and you’re tired. I know you’re only twenty-three and your career is complicated, but I love you. I love you more than anything. I love you enough to make anything work. So, will you marry me?”

You stared at him quietly for a few heartbeats before you managed to squeak out, “Carter... Carter like you said I’m only twenty-three and my career is so complicated.” Vince. “I… Can I think about it on the trip? I’ll have an answer for you on the tarmac when we land.” Vince.

He closed the box and rose to his feet, “Yeah… yeah of course you can. That’s fine.” He shook his head, “I get it.”

Vince.

*******

You knocked three soft raps on his hotel room door and before your hand had even dropped, it was swinging open, and there he was, a pair of jeans low on his hips, the waistband of his underwear sticking out and no shirt. Classy. His hair was still wet like he’d just showered and the smell of his body wash in the room was so overwhelming it made you want to crawl into his arms and live there forever.

He pulled you into the room and pushed the door shut, then backed you up against the wall, “God I’ve missed you.” He whispered, lowering his mouth to yours.

You let him, for a moment you let yourself indulge in the kiss because god this was what you wanted. This was what you needed. However, you knew the ultimatum you were about to give him and lord where you terrified of how it was going to turn out.

You eventually pushed him back and turned your face to the side when he tried to come back for more which he took as an invitation to move to your neck where he licked a stripe over your collarbone, then nibbled the crook of your neck, careful not to leave a mark. “Vince…” You sighed, but it wasn’t a good sigh. It was a distracted, upset, I need to talk sigh and he could tell the second the word left your mouth that something was wrong.

He pulled back and looked into your eyes, his lips swollen perfectly, and his eyes concerned in a way that made you want to back out of this ultimatum idea completely. However, Carter had made your current situation unsustainable. Not that it was sustainable, ethical, or right from the beginning, but there was no way you could accept Carter’s engagement while your heart belonged to Vince. It wasn’t fair to you or to Carter.

That left the ball in Vince’s court.

“Carter proposed.”

Vince dropped his hands from your waist and took a shocked step backwards. You may have been imagining it, but you would swear that his face paled. “Did you say yes?” He asked.

You shook your head, meeting his blue eyes, “I told him I had to think about it.”

“Why?” He asked, furrowing his brows in confusion.

You looked past him and out the wall of windows at the New York skyline. This was the part you were most nervous about. “I don’t love him the way I should.”

He just continued to stare at you with his brows furrowed, ignoring the way his heart jumped in his chest and forcing his mind not to get ahead of itself. “But… you’ve been with him for three years.”

“And I can’t marry him when I would rather be with you,” you said. There were so many more words you wanted to add. The way it felt wrong when Carter held you because Vince’s arms felt so right or the way sometimes kissing Carter felt like a betrayal to Vince and you had to remind yourself that it was the other way around. However, you couldn’t say those things, because just those words that you already put out there are crossing lines that the two of you had set when this whole thing started.

The words sat heavily between you as you waited for a reaction from him, any reaction at all.

Vince closed his eyes because, god he couldn’t think straight when he was looking at you. He knew you were waiting for a response and he knew what he wanted to say. Just hearing you say those words… hearing you say that you wanted to be with him for real, more than you wanted to be with Carter. That you would pick being with him over a marriage proposal, something that you’d wanted your entire life… it made parts of him happy that he didn’t even know existed.  

But there was another part of his brain, the part that had been with Allison for nine years. The part that didn’t know anything else. The part that knew how disappointed his family would be if he ended things with her and he just couldn’t do that. He couldn’t end a nine year long relationship, one that started in high school, and immediately be seen dating the teams media manager. She would know. His family would know. It would break her. They would be so disappointed.

It didn’t matter what he wanted. Like you had said, there were more people involved here than just the two of you.

He opened his eyes and stared at your forehead as he said, “(Y/N), I can’t leave her.”

You nodded slowly and he could see the tears welling in your eyes, “Okay…” you said, “Okay, I get it. I guess I just… I was wrong though. I never should have put you in that position. I should have just come here tonight to break things off.”

His breath hitched, “You’re ending this?” He asked.

You looked at him like the answer should have been obvious, but the moment was short, and the effort was weak on your part as your eyes were still watery. “Carter is going to be waiting for my answer on the tarmac when we get home in a week. I’m going to say yes. This can’t happen anymore after that. Not when I’m engaged. Not after tonight. Not after what I said.” You paused, “Not after what you said. Besides, I can’t keep halfway loving him because I’m putting my heart somewhere else every time I go to work. It isn’t fair to anyone.”

He felt his stomach drop. You were going to say yes. You were going to marry him. He hadn’t considered that possibility. Five minutes ago, you had said that you didn’t love Carter. Now you were ready to say, ‘I do’? “You’re going to marry him?” He asked quietly.

You nodded, “Don’t you plan on marrying Allison? Why else would you stay with someone for nine years?”

Leaving him with all of that to think about, you turned and left the room, pulling the door shut quietly behind you.

*********

You were off the plane last, after all the players as was protocol for the media personnel. You did your best to focus your eyes on Carter, leaning against his truck parked toward the back of the crowd of cars. You also did your best to keep your eyes averted from Vince who was standing next to Jordan and his girlfriend who were giving him a ride home as they lived in the same apartment complex.  

You made your way to Carter, fully aware of Vince’s gaze on your back as you walked to him. When you got there the first thing he did was pull you to him and press a kiss to your lips. A kiss that made a knot form in Vince’s stomach. But that was nothing compared to how he felt about what happened next.

The next thing Carter did was pull a small velvet box out of his pocket. It was black, not a Tiffany box or anything fancy like something that he would have gotten you, he noted, then immediately wondered why that thought had even occurred to him because the idea of proposing to Allison had never, in nine years crossed his mind. Even with her and his whole family prodding him.

Carter looked at you and asked quietly, “Did you have time to think?”

You nodded your head and smiled at him, “I would love to marry you, Carter,” you said.

He opened the box and slipped the ring on your finger. He gathered you up in his arms and spun you in a circle with your arms around his neck. The ring caught the sun and sparkled. It wasn’t huge, not like something he could afford to buy you, but it was pretty. Vince turned his head away, opening the car door, even as Cris attempted to make her way over to congratulate the two of you. Jordan stayed by his side, “You okay Dunner?” He asked.

Vince shook his head, “I just want to go home.”

Jordan seemed to get it, “Yeah man, sure thing.” He headed off to collect his misses and by the time he came back, Vince and his bag were already in the back seat staring out the window in the opposite direction of all the commotion.

*********

It was almost a month later and two road trips had passed without incident. Your mother and sister had jumped into the wedding planning with full enthusiasm, more enthusiasm than you actually, granted you were still fully convinced that given the chance you would drop the ring at Carter’s feet for a chance to be with Vince.

In short you weren’t sure you were doing the right thing by agreeing to marry him.

However, you were in too deep and now it looked like you were getting married to the man you loved the less of the two. As you lounged on the couch of your hotel room, contemplating this with a glass of wine in your hand and your kindle sitting unread in your lap, you gazed out the window at your view of LA.

You were mid train of thought when there was a knock on your door. Having absolutely no idea who it could be, you checked through the peep hole before opening it. Of course. A six-foot-tall defenceman who excelled at being the main source of trouble in your life. You would have left him standing in the hallway, but you were afraid someone would see him and though most of the players had the two of you figured out, the media side was a different story and that’s who you shared a floor with.

You would also be lying to yourself if you said that you didn’t miss being alone with him. Talking to him. Being close enough to smell the combination of his cologne and shampoo and body wash. Everything. You missed it. You missed him.

He stood outside the door, ready to knock again when the door flew open and you pulled him inside. You pushed it closed quietly behind him and asked, “Are you crazy? The last thing we need is some reporter from the Athletic finding out about our affairs.”

His jaw worked for a moment before he responded, “I’m sorry. I had to see you.”

“Why Vince?” You asked, crossing your arms and jutting your chin out in that stubborn way that he loved. God you had so much fire. You had so much passion. You gave as good as you got. Whether you were debating or fighting or fucking. It was one of the things he loved about you.

And god was he realizing that he loved you.

He opened his mouth and closed it again, then decided on, “(Y/N), God (Y/N), I miss you. I can’t stay away from you. I can’t get you out of my head. All I do is think about you. About how fucked up everything is. I’ve been playing like shit half the time because I can’t focus.”

You shook your head, that stubborn set of your chin still firmly in place, “You don’t get to miss me, Vince. I gave you the choice to have me. I tried to pick you over him. I could be with you right now and then you would never have to miss me again. You made your bed. Now lay in it.”

Vince took a step toward you, placing his hand on your cheek, his eyes were sad, defeated.  Underneath all the anger he could see that yours were too. “I’m so sorry.” He said, “I’m so, so sorry this is how we met. I’m so sorry this is how everything went down. I’m so sorry things weren’t different.”

You were blinking back tears now, and your defenses were mostly gone as you replied, “I’m sorry too, Vince. I wish things were different.”

He pressed your foreheads together and for a second, he considered making them different. He considered flying Allison out to St. Louis, so he could break up with her. Shitty? Yes. Shittier then what he had been up to for the past year with you? No.

Then he remembered all the reasons he shouldn’t. Now there was one more. The cold metal he could feel against his cheek where your hand was pressed. Seeing that god damned ring every day would be the death of him.

He didn’t know why he did it. Maybe it was because he missed you. Maybe it was because the ring was making him crazy and he wanted to feel like you were still some part his, even for a second. He ducked his head and pressed his lips to yours. You responded immediately, moving both your hands to the sides of his neck. He wrapped his around your back, pulling you tight against him.

The kiss was slow and loving. It said so many things that neither of you could.

Though eventually, before it could go any further, you pulled back and said, “I think you should leave.”

He swallowed and pushed down every part of him that screamed stay stay stay stay.

He heard the lock click as soon as the door shut behind him.

*********

Luckily, he got back on his game after a few ass chewing’s from Chief and extra practice sessions. The Blues were on a five-game win streak and he was feeling good after logging points in three of his last four games. He looked really good in comparison to the stretch of bad games he’d played with his head up his ass.

Not that it wasn’t still there.

He’d quickly discovered that the only thing worse than knowing you were engaged and seeing the ring every day, was hearing you talk about the wedding. He was taping his stick sitting on the bench, like he did before every morning skate. He had discovered quickly that you were sitting off in the stands behind him with one of the girls from the Blue Crew. You were interviewing her at first, asking her questions about what it was like to do her job. A few juicy things that fans would like.

God just your voice was enough to set him off balance. He fucked up the tape and had to pull it off and start again. It had to be perfect. Superstitious maybe, but it worked. Usually.

Then the conversation changed. The girl was apparently friends with you. Something he didn’t know. He guessed that there were a lot of parts of your life he knew nothing about. She asked you about the wedding and you started to talk about dresses and makeup and hair and bridesmaids. After about ten minutes (Vince had long since finished taping his sticks, he was now just torturing himself), you revealed, “Honestly, my mom and sister are doing most of the planning.”

Your friend asks, “Why haven’t you been planning it?”

You hesitated before answering, “I don’t know. I guess I’m just really busy.”

But Vince knew the truth. You still didn’t want to marry Carter. You still wanted him. He still had a chance. He thought about all of the pain he’d felt since the moment you looked over his shoulder at those damn New York city lights and told him that Carter had proposed. He didn’t think he would ever enjoy being in New York again. That city forever had a red X burned over it in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he realized, that if that moment, if losing you, was powerful enough to ruin an entire city for him, wasn’t that a love worth saving? Wasn’t that a love worth going to war for? Even if it was a war with his own family?

He thought about every shitty game he’d played because of how thoughts of losing you had consumed every moment of his life, waking and sleeping. He thought of the kiss you had shared just a couple weeks earlier. He thought of the tearful look in your eyes when he’d told you that he wouldn’t leave Allison; but had Allison ever once, in nine years, made him feel the way that you made him feel every day?

He knew the answer immediately.

No.

*********

Two weeks later the team arrived in Toronto as the second stop on their Canadian road trip after picking up a win in Winnipeg. Vince grabbed his key and made his way quickly to his room, deposited his bag and called for an Uber.

Not long after, he pulled up in front of Allison’s apartment building. He stood outside her door for a long time, not quite sure what he was going to say now that he was actually standing on her welcome mat. He’d rehearsed it a thousand times in his head over the past two weeks, but now? Now he didn’t know what the hell to say.

He reached up and knocked on the door. She appeared a second later, looking just as he remembered her. Comfortable. That’s what he always felt around her. Comfortable. Not passionate. No all-consuming love. She wasn’t the one that popped into his head when love songs came on in the car. She was just… comfortable.

She smiled a huge smile and threw her arms around him, “Vince, what are you doing here?” She asked. “I thought I was picking you up at the hotel in an hour.”

He swallowed, he needed to do this now. “Allison, we need to talk.”

She pulled back and met his gaze. It was obvious that she didn’t like whatever she saw there. “Do… do you want to come in?” She asked, stepping aside. “My roommates are in class right now.”

He shook his head, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” It felt wrong to walk into her apartment and act like nothing was wrong after what he had spent the last year doing. Especially considering what he was about to do right now.

She paled, “Vince, what did you do?” She whispered, a look of genuine horror crossing her features.

He looked down at his shoes, not able to meet her eyes. He never meant to hurt her. That was never his intention, and that’s exactly what he told her. She balked at him, “I’m so glad you thought of that before you what… cheated on me I’m guessing?”

He looked up, meeting her hurt eyes, “I’m sorry this didn’t work Allison. I’m sorry we put so much time into each other and this is how it ended.”

She stepped through the archway of the door, closer to him and placed a hand on his cheek, “Vince, we can get through this.”

“I don’t want to.” He said stepping away from her and pulling her hand off of his face. It felt wrong. She shouldn’t be touching him anymore, he had already decided that two weeks ago. Maybe he had decided it a lot longer ago than that, he just hadn’t figured it out yet.

Allison shook her head, tears coming to her eyes, “You’re in love with someone else.” She stated. A fact, not a question.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

She turned and walked back into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. He heard the chain slide and the lock click, sealing him out. There was a finality to it. Like the last string had been severed. They were done.

He had just ended a nine-year long relationship for a woman who was engaged to another man. On paper, it sounded like a horrible decision. In his heart, he knew that he couldn’t have made a better one.

*********

You had the day off the next day, and it was still early when Vince knocked on your door. You were awake and ready for the day though, sitting on the couch in the room working on a graphic to post advertising the game the next day. You hadn’t been sleeping well, so you’d spent a lot of extra time working.

When the insistent knocks pulled you out of your zone, you closed the MacBook and placed it on the couch cushions beside you before making your way to the door. You already had a pretty solid idea of who it was. Sure enough, there stood the source of all your problems, looking good as ever with his eyes leveled on you.

“Can I come in?” He asked.

Why the hell not? You nodded and stepped aside for him to enter. He walked past you into the room and the door clicked shut behind him. “What are you doing here, Vince? I told you last time-,”

He spun so fast that he would have been dizzy if he wasn’t so in shape and cut you off, “I love you.” The words left his mouth in a rush and you were left standing with your mouth parted around the word you were in the process of saying, frozen in shock with wide eyes. After a second you closed your mouth and he continued. “God, (Y/N). I love you so much. I’ve loved you for a long time, that’s why I could never stay away from you even though I should have and now… Now I’m so glad I didn’t because even if you don’t say yes to me then I still have a years’ worth of memories with you even if I can’t ever tell anyone about them.”

You looked completely taken aback and he didn’t know if that was a good or a bad sign, but you said, “What would I be saying yes to?”

“I should have told you I loved you that night in New York when you asked me if you should marry Carter. But I didn’t and that will forever be the biggest mistake of my life,” He paused and grabbed your hand, the one with the ring on it, “I left Allison last night. She knows there was someone else, she could see it on my face, how much I love you, when she told me we could make it work.”

You sucked in a breath and studied his face, but he was staring at the ring on your finger with an unreadable expression.

“I love you too much to let you marry another man. Especially a man you said yourself you don’t love as much as you love me. I want to be with you, (Y/N). I want us to be together.” He looked up into your eyes and whispered, “Please take off that ring. And someday soon I’ll get you one, when it won’t be as much of a shock to everyone otherwise I’d have one right now.”

He waited, fully aware that he was holding his breath for a solid thirty seconds before you pulled your hand out of his. He felt his heart sink and shatter at the same time, but then something amazing happened.

You slid the ring off of your finger and placed it on the small table beside you, your eyes never leaving his. You still had a long, complicated road ahead of you, but for now all that mattered was that you had each other. For the first time you belonged to each other completely. After this road trip there would be no more sneaking, no more hiding. It would be just the two of you. Forever.

And there were a lot of things Vince was certain about, but one stood out as you pulled him down to kiss you.

He wasn’t going to wait long to buy you that ring.

Consequences be damned.

[kpurereactions]

Love Shot

CHAPTER 1

A/N: Hello lovelies, Ive been working on this piece for quite a while now and im finally ready to post it. This was inspired by one of my favorite fics of all time, Good Girl, but given my own little twist. I hope you all love Love Shot as much as I do.

Pairing: Exo x Reader

Rating: Drama, Angst, Smut, Fluff

WARNINGS: Language, Eventual Violence, Lots of Smut Later on

Chapter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

I let a smile touch my lips before taking a deep breath in, nodding once at the crisp evening air before turning to lock the door of my new combined studio and apartment. It was the first day where fall really felt like fall. The scent of rain lingered under the dense clouds and the sun was already halfway gone.  I had moved back to Seoul only three months ago after being gone for only a little under a year. I had originally came to Seoul to get my masters in painting and painting theory,  though I quickly gained enough local fame and connections that no one could quite understand why I left. So I came back.

I stood on the side of the road, my arm outstretched as I wait for a cab. My closest friend from school in the city was opening his gallery tonight and from the posts on my snapchat I could tell a lot of old classmates were already there. Song Mino was the first friend I made when I first moved here. He was talented and refused to fit into the art box the professor tried to force all his students into, as if art should be something someone else tells you to do. It should be your own thing. We had that in common. My style is simplistic. Aesthetic. Easy to look at, but the more you look the more you see behind the top layer. We both strived to challenge the viewer, and because of that we grew really close in our attempt to stick it to the man.

The first show is always the biggest event of an artist's career, and knowing I was seconds away from Mino’s brought another smile to my face as excitement seemed to run through my toes. I couldn't believe how hard he had been working, despite him refusing to let me see anything he had made to showcase.

The gallery itself was breathtaking, I couldn't help but note the obviously more ‘manly’ stain he had chosen for the wooden columns that broke the continuous glass of the front of the gallery. I was the one who helped him make his mind up. I took it in as it was its own work of art before I even walked up the short staircase to the front doors. The tall white walls were similar to my own space, but his had matching wooden floors and walls that were scattered around the room that broke your vision from seeing everything at once. I gave myself another smile as I noticed familiar faces of old classmates and Professors.

It didn't surprise me when I first walked in that I was being asked about the past year and how I’ve been. I was hard to miss, not just because I stood taller than a majority of the women in the room. The constant questioning reminded me why I chose to fail at reaching out when I got back. I made a point to keep trying to catch eye contact with Mino, who only seemed to mask the chuckle from escaping his lips, choosing to leave me to struggle with the boring repetition of the conversations I was having. I finally found the opportunity to excuse myself and all but power walk over to Mino, pretending not to see anyone else I recognized.

“American style!” He said excitedly, pulling me into a hug.

“Don't you ever leave me to the wolves like that again” I whispered in his ear before pulling back. “Mino this is awesome, I’ve only seen a few pieces but im so proud of you!” I said covering up my mild threat before hugging him tightly again. He chuckled with bright eyes before giving my arms a squeeze.  His eyes widened as he remembered the man standing next to him.

“Y/n, this is Junmyeon. He is a curator who graduated a few years before us. I've been telling him about your work.” He said as my attention moved to the slick haired man.

“You were talking about me at your own opening?” I said reaching for his hand to shake it.

“I actually asked specifically about you.” Junmyeon said with a soft smile that slowly grew.

“Oh, wow.” I tried to get out past the sound of my heart fluttering at his radiant smile. “Its very nice to meet you then.”

I was informed that Junmyeon was planning on stopping by my studio in the next few days, which brought on a new wave a nerves I've never experienced before. It wasn't until Mino placed his hand on my back to excuse the two of us could I finally breathe.

“Jesus, why is he so intimidating?” I said looking back over my shoulder as he dipped his chin to take a sip of his drink.

“If you think he’s intimidating your crazy” Mino said, leading me over to the first piece he wanted to show me.

“Did he asked to buy any of your work?” I asked before he could change the topic.

“All of it.” Mino said with a big smile.

“All of it?!”

“Yes. He’ll probably buy a lot of your stuff too. It’s more his style anyways.”

“Oh my god.” I said shaking my head.

I let Mino take control of the conversation as he began to explain the clay molded figure in front of us. I spent the rest of my time there following Mino around, while sipping on my wine and listening to him talk. Even though, as much as I was paying attention, it was hard to get your mind off of Junmyeon.

“Promise me you wont sell this one. I know you promised everything but see if this one could be an exception. I want to buy it.” I said pointing at a tall, organic figure of a woman. The memory of when Mino had made it flooded back as it was my first time to ever pose for another artist.

“Ill ask.” he said smiling before taking my hand and leading me to the next piece.

I tried to stay as late as I could. Mino was off somewhere talking art leaving me once again to be interrogated by my former classmates who all seemed to be very smug about the fact that I had yet to have an opening. It didn't matter what valid excuse I would give, they only cared that it hasn't happened yet. Thankfully I must have looked as uncomfortable as I felt since a hand wrapped around my arm to pull me back. I was just about to thank Mino for coming back and saving me when I turned to face Junmyeon.

“You didn't look too excited about that.” He said looking back over to the three girls who were all staring with confused and almost jealous looks in their eyes.

“Good to know it was obvious.” I said taking a sip of wine. Just as I was about to say something else Mino walked up.

“I think I'm going to head out. I have a pick up early in the morning.” I said, trying not to make it sound like I was at my ropes end with the girls who had added whispering to their staring. I smiled and quickly kissed Mino’s cheek softly before turning to Junmyeon and shaking his hand again, trying to do so without having to hear a protest from Mino.

The air outside sobered me up a little, and because of how nice it was outside I couldn't help but smile and start to walk down the sidewalk. Mino’s studio wasn't that far from mine, just a few blocks down and a horseshoe turn away, so I placed my hands in my coat pocket and began to walk. I let my eyes wander from the fashion that was passing me to the way the lights reflected off the puddles left from the rain that morning. Just as I was really starting to enjoy my walk the sky opened again, soft raindrops falling from the sky.

I sighed, of course this would happen. Clocking where I was I dipped into an alley, deciding the fastest way to get out of the rain in my heels would be to cut through the alleyways. Usually this idea was fine. I would maybe run into one or two strangers, but they were usually restaurant owners who were taking the trash out or sweeping their areas so the sound of voices deeper in the alley didn't really bother me.

“Kai come on! Oh my god no.” I heard a man laugh deeper into the darkness of the alley. But as I got closer to my studios back door I realized the figure I could hardly make out at first were men. Multiple men. Usually this wouldn't bother me but as I got closer the feeling of fear in the pit of my stomach started to deepen and deepen.

I took a deep breath when I started to pass them, my heart beating a million miles a minute while trying to keep a poker face to seem unphased so they wouldn't pay me any mind. Until they did.

“Hey wait!” I heard one of them call. I quicken my step slightly. Not to show I was scared, but just incase. “Wait, where are you going? I’ll walk you home.”

I looked up to see a half lit face walking backwards in front of me. I squinted slightly to try to get my eyes to adjust to what was under the ball cap he wore, but there was no use.

‘Shit’ I thought. I was staring too long. I looked away and quickened my step again.

“Oh come on! At least tell me your name!” He shouted after he stopped, his voice now behind me.

I was able to breathe again once my key was in my door, officially sure he stopped following me. But still the shape of the man's mouth was enough to stay in my brain as I flicked the lights to my gallery on and made my way upstairs to my bed.

___

“Mino I swear they were so scary.” I said pushing my denim painting shirt up past my elbows before wrapping my hands around the coffee cup that sat in front of me.

“I just don't understand why you didnt call a cab when you left.” He said sitting back in his chair, obviously taking it out on himself for not seeing me off safely.

“I just wanted to walk. I didn't plan on going through the alley.” I grumbled. I hated when Mino tried to school me. He was only a few months older than I was, and although I knew here it meant something different, he also knew that where I’m from it didn't.

“Do you at least remember what they looked like?” He asked, noticing my mood change.

“Um.. kind of. There were like five or six of them, but I only got a good look at one of them. He was a little taller than you, pillow lips… he was wearing a hat so I really didn't get a good look at his eyes. But he had to have been an athlete of some sort.” I said, my words getting quieter as I realized I would have had nothing to go off of if something bad had happened.

The coffee date ended with Mino once again scolding me, which I knew I deserved, but there was only so much I could take without pouting all the way home. I couldn't help thinking about the man in the hat. Why he was there in the alley with his friends. Why did he follow me, but then give up so easily? It's not like his friends were calling him back. If he was going to bother me in the first place, why give up? The more I thought about what had happened the more I worked myself up. They probably saw me unlock my door. What if they showed up in my studio? What if they came back with more people?

I half thought about texting Mino, but knew there was no point. He would be more worried about it than I was and he had better things to do then baby sit me in my own home. So instead, the moment I got inside I turned my windows down, making sure no one could see inside my studio incase they were passing to see if I was there. It was weird, though, this new set fear was enough to put me into overdrive. My inspiration hit me in my face and I couldn't pull a fresh canvas out fast enough to get the blurred images of last night down.

———

Music played loudly as I was lost in my own world. A galaxy of light and dark colors swirled and blended into one another across my canvas creating the confusing, but exciting pattern that seemed to get better with every stroke.

I was pulled out of my own head when the sound of someone's voice yelling over the music made me look up. I smiled to see Junmyeon and two other men trailing him into the room.

“Oh! One second please!” I said trying to press pause with the clean part of my palm. “Sorry, I didn't realize how loud that had gotten.” I said wiping my hand on my shirt before shaking Junmyeons hand.

“Its fine, good to see your working so hard because I brought with me two potential buyers.” He said gesturing to the two men on his left. “This is Byun Baekhyun and Kim Jongin.” He said.

I smiled shaking Baekhyun's hand, but the moment I met Jongin's eyes I felt my body stiffened slightly. He was familiar. Almost to familiar. I forced the feeling to be shaken off though, there was no reason why he would have possibly been brought into my studio if he had been hiding out in the alleyway behind the building the night before. Or at least I had hoped. But there was something about the way he smiled at me that made me feel like he knew it too. That he had seen me the night prior too.

I tried hard not to think about it. If Junmyeon was there, I was safe and if he was the man he probably wouldn't try to do anything with two other people there to witness. I turned my attention back to Junmyeon who asked if he could look through my paintings.

“Oh of course. And the racks on this back wall have more in it. I rotate them so the ones that are up are only there because they have a similar theme.” I said before trying to smile as normal as possible and turning back to my easel.

My drive was gone. I was too busy focusing on Jongin, who stood there supporting his chin in his hand as he listens to Junmyeon explain why he liked a certain piece. I took this opportunity to text Mino. Now if any would be a good time to alert him.

Mino, I think the guy from last night in the hat is in my studio with Junmyeon. I don't know what to do.

“Y/n, were looking to fill a room. Do you have any others with these same earthy tones?” Junmyeon said, pulling my attention away from my phone.

“Oh, yes. There over here.” I said smiling, slipping my phone into my back pocket before leading the men over to the opposite wall. I walked them through my color schemes, explaining to them the way I had everything organized just incase they changed their mind on a color or style they wanted. I was surprised Junmyeon and Baekhyun were able to distract me from the thoughts swirling in my head for the rest of the time they were there, but it helped that Jongin stayed behind us, obviously not trying to chime in.

“Y/n, thank you once again for taking us in on such short notice. We will take the one on the wall and the two that have been stored if they are not already spoken for.”  

“Of course, Ill wrap them for you so they’re ready to be taken.” I said turning to make a mental note as to which ones it was.

“Thank you again. We will be in touch.” He said, bowing his head slightly before taking my hand in a soft, yet firm hand shake.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun said sweetly as he took my hand next.

“Good to see you again. I hope to see you in the future as well” Jongin said with a small wink before taking my hand and giving it a firm shake.

The moment his hand touched mine my heart dropped. There couldn't be a way that was really him. The moment the door closed I reached for my phone again only to see Mino hadn't responded. It didn't stop me from quickly typing out another message, though.

It was him. It had to be him. Why else would he tell me it was good to see me again before winking if it wasn't him?

I looked up to see their backs bending one by one to get into the large black vehicle they came in, and once I was sure the door to the vehicle was closed and they weren't looking I quickly walked forward and locked the door again before backing up to my easel where I desperately tried to finish my work before deciding to just give up.

I couldn't focus. Not while finishing, not while making myself dinner, and not while I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep. I rolled to my side and reached for my phone. 3:00am. I sat up, swinging my legs over the edge of my bed, taking my blanket with me and wrapping it tightly around my shoulders. I made your way up to the railing of my room slowly which allowed me look down onto my gallery. I wrapped the blanket closer over my shoulders before letting my elbows rest on the railing so I was more comfortably looking out the window. I smiled to myself finally feeling calm again. I loved how quiet the streets were at night. How all the colors of the lights around seemed to mix together on the rained on asphalt that laid below them.

It felt calm. But as my eyes were scanning I couldn't help but see two figures standing across the street. I squinted my eyes to try to catch a reflection of who the people were only to realize it was Jongin and Junmyeon. I stared at the two in shock as they talked across the road. They seemed to be laughing. I tried to calm myself down, telling myself they were probably just out getting drinks and just so happened to be standing across the street from my apartment. But then I remembered what the time was. I couldn't stop myself from panicking, and just as I was about to turn to hide myself, my eyes met with Jongin’s.

I didn't know it was possible for my heart to drop even further into my stomach as he gave me a devilish grin and wink. I scrambled back to my bedside table where I quickly reached for the remote that controls my space, knocking it off the table before I was able to press the button that made my windows go solid.  

Chapter 2

[lalahbug]

Turning Cold - Levi x Reader Chapter 1

Fandom: Attack on Titan Word Count: 2,043

My Masterlist

Warnings/disclaim: general Sexual Themes

Author’s Note: continued under story Originally posted on DeviantArt, under the same username, on 10/10/2016. Revamped/edited in 2020.

___ is a blank for your name/oc/whatever you prefer Written in 3rd person

Line/header is to separate paragraphs to indicate time skips, as Tumblr hates my formatting.

Story under cut, 1 of 3, Turning Cold Masterlist

           “Do you want my bread, Sasha?” Lilah extended the food out to Potato Girl.

          “YES!” Sasha screamed, devouring it as soon as she took it.

          “You leaving, ___?” Mikasa looked at her with concern.

          “Yeah, I don’t feel good,” she stated, picking at the leftovers in her tray.

          “You’ve been saying that a lot lately. Go get some rest.” Armin knitted his eyebrows together, showing concern as well.

          “Okay.” ___ mumbled before getting up with her tray and heading over to drop it off. Of course, her feet betrayed her while she was in a haze. The tray fell from her hands, as she fell on someone during her fall. ___ sat up rubbing her temples, everything was blurry.

          “What the hell, ___?” Ymir complained before looking at her. “Hey, you okay?”

          “My vision is a bit blurry, sorry.”

          “Oi! Who made this mess?” The mess hall went quiet as everyone looked at Ymir and ___. Ymir then looked at ___. Levi followed everyone's gaze. “___ ___! Clean this mess up at once.” Levi barked at her as Mikasa was walking over to her, to help her up. Armin came behind Levi.

          “Sir, I’ll clean it up for her. She hasn’t been feeling well. I’m sorry.” Armin already had the cleaning supplies in his arms. Levi stared him down for a moment.

          “I don’t care who does it, make sure it’s done right.” With that Armin started cleaning up the mess, which wasn’t that big, it was just bits of food. Levi eyed Mikasa who had an arm around ___, walking up to him.

          “Sorry, Captain. I’ll make sure I get my messes quicker in the future.”

          “You had only fallen like a minute before he pointed it out. Don’t say stupid things. I’m taking you to Hange.”

          “What? No. I just need to sleep.” ___ stood up straight, pulling away from Mikasa. Levi eyed the two. ___ was favoring one leg over the other, her posture wasn’t as straight as usual and she was paler. 

          “Take Ms. ___ to Shitty Glasses.” He looked at Mikasa, then at ___, who was about to retort. He loved the way she always tried to fight him. But she was always polite about it. He stared her down, with his normally stoic face. “That’s an order.”

          “Sir, I simply messed up my leg a couple of days ago. Hange already knows. I need rest is all.”

          “Wait, what happened to your leg?” Eren asked as he appeared beside her, suddenly.

          “Remember; her gear went defective the other day. Slamming her into a tree.” Mikasa reminded Eren. “Hange saw it happen, but she never looked at it.”

          “Really. I don’t want to be a burden.”

          “You’re disobeying orders.”

          “I don-”

          “Brat. I’ll take you myself to make sure it happens.” Levi gripped her wrist and started walking, dragging her with him. ___ glanced back at Eren and Mikasa, Eren just smirked and Mikasa gave her an ‘I-told-you-so’ look.

          After a few moments of silence, Levi glanced back at ___ whose face was contorted with pain. He slowed down his pace, which alleviated her pain, as they both walked slowly now.

          “You’re an idiot.”

          “I’m sorry, Heichou. I didn’t want to burden anyone, but I did it anyway.”

          “Of course you did. You’re fucking hurt, you made a mess, you’d be useless if something were to happen.” ___ gazed down at the floor. “You fucking made me worry.”

          “What was that last part, Heichou?”

          “Levi.”

          “What?”

          “God,” he grumbled before sighing. ”Forget it, brat.”

          “Oh, I’m sorry.” 

          Levi exhaled heavily as they reached Hange’s office.

          “Go in and report back to my office when you're done.” Levi started to leave her at the door.

          “Thank you, Heichou!” She smiled and waved at him off before entering Hange’s office. 

          Levi heaved another sigh as he felt some heat come to his cheek. Oh, how he wanted to punish her, but not in a way that would hurt. ’I’ll tease her a bit when she gets to my office.’

          ___ stood outside of Levi’s door, holding her fist up, ready to knock, but what she really wanted to do was hobble back to her bedroom and to finally sleep. She had been in the nurse’s office with Hange for hours, getting her first cast, which took about six hours to dry. It was so late at night, she sighed softly.

          “___!” Eren called out her name, making her flinch as he roused her from her reverie. “I see Hange made you get a cast. Do you need help getting back to your room? Wait, why are you in front of Heichou’s door?”

          “After getting in trouble earlier, he wanted me to report back to him once I was done with Hange. I was about to knock.”

          “Well you’ve been standing here for like five minutes, so I thought you might be stuck. I can carry you to bed after you report back to him if you want. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

          “That won’t be necessary,” Levi stated as he opened the door. “You are loud Eren, go away.”

          “Oh, of course, sir. Goodnight, ___,” Eren walked towards the basement.

          “Sorry, Heichou.” Her eyes were half-lidded. She was clearly on the verge of passing out. “I didn’t know if you would still want to see me so late and I apologize for talking so loudly outside your door.”

          “You should be, get in here,” Levi grumbled as he stood back so she could enter the room. On her crutches, she stood, unsure where to sit. “You can sit on the couch.”

          “Thank you, that’s sweet of you, Heichou.” She giggled as she sat down gingerly. “Sorry, I talk a bit weird when I’m sleepy. Hange gave me something for the swelling since it was really bad, so I feel a bit drugged too.”

          “You’ve been walking around on a broken leg for three days?”

          “Yeah. I didn’t think I hit the tree that hard. Plus I could walk… It was just uncomfortable. Last night, the pain kept me up. So I’m more sleep-deprived than usual. If you hadn’t overhead mine and Eren’s conversation, I probably would have taken his offer to carry me to bed.”

          “Do you like Eren?”

          “What?” ___’s cheek tinted a bit. “No, he’s my friend. Plus, I am sure Mikasa likes him. I’ve learned to not take things away from Ackerman’s.” She giggled a bit, letting her blush disappear. “I tried taking her scarf once. if I wasn’t her friend, I think she would have killed me.”

          “Did you forget I am an Ackerman?”

          “Oh yeah, that’s right. It’s routine to call you Capitan or Heichou. Sometimes I just remember one name and subconsciously forget the others. But I remember now, your name I mean, Levi Ackerman. It has a nice flow.” She smiled at him. Levi sat down next to her, resting his arm on the back of the couch, behind her. A small tint of pink comes to her cheeks again. “Anyways, what punishment did you want to give me?”

          “Punishment?”

          “For disobeying orders, I assumed that is why you wanted me to report to you afterward.”

          “What do you think of me?” Levi asked bluntly, smirking as her cheeks went crimson.

          “Oh, um, you’re brave, stoic, you carry humanity on your back. You’re aggressive,” she paused for a moment glancing at him before looking away. ”You have a lot of emotions, but you’re so crude that it seems to mask the less urgent ones. You have a good sense of humor, though. Well, at least I think so,” ___ played with her skirt a bit, the one Hange lent her so that the cast could be put on.

          “Is that all?” Levi noticed her tense up and heat spread to the tip of her ears.

          “Y-yes, sir.”

          “Levi. You can call me Levi when we’re alone.”

          “O-okay.” She wasn’t doing too well, she’d always made sure not to get starstruck around Levi, but she was having a hard time controlling her heart, she hunched over a bit to try control her erratic heartbeat. Levi shifted closer to her.

          “Are you nervous?” Levi whispered in her ear.

          “W-what?!” She sat up straight then looked away. “N-no, of course not. W-why would I be, s-sir?”

          “You’re bad at lying.”

          “And?” Was all she could muster so that her voice wouldn’t crack. He chuckled slightly, which caused her to look over at him, confused. Levi took the opportunity to catch her chin in his fingers.

          “I like you, ___.” 

          Her eyes widened at his confession. “Um, okay?” She was far too confused to articulate anything else.

          “And?”

          “I don’t know,” ___ whispered. 

          Levi clicked his tongue in frustration before pulling her in for a sharp kiss. Moving his hand to the back of her neck, making the kiss more passionate, as she relaxed into it. He bit her bottom lip, making her gasp. Then, he moved his tongue around hers.

           ___ pulled away, breathing a bit harder, Levi was composed. His eyes didn’t leave her lips. Levi pulled her closer before kissing her again, running his hands up and down her sides. She pulled away again.

          “Tch, stop pulling away.” 

          She was panting now. “Learn to breathe out of your nose.” Levi aggressively kissed her, tugging her hair a bit to get her to gasp, which worked. Once again his tongue wrapped around hers. He lightly sucked on her tongue before pulling away.

          ___’s eyes were glazed over, from the kiss, being tired, drugged, and confused. 

          “You’re staying here tonight.” That made her snap back to reality.

          “B-but, sir, I-” She moaned slightly as he tugged on her hair.

          “Say my name,” Levi pressed his lips against her neck.

          “L-Levi.” 

          He grabbed the collar of her shirt, pulling it away a bit, kissing the curve of her neck before biting it roughly. “Levi!” He chuckled before pulling back as she clamped a hand to her neck out of shock.

          “So, do you mind sleeping with me in bed?” She was far too flustered to say anything, so she shook her head ‘no’. “Perfect.” He gave her a sly smile, which nearly made her heart jump out of her chest. In one swift movement, she was scooped into his arms, he was assaulting her neck once again.

          “Levi, what are you doing?” She looked at him as he sat her down on his bed. He leaned forward, pinning her arms above her head and lying on top of her. Kissing her neck, she squirmed a bit, underneath him.

          “Hm, you said I could have you in bed.” He groped her chest.

          “T-t-that’s not what I meant!” Her moan cut off the protest, as he bit her neck again.

          “Tch, too bad,” she sighed in relief. “For you that is.”

          “Wait!”

          “Nope, you’re mine.” Levi pressed his lips to hers and smiled as she seemed to cave in.

          ___ lied in Levi’s arms, as morning light started to pour over Levi’s features, she softly pushed some of his bangs off his face. “I love you, Levi.”

          “Finally,” he mumbled and smirked as she jumped in his arms a bit. He pulled her closer, snuggling his face into the nook of her neck. “I love you, ___.”

          She smiled as she traced small circles onto his back, with her fingertips.

Extended Ending

          “Oh, Shorty, you’re going to get into so much trouble.” Hange leaned in the entrance of his room, seeing the two pressed together.

          ___ tucked her head under his jaw, trying and failing to hide.

          “Fuck off, Shitty Glasses. 1. I don’t care. 2. We didn’t do it. Yet.”

          “Well, when you do, then you’ll be in trouble.”

          “She turns 18 in two weeks.”

          “She’ll be in that cast for 4 weeks after that.”

          “That’s not going to stop me.”

          “What stopped you last night?” Hange chuckled.

          Levi looked down at her, the corner of his lip twitching up for a moment. Hange smiled at Levi, completely understanding.

          “In this crazy world, full of change and chaos, there is one thing of which I am certain, one thing which does not change: my love for her.” Levi hugged her tighter making her squeak. 

Author’s Note: continued I never posted the last two chapters on dA. Since it was unfinished it was deleted from my gallery, so you won’t be able to find it other than here and maybe other sites in the future. This was meant to be a one-shot but I wanted to continue it. So here we are. And that’s why there is an “extended ending” From some research I found out a cast in the 1800s, they took roughly 6 hours to dry. So that’s why I mention it.

[wosoimagines]

Christmas With Family

Seriously, send me some Christmas prompts. I don’t have any and I’m finally done with school so I do have some more time to write. It’s not a lot, but I will be writing again. Also, there some Rose x reader in this. I really enjoyed writing this, so I hope you guys like it.

Side note, it was pointed out to me that this was similar to “We’re Your Family” by @wososage​. It was not my intention to make it similar and that is on me because I knew that this prompt was similar to the one that was used to write “We’re Your Family” and I should have read both of our imagines to make sure that they weren’t the same before I posted them. So, I have gone through and tried to rewrite it where they weren’t as similar. I don’t know if I was actually successful, but I really don’t want to take it down because this was requested and I have plans to write a part 2 to this.

prompt: The team spending Christmas with baby R after they find out that she will spend it alone cause her parents passed away?

warnings: None

words: 2601

Y/N POV

I sighed as I laid on my couch watching Christmas movies. It was weird. In just a couple of days, I would be spending my first Christmas alone. I hadn’t thought that I would be spending Christmas without my parents so soon. Maybe when I was a lot older than 19, but that wasn’t the case.

I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone on the national team that I wasn’t going to be celebrating Christmas this year. They all had their own families to celebrate with. After how busy we had been this year with the World Cup, I didn’t want anyone else to not have to spend time with their families. I didn’t want the team to feel like they had to do something for me anyways.

I was broken out of my train of thought by a knocking on the door. I furrowed my brow as I looked over at my door. I wasn’t supposed to be getting any visitors. I supposed it could have been the mailman bringing me one of my many Amazon packages. But he could leave that by the door.

My phone dinged. I sighed and grabbed it off of the coffee table from in front of me. It was from Alyssa which was kind of weird considering we didn’t spend that much time together. Before I could even read the text message, Sonnett’s face popped up on my screen. I accepted the call.

“(Y/N), open the door,” Sonnett demanded before I could even say anything. I was just even more confused. I had no idea what she was talking about.

“What door, Sonny?”

“What door? Your front door! We’re the ones knocking, you idiot. It’s freezing out here!” Sonnett claimed. I heard others echoing her statement around her. I shook my head but got up to open the front door.

I was surprised to see all of my teammates standing outside. Before I could say anything, Alyssa and AD were dragging me inside of the house so the other women could follow them in. Once they were all inside of my house, Alyssa sat me down.

“It’s cold out there, (Y/N),” Alyssa said. I knew that that’s why I had stayed inside where it was warm. “It was cruel to ignore us.”

“What are you guys doing here?” I yawned. We hadn’t made plans for them to show up at my house. Especially not this close to Christmas.

“Are you tired? It’s like noon,” Tobin pointed out. I rolled my eyes at her because I hadn’t gotten that much sleep. “Even I’m up by now.”

“I didn’t go to sleep until like 3 this morning,” I shrugged. I knew that it wasn’t ideal since I got up early to workout. “I haven’t been sleeping that good. Being a World Cup winner and playing college soccer means there’s a lot of pressure and I have to pass all of my finals.”

Some of the women threw me understanding looks. I had been traveling a lot this semester between my national team duties and my college team duties. On top of that, I wasn’t allowed to get behind in my classes.

“So, why are you guys here?”

“Well, we were talking about Christmas traditions and I told Lindsey that I wish my family would do a cookie exchange with each other,” Rose admitted. I lightly smiled at the old tradition my parents had started when I was a kid. “Lindsey pointed out that you probably wouldn’t be doing that this year cause of the car crash. So, I called everyone else and we all made cookies to do a USWNT family cookie exchange.”

“And I hope you haven’t sent any of us presents,” Kelley butted in. I hadn’t. It seemed too impersonal for me to just send their presents in the mail. “We all brought you your presents.”

“Where’s the tree? We have to have a tree to put the presents under,” Sam cried out. Everyone turned to look at me.

“I didn’t put it up this year,” I shrugged. Some jaws dropped and suddenly I had different voices telling me that I should have a tree up. “It’s just me! Okay?” The voices stopped and I took in a deep breath. “I’m in college and I haven’t had that much time off. I went from US team duties to college team duties. On top of that, it’s just me. My Mom and Dad, they’re gone. So, I didn’t plan on celebrating Christmas with anyone. I didn’t have a reason to put to a tree up.”

Silence filled the space around us and I had to bite my lip to keep it from trembling as I kept the tears at bay. I had found myself not wanting to celebrate Christmas at all this year. I was taken back by surprise when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me. Before I knew it, it was just one big group hug.

“I get that your parents aren’t here anymore, but we are still your family. Okay? We became your family the moment you showed up for your first camp,” Christen said. I wrapped my arms around her as she was the first one to me. “I get it. I know, it’s hard. Never forget this group of women right here, we are your family no matter what anyone else says.”

We stayed in the hug for a few more minutes before people slowly started to break from the hug. I smiled at Christen when she pulled away. Maybe having Christmas with the girls was just what I needed.

“Hey, (Y/N),” Julie called out. I turned to look at the midfielder. “Where are all of your Christmas decorations? Don’t act like you don’t have any, I know you do. I’ve seen them in the pictures.”

“We’ve always kept them in the attic.”

“How do we get to it?” Julie asked.

I grabbed onto her arm and started to pull her back outside. Julie started to fight against my grip, but I only grinned and continued to pull her with me. Once we were outside, Julie groaned but I pointed up to the hatch.

“Attic’s up there,” I smirked at Julie.

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

I headed back inside and Julie followed me. She recruited some of the others to help her while I was dragged to my kitchen. I was surprised to see Alex and Ali both looking around in my kitchen. I wasn’t sure what they were looking for, but I knew that they probably wouldn’t find it.

“What are you guys looking for?” I asked.

“You have nothing in this kitchen,” Alex turned to look at me immediately. She looked disappointed. “Why is there nothing in your kitchen? No Christmas food. No hot chocolate. How are we supposed to have Christmas dinner with you?”

“Hot chocolate costs too much for me to keep all the time. Food for Christmas isn’t cheap either,” I pointed out. I didn’t exactly have it easy with my situation. I had been lucky that my parents paid off the house and left it to me. “Besides, I’m spending Christmas by myself so why would I spend a lot of money on food if it’s just going to be me?”

I was surprised when Becky snatched the list off of the fridge that held my normal grocery list. I hadn’t even realized that she was in the kitchen. Becky scanned over the list before grabbing a pen and adding stuff to it.

“AD, Alyssa, come on!” Becky yelled out for the two goalkeepers. It didn’t take either long to get into the kitchen. Becky turned to look at me. “We’re going to the store. We’re getting hot chocolate and everything we need for Christmas dinner tonight. We are also getting you stuff to make your cookies.”

“You guys don’t have to do that,” I said as they started to leave. Becky turned around to look at me as they continued to walk out. “I can do that.”

“Too late.”

I turned to look at Alex and Ali. Neither of them looked impressed with me. I wasn’t sure what I had done now. There was no telling why they didn’t look happy with me.

“What?”

“You shouldn’t let yourself run out of food,” Ali scolded.

“I’m not out of food,” I defended. I opened one of the cabinets and smiled at the two Orlando players. “See? I have Ramen. College student’s favorite.”

“It isn’t real food,” Alex scoffed. I sighed because I knew that I shouldn’t just eat Ramen, but I couldn’t help it sometimes. “Not the real food that you need. Look, you just take a nap. We all know that you need it.”

“But the cookies.” “Becky, Alyssa, and AD went to get you the stuff to make your cookies. You can make them after you take a nap,” Alex assured me. I sighed but headed to my room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I finally woke up from my nap, I was surprised to find that a majority of the house had been decorated. Presents were stashed under the Christmas tree and I was a little surprised that they had found the presents for them as well.

“Look, sleepyhead is up,” Allie teased. I shook my head at her, but before I could say anything, I was directed to the counter.

“You have cookies to make,” Ali reminded me. She motioned to the stuff that was laid out. “You can make your cookies and then we’ll get started on the sides.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You think I would take Alyssa and AD to the store with me without getting a turkey and a ham?” Becky asked. I turned to look at her. I didn’t think that she would get that much.

“Besides, we’re making Christmas dinner,” Carli added. My jaw slacked in surprise. “That means, that you and all of the youngins are gonna stay out of the kitchen while we fix the meal.”

“So, get started on your cookies,” Ali said as they left the kitchen.

I shook my head but got started on the cookies none the less. It didn’t take me long to get the cookies into the oven before I pulled them out to let them cool. It wasn’t until I was putting the icing on that someone came into the kitchen. I grinned at Rose as she kept her eyes covered.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to get some water, but I don’t want to see your cookies incase I get them,” Rose explained. I smiled at the pale midfielder before grabbing one of the cookies that I had already decorated but made for the girl. I placed a hand on her shoulder before turning her the other way. I pulled her hand down and Rose looked at me.

“Here,” I held the cookie out to her. Rose hit my shoulder after she looked down at the cookie. “It’s for you. You remembered that my family and I did a cookie exchange for Christmas. I wasn’t going to do it with anyone this year, so thanks.”

Rose hesitantly took the cookie before getting into my fridge and getting a bottle of water. I gave her a small smile when she looked at me again. Rose looked down at the cookie and actually looked at what was on it. My cheeks started to warm up. Rose pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before heading back into the living room.

I watched her as I was sure that my face and ears were red. I shook my head and turned back to continue decorating the cookies. It didn’t take me too long to finish, but I did have to wait a little bit before I could put them into the tin container. I added them to the pile of tin containers that was sitting on the island.

Once I joined the group that was in the living room, I wasn’t too surprised that some of the older players left. We ended up playing a few card games and talking and goofing off until the vets yelled for us for dinner. We ended up using the kitchen just to get our food before we all piled into my living room to eat together. Most of our meal was spent goofing off and laughing at each other.

Eventually, we all picked out a tin of cookies. I smiled when I saw that Rose got my tin. Rose sat down by me.

“You spoiled me with the first one.”

“Maybe I wanted you to pick my cookies,” I shrugged as I looked away from her to see whose tin Kelley would choose.

“The rose on the first one was a nice touch,” Rose admitted. I felt my ears begin to heat up.

“It’s nothing. My Mom taught me how to do it when I was a little kid,” I shrugged.

Rose went to say something else, but she didn’t get the chance when Sonnett crashed into the two of us. I quickly realized that Sonnett was really just trying to get to the presents under the tree. She was immediately stopped by Tobin. The whole team ended up taking a picture around my tree with all of our tins of cookies and the presents around us.

Tobin finally allowed Sonnett to the presents. The defender was quick to hand them out before someone shoved a random present in my hands. For every present I opened, whoever had gifted it to me was the next person to open their’s up. To Sonnett’s displeasure, her’s ended up being the last one I opened.

We all ended up wrapped in blankets with cups of hot chocolate while we watched Hallmark movies together. I ended up with a smile on my face as Rose cuddled into me with the blanket wrapped around us.

“You know, you could come and spend Christmas in Ohio with me,” Rose whispered causing me to look down at her with my brow furrowed. “When I told my Mom that I had gotten the team to come and celebrate Christmas with you because your parents had died in the car crash, she told me that I should invite you to come to Christmas with my family.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” I softly said. I would love to celebrate Christmas with people, but I didn’t mention it to any of my teammates because I didn’t want them to invite me to spend it with their families because I didn’t want to get in the way of their family traditions.

“You won’t be,” Rose shook her head. She played with her sleeve. “I would really like it if you would come.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it could even be the first of many Christmases that we spend together if you go out on a date with me,” Rose looked up at me. I felt my cheeks heating up, but I smiled at her none the less.

“I’d like that,” I assured. I couldn’t deny the crush I had on Rose. “Maybe we can go on a date in the snow when we get to Ohio.”

“I’d love that,” Rose smiled. She gave me a quick peck on my cheek before turning her attention back to the movie.

Maybe I would slowly start to heal now. Besides, with my current situation, I couldn’t think of any better way to spend my Christmas. Spending Christmas with Rose’s family could become a new tradition. And I had my weird, dysfunctional family to celebrate with me and that was all that mattered.

[theshipsfirstmate]

Sex Education Fic: My Heart Is Like Paper, Yours Is Like a Flame

Post-s2 finale. Maeve makes her way to the shop. So does Otis. (aka, the immediate elimination of the Isaac obstacle.)

A/N: Fun fact: the working title of this fic was just, “I Lost Your Jumper.” I just have a LOT of feelings about these two and think Maeve Wiley deserves the world.

I also can’t believe we haven’t had a canon Maeve/Jean scene yet — all of those two together in s3, please and thank you. Anyway, hi new fandom! (p.s. please let me know if I messed up any of the British-isms or references, so I can fix.)

Title from “Such a Simple Thing,” by Ray LaMontagne.

My Heart Is Like Paper, Yours Is Like a Flame (AO3 - wc: 4248)

She picks up her pace as she makes her way to the shop, and tries to make the burning in her legs drown out the ringing in her ears. She looks up to the same stars she’s seen every night since she can remember, and tries to exhale away the chaos of the day. She blinks a few times whenever her vision starts to swim, and tries not to picture Elsie waving from the back seat.

She’s not sure how long she wanders around the brightly-lit aisles, browsing without really looking, in no rush to get back to Isaac or her empty caravan. After however many minutes, she barely even hears the door swing open or the squeal of a trainer on the tile floor. But she’d know that voice anywhere.

“Maeve!” It’s one syllable, but somehow he still ends on a stammer. “Hi, I was just-- You’re here!”

Her head snaps up, out of her daze, and she realizes she’s almost walked right into him. He’s close, too close, and she takes a quick step back, nearly knocking a dozen packets of crisps right off the shelf.

“Hi, Otis.”

He smiles, wide and bright, and it makes her jaw ache. “Congratulations on the Quiz Heads!”

Right. 

The finals seem like ages ago, and she can’t imagine what it might feel like to be celebrating right now. “Thanks.”

“I saw you on TV.” He’s still smiling, and she’s still biting back the corners of her mouth until she tastes copper. In avoiding his eyes, she notices that the tips of his ears are turning bright red. “You guys were incredible.”

“Thanks,” she says again. Her insides feel like a spin cycle, and now, mixing in with the anger and sadness and regret, is the way he makes her feel. She doesn't know what to call it, really. Or, she does, but she won't.

“I was wondering, if-”

“I’m sorry, Otis,” she interrupts. “I just— I really can’t do this tonight.”

His face falls, perhaps more steeply than she’s ever seen in the year or so she’s known him well. He tries to hide it, but he does a shit job.

“Okay, yeah,” he answers slowly, before pointing at the refrigerated shelves behind her. “I told Mum I’d grab milk on my way home.”

They awkwardly shuffle around each other, doing their best not to touch, and just before she turns away for good, he blurts out,  “Look, I’m sorry if my message upset you. I just- I saw you on TV and I had to-”

She frowns. “Your message?” 

“Did you not...” He frowns and tilts his head, looking not unlike a sky-eyed puppy dog. “Is that not why you’re brushing me off?”

She doesn’t even have the energy to hate the hope that tickles in her chest. She just has to get out of here. “No, Otis, I’m brushing you off because I've had a shit night.” He opens his mouth as if to ask, but she won’t let him. “And I don't want to talk about it -- I just need to get some things and get back home.” 

She doesn’t mention Isaac. She wonders for a moment if it would make his eyes flash that frosty blue they do sometimes -- and then shakes her head to clear the thought, selfish and stupid, from her mind. 

Instead, he just looks at her, for what feels like a very long time. “Yeah, sorry, of course.” But it’s never that simple, not with Otis. “And I’m sorry again, about the voicemail, if that’s-- I only wanted to say, uh, congratulations. You were brilliant today.”

She dips her head so he won’t see her eyes shimmer, and pats at her pockets, realizing they’re empty but for a few pounds. She can’t really remember looking at her phone after making the call this afternoon, though she knows she must have.

“Hear that in the least patronizing way you can, please,” he tacks on to the end of his run-on thought, with another sheepish grin, but she’s hardly even listening anymore. It’s too much for tonight. 

“Thank you,” she says once more, almost mechanical at this point, grabbing a handful of random items from nearby shelves and tossing some bills at the cashier, who barely has the chance to hand her a bag before she’s out the door. “Goodnight, Otis.”

She wants the night sky to swallow her back up the second she steps outside, squeezing her eyes shut as tears track icy down her cheeks. But still, she hears him echo softly behind her. “‘Night, Maeve.”

_______________

She spends the entire walk home preoccupied by what he could have said in a voicemail to leave him so flustered and apologetic -- and then about 20 minutes tearing her caravan apart looking for her phone before she remembers Isaac again.

He smiles at her when she opens his door, and her stomach drops at how smug it looks. She sought him out in the first place, looking for a refuge in shared trauma, but after her encounter with Otis, she finds she's not really in the mood for his morose sarcasm.

“You’d think a personal chef would be a bit more punctual,” he teases, and her middle fingers go up on instinct after she drops the shopping bag on the counter. His grin widens; he’s the type to take that as the highest form of flirtation.

“Did I leave my phone here?” She tries to ask casually, forming the words around the adrenaline that's still burning in the back of her throat.

“No.” Isaac frowns, and he’s pretty good, but she’s known too many liars to not recognize the twist at the corner of his mouth. “No, I don’t think I saw it.”

It takes her five seconds to spot it on the side table. Her whole shit kingdom for just one man who doesn’t try and manipulate her.

“Christ,” she scoffs as she clicks first to voicemail and then over to missed calls. “You think you’d know to be better at this.”

And with that she storms out, leaving the groceries scattered on the countertop and Isaac’s protests blowing in the wind. (“It won’t work!” he calls after her, like she hasn’t heard it a million times in her own head.) She doesn’t shed a tear until she’s back in her own caravan, curled up in a bed that still smells like her sister’s strawberry-scented cuddly toy.

_______________

It's just a few hours later when she wakes with a start. Her eyelids feel like sandpaper from all the crying, and the emptiness around her is almost deafening -- she was only just beginning to get used to the idea of a fuller house.

When she’s struck with a pang of loneliness so sharp it makes her breath stutter, she realizes there’s only one person she wants to talk to.

She reaches the steps in front of Otis’ house without remembering the walk, and without a plan --  internally debating the merits of chucking pebbles at the top windows until she finds his, trying her luck at the door, or, alternately, turning around and taking her crazy arse back home. 

The question is answered for her when she shuffles her feet as she nears the front door and startles at the sound of a nearby female voice.

“Who’s that? Eric?”

She rounds to the side porch to see Otis’ mum sat at a table with a mug of tea, wrapped in a yellow robe that doesn't look nearly warm enough for the late hour.

“Hello, Dr. Millburn.”

The woman’s brown furrows, but not menacingly. She looks distracted, Maeve thinks, too distracted to properly worry about the intrusion. “Who are you?”

“I’m Maeve. Maeve Wiley,” she answers, feeling an only slightly lesser version of the panic that crept up on the disastrous night she went over to meet Jackson’s mums. “I’m a friend of Otis’ from school.”

“So you’re the mysterious Maeve.” Dr. Milburn narrows her eyes again, and this time it feels a little more like being looked through.

“Mysterious?”

“Well your name seems to come up quite a lot, but I'm not sure I actually know anything about you.” Maeve scuffs her foot against the deck, absently hoping her makeup isn’t too smudged. “Though I did re-read Wollstonecraft on Otis’ insistence of your recommendation. Liked it much better than I remembered.”

That sets a proud grin on her face, and a swarm of butterflies in her stomach, but it’s easy to tamp both down when Dr. Milburn’s demeanor darkens.

“I thought maybe it was just a crush,” the woman continues, “but now I wonder if maybe you’re a fellow... clinician?”

Maeve’s first instinct is to lie, but there’s something oddly comforting about the idea that Otis’ mum’s concerns about her seem to be due to their work together -- and not the fact that she’s a red-eyed caravan park girl who turns up at people’s houses in the middle of the night.

She sighs. In for a penny, and all that. “I’m not a therapist,” she answers. “I’m in charge of cash flow and scheduling.” 

She steels her shoulders as the other woman does the same with her gaze.

“It’s very serious, what the two of you did. And please note the past tense,” she says coolly. Maeve knows his mother is only referring to the clinic, but still, her stomach bottoms out. “It’s incredibly unethical.”

“It was my idea to charge,” she admits quickly, and this time it isn’t just taking the fall. “Otis, he has a gift for helping people... when he can focus it the right way.” 

She remembers hearing him diagnose Adam that first time, with a calming reminder to accept every part of himself. She remembers how happy he’d made Aimee with the simple suggestion that her own pleasure might be worth consideration. She remembers watching him talk Liam down off the moon at the dance, before she was even certain that speech was for her. It’s so genuine, what he does, and she’s never felt anything like being around him.

“He’s incredibly talented, and kind,” she tells his mum, letting emotion flood her better judgement, “and he just-- he really cares.”

The sound Dr. Milburn makes is barely a chuckle, but when their eyes meet again, there does seem to be a touch of something like maternal warmth. Maeve’s honestly not sure she’d recognize it if she saw it.

“Yes,” the woman says, knowingly. “Perhaps he's not the only one.”

That’s the problem with her feelings for Otis, she realizes sharply. They’re rose-colored glasses, and she can’t ever afford to lose the big picture. 

His mother sighs, and tips her head back, either towards the stars or the upstairs windows. “I suppose I’m not in much position to judge anyone tonight.”

It’s a statement that begs more than a few questions, Maeve thinks, but she’s 100-percent sure she’s not the one who should be asking them. After a beat, Dr. Milburn seems to realize the same.

“Upstairs,” she offers. “The one at the end -- you’ll think it’s the bathroom.”

“Thank you.”  

_______________

Maeve rushes inside, and up the stairs, down the hall, with barely even a breath. Otis’ light is still on, but he’s lying in bed -- and he nearly jumps out of his skin when she bursts through the door without bothering to knock.

“What did you say in that message?”

“Maeve!”  He shoots upright immediately, folding his legs in towards himself and scrabbling at the covers. She can’t help a little smirk at his frantic discomfort.

“The voicemail, dickhead, what did you say?” Every one of her emotions feels like it’s breaking the needle, but most pressing at the moment is curiosity.

“What?” His hair is all stuck up in different directions, and he’s looking at her like she’s speaking a different language. In other circumstances, she might find it endearing.

“Isaac deleted it,” she explains fast, like it’ll make it less humiliating, “and I just want to know what you--”

“He what?” 

“He’s an arsehole, I’m over it.” Otis won’t be, she can see it in the pinch of his lips, but she doesn’t let it pull focus. “What. Did. You. Say?”

“I, uh-” He stammers and then heaves a deep breath, nervously reaching down again to smooth the covers at the end of the bed. It’s like he can’t meet her eyes, now that he understands why she’s here. “Do you want to sit?”

“No.” She folds her arms across her chest. “Out with it.”

She glances around his room while she waits. It’s not like she pictured, but it’s nice.

“Okay, I, well… My dad’s been around recently, and-”

“Otis.”

“I said I was sorry,” he admits at her prompting. “For what I said to you at the party, for Ruby, I--”

She doesn't want to, but she flinches at the memories. “You were drunk,” she shrugs.

“I was.... horrendous,” he continues. He seems to have found some of his composure, she notices his eyes look particularly icy. “I was angry, and shitty, and spinning out on the punishment of getting the thing I wanted most, right when I wasn’t allowed to have it. I found it unfair, and I took it out on you— I knew how to hurt you, and I did. And I’m so, so sorry.”

She doesn’t answer him, so certain that if she speaks, the tears burning at the backs of her eyelids will spill over. 

“But you’re not selfish, Maeve, you have to believe that.” He’s right when he says that he knows her -- that was the most painful part. “You’re not selfish, you’re strong.”

She snorts derisively, and looks down at his floor. “I’m not that strong,”

“You are.”

“Saying it again doesn’t make it true, Otis.” Now she’s the one who can’t meet his eyes.

“I’m telling you,” he insists. Stubborn as always. “I know you may not always be able to see it, but I-”

“I had to call social services on my mum today, okay?” The admission comes out in a rush, and so do her tears. 

“Oh, Maeve, I’m--”

“Don't say sorry,” she warns, swiping at her cheeks and willing her voice not to shake. “She’s using again, and it wasn’t safe for Elsie.”

She stares at his bedroom floor for a long moment, clenching her fists until her wrists start to twinge. When she does look up, he still seems horrified -- and she can’t really blame him. “She's never gonna forgive me.”

When Otis finally speaks, though, it's soft and almost pleading. “Maeve, will you please just come and sit?”

Exhausted, she gives in, crossing the room to take a seat on the side of his bed as he swings his legs around to sit next to her. She holds herself together for a split-second, but when he gingerly reaches out, as if to take her hand, it’s too much. She twists into his arms on a sob, and if any fragment of her heart was left to break today, it would at the way he’s right there to catch her.

“It’s not your fault.” He talks to her softly as she soaks through the shoulder of his sleep shirt, soothing a hand up and down her back. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.”

She doesn’t scold him for the apology this time, it would feel hypocritical with his arms around her. She doesn’t even protest when, after a few minutes, he maneuvers them back until they’re leaning against the wall at the head of his bed. 

Otis keeps an arm wrapped around her shoulders, and Maeve curls into his chest, absently noticing his Super Mario pajama pants and letting the image tug at the corners of her mouth. He smells warm and familiar, and after a while, her tears start to taper off and she relaxes against him.

“Could you just… keep talking for a bit?” she murmurs. “It doesn't matter what about.” He nods, but he’s so close that his lips accidentally brush against her forehead, and they both freeze for a second at the spark.

“My dad’s been back around because he cheated on his new wife and she kicked him out,” Otis offers. “The older I get, the more I’m realizing that he’s kind of an awful person.” 

The next part he says lower, and she can almost feel the sadness rumbling in his ribcage. “My mum told me I look just like him when I lie. Ola said I try so hard to be a good guy that I end up the opposite. I’m just worried that the parts of me that come from him are destined to be rotten.”

“If that’s how it worked, I’d already be fertilizer,” Maeve deadpans, eliciting a weak chuckle on each side.

“I don’t want to be like him,” he continues after a beat. “I don’t want to hurt people. I don’t want to hurt you.”

There’s so much in his voice that she has to look up, and when she meets his eyes, her breath hitches in her throat.

“I don’t want more apologies, Otis,” she protests, weakly. “Tell me something good.”

His arm tightens around her for just a second. “Back when I was invisible, I could be kind of a dickhead. It didn’t matter much, really, only Eric was there to hear it.” It’s strange to think about, how the time before they knew one another wasn’t all that long ago.

“But you’ve helped me become somebody, Maeve,” he continues. “Somebody better.”

“Otis--”

“And so tonight, I just called to tell you that. And to tell you how proud it made me feel to see you win that championship. And to tell you how sorry I was for treating you the way that I have.  And to tell you that I lo-��

“Don’t!” She sits up on a gasp, pressing away from his chest as her heart thuds against her sternum. She doesn’t get too far, his palm is still on her shoulder as her hand fists in his shirt and then snaps back to her side. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true,” he says, clear and certain, like a heartbreaking deja vu. “We’re good together. Great, even.”

“And what do you expect me to say back?” 

She’s not sure why, exactly, she’s immediately antagonistic, but the second he began to say it, Maeve thought of a recurring dream she has sometimes. She’s stuck in a car, buckled into the passenger seat, and there’s a cinder block on the accelerator and no one around for miles.

“N-nothing,” Otis stammers, finally taking his hand off her arm. She knows it’s true, he’s not the type to bargain with words like that. “I mean, anything. Whatever you want to say.”

She’s learned how to wake herself up from the dream most nights, to focus on the details that tell her what’s happening isn’t real. But his expectant face, hopeful and nervous, tells her that they’re speeding towards the point of no return. It’s almost time to crash or bail.

“Maeve, you’re the most brilliant person I know.” He says it so easily, and there’s no dishonest twist to his mouth when he does. “You’re smart, and stunning, and I-”

“I lost your jumper.” It’s not at all what she means to say, but it’s what comes out when she cuts him off. “The one you let me borrow.”

Otis sputters a little in confusion, but he does his best. “That’s okay,” he answers, and she glances up to see his brow furrow.

“I mean, I kept it, for a long time. Too long,” she explains in a rush. “And then after you gave me that trophy last term, and I read your letter, I came to bring it to you.”

“Maeve, it’s fine. I have loads more.” He still doesn’t understand. 

“But when I got to your house, you were with Ola. Like, with her, with her. ” She looks up again to watch it click. “And so I ran away and I threw your jumper on a clothesline in the caravan park.”

“Oh,” he exhales, wincing a little. “I didn’t know.”

“I waited too long. I was a coward, and I waited until you were happy with someone else, and then I tried to steal you back,” she confesses. “So I’m not all brilliant.”

He frowns as she finishes. “You are, though,” he replies, adding a teasing grin that he does his best to drop when she glares back at him.

“Fuck off.”

“Look, it wasn’t right with Ola. And we both knew it, I think,” he explains in that soft, earnest way of his. “We were just… trying something because it seemed like it might work for a while.”

For a split-second, she thinks of Jackson, and how it always felt like they were playing with borrowed time. “I think I realized, afterwards,” Otis continues, “that what I liked the most about her was that she liked me back.”

“She’d have been crazy not to.” It’s almost an admission on her part, and when he raises his eyebrows at her, she scoffs lightly and moves back to sit next to him again. The bed isn’t large, so their arms brush against one another, and Maeve takes a deep breath, in and out, and takes his hand in hers, looking down to watch their fingers tangle together.

“Otis, I do, still,” she tells him, struggling for the right words over the thudding in her chest. “Like” feels insignificant. “Love” feels monumental. And then there’s the matter of the rest of it. 

“But I don’t know how we could expect this to work,” she admits after a moment. “We’re so different. You’re you, and I’m...me.” 

She can practically hear his consternation at that, but when she looks up, she doesn’t see any pity on his face. In fact, he looks a little angry. “Do I have Isaac to thank for that, too?”

It peeves her a little, that he’s not entirely wrong. She’d thought she was past fighting with her inferiority complex after Jackson, but Otis is different. He always has been.

When her silence serves as an answer, he sighs. “Maeve, when I say you’re the most brilliant person I know, I don’t just mean your freakish, National Quiz Championship-winning brain.” Instead of swallowing her smile, she turns to press it into his shoulder. It feels like progress, and his answering grin makes her heart skip a beat.

“I mean that you’re... formidable. You’re clever and profound and beautiful and so much more,” he says, his voice at a low, impassioned decibel. “And you are strong. You’re gonna be amazing at whatever it is you want to do.” 

A kitchen table with four chairs. But maybe not all of them are empty.

“I’d just like to be there cheering you on,” Otis finishes. “If you’ll have me.”

For a moment, she allows herself to imagine a world where it’s that simple. But part of her brain is still trying to pry the cinder block off the gas pedal. “What if it’s too much?” 

It’s the least painful version of the question she really wants to ask. The rest light up like neon signs in her brain as she watches him weigh his answer. What if I lose you? What if you betray me? What if you’re just like everyone else I’ve ever loved?

“It can be whatever you want it to be, Maeve,” Otis says finally, with a squeeze of her hand, and the concession is a little dizzying. “All I’m asking is for us to maybe try being in the same place at the same time for once.”

He makes it sound easy enough. At the very least, it loosens the knot in her chest from icy panic to something warmer. “I think I want to kiss you,” she says, grinning so hard it crinkles her nose as she watches his eyes go wide.

“Yeah?” It comes out on a breath, and she nods, pursing her lips.

“Yeah.”

It’s soft and sweet, and even more than she had hoped. The part of her that had allowed herself to picture this moment had worried a bit that Otis might kiss her too delicately, like a china doll. But he’s bolder than she expected, bringing a hand up to cup her jaw and diving in like he’s been waiting for the chance. It thrills her to think that he probably has. 

She loses whole minutes kissing him -- trying to remember every time she caught herself glancing absently at his lips while he was talking -- and when they pull back to catch a breath, he looks as dazed as she feels.

“Hi,” he whispers, with a foolish smile she can’t help but match.

“Hi,” she replies, threading her fingers through his hair before leaning in again. “I’ve missed you.”

They stay up, talking and kissing, for awhile longer, eventually sliding down the wall until they’re staring at each other from across his pillows. When her eyelids start to drift closed, he presses his lips to her forehead -- this time on purpose -- and she feels more content than she has in a very long time.

In the morning, maybe she’ll see if she can get his jumper back. Or, even better, she’ll just borrow another.

[snarkwriteswrasslin]

three | hard to forget - adam p.

[ authors notes ]

This one took a little longer to get out and for that, I’m sorry. It wasn’t clicking until just now. So, this is the unedited and rough version because as soon as I finished, I figured to hell with the editing process, just post it and be done. Yes, it’s still angst city. Yes, they’re both still being stubborn. BUT... they were finally kind of forced into interaction so yay? I guess? 

FYI, this is probably gonna be a mini fic, so there’s probably only about 9 or 10 actual chapters left of it. I never meant for it to be that long BUT... we’ll see... all depends on how well it actually goes over... Do with that what you will... Also, the OFC’s self worth issues are not going to magically disappear just because the story comes to some kind of conclusion. I believe I mentioned this once before, the ofc here has the same issues I do to an extent... Anyway, enjoy a little lingering sexual tension in this part?

[ one - two - darling, the unofficial first chapter of the story - the soundtrack ]

[ warnings ]

Self esteem issues cw. Anxiety cw. Alcohol cw. Angst and sort of a slow burn. Mini fic, fyi. Probably won’t be very long. Potentially smut at some point. I switch between first person pov ( my oc’s pov ) to third person pov ( usually hangman, but also any other side characters I might use in this). 

[ tag squad ]

@kyleoreillysknee​

@rampagewriting​

@writertoo18​

@thatnerdwriter​

@wrestlingismyguiltypleasure​

@chasingeverybreakingwave​

@waywardwrestlewritingwaif​

@sassymox​

@hungmanhorsecarriage​

@wardl0w​

@unabashedwrestlefics​

@cowboyshit​

@adampage​

@missjenniferb​

@wrestlingthot​

@mafiadaddypaulheyman​

[ tag doc  | about page  | masterlist ] 

                                                  T H R E E 

[ ADAM ]

“Talking to her is probably a better idea than staring a hole through her, man.” Wardlow spoke up from beside Adam just as Adam poured himself another glass of whiskey. Adam took a long and thoughtful sip before shrugging.

“Obviously, there’s nothin to talk about.”

“And you’re an idiot if you believe that. Full offense meant.” Wardlow ordered his own drink and took a sip, eyes darting up to the screen mounted close to the ceiling  behind the bar. He chuckled at the score on the hockey game playing and then spoke up again. “All I’m saying is you don’t want one of the other guys stepping up and getting a shot you didn’t take. I mean, earlier… Did you not overhear Maxwell?”

“Oh yeah. I heard him. Why the fuck do you think I put him against the wall real quick like I did. It’s not my business if she chooses one of them though. Nothin’ I can do about it, either.” Adam shrugged, but deep down, it had him on edge. On top of everything else… He was having to deal with the fact that one night with Rosalie showed him just how much he didn’t want things to be one night only between the two of them.

Everything was turning into a massive clusterfuck that he couldn’t escape, no matter how far in the bottom of the bottle he tried burying himself.

The win tonight over his opponent felt like a hollow victory because just as the ref raised his hand it really sank in just how alone he felt and how well he’d managed to alienate himself from his friends. The fact that Rosalie was fine with a one night stand and wanted nothing further to do with him meant that he couldn’t share the moment with her, either.

But the problem with all of this was that the more he tried to go without talking about how he felt, the further down he tried to push it all, lately, that was the harder everything tried to push it’s way to the forefront. It was getting to a point where he felt like he was one breath away from exploding in frustration at any moment.

The more he tried to find Rosalie in back and at least clear the air between them, the better she seemed to get at making herself scarce.

Just as he found himself thinking about it, he happened to spot her, pushing her way through the crowd surrounding the bar at the other end of it. Banging on the wooden bartop noisily, she hopped up and down, shoving money at a bartender who came past and getting herself a bottle of Tito’s. Adam felt himself tense all over and whether or not he meant to, his eyes were fixed on her. He bit his lip and took a long sip from the glass and Wardlow cleared his throat. “If you don’t step up, Page. Someone else will. Women like that don’t stay single or lonely long at all. Trust me.”

Without another word, Wardlow was gone, leaving Adam to watch intently. He swore to himself and grumbled when Matt Jackson wandered right up to her, boldly leaning against her from behind and muttering something against her ear.

“Naturally, he’s gotta go there.” Adam grumbled to himself as the scowl took over. He watched the scene unfolding and maybe he was a little more amused than he should’ve been when he saw Rosalie rolling her eyes before she turned around. She suck popped a gum bubble and blew at her bangs. Every physical cue she was giving off read clear irritation and annoyance and yet… Matt was apparently determined.

,, Jackass even has roses. If he really gave a shit he’d know she liked sunflowers or daisies.” Adam found himself thinking. The thought lingered, annoying him all over again. No matter how much he wanted to be angry and hate his former friends, he knew deep down that everything they’d said to him the last time they all talked had unfortunately been true.

They may have set it all in motion, but he’d been the one who let it continue for so long. Then he’d been the one who exploded and went straight for self-destruct mode rather than doing what he should’ve done, beating their asses and getting his frustrations out there and putting it behind him. And all of that, his brain wasted no time in reminding him, trickled down to the situation with her, and his inability to even fathom taking a chance and speaking up about the way he really felt. And it bothered him because he knew that not only was he letting his friends slip through his fingers but now, a chance at being with her too.

And then, it happened. Rosalie happened to spot him sitting there, watching her. For a few seconds, she stared right back, teeth grazing against a full lower lip. Adam hated to admit it, but he felt a small surge of pride at the fact that he’d done a good enough job leaving marks behind their night together that the small bite mark just below her earlobe hadn’t really faded that much.  ,, then again, I was so desperate to leave any kind of sign that I even had her to myself  for one night that I really latched onto that spot at least 4 times. Was the hardest mark I left.” 

He must have been staring at the area pretty hard because her hand raised, fingertips settling right against the spot in question. She squirmed on her stool under his gaze and bit her lip. Adam shifted on his stool and took a deep breath, trying to will away the way he was starting to strain against his jeans. Because before that happened again, they needed to have a long and serious conversation.

She shotgunned a sip from the tequila bottle and swallowed hard, wincing at the way the alcohol must’ve burned it’s way down her throat and Adam raised his own glass, finishing it off without breaking his gaze with her.

Apparently, it was enough to be noticed by Matt, who glared at him before grumbling to himself and walking away for the time being. Neither of them were caving yet, the stare war still going on. If he were a more confident and far less anxious kind of guy, he’d almost swear that maybe the tequila was hitting her system and maybe, she was flirting across the room.

As soon as even the hint of that thought hit, Adam was on top of it, shoving it down deep before hope dared to have a chance to grow.

She sighed and the movement of her lips had his eyes locked there, following helplessly as her tongue dragged over the outline of her mouth. When she brushed shaggy bangs out of her eyes, Adam’s hand clenched because honestly, he just wanted to tangle his fingers up in her hair again, use his grip on the soft and thick locks to tug her mouth into his so deep that by the time the kiss broke they were breathing for each other.

She broke eye contact first, turning her attention to the doors of the sports bar and Adam tore his eyes off her, fixing them on his own drink.

,, if I don’t say something soon, I’m going to lose my damn mind.” 

[ ROSALIE ]

I could smell Matt Jackson before he even pressed against me from behind. The cologne he wore is not my favorite and it never has been. ,, It’s not my fault I prefer Adam’s natural scent to the overpowering notes of whatever the hell Matt is wearing all the time.” my brain chimed in and I quickly shoved the thought out.

I was here tonight because no fucking thanks to Adam’s earlier match and win, I needed a good stiff drink. ,, Is a good stiff drink not how I wound up in the situation I’m in right now though?” - my brain was at it again, nagging and being pesky. Between my own mind and my mom, I was dangerously close to exploding lately.

Matt pressed against me from behind, reaching past me to grab a soda he’d apparently ordered and I cringed to myself, eyes rolling as I prepared myself for what Matt felt was ‘his best game’. In truth, his best game is a fucking annoyance to me.

If I were going to hook up with a Jackson brother, I’d die before I ever considered Matt. Nick… Nick clearly has more going for him that’s not quite so…. Overpowering and annoying.

Not that I’ve ever given them any sort of actual thought in that regard, I’m just stating a fact.

“You drinking alone, Rosie?”

“Don’t call me that, Matt. I have a name.”

Matt chuckled in amusement. He was still pressing against me a little. I tensed and he seemed to finally take the fucking hint, stepping away a little. “You could bring your bottle and come over to where me and Nick are sitting. It’d keep Maxwell off your ass.”

“I’m here alone. As in, I want to drink this tequila all by myself. Nice try, Matt.” I responded, turning just enough to smirk up at him as my words hit their mark. He grumbled and bit his lip, shaking his head. “I don’t get it. Why not just give somebody a chance?”

“Why not just leave somebody alone, though? I’ve told every single one of you who keeps trying lately, I have zero interest. That what happened that night is not only not any of your business, but it was supposed to stay between me and Adam.”

“And yet, you were telling your friends.”

“I didn’t tell them!” I grumbled and rolled my eyes in frustration, blowing at hair that flopped into my eyes and I took a sip, continuing, “They knew something was wrong with me and they kept at me til they guessed. Not that it’s your business, Jackson.”

“You can call me Matt.”

“Can I call you gone already? Because I’m exhausted with this conversation. Look.. I get that you have a hard time hearing the word no. I get that you’re trying to pour on the charm and I get that you think you want me but trust me, Matt, you don’t. Nobody ever actually does.”

“That’s not true, hon.” Matt’s brows knit together as he looked me up and down, licking his lips. I grumbled and turned away, rolling my eyes as I knocked more of my bottle back.

Somehow, I found my eyes fixed on Adam in all this.

And I tried, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off him. And as I stared, all I kept seeing was that fire in his eyes earlier tonight during his singles match. The way he looked fired up and ready to take on the whole world. I was starting to get soaked all over again and I shifted around on the stool a little. 

The hunger burning in his eyes as they roamed over me had memories of that night stirring to the front of my mind and if I thought I was soaked before, that was in fact a lie. I could feel my thighs slipping off each other. The realization had me reaching for my bottle and taking a generous sip. I tried again to tear my eyes off him but I couldn’t do that either. Instead, I found them fixing on a not quite hidden hickie that I knew full well I’d left behind on the right side of his neck. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath because I remembered that I hadn’t been the only one who left a mark.

And at the sudden rearing of the thought, my fingers raised, gingerly dancing over the deep impression of his bite in my skin. I could feel my face getting hotter by the second. 

Matt seemed to finally catch onto the stare down happening between Adam and I and he grumbled, making a hasty retreat.

It took everything I possessed not to shove through the crowd and go to Adam. Especially with the statement he made in an interview before his match earlier tonight burned into my brain. Hurting me because I knew for a fact that the words weren’t true and it killed me that he might even halfway consider them to be so.

I finally managed to tear my eyes off of him, spotting Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela making their way into the bar. I waved to them both, grateful for the distraction they’d provide me. The barrier they’d make between me and my desire to go to Adam and bare my entire soul.

And probably be rejected. Or have to hear him say that the one night between us was a moment of weakness and it didn’t mean anything.

Or any number of things I’d heard a thousand times before.

[sushigirlali]

If You Don't Love Me, Lie To My Face - Part I (Reylo Fanfic)

Part I | Part II | Part III | Epilogue 

Summary: Grifter!Rey helps U.S. Senator Leia Organa's son, Ben Solo, out of a jam when a couple of muggers invade her turf. Afterward, she debates robbing the rich American herself, but can she protect her heart while stealing his?

Pairing: Rey + Ben Solo | Finn + Poe Dameron

Rating: E

Continuity: Modern AU

A/N: For the first time ever, I’ve actually written most of the story before I started posting! I think it will be way less stressful since I don’t have to “keep up” with updates. New chapters will be posted each Friday. Enjoy!

Master list –> AO3 | ff.net | Tumblr

——————

If You Don't Love Me, Lie To My Face - Part I

By: sushigirlali

——————

Kennington, London

——————

There are moments in life that make you question everything that came before. A look from a stranger, an incident at your job, a terrible movie... things Rey Niima was usually able to push past without pause, but tonight, she was finding it extremely difficult to ignore the feeling that her life was about to change forever.

"Hey, give us your wallet!" A pair of brawlers had cornered a man at the mouth of a nearby alley, drawing Rey's attention as soon as she stepped out the back door of her favorite pub, The Black Prince.

"Excuse me?" the would-be victim responded indignantly. His voice was deep with an American lilt, his stature intimidating.

Did these fools really think they could steal from a man like that? But then, not all criminals were as intelligent as her.

"You heard me! I want your wallet!"

Rey hung back from the potentially violent situation unfolding before her, sizing up the assailants. Their outfits were all black, including the ski masks covering their faces, but she couldn't see any identifying marks or gang affiliations. "Must be lone wolves," she thought.

There was something familiar about the tall one doing the talking, but she couldn't place them. It probably didn't matter, though, because the redwood with the nice accent looked like he could take the both of them with one hand tied behind his broad back.

Still, for some reason, she was finding it hard to walk the other way. Definitely not because the man was the most striking person she had ever seen. No, it had to be due to the fact that these bums were causing a ruckus on her turf. At least, that's what she kept telling herself, frozen to the spot as she was.

"Listen, I just got done volunteering at a shelter all day and just want to get home. Please allow me to leave unmolested."

"Volunteering at a shelter?" she muttered under her breath. "Well, fuck. But it's not your business, don't get involved." Rey was turning around to go back inside the pub when the sound of a gun cocking drew her up short.

"Don't make me repeat myself again, pretty boy."

"Whoa, hey, there's no need for that!"

"Then empty your pockets! Now!"

"No," he said crossly. "Put that thing away before somebody gets hurt."

"Dammit," Rey groaned, retrieving the silver baton clipped to her belt. Sometimes, she really hated having a conscience; in her line of work, it was a real liability.

"Hey, get your hands off me!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she growled, resolutely stalking toward the turbulent scene. "Oi! You lot!"

The big guy and his sidekick paused to look in her direction. "What?" the leader said in a surprisingly feminine voice.

"Not a guy," Rey mused. "Based on your absolutely abominable bullying technique, I don't think you're getting that guy's wallet any time this century, so why don't you just leave him alone and move along."

"Excuse me?" the woman said threateningly.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?"

"You move along, little mouse, this doesn't concern you!" the shorter guy spat.

"You do know who's neighborhood this is, don't you?" Rey said tauntingly.

"Yeah?" the first one said dismissively. "So what."

"So, knock it off! We don't need the fuzz coming down here because some hooligans are roughing up a foreigner."

"Hooligans?! And who the fuck are you?"

"Me?" Rey sneered, flicking the baton out to the side so that it extended into a long poll. "I'm no one."

"Phas," the skinny guy said nervously, obviously recognizing her at last, "we should go."

Rey had never been so proud of her reputation as a grifter who was just as likely to steal an expensive piece of art from the peerage in an elaborate heist as kick a thug's ass in the street.

"But the boss—"

"He'll understand."

"But—"

"Phas!"

"Fine. But don't think this is over!" the woman yelled before running off with her companion.

"Well," the American said slowly, "that was an experience I never wish to repeat again." He smiled at her. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Rey replied gruffly, still riding high on adrenaline. "Do you always walk around by yourself at night in a city not your own?"

"Do you always save unsuspecting passersby from thieves?" he retorted.

Her phone went off, but she didn't answer it. Up close, the man was even more attractive than she had initially thought. "Suit looks expensive, too… and is that a Breitling?" Perhaps it was her lucky night after all. "Only if they're handsome," she said smoothly.

"Oh, uh…" he flushed at her compliment.

"Hmm… not the reaction I expected." It was kind of refreshing, though. "Sorry, I—ugh, one sec," she said as her cell went off again. "My brother," she explained, checking the caller ID. "I have to take this or he'll just keep phoning until I pick up."

The man shrugged, "No problem, I'll just wait over here." He stepped up onto the curb and walked a few paces away.

Rey nodded and lifted the phone to her ear. "What?" she said shortly.

"Who's the stiff?" Finn asked without preamble.

"Nobody."

"Right," he huffed. "Are you working him?"

"Undecided, stop pushing."

"Whatever you say, Rey. Just be careful."

"I will. Where are you anyway?" she said, humored by his tough older sibling act.

"Hanging outside the pub, just around the corner. Why? You need me?" Finn teased.

"No, I'll catch you later. Don't wait up." She ended the conversation before he could respond and stuffed the phone into her back pocket. "Sorry about that, uh…?"

"Ben," the stranger supplied, moving closer again. "Ben Solo."

"I'm Rey," she said, holding out a hand.

Ben's lips quirked and he gave her a firm handshake, his huge hand dwarfing hers. Rey felt a shiver run up her spine at the brief contact, but she shook it off.

"So, what's that for?" he indicated the weapon still in her hand. "Joining the circus?"

"No," she grinned, "it's a bo staff. I use it for self defense."

"And the defense of others," he said warmly.

"On occasion." She folded the bo staff back into a baton before reattaching it to her belt.

"Can I get you a drink?" he nodded toward the pub. "To say thank you?"

"I was actually on my way home before I… bumped into you."

"I could… walk you home? If you want." He didn't sound desperate, but it was a near thing.

"I'm not from around here," she said evasively. She couldn't really bring him back to her base of operations, which was only a few blocks down the street, but she didn't want to stop talking to him either. "What a dilemma."

"No? Where are you from then?"

"Nowhere."

"Okay… Well, I promise I'm not a pervert or a serial killer or anything," he said earnestly, "so you can come back to my hotel with me if you want. It's late and I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

She crossed her arms. "Because I'm a woman?"

"Hey, I'm 6'3" and double your weight and I almost got jumped like ten minutes ago," he reminded her. "It can happen to anyone."

"Fair enough," she allowed, lowering her defenses. "Still…"

"I can call my security detail if you want verification that I'm not a psycho," he offered. "I'd just like the opportunity to get to know the woman who saved my hide."

Rey's interest sharpened. "That's sweet, but uh… security detail?"

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly. "My mother is a U.S. Senator. I'm in town on her behalf. She was supposed to come herself, but her re-election campaign is heating up and she couldn't spare the time."

"You disapprove," she said perceptively.

Ben's dark brows shot up. "Yeah, actually. You a mind reader, Rey from nowhere?"

"Something like that," she smirked. "I prefer the term grifter."

"Grifter?" he said curiously. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"Oh, you know," Rey winked for effect, assuming the privileged American was about to run in the opposite direction, "I swindle rich people out of their valuables by preying on their weaknesses. Basically, I'm a professional bad guy."

Ben looked hopelessly confused by her explanation. "But you just helped me."

"Well, sometimes I like to help out the little guy." Rey looked him over. "Little big guys too."

"Like Robin Hood?" he said, disarming her with a crooked smile.

"What? I wouldn't say I'm—I'm a hero or anything," she stuttered.

"Well, you're my hero," he said smoothly, holding out a hand. "That's my driver pulling up over there, in the black Jag. Join me? Please?"

"I… okay," she agreed, placing her hand in his, "but just for a little while." This time, she couldn't ignore the shiver.

——————

Alarm bells should be going off in her head, but Rey felt perfectly comfortable with her new companion. It was odd, considering her trust issues, but Ben didn't seem to be only interested in her looks. And she knew she looked good tonight, her dark leather leggings were basically painted on and her lacy bra was visible through a mostly sheer black tank top. Add on her subtle smoky makeup and half-up hair style that emphasized her cheek bones and...

"Rey?"

She loved the way he said her name, almost like a caress. "Yes?"

"Are you hungry? I haven't had dinner yet."

"Oh, sure," she said, never one to give up a free meal. Though she did kinda wish something else was on the menu… "What is wrong with you? You just met the man! Note to self: masturbate more."

"Chinese okay?"

Her mouth watered. "Perfect."

"What do you like?"

"Besides you?" she said without thinking. "Uh, I mean—anything, really. Noodles, if they have them."

Ben let her comment pass, but he was beaming. "I like noodles too. Maybe some kind of chicken? Orange?"

"Excellent," she seconded.

"You're easy," he said, but then caught himself, looking horrified. "I mean to order food for, not—"

"It's okay," she laughed, patting his thigh. "I know what you meant."

"Sorry, I haven't done this in a long time," he said sheepishly, catching her hand before she could remove it.

"This?"

"Gone on a date."

"Oh." Was this a date? Rey couldn't remember the last time she had been on one. Pretty much anytime she'd been alone with a man not her brother in the past ten years it was because she intended to rob them.

"Not that this has to be a date," he said quickly, releasing her hand. "Sorry, I keep saying stupid things."

Dammit, but he was cute. "You don't have to keep apologizing," she replied lightly. "Let's just have dinner and talk and see where that takes us." Maybe the night would lead to some fun extracurricular activities, maybe not, but at least she'd be able to case his place. Based on what she knew so far, the guy definitely came from old money. "Just keep reminding yourself that he's potentially a mark, not a boyfriend, Rey."

"Sure," he smiled, looking relieved. "Hey, Poe?" he said to the driver. "Can you pick up some food after dropping us at the hotel? We're starving."

——————

Ben fumbled a little opening the door, but quickly recovered and ushered Rey inside with a gallant sweep of his arm. The hotel was nice, but not extravagant, something she found odd for the son of a U.S. Senator. Then again, he had apparently been helping out at a shelter all day, so maybe he really was as down to earth as he seemed.

"The bathroom is through there if you need it," he pointed toward the bedroom.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay, I'm just going to grab a quick shower. Poe should be back within the hour, so make yourself at home."

"Can I join you?" she was tempted to say. "Sure, I'll just watch the telly."

Ben nodded and left the room. A few seconds later, Rey heard the water start. Flipping on the TV, she left it on the cartoon channel before having a look around.

There weren't any expensive electronics or pieces of art in plain sight, so Rey could only assume that anything valuable would be in his room. "Oh, well, nothing gained, nothing lost. Better update Finn, though."

Yanking her cell out, Rey sent a quick text to her brother with Ben's name, the hotel's address, and a couple sentences about the modest state of his living room. He answered her almost immediately, sounding concerned.

Finn: Are you sure about this bloke? If you're not there to rob him, I assume that means you're interested in something else?

Rey: Yes? Maybe? I don't know. We just met, but…

Finn: At least text me later, okay? So I don't have to worry

Rey: I will. Love you 3

Finn: Love you too, peanut

Finn: ...check the room safe if you get a chance. Those types of hotels always have them and you never know what might be inside ;)

Rolling her eyes, but knowing he was right, Rey listened for a moment. It sounded like Ben was still in the shower, so she took the opportunity to pop into the bedroom and search his closet. A standard issue hotel safe was at the back, surrounded by some very nice black suits.

It wouldn't have been hard to crack the safe if she had her gear, but her heart wouldn't have been in it even if she did. She didn't want to rob Ben Solo, which was a first. Still, she did appreciate a challenge...

"Did you need something?"

Rey whipped around to see her host in nothing but a low slung white towel. "No, I—uh…"

"Would you like something to change into?" he inquired kindly.

Unable to respond with his magnificent chest and long thighs on display, Rey just shook her head in the negative. His brow creased and she felt like a kid who had been caught snooping for Christmas presents. "Shit, shit, shit, I've totally blown it!" Backtracking to the living room, she wasn't surprised when he followed. "What should I do? Oh, god, I don't want him to think…"

"Rey, what you said earlier… about being a… what did you call it? A grifter? Are you—mmph!" he started, unable to complete his thought as Rey impulsively reached up to kiss him.

But instead of pushing her away and demanding an answer, Ben threaded his fingers through her hair and dragged her closer. Taking his response as permission, Rey wrapped her arms around his waist, gripping his bare back as the kiss went on and on.

Somehow, they ended up next to the couch. Rey pushed Ben into a sitting position and climbed onto his lap, rubbing her clothed core against the tent in his towel. "Rey," he whispered, lips trailing down to her neck, "Rey, I want you."

"Yes," she responded as he reached for her waistband. Coming up on her knees, she growled when he yanked her leggings and underwear down her hips with one forceful tug. Things were getting out of control, going too far too fast, but she didn't care; she wanted him too. "Help me," she demanded, legs trapped by the constricting garments.

"I've got you," he huffed, reaching behind her to unzip her black combat boots and pull her pants the rest of the way off.

Meanwhile, Rey tore her top and bralette over her head before going to work on the towel barely covering his lap. "Wow!" she blew out a breath, zeroing in on his ardent erection when it was uncovered. He was big, maybe bigger than anyone she'd ever been with. Would he fit?

"Fuck," Ben sighed, sitting back to stare at her body, "you're beautiful, Rey."

Feeling weirdly shy about the sincerity in his sinful voice, Rey kissed him again in lieu of a response, reaching between them to spread herself for entry.

"Wait," he said, gasping for air, "what about protection?"

"Implant," she mumbled, rubbing her slit against the tip of his penis. "I'm clean, are you?"

"Yeah, I haven't—oh, god—uh, done it in a while."

"Good." She felt strangely possessive of him, this man she had just met. It pleased her that he didn't sleep around. "Fuck me, then. Raw."

Ben slammed his mouth down on hers again, positioning his dick with one hand and gripping her left buttock with the other. But he didn't ram himself home, instead he teased her hole, sliding only a fraction of the way in before retreating. He did it over and over, mimicking the action with his tongue until she was incoherent with desire, squirming, imploring him to fill her…

And then he was, and she found that he fit very well inside her indeed. His thick cock seemed to be made for her, hitting all the right spots and ones she hadn't even known existed until now. "Ben!" she cried, furiously pumping her hips in time with his thrusts. "This is—you're—"

"I feel it too!" he returned, palming her breast and teasing her erect nipple. "From the first moment I saw you, I—"

She licked his mouth, begging for entrance, not wanting to hear his sweet words even as they made her heart soar. He opened for her, but was obviously frustrated that she had cut off his declaration. Before she knew it, the hand squeezing her ass drew back and lightly smacked against her butt-cheek.

"Oh!" Rey jolted at the slight sting, but it wasn't in pain. On the contrary, she requested, "Again! Ben, do that again, please! I'm—"

Knock, knock.

"Oh, shit, Poe's at the—"

"Don't you fucking dare, Ben Solo," she growled, bouncing up and down on him with renewed vigor. But the driver started knocking harder, likely because of the guttural sounds erupting from Ben's throat. "Come on, man, can't you tell we're busy?!"

"But—shit!" Ben hauled her against him, no longer playing, just looking for relief before his friend broke the door down.

Rey found his soft grunts and swears endearing, so she took pity on him and increased her pace even further. "Come for me, Ben," she instructed, grinding down on him with all her might. "Come now and then we can eat. Or you can eat me, whichever you prefer."

The dirty talk seemed to work, because in the next minute, Ben was biting down on her shoulder, shaking with the force of his orgasm. Not far behind, Rey led his hand to her swollen nub, needing just a hair more stimulation to tip over the edge. Almost instantly, his trembling touch sent her into climax. Still vaguely aware of what's-his-name banging on the hotel room door, she pressed her mouth to Ben's pectoral to muffle her cries and came for what felt like ages…

"That—was—amazing," Ben panted, hugging her so tightly she thought she might pop. "The—best—I've—ever—had!"

"Me—too," she couldn't help but admit.

Loosening his hold, Ben cupped her cheeks and kissed her softly. "Thank you."

"Ah—you're welcome," she said, smiling like an idiot. Before she could lean in again, Poe resumed making his presence known.

"Ben? Are you okay? Answer me! Did that woman kill you? Your mother will be so pissed if you're dead." He hit the door again. "Either answer me in the next ten seconds or I'm going to get security!"

"I'm fine, great, alive, whatever!" Ben called back loudly. "And annoyed," he said to Rey. "Go into the bedroom for a minute while I get rid of him."

"Okay," she agreed, gingerly getting up. They both groaned when he slipped out of her, which Rey found gratifying. "Can I use the shower now?"

"Sure, there are towels under the sink. My sleep shirts are in the top drawer of the dresser," he offered.

"He wants me to spend the night?" she mused, feeling giddy and terrified all at once. "Alright," she said aloud, picking up her clothes and disappearing into the bedroom she'd been casing earlier, "call out if you need backup."

"Will do," he chuckled, "will do."

——————

Ten minutes later, Rey emerged from the bathroom feeling fresh and back in control. Picking a long sleeve shirt out of Ben's dresser at random, she pulled it over her naked body before toweling off her wet hair. The black cotton was as soft as it was big, but Rey didn't mind; it smelled like Ben.

Catching her reflection in the floor length mirror by the closet, she was amused to see that the garment fell to her knees like a sack, giving her already slender body exactly zero shape. "Oh, well, it's not like I plan on wearing it lon—"

A disturbance in the living room suddenly diverted her reverie. Sneaking to the door, she carefully cracked it and peaked out.

"You can't just keep her here!" Poe nearly shouted at Ben.

"Keep your fucking voice down," he snarled back. "You're not my boss or my mother and you can't tell me what to do. I'm a grown ass man!"

"Maybe so, but you're acting like a teenager! You can't just sleep with some chick you picked up off the side of the road when Leia is counting on you to—"

"I told you," Ben said through gritted teeth, "she saved my ass and I wanted to get to know her. I didn't hire her for the fucking night!"

"Could have fooled me," Poe scoffed. "For all you know, she could have been in on the attack and—"

"Get out!" Ben ordered, clearly at his wit's end. "I'll call you when you're needed again, if you are."

"Are you firing me?!"

"Not yet," Ben said grimly, marching to the door and flinging it open. "Just go before I forget that you're my best friend and say something I regret."

"Fine," Poe said, storming out of the apartment. "Let me know when you come to your senses!"

Ben slammed the door shut, then turned around and leaned on it. Scurrying back into the bathroom before he caught her eavesdropping, she started combing her hair, attempting to look natural in case he came in after her. When he didn't, she tried not to feel disappointed.

Leaving her damp hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Rey found him sitting at the dining table in his towel with several brown paper bags in front of him. He looked lost in thought and she hoped he hadn't taken Poe's opinion about her motives to heart. "Wotcher, Ben?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he said, looking up at her. "Sorry, I was just...uh…" The arrested look on his face made her toes curl. "Wow, you look amazing."

"This old thing?" she joked, sidling up next to him. "I borrowed it from a mate."

"He has good taste," he said, opening his arms.

"I certainly think so," she said coyly, moving to sit sideways on his lap. Rey curled one arm around his neck and placed the other one on his chest. "Are you still hungry?"

"For food?" he choked, holding her so that she wouldn't slide off.

"Food," she nodded, leaning her forehead against his, "and other things."

One of Ben's large hands inserted itself between her thighs. "These kinds of things?" he murmured. "I think we can—fuck!" he bit his lip as he discovered that she wasn't wearing anything underneath his shirt.

"We can certainly fuck," she teased, "but—oh!" Rey gasped as he stood with her in his strong arms. "Ben? What are you…?"

Before she could get the words out, he'd pushed their dinner out of the way and laid her down on the table. Placing the backs of her knees in the crook of each arm, Ben pulled her forward until her butt was on the edge of the table and her pussy was level with his mouth.

"Having dinner," he said in the most ridiculously sexy tone of voice she'd ever heard, flipping his nightshirt up so that she was bare from the waist down.

"Oh, god!" she whimpered as he lowered his head. "Ben, you don't really have to—ah!" Gripping the back of his head as he started to lick her folds, Rey shuddered every time his long nose bumped against her clit.

"Enjoying yourself?" he said a little arrogantly. "Is this why you came home with me? Cause you wanted me to make you feel good?"

Considering how very well he was treating her, and the uncertainty on his face, she decided to play along. "Yes, Ben, I wanted you the second I saw you!"

He smiled slightly, then resumed tasting her. "So, does that mean you want to come?"

"That would be lovely," she sighed, enjoying the pressure of his wide mouth.

His mouth quirked at that. "Never heard sex described that way before."

"Then you're doing it with the wrong people."

"Oh?" his gaze turned hot. "And how many people have you been doing it with?"

"Not many," she said hurriedly, "and not in a long time."

"Good girl," he said silkily. "So, if I were to put my fingers inside you, would your cunt feel… full?"

"Yes!" she panted, so wet she was dripping onto the table now.

"Let's see then."

Arching her back as he slid two fingers inside her body, Rey realized that she had never really known sexual satisfaction until tonight. She was twenty-five and still basically knew nothing about sex and relationships. "Huh."

Ben stopped moving, lifting his dark head to look at her. "Rey? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said dreamily. "I guess I've just never felt this way before."

He held her eyes for an extended moment, amber striking against hazel. "Yeah, me too." And then he was fingering her again, sucking and teasing her slick opening until she was crying out his name in ecstasy.

Afterward, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. Needless to say, they skipped dinner that night.

——————

Rey grunted as she felt Ben leave the bed the next morning. He had been her heater since the sheets and pillows were strewn about the room. "Come back," she said hoarsely, throat worn from use. "I'm cold."

"Just a moment," he laughed, opening the bedroom door to fetch something from the living room. "Your cell has been going off for an hour straight."

"My cell?" she yawned. Then, "Oh, no." She sat bolt upright. "Wait! Don't—"

"Rey?" Ben called in disbelief. "Who the fuck is Finn?"

——————

A/N: I love Kingsman and always think about Rey being a punk with a heart of gold like Eggsy. I didn't include the spy angle, but I was able to visit The Black Prince, where scenes were filled for the movie, a couple years ago and have fond memories. Anyway, reviews are appreciated! <3